Reading and Writing Questions to Consider Plot, Character, Setting and Theme In answering the following questions, please identify and cite specific passages and quotations from the text of the story under consideration: “Battle Royal” The story begins with the dying words of the narrator’s grandfather. What is the message the grandfather intends to impart? How does this message create a conflict for the story’s narrator, and how do the subsequent events shed light on the grandfather’s words? Why is the narrator chosen to attend a “smoker” involving the “town’s leading white citizens”? What tests await the narrator when he arrives? What is the purpose of these activities, and what is the intended message of each test? What is the subject of the narrator’s graduation day oration when he is finally allowed to deliver it? What accidental change does he make in the delivery that attracts the crowd’s attention? What difference does the change make in the message of the speech? What “prize” does the narrator receive for delivering his speech? How valuable is this prize in reality? What will be the practical effect on the narrator’s future? The story ends like it began, with the grandfather’s words. What is the significance of the narrator’s dream? What change does it indicate in the value of the “prize’ he received at the smoker? How does this change resolve the narrator’s conflict and clarify the grandfather’s dying words? “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Describe Connie’s character traits. What influences her world view? Consider her self-image, her interests, and her relationships with her family members? How do these factors influence her behavior and her vision of her future life? What are the different sides of Connie? How does her behavior differ when she is away from home? How realistic are her goals, and how do these goals influence her decision to venture “across the highway” to “where older kids hung out”? Is this a place where she belongs? Why or why not? What about Connie attracts the attention of Arnold Friend? How does he learn where Connie lives and what her interests are? Does his behavior suggest anything dangerous or unnatural? What is his purpose in pursuing Connie to her house? How does Arnold Friend seduce Connie? How does his behavior change over the course of his seduction? What insights about Arnold does Connie gain throughout their encounter? Why doesn’t she recognize the danger he represents earlier in their interaction? What makes Connie decide to leave with Arnold? How does he convince her to come with him? What fate do you think awaits Connie once she leaves the safety of home? How does Oates suggest that fate to her readers? Bonus research question: The numbers on Arnold’s car refer to a Biblical passage from the Book of Judges 19:17. Why does Oates include this reference? How does the passage shed light on the theme of Oates’ story? “ ...

1. Reading and Writing Questions to Consider
Plot, Character, Setting and Theme
In answering the following questions, please identify and cite
specific passages and quotations
from the text of the story under consideration:
“Battle Royal”
The story begins with the dying words of the narrator’s
grandfather. What is the message the
grandfather intends to impart? How does this message create a
conflict for the story’s narrator,
and how do the subsequent events shed light on the
grandfather’s words?
Why is the narrator chosen to attend a “smoker” involving the
“town’s leading white citizens”?
What tests await the narrator when he arrives? What is the
purpose of these activities, and
what is the intended message of each test?
What is the subject of the narrator’s graduation day oration
when he is finally allowed to deliver
it? What accidental change does he make in the delivery that
attracts the crowd’s attention?
What difference does the change make in the message of the
speech?
What “prize” does the narrator receive for delivering his
speech? How valuable is this prize in
reality? What will be the practical effect on the narrator’s

2. future?
The story ends like it began, with the grandfather’s words.
What is the significance of the
narrator’s dream? What change does it indicate in the value of
the “prize’ he received at the
smoker? How does this change resolve the narrator’s conflict
and clarify the grandfather’s
dying words?
“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”
Describe Connie’s character traits. What influences her world
view? Consider her self-image,
her interests, and her relationships with her family members?
How do these factors influence
her behavior and her vision of her future life?
What are the different sides of Connie? How does her behavior
differ when she is away from
home? How realistic are her goals, and how do these goals
influence her decision to venture
“across the highway” to “where older kids hung out”? Is this a
place where she belongs? Why
or why not?
What about Connie attracts the attention of Arnold Friend?
How does he learn where Connie
lives and what her interests are? Does his behavior suggest
anything dangerous or unnatural?
What is his purpose in pursuing Connie to her house?
How does Arnold Friend seduce Connie? How does his
behavior change over the course of his
seduction? What insights about Arnold does Connie gain
throughout their encounter? Why

