Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

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. What is our right to privacy on the internet? Is everything we say or do (e.g., comments, posts, and searches) discoverable by others? Should it be?

Teaching Suggestion: Simon is extorted because someone sees his private emails. For many young people, the internet feels like a safe place to be their true selves while paradoxically believing they can remain anonymous. It may be beneficial to expand this question if time allows into a larger research or debate question to prompt deeper thinking.

• This article discusses internet safety as it pertains to kids and families specifically.
• This article from the Pew Research Center discusses protecting personal privacy online.

2. What does it mean when a person in the LGBTQ+ community “comes out”? What are the negative ramifications if someone else “outs” them?

Teaching Suggestion: This question is designed to help introduce the theme of Reintroducing Yourself to the Universe. Due to the sensitive nature of the prompt, a private, individual response may be most appropriate. Information from these or similar resources can help students develop additional context on the topic.

• This handbook provided by the Trevor Project explains to teens what coming out is. The text provides helpful explanations for terms such as gender identity and sexual orientation that may serve as common definitions in discussion of the novel.
• This brief article defines “outing” and discusses the harmful potential effects when one person “outs” another.

Personal Connection Prompt

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

In what ways do your mannerisms, speech, or personality traits change depending on the situation or those around you? For example, what are the differences between your “school self” and your “home self”?

Teaching Suggestion: The theme Individual Coming-of-Age Experiences might be introduced in conjunction with this prompt, as an important part of Simon’s (and others’) coming-of-age experience in the novel is strongly connected to analyzing and becoming comfortable with different facets of identity. It may be helpful to welcome readers to answer the prompt using examples of characters from film, TV, or literature instead of themselves.

• This essay discusses ways to think about self-identity as a network of “selves” instead of one particular set of characteristics.

Differentiation Suggestion: More concrete thinkers might approach the idea of multiple “selves” by creating a list of behaviors and aligning them with a given situation/location. Then, students can discuss how those differences in behaviors may encourage or impact different personas.