Rules of Civility, by Amor Towles

Characters:

Theodore “Tinker” Grey
Henry “Hank” Grey
Anne Grandyn

Evelyn Ross

Katey Kontent
Val - husband

Wallace Wolcott

Dicky Vanderbilt

Quiggin and Hale:
Miss Markham
Charlotte Sykes

Pembroke Press: Nathaniel Parish

Mason Tate: Gotham

Alley McKenna

For discussion:

NOTE:  The page numbers refer to the hardback edition.

1.            How do you think the story would have changed if the accident had never happened?

2.            Discuss each of the main characters.   Could you connect with some more than others?  Why?

3.            Discuss Katey’s career path, particularly the fact that she quit Quiggin and Hale as soon as she was promoted.     Why did she quit?  How did that decision change her life?  

4.            Discuss the pronunciation of Katey’s last name – Kontent vs. Kontent.  Did you like the way the author played with the pronunciation throughout the book?  (see page 19)

5.            On page 37 the author wrote, “…be careful when choosing what you’re proud of – because the world has every intention of using it against you”   and used Charlotte Sykes’ typing skill as an example.  Do you agree?  Do you have any examples from your or other’s lives?

6.            Katey found great pleasure in reading.  On page 128 she stated that “…if after finishing a chapter of a Dickens novel I feel a miss-my-stop-on-the-train sort of compulsion to read on, then everything is probably going to be just fine.”  Can you relate?  When was the last time you had that feeling?

7.            On the same page, Katey reflected on the pleasure of simple things and how the loss of appreciating these pleasures is dangerous.  Do you agree?  What simple pleasures are important to you?

8.            On the same subject of reading, Katey discovered Agatha Christie and said that, “Her books are tremendously satisfying.  Yes, they are formulaic.  But that’s one of the reasons they are so satisfying.”   What books do you find satisfying in that way?  What books have you liked because they are not formulaic?  How would you categorize this book?

9.            Katey compared life to a journey where decisions we make along the way alter our life’s course and then to a card game where we must decide what to do with each card until the deck is done (page 323).  How does this describe her life?   Does is describe yours?  What decisions have you made that altered your life’s course?

10.          Did you like the inclusion of Rules of Civility and Decent Behaviour that was carried by George Washington?  How did Tinker’s life follow these rules?  How did it not?

11.          Discuss the writing.  Did you enjoy it?  What were your favorite phrases?  Here are some of mine:

·         Page 40 – description of sandwich, “a little too long on adjectives and little too short on specifics”
·         Page 45 – “fessed up” and “clammed up”
·         Page 78 – “waiting to hoi polloi home”
·         Page 79 – “It is a lovely oddity of human nature that a person is more inclined to interrupt two people in conversation than one person alone with a book.”
·         Page 80 – “I let the silence grow awkward.”

Another Place at the Table, Kathy Harrison

Foster Family:

Kathy (author) and Bruce Harrison

Biological sons:  Bruce Jr., Nathan, Benjamin

Adopted daughters:  Neddy, Angie, Karen

Foster Children:

Karen:   mother Bonnie, brother Ryan

Lucy:  mother Ellen

Sara:  mother Sharon

Therapist:  Sandra Martin

Sara was sexually abused by almost every adult in her life

Danny:  mother Pearl

Danny had no conscience.  Karen was sure that someday he would hurt someone.

For discussion:

NOTE:  All page numbers refer to the paperback edition.

1.            After reading the book, has your view of the child welfare system and foster homes changed?
        

2.            At one point Kathy was working to adopt Karen and find a permanent home for Lucy. 

·         How do you think Lucy (and the others) felt about not being chosen for adoption also?

3.            On page 49 she described the incident where a foster mother left one child in the car and she wrote, “In an instant, with one faulty decision, her life is irrevocably altered.  She will never be the same again.” 

·         Relate this to the incident at the Pittsburgh, PA Zoo where a mother stood her 2-year-old son on a railing to get a better view of the African Painted Dogs and the child fell in and died. (November 2012)

·         Have you ever made an instantaneous decision that could have been disastrous?

