All the Years of Her Life

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. Think about situations in which a person might be caught doing something wrong or dishonest. What are different ways that the person might handle the consequences? What emotions might be involved?

Teaching Suggestion: Before introducing the text “All the Years of Her Life” by Morley Callaghan, consider engaging students in a pre-reading activity that explores the themes of honesty, consequences, and personal accountability. To avoid focusing on real situations that students may not wish to share, you could present students with hypothetical scenarios or real-life examples in which individuals faced a moral dilemma or made dishonest choices. Discuss the potential consequences of such actions and encourage students to reflect on their own feelings and experiences related to dishonesty and its aftermath.

• “Why People Become Defensive and How to Address It” from Science Daily discusses a common response people have to being caught doing something wrong.
• “Should We Tolerate Shoplifting?” from Psychology Today explores some of the reasons young people shoplift (like Alfred in Callaghan’s story) and the excuses they use to justify it.

2. Reflect on instances you’ve heard about in which someone had to face the consequences of their choices. Think about how honesty and personal accountability play a role in these situations. How do you think such experiences might shape a person’s character?

Teaching Suggestion: Consider engaging students in a class discussion about honesty, consequences, and personal accountability. Ask them to share their understanding of these concepts and provide examples from their own lives or from literature, movies, or current events. Encourage open and reflective dialogue to explore the ethical dimensions of these topics.

• “What to Do When You Realize You’ve Made a Mistake” from the Harvard Business Review focuses on honest mistakes rather than immoral actions, but the three-part response applies to ethical mistakes as well.
• “How to Take Responsibility for Your Actions (and Grow in the Process)” from The Vector Impact explores ways to take responsibility for both successes and failures and the positive results of doing so.

Short Activity

Morley Callaghan’s “All the Years of Her Life” takes place during the early 20th century, specifically around the time of the Great Depression, which impacts the characters, setting, and events.

Working individually or with a partner, jot down keywords or phrases that come to mind when you think about the early 20th century. Consider aspects such as the Great Depression, urban life in New York City, family dynamics, education, and societal values.

Teaching Suggestion: After completion of the activity, consider facilitating a class discussion in which students share their responses, allowing for comparisons and connections to be made.

• “The 1930s” from the History Channel includes several embedded brief videos and offers an overview of the decade when Callaghan’s story was written. The site also provides a wide range of articles, videos, and interactive features about the Great Depression, urban life, and societal values of the early 20th century.
• “America’s Great Depression and Roosevelt’s New Deal” from the Digital Public Library is an online exhibition featuring photographs, documents, and oral histories from this period in history.

Differentiation Suggestion: To support visual learners, you might provide images related to the early 20th century. Students can use these visuals as prompts to generate keywords or phrases.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the story.

Write about a situation in which you felt you had disappointed or let down someone close to you. How did you feel in that moment, and how did it impact your relationship with that person? Did you experience any internal changes or realizations as a result of the situation?

Teaching Suggestion: If you think students in your class would feel comfortable sharing their responses, consider asking for volunteers to share their experiences and insights with the class, fostering a supportive and inclusive learning environment.

Differentiation Suggestion: It may be helpful to provide a writing framework or graphic organizer to support students who benefit from assistance with organizing their thoughts or expressing themselves in their writing.