Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key plot points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Reading Check

1. What ails the father?

2. What is the son in the story addicted to?

3. What were the father’s jobs?

4. To be closer to her son, what does the mother in the story do?

5. What does the father want the writer to look “in the face”? (Paragraph 51)

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What is the plot of the story the writer writes for her father?

2. How does the writer revise her story after her father’s feedback?

3. What does the father believe about life and tragedy?

4. What does the writer imagine happens to the mother in her story after it ends?

Paired Resource

“The Art and Activism of Grace Paley” by Alexandra Schwartz

• This article from The New Yorker details Grace Paley’s life as a protester and an author.
• In what ways does Grace Paley’s own life connect to “A Conversation with My Father”? Consider the themes of How Stories are Told and Intergenerational Conflict.

Recommended Next Reads 

“How to Tell a True War Story” by Tim O’Brien