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- Did you know anything about this
person/subject prior to reading this book? What preconceived
opinions did you have and did those change after reading the book?
- How did you experience the book? Were you engaged immediately,
or did it take you a while to get into it? How did feel reading it
amused, sad, disturbed, confused, bored? At what point did you
decided if you liked it or not? What helped to make this decision?
- Discuss the plot:
- Is it engaging did you find the story interesting?
- Does the story unfold slowly with a focus in the character?
- Were you surprised by complications, twists and turns?
- Describe James Williams personality traits, motivations and
inner qualities.
- Besides James Williams, who would you say are the key persons in
The Elephant Company? Which of the secondary figures did you like
(or dislike) the most? Discuss.
- Is there a lesson that can be taken away from John Williams
life? What is it and why is it important?
- Does the book have a central theme? If so, what? Does it have
many themes? If so, how do they interlink? Do the themes blend
naturally with the storyline or do you feel the author is using her
characters to labor a particular point? Were there any notable
racial, cultural, gender or socioeconomic factors at play in the
book? If so, what? How did it affect the characters? Do you think
they were realistically portrayed?
- Would you have enjoyed living in Burma during the time of this
book? Explain why or why not?
- What did you like or dislike? Did you like the book? Why or why
not? Did you enjoy it? Is it possible to find a book interesting
without enjoying it? If you didn’t enjoy it what sort of person do
you think would like it? What role did the illustrations, maps etc,
play in this book? Had you read reviews before reading it? If so, do
you find yourself agreeing with the official reviewers or not? One
author complained, after sitting in several book club meetings, that
if a person with a strong personality gave a positive (or negative)
opinion early on, many members seemed to go along. From your
experiences in other clubs, does this ring true?
- How did the book affect you? Did it expand your range of
experiences or challenge your assumptions? Did reading it help you
to understand a person better perhaps a friend, a relative, or even
yourself?
- Were you surprised at the ending? How would you like to have
seen the ending go?
- Compare this book to others Bookies have read? Is it similar to
any of them? Did you like it more or less than other books that
you’ve read? What do you think will be your lasting impression or
the book as a whole? How about the subject specifically?
Thanks to the following web
pages for question help: Westfield Memorial Library,
fabs-bookclub-recommendations.com, readinggroupguides.com, Teaching
Reading in the Middle Grades, bookclubqueen.com, Bellinghan Reads Book
Club Kit, and Book Bundlz.
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