“The Moon and Stars Talk”
Where did Tara Clancy grow up??
Queens, New York.
What country was Ishmael Beah originally from??
Sierra Leone.
What happened to Cole that caused her memory loss??
She was injured while performing a stunt for a television pilot and suffered a serious concussion.
Which theme appears in all three stories: identity, cooking, competition, or technology??
Identity.
Which storyteller wakes up after an accident and cannot remember who they are??
Cole Kazdin in Déjà Vu (Again).
What did Tara’s mother call the long conversations Tara had with Mark??
The “moon and stars talks.”
How old was Ishmael when he became a soldier??
Thirteen.
What did Cole use to record information she was afraid of forgetting??
Post-it notes.
Both Tara and Ishmael enter worlds very different from the ones they grew up in. What broad theme connects those experiences??
Exposure to new environments can change how people understand themselves and what they believe is possible.
Which storyteller spent weekends having philosophical conversations with an older mentor??
Tara Clancy in The Moon and Stars Talks.
Why was Tara nervous about bringing her friends to Mark’s house??
She worried that the differences in social class, lifestyle, and culture would make the visit awkward or embarrassing.
Why did Ishmael have difficulty getting accepted into a school in New York??
Schools asked for records/report cards that he did not have because of the war.
Who returned from Los Angeles to take care of Cole after the accident??
Adam.
What do Ishmael and Cole both hide or lose that affects how other people understand them??
Important parts of their past. Ishmael chooses not to reveal his background, while Cole cannot remember hers.
Which storyteller’s friends believed they needed to teach him how to survive the streets of New York??
Ishmael Beah in Unusual Normality.
What major question did Mark ask Tara and her friends during dinner??
If they could fix society’s problems, where would they begin?
Why was Ishmael unusually good at paintball even though he had never played before??
His childhood experiences had taught him survival skills such as memorizing terrain, hiding, moving quietly, and adapting to his surroundings.
What happened when Cole saw the empty space where the Twin Towers had once been??
She began crying and felt an emotional reaction before fully remembering why.
Compare Tara’s “moon and stars talks” with Cole’s Post-it notes. How does each one help construct identity??
Tara’s conversations help her discover new possibilities and expand her sense of self, while Cole’s notes help her reconstruct information about a self she cannot remember.
Which two stories strongly explore the difference between how others see you and how you understand yourself??
Unusual Normality and Déjà Vu (Again).
You could also accept a well-supported argument involving The Moon and Stars Talks.
What does Tara say the talks ultimately gave her and some of her friends??
Confidence that they had choices and could imagine more possibilities for their futures.
Why did Ishmael choose not to tell his friends about his past for a long time??
He feared they would stop seeing him as a normal child and instead see him as dangerous, frightening, or adult-like.
What does Cole realize at the end about herself, even when she did not have her memories??
She was still herself; losing her memories did not completely erase her identity.
All three stories ask some version of the question “What makes you who you are?” Give one different answer suggested by each story.
No Right Answer ;)
All three storytellers experience a major shift in how they understand their lives. Match each person with the experience that helped cause that shift. (you can mention one)
Tara — the moon and stars conversations with Mark.
Ishmael — rebuilding a childhood/life after war and adapting to America.
Cole — losing and gradually recovering her memory.