Jessica silver
asked:
Has anyone seen or can anyone recommend some thought provoking study questions for a book club of undocumented community college students reading The Sun is also a Star? I'll be facilitating book discussion. The students selected the book and plan to see the movie next month. Lots of good themes.
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The Sun is Also a Star was the Community Read of Charlotte Mecklenburg Library back in October 2017 and these were the questions they discussed:
1. Do you believe in love at first sight?
2. “There’s a Japanese phrase that I like: koi no yokan. It doesn’t mean love at first sight. It’s closer to love at second sight. It’s the feeling when you meet someone that you’re going to fall in love with them. Maybe you don’t love them right away, but it’s inevitable that you will.” After reading this phrase, what do you think about the idea of love at second sight?
3. In the book, Daniel is faced with the choice of chasing a career that promises job security and financial stability, or chasing his passion in a field (poetry) that does not hold those same promises. Which “chase” do you think is more important?
4. What pressures do young people face when choosing colleges, majors, career paths, etc.? Where do those pressures come from?
5. Do you consider yourself left-brained (logical, math, science) or right-brained (creative, art, writing)?
6. Do you believe one day can change someone’s life?
7. Are the people we encounter in everyday life – a cashier, a cab driver, a security guard – random acts that happen in the universe or is it fate/destiny?
8. Have you ever discussed someone’s culture with them? What kind of things did you learn?
9. After he tells Natasha to wait outside his father’s store, Daniel talks about how every person should be born with “a Do-Over, a Rain Check, a Take-Backsie, a Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free Card.” Do you wish the same thing, or do you think every moment, even the bad ones, happen for a reason?
10. Do you think Natasha and Daniel ended up together forever after the end of the book?
11. Do you believe opposites attract?
12. Who was your favorite “background character” in the book? (Irene, Donald Christiansen, the conductor, the waitress, Hannah Winter, attorney Jeremy Fitzgerald, Joe, or someone else) Why?
13. What was your favorite part of The Sun Is Also a Star?
I think this book also extends a fantastic opportunity to discuss cultural differences, diversity and immigration. When they're at the Korean restaurant, Tasha shrugs the obnoxious waitress saying that "everyone thinks their way is the best way", but then you read the waitress story and how she arrives to her "This country try to take everything from you. Your language, your food, your children. Learn how to use chopsticks. This country can't have everything." that makes for a very stark contrast.
Talk about hair (p. 129) and cultural opression, talk about heritage, regret and the balance between parents shaping children's lives and autonomy, talk about moving and starting over. This book is an endless pool of deep discussions.
1. Do you believe in love at first sight?
2. “There’s a Japanese phrase that I like: koi no yokan. It doesn’t mean love at first sight. It’s closer to love at second sight. It’s the feeling when you meet someone that you’re going to fall in love with them. Maybe you don’t love them right away, but it’s inevitable that you will.” After reading this phrase, what do you think about the idea of love at second sight?
3. In the book, Daniel is faced with the choice of chasing a career that promises job security and financial stability, or chasing his passion in a field (poetry) that does not hold those same promises. Which “chase” do you think is more important?
4. What pressures do young people face when choosing colleges, majors, career paths, etc.? Where do those pressures come from?
5. Do you consider yourself left-brained (logical, math, science) or right-brained (creative, art, writing)?
6. Do you believe one day can change someone’s life?
7. Are the people we encounter in everyday life – a cashier, a cab driver, a security guard – random acts that happen in the universe or is it fate/destiny?
8. Have you ever discussed someone’s culture with them? What kind of things did you learn?
9. After he tells Natasha to wait outside his father’s store, Daniel talks about how every person should be born with “a Do-Over, a Rain Check, a Take-Backsie, a Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free Card.” Do you wish the same thing, or do you think every moment, even the bad ones, happen for a reason?
10. Do you think Natasha and Daniel ended up together forever after the end of the book?
11. Do you believe opposites attract?
12. Who was your favorite “background character” in the book? (Irene, Donald Christiansen, the conductor, the waitress, Hannah Winter, attorney Jeremy Fitzgerald, Joe, or someone else) Why?
13. What was your favorite part of The Sun Is Also a Star?
I think this book also extends a fantastic opportunity to discuss cultural differences, diversity and immigration. When they're at the Korean restaurant, Tasha shrugs the obnoxious waitress saying that "everyone thinks their way is the best way", but then you read the waitress story and how she arrives to her "This country try to take everything from you. Your language, your food, your children. Learn how to use chopsticks. This country can't have everything." that makes for a very stark contrast.
Talk about hair (p. 129) and cultural opression, talk about heritage, regret and the balance between parents shaping children's lives and autonomy, talk about moving and starting over. This book is an endless pool of deep discussions.
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