Guiding Questions The Perks of being a Wallflower

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo
• Leerjaar 4

Guiding Questions

1. What makes this book an epistolary novel? What            does this mean?

1. What makes this book an epistolary novel? What            does this mean?

Epistolary comes from a Greek word, epistolē, which means “letter.” Epistolary is a literary genre pertaining to letters, in which writers use letters, journals, and diary entries in their works, or they tell their stories or deliver messages through a series of letters. Though the usual format of epistolary is letters, writers sometimes use other forms of document such as newspaper clippings and diary entries. Recently, writers also use electronic documents like emails, blogs, radio broadcast, and recordings.

2. What is the setting of the book?

2. What is the setting of the book?

Setting is the TIME and PLACE in which a story is set.

   

Time in this novel is from August 25th 1991 to August 23rd 1992, the first year of High School for Charlie.

Place: at school, at home, at the homes of family and friends.

3. Explain what happens at the Guidance Counselor’s       office when Charlie is in middle school.

3. Explain what happens at the Guidance Counselor’s       office when Charlie is in middle school.

Charlie had to go to the guidance counselor sessions because his friend Michael had killed himself and the were afraid that the few people who had actually liked Michael would do the same. They each had to say a few words. When one of the counselors came to Charlie , he said that he didn’t understand why Michael had done it. The counselor responds that Michael must’ve had problems at home and nobody to talk to. This upset Charlie and he started crying. In the end he had to be picked up by his brother.

4. What happens between Charlie’s sister and the boy        who made her the “Autumn Leaves” mix tape?

4. What happens between Charlie’s sister and the boy        who made her the “Autumn Leaves” mix tape?

Charlie’s sister is pretty mean to boys and to this boy in particular. As a gift he made her this mix tape which Charlie’s sister gave to him. Then one night they were fighting and Charlie’s sister was really winding him up telling him that he doesn’t stand up to his bully (like her brother Charlie did). He got so angry and slapped her across the face (so in the end he did stand up to his bully. This made Charlie’s sister more appreciative of her boyfriend and they spent a lot of time together. On Friday Charlie walked in on them making love in the basement.

5. Write some notes about “Nothing.”

5. Write some notes about “Nothing.”

- “Nothing” is a guy in Charlie’s shop class. His real name is Patrick. In middle school kids started teasing him and calling him Patty. Patrick then said: “you either call me Patrick, or you call me nothing.” And this name stuck.

- Great at impersonations (Mr. Callahan in shop class).

- Has a stepsister Sam (her mother married his father).

- Meet again at the high school football game and start hanging out.

6. Write about what happens when the family watches television       together in the letter dated September 18, 1991?

6. Write about what happens when the family watches television       together in the letter dated September 29, 1991?

Together they watch the final episode of M*A*S*H and it was very emotional. Charlie’s mother and sister are crying and his brother tries very hard not to. Then his father goes into the kitchen to make himself a sandwich and when Charlie follows him, he also sees his dad crying. His father stops when he sees him and makes Charlie promise that it is their little secret.

M*A*S*H 

M*A*S*H (an acronym for Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American war comedy-drama television series that aired on CBS from Sept. 17, 1972 to Feb. 28, 1983. It was developed by Larry Gelbart as the first original spin-off series adapted from the 1970 feature film M*A*S*H, which, in turn, was based on Richard Hooker's 1968 novel MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors. The series, follows a team of doctors and support staff stationed at the "4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital" in Uijeongbu, South Korea, during the Korean War (1950–53).

7. Why does Patrick believe girls like a challenge when picking a boyfriend (Oct. 14)?

7. Why does Patrick believe girls like a challenge when picking a boyfriend (Oct. 14)?

Because it gives girls a sense of purpose. Some girls even think that they can actually change guys. And the funny thing is that if they actually did change them, there’s no challenge left and they get bored.

8. What is Charlie’s teacher Bill talking about when he says, “Charlie, we accept the love we think we deserve” (Oct. 14)?

8. What is Charlie’s teacher Bill talking about when he says, “Charlie, we accept the love we think we deserve” (Oct. 14)?

This is Bill’s response after Charlie has told him about his sister’s boyfriend hitting her. With that he means that Charlie’s sister probably doesn’t think she deserves a ‘good’ boyfriend (one who doesn’t hit her).

