Text Box: Discussion Questions
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          Discussion Questions for BLUE by Joyce Moyer Hostetter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Text Box: Discussion Questions 1.  Is BLUE a good title for the book?  Do you have other suggested titles?  2.  What characteristics did Ann Fay have that helped her to manage the difficult circumstances that she found herself in?  3.  Was it wise of the Hinkle sisters to refuse to let Ann Fay into their home while her household was under quarantine?  Why or why not?  What risks were involved by saying yes?  By refusing entrance? 4.  What risks were involved for Junior and Bessie Bledsoe who continued helping Ann Fay?   What risks would have been involved in obeying the quarantine? 5. What do you think about the concept of risk taking?  What things in life are so important to you that you would risk personal danger in order to preserve or promote them? 7. What diseases might we encounter that are similar to the polio scares? 8.  Vaccines have eliminated polio from the western hemisphere and hopefully will soon remove it worldwide.  However, some people feel that vaccines cause other problems such as cancer or autism.  For this reason they refuse to vaccinate their children.  What do you think about this? 9.  Ann Fay disobeyed some rules (going places when she was under quarantine, sneaking her sisters out of state etc.)  What do you think motivates someone to break rules like this?  Did Ann Fay have good alternatives? 10. Given the times and the circumstances, do you think it was realistic that Ann Fay and Imogene  became friends?  Would this have been likely or would they have kept an emotional distance? 11. In the light of the times do you think the two girls will be able to sustain their friendship after they leave the hospital?  Do you know of interracial friendships that existed during segregation?  How risky were they? 12. At one point in the story, Ann Fay comments that “Being the man of the house while Daddy was gone was one thing but being the woman of the house – that was more responsibility than I could handle.”  Women's roles changed as a result of World War II. What are some examples of this in BLUE?   H    Home