Hope Is a Ferris Wheel (23 page)

5.
Star collects a group of friends she didn't mean to when she starts the Emily Dickinson Club. How do they—Genny, Eddie, and Langston—express their friendship to her? What does friendship mean to you?

6.
The first time Star saw the man she thought was her father, she was riding the Ferris wheel at the fair. How does the physical experience of being on a Ferris wheel relate to their relationship? How does Star use it as a metaphor?

7.
Star thinks Emily Dickinson, who had a very sad life, was “writing to make herself happy,” just like her sister, Winter. What are some of the reasons people write? Why does Star? Why do you?

8.
Winter likes to write scary stories, but when her teachers read them, she got in trouble. Do you think the school was right to expel her over her words? Why or why not?

9.
Star is inspired by Emily Dickinson's poem “Hope,” also known as “Hope is the thing with feathers,” and she discusses the idea of hope with many other characters in the book. Which character's definition of hope do you like best? How would you describe hope?

10.
Gloria has been friends with Star's mother, Carly, since they were kids. Over the course of the book, Genny becomes Star's best friend. What are some similarities and differences between these two sets of best friends?

11.
After going to Oregon with Winter, Star finds out that the man she thought was her father really isn't. How does Star think this discovery will change her relationships with Winter and her mother? Does she still think that after she talks to them about it?

12.
Star writes a letter to her biological father, but it is returned unread. She then decides to send him a postcard with a poem she wrote, even though he might never read it. Why do you think she sent him her poem? Do you think this was a good idea? Why or why not?

13.
Star's classmate Jared writes a poem based on Emily Dickinson's “
I'm nobody! Who are you?
”. Read the real poem below:

I'm nobody ! Who are you?

Are you nobody, too?

Then there's a pair of us —don't tell !

They'd banish us, you know.

How dreary to be somebody !

How public, like a frog

To tell your name the livelong day

To an admiring bog !

Star thinks all of Emily Dickinson's poems fit into a few themes: nature, God, death, and truth. Where does the above poem fit? Do you think there should be other categories? What does this poem mean to you? Would you rather be somebody or nobody?

14.
Eddie wants the Emily Dickinson Club to begin with reading “
Because I could not stop for Death,
” also called “The Chariot.”
Later
, he recites a poem by Gwendolyn Brooks for Star. Compare and contrast Dickinson's “Because I could not stop for Death” with Gwendolyn Brooks's “We Real Cool.”

15.
In her poem “A bird came down the walk” (or “In the Garden”), Emily Dickinson uses the word
plashless
to mean the same thing as
splashless
, though it has one letter missing.

A bird came down the walk :

He did not know I saw ;

He bit an angle-worm in halves

And ate the fellow, raw.

And then he drank a dew

From a convenient grass,

And then hopped sidewise to the wall

To let a beetle pass.

He glanced with rapid eyes

That hurried all abroad, —

They looked like frightened beads, I thought ;

He stirred his velvet head

Like one in danger ; cautious,

I offered him a crumb,

And he unrolled his feathers

And rowed him softer home

Than oars divide the ocean,

Too silver for a seam,

Or butterflies, off banks of noon,

Leap, plashless, as they swim.

Can you think of a word that you can shorten to make another word—one that either has the same meaning or means something completely different?

16.
Eddie doesn't care for poems by Robert Frost. One of Frost's most well-known poems is “The Road Not Taken.” How does this poem compare to some of Emily Dickinson's poems about nature?

17.
When Eddie takes over the poetry club, they read the poem “
Dreams
” by Langston Hughes. Compare and contrast this poem with “
Hope is the thing with feathers
.” What do you think is the difference between hopes and dreams?

18.
Eddie's favorite poem used to be “The Bagpipe Who Didn't Say No,” by Shel Silverstein. He never explains why it was his favorite. Why do you think he chose to memorize it? Do you think the poem is humorous, or do you think it's sad?

19. Suggested Activity:
Star writes a
poem
inspired by Emily Dickinson, which makes use of the poet's signature style. Try writing your own poem—using dashes, capitalization, and exclamation points—on one of Dickinson's favorite topics: nature!

20. Suggested Activity:
Create your own vocabulary list, modeled after Star's homework, with ten words that mean something to you. Write one or two sentences that demonstrate the meaning of the word and that also communicate something about your life.

This book was designed by Maria T. Middleton.