Staggerford Discussion Questions -- The “Smaller” Issues

Consider how these “smaller parts” of the novel contribute to the whole novel. What is the significance of each “smaller part” by itself, and what is the relationship of each smaller part to the whole?

1.) The story of Agatha and the poet, Herschel Mancrief -- pp. 16-25

2.) The story of Agatha’s short-lived retirement -- pp. 170-182

3.) Agatha’s theory of the fern of goodness and sin -- pp. 107-109 and 280

4.) The inclusion of pages from Miles’s journals -- pp. 65, 112-132, and 226-228

5.) The inclusion of the “What I Wish” papers written by Miles’s students:

• Roxie Booth -- pp. 10
• Beverly Bingham -- pp. 110-111
• Jeff Norquist -- pp. 228-229
• Lee Fremling -- pp. 257

6.) Miles’s conversation with Imogene at the football game -- pp. 30-33

7.) Miles’s conversation with Coach Gibbon at the Hub -- pp. 54-58

8.) The story of Ansel Stevenson’s coming to Staggerford -- pp. 33-41

9.) The story of Fred Vandergar -- pp. 63-68

10.) The scene of the Halloween party -- pp. 72-90

11.) The scene of the faculty meeting -- pp. 150-156

12.) The scene with the gravediggers -- p. 288

13.) The title of the novel -- Staggerford

14.) The epigraph of the novel -- see the page after the dedication page

15.) The importance of names in the novel -- esp. Miles, Thanatopsis, Workman, Gibbon, the Bonewoman

16.) Hassler’s style and tone, his use of details, his humor