9. What does Charlie say about his dad hitting him and his siblings (Oct. 14)?

9. What does Charlie say about his dad hitting him and his siblings (Oct. 14)?

Charlie’s dad was hit by his stepdad a lot and had vowed that he would never hit his kids. He hasn’t except for the one time when he slapped Charlie for making his Aunt Helen cry.

10. What happened when Charlie’s parents left his brother in charge when he was sixteen (Oct. 28)?

10. What happened when Charlie’s parents left his brother in charge when he was sixteen (Oct. 28)?

His brother threw a big party with beer and everything. This couple was making out in Charlie’s room and Charlie didn’t know how to react. Things really got out of hand and when the police came, they found Charlie’s brother asleep on the roof and his sister making out with some senior in the laundry room. His brother got in big trouble and his sister was given a “serious talk” by their parents.

11. Discuss some things that happen when Charlie goes to Bob’s for the first time. What is his and Patrick’s “little secret?”

11. Discuss some things that happen when Charlie goes to Bob’s for the first time. What is his and Patrick’s “little secret?”

- Party is in the basement of Bob’s house where it is really smoky and all the other kids are much older.

- Everybody is really friendly and Charlie doesn’t feel left out

- Bob passes around Brownies, which Charlie takes and which contains some sort of drug and Charlie is stoned.

- He walks in on Patrick and Brad and Patrick makes him promise not to tell anyone. Their “little secret”,

- Charlie lets the air out of Dave’s tires. He has told Sam about the incident in his room and realized that Dave had actually raped the girl he was with. This thoroughly disgusted Charlie who then takes revenge by letting the air out of his car’s tires.

"And in that moment, I swear we were infinite."

For next week

Read 'The Perks of being a Wallflower'
(7 Nov – 23 Dec) and do assignments. 

Guiding Questions

Week 2:
(7 Nov – 23 Dec) 

12. What is “smear the queer” and why does Charlie            talk about it?

12. What is “smear the queer” and why does Charlie            talk about it?

It is a game where one kid is given a football, and then the other kids attempt to tackle him or her. Once the person is successfully tackled, the ball is passed on to someone else. The underlying idea of the game is to gang up on an individual who is different from the others. This game connects to the book's theme of punishing others for not fitting in with society.

13.  What does Charlie say about wanting to become a        writer? What is his first “job?”

13. What does Charlie say about wanting to become a       writer? What is his first “job?”

He is not sure what he would like to write yet. He has thought about writing for a magazine but thinks he would be too starstruck and ask the people he has to interview for their autograph instead of questions. Then he has thought about working for a newspaper but his sister says that newspapers always lie. Charlie doesn’t know if this is true and decides that he has to see when he grows up.

His first job is working for a fanzine called Punk Rocky, a xerox magazine about punk rock and The Rocky Picture Horror Show showings. He doesn’t write for it but helps out.

14. Explain the significance of the letter dated                         November 12, 1991.

14. Explain the significance of the letter dated                         November 12, 1991.

In this letter students are asked to think about what they like and Charlie says he likes Twinkies. He then discusses a science experiment that showed that rats would put up with a lot more pain for intense pleasure than for food. He is not sure of its significance but finds it very interesting. This letter comes immediately after the one in which he describes how much he is in love with Sam (and how much it hurts) notwithstanding the negative things his sister says about her and the fact that she is with Craig.

15. What does Charlie say about the “glory days?”

15. What does Charlie say about the “glory days?”

Charlie thinks about his dad’s glory days, especially a triumphant state championship high school baseball game. Charlie hopes he’ll have old photographs that show his own happy memories.

16. What is the significance of the story tells about                Michael sleeping over?

16. What is the significance of the story tells about                Michael sleeping over?

It illustrates the fact that Charlie doesn’t have many friends. It also gives more background information about Michael. That night they didn’t sleep much but went outside and walked through the neighbourhood with Michael looking into all the houses and asking Charlie about the people living there. He wants to know if the people living there are nice. This makes Charlie suspect whether Michael had problems at home and that may have been the reason why he committed suicide. 

17. What does Charlie say about his grandfather in the letter dated November 23, 1991?