4.            Consider the training to become a foster parent.  Kathy said the training she received was useless.  What training do you think would be beneficial?  How can we screen and then support foster families?

5.            On page 36 she wrote, “There are lots of ways to take care of children, and they aren’t all going to be the way I would do it.”    What are your thoughts about this statement?

6.            How can we help natural parents be better parents?

7.            What can we do to help some of these severely damaged children who cannot function in society?

8.            Discuss the Harrison family as a whole.  What were your feelings about Kathy and Bruce’s role as natural and as foster parents?  Is taking in so many foster children fair to the natural children?

9.            One aspect of reading is that we gain insights into other people and their lives, thoughts and feelings.  Do you feel that you now have a better understanding of the background of people you know who are in difficult family situations or who you have read about in the news or in other novels?

Hanging Out, Messing Around and Geeking Out, by Mizyko Ito and others

Chapter	Topics
1 Media Ecologies	Genre of Participation: Hanging Out – activities include keeping in touch, listening to music, contacting friends, texting, not productive   Messing Around – More intense; looking for information, “fortuitous searching;” learning through trial and error (no concern about mistakes); need access and time Common activities to reading – making, adjusting and confirming predictions also  predictions about how to navigate text on line   Geeking Out – Very intense, often on one subject; require high level of specialized knowledge; willingness to bend or break social and technological rules; requires time, access, resources and ability to connect with community of experts
2 Friendship	New media is important to develop and maintain friends Similar to the 1980s malls 1950s were start of the separate teen culture With new media, teens can extend status negotiations as well as drama when away from school On-line and in-person considered the same Usually do not connect with new people through new media – mostly used to communicate with current friends. One new aspect – forced and public announcements of social connections
3 Intimacy	Dating is less formal than in the 1970s and 1980s Pairs are in constant contact with each other Status is public – both when become connected and when break-up
4 Families	Parental concerns: Have lost control – kids too dependent on devices Spend too much time with friends and devices Less fact-to-face interactions   One issue – location of media in home Mom still mostly in charge
5 Gaming	There is little evidence that violent games cause aggression Five genres of gaming: Killing time, solitary Hanging out – social Recreational gaming – more males, more intense, more difficult games Organizing and mobilizing – play in organized groups Augmented game play – expand time to other texts such as cheat sheets, fan sites, also sometimes remake and customize game
6 Creative Production	Learning Development of skills New forms of literacy Peer feedback and evaluation
7 Work	Activities seen as serious and productive work Preparation for future jobs and careers Out-of-school media programs: Form of remedial classwork Vocational training? Lower income students experiences very different from those of higher income and from highly educated families
8 Conclusion	The authors concluded that “Kids’ participation in networked publics suggests some new ways of thinking about the role of public education….what would it mean to think of education as a process of guiding kids’ participation in public life more generally, a public life that includes social, recreational, and civic engagement?”  (page 352-3)

 For discussion:

NOTE:  All page numbers are from hardback edition.

1.            How different is friendship with new media than when you were in school?  Consider the following:

                       ·        Drama

·         Boyfriend/girlfriend connections

·         Breaking-up with significant other

·         Gossip

·         Bullying

2.            Two questions the study sought to answer were:

·         “How are new media being taken up by youth practices and agendas?” (Page 339)

·         “How do these practices change the dynamics of youth-adult negotiations over literacy, learning and authoritative knowledge?”  (Page 339)

What are the answers?

3.            Why do you think the teens choose the names they did when they did not want to use their own name?   For example, AbsoluteDestiny, NubMuffin and orangefizzy.   What name would you choose for yourself?

4.            In chapter 6, Creative Production, there were many positive activities that correspond to what many try to do in  and out of the classroom to enhance learning.   These include out-of-school learning, access to a wide range     of  experts, collaboration, peer-based learning and peer evaluation.   Can we use this interest and motivation in the classroom?

5.            Did the description of everything involved in gaming (page 232) as well as the collaborative effort to kill Tiamat (page 326) change your opinion of “gamers?”

