5. QHQ: “Ma”
1. Q: What kinds of challenges does Ma face when protecting
Jack from Old Nick no longer takes all of her time and
attention? How does Jack respond to the new environment?
2. QUESTION: How does Ma’s persistence in protecting Jack by
creating an escape plan reveal the internal evolution that is
occurring?
3. Q: From a psychological critic perspective, how has Ma’s
world changed and affected her?
4. Q: Ma finally escapes and returns to the outer world; why
does she attempt suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills?
5. Q: How/why does ma shed the conservation mentality of
Room so quickly in favor of throwing things away?
6. QHQ “Jack”
1. Q: There are many scenes that show that Jack wonders about the
outside world? When does Jack believe that the outside world is real?
2. Q: This chapter reveals Jacks & Ma’s isolation from the outside world,
how does this affect Jack?
3. Q: What are clear signs that Jack has been traumatized by the way
that his mother tried to shield him from living in Room?
4. Q: What is the mental state that Jack is left in after being isolated for
so long?
5. Q: What’s the significance of Ma’s Tooth?
6. Q: What do Jack’s dreams suggest about his psychological state?
7. Questions
1. Explain the dynamic between Old
Nick and Ma. Why does the author
choose not to tell us Old Nick’s
story?
2. What role do you think the media
play in the novel? How does the
media contribute to the trauma.
8. HOMEWORK
Post #34 QHQ Room: Focus on a close
reading of a passage (or passages) that you
could use to do a critical reading through a
theoretical lens. Consider New Critical,
Feminist, Psychoanalytic, or Trauma
Theories. You may use another theory with
which you are familiar.
