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1. What is a catalyst? 2. Who are the catalysts in this book? Why? 3. What is Kate running from? How did she get lost (literally and figuratively)? 4. Why does Kate hate English class? What are some of the myths surrounding the college application process? About high school? About kids like Kate? Kids like Teri? 5. Find the list of vocabulary words given out for homework in Kates English class. The author deliberately chose them. What is their significance? Why do authors do things like that? Does this make you hate authors? (joke just wanted to see if youre paying attention) 6. Discuss these image systems (symbols) found in the book:
a) b) c) d)
Chemistry and the periodic table vision/sight movement vs. being stuck electricity
7. What examples of safety awareness and danger can you find? How are they connected to each other? 8. Make a list of all the elements and chemical terms used as chapter headings in the book. Explain how the chapters headings refer to the action with each chapter. 9. Find the hints of Alice in Wonderland in the book. How does the story of Alices journey reflect Kates? 10. Catalyst takes place in Merryweather High School, also the setting for Speak. What connections link the two books? 11. How is food used in this book? 12. Why dont we learn more about the life of Teri Litch (hint: examine the books POV) 13. How is Kates relationship with her father? Why is it that way? Does it change over the course of the book. (Give examples for each answer.) 14. Discuss the role of religion in this book. What does Kate believe in? Teri? Mitchell? Can you say anything about the power of mythology within religious belief systems? 15. Are myths just stories from the past? What else can be read into them? 16. How and why does Kates relationship with Teri change after Mikeys d eath? 17. Why are the three sections of the book labeled Solid, Liquid and Gas? 18. Who is the most important character in this book? Why? 19. How do the characters in Catalyst deal with defeat?
18. Elijah calls himself a wanderer in search of truth. Does he find truth by the end of the story? Does Lia? Are any of the other characters able to do so? Explain. 19. Lias mother tells her: Cassie had everything: a family who loved her, friends, activities. Her mother wants to know why she threw it all away. According to Lia, asking why Cassie died is the wrong question. She says to ask why not. What do you think she means by this? Which do you think is the right question to ask? Is there an answer to either? 20. Why do you think Lia and Cassie took their eighth grade New Years resolutions so seriously? How do these promises play into the rest of the story? 21. Lias dad says to her: I wish I understood what goes on inside you . . . why youre so afraid. Is fear part of Lias problem? What is she afraid of? 22. What is Lia using her thinness to communicate to her parents? What is her body saying that her voice cannot? 23. Why do you think Lia finally opens up to Dr. Parker? What do you think of what she chooses to tell her? How does the conversation change Lias situation? 24. Dr. Parker tells Lia: In one aspect, yes, I believe in ghosts, but we create them. Do you agree with her? How much of what happens to Lia is a result of her own doing? How much of it is caused by others? 25. What does the see-glass mean to Lia? What does she think she needs it for? Does this end up being true? 26. What ultimately changes for Lia by the end of the story? Why does she survive when Cassis didnt?
him to use his skills at digging holes: "I was good at digging holes. It was the rest of life I sucked at" (p. 39). What figurative holes has Tyler dug for himself in his life? Is it really true that he isnt good at anything else? 2. Although he doesnt seem like a depressed person, Tyler admits to being preoccupied with death. "Thinking about death relaxed me" (p. 44). Why? In what ways has he died and been reborn again throughout the story? 3. At Tylers high school there is a clear distinction between the popular crowd and everyone else. Where do you fit in the social scale at your school? In what ways has the status you hold in your social sphere defined you? In what ways is this role true to who you are? In what ways is it not? 4. Why does Tyler like Bethany? Were there any signs early on that she might not really like him the same way he liked her? What do you think is her real attraction to him? Is it true when his sister Hannah says that it could never have worked out? In your own life, are there any examples of two very different people who manage to be together despite their apparent differences? 5. What do you think of Tylers reaction to Bethanys behavior at the party? How would you react? Would you be sad? Angry? 6. Why do you think Laurie Halse Anderson chose "Twisted" as the title of this novel? What does it mean in relation to the story? 7. On the surface Tyler seems to disrespect the janitors that he is made to work with as part of his probation. Yet they act as a sort of conscience and offer support later in the story. Have you ever gotten help from an unexpected source? 8. Who has Tyler been trying to be? His father? A loser? A cool guy? Which of these identities is closest to his true self? 9. Laurie Halse Anderson views Tyler Miller as the literary grandson of Willy Loman, the main character in Arthur Millers play, Death of a Salesmen. What parallels are there between the two stories? 10. What do you think will happen to the characters in this story in the next year?