Write Me Sometime Questions

1. The story begins with the narrators observation that whenever I think of my
father, I think of food. Explain how the changes in the relationship between
the girl and her father are reflected in the changes in what, when, where, and
under what circumstances they meet and eat.
2. The story concludes with these lines: Shes fine, we both said. Things are
going fine. Find another pint in the story where these lines are used. How
does their repetition add to the pathos of the story? Explain the irony in these
words.
3. The narrator is a creative writer and her father is a geophysicist. With a
partner, locate a creative writer and scientist in your community. Interview
each, specifically asking them in what ways their professions are similar to
and different from other professions. In a short essay, use specific examples
from the story to assess the extent to which you think the conflict between
the girl and her father is the result of the differing perspectives of a writer
and a scientist.

Only requirements are to do question #1 and question #2

The Rocking-Horse Winner Questions

1. Write a journal entry in which you first summarize the story. Next describe
your response to the characters and events at various points. Then develop
two open-ended questions you are interested in discussing. Work with others
in the class to develop a structured discussing around the groups questions.
Afterward add one or two paragraphs to your journal entry, incorporating new
insights or interpretations from your discussion.
2. Create a visual representation, such as a collage, collection of objects, or a
sketch, that conveys the overall mood and theme of this story without
including any of the characters. Reread the story closely, noting descriptions
of objects and the physical setting. Then consider the mood, or emotional
setting, of the story. Identify which objects, if any, might play a symbolic role
in The Rocking-Horse Winner and include those in your visual. Display your
work and invite others to comment on your interpretation.
3. The Rocking-Horse Winner is set in an upper middle-class home in England,
early in the twentieth century. Choose a passage of dialogue that reflects this
context, both in the language and speech patterns of the characters and in
the values and beliefs that underlie their words. Then create a new version of
the passage by rewriting the dialogue to reflect a contemporary context of

your choice. Which elements of the story are specific to the context in which
it was written? Which elements are universal?
Only requirements are to do questions #1 and Questions #2