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Tuesdays with morrie


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TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE


Reading Group Guide

 





Questions for discussion

Let's talk about Mitch and Morrie

1. Did your opinion about Mitch change as the book went on? In what way?

2. Who do you think got more out of their Tuesday meetings, Mitch or Morrie? In what ways? How do you think each would answer this question?

3. Do you think Mitch would have come back to Morrie's house the second time if he hadn't been semi-idled by the newspaper strike?

4. Discuss Morrie's criticisms of Mitch throughout the book. Do you think Morrie should have been tougher on him? Easier?

5. Do you think Mitch would have listened if Morrie hadn't been dying? Does impending death automatically make one's voice able to penetrate where it couldn't before?



Let's talk about death

6. Does this book make Morrie's death a public event? If so, how is it similar to other public deaths we've experienced as a society? How is it different?

7. Morrie referred to himself as a bridge, a person who is in between life and death, which makes him useful to others as a tool to understand both. Talk about other literary, historical, political or religious figures who have also served this purpose.

8. Most of us have read of people discussing the way they'd like to die, or, perhaps, have talked about it ourselves. One common thought is that it would be best to live a long, healthy life and then die suddenly in one's sleep. After reading this book, what do you think about that? Given a choice, would Morrie have taken that route instead of the path he traveled?

9. On "Nightline," Morrie spoke to Ted Koppel of the pain he still felt seventy years after his mother's death. Is your experience with loss similar or different? Does what you've read in this book help ease any of the pain?

10. Morrie was seventy-six years old when diagnosed with ALS. How might he have reacted if he'd contracted the disease when he was Mitch's age? Would Morrie have come to the same conclusions? Felt the same peace and acceptance? Or was his experience also a function of his age?



Let's talk about meaning

11. Try the "effect of silence"exercise that Mitch described. What do you learn from it?

12. Talk about the role of meaningful coincidence, synchronicity, in the book and in Mitch and Morrie's friendship.

13. Morrie told Mitch about the "tension of opposites."Talk about this as a metaphor for the book and for society.

14. Mitch made a list of topics about which he wanted Morrie's insight and clarity. In what ways would your list be the same or different?

15. Discuss the book in terms of structure, voice, and tone, paying attention to Mitch's use of flashbacks and other literary devices. How do his choices add to the meaning?

16. Are college students today missing out because they don't have the meaningful experiences that students faced in the 1960s had? Do you think Morrie thought they were?

17. Morrie said: "If you've found meaning in your life, you don't want to go back. You want to go forward."Is this true in your experience?



Let's talk about religion, culture, and ritual

18. Morrie belived, "You have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn't work, don't buy it. Create your own."How can people do this? How can this book help?

19. As his visits with Morrie continued, Mitch explored some other cultures and religions and how each views death. Discuss these and others that you've studied.

20. To the very end, Mitch arrived at Morrie's house with food. Discuss the importance of this ritual.



Let's talk about relationships

21. Was Morrie judging people who choose not to have kids with his statement: "If you want the experience of having complete responsibility for another human being, and to learn how to love and bond in the deepest way, then you should have children." Whether or not he was, do you agree?

22. Mitch wrote, "Perhaps this is one reason I was drawn to Morrie. He let me be where my brother would not."Discuss Mitch's relationship with Peter.

23. Discuss the practical side of Morrie's advice: "Only an open heart will allow you to float equally between everyone."How could this advice be useful the next time you're in a social or other situation where you feel out of place or uncomfortable?

24. Morrie said that in marriage, "Your values must be alike."In what ways to you agree or disagree?

25. Would Morrie's lessons have carried less weight if Mitch and Peter hadn't resumed contact by the book's end?



Recommended reading

Robert Fulghum: All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten



Tuesdays With Morrie
by Mitch Albom

List Price: $21.00
Pages: 192
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 0385484518
Publisher: Doubleday










To paraphrase the poet Robert Burns, "The best-laid plans of mice and men often go astray." But maybe some of us have to go astray to land eventually on target.

Take Mitch Albom. As a young man graduating from Brandeis University, he made promises easily. Keeping them was another story. "You'll stay in touch?", his sociology professor Morrie Schwartz asked him on graduation day in 1979. Mitch answered his favorite professor, his mentor, his friend, without hesitation, "Of course."

