Day 2

Shake Hands With the Devil – the failure of Humanity in Rwanda

1.     How would you describe General Dalliare before he went into Rwanda?

2.     What does the term “genocide” mean? What other 20th Century events might you consider similar to what happened in Rwanda?

3.     How might race be an important role in this event, or in this film?

4.     How did the world react when it heard about what was going on in Rwanda in 1994?

5.     Gen. Dallaire claims that the word “hero” makes him uncomfortable, in fact, he sees himself as a failure. Is he a failure?

6.     How many thumbs for this film?

The Boat by Alister MacLeod

1.     Why, do you think, the author chose this setting?

2.     Who are the three main characters in this story anyway?

3.     How does setting – where a character lives in this story – affect the character?

4.     The story goes through a number of changes in time – how might you describe this changing of time to someone who has not read this story?

5.     Is there any evidence to support the idea that the narrator has come to understand his painful memories of his parents? Why or why not?