The Classroom
Why is Mitch jealous of Morrie?
Morrie has developed real relationships with people
Describe the lesson that Mitch learns while he is London on business and explain how he learn it.
hint: think of bying tabloids
Why does Morrie try to stay caught up onthe news?
hint: think power
Describe how Mitch is changing through these Tuesday meetings.
hint: "a cleansing rinse of human kindness" (page 17)
What does Mitch decide to do in order to preserve his memories with Morrie?
hint: think of a device
What nicknames do Mitch and Morrie use for one another? What do the nicknames imply?
Morrie = Coach; Mitch = Player
Implication - the deepth of their relationship, also the roles that they play for one another
Compare Mitch's culture with Morrie's culture.
hint; what does nothingness stand opposite to?
Explain the connection between the title of the book and the story.
hint: read the title and the story title word by word
How does food serve as a motif in the story?
hint: college years vs current situation
Explain the irony here: "But it was also becoming clear to me - through his courage, his humour, his patience, and his openness - that Morrie was looking at life from some very different place than anyone else I knew. A healthier place. A more sensible place. And he was about to die." (p. 19)
hint: withdrawal
The narration states, "Then Morrie did something that haunts me to this day." What is so disturbing to Mitch?
How does Morrie belive a person gets meaning in their lives?
hint: name at least 3 things that would begin with DEVOTE
Morrie shares an aphorism with Mitch about love. What is the aphorism?
hint: page 16
Would you consider Morrie an optimist or a pessimist? Explain your answer.
hint: physical state vs mind
Does Mitch have any regrets about his life? Explain.
hint: shame, but with vision
Summarise the memory that follows Mitch's promise to come back and visit Morrie.
hint: think of Mitch's reading lists when he took Morrie's classes at college.
What happens when Mitch returns form London?
hint: think of Mitch's role in a company
Explain the experiment that Morrtie carries out at Brandels.
hint: silence
What is happening with the strike at Mitch's newspaper? Relate this to the conversations between Mitch and Morrie.
hint: think of Morrie's love aphorism
Explain the purpose of the last line of the chapter "The list was in my bag when I returned to West Newton for the fourth time, a Tuesday in late August when the air-conditioning at the Logan Airport terminal was not working, and people fanned themselves and wiped sweat angrily from their foreheads, and every face I saw looked ready to kill somebody." (p. 20)
hint: contrasts in life
What does Morrie believe always wins the tension of opposites?
hint: think of a song's lyrics "look on the bright side of life"
List 3 things that you learn form the memory on page 14.
hint: how is Morrie not like Mitch's father?
What is the reader supposed to learn form this chapter?
hint: possession of one's culture
How does Mitch's memory of his junior years in college compare with his experiences with Morrie now?
hint: the trust experiment
How does Morrie's reaction to Mitch's honor's thesis illustrate the tension of opposites?
hint: Mitch is pulled in real life