ENTERING THE CONVERSATION

1. Reread the “Seven Ages of Man” speech from Shakespeare’s As You Like It (p. 159), and apply the stages Jaques describes to the characters—major or minor—from two or more texts from this Conversation. In other words, where do the characters fall in his definitions, and why do you say this?

2. Jon Krakauer (p. 125) and Eveline from the story by James Joyce (p. 162) face the difficult decision of leaving behind the known and setting off into the unknown. Compare and contrast their circumstances and motivations. Then explain why Krakauer chose the unknown while Eveline did not.

3. “Zolaria” (p. 144) and “Eveline” (p. 162) are both considered to be “coming of age” stories, in which the protagonists learn to face the world more as adults than as children. What do the protagonists of “Zolaria” and “Eveline” each learn about the world and themselves? How are their coming of age experiences similar or different?

4. The photographs from the Carlisle Indian School (pp. 168–69) and the excerpt from The School Days of an Indian Girl (pp. 170–71) show the effects of change or transformation that is forced on someone rather than chosen by the individual. Compare the powerlessness of the American Indians in these texts with the powerlessness that the speakers in the two Sharon Olds poems feel in the face of their children’s changes.

1. One of the key factors in shaping our identities is the role that parents, guardians, teachers, and other adults play in our lives. Write an essay in which you examine the influence — good or bad — that parents, guardians, or other adults have in the development of the identities of young people. Refer to two or more texts in this Conversation.

2. Do you think that you would be the same person you are today if you lived in a different part of the country or the world, a different time period, or even went to a different school? In other words, how much does the environment around us affect our identities? Respond by considering both your own experiences and those described in two or more texts in this Conversation.

3. Characters in stories, like people in real life, make choices that can lead to positive or negative outcomes. Choose two protagonists from the texts in this Conversation that make difficult decisions. Write a letter or email from one character to the other, offering suggestions on the appropriate choices to make. Then, write a letter or email in response to that character’s suggestion. In both cases, be sure to maintain the voice and attitude of the protagonists in the texts.

4. What is the most significant factor in determining one’s identity? Culture, family, friends, or something else? Refer to your own experiences, as well as at least two texts in the Conversation.

5. Is it better to take risks like Jon Krakauer, or play it safe like Eveline? At what point is too much change too risky, and at what point does too little change become stagnation? Refer to your own experiences, as well as at least two texts in the Conversation.

6. A number of the texts in this Conversation address the transition from innocence to experience. Think of at least two protagonists from the texts in this Conversation. Compare or contrast a transition that you are facing to that confronted by two or more protagonists from the texts in this Conversation.