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LITTLE HEATHENS STUDY QUESTIONS |
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Written by David Townsend
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Monday, 06 February 2012 16:51 |
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The Pageturners Library Book Club selection for February is “Little Heathens,” by Mildred Kalish. The discussion will be Feb. 22, at 10:15 a.m., and will be led by Denise Clark.
Discussions are open to all adult readers free of charge. To check on the availability of selections visit the library’s Research and Information Desk.
Study Questions:
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How did Kalish’s memoir enhance your understanding of the Great Depression?
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What differences existed between farmers and city dwellers who through the Great Depression?
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What legacies of this time period exist in your family?
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What comparisons can you make between men’s and women’s roles during this period in American history?
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What did Kalish’s mother teach her about what a woman could expect of life?
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What determined who would manage to get by and who, like the families she escribes, would lose their farms?
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What attitudes toward money was Kalish taught to develop?
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What did it take to fit in within this Iowa community?
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How did you react to the discussions of food preparation featured in the book—from regulating the stove temperature to slaughtering and cleaning the main course?
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What were the benefits and shortcomings of such a labor-intensive use of fresh ingredients and of life without supermarkets?
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Did any aspects of Kalish’s Depression-era cuisine surprise you?
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How did it shape a community to live at the mercy of the seasons without electricity or indoor plumbing? What was Kalish’s relationship with the natural world?
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Early on, Kalish tells us that her mother was a single parent and that the story of her absent father was rarely mentioned. How did her family compensate for the absent parent? How did her mother’s experience of single motherhood compare to that of parents in similar situations today?
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What is gained and lost in a world that favors technology over manual labor?
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In what ways was Millie’s childhood like or unlike your childhood or the lives of children today?
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The family had a cemetery that they tended and visited regularly. Did you admire them for doing this or did you think it was morbid? How, if at all, has the American way of honoring the dead changed over time?
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Were you surprised at Millie’s decision to join the Coast Guard? Why or why not?
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Did Kalish’s memoir leave you with a different impression of the Great Depression? If so, why?
For more discussion questions see:
http://www.readinggroupguides.com/guides_L/little_heathens1.asp
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