1. The Pigman

The Pigman
In this unit, you will work with reading and with two kinds of opportunities to write, for a total of six assignments.
 
You can earn a grade for each assignment, and you will need to do
 the journal assignments
 and the essay assignments.
You can earn extra credit from this chart:
If you do all 6 assignments 5 assignments 4 assignments 3 assignments
100 90 80 70

Table of contents for this packet:
Journal Questions:
I. Chapters 1-5  answer the questions on pages 2-5
II. Chapters 6-10  answer the questions on pages 6-8
III. Chapters 11-end  answer the questions on pages 9-10
Essay Topics:
I. Choose one topic from  pages 11-12
II. Choose one topic from pages 13-14
III. Choose one topic from pages 15-17
 
 

This is your first Journal assignment. It covers the first third of the novel. Earn 7% for each correct answer.
Chapter 1
1.  Write one example of the kinds of things that the narrator of chapter 1 likes to do.
 
2.  Would you say that this sort of activity makes him a responsible member of society? Explain briefly.
 
 
Chapter 2
1.   How many narrators do you have in chapters 1 to 3?        Circle the correct number:   1  2  3
 
2.   What is the reason stated for writing this book?
 
3.   In this chapter, Lorraine shows sympathy for a teacher. Retell that episode in fewer than 50 words.
 
 
 
4.   The narrator recalls feeling isolated at her bus stop. What does she do about that? What would you have done?
 
5.   What does Lorraine’s mother say about Lorraine’s appearance? How would you feel if your parent said that to you?
 
 
6.   Give an example of John’s self–destructive behavior. You might draw a symbol of it, rather than to put the example into words.
 
 
 
7.   Your answer to the question above might lead you into the answer for this question: what is one of the interests of the narrator of this chapter? Explain.
 
 
 
Chapter 3
1.  What does a player have to do in order to win the telephone game?
 
2.  Page 14 shows an example of slang, with Miss King calling John “a card.” What do you suppose that that means? Explain.
 
 
3.  Chapters 3 and 4 center on lying. With a partner, make sure that you understand the word and that you understand who prevaricates. Then circle one of these choices to say whether Lorraine approves.   Lorraine approves of the prevarication    Lorraine disapproves of the prevarication
 
 
Chapter 4
1.  In chapter 4, we learn of someone in Mr. Pignati’s background. Draw a picture or write an explanation of that situation. If you have read further, you may use that information, of course.
 
 
 
 
Chapter 5
1.  John put glue in the phone lock (you may need to ask your teacher how a phone lock works), so that no one else could dial the phone. How does John contact Lorraine, then?
 
 
 
2.  Describe or draw Mr. Pignati’s house. (If you use the other side of this sheet, please indicate that.)
 

This is your second journal assignment. It covers the second third of the novel. Earn 8% for each correct answer.
 
1.  Use this T –chart to list what you know by now about Lorraine’s and John’s immediate families.  
Character
  		2 major characteristics, where possible
 
Lorraine’s mother
  		 
Lorraine’s father
  		 
Lorraine’s sibling(s)
  		 
John’s mother
  		 
John’s father
  		 
John’s sibling(s)
  		 
   

 
 
 
 
Chapter 6:
1.  What does Lorraine’s mother do for a living?
 
 
 
2.  In pages 46–47, we see seals being fed. Explain or draw the reality vs. what Lorraine says that the seals want. You could make a collage to show the contrast (using other paper, of course!)  
3.  What kind of primate is Mr. Pignati’s favorite?
 
 
Chapter 7:
1.  One theme in chapter 7 is the thought and the fact of death. Use the following chart to list 2 or 3 quotations about death involving John and involving Mr. Pignati:  
John
 
 
 
 
Mr. Pignati
 
 

 
2.  Draw a picture of the Masterson Tomb.
 
 
 
3.  What does John say he wants to become “in life”?
 
 
4.  What does John find that tells him that Mrs. Pignati is dead?
 
Chapter 8:
1.  Does Lorraine think that her mother has an easy life? Explain.
 
2.  Mr. Pignati buys stockings for Lorraine. Why does she ask for size eleven, although the sales clerk says, “You couldn’t take more than a size seven–and–a–half”?
 
3.  What do Lorraine and John do with roller skates in the department store?
 
Chapter 10:
1.  What kind of candy does Lorraine eat in this chapter?
 

This is your third journal assignment. It covers the last third of the novel. Earn 13% for each correct answer.
 
Chapter 11
1.  Where do Lorraine and John get the flowers for Mr. Pignati?
 
2.  What does Mr. Pignati invite Lorraine and John to do? Is this his first invitation? Explain.
 
 
Chapter 13:
1.  What does John say to Norton Kelly’s anger about not being invited to the party?
 
2.  Why did Lorraine and John not invite Norton?
 
Chapter 14:
1.  Give one example of what Lorraine’s mother does when the police bring Lorraine home from the party.
 
2.  What has happened to Bobo?
 
3.  What happened in this chapter to Mr. Pignati?
 
Chapter 15:
1.  Who is John sorry for in pages 143 to 146? Prove that.
 
 
 

Essays : Choose one of the following topics from each of the three sections That is, write 3 essays in total. Write your answers on composition paper. You may keyboard. Follow the rubric for essays as you complete this work.
 
