First Set of Questions - Week 1

[Mrs. Settle]

Respond to at least two of the following questions. Feel free to post other insights or questions you had while reading the first quarter of the book.

1. There is a telling passage about Mortenson's change of direction at the start of the book: "One evening, he went to bed by a yak dung fire a mountaineer who'd lost his way, and one morning, by the time he'd shared a pot of butter tea with his hosts and laced up his boots, he'd become a humanitarian who'd found a meaningful path to follow for the rest of his life." What made Mortenson particularly ripe for such a transformation?

2. How do you think Mortenson's childhood shaped him?

3. After Haji Ali's family saves Greg's life, he reflects that he could never "imagine discharging the debt he felt to his hosts in Korphe." discuss this sense of indebtedness as key to Mortenson's character. Why was Mortenson compelled to return to the region again and again?

4. Why do you think the villagers in Korphe were so excited about getting their own school? What is unique about having a school, as opposed to other things Mortenson could have built, like a hospital or community center?

5. How is building schools in Pakistan similar to climbing a mountain?

6. How does Relin's telling the story give it a different perspective than if Mortenson had written the narrative himself?

[Taylor]

2-I think his childhood shaped him to be able to accept anything. He lived in Africa and was different from everyone else but he was accepted by them and he accepted them. But then in America everyone thought he was because they thought since he was from Africa he should be African American. These experiences shaped him to be able to accept the people in Pakistan and what they did there. So through his childhood he learned to deal with many different people which helped, I think, to make him a better person.

5-Building a school in Pakistan is very similar to climbing a mountain. You always have obstacles to over come doing both. To climb a mountain you have to get over each ridge and peak to reach the summit. Also you always have the problem of the weather and of getting sick which makes it that much more dangerous. In building a school there is also things to overcome. Since the school is in the mountains you have to find a way to get all the supplies there. Also you have again the problem of weather. Where he was building his first school you had only six months to do it. The other six months were to cold to do anything. As you can now see these things are very similar in their difficulty.