English 10 Summer Reading Mrs. Hinton Montevallo High School

Tears of a Tiger by Sharon Draper

Answers are dueno later than Wednesday, August 15. Test is Friday, August 17 – 100 points.

  1. Tears of a Tiger begins with a tragic accident--a fatal car crash caused by drinking and driving. The story is then told from the points of view of the group of friends involved. How does this method of telling the story affect the reader's response? What advantages and disadvantages does this method of narrative offer?
  2. Many teenagers drink and then drive with no thought of the consequences. How is Andy like many young people today? How is he different? What makes this book more that just a moral warning to young readers about alcohol and vehicles?
  1. Describe the relationship between the friends in the book. How does Rob's death affect each of the young people individually and how does it affect their relationships as friends? Discuss whether is friendship enough when situations become monumental and overwhelming to young people.
  2. What do you know of HazelwoodHigh School from the descriptions given in the text? How would you describe the building itself, the teachers, the students, the administration, the "feel" of the school? How does it compare to high schools in your community. Why is a high school a good location to discuss serious teenage issues?
  1. Andy's source of physical release as well as a source of serious guilt comes through basketball. He loves the game, but feel guilty that he is given Rob's position of the team--a position that Andy was never good enough for when Rob was alive. How are sports important in the lives of young people? What positive as well as negative results can sports play in the life of a teenager?
  2. Andy's family had numerous problems. Andy's parents loved him, but seemed preoccupied with their own lives, and were helpless to see his pain. Andy could talk to his younger bother Monty, but the six year old was unable to help. How can families learn to cope effectively with tragedy and difficulties. How could Andy's family had been more successful?
  1. Andy's parents send him to see a psychologist to help him "talk through" his problems--to deal with the guilt and trauma cause by Rob's death. How successful are the efforts of the psychologist, and how was Andy able to convince the psychologist that he was effectively dealing with his problems? What serious psychological issues are raised though Andy's conversations with Dr. Carrothers?
  2. Describe Andy's gradual deterioration. Discuss all of the factors that contributed to Andy's suicide. Could Andy's death been prevented? How? What are the reactions of Andy's friends to his death and how do those reactions clarify that life is always a better solution than death?
  1. What are the problems created by discussing the problem of teen suicide and death in a novel for young adults? What dangers and what positive influences can result?
  2. What is the effect of Monty's final words to Andy in the last chapter? What does it say about the choice between life and death?
  1. What do the poems and essays written by the various students reflect about their lives and personalities? Why are the poems and essays an easy way to explain complicated feelings? How can self-expression be used as a tool for helping or healing?
  2. The teenagers in the novel are honest, realistic, and able to express themselves comfortably to each other and to the adults around them. Do teenagers speak two "languages"-- one for themselves and one for adults? Discuss.
  1. What is the effect of the use of modified "slang" in the conversations of the young people in the story? What is the effect of the conversational style of narration, which eliminates the use of traditional quotation marks as the speak to each other?
  1. Explain the title of the novel. What references can be found to "tears" and to "tigers?" Why does the title have one than one possible interpretation?
  2. Many people have asked the author why Andy was allowed to die at the end of the novel. What would have been the effect on the novel if Andy had lived?
  1. Why is tragedy more memorable and more powerful than happiness in a novel?
  2. Imagine Andy's brother Monty in ten years, when he will be the age that Andy was when he died. How will Monty's life be different? the same? changed? How will Monty's parents change in their attitudes toward Monty?
  3. Visualize the next ten years for Keisha, Gerald, and BJ. How will their lives be affected by the events of that year in high school? Create a scene in which they meet at a ten-year reunion. What will have happened to them and why?
  1. You are a reporter at one of the following scenes. Write the story for your newspaper.
  2. Andy's trial for the accident which caused Rob's death
  3. Rob's funeral
  4. Andy's funeral
  5. The grief counselor at school
  6. Write a letter to one of the characters in the book explaining your feelings about the events in the story. What advice would you give Keisha, or Monty, or Andy's parents? What would you say to Andy?