Name: Date:
The Other Wes Moore - Part I
Chapters 1-3
Vocabulary – define each word
Word / Definition14 – affluent (adj)
28 - chasm (n)
28 - evoked (v)
38 - apprehensive (adj)
40 - apathy (n)
48 – quadrangle (n)
48 – entrepreneurial (adj)
52 – nonchalantly (adv)
57 – tableau (n)
62 – exhilarating (adj)
Discussion Questions – Respond to the following questions in complete sentences. Remember to turn the question into the answer. There are no Yes or No answers.
Example: What is the essential question proposed on the back cover synopsis and how does it impact your reading of the book?
Answer: This book questions how two young men of similar backgrounds, circumstances, and from similar Baltimore towns have developed into two diametrically opposed individuals and makes me wonder how my own life’s circumstances have created the person I am today.
1. What is the significance of the title of the first chapter, “Is Daddy Coming with Us”?
2. Why do you think that Wes Moore, the author, begins the book by writing about the fathers of Wes and Wes?
3. What is the significance of the title of the second chapter, “In Search of Home”?
4. What are some of the similarities of the neighborhoods where Wes and Wes spent their childhoods?
5. Describe the differences illustrated between Wes’s, the author’s, school and home communities.
6. Explain the impact of the drug trade on Wes, the felon? How was the drug trade run, and what was Wes’ involvement in it?
Close Reading
After reading chapter 3 a number of themes have become evident in both the Wes’ lives. Discuss some of these themes and tell how they impact the two Wes’ lives.
Name: Date:
The Other Wes Moore - Part II
Chapters 4, 5 and 6
Vocabulary – define each word
Word / Definition70 – abandon (n)
71 – hypocrite (n)
73 – plummeted (v)
81 – vice versa (n)
81 – arbitrary (adj)
82 – contingent (adj)
85 – plebes (n)
86 – fusillade (n)
89 – austere (adj)
110 – sporadic (adj)
Discussion Questions –
1. After reading the preface for Part II what do you think title “Choices and Second Chances” means?
2. Tony was a role model for Wes, the felon. How did Tony’s word and actions present a contradiction for Wes?
3. Like Wes, the felon, Wes, the author, is influenced by the drug trade. Tell how Shea, a runner, almost leads Wes into a life of criminality.
4. On page 96, Wes, the author, explains his new found understanding about respect. Explain the correlation he makes between Shea’s respect and the cadets’ respect for Colonel Batt.
5. Explain the irony of Wes’, the author’s, trip through the woods at the end of chapter 6.
6. Explain the “entire operation” of Wes’, the felon’s, drug operation.
7. Tell how Wes’, the author’s, life had changed from those of his friends who stayed behind in Maryland.
8. Explain the two “safeties” Wes, the author, finds in the woods.