"Working the City" & "The Reader Is the Protagonist"

These are just some questions that I have. It is not necessary for you to answer all of these questions. Choose which ones you find most interesting to explore. You may have others. Ask them!


"Working the City":

• Cato and Matambo (the author) rebook their flights to America every week although they don't have the money to buy them yet. Why?
• They refer to the USA as "America," but America is really a continent comprising North, Central, and South America and is made up of 35 countries. Why is it that we know what they mean? 
• What does going to school in the US symbolize for Cato and Matambo?
• On p. 107, Matambo quotes from Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist:

What is the significance? 

• What does it mean to "work the city"? 
• Why is the essay written in present tense? 

"The Reader Is the Protagonist":

• How is this a literacy narrative?
• What is the significance of The Monster at the End of This Book?