This is the lesson to accompany the story "Teenage Wasteland" by Anne Tyler and may include extra excerpts from songs and poems as comprehension questions and language development. The actual story in not included here; this lesson is for after reading the story. Created by Coleman’s Classroom.

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Teenage Wasteland
Anne Tyler

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The Who
“Baba O’Riley”

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Song Excerpt
Out here in the fields
I fight for my meals
I get my back into my living
I don't need to fight
To prove I'm right
I don't need to be forgiven

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Song Excerpt
Sally ,take my hand
Travel south crossland
Put out the fire
Don't look past my shoulder
The exodus is here
The happy ones are near
Let's get together
Before we get much older

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Song Excerpt
Don't cry
Don't raise your eye
It's only teenage wasteland

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Anne Tyler
Examines the complexities of family
life as characters struggle to make
sense of relationships and choices in
a bewildering world.
“If I waited till I felt like writing,
I'd never write at all.”

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Consider:
What was the tone of the
story?
Was it a happy story?
Explain

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The Characters

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The Teenager (Donny)
• How old was he?
• How did he feel about his parents?
School? Life?
• What were his problems?
• Were they serious? Explain
• What happened to him?

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The Teenager (Donny)
Needed
“Academic Help”
and
“Self-Worth”

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“Academic Help”
How do American teenagers often
view education?
Pink Floyd
“Another Brick in the Wall”

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Song Excerpt
We don't need no education
We don't need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave them kids alone
Hey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone
All in all it's just another brick in the wall
All in all you're just another brick in the
wall

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Similar Idioms
Another brick in the wall
• Another link in the chain
• Just a cog in a machine
• Too many Indians, not enough chiefs
• Just a peon…

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“Self-Worth”
How do American teenagers often feel?
Avril Lavgine
“Nobody’s Home”

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Song Excerpt
I couldn't tell you why she felt
that way,
She felt it everyday.
And I couldn't help her,
I just watched her make the
same mistakes again.

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What's wrong, what's wrong
now?
Too many, too many
problems.
Don't know where she
belongs, where she belongs.

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She wants to go home, but
nobody's home.
That's where she lies, broken
inside.
With no place to go, no place
to go to dry her eyes.
Broken inside.

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The Mother (Daisy)
• How did you feel about Daisy?
• Was she a good mother? Explain.
• Did she love her son? Explain.
• What did she do to try and help him?
• What else could she have done?

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The Mother (Daisy)
• Shame (ln 15-17)
• Exhausted, Overwhelmed (ln 36)
• Guilty (ln 69-73)
• “Inadequate”

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“Inadequate”
How does the American family often
feel?
Anna Nalick
“Breathe”

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Song Excerpt
2 AM and she calls me 'cause I'm still awake,
Can you help me unravel my latest mistake,
I don't love him, winter just wasn't my season
Yeah we walk through the doors, so accusing
their eyes
Like they have any right at all to criticize,
Hypocrites, you're all here for the very same
reason

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Cause you can't jump the track, we're
like cars on a cable,
And life's like an hourglass, glued to
the table.
No one can find the rewind button girl,
So cradle your head in your hands,
And breathe, just breathe,
Whoa breathe, just breathe

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The Tutor (Cal)
• Was he a good teacher? Explain
• Did his students like him?
• Was he expensive?
• Would you want a teacher like that?

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The Father (Matt)
• How did you feel about the father?
• Was he a good father?
• What did he do for his son?
• What didn’t he do?
• What could he have done?

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Other Minor Characters
• Principal
• Miss Evans
• Amanda
• Miriam

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Understanding the plot
• Why does the principle call Daisy in?
(ln 10 & ln 40)
• What does the psychologist think
about Danny? (ln 60)
• What does Daisy first think of Cal? (ln
95)
• What does Donny compare his school
to?

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Understanding Plot
• How does Miriam's information
change Daisy’s opinion of Cal? (ln
205)
• How do Cal’s and Daisy’s views
about Donny’s expulsion differ? (ln
324, ln 305)

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Your Opinion
• What do you think about Donny’s
parents?
• Where was his father in all this?
• What do you think about Cal?
• Do you understand Donny’s feelings?

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POV
• Daisy’s point of view
• How does this limit the story?
• How does it develop the story?
• How might the story be different from:
–Dad’s POV
–Donny’s POV
–Cal’s POV

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Inferences
What is inference?
Deduction of hidden meanings in
situation
Logical guess based on information
provided in situation

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For More Information
Email Mrs. C
ccoleman@clmn.net
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