Mrs. Lynch/Daly
Study guide-Ordinary People
Chapters 1-14
CHAPTERS 1 and 2
The novel begins with the line, "To have a reason to get up in the morning, it is necessary to possess a “______."
The narrator mentions ______as a means of expressing what that principle can be .
As the story begins, Conrad Jarrett, a high school student without a guiding principle, is lying on his bed; we learn later that he has been home for ______after spending time in a ______l to recover after a suicide attempt.
He gets up, thinking about how his doctor, ______, told him he would have some bad days.
He thinks that he may be in a recovery "phase" of his life.
Nevertheless, he thinks that he does not have his own "______-nor does he have any motivation to get him through each day, although he does recall a time when he did.
As Conrad lies in bed , Calvin Jarrett and Beth Jarrett are also getting ready to begin the day.
Calvin, who was ______at the age of 11 and grew up in ______.
Cal knows that he can never be accused of being a bad father, because he never really had ______to follow.
Calvin is a 42-year-old ______from Detroit.
.He is concerned about accepting his ______s as a father; he is very worried about his son, but he is not sure how much he ought to push Conrad.
He questions whether Conrad ought to see a ______..
Calvin, Beth, and Conrad all eat breakfast together.
Beth is scheduled to ______in the afternoon, and Conrad mentions that he had to do a book report .
Calvin insists that Conrad call ______., a psychiatrist in Evanston.
CHAPTERS 3 and 4
Conrad goes outside to wait for ______to pick him up for school.
He avoids going back inside for fear of seeing his ______.
. Eventually, Lazenby, along with ______and Dick Van Buren, arrive to pick him up.
We learn that Conrad is currently repeating the ______after failing to take any finals .
They drive past a girl named ______, who is relatively new at the school .
Conrad immediately takes an interest in her, :. Stillman begins to ______at Conrad's interest in Jeannine, but Conrad laughs it off to avoid a fight.
In class, the teacher calls Con, asking him to comment on the lead character in Jude the Obscure, Jude Fawley.
After class, the teacher tells Conrad that she does not want him to ______, but Conrad secretly wishes she would leave him alone.
. Conrad does enjoy ______class; it is the one time he "lets down his guard."
That day, he formally meets ______who is also in choir.
Later that day, at swimming practice, Coach Salan tells Conrad that there is no point to swimming if ______
. Salan asks Conrad if he was ever given ______in the hospital, and Conrad replies that he was.
. Salan expresses disappointment in Conrad's performance and asks if he is willing to work at being a good swimmer again.
Conrad replies that he does want to get better, and he resolves to stay on the team.
That evening, Calvin waits in a ______nt for Beth to meet him for dinner.
Beth arrives, and asks Calvin if he would like to go to ______for Christmas.
Calvin replies that he does not think it prudent to leave the country before ______.
They begin to ______. Beth says that it would do them all good to get away for a while. Calvin believes that their winter vacation the year before was a mistake, because Conrad would have been better at home.
. Beth tells Calvin, "I don't understand you at all," saying that she does not want to live with the past hanging over her head all the time.
That afternoon, Calvin is at work in his law office in Evanston, the city in which Northwestern University is located. He remembers the days when he just started as a lawyer in a one-room office with ______.
.He knows that Conrad has made an appointment to see ______.
CHAPTERS 5 and 6
Conrad stands outside the office of Dr. Berger, waiting to enter for his first meeting with the psychiatrist.
As he waits, he finds a card in the door that reads, "I love you. Is this okay? ______,"
He enters the office and is met immediately by Berger.
Conrad notices in particular the man's ______
. Berger is______and good-natured initially.
He tells Conrad that his office was ______that afternoon.
Conrad begins to fill out preliminary paperwork while Berger questions him about why he is there.
He replies that he has come to see Berger because ______told him to.
They discuss Conrad's suicide attempt and Conrad's thoughts on being home. Berger asks Conrad what he wants to get out of therapy, and Conrad replies that he would like to be more ______.
"So people can quit ______about me."
He says that his ______worries about him mostly (hence his visit to Dr. Berger), but his ______does not worry.
. Conrad then tells Berger about the death of ______a year and a half ago in a boating accident.
Conrad says that talking about his brother's death changes ______.
He has become less social, having lost touch with his friends before going to the hospital.
They agree Con will miss practice and see Berger ______a week.
While leaving, Conrad reflects that the first meeting went well.
CHAPTERS 7 and 8
The action moves to Calvin's office just after lunch, as he reflects on the youthfulness of his ______, named______.
He is distracted by memories of his fight with Beth the previous night .
He thinks back to his childhood and his dreams from his earlier years
. He had always thought about becoming a soldier or athlete, but never a ______.
He decided to go into law after receiving some advice from another tax attn’y ______, who offered Calvin a clerkship.
