1a. What is the weather like the day Minerva and Momma go to the welfare office?
2a. What does Minerva think when the worker asks her mother if she is twelve-year-old Minerva?
3a. What do Minerva and her mother talk about on the way home?
4a. What evidence can you find that Minerva has changed since visiting the welfare office and talking with her mother?
5a. What idea or ideas do you think Paulette Childress wanted to convey through this story? Critique the effectiveness of the story in getting across that message. How effective is the point of view she used? Do you think it would have been more or less effective if told from a different point of view? Explain your answer.
1b. How does the weather contribute to Minerva's experience?
2b. Why might she have these thoughts?
3b. How have their moods changed since earlier in the story? Why might they have changed?
4b. Construct a character sketch of Minerva before the day's events and one of Minerva after the day's events. Then briefly summarize how Minerva has changed due to the day's events.
5b. How have you seen people in real life, in books, or in the movies change as a result of a difficult situation? Try to come up with three examples, such as a child, a middle-aged person, and an elderly person, or a poor person, a middle-class person, and a rich person. With whom do you sympathize most? Why?
Characterization, Dialogue, and Point of View. What techniques does Paulette Childress use to develop Minerva's character? Do you think she was effective? Why, or why not? What does the dialogue reveal about Momma's character? What does Minerva's reaction to the dialogue reveal about Minerva's character? From what point of view is this story told? Whose point of view is it? What would be different about the story if it were told from a different point of view? How would that affect characterization in the story?
Reread "Getting the Facts of Life" and look for words and phrases that characterize Minerva. Using a graphic organizer like the one below, write each item in a separate circle. When you have finished, find in the circles examples of each of the three techniques of characterization. Do any details correspond to more than one category? Which categories seem to overlap? What does this tell you about the point of view used in this story? What details might you not have learned if the story was told from the third-person point of view?
1. Pretend you are Mr. Blue. Write a paragraph that describes what you were doing at the time Minerva and her mother are at the welfare office.
2. Imagine you are a politician running for office in Michigan, where this story is set. Write a position statement describing your thoughts about the welfare system and your ideas for improving it.
3. Imagine you are Mrs. Blue. Write out the arguments you hope to use to persuade your husband, Mr. Blue, to report to the welfare office the following week.
Finding Solutions. Imagine Mr. Blue did not report to the welfare office. In small groups of four or five, talk about Mrs. Blue's options. Use the chart below to list the pros and cons to each of her options. Discuss what steps Mrs. Blue would need to take to act upon each of her options. As a group, decide which option offers the best outcome.
Researching Welfare: Research Log. Using library resources and the Internet, research welfare. Answer some of the following questions or come up with your own. What are the benefits of welfare? What are the drawbacks? Can the system be abused? How has the welfare system changed over the years? Has it gotten better or worse? Based on your research, what are your own thoughts about welfare? Use examples from your research to back up your argument. Share your findings with the class.
Book and print sources:
Internet sources:
Research findings:
Analyzing a Book or Movie. Venn Diagram. Find a book or movie about a young person whose family is poor. Compare and contrast that person's story with Minerva's story. What was the mood in the book or movie you selected? From what point of view was the story told? What types of things did you learn about the characters? How did the book or movie portray characters differently than those portrayed in "Getting the Facts of Life?" Share your findings with the class.
Combining Sentences. Rewrite the sentences below. Combine them to make them smooth and clear.
Example: Momma said someone had to go with her to the welfare office. The children complained.
The children complained when Momma said someone had to go with her to the welfare office.
1. Stella was listening to Little Stevie Wonder. He was singing on the radio.
2. The Blue family had been on welfare. They had been on it for nearly a year.
3. Momma walked to the desk. She answered some questions. She was given a number. She was told to take a seat.
4. I wanted to run. I wanted to cry. I fought my tears.
5. Paulette Childress grew up in Michigan. The narrator of the story grew up in Michigan, too.
6. The man said, "Hey baby," to Minerva. He was drunk. She wasn't afraid because Momma was with her.
7. A girl was sitting near Minerva. She had blond curls. She was drinking a Coke.
8. The welfare worker calls Momma. She tells Momma to come with her. She tells Minerva to come, too.
9. The worker says that eight children are enough for anyone. She smiles when she says that.
10. Minerva doesn't think she wants to be a woman. Momma tells her about having babies.
Choosing the Correct Definition. Review the Words for Everyday Use in "Getting the Facts of Life." Then select the letter of the description that best fits each of the following words on the line provided.
Example: wield a. handle a tool b. give in to someone or something
1. reside click to select answer a. quit a job b. live permanently in a home
2. comply click to select answer a. follow a rule b. answer a question
3. convincing click to select answer a. believable b. ridiculous
4. moderate click to select answer a. extreme b. average
5. eligible click to select answer a. qualified to be chosen b. easily forgotten
6. verify click to select answer a. use abrasive language b. confirm or demonstrate
7. repossess click to select answer a. get possession of again b. acquire for the first time
8. suffocate click to select answer a. deprive of breath b. lead by example
9. surplus click to select answer a. excess b. bargain
10. delinquent click to select answer a. failing to do what is required b. delivered on time
