Monday's Not Coming

Society failed Monday. Where did characters have the chance to help her but fail to? How much responsibility does the community and larger society have in helping people? Consider this quote from the news after Monday’s death: “‘I think it boils down to one question: who’s really responsible for your well-being—your family, the government, or your community?’” (Chapter 55)

Teaching Suggestion: Providing the class with a list of characters to consider might be helpful. Even certain characters who help in some way could have done more. It could be interesting to also shift the conversation back to how people did help Monday. One way to start the discussion could be to have students stand in different sections of the class based on whom they believe is most responsible for a person based on the quote (family, government, or community).

Differentiation Suggestion: For advanced students, writing an essay after the discussion could offer a chance to practice persuasive writing. They might address a variation of the questions above: To what extent are a person’s family, government, and community responsible for their well-being? Students might include qualifiers or weight the responsibility of each group with weights adding up to 100 percent. Another option would be to hold a debate on the issue, with teams preparing and presenting their arguments.