The Catcher in the Rye

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. What do you know about coming-of-age fiction? List examples of books, TV shows, movies, or video games in which the main character grapples with growing up. What characteristics and conflicts are common elements of coming-of-age fiction?

Teaching Suggestion: If your students are unlikely to know the definition of coming-of-age fiction, you might omit the first part of this question and offer a definition instead; consider listing a few examples of your own as a springboard if your students struggle to generate examples. Students might benefit from sharing their examples with one another in a small-group or whole-class discussion, as this will offer them a sense of how diverse and widespread coming-of-age fiction really is. Student input regarding common elements may create the opportunity to introduce a connected theme like Coming-of-Age as Losing Innocence.

• This article from Literary Hub defines the coming-of-age novel and offers annotated examples from a variety of time periods.
• This article from Penguin Random House lists many examples of coming-of-age novels for adults and young adults.

2. Coming-of-age novels (or bildungsromans) offer readers the opportunity to reflect on their own experience growing up. Choose an example of a coming-of-age novel and explain how this work compares and/or contrasts with your own experience growing up.

Teaching Suggestion: If this question is too personal for your group of students, or if they have not considered their own experiences as “growing up,” you can lay the groundwork by asking them why coming-age-novels are popular; what age group is most likely to be receptive to coming-of-age novels, and what motivates authors to write them? Once students offer up the idea that coming-of-age novels are popular because they are accessible and relatable to both young and older audiences, you might then give an example of a well-known coming of age story and ask students to compare and/or contrast their experiences with that of the protagonist.

• This 2020 article from the Edinburgh Film Festival offers insight into why coming-of-age films are so important to us and provides many examples of popular coming-of-age movies.
• This article from Premium Beat explores the popularity of coming-of-age stories over time, and provides examples from different periods in history, including contemporary television shows and movies. Students might be able to gauge the number of these film or TV show titles that are based on works of literature.

Personal Connection Prompt

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

Young people often struggle with feeling disillusioned with or discouraged by their parents or guardians, by school, by work, or by society itself. They often feel as if they must follow arbitrary rules in life that restrict them or that do not make sense. What are the rules that make you feel unnecessarily restricted? Who makes these rules, and why do they have authority over your life? What kinds of consequences might you face if you chose to disregard these rules?

Teaching Suggestion: With this prompt, students reflect on the many restrictions in our lives and the potential consequences for breaking even the rules that seem unnecessary. Students may answer in discomfiting ways, and if you prefer that they not share ideas about sexuality, drug use, and other sensitive topics, you might offer some guidelines for answering the question in advance. This prompt can serve as a useful springboard for talking about disillusionment with adulthood and whether it is necessary or even desirable to follow the rules and become a successful adult. You can connect this conversation to the discussion of coming-of-age by asking for ways in which rules have changed as students have gotten older, or asking what rules adults must follow, and if these rules seem necessary or fair.

Differentiation Suggestion: For a quieter group or for students who benefit from additional prior preparation for answering complex questions, you might consider placing students into small groups and asking them to list the rules that comprise "the game of life." They can make one column for rules for children, one column for rules for teenagers, and one column for rules for adults. Ask students to come up with as many rules as possible to be successful in "the game of life" as people traditionally see it. Then, students can share their findings in a whole group discussion, or students can post their work and the class can participate in a gallery walk.