Tuesdays With Morrie
6:52 PM
This non-fiction novel has touched and changed the lives of millions who has read and learned from it. it is a book that contains life lessons that are not only useful for my students to answer relevant essay questions, but are also applicable to their latter part of life. Not to mention the fact that many of you had come across this book before, and have already read it. hence, the more reasons to further analyse it.
below are quetions for you to ponder over in reading and appreciating the novel:
1. What is the significance of the pink hibiscus plant that sits on the ledge in Morrie's study. How is it a metaphor for Morrie's life, as well as the cycle of life in general?
2. What does Morrie mean by the statement "Love or perish"?
3. Explain Morrie's idea of "detachment." What does "detachment" mean to Morrie, and how does he use it to cope with his disease?
4. What are Morrie's religious values? Does he steep himself in the theology of one religion, or many?
5. How does Morrie's dislike of the media's role in popular culture contradict his willingness to be interviewed by Ted Koppel for the television program "Nightline"?
6. How has Morrie's childhood affected his behavior as an adult? Explain how each of his family members, including his mother, father, stepmother, and younger brother, have affected his development.
7. What reasons does Morrie give for rejecting the mores prescribed by the popular culture. How has he created his own culture, and what values does it consist of?
8. How does Morrie rationalize his thoughts that aging is growth, and not decay, as most people see it?
9. Explain Morrie's relationship with Ted Koppel. What does Morrie see in Koppel that others fail to?
10. Who inspired Morrie's passion for books and education? What inspired his passion for people? Why did he decide to become a professor of sociology?
and some of the memorable quotes that is worth your thoughts:
-- Take my condition. The things I am supposed to be embarrassed about now — not being able to walk, not being able to wipe my ass, waking up some mornings wanting to cry — there is nothing innately embarrassing about them. It's the same for women not being thin enough, or men not being rich enough. It's just what our culture would have you believe. Don't believe it.
-- You see, . . . you closed your eyes. That was the difference. Sometimes you cannot believe what you see, you have to believe what you feel. And if you are ever going to have people trust you, you must feel that you can trust them, too — even when you're in the dark. Even when you're falling.
-- As you grow, you learn more. If you stayed as ignorant as you were at twenty- two, you'd always be twenty-two. Aging is not just decay, you know. It's growth. It's more than the negative that you're going to die, it's the positive that you understand you're going to die, and that you live a better life because of it.
-- After the funeral, my life changed. I felt as if time were suddenly precious, water going down an open drain, and I could not move quickly enough. No more playing music at half-empty night clubs. No more writing songs in my apartment, songs that no one would hear.
and last but not least...
--'The truth is . . . once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.'
happy reading ;)
below are quetions for you to ponder over in reading and appreciating the novel:
1. What is the significance of the pink hibiscus plant that sits on the ledge in Morrie's study. How is it a metaphor for Morrie's life, as well as the cycle of life in general?
2. What does Morrie mean by the statement "Love or perish"?
3. Explain Morrie's idea of "detachment." What does "detachment" mean to Morrie, and how does he use it to cope with his disease?
4. What are Morrie's religious values? Does he steep himself in the theology of one religion, or many?
5. How does Morrie's dislike of the media's role in popular culture contradict his willingness to be interviewed by Ted Koppel for the television program "Nightline"?
6. How has Morrie's childhood affected his behavior as an adult? Explain how each of his family members, including his mother, father, stepmother, and younger brother, have affected his development.
7. What reasons does Morrie give for rejecting the mores prescribed by the popular culture. How has he created his own culture, and what values does it consist of?
8. How does Morrie rationalize his thoughts that aging is growth, and not decay, as most people see it?
9. Explain Morrie's relationship with Ted Koppel. What does Morrie see in Koppel that others fail to?
10. Who inspired Morrie's passion for books and education? What inspired his passion for people? Why did he decide to become a professor of sociology?
and some of the memorable quotes that is worth your thoughts:
-- Take my condition. The things I am supposed to be embarrassed about now — not being able to walk, not being able to wipe my ass, waking up some mornings wanting to cry — there is nothing innately embarrassing about them. It's the same for women not being thin enough, or men not being rich enough. It's just what our culture would have you believe. Don't believe it.
-- You see, . . . you closed your eyes. That was the difference. Sometimes you cannot believe what you see, you have to believe what you feel. And if you are ever going to have people trust you, you must feel that you can trust them, too — even when you're in the dark. Even when you're falling.
-- As you grow, you learn more. If you stayed as ignorant as you were at twenty- two, you'd always be twenty-two. Aging is not just decay, you know. It's growth. It's more than the negative that you're going to die, it's the positive that you understand you're going to die, and that you live a better life because of it.
-- After the funeral, my life changed. I felt as if time were suddenly precious, water going down an open drain, and I could not move quickly enough. No more playing music at half-empty night clubs. No more writing songs in my apartment, songs that no one would hear.
and last but not least...
--'The truth is . . . once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.'
happy reading ;)
