THE FIRST THREE TUESDAYS Tuesdays With Morrie, pages 48-72 For today’s class I would like you to read pages 48-72 and work through the questions below. Always remember that it is important for you to give textual evidence from the book to support your ideas. Questions to keep in the back of your mind (although you don’t have to try and give an answer at this point): Why has this book been so influential? Why has it made such a tremendous impact on so many people?

1. Early in this section Morrie quotes author Stephen Levine, who once wrote “Love is the only rational act.” What do you think this statement means, and why would it have such meaning for Morrie?

2. There are three interludes in this section. (The interludes are the brief sections in italics that serve as flashbacks to Mitch’s past history with Morrie). Discuss how Morrie influenced Mitch during Mitch’s time at Brandeis University.

3. One thing we have discussed this semester is the dichotomy that exists between

physical events and the meaning or significance we give them. Comment on Morrie’s perspective in this section. How are his circumstances causing him to look differently at the world around him?

4. Near the end of this section Mitch makes brief references to a gruesome story in a

Boston newspaper and, later, an angry crowd at Logan airport. These are odd details for him to include in the book. Why are they there?