6.            Discuss your reading experience.  Did it give you any insights into your students’ reading?  How would your experience have been different, or how was it different, reading the book as an ebook?

 

Collapse: How Societies Chose to Fail or Succeed, by Jared Diamond

There are some blank spaces here!  Feel free to fill them in on your own!

Chapter	Important Points
Prologue	Controversy:  We don’t want to admit that past people have contributed to their own fall Five-part framework: 1. The damage people inflict on the environment 2. Climate change 3. Hostile neighbors 4. Decreased support of friendly neighbors 5. Society’s response to problems
Chapter 1 Montana, Bitterroot Valley	Six problems: 1. Mining and toxic waste 2. Logging and deforestation 3. Soils 4. Water 5. Native and non-native plants and animals *All cause economic problems 6. Polarization between various population groups  (i.e., old-timers and newcomers)
Part Two – Past Societies
Chapter 2 Easter Island	Causes of collapse: 1. Human impact on environment (deforestation and loss of bird population) 2. Political, social and religious factors behind the above two problems Vocabulary:  moai =  statues, ahu = platforms, pukao = red head piece
Chapter 3 Pitcairn and Henderson Islands	Mangareva declined due to environmental problems Pitcairn and Henderson (depended on Mangareva for trade) unable to survive on own
Chapter 4 Anasazi	Causes of collapse: 1. Deforestation and water problems 2. Climate change – rainfall amount and temperature 3. Internal trade with friendly trade partners – too interdependent 4. Society’s response
Chapter 5 Maya	1. Damaged environment (deforestation and erosion) 2. Climate change 3. Hostile neighbors 4. Political and cultural factors
Chapter 6 Vikings
Chapter 7 Norse – Greenland I
Chapter 8 Norse – Greenland II
Chapter 9 Paths To Success
Part Three – Modern Societies
Chapter 10 Rwanda	1. High population 2. No soil management 3. Inequality in land ownership Other: Hutu/Tutsi, economic crisis, falling coffee prices, displacement of young men, political fighting for power
Chapter 11 Dominican Rep. & Haiti
Chapter 12 China
Chapter 13 Australia
Part Four – Practical Lessons
Chapter 14 Why Bad Decisions?	1. Failure to anticipate problem before it occurs 2. Failure to see a problem that is already present 3. Failure to try to solve a problem 4. Failure to actually solve a problem
Chapter 15 Big Business
Chapter 16 Polder	Polders – Reclaimed land in Netherlands Problems facing world today: 1. Destroying natural habitats 2. Humans eating too much wild foods (esp. fish) 3. Wild species becoming extinct and more becoming extinct 4. Soil being eroded by wind and water 5. Fossil fuels last only for few more decades 6. Freshwater being depleted 7.More people use more sunlight and not much will be available for plant growth 8. Toxic chemicals being released into soil, air and water 9. Plants and animals being transplanted to new places 10. Gases damage ozone layer > global warming 11. Population growing 12. More people having more impact on environment
Chapter 17 Angkor
Further Readings	Author’s suggestions for what we can do: 1. Vote 2.Use power of purchasing 3. Draw attention to company’s policies and procedures regarding the environment 4. Talk to others 5. Invest time and money in local environment – set example for others 6. Donate to environmental causes

 

For discussion:

1. On page 507 of the paperback the author wrote, “…First World citizens show no interest in eating less, in order that Third World citizens could eat more.”    Did your parents tell you to clean your plate because of staring children elsewhere in the world?   How can we help others have enough to eat?

2. Given the four reasons explained in Chapter 14 about why groups make bad decisions, can you think of any examples in our society or personally that illustrate one of more of these reasons?

3. Apply the 12 problems in chapter 16 to your local community.  Which of the counter-arguments have you heard?  Which has the most validity?

4. Would you be willing to pay more for products from an environmentally proactive manufacture?  Do you now?

5. What are we/you currently doing to protect the environment?  What more could we/you do?

6. What (if anything) have you learned through reading this book that is making an impact on how you are living?

7. Discuss your reading experience.  Were you able to follow the writer?  How did you proceed through the book?