Fast-forward sixteen years to Mitch's life as a successful newspaper sports columnist and broadcast journalist. Adept at juggling phone calls, faxes, interviews, problems, often it seems while driving too fast to another appointment on an overloaded docket, Mitch has a wonderful wife but no time to spend with her, a beautiful house on a hill, a stock portfolio, and a brother he hasn't talked to in years. He lives on a deadline--too fast is the only speed he knows.

Then, one night, tired from another day into which he crammed too much work, he sits in front of the TV, channel-surfing, and catches the crest of "Nightline." And there's his old teacher and friend Morrie Schwartz telling Ted Koppel he has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Lou Gehrig's disease, and that he's learning how to die. Mitch hadn't seen Morrie since graduation day at Brandeis.

Best-laid plans indeed.

 
The Laws of Nature

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

This story of Mitch Albom and Morrie Schwartz illuminates many universal truths, including this law of nature. And perhaps that law has an emotional equivalent as well. Morrie's illness and death gives Mitch a perspective that directly changes his life. The very success that caused him to neglect the most important things becomes the means to send Morrie's message to all who need reminders of what those things are. Action and reaction--just look at the evidence.

Action: A newspaper strike idles Mitch and makes him question his ability to survive without something that he feels is his "lifeline...when I saw my stories in print each morning, I knew that, in at least one way, I was alive."

Reaction: After a week of sitting home and watching TV, Mitch calls his old friend Morrie and begins a new "lifeline." This one is stronger than the others he's clutched. It's based on what's going on inside Mitch's heart and head instead of what's happening at work or in the stock market.

Action: As the disease progresses, Morrie loses his privacy in the most basic ways. He can't dress himself. He can't feed himself. He can't go to the bathroom by himself.

Reaction: Morrie learns to accept help from others. He shows us a few things about dignity and acceptance as he turns his physical weakness into strengths of the heart, the mind, and the spirit.

Action: Morrie is worried about leaving his family impoverished by his substantial medical bills. This is practical and real concern-the cost of caring for an ALS patient is staggering.

Reaction: The success and the pressure that kept Mitch too busy and preoccupied to keep in touch with his mentor, enable him to gain a substantial advance for Tuesdays with Morrie, thus relieve this anxiety in Morrie and offer some financial assurance to Morrie's wife.

Action: Mitch loses his friend Morrie.

Reaction: Mitch reconnects with his brother, Peter, whom he hadn't seen or talked to in many years.

Action: Morrie Schwartz dies.

Reaction: Morrie Schwartz lives on in the hearts of his family and friends and, now, in the people who read this book.

 
It's Really Very Simple

Morrie's are the most basic lessons, but in a world full of cynicism, consumerism, and disenfranchised people, they need to be given again and again: Take time to stare out the window instead of at your computer screen. Laugh. It's natural to die. Love is how you stay alive.



Morrie Schwartz is our messenger. We listen because he treats us with respect, he makes us laugh, and he's learned "how to give out love, and to let it come in."

top of the page



Let's Talk About Mitch and Morrie


1. Did your opinion about Mitch change as book went on? In what way?

2. Who do you think got more out of their Tuesday meetings, Mitch or Morrie? In what ways? How do you think each would answer this question?

3. Do you think Mitch would have come back to Morrie's house the second time if he hadn't been semi-idled by the newspaper strike?

4. Discuss Morrie's criticisms of Mitch throughout the book. Do you think Morrie should have been tougher on him? Easier?

5. Do you think Mitch would have listened if Morrie hadn't been dying? Does impending death automatically make one's voice able to penetrate where it couldn't before?
 
Let's Talk About Death

6. Does this book make Morrie's death a public event? If so, how is it similar to other public deaths we've experienced as a society? How is it different?

7. Morrie referred to himself as a bridge, a person who is in between life and death, which makes him useful to others as a tool to understand both. Talk about other literary, historical, political, or religious figures who have also served this purpose.

8. Most of us have read of people discussing the way they'd like to die, or, perhaps, have been a part of that conversation. One common thought is that it would be best to live a long, healthy life and then die suddenly in one's sleep. After reading this book, what do you think about that? Given a choice, would Morrie have taken that route instead of the path he traveled?

9. On "Nightline," Morrie spoke to Ted Koppel of the pain he still felt about his mother's death seventy years prior to the interview. Is your experience with loss similar or different? Does what you've read in this book help ease any of that pain?