The lawyer took Calvin on as an apprentice, but things went sour when Cal ______in law school against the advice of his mentor
He then thinks back to the time when he learned of his ______. He remembers that the experience was the first time the reality of death was made apparent to him
He realizes that he "hasn't the least idea of ______, and he does not know how to deal with grief.
He suddenly realizes that the date is November 5, ______who would be 19 years old that day.
CHAPTERS 7 and 8
In a small diner, Conrad is meeting his old friend ______who was in the ______at the same time as him. Karen says that she cannot stay long because she has a ______at school that evening.
He tells Karen about seeing a ______.
Karen too met with one but gave up on it, saying that "the only one who can help you is ______. Well, _____ and God."
The action moves to Calvin, who is relaxing at home on Saturday evening.. As he drinks scotch, he realizes that he has come to ______and more recently to deal with his problems.
Cal and Beth go to a neighborhood party.
Calvin makes it clear that he would rather ______than go to the party.
They arrive nevertheless, and immediately begin drinking and chatting with the other guests.
Some of the guests ask about ______, but Beth answers their questions in a flat fashion so as to reveal nothing about her son.
After dinner, the guests question Calvin more and Calvin tells them that Conrad has been seeing a______.. Calvin senses immediately that Beth is angry that he told the guests about Conrad. Beth says that his outburst was "in the worst possible taste" and a "violation of ______although whose privacy she will not say.
Calvin enters Conrad's room when he gets home to find his son asleep. Calvin stares at Conrad as he lies there, noticing the ______left after the suicide attempt. Calvin is very worried that Conrad may feel like a failure, and he prays that the exams will be easy.
Mrs. Lynch/Phillips Ordinary People Study guide chapters 9-17
CHAPTERS 9 and 10
The next day in school, Conrad is given a ______in trig class. He begins to, worry about a girl named ______e who has difficulty with math.
He sees Suzanne come out of the classroom ______by herself.
. Conrad assures her that trig is useless in real life.
He offers to ______.
Later, in the locker room, ______taunts Conrad, asking him whether or not Suzanne is easy.
Conrad leaves the locker room, swearing off those kids forever.
Conrad then falls asleep and has a bizarre nightmare in which he becomes trapped in ______with a light at its end.
He wakes up screaming, and he feels terrible.
The next day he has another appointment with ______, who tells him that he doesn't "hold stock" in dreams.
Berger asks Conrad to lie on the floor in order to change his ______and "stead[y] the blood."
Berger knows that something is making Conrad ______, and he asks him what.
Conrad confesses that he does not want to ______anymore
The story then moves the locker room after practice.
Conrad overhears their conversation. The young men are going out, and Lazenby says that he wants to invite ______.
Stillman, however, criticizes Conrad for being a "______and tells Lazenby to stop always including Conrad. Conrade goes to Coach Salan and announces his decision to ______.
.Salan is clearly disappointed, and he says that once Conrad quits, he cannot come back.
Lazenby invites Conrad out with the guys, but Conrad declines, saying he must study.
When they arrive at his house, he thanks Lazenby and leaves the car without telling them that he quit the team.
He dreads the night because he is unable to ______.
He suffers serious insomnia, and sometimes thinks that he tried to ______just so that he could finally get some sleep.
CHAPTERS 11 and 12
In their office one day, Ray and Calvin joke about their secretary's problems with her ______.
That afternoon, on his lunch break, he sees ______Carole and has lunch with her.
On his way home that afternoon, Calvin reflects on Beth's ______and the severe problems she had when they first had kids together, and the kids kept the house in shambles.
Beth is easily driven to ______by even minor details that cause mess and imperfection. Nevertheless, Calvin likes the ______Beth brings to the house and his life. Calvin, however, stopped being a perfectionist when he saw that ________NOT perfection rules the world.
That night, Beth tells him that she saw Ray's wife Nancy having lunch.
They have agreed the buy Conrad a ______for Christmas.
.He then ponders the problem of illusions versus ______, recalling a conversation he had once with ______after she learned that Ray had cheated on her with a secretary.
Calvin was told that people prefer illusion to ______twenty to one.
Calvin reflects that he and his family are "______"; that is the only thing that is "permanent."
After quitting swimming, Conrad is concerned about how he will stay busy after school, but he soon finds that he very much enjoys spending time at the ______.. At school one day, Lazenby corners Conrad and asks him why he quit swimming. Conrad says that he felt swimming was a ______.
Lazenby says that he misses Conrad, but Conrad reassures him that everything is all right.
Lazenby tells Conrad that he has been acting "______" lately. Conrad comes out with it and tells Lazenby that he acts "flaky" because he hangs around with "flakes."
"Leave me alone!" Lazenby replies, "The hell with you," and walks away. Conrad suddenly feels ______in his stomach, "
That afternoon, in his session with Berger, Conrad says that he has not yet told his father about ______
He says that he does not connect with his mother, anD that his mother is a very ______.
