The Bookworm Next Door: The Expanded and Revised Edition (38 page)

1. Why are appearances so important?  What does it mean to each of the characters?  For some of them appearances have a higher value than it does for other characters; What does this tell us about their values?  Which is more important: appearances for the sake of others or for yourself (being happy)?
   
2. How the different characters are viewed based on how they treat other?  How are they viewed based on how they act and what they do?
   
3. Many of Aimee’s actions are later viewed as childish by her peers.  Is it possible that Aimee hasn’t matured at the same rate of her classmates?  Could some of those maturity level differences be because of her family or because of the loss of control she feels?
   
4. Delilah and David both handle loss in their own ways.  How does David handle the loss of his father?  How does Delilah handle her mother leaving?  Is she really as indifferent as she appears? 
   
5. Sex is only mentioned in passing.  Many of the characters do not talk about it and it can be assumed that they do not have sex.  David and Will have reputations based on them having sex, even though it’s implied that David was waiting for the right person and it was hinted that Will had only been with Aimee.  Aimee uses her sexuality to get what she wants.  What does this imply about sex in high school?  Is it always the case that “everybody’s doing it” just because it is talked about?  Are contraceptives fail-proof?
   

The Required Readings

Beowulf

Pride and Prejudice
– Jane Austen

Jane Eyre
– Charlotte Bronte

Great Expectations
– Charles Dickens

The Great Gatsby
– F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Scarlett Letter
– Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Crucible
– Arthur Miller

Frankenstein
– Mary Shelley

The Picture of Dorian Gray
– Oscar Wilde

The Just Because Readings

Emma
– Jane Austen

Mansfield Park
– Jane Austen

Northanger Abbey
– Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice
– Jane Austen

Sense and Sensibility
– Jane Austen

Wuthering Heights
– Emily Bronte

Sarah Dessen

The Mayor of Casterbridge –
Thomas Hardy

Rebecca –
Daphne du Maurier

The House of the Seven Gables
– Nathaniel Hawthorne

Twelfth Night
– William Shakespeare

The Books That Were Referenced

Wuthering Heights
– Emily Bronte

The Hunger Games – Susanne Collins

The Nancy Drew Mysteries – Carolyn Keene

The Babysitter’s Club Series – Ann Martin

Twilight – Stephanie Meyer

The Pretty Committee

Movie References

The Little Shop on the Corner

Pride and Prejudice – 1995

Pride and Prejudice – 2005

Sleeping Beauty

You’ve Got Mail - 1998