Chapters Four, Five and Six
Chapter Four
- How did Hingson's childhood experiences prepare him for navigating the stairwell of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001?
- Discuss how Hingson's life was shaped by his parents' attitude toward his blindness.
Chapter Five
- Hingson relates that he mastered geometry with the help of a dedicated teacher. Discuss the positive and negative aspects of his high school career.
- What challenges might visually impaired students face at Alliance High School? How could these challenges be resolved?
Chapter Six
- Is Hingson's passion for physics and technology surprising? Why or why not?
- Explain the origins of Hingson's "Why not?" principle.
Goodbye to a Hero, Foreword, Introduction, Chapters 1-3
- Discuss your feelings about pets. Have you had one? If so, briefly detail the bond between you and your animal. If you haven't had a pet, would you want one? If so, what kind?
- Do you think it is a good idea for the author to reveal Roselle's fate in "Goodbye to a Hero" at the opening of the book? Why or why not?
- Discuss how the Introduction whets your appetite to read on. If it doesn't pique your interest, what could the author(s) have done differently?
- How do specific details in the opening chapters (the number of steps, the temperatures inside the burning buildings, and so on) help -- or hinder -- the narrative?
- How does the decision to structure the opening chapters non-chronologically affect your reading? Is the decision a wise one?
