Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations

Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key plot points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Chapters 1-10

Reading Check

1. In which part of New York City do Mira and her family live?

2. Why did Mira’s parents immigrate to America?

3. Who was shot the same week Mira’s parents arrived in America?

4. What happens to Mira when Ms. Morrell takes her to the essay reading?

5. What does Mira realize about herself the night she meets C’s friend J?

6. Which type of superhero does Z realize is missing from the roster?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What questions does Z begin asking about his skin color? Why does Mira have concerns about these questions, and what does she do to improve her ability to answer them?

2. What does Ms. Morrell tell Mira after their experience at the essay reading? Why does Ms. Morrell say this to Mira on this particular day?

Paired Resource

“The Call for Change: Experiencing Racism”

• This video interviews American youth who recount their first experiences with racism, all of which happen when they are only children.
• Connects to the memoir’s theme of Racism in America and Its Effects on People of Color
• What actions should be taken to address racism against and between children in America today?

Chapters 11-18

Reading Check

1. What does Mira think she jinxes?

2. What problem do Mira and her brother Arun bond over?

3. Why does Mira move to New York City?

4. Why is Mira concerned about Z learning to read?

5. How does Mira’s parents’ marriage change after she moves out?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What kind of excuses do people start making when Trump wins the primary elections, and why do they react this way?

2. Why does Mira struggle to find a romantic connection in college, and what does this do to her self-perception?

Chapters 19-22

Reading Check

1. Who sets Mira up with the neuropsychologist?

2. What reason does Mira’s mother give her for being rejected by the neuropsychologist?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What makes Mira decide to agree to meet the neuropsychologist, and how does it make her feel?

2. Who does Mira meet after being rejected, and why is her connection with this person so instantaneous?

Paired Resource

Differences Between Arranged and Love-Based Marriages in the U.S.

• Psychology article examining whether arranged and love-based marriages have any fundamental differences
• What are your thoughts on consensual arranged marriage in the United States?

Chapters 23-25

Reading Check

1. Why is Chapter 23 titled “Only in New York”?

2. What type of posters make up the Paper City?

3. Why does Z think he and his mother look like?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does 9/11 affect the city of New York? In the weeks following the attacks, what experience does Mira have in relation to 9/11?

2. When Z and Mira are discussing terrorism, Mira lies to her son and tells him she has never been hurt. What happened to Mira, and why does she tell this lie?

Paired Resource

Two Decades Later, the Enduring Legacy of 9/11

• Pew Research Center article discussing the lasting emotional, financial, and political consequences of the attacks
• Connects to memoir’s theme of The Effects of the Past on the Present
• What makes 9/11 such a significant moment in American history, and how does it continue to affect Americans today?

Chapters 26-28

Reading Check

1. What is Mira’s first writing job?

2. Why does Mira quit working for Bree?

3. What does Mira’s grandmother say when she hears Mira and Jed are getting married?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What is Bree’s dark secret, and why does it have such an impact on Mira?

2. What are the cultural implications of Mira and Jed getting married, and why is Jed so optimistic about it?

Paired Resource

“Couples Share the Happiness and Heartache of Interracial Marriage”

• National Geographic interviews interracial couples about their experiences (video)
• How do the experiences discussed in the video compare to Mira’s and Jed’s experiences?

Chapters 29-42

Reading Check

1. What type of medicine does Mira give her dad?

2. What happens that insults Mira at the bark mitzvah?

3. Why do Jed’s parents grow distant from Mira, Jed, and Z?

4. Who becomes a political symbol of hope for Mira and her family?

5. What image is shown on the last two pages of the memoir?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How do Mira and her dad spend his final weeks together, and what reassures Mira five years after her father’s death?

2. Where are Mira and her family going at the end of the memoir, and what does this symbolize about America itself following Trump’s presidency?

Recommended Next Reads

My Favorite Thing Is Monsters by Emil Ferris

• A graphic novel featuring a mixed-race girl who feels out of place in the world and uses her knowledge of monsters and art to solve a murder mystery
• Shared topics include racism, bisexuality, isolation, American politics, and Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Shared themes include Racism in America and Its Effects on People of Color and The Effects of the Past on the Present
• My Favorite Thing Is Monsters on SuperSummary

How Do We Change America?  by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor

• An essay on racism in America, specifically against Black people, and what everyday people can do to start improving relations (subscription may be required)
• Shared topics include racism, Martin Luther King, Jr., and the importance of honest and open conversations.
• Connects to the themes of Racism in America and Its Effects on People of Color, Hope for the Future of America, and The Effects of the Past on the Present

Blankets by Craig Thompson

• A graphic novel exploring sexuality and love as well as growing up from the point of view of a Spanish American man
• Connects to the memoir’s theme of The Effects of the Past on the Present
• Blankets  on SuperSummary