10. Morrie was seventy-eight years old when diagnosed with ALS. How might he have reacted if he'd contracted the disease when he was Mitch's age? Would Morrie have come to the same conclusions? The same peace and acceptance? Or is his experience also a function of his age?
 
Let's Talk About Meaning

11. Try the "effect of silence" exercise that Mitch described in your class or in your group. What do you learn from it?

12. Talk about the role of meaningful coincidence, synchronicity, in the book and in Mitch and Morrie's friendship.

13. Morrie told Mitch about the "tension of opposites" (p. 40). Talk about this as a metaphor for the book and for society.

14. Mitch made a list of topics about which he wanted Morrie's insight and clarity. In what ways would your list be the same or different?

15. Discuss the book in terms of structure, voice, and tone, paying attention to Mitch's use of flashbacks and other literary devices. How do his choices add to the meaning?

16. Are college students today missing out because they don't have the meaningful experiences that students in the 1960s had? Do you think Morrie thought they were?

17. Morrie said, "If you've found meaning in your life, you don't want to go back. You want to go forward" (p. 118). Is this true in your experience?
 
Let's Talk About Religion, Culture, and Ritual

18. Morrie believed, "You have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn't work, don't buy it. Create your own" (pp. 35-36). How can people do this? How can this book help?

19. As his visits with Morrie continued, Mitch explored some other cultures and religions and how each views death. Discuss these and others that you've studied.

20. To the very end, Mitch arrived at Morrie's house with food. Discuss the importance of this ritual.
 
Let's Talk About Relationships

21. Was Morrie making a judgment on people who choose not to have kids with his statement: "If you want the experience of having complete responsibility for another human being, and to learn how to love and bond in the deepest way, then you should have children" (p. 93)? Whether or not he was, do you agree?

22. Mitch wrote, "Perhaps this is one reason I was drawn to Morrie. He let me be where my brother would not" (p. 97). Discuss Mitch's relationship with Peter.

23. Discuss the practical side of Morrie's advice: "Only an open heart will allow you to float equally between everyone" (p. 128). How could this advice be useful the next time you're in a social or other situation where you feel out of place or uncomfortable?

24. Morrie said that in marriage, "Your values must be alike" (p. 149). In what ways do you agree or disagree?

25. Would Morrie's lessons have carried less weight if Mitch and Peter hadn't resumed contact by book's end?

top of the page


"This is a sweet book of a man's love for his mentor. It has a stubborn honesty that nourishes the living."


--Robert Bly, author of Iron John

"A deeply moving account of courage and wisdom, shared by an inveterate mentor looking into the multitextured face of his own death. There is much to be learned by sitting in on this final class."


--Jon Kabat-Zinn, coauthor of Everyday Blessings and Wherever You Go, There You Are

"All of the saints and Buddhas have taught us that wisdom and compassion are one. Now along comes Morrie, who makes it perfectly plain. His living and dying show us the way."


--Joanna Bull, Founder and Executive Director of Gilda's Club

top of the page

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/morrie/

http://library.sfcc.spokane.cc.wa.us/Tuesdays_With_Morrie.htm


Tuesdays With Morrie

discussion questions

Also:  discussion questions for kids & families



1. Who got more out of their Tuesday meetings, Mitch or Morrie? What did each of them learn as they met?

2. How did Mitch change during the book? Did your opinion of Mitch change? How?

3. Do you think Mitch would have listened if Morrie hadn't been dying? Do we listen to people who are dying in a different way? Do their words carry special importance?

4. How is the hibiscus plant in Morrie's study a metaphor for his life as well as for life in general?

5. Why did Mitch always bring food when he went to visit Morrie? Discuss the importance of this ritual.

6. Does reading this book make it easier to talk about dying?

7. What would you have said to Morrie if you had had the opportunity to visit him? What would you have asked him?

8. Has there been an adult in your life who has had a significant impact on your thinking, your values or lifestyle and who therefore helped you to become the person you are?

9. Morrie referred to himself as a bridge, a person between life and death, which made him useful to others as a tool to understand both. Talk about the literary, political or religious figures who have also served this purpose.

10. What or who inspired Morrie's passion for books, education and people?

 

College Book Homepage



Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

Suggested Classroom Activities in conjunction with the College Book Program



Note: Please look over the entire list, not just your discipline. There are many activities that could be used in other disciplines. Those teaching a foreign language other than Spanish can use the activities listed under Spanish.

