Tuesdays with Morrie
Section 1: The Curriculum (pages 1-4)
1. What do you think about the first four pages of the book? Write down your thoughts in at least two sentences.
2. Why is the text at the end of this chapter in italics?
3. Describe Morrie Schwartz’s personality and physical characteristics when Mitch first knew him.
Section 2: The Syllabus (pages 5-13)
1. Describe the effect of beginning the chapter with, “His death sentence came in the summer of 1994.”
2. How might people have missed the early signs of his illness?
3. How quickly does it take the disease to have an impact on Morrie’s life? List the things that Morrie slowly saw “the end of.” List 3.
4. As Morrie faces his loss, what decision does he make about how he will live the rest of his life?
5. What do you think about Morrie’s decision to have a “living funeral”?
Section 3: The Student (pages 14-17), The Audio Visual (pages 18-25), The Orientation (pages 26-31)
1. What effect did his Uncle’s death have on Mitch’s life?
2. How did Mitch learn about Morrie’s condition?
3. Describe the meeting between Morrie and Ted Koppel. How does this help to show you about Morrie’s personality.
4. Pick one of Mitch’s flashbacks. Identify what it is about and why you think it is included in that part of the book.
5. Describe what kind of teacher Morrie was.
Section 4: The Classroom (pages 31-40), Taking Attendance (pages 41-47)
1. Explain what you think Morrie means when he says “Dying is only one thing to be sad about. Living unhappily is something else.”
2. What is Mitch starting to realize about life after his first meeting with Morrie?
3. In this section, Mitch losses his job. What effect do you think this will have on his life?
4. What is the difference between doing something that keeps you busy and doing something that is important? How does this apply to the book?
Section 5: The First Tuesday: We Talk About the World (pages 48-54), The Second Tuesday: We Talk About Feeling Sorry for Yourself (pages 55-61), The Third Tuesday: We Talk About Regrets (pages 62-68)
1. Mitch notes that Morrie keeps up with the news, despite the fact that Morrie’s health is fading. Why does Morrie do this?
2. Do you find more comfort in noise or silence? Give an example from your life.
3. What are the signs in these sections that Morrie’s disease is progressing further?
4. Why did Mitch want to record his conversations with Morrie?
5. Why does Morrie think that no one thinks about “What if this was my last day on Earth?”
Section 6: The Audiovisual Part Two (pages 69-72), The Professor (pages 73-79), The Fourth Tuesday: We Talk About Death (pages 80-89)
1. Morrie reveals that he is not always upbeat. Describe times when Morrie says he is upbeat and times when he is depressed.
2. When Morrie’s mom called for medicine, Morrie pretended not to hear her. Why do you think he did that?
3. How is it that Morrie ended up being a teacher?
4. Write about about Morrie’s quote: “Everyone knows they’re going to die, but nobody believes it.”
Section 7: The Fifth Tuesday: We Talk About Family (pages 90-99)
1. “Love each other or perish.” What are your thoughts on this quote?
2. When people ask Morrie if they should have children, he does not answer them. What does he tell them instead?
3. Write about Mitch’s experience with his brother’s cancer. How is it different from the way that Morrie is dealing with his illness?
4. How does the flashback of Mitch and his brother sledding differ from their relationship now?
Section 8: The Sixth Tuesday: We Talk About Emotions (pages 100-108), The Professor: Part Two (pages 109-114)
1. Morrie is so open and forthcoming when speaking of his own impending death, but he doesn’t tell Mitch that he is unable to eat the food Mitch is bringing him. Why do you think this is?
2. How do you think Morrie practicing “detachment” is helping him with his situation?
3. Why does Morrie want to come back as a gazelle after he dies?
4. Write about Morrie’s job in Washington, DC and how it influenced the rest of his life.
5. How did Morrie influence life on the Brandeis campus? In what way did he help the lives of his students?
Section 9: The Seventh Tuesday: We Talk About the Fear of Aging (pages 115-122), The Eighth Tuesday: We Talk About Money (pages 123-129)
1. Re-read the paragraph at the top of page 118. As a young person, do you agree with everything that Morrie says? Justify you answer.
2. Morrie talks to Mitch about the value of age. Given their discussion, if you could magically become a different age, what age would you be? How do you see your life at that point? Use some of Morrie’s reasoning to justify your reasoning.
3. Morrie talks about the difference between “need” and “want” in our society. (People need to eat, they want a chocolate sundae.) Discuss some other needs and wants of our society. Why do we sometimes confuse these?
4. Mitch learned about the concept of “offering others what you have to give.” Write about one of your experiences doing community service, either at Tohickon or with a different organization.
Section 10: The Ninth Tuesday: We Talk About How Love Goes On (pages 130-141), The Tenth Tuesday: We Talk About Marriage (pages 142-151)
1. Morrie says he wants his tombstone to read “A Teacher to the Last.” Do you think this would be a good heading? Explain.
2. In what way did the death of Morrie’s father, Charlie, prepare him for his own death?
3. Why does Mitch keep bringing food even though Morrie can’t eat it?
4. Mitch’s wife is a talented singer, but, as Mitch says, she usually declines impromptu invitations to sing a song. Why do you think she decided to sing for Morrie?
5. Morrie has five rules for having a successful marriage. Name three of them.
Section 11: The Eleventh Tuesday: We Talk About Our Culture (pages 152-159), The Audiovisual Part Three (pages 160-163)
1. “People are only mean when they are threatened.” Decide if you think this is true, or not true. Then, support your answer with an example from your own life.
2. In what way does the flashback on page 159 help to show Morrie’s personality?
3. The section about Morrie’s final interview with Ted Koppel is only four pages long. What other things do you think Morrie spoke about that are not mentioned in the book?
4. Evaluate the role that you think ABC News played in the final months of Morrie’s life. Do you think they were bothering an old man just to get ratings, or do you think that someone somewhere truly believed that Morrie’s message was important enough to broadcast to the entire country?
5. Write about Morrie’s wife and what she might be going through at this point. As Mitch said, she is a private person, and accordingly does not appear in the book too often. However, what might she be thinking about or dealing with at this point?
Section 12: The Twelfth Tuesday: We Talk About Forgiveness (pages 164-170), The Thirteenth Tuesday: We Talk About The Perfect Day (pages 171-180)
1. In this chapter Morrie talks with Mitch about someone that he wishes that he had forgiven in his life. Explain the situation that Morrie is talking about.
2. What value do you think there was in Morrie telling Mitch to continue to talk to him on Tuesdays after he dies?
3. Explain Morrie’s quote, “Death ends a life, not a relationship.”
4. What is Morrie’s advice to Mitch about Mitch’s brother?
5. What is the moral of the story about the waves?
Section 13: The Fourteenth Tuesday: We Say Goodbye (pages 181-186), Graduation (pages 187-189), Conclusion (pages 190-192), Afterward (193-199)
1. What was your reaction to Morrie’s death? Was it an emotional experience for you? Explain why you think you reacted as you did.
2. After reading the Afterward, what do you think about Mitch as an author and friend?
3. In what way do you think this book will have an influence on your life? Why do you think it is part of the curriculum in Central Bucks?
4. Create two questions that you would like to have asked Morrie.
WRITING PROMPT: What is one lesson you learned from this story? Tell how you can apply this to your own life. How will applying this lesson make your life better?