Class: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hunger, and Higher Education

Maid received wide acclaim; Class has not yet enjoyed the same critical and commercial success. What are the challenges faced by a sophomore text after a debut text is so successful? What hurdles must the author of a second book overcome?

Stephanie critiques the college students and identifies as a local. What distinctions does she draw between herself and the other college students in order to support this separation?

Though Stephanie knows that Jamie is abusive, she is pleased when Emilia is spending time with her father. How does Stephanie justify this to herself?

A significant component of a memoir is the author’s reflection on past events; often, an author will consider how much they have grown and learned. To what extent does Stephanie demonstrate that she has grown and learned?

To what extent does the text employ an intersectional approach to consider the differences in lived experiences of people experiencing poverty who represent different races and genders?

Descriptions of Emilia’s well-being are very inconsistent; Stephanie presents several conflicting representations of her daughter. What might this suggest about Stephanie’s true feelings and internal state?

Stephanie notes that a large portion of seeking assistance involves navigating bureaucracy. To what extent do the bureaucratic figures that Stephanie encounters seem sympathetic or even human? What separates those who help her from those who do not help her?

In her Goodreads review of this text, Roxane Gay notes, “It’s important, I think, for readers to ask themselves why they would judge her choices. Poverty doesn’t mean you aren’t allowed to make messy romantic choices. It doesn’t mean you aren’t allowed to go to college or get a nice haircut. And so I also admired how this book will serve as quite the mirror for the inherent biases many people hold about who can do what and why.” To what extent does this text “serve as quite the mirror for […] internal biases”?