Discussion Guide - The Art of Racing in the Rain

The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein

Characters

Denny Swift Eve Zoe Enzo Eve’s parents: Trish and Maxwell (The Twins) Friends – Mike and Tony Annika Lawyer – Mark The evil zebra

 

For discussion:

1.   What was your favorite scene in the novel?

2.   Did you like the technique of making Enzo be the narrator?  Would the story have worked if the narrator was one of the humans?

3.   Do you think dogs or other animals can really understand humans and have the desire to communicate with them? 

4.   Discuss Enzo’s more human characteristics.

a.       His feelings after Eve died (and his animal reaction of chasing and eating the squirrel ) [page 165]

b.      Advising people to learn to listen (page 102)

5.   Can dogs and other animals sense things that humans cannot?  Enzo smelled Eve’s cancer well before anyone made a diagnosis.

6.   What did you think of Enzo’s description of communication, “…there are so many moving parts.  There’s presentation and there’s interpretation and they’re so dependent on each other it makes things very difficult.”  (page 5) Was this a good analysis?

7.  What did you think about Enzo’s analysis of his death?  He said about Denny, “He needs me to free him to be brilliant.”  (page 5) 

8.   The author wrote, “A true hero is flawed.  The true test of a champion is not whether he can triumph, but whether he can overcome obstacles – preferably of his own making – in order to triumph.”  (page 135)  Do you agree?  What do you think about the obstacles “being of his own making?”  Can you name anyone who you think is a hero?  Does he or she fit this description?

9.   About a champion, he wrote “It makes one realize that the physicality of our world is a boundary to us only if our will is weak; a true champion can accomplish things that a normal person would think impossible.”  (page 65)  Do you agree?

10.One of Denny’s favorite statements was “…that which we manifest is before us.”  (page 43)  What did he mean?  Do you agree?

11.The author stated that women and dogs feel pain the same (“tap directly into the pain” page 62) whereas men “are all filters and deflectors and timed release.”  (page 63)  Is this an accurate description?  Do you think there is a difference in how men, women and dogs experience pain?

12.  Regarding the evil zebra, at the end Enzo realizes that the zebra is, “not something outside of us.  The zebra is something inside of us.  Our fears.  Our own self-destructive nature.  The zebra is the worst part of us when we are face-to-face with our worst times.  The demon is us!”  (page 264)  Do you agree?  Can you think of any examples from other books you have read where the characters were their own worst enemies?

13. There were many comments in the book about life in general.  What comparisons were made between driving a race car and life?  Can you add others?

Discussion Guide - Outliers: The Story of Success, by Malcolm Gladwell

For the College Reading and Learning Association, One Book-One Conference, 2010

People, places, theories and events
Introduction – The Roseto Mystery
Roseto, Italy to Bangor, Pennsylvania
Part One – Opportunity	Part Two - Legacy
Chapter One – The Matthew Effect Canadian hockey players and birthdates	Chapter Six – Harlan, Kentucky The Howards and the Turners Culture of honor Experiment conducted on culture of honor at Univ. of Michigan by Cohen and Nisbett
Chapter Two – The 10,000 Rule Bill Joy – rewrote UNIX The Beatles – Hamburg, Germany Bill Gates Seventy-five all time richest people – 14 from America born between 1834 – 1840 Silicon Valley entrepreneurs –  1953 - 1956	Chapter Seven – The Ethnic Theory of Plane Crashes Korean Air flight 801 – August 1997 Mitigated Speech Hofstede’s Dimensions – individualism-collectivism scale Power Distance Index (PDI)
Chapter Three – The Trouble with Geniuses, Part I Christopher Langan Lewis Terman and his Termites	Chapter Eight – Rice Paddies and Math Tests Rice paddies and rice farmers Western agriculture – machine oriented; Rice farming – skill oriented Characteristics of work of rice farmer: 1.)connection between work and reward, 2.) complex work, and 3.) autonomous Positive correlation between willingness to work and math success
Chapter Four – The Trouble with Geniuses, Part 2 Chris Langan and family background Robert Oppenheimer and family background Practical intelligence Parenting philosophies – concerted cultivation and accomplishment of natural growth	Chapter Nine – Marita’s Bargain KIPP Academy
Chapter Five – The Three Lessons of Joe Flom Joe Flom – lawyer Lesson One: The Importance of Being Jewish Lesson Two: Demographic Luck Lesson Three: The Garment Industry and Meaningful Work Louis and Regina Borgenicht and family tree
Epilogue
Daisy and Donald Nation, Faith and Joyce, Malcolm

For discussion:

1.      1.  Malcolm Gladwell explains outliers as being the result of opportunity and cultural legacy.  Do you agree?  Are there other factors?

2.     2.  In chapter two, Gladwell proposes that after basic ability, time on task is what makes the difference.  Is there an example from your life that confirms this idea?  How does this relate to our jobs in education?

3.       3. Discuss the importance of opportunity to the success of outliers.  What unusual and/or extraordinary opportunities did you have?

4.     4.  In Chapter Four, Gladwell writes about “practical intelligence.”   How can we help developmental students learn this knowledge?

5.       5. Discuss the two parenting philosophies discussed in chapter 4: concerted cultivation and accomplishment of natural growth.  How were you raised?  How have you raised your children?  Have you seen any examples of these two styles when working with your students?

6.       6. Discuss the idea of “meaningful work” in chapter five.  As educators, we definitely feel we are doing “meaningful work.”  How has this affected your family and yourself?

7.       7. Discuss conversation within different cultural contexts, specifically transmitter orientation (responsibility of speaker to be clear and concise) and receiver orientation (responsibility of listener to understand what is being communicated).  How can this be a factor in classroom communication?

8.       8. In chapter nine, Gladwell states that our academic year is based on the theory that the mind needs to rest and that is mirrors the American agricultural year.   Contrast this to the Asian nations’ year-round work ethic.  Do you think Gladwell’s references to American farming and Chinese rice farming valid?

9.       9. Discuss Chris Langan and Robert Oppenheimer’s experiences in college.

a.       How do their different experiences relate to their backgrounds?

b.      What would have happened to Langan at your institution?

c.       How can we help our students navigate and work within the system?

10.   10. Are there other factors that contribute to success that Gladwell didn’t consider?