FINDING FORRESTER Comprehension Questions



FINDING FORRESTER Comprehension Questions

|1.  During an English class on Poe’s "The Raven," why does Jamal refuse to recite by saying that he had not read the poem? |

|2. Why is Mrs. Wallace told by Jamal’s English teacher that her son is a “C” student with an “A” on the state assessment test? |

|3. Why did Jamal turn to reading and writing after his father abandoned |

|his family? |

|4.  Does Jamal’s peer acceptance depend entirely on basketball? |

|5.  How is Terrel different than his brother Jamal? |

|6. When Jamal finds his backpack in the street, why does he |

|discover comments in red ink in his journals? |

| In one of his red-ink comments, why does Forrester ask Jamal, |

|"Where are you taking me"? |

|8.  By "constipated thinking," does Forrester mean that Jamal’s writing is not clear? |

|9.  When Jamal first knocks on Forrester’s door, why does he take up the challenge to write 5000 words on why he should stay away? |

|10.  After professor Crawford tells his students that William Forrester wrote a masterpiece at 23, why is his first assignment to find out why Forrester |

|wrote only one book rather than questions about the book itself? |

|11.  When Jamal asks Forrester why he is a legend at school, why does Forrester shout at him, "The purpose of a question is to obtain information that |

|matters to you"? |

|12.  Why does Forrester tell Jamal he will go to Maylor because he wants to answer the question about what he will do with the rest of his life? |

|13.  When Forrester asks Jamal if he had read his only book, Avalon Landing, why does Jamal say he couldn’t get past the first ten pages? |

|14.  Why does Forrester not want anyone to know about Jamal’s visits to his apartment? |

|15.  When Jamal asks if Forrester will keep helping him with his writing, why does Forrester agree only if Jamal asks no questions about him, his family,|

|or why he wrote only one book? |

| |

|16.  What does Forrester mean when he tells Jamal, "People are always talking about my book but never saying anything about it"? |

|17.  When Jamal tells Forrester that his book means that "Life never works out," why does Forrester reply that he didn’t have to read a book to learn |

|that? |

|18.  What does Forrester mean when he says that "The first step to writing is writing--not thinking about what you are going to write"? |

|19. What does Forrester mean when he says to write the first draft with your heart but then to rewrite with your head"? |

|20. How does Forrester’s having Jamal type out a copy of his "A Season of Faith’s Perfection" help Jamal to "discover his own words"? |

|21.  Why does Forrester insist that whatever he and Jamal write must stay in his apartment? |

|22.  Why does Forrester warn Jamal that "Bitterly disappointed teachers [of writing like Robert Crawford] are either very good or very dangerous"? |

|23.  Why does Jamal take Forrester to a stadium on his birthday? |

|24.  After Forrester tells Jamal about his brother’s drunk-driving death, why does Jamal quote Forrester’s words, "The rest of those who have gone before|

|us cannot study the unrest of those who follow"? |

|25.  What has Jamal learned from Forrester and Forrester from Jamal? |

|26.  When Jamal realizes that Forrester will not defend him publicly, is he serious giving up writing? |

|27.  Why is Jamal presented with the choice of winning a championship to retain his scholarship? |

|28.  Why does Jamal ignore Forrester’s question about the missed fowl shots? |

|29.  When Jamal goes to the writing contest awards, why does he tell Clare that Maylor will have to kick him out of school--that he will not just walk |

|away? |

|30.  Why does Forrester come out of retirement to defend Jamal? |

|31.  How did Jamal’s writing contest entry, "Losing Family," make Forrester realize that "the one wish that he was granted so late in life was the gift |

|of friendship"? |

|32.  Even after Forrester shows that Jamal’s "Losing Family" was his own work, why does professor Crawford still want Jamal disqualified? |

|33.  Why is professor Crawford overruled and Forrester offered a teaching job? |

|34.  After his death from cancer, why does Forrester want Jamal to have his apartment? |

|35.  In his final letter to Jamal, what does Forrester mean when he says, "I never imagined that I would realize my own dream once again"? |

|Why does Forrester credit Jamal’s coming into his life for realizing |

|his dream so late in life? |

|Why does Forrester leave to Jamal the manuscript of Sunset with |

|"the forward to be written by Jamal Wallace"? |

|38. Why do you think that Jamal will one day become a successful writer? |

“I Am A Rock” and “Finding Forrester” Comparison

Using the chart, compare (how are they the same) and contrast (how are they different) the film “Finding Forrester” and the song “I Am A Rock.” Then, use the information gathered to write a comparison paragraph.

| |Finding Forrester |I Am A Rock |

|Protagonist | | |

|Words/images used to show the | | |

|setting and mood | | |

| | | |

|Words/images used to show the | | |

|protagonist’s characteristics | | |

|Conflict(s) | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

|Solution(s) | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

|Is the solution effective? Why | | |

|or | | |

|why not? | | |

| | | |

| | | |

*This is how you should start the paragraph:

The theme of ___________________ is presented in the song “____________” and the film “____________________.” (Here is where you include your chart information, following the order presented in the chart.)

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