Note: Morrie suffered from ALS or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

 

Administration of Justice:

Role play a situation in which a police officer is called to the scene of an accident caused by a driver who has had a stroke or, like Morrie, suddenly has no control over his feet.

 

Anthropology:

Choose another culture, past or present, and research how they view death.

 

Art:

Create a picture or a sculpture depicting a scene from your "perfect day".

 

Biology:

What happens to the body during the progression of a terminal disease such as ALS?

 

Child Development:

Imagine that a child in your care has a grandparent with ALS or some other terminal disease. How would you explain it to the child? How would you suggest the child act around the grandparent?

Morrie lost a parent at an early age. Imagine that a child in your care has come back to you after his/her parent died. How would you expect the child to act? How would you handle the situation?

 

CIS:

Find at least one web site for ALS and evaluate it.

 

Dance:

Morrie loved to dance the lindy and the tango. When were these dances first popular? Demonstrate one or both.

 

Dental Hygiene:

Discuss why dental hygiene is so important among elderly patients.

 

EMT:

Role play a situation in which you respond to an emergency call for someone who cannot speak (because of ALS or another condition). What if the person lives alone or the only other person in the home doesn’t speak English?

 

English:

Write a paragraph about a favorite teacher you have had and tell what made him/her special.

If you knew you had only a year to live and that toward the end you would be greatly incapacitated, how would you spend that year, month by month? What would you do the same? What would you do differently?

If you were to have a living funeral for yourself as Morrie did, what would it be like?

For extra credit, watch the movie "Pride of the Yankees" (about Lou Gehrig) and write a one-page paper about it.

Mitch’s hero from childhood was his uncle. Who was your childhood hero and why?

Pick one of Morrie’s quotes below and write a one-page paper telling what it means and whether you agree with it.


  • "Accept what you are able to do and what you are not able to do."

  • "Accept the past as past, without denying it or discarding it."

  • "Learn to forgive yourself and to forgive others."

  • "Don’t assume it’s too late to get involved."

For extra credit, watch the movie "Tuesdays with Morrie" and write a short paper comparing it to the book.

What do you think Morrie would have said about the events of September 11?

Would you rather die suddenly or, like Morrie, have a long time to prepare for it?

In the book there is a quote from Henry Adams, "A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops." Do you agree? Can you give examples?

Morrie said, "Everyone knows they’re going to die, but nobody believes it. If we did, we would do things differently." What would you do differently?

One of the women who wrote to Morrie described him as a "prophet". Do you agree? Why or why not?

When Mitch asked Morrie what he would come back as if reincarnated, Morrie replied, "A gazelle." What would you come back as if it were possible?

This was Morrie’s formula for a meaningful life: "Devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning." Using this formula, how would you rate yourself? What can you do to change things?

Morrie’s choice for his tombstone was "A Teacher To The Last". What would you choose for yourself?

 

Fire Science:

What steps must be taken if there is a person like Morrie in a burning building, someone who cannot walk and cannot respond vocally when you try to locate him?

 

Geography:

On a city map of Boston, find the Charles River and Brandeis University.

 

History:

Write a short paper on a famous teacher from another time, such as Annie Sullivan or Socrates.

Morrie’s father came from Russia. Using The Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups, research when the Russians came and why, where they settled, and what problems they faced. If you wish, you may choose another immigrant group instead.

 

Mathematics:

Using Barron’s Profiles of American Colleges in the Reference section of the Library, find some of the colleges and universities in the Boston metropolitan area and make graphs comparing them as to student/faculty ratio, undergraduate/graduate ratio, tuition and fees, percentage of applicants accepted, etc.

 

Music:

Morrie liked to do the lindy to Jimi Hendrix. Find out how to do the dance and try it to Jimi’s music.

Choose two pieces of music to share with the class, one evoking Morrie’s momentary self-pity upon awakening and the other, his feeling lucky to be alive.

 

Nursing:

Morrie described his disease this way: "ALS is like a lit candle – it melts your nerves and leaves your body a pile of wax." Comment on this.

What can health professionals do to help their terminally ill patients preserve their dignity? Or do you believe that this is basically impossible?

Create a timeline for the usual progression of ALS.

