Ladies and Gentlemen:
It’s time to set up our Discussion Board on Alice Munro's "Boys and Girls".
I'd like you to post answers to any two of the story's guide questions---
The idea of your post is to offer remarks backed up by well-chosen, concisely-quoted evidence from Munro's story. Your post should be at least 4-5 sentences each (not counting your quotes from the story). They can be longer if you feel inspired. They should be in full-sentence form and you should proofread them carefully.
Guide Questions on “Boys and Girls” (Alice Munro)
1: It’s obvious from the start that this story is told by a ‘first-person narrator’—that is, someone who refers to her/himself as “I”. However, what are the first specific signs in the story that show the narrator’s gender?
2: Though the story is called “Boys and Girls”, there is a lot about foxes in the first few pages. Find at least three specific details in the passages about the foxes that connect with the story’s main concern with the roles of males and females in our society. (Warning: Munro is a careful and subtle writer; some of these details can look very small at first.)
a)
b)
c)
3: The narrator’s father and mother both work hard. So does the narrator, it seems, when she helps each one. However, she is very definite about which parent she prefers to work with. Which parent is that—and why does she prefer working with that parent?
4: The narrator mentions a remark of her father’s that makes her feel wonderful—what is it? She also mentions several things her mother says that she finds irritating or insulting. What are those remarks?