Pre-Reading Discussion Questions

1. The subtitle of Tuesdays with Morrie is “an old man, a young man, and life’s greatest lesson.” Based on this subtitle, what do you think this novel is about?

2. This book’s author, Mitch Albom, has dedicated Tuesdays with Morrie to his brother Peter, who is “the bravest person (Albom) knows.” If you were to write a book about your own life experiences, to whom would you dedicate it? Why?

The Curriculum

This book’s author, Mitch Albom, describes graduation from college as the beginning of being an adult. He says that graduation marks the time when “the curtain…come(s) down on childhood.”

Different cultures have rituals or ceremonies to officially mark a person’s passage from childhood to adulthood. When do you think a child becomes an adult? Are people officially adults when they turn 18 or 21? Do we become adults when we graduate from school, get a job, get married, or have children of our own?

The Syllabus

As Morrie is given the terrible news about his condition, he is surprised and dismayed to see that, despite his problems, the rest of the world continues as normal. In other words, the world didn’t stop just because he received some devastating and life-altering news.

Make a list of at least ten words that can apply to how Morrie must be feeling.

Here are a few words to begin your list:
• Devastated
• Ignored
• Sad

The Syllabus, #2

Mitch indicates that Morrie kept his illness a secret. Morrie only reveals it to his students when it is necessary to do so, when it becomes impossible to hide it any longer.

If you were as sick as Morrie, if you had a fatal illness, would you reveal it, or would you prefer to keep it quiet?

The Student

When Morrie first meets with Ted Koppel, he asks Koppel some very personal yet telling questions. One of the questions Morrie asks of Koppel is to share “something that is close to (his) heart.”

Imagine that Morrie has asked you the same thing, and write a response to him, telling him “something that is close to your heart.”