COMMUNICATIONS 12 FULL-LENGTH NONFICTION

My Left Foot – Christy Brown

Name: _______________________
Date: ________________________

UNIT DETAILS

1. Please read the following autobiography and answer all of the questions using
COMPLETE and CORRECT SENTENCES.
2. Point value for each question is indicated in brackets after each question.
3. Use ONLY the space provided. Write your answers on the assignment sheet.
4. Feel free to ask your teacher for assistance.
5. Your Reading Assignment is worth 50% of your mark.
6. Your unit exam is worth the other 50% of your mark.
7. The DVD may be borrowed if available.

My Left Foot – by Christy Brown

A Minerva Paperback 1996

I. Chapter One: The Letter ‘A’

1. Briefly describe Christy’s family of origin. (2 marks) (p.9-)

2. What type of a birthing experience did Christy have? (1) (p.9-)

3. What made Christy’s mother think that something was ‘wrong’ with him? (2) (p.9-10)
4. Describe the Mother’s personality. Give 3 adjectives to describe her and provide an
example for each. (p9-17) (3)

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5. What is the significance of the “letter A” to Christy and his family? (2) (p.16-17)

II. Chapter Two: M-O-T-H-E-R (p.18-25)

1. What method did Mother use to teach Christy the alphabet? (1)

2. What ‘abilities’ has Christy mastered by age 7? (2) (p.18-21)

3. What is Mother’s reaction to Christy’s word “M-O-T-H-E-R on his page? (p.25)

What do you think she is feeling at that moment? Explain. (2)

III. Chapter Three: ‘Home’

1. Briefly explain the importance of the “rusty old go-car”. What does the go-car provide
for Christy? (2)

2. Overall, how do Christy’s siblings treat him? Is this surprising? Why or why not? (1)

IV. Chapter Four: Henry

1. Who or what is Henry? (1)

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2. How does the public at large react to Christy? How does Christy feel about this? (2)

3. When Christy is on the adventure with his brothers and they decide to go for a swim,
Christy wants to go in too. What does this say about Christy’s personality? (1)

V. Chapter Five: Katriona Delahunt

1. What makes the “bottom” fall out of Christy’s world? (1)

2. What other aspects of himself does Christy discover when he loses Henry? (2) p.49+

3. Why does Christy no longer go out to play with his brothers? (1)

4. Why are the paints so vital to Christy? (1)

5. Describe Katriona Delahunt. (2)

VI. Chapter Six: The Artist

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1. How does Christy feel about Miss Delahunt? (1)

2. At 12, Christy wishes to enter his painting in the Christmas contest. True to form, his
mother says, “Try it.” What happens? How is this an important moment for Christy? (2)

VII. Chapter Seven: A Look of Pity

1. Name 2 different ways in which painting are important to Christy. (2)

2. Do you remember being 13? What are some ‘normal’ activities pursued by early
teenagers? (2)

3. Who is Jenny? (1)

4. What is ‘a look of pity’? How is Jenny’s look of pity the opposite of Christy’s
mother’s look? (2) (p.73-75)

5. Explain the meaning of the final 2 sentences in this chapter. (2)”But I knew childhood
had gone. I had seen the hopelessness and futility of my future that day in the back yard
when a child gazed on me with a look of pity in her eyes.” (p.77).

VIII. Chapter Eight: The Prison Walls

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1. What stops Christy from committing suicide? (1)

2. What exciting occurrences are going on in the lives of Christy’s siblings? (1)

3. What new outlets does writing give Christy? (2)

4. How old is Christy? How is his life different than that of a ‘normal’ kid? (2)
he is 17 (p.86)

IX. Chapter Nine: Lourdes

1. Give 3 different examples of revelations (realizations) that Christy has on his trip to
Lourdes. (3)

X. Chapter Ten: The House That Mother Built

1. Quote a line that shows how Christy feels when compared to others. (1) (p.103)

2. What news does Dr. Collis bring? (1)

3. How and why does Mother begin to build a ‘house’ for Christy? (1)

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XI. Chapter Eleven: Flying Visit
1. What news is delivered in London? What are the pluses and minuses? (2)

XII. Chapter Twelve: What Might Have Been

1. At the treatment centre, Christy gets “an education in human suffering”. (p.129)
What does he learn? (129-132) (2)

2. Christy says, “It was true – I hated my own affliction, I despised it. I was tormented,
revolted at the very thought that I had been made different – cruelly different – from
other people. And yet I was soon to realise that it was this very affliction, which I
regarded in my worst moments as a curse from God, that was to bring a strange beauty
into my life.” (p.132). What does the above quote mean? (Restate it in your own words).
(2)

XIII. Chapter Thirteen: The Pen

1. What is the driving force that makes Christy find a new way to communicate? (1)

2. p.144-145
Critique Christy’s first edition of his autobiography. Why is it like that? (2)
“... It is when we are released from the turbulence and feverish activity of day that we fall, without
conscious effort or mental volition, into a reverie mingled with regrets and mellow joys . . . All the happy
and tearful scenes of the forgotten past crowd before our inner eye . . . We re-live again the trials and
pleasures we have been through . . . we recall all our little vanities and pretences . . . We exclaim to
ourselves: ‘This wasn’t me! I was never as reckless as that, surely!’ . . . Yet the past never lies; it is
irrevocable . . . would that it were not so! What an abundance of saints and angels there would be then!.. .
“ (p.144-145)

XIV. Chapter Fourteen: Pride, not Pity

1. What is the schoolroom like? (1)

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2. What are the ‘simple methods’ used to teach Christy to speak? (2)
(p.161+)

3. How do the children who go to the clinic feel about their ‘special education’? (p.164-
65) (1)

XV. Chapter Fifteen: Cliches and Caesar

1. Dr. Collis identifies one overall issue when he sees Christy’s second draft. What does
Christy need to do before he writes again? (1) p. 169

2. Christy tells Francis (his brother) to leave and then Christy himself begins to write out
his own autobiography with his left foot. What word would you use to describe the
mood/emotion? (1) p.175

XVI. Chapter Sixteen: Red Roses for Her

1. Before the performance by Burl Ives, describe the mood. (p.179+) (1)

2. What is Christy’s impression of Burl Ives? (1) (p.180)

3. How does the audience react to the reading of Christy’s autobiography? Why? (2)
p.183

4. Describe Christy’s mother. (4) What kind of a person is she? Give specific examples.

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5. Describe Christy’s character. (4) What kind of a person is he? Give specific examples.

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 6. Discuss ONE of the following THEMES in a brief paragraph. (6)
What idea about ______________ is revealed in the story. What point does the writer
make about that theme? Discuss.

Choices:
 Self-Image
 Communication
 Disability
 Suffering
 Survival
 Attitude

I have chosen the following theme: ______________.

My main idea is _________________________________________________________.

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____/86 marks possible

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