3. doesn’t she recognize the danger he represents earlier in their
interaction?
What makes Connie decide to leave with Arnold? How does he
convince her to come with him?
What fate do you think awaits Connie once she leaves the safety
of home? How does Oates
suggest that fate to her readers?
Bonus research question: The numbers on Arnold’s car refer to
a Biblical passage from the
Book of Judges 19:17. Why does Oates include this reference?
How does the passage shed
light on the theme of Oates’ story?
“The Two”
Who is Sophie and what is her role in the story? How does her
role help to establish the story’s
theme?
What is Brewster Place? What kind of people live there? How
did Lorraine and Theresa come
to reside in Brewster Place?
What is the nature of Lorraine and Theresa’s relationship? How
does their relationship make
them the object of Sophie’s interest?
What is the conflict between Lorraine and Theresa? What does
each want from the other and
from life? How does their relationship impact those
expectations?
How is the conflict between “the two” resolved? What

4. metaphor helps to achieve this
resolution? What does this suggest about the story’s theme?
Reading and Writing Questions to Consider
Plot, Character, Setting and Theme
In answering the following questions, please identify and cite
specific passages and quotations
from the text of the story under consideration:
“The Lesson”
Sylvia, the narrator, speaks in a dialect throughout “The
Lesson.” What does her way of
speaking reveal about her character’s socio-economic
background and education level? How
does this help you to understand Sylvia’s circumstances in the
story?
Sylvia describes her neighborhood (Setting 1) in graphic terms.
What does this description
reveal about the the place she lives and the other families who
live there?
What is the nature of the conflict between Sylvia and Miss
Moore? What lesson does Miss
Moore intend to teach Sylvia and her friends? How do her
choices help to reveal her purpose?
How do Sylvia and her friends respond to visiting Fifth Avenue
& F.A.O. Schwarz (Setting 2)?
What do these responses reveal about their circumstances and
expectations?

5. Where do the climax and resolution take place? Where and how
is the theme articulated in the
story? What “lesson” does Sylvia learn from her experience?
“Two Kinds”
Describe the relationship between Suyuan and Jing-Mei. How
do their backgrounds differ, and
what do these differences contribute to the conflict in the story?
What is Suyuan’s plan for her daughter Jing-Mei? What are the
motivations behind it? What
does this reveal about her character?
What is Jing-Mei’s reaction to her mother’s wishes? How do
her feelings change throughout the
story? What does this reveal about her character?
What is the significance of the story’s title? Where does it
appear in the story? What does it
suggest about the story’s theme?
What incidents comprise the story’s resolution? What insight
does Jing-Mei gain from those
incidents? How do they reveal the story’s theme?
“Everyday Use”
Who is the narrator of the story? How does the narration reveal
her character and the setting of
the story?
How does Mama feel about her two daughters based on her
descriptions of Maggie and Dee?
What does this reveal about her values and priorities?
What is the nature of the story’s conflict? Is it external,
internal, or both? How do the events in

6. the story help to illuminate and resolve the conflict?
What does the climax to the story involve? What do the quilts
symbolize? How does the story’s
title clarify the significance of the quilts to each character?
What is the resolution to the story? Is the resolution satisfying
to all three characters? Why or
why not? What does this suggest about the story’s theme?
“The Two”
Who is Sophie and what is her role in the story? How does her
role help to establish the story’s
theme?
What is Brewster Place? What kind of people live there? How
did Lorraine and Theresa come
to reside in Brewster Place?
What is the nature of Lorraine and Theresa’s relationship? How
does their relationship make
them the object of Sophie’s interest?
What is the conflict between Lorraine and Theresa? What does
each want from the other and
from life? How does their relationship impact those
expectations?
How is the conflict between “the two” resolved? What
metaphor helps to achieve this
resolution? What does this suggest about the story’s theme?