Conrad says that he neither thinks nor feels anything. Berger asks Conrad what it is that he doesn't feel: "Anger? Sadness?" Berger reminds Conrad that he wanted to get more control. He asks Conrad if he sees any connection between "control" and the ______."
. Berger says that he does not want Conrad to say "I don't know" anymore.
Conrad is mad as hell…Berger tells Conrad to tell him to "______, go to hell, something!" Conrad replies with, "Fuck off, go to hell."
Berger tells Conrad that sometimes he should just feel rather than think, and he needs to understand that sometimes all one can feel is ______.
On a shopping trip after school, Conrad sees ______,
He asks her to go with him for a Coke, and as they walk along she does most of the talking while he worries over where they will go and what they will discuss.
She asks if he has any brothers or sisters, and he responds ______. She tells him he is lucky. On the way home, he thinks back to a ______he took with Buck.
Chapters 13 AND 14
The Christmas season is drawing nearer, and Conrad and Calvin go ______SHOPPING
Calvin happily notices that Conrad has become much more ______and opinionated since the previous year, when he could not ever decide what to ______at a restaurant.
Back at home, they begin to ______the tree, and Beth then states that she heard from Lazenby's mother that ______.
Beth says that she was ______at the time because she did not know Conrad had quit.
Beth is clearly ______That Conrad quit over a month ago without even telling her.
.Conrad, growing angry, says that he would have told them if he thought that they ______.
Beth, however, knows his comment is directed more at her than at Calvin. Beth says she will not stand it if Conrad begins lying again and disappearing for hours as he did before the suicide attempt.
Conrad tells Beth to go to ______.
He says that the only reason Beth cares about him quitting swimming is "because ______.
Conrad explodes, shouting at Beth for her coldness and her refusal to ______in the hospital.
Conrad runs up to his room and slams the door. Calvin begins to follow him, but Beth yells at him for always going up to ______.
Calvin again asks her to come up with him, Beth refuses.
Upstairs, Conrad apologizes to Calvin for his actions, but he feels unable to apologize to ______.
The next day, Conrad feels guilty. He finds solace, however, in his ______which he really enjoys. He knows, however, that his love for older, optimistic music has faded permanently ever since his suicide attempt.
That afternoon, in Berger's office, Berger tells Conrad that he should stop ______, because that is how they keep resurfacing.
Berger points out that everything was going okay until the fight with ______.
Berger tells Conrad that he should try to speak with her about it. Conrad says that Beth will never forgive him ______attempt, and he sees that lack of forgiveness as a huge obstacle.
Conrad then feels a revelation as it occurs to him that perhaps he should forgive ______rather than wait for Beth to forgive him.
Berger tells Conrad to recognize her ______He suggests that the suicide attempt may have been an effort on the part of Conrad to one-up his mother.
Chapter 15
It is Christmas Day, and Howard and Ellen, Beth's ______, are at the house.
The holiday season also brings to mind the loss of ______.
They all go outside to show Conrad his present: a ______.
Conrad seems reserved, however, although he is grateful. Howard cannot help but to reflect on how Conrad has grown.
That night, however, Calvin thinks only that "grief is ugly."
Beth tells Calvin that he ______too much about Conrad;
Calvin replies that Beth does not worry enough.
Calvin is ready to respond but decides not to.
He is instead apologetic, silently wondering why the family cannot just talk about things and ______together rather than separately.
Chapter 16
Conrad decides that he needs to work on: finals, exercise, friendships, a job, guitar, books and girls.
.He knows that he needs to find new friends; the old are no longer that interested in him.
He also knows that he needs to make money.
. He also has an insatiable appetite for learning on his own and reading.
He decides that working at the library might be beneficial.
He asks about employment at the front desk, but he is told that the library is fully staffed.
On his way out to his car, he notices a girl looking at him. She tells him that he is good-looking.
He spends lots of time wondering if she is right. He tells Berger … This leads to a discussion of Conrad's sexuality and his sudden awareness of girls .
Berger suggests that he ask out either Karen or Jeannine.
chapter 17-
The scene opens on Con’s______.
.He is cleaning out the garage with ______before celebrating.
The two of them take a lunch break and chat about guitar, cleaning, and ______.
Conrad takes Calvin into the rec room and shows him where he and Buck had ______on the wall when they didn't feel like doing housework.
Back upstairs again, Calvin brings up the subject of ______, and asks Conrad if it is all right for him to see Berger.
Calvin says he wants to get some things straight in his own mind.
Cal then thinks about his relationship with Beth. He knows that they only open up to one another during ______; he can tell more and more that there is something ______between them.
He thinks again of Buck and the time Buck broke his arm, but he knows that Buck never ______about anything.