Characters | |
Silas Quinney | Parents - Anna and Owen Noelle - girlfriend Gary Quinney - sheriff, Silas' uncle |
Rob Leicht | Parents - Ellen and Arthur |
James (J.Dot) | Parents - Michelle and Matthew |
Sienna | Roommate - Laura |
Mike Bordwin | Headmaster Wife - Meg |
Irwin | Held camera, never identified |
Jacqueline | Researcher from University of Vermont |
Others | Daryl - sells alcohol to students Geoff - was Dean of Students, headmaster after Mike Basketball coach - fired as a result of incident Rasheed - junior basketball player, not involved, counseled by his father not to say anything in defense of coach or entire team Colm - reporter, received Pulitzer for story about incident and Avery |
For discussion:
1. Mike thought the story would be interesting to the press because it was at a private school and because people enjoy seeing the "upper class" involved in a scandal. Do you agree? Would it still be as intriguing if it happened at a public school?
2. Discuss the part played by alcohol in the story. Daryl felt no remorse for selling the alcohol to the students. He stated that if he didn't, someone else would.
3. Colm received a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on the story. He states on page 234 of the paperback:
"I could go on and on about the ethics of accepting a prize for a sordid tale about alcohol abuse, sexual assault, and privilege, but you take a look at any story that's won a prize in the last ten years, and you'll see that a lot of them are built on greed or lust or sex or murder. You tell yourself you're trying to go for a fair and responsible take - unlike the tabloids - but the truth is, we're all tabloids."
Do you agree? Why or why not?
4. Do you agree with the way Mike handled the incident (trying to cover it up, had boys sign confession without parents or representation)? What could he have done differently?
5. Discuss the incident from each person's point of view:
a. Silas
b. J.Dot
c. Rob
d. Sienna
e. Colm
6. Discuss Irwin. Were you surprised that he was never identified? What would have been the purpose of him coming forward? How does he fit into the guilt?
7. Discuss Mike's relationship with the Quinney's, starting with his accident and then Silas's enrollment in Avery.
8. On page 279 of the paperback Mike counts the results of the incident, starting with his affair with Anna. Where do other people have a responsibility to make good choices or to control their reaction to events taking place around them?
9. Mike thought that Meg did not know about his affair with Anna? Do you think she knew? Would it serve any purpose to inform her?
10. Mike himself takes complete blame for the entire incident. Do you agree?
11. How much blame would you give to the participants? Sienna, for example. Does it make a difference that she consented, even though she was underage?
12. Should one incident (positive or negative) define a person's life?
13. Did you like the writing style - having the story sometimes told by narrator and other times with a character speaking or writing to the researcher?
a. Did you have trouble following the sequence of events for Silas starting on page 199?
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