Book club leading went great! Good discussions, lots of laughter and delicious food! If you are ever in Evanston, IL and are looking for great southern-style food, check out Dixie Kitchen. http://www.dixiekitchenchicago.com/ They have real sweet-tea!
Favorite book quote: "I don't like azaleas and I sure didn't like [Gone With the Wind], the way they made slavery look like a big happy tea party. If I'd played Mammy, I'd of told Scarlet to stick those green draperies up her white little pooper. Make her own dam man-catching dress." :)
Showing posts with label Book Club. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Book Club. Show all posts
Friday, July 30, 2010
"The Help" Discussion Questions
I finished up a list of discussion questions like I said I would yesterday. :) Leave free to leave comments on what you think about them. Two questions* are taken from the questions posted on http://www.kathrynstockett.com/stockett-reading-groups.htm; however, I've modified both of them.
1. Can you tell this is Kathryn's first novel? And there's a critique that she is not "qualified" to write from the perspective of a black woman of this time? How do you think she accomplished this task?
2. *What do you think motivated Hilly? On the one token, she is extremely rude to those she dislikes. On the other hand, she a loving mother? How can she live this "double life?"
3. What is the point of children in the book? Is there a difference between whites and blacks and how they view their children?
4. What was the most shocking moment in the book for you? (Without giving away the story, I will say the bathroom incident with Minny and Celia.)
5. *Do you think Mae would have grown up racist like her mother, Elizabeth, had Aibileen stayed to work for them? Is racism inherent or taught through a child's environment?
6. Aibileen said, "She [Celia] just don't see them. The lines. Not between her and me, not between her and Hilly." (pg. 311) What lines did you see throughout the book? Do we have lines in our culture today?
7. What is your take on the title? (Reasoning for the title from character's perspectives on pg. 356.)
8. Was the ending rushed? Possibly left open for personal interpretation?
1. Can you tell this is Kathryn's first novel? And there's a critique that she is not "qualified" to write from the perspective of a black woman of this time? How do you think she accomplished this task?
2. *What do you think motivated Hilly? On the one token, she is extremely rude to those she dislikes. On the other hand, she a loving mother? How can she live this "double life?"
3. What is the point of children in the book? Is there a difference between whites and blacks and how they view their children?
4. What was the most shocking moment in the book for you? (Without giving away the story, I will say the bathroom incident with Minny and Celia.)
5. *Do you think Mae would have grown up racist like her mother, Elizabeth, had Aibileen stayed to work for them? Is racism inherent or taught through a child's environment?
6. Aibileen said, "She [Celia] just don't see them. The lines. Not between her and me, not between her and Hilly." (pg. 311) What lines did you see throughout the book? Do we have lines in our culture today?
7. What is your take on the title? (Reasoning for the title from character's perspectives on pg. 356.)
8. Was the ending rushed? Possibly left open for personal interpretation?
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