Discussion Questions

Questions about "No Name Woman":

1. Writers choose carefully titles. Let's consider this one. Why are names important and what would it mean not to have a name? Is identity an issue in this work? What does it mean to be a woman in the world Kingston presents?

2. Who is the “you” here? Isn’t she doing exactly what her mother told her not to do? She’s telling us!

3. Is this sister the No Name Woman? Why is her story a family secret?



Questions about "He Defies You Still: The Memoirs of a Sissy":

1.Why does the narrator conceal his identity until the end of the prose?

2. Most of us went through the experience of having our first teenage romance end in failure. Why is the narrator's experience of this common phenomenon even more devastating than most of ours?

3. How do you feel about the word "faggot" being used in this prose?




Questions about "A Man of Integrity":

1.Look up the word "integrity" in the dictionary. Note the denotations and apply it to the story. What does the word mean or suggest to you?

2. What is the significance of the title?

3. Why do you think Sami was so interested in the letters? Why did he keep them a secret?