The Basic Eight (46 page)

Read The Basic Eight Online

Authors: Daniel Handler

Tags: #Fiction, #General

Remember, our world is at the equivalent of first semester senior year–the most important semester for our future. Read this diary, not for the true-crime thrills all of us crave deep within us, but for the important lesson it teaches us all: Flannery Culp, and people like her, are neither fish nor fowl but are living, breathing human beings, as real as I am. Thank you.

Vocabulary:

CUSP

MUCH-MALIGNED THOROUGH MORAL RADIOLOGIST WATCHFULNESS

Study Questions:

  1. Dr. Tert says: “To try to dismiss me merely because of my past addictions is to do me a grave injustice.” Write one paragraph agreeing with this statement, and another paragraph disagreeing with this statement.

  2. Which model for Natasha do you think is more likely, Natasha “D.” or Natasha “V.”?

  3. Do you, deep within you, crave true-crime thrills? Why or why not? Do you think you would be a better person if you used Dr. Tert’s strategy of “Moral Watchfulness?” Why or why not? Do you think

    Flannery’s version of the story of the Basic Eight is correct? Why or why not? Do you think Dr. Tert’s version of the story of the Basic Eight is correct? Why or why not? Was Dr. Tert even there? Why or why not? Why or why not? Why or why not?

  4. Ness is a suffix. Name at least four other suffixes.

About the Author

DANIEL HANDLER
is the author of
The Basic Eight, Watch Your Mouth
, and
Adverbs
, and, as Lemony Snicket, the enormously popular chil- dren’s novels in A Series of Unfortunate Events.

Visit
www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

ALSO BY DANIEL HANDLER

Watch Your Mouth Adverbs

Copyright

THE BASIC EIGHT
. Copyright © 1999 by Daniel Handler. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Adobe Acrobat eBook Reader December 2007 ISBN 978-0-06-165051-2

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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