Mcquaid Jesuit High School, 2012-2013

Mr. Siuda McQuaid Jesuit High School, 2012-2013 Sophomore English A.M.D.G.

Short Story Worksheet: “The Moustache”

Please answer the following questions about Robert Cormier’s “The Moustache” using the spaces provided; you should use the amount of white space provided to gauge how long each answer should be. Your answers should be well-written, thorough, and draw on specific details from the text.

Question 1: Early the story, Mike states that he has grown the moustache to “prove a point” that he could grow one. What might Mike be trying to demonstrate to himself and other by both growing and keeping the moustache? In addition, even before Michael’s visit to the nursing home, what are some of the problems that his newly-grown moustache is causing him?

Question #2: How does Mike feel about going to visit his grandmother at the nursing home? How does this attiude help the reader to categorize Mike as a “typical” teenager? In addition, what other elements of Mike’s character that the reader learns about before he arrives at the nursing home reveal Mike to be a “typical” seventeen-year-old? Question 3: Why does Mike’s grandmother confuse Mike for her deceased husband? In addition, what incident from her marriage is revealed to Mike by his grandmother?

Question 4: Why does Mike grant his mother forgiveness rather than correct her mistake? What does this decision reveal about his character? Question 5: What does Mike mean when he says that this experience with his grandmother has revealed to him that “she’s a person. She’s somebody” (225)? Overall, how has Mike’s experience at the nursing home changed his perception not only of his grandmother and grandfather but of his parents as well?

Question 6: Why does Mike shave off his moustache at the end of the story? In addition, how does this action help to reveal what the theme of this story may be?