Scratch Beginnings through page 29

1. ENG 102<br />Fall 2010<br />Discussion Questions, Scratch Beginnings (~page 29)<br />right0<br />Shepard starts his documentary with a list of his “rules” – what are some of those rules?<br />Who does he consider to be his audience for this book? <br />Why doesn’t he use a lot of research in his account?<br />Shepard asserts early on that he is not an author or a journalist. Do you think that this declaration adds to his story or takes away from it? Does being a “regular guy” add to the credibility of his story? Or not?<br />What happens to Shepard his first night in Charleston, South Carolina?<br />What are some of the specifics that Shepard mentions about Crisis Ministries, the shelter he finds in first night?<br />Why does he say that “Blue-collar, temporary labor agencies … are the pit of the employment industry” (page 17)?<br />Why does he think that it would be easier to “hang” with someone than to do this experiment completely on his own?<br />Would you say that this chapter ends on a positive attitude or a negative one? Why or why not?<br />While perhaps a victim of his own naiveté, Shepard doesn’t appear nervous as he walks down Rivers Avenue late on his first night in Charleston. Discuss what your reaction might be to being dropped in an unknown city, by yourself, where you don’t know anybody.<br />