Two Kinds by Amy Tan s1

“Teenage Wasteland” by Anne Tyler

Study questions 1. What does Daisy, the mother, found out about her son Donny from the principal at the beginning of the story? 2. What does Daisy do for a living? 3. Daisy is worried about the impression she and her husband Matt make on the principal. What does she think the principal thinks of them? 4. What does the psychologist (p. 230) see in Donny? What is his conclusion? 5. What does the tutor ask his students to call him? What is he like physically? 6. What is the arrangement that the tutor and Donny set up? What does Donny think of this? (231) 7. What effect does this arrangement have at first? (232) 8. The tutor calls Daisy and talks to her on page 232. What does he call to say? What is Daisy’s response? 9. What are some of Cal’s “rules”? 10. Who is the teacher who breaks these rules? When she calls Daisy, what does she tell her about Donny? What advise does she give Daisy? 11. When Daisy calls the tutor after talking to the teacher from school, how does the tutor react? What does Daisy say? 12. Who is Miriam? What does she reveal to Daisy about Cal? 13. Where does the title of this story come from? 14. In April, the principal calls to give Daisy what news? Why did this happen? 15. What is Cal’s opinion of all that has happened to Donny? How does Donny explain it? 16. What simple question does Daisy ask Donny to clear up the situation? What is Donny’s reaction? Cal’s? 17. When Donny is removed from tutoring, Cal admits that he has made no progress with Donny. Why does he say that the tutoring has failed? 18. During the first week in June, what happens to Donny? How does his mother react to this? 19. What is the image that the mother sees when she goes to sleep?

Opinion 1. What would you think of a teacher like Cal? Explain. Questions 2. Who is to blame for what happens to Donny in the end? Explain. 3. Why do you think the author titled the story “Teenage Wasteland”? 4. What do you think is the meaning of the final image of the story?

Journal In a half-page paragraph, discuss some aspect of this story in more detail. It could be the words of a character, an event, the theme of the story, a reaction to the story as a whole, the mood of the story, etc. Pick something in here that made an impression on you and explain why it did. Be sure to tie this to your life, your experiences, your thoughts, etc.