Essay section I. Choose one of these topics for one essay:
 
 
 
1.  Page 18 ends with “You really can’t say we murdered him. Not murdered him.” In an essay of about 150 words, explain what you think (or what you thought) when you read that. What do (or did) you think that this statement foreshadowed? Did you have enough clues at that point of the book to be able to predict in detail? Defend your answer by looking carefully at the pages up to page 18.
 
2.  Chapter 6 draws your attention to cages. You will see cages later, also. Draw a picture and then write an explanation of how at least one of the parents in this novel lives symbolically in a cage.
 
 
3.  In chapters 5 and 6, John and Lorraine take money from Mr. Pignati by lying. John, of course, had lied earlier in the novel. Lorraine disapproves of this additional lie, but she goes along with it nonetheless. See if you can come up with two reasons for her doing this. Write about 150 words as you explore her motivation here.
 
 
4.  In chapters 4 and 5, Lorraine and John take false names as they speak with Mr. Pignati. At the start of chapter 7, on page 55, John refers to his and Lorraine’s taking false names and suggests that they did that to protect themselves from him. That is not the true reason, of course. What was that reason? Do you suppose that he really does not know his own reason? What does this tell you about him?
 
 
1.  

Essay section II. Choose one of these topics for another essay:
 
1.  John and his parents endure constant conflict. Describe that conflict, giving at least 2 examples of it. From what you have seen of the parents and of John, give at least 2 reasons for that state of conflict. Do you recognize this kind of situation?
 
2.  Why does John like to spend time with Mr. Pignati? With about 150 words, give at least 3 reasons for his liking that.
 
3.  Lorraine writes about love in marriage near the start of chapter 8 (p. 69). Use the following chart to describe scenes in which you see or hear about Lorraine’s or John’s home. What is the dominant emotion and its cause in each scene? (I’ve provided some examples.) Using that chart, write about 150 words revealing some of the motivation for Lorraine’s and John’s behavior.  
page
  		scene
  		emotion
  		cause
 
27
  		John asks for $1.25
  		tension
  		John put glue into the telephone lock
 
57–60
  		     
41
  		Lorraine returns home late
  		tension, loss
  		mother fears for L. with males, father left family
 
84–85
  		     
87–88
  		     

 
4.  In about 150 words, explain how the Pigman, John, and Lorraine “must have looked like [the] three monkeys . . . three funny little monkeys” from pages 77–78. The quotation appears on page 79. You need to look deeper than just their physical behavior.
 
 
5.  In about 150 words, explore the connection between truth–telling on pp. 90–92, responsibility or trust.
 
 
1.  

Essay section III. Choose one of these topics for another essay:
 
1.  Something dreadful happens to Mr. Pignati on page 99. Surely your author could have invented other kinds of physical problems for Mr. Pignati (such as a car accident), but he uses a heart attack. Explain the symbolism of that issue in light of what is happening in the relationship among the three main characters.
 
 
 
2.  After the heart attack, John “needed two beers.” Why? Connect this to other scenes where he drinks. You will find some on pages 7, 9, 10, 27, 32–33, 55, and 82. What connection can you make between his drinking and his acting (or his lying, if you’d rather call it that)?
 
3.  Between pages 106 and 115, the relationship between John and Lorraine changes from the one earlier. What is happening with them now? Relate this change to their family lives. And then compare and contrast this situation with the relationship between Romeo and Juliet.
 
 
 
 
4.  Put into your own words the reason that John and Lorraine avoid going into the room “with the pigs in it.” (p. 115)
 
 
 
5.  On page 132, Lorraine says, “I didn’t do anything wrong.” Then she explains to her reader (that is, to you) why she says that. Compare and contrast what happened at the party with other things she has done that her mother would disapprove of. Using that comparison and contrast, show why you agree or disagree with her that she did nothing wrong. Write about 150 words.
 
 
6.  On pages 134–135, Lorraine describes the events at the party as playing. Think about other events — in your life or in a friend’s — that are also play. With another member of your class, put into writing whether you agree that this was merely play. Remember how this all turned out; use that in your answer.
 
 
7.  On pages 147-148, John writes about responsibility, blaming Mr. Pignati: “He had no business fooling around with kids. . . . He had no right going backward. When you grow up, you’re not supposed to go back. Trespassing — that’s what he had done.” Is John accepting responsibility for his actions? Draw a diagram or story board showing who causes the events that lead to Mr. Pignati’s death. (You might find it interesting to look back at your answer to the second journal question for chapter 1. Do you see a connection with that question and answer?)
 
 
8.  On page 149, John accepts responsibility. What might he mean by writing “when [Mr. Pignati] died[,] something in us died as well”? Use 150 words to demonstrate what he means.
 

Back to top


Mark Scher . . . draft of 05/11/06. . . . page 1 of 1
 

 

Mark Scher . . . draft of 05/11/06. . . . page 3 of 3
 

 

Mark Scher . . . draft of 05/11/06. . . . page 6 of 6
 

 

Mark Scher . . . draft of 05/11/06. . . . page 8 of 8
 

 

Mark Scher . . . draft of 05/11/06. . . . page 10 of 10
 

 

Mark Scher . . . draft of 05/11/06. . . . page 12 of 12