Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes Reading Guide
CHAPTER ONE
1. Describe Eric and tell me about his family.
2. Who is Ms. Lemry? Describe her.
3.Appearence seems to be important to Eric because whenever we meet someone he
makes a point to tell us how they look and how attractive they are. Why do you think he
does this?
4. Who is Sarah Byrnes and what is her current situation? How is this different than
who she was?
5. Describe Mr. Mautz and tell me who he is.
6. What is Crispy Pork Rinds?
7. What does Sarah say to convince Eric to do a second Crispy Pork Rinds? What does
it tell us about her?
CHAPTER TWO
1.What is Contemporary American Thought (CAT) class? What do they do there and
what are the rules?
2.Why does Eric say the world is a bad place? DO you agree or disagree? Why?
3.Describe Dale Thorton.
4. Describe Sarah Brynes and her interaction with Dale. What does it tell us about her?
5.Why didn’t Eric stand up to Dale and why does Sarah say he has to? What does she
mean?
6. What is Lemry’s advice to Eric and explanation of Sarah? What do you think about
it?
CHAPTER THREE
1. Who is Ellerby? What do you think he thinks of Christianity? Describe his
personality and give evidence to back up your ideas.
2. Who is Mark Brittain? How does he feel about Christianity and Ellerby? Describe his
relationship with Eric.
3. What is the difference between how Sarah deals with her scars and how Eric deals
with his weight? Which would you do? Why?
4. What upsets Dale most about the Crispy Rinds article? Why?
CHAPTER FOUR
1. What was Dale’s theory about Sarah’s scars? How does she react to it?
2. What was Sarah’s plan and how did it work?
3. What are two things Dale does to show us he may not be good in school, but he’s not
dumb?
4. What does Sarah say Eric should have learned about himself and pain? How do you
think she knows?
5. Explain Mautz’s tricky move to get Eric without Mautz having to do anything? How
did Sarah figure it out?
CHAPTER 5
1. What does Sarah imply happened with Dale’s dad after the story about him? What is
her evidence?
2. What is Sarah’s offer and why is she making it?
3. Why doesn’t Eric open up to anyone? How does he hide himself?
4. Who is Jody Mueller?
5. Describe Mark Brittain. What is important to him?
6. What is Ellerby’s view of God? How is it different than Mark’s?
7. What did you find out about Ellerby and his family?
8.What is Ellerby’s topic be and why did he choose it?
CHAPTER 6
1. Describe Virgil Byrnes.
2. What does Dale say that upset Sarah? How does he know? Why do you think she
was upset?
3. Why does Eric try to stay fat? What does Sarah say about it, what does she think