Money Hungry

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, in January 2020, there were about 580,000 people experiencing homelessness throughout America. What do you think are the primary factors that cause a person or an entire family to experience homelessness?

Teaching Suggestion: Raspberry’s experience with homelessness shapes her entire personality (and especially her relationship with money), thus testifying to The Lasting Effects of Poverty and Financial Insecurity. This prompt allows students to explore the systemic root causes of homelessness and can help them develop empathy and understanding toward individuals experiencing homelessness in the United States.

• State of Homelessness: 2022 Edition and What Causes Homelessness? are two resources from the National Alliance to End Homelessness to help educate the public about the factors that lead to homelessness.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English language learners and different learners, who may learn more readily via visual resources, particularly when it comes to facts/figures, you may opt to also show the following 7-minute video that features an interview with the CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness: What’s Behind Rising Homelessness in America?

2. The “seven deadly sins” is a concept often associated with Christian theology that names seven human behaviors or habits that are considered deeply immoral. The seven deadly sins are lust, gluttony, sloth, wrath, envy, pride, and greed. Why do you think greed, specifically, is listed among these seven sins? Why is it a problematic behavior?

Teaching Suggestion: A key theme throughout Money Hungry is The Impacts of Greed. Generally, greed as a trait is problematic because it may prompt a single-minded focus to the exclusion of everything else. This narrowness of vision is one of the negative impacts that greed has upon Raspberry’s life throughout the novel. It may be beneficial to connect to other characters in literature or myth (like Midas) whose greed results in conflict.

• A brief article from Psychology Today on “The Grip of Greed”

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the novel.

Many people in your life will come and go, but some special friends and relatives will be with you through both thick and thin, through the highs and lows of life. Think back on your relationships over the years, particularly your longest lasting ones. Next, reflect upon a time in which you were going through a difficult period in life (for example, the death of a loved one, troubles with grades at school, family conflict, etc.). How did your relationships with others help you through this period? What effect did the hardship have upon this relationship overall? Did it bring you closer together or push you apart?

Teaching Suggestion: Raspberry goes through many struggles throughout Money Hungry, and her friends help float her through these challenging times. The theme of The Endurance of Friendship Through Conflict is a primary one in the novel. Having students think about a time when their friends aided them through their own struggle will help them more deeply engage with the meaning of this theme.

In Forbes magazine’s “Hard Times Make for Stronger Bonds and Greater Happiness: Here’s Why That Matters,” a sociologist discusses conditions that promote people to bond in their relationships. (Subscription may be needed for viewing.)