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Questions for Study and Discussion

1. What does Gregory mean by “shame”?

I think he felt uncomfortable about everything that had to happen in his class and why Helen knew he did not have
a father

2. How do the first three paragraphs of the essay help to establish a context for the narrative that follows?

These paragraphs help in a good way because it gives us many details that we should know to write our essay

3. Why do you think Gregory narrates this episode in the first-person point of view? What would be gained or lost if
he instead wrote it in the third-person point of view?

Because he was living this story. I think I would lose the experience of telling this story and meeting great
people

4. Specific details can enhance the reader’s understanding and appreciation of a narrative. Gregory’s description of
Helene Tucker’s manners or the plaid of his mackinaw, for example, makes his account vivid and interesting. Cite
several other specific details he gives and consider how the narrative would be different without them.

I think the details were very good to understand the context because Helen's manners helped a lot and
were very appreciated by Gregory. All these details made this story very interesting. For example, when the
whole class raised funds to help Gregory. Helen felt very sad when she learned that he did not have a father

5. Consider the diction of this essay. What effect does Gregory’s repetition of the word shame have on you? Why do
you think Gregory uses simple vocabulary to narrate this particular experience?

I think he uses the word embarrassment because it was what he felt when Helen knew that he did not have
a father. Gregory did not want Helen to know that he did not have a father or money for this reason he uses this
word

6. How does society still continue to use negativity to keep people down? Why do people feel the need to point out
those who have less or who are different?

I think that some people use this technique to believe themselves superior and feel the need to point out
those people who do not have enough money to buy necessary things to live.

7. Describe a time when you have been made to feel insignificant? How does that experience help you to feel empathy
toward Gregory?

I remember that when my father had to leave the country to look for new job opportunities I was in school
and many of my classmates made fun of me because I was the only girl who did not have my father by my side
and I had to go through many important dates for me without him and that made me feel very bad until I
understood that he had left for the good of my whole family

8. In what ways could Dick Gregory be considered an outlier?

I think he can be considered a great value because he had to go through many difficult situations in his
short life and that is a great admiration
Level 2 - Argumentative Essay Graphic Organizer