Entertainment Memoir

Activity Guide

 

 

Instructions

After reading the Memoir, Entertainment, choose the Print command on your toolbar to print out this guide to record your responses and reflections about the topic.

 

Part A: The following Web-based activities will help you recall some of the information contained in the memoir you just read. To access an activity, click on the corresponding hyperlink.

1.  Pop-Up: a terminology exercise.

2.  Hangman: a vocabulary exercise.

 

Part B: The following questions ask you to identify and explain information contained in the memoir you just read.

 

1. What were some of the movies the Author and his brothers saw during the 1930’s? Where did they see movies? What were the family rules about going to movies?

 

Movies:

 

Rules:

 

2. What were some of the sporting events available to people on farms and in small towns in Indiana during the 1930’s?

 

Sports:

 

3. What were some of the card games the Author played with his family? Why were they not allowed to use regular playing cards?

 

Card Games:

 

Why?

 

4. What was ironic about the townspeople buying patent medicines at the medicine show?

 

Part C: After responding to these questions, be prepared to share your ideas in small groups or with the whole class.

 

1) Identify some of the movies you’ve seen recently, then compare your experiences with the Author’s. Where did you see the movies? How do you think they might be the same and/or different from the movies the Author describes? If your family has any rules about the types of movies you are allowed to see, how do they compare to the Author’s family rules?

 

Recent Movies:

 

Where Seen:

 

Similarities & Differences:

 

Family Rules:

 

b) Review the Author’s description of enjoying professional sports and compare to your experiences as a spectator of sporting events. What influence do you think TV has had on people’s experiences with professional sports?

 

b) What games or activities do you enjoy today that adults do not approve of? How do you think this has changed since the Author’s teenage years? (Responses must be school-appropriate!)

 

 

 

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