Do a professional literature search to find what research is being done on ALS.

Are there ALS support groups in San Diego County?

 

Philosophy:

One year during the Vietnam War, Morrie gave all his male students A’s to help them keep their student deferments. Do you think that this was this right or wrong?

Morrie said, "Everyone knows they’re going to die, but nobody believes it. If we did, we would do things differently." What would you do differently?

Morrie quoted the poet Auden, "Love each other or perish." What do you think the poet meant?

Imagine that you have the chance to write your own obituary. What would you like it to say? What changes can you make in your life to achieve that?

 

Physical Education/Health:

Write a one-page paper about the value of massage in the care of the terminally ill.

Write a short paper about Lou Gehrig.

What are the names of the professional sports teams in Detroit (football, basketball, baseball, hockey)? How did you find that information?

Mitch’s senior honors thesis was about how football has become almost a religion in America. Try your hand at the same topic.

 

Physics:

Stephen Hawking, physicist, also suffers from ALS. Learn about Hawking and his struggle with the disease.

 

Psychology:

Morrie would have agreed with the Barbra Streisand song, " People who need people are the luckiest people in the world." Do you agree? Why?

Dr. Norman Cousins believed that a patient’s attitude determined to a great extent whether he would survive a devastating illness. Who was Dr. Cousins and how was he viewed by the medical community?

Working in pairs, take turns playing the ALS patient. Imagine that you cannot move anything below your chest and that the other person has to feed you with a spoon (try to have real food for this exercise). Describe your feelings as the patient and then as the caregiver.

Instructors: On page 53 in the book, there is a description of the time that Morrie spent the first fifteen minutes of class in complete silence while his students became increasingly agitated. Try this with your class as a means of initiating a discussion on silence. Why does silence embarrass us? What comfort do we find in noise?

Mitch said that his visits with Morrie were like a "cleansing rinse of human kindness." What is there in your life, if anything, that compares to this?

Do you agree or disagree that forgiveness serves the person who forgives more than the person who is forgiven?

Morrie’s friend Maurice Stein was deaf, and Morrie was reaching the point where he could no longer speak. Two friends, one couldn’t speak, the other couldn’t hear. Role play how they might communicate their feelings.

Morrie said that we are brainwashed about materialism. Do you agree? Why or why not?

Morrie said, "People are only mean when they are threatened, and that’s what our culture does. That’s what our economy does." Do you agree? Can you think of any examples for which this is not true?

 

Sociology:

Does our society value older people? Why or why not? Compare our society with another country as to how we treat our elders.

What qualities do older people have that transcend the age barrier?

Visit a senior citizen center or an elderly person in your neighborhood and write a brief oral history on him/her.

Morrie said that our society has a shortage of compassion. Do you agree? Have things changed since Sept. 11?

 

Spanish:

In writing or orally, tell about a favorite teacher you have had and why he/she was special.

Working in pairs, take turns playing the ALS patient. Imagine that you cannot move anything below your chest and that the other person has to feed you with a spoon (try to have real food for this exercise). In Spanish, describe your feelings as the patient and then as the caregiver.

Write a short paper telling what you think Morrie would have said about the events of September 11. Alternatively, have a class discussion all in Spanish.

In the book there is a quote from Henry Adams, "A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops." Do you agree? Can you give examples? Speak in Spanish on this topic.

Morrie said, "Everyone knows they’re going to die, but nobody believes it. If we did, we would do things differently." What would you do differently?

Morrie complained that everyone is in a hurry. Think about yourself. How much do you hurry? When? Why?

 

Speech:

Tell about a favorite teacher you have had and why he/she was special.

Would you rather die suddenly or, like Morrie, have a long time to prepare for it?

Mitch made a list of things he wanted to talk to Morrie about. Choose one from below and speak for 5 minutes.

• Death • Fear • Aging

• Greed • Marriage • Family

• Society • Forgiveness • A meaningful life

In the book there is a quote from Henry Adams, "A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops." Do you agree? Can you give examples?

Morrie said, "Everyone knows they’re going to die, but nobody believes it. If we did, we would do things differently." What would you do differently?

Morrie complained that everyone is in a hurry. Think about yourself. How much did you hurry? When? Why?

 

Travel and Tourism:

What would be Mitch’s options (airlines, times, fares) today in going from Detroit to Boston and back again?





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