107 pages • 3 hours read
Ken LiuA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.
Short Answer
1. The Paper Menagerie deals heavily with race, including segregation, prejudice, and stereotyping as well as heritage, ancestry, and pride. What are some examples of cultural insensitivity or outright prejudice that you have seen recently in the news or on social media? What effect do these kinds of actions and attitudes have on people in the targeted group? How do people retain their pride in their heritage in spite of such treatment from others?
Teaching Suggestion: Although many of the book’s characters encounter judgment and segregation, they also feel a sense of pride in who they are. Students can discuss the difference between positive and negative stereotypes and consider whether they’ve ever been guilty of negatively (or positively) stereotyping others.