8. Beginning with paragraph 9, the narrator adds conversation to the narration.

What is the effect of this technique?

It enables the narrator to clearly show the course of events that led shame to experiencing great
humiliation. It allows the reader to “see” the story as it happened.
9. What is the main theme (Lesson about life) revealed in this story?

This story implies that shame/the past/or your circumstances depending on how you view them
have an impact on your present and past. He threw away the mackinaws despite the fact that he
needed it because he was ashamed. The shame the narrator felt followed him right into
adulthood as it didn’t leave him until he was married. He constantly judged himself upon the
standards that had been set by Helene in his mind.
10. In paragraph five, what is the purpose of repeating the word “pregnant”? Is it
implied or stated?
The author uses the word pregnant to create emphasis on the misery he faced in his condition.
The word he uses illustrates how deeply overwhelmed and distressed he was by his
circumstances.
11. Do you agree with the narrator’s comment that ‘everybody got a Helene
Tucker’?

Yes, everyone has a Helene Tucker. She symbolizes the things or events in our past that push us
into trying to prove ourselves time and again. The things we try to overcome that make us feel
unworthy or ashamed.

12. What does Helene Tucker symbolize? Give an example of a Helene Tucker from
your own experience.

Growing up, my step sister consistently told me that I wasn’t really beautiful enough and it
affected how I felt about myself. This resulted in me trying out make up, shopping for clothes
more often and trying to lose weight in order to feel better about myself. However, the moment I
accepted myself, I was able to move on from this issue.
13. The teacher thought the narrator was a troublemaker. Was he really, or was
there another reason for him drawing attention to himself?

He wasn’t a troublemaker. He was just a kid who was trying to prove himself as something more
than the kid in the trouble makers’ chair who couldn’t read, spell or do arithmetic. He wanted to
be viewed as better than the kid that was on welfare.
14. Why did the teacher humiliate the narrator when he announced that his father
would donate fifteen dollars?

The teacher felt that he was trying to cause a scene and she (teacher) must have felt agitated. The
teacher would have handled better by not having to tell the rest of the class that he didn’t have a
father.
 15. Do you think the teacher should have handled the situation differently? If so,
how should she have reacted?

She should have been more sensitive and empathetic to the child. She should have given the
narrator an opportunity to express himself as the rest of the class and later maybe called him
aside to find out about his pledge. It was wrong for her to remind him of his personal problems in
front of others.
16. The narrator states that he thought the teacher liked him because she always
picked him to clean the board on Friday. Why do you think she picked him?

She picked him to make him feel useful. She considered him as a troublemaker and a stupid child
so for her troubles having to deal with him, she picked him to wipe the chalkboard.
17. Did the narrator do the right thing by not going back to the school often after
the shame incident? What kept him away? Do you empathize or do you think that
the narrator was oversensitive?

It wasn’t right for the narrator to miss school after that incident. However, for a kid his age he
may not have had a better way to cope with the shame and humiliation he had been subjected to
by the teacher.
I empathize with this narrator because his personal life was exposed in the cruelest way by an
adult whom he thought liked him.