The Seventh Most Important Thing

These prompts can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before or after reading the novel.

Personal Response Prompt

What kind of grief have you or someone close to you experienced in the past? How did you respond to that grief, and how might you have responded differently?

Teaching Suggestion: Have students (who are willing) share their experience of grief with the class. Highlight how everyone processes grief differently and how grief can elicit different secondary emotions (anger, jealousy, etc.) in different people. Transition the activity toward the text by discussing how Arthur’s violent expression of grief was not an appropriate way to deal with his emotions. Illustrate the journey toward a more appropriate expression of grief that Arthur takes throughout the book.

• A University of Washington article about Healthy Grieving

Post-Reading Analysis

How has reading the novel changed your view of trash and treasure? Are the things you and your family throw away truly trash? How might some of those things be useful to someone else?

Teaching Suggestion: Introduce the concept that One Man’s Trash is Another Man’s Treasure from the novel. Point to James Hampton’s use of trash to make the sculpture (his ultimate treasure). A discussion of different circumstances could follow, illustrating how means and privilege may allow some people to think of things as trash that others may not.