Name: Andra

Class: 3A
Text: Top Girls
Page #s: 41-55

Drama Circles: Moderator

The literary analysis moderator gently steers the conversation, poses questions, and ensures no one is
left out.

Preparation During the Discussion

● Do the reading.
● Make notes about three passages that you
might want to discuss.
● Come up with a list of thought-provoking
questions or topics related to the reading.
● Print your prep sheet before class begins
● Submit this prep sheet to the appropriate
Schoology assignment
● Start by calling on others to share what they prepared.
● Begin with simple clarifying questions before moving
on to more complex questions.
● Keep the discussion active and focused. Pose
questions and probe responses. Think about what
types of questions create good conversation.
● Try to ensure that everyone participates and gets a
similar amount of speaking time.

Flagged Passages.
● As you read, identify at least three passages.
● For each, record where you found it and write some notes, at least 10 words per passage.
o Notes can be almost anything—reactions, questions, general comments, personal
connections, etc.

Passage (and page number) Connections /Analysis

Pg 16: I am the most terrific liar you
ever saw in your life. It’s awful. If I’m
on my way to the store to buy a
magazine, even, and somebody asks
me where I’m going, I am liable to
say I’m going to the opera. It’s
terrible.
● He says lying is “awful” and “terrible” yet he continues to
do it, why?
● Lying is mentioned several times in the text –
foreshadowing? Predictions?
● I’m incredibly honest, so I can’t understand this character’s
propensity for lying
● Theme of alienation – connected to constant lying?

Pg 43: ● When Marlene realizes Jeanine wants more money to pay

Marlene: Does that mean you don’t
want a long term job, Jeanine?
Jeanine: I might do
for her wedding, her opinion of her changes
● Marlene knows marriage is a liability
● Marlene knows what it takes for a woman’s career to be
taken seriously

Marlene: Because where do the

prospects come in? No kids for a
bit?

Jeanine: Oh no, no kids, not for a bit

Marlene: So you won’t tell them

you’re getting married?
 Jeanine: I’d like a job where i was
here in London and with him and
everything but now and then-I
expect it’s silly. Are there jobs like
that?
● Marlene believes that Jeanine considering marriage means
that shes going to be out of the workforce in ten years
● Marlene- trust issues? Disdain of housewives?
● She disdains women who choose family over careers
● She looks down on other women

Marlene: There’s personal assistant

to a top executive in a multinational.
If that’s the idea you need to be
planning ahead. Its that where you
want to be in ten years?

Jeanine: I might not be alive in ten

years.

Marlene: Yes but you will be. You’ll

have children.

Jeanine: I can’t think about ten

years.

Angie: mind the hair/you silly cunt
Kit: stupid fucking cow, I hate you
Angie: I don’t care if you do
Kit: You’re horrible
● This scene is very odd and disturbing
● The girls seem to hate each other but are codependent
● They speak of blood and murder so much
● Marlene’s disdain of motherhood makes sense because
she abandoned her daughter for her career

Angie: I’m going to kill my mother

and you’re going to watch.

Kit: I’m not playing.

Angie: You’re scared of blood.(KIT

puts her hand under dress, brings it
out with blood on her finger)

DISCUSSION PREP. Come up with at least ten interesting questions or topics related to the assigned
reading that you would like to pose to your group. They should be text specific.
● Consider a mix of leveled questions
o Level One – Clarifying
▪ Who, when, where?
o Level Two – Depth
▪ How, why, what does this mean?
o Level Three – Synthesis
▪ How do these ideas connect?
▪ How does the theme develop in this section?

Remember, you will be facilitating the discussion to last for 20-30 minutes. Please be prepared.

You must have at least five Level Three questions. Highlight your five level three questions.

Q1. Marlene’s disdain towards other women is odd, why does she advocate for women so much in the work place
but not for others?
Q2. How does Marlene’s beliefs connect to Angie’s beliefs?

Q3. When does this story take place? How does it contribute to the characters?

Q4. How does Scene 2 develop Marlene’s character?

Q5. How does Scene 3 develop Marlene’s family and their roles?

Q6. Why does Churchill make the choice of Angie and Kit’s disgusting actions?

Q7. How does this characterize these characters?

Q8. How do the female character’s interactions develop the themes of the play?

Q9. How does the setting of the play characterize Marlene’s family situation?

Q10. How does Marlene’s abandonment of her daughter impact the play’s theme of feminism?