DISCUSSION QUESTIONS America's First Daughter |
1. If Thomas Jefferson’s
wife hadn’t died, how might he and his daughter have lived different
lives? Historically, Jefferson is said to have made a deathbed promise
to his wife, and in the novel his daughter makes one as well. How might
their lives have differed if they hadn’t made those deathbed promises?
2. As portrayed in the
novel and in their letters to each other, how would you describe
Jefferson and Patsy’s relationship with each other? Was Jefferson a good
father? Did he change as a father over the course of the novel? Was
Patsy a good daughter?
3. Does seeing Jefferson
through his daughter’s eyes make him more relatable as a Founding
Father? How so or why not?
4. The limited choices
women had available to them in the Revolutionary era is one theme
explored in this book. What were the most important choices Patsy made
throughout her life? Do you agree with why she made them? Could or
should she have chosen differently?
5. What did you think of
Sally’s choice to return to Virginia with Jefferson? Why did she make
that decision? What were her alternatives and how viable were they?
6. Another theme explored
in this book is sacrifice. What does Patsy sacrifice in her effort to
protect her father? What did Jefferson sacrifice? What did Sally
sacrifice? What did William Short sacrifice?
7. Why does Patsy think her
father needs to be protected? Why does she think she is the only one to
do it? In what ways does she protect him? What do you think of Patsy’s
effort to protect Jefferson? Would you have done the same thing?
8. How are Patsy’s views on
slavery portrayed in this novel? What factors influence her thinking?
How do her views differ from her father’s or from William Short’s?
9. Why did Patsy decide to
marry Thomas Mann Randolph Jr.? How would you describe their
relationship and how did their relationship change over time?
10. Why can’t or won’t Patsy
cry? Why does she finally cry in the final scene at Monticello?
11. Do you agree with
William that Monticello was “a set of chains”? Why not or how so? Were
you on William’s or Patsy’s side during their fight in the final scene
at Monticello?
12. In what ways did Patsy
shape her father’s legacy? In what ways did she shape our own? In what
ways is she America’s First Daughter? * Some questions from Reading Group Guides.
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