63 pages • 2 hours read
Wes MooreThe Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates
Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 2010A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
After Reading
Discussion/Analysis Prompt
One of the key ideas within the novel is the dichotomy between fate and choice in determining the outcome of a person’s life. To what extent were choice and outside factors, or fate, responsible for the two Wes Moores’ different outcomes? Are their fates as interchangeable as the author suggests?
- In what ways did outside factors related to social, economic, and racial disparities impact these young men?
- What resilience factors did both have access to, and how did these factors contribute to their ability to make choices?
- What choices or turning points did each face, and what contributed to their decision-making at these junctures?
- Given their environments, to what extent did their choices reflect responses to the world around them? Were they in a position to make sound choices? Why or why not?
- What conclusions might one draw about choice and free will after reading this book?
Teaching Suggestion: Students may benefit from written copies of the questions to refer to while discussing. Students may also benefit from previewing questions ahead of time to prepare in-depth answers and refer more directly to the text. Group or personal notetaking may increase information retention.
Differentiation Suggestion: Nonverbal or socially anxious students may benefit from submitted written responses in place of verbal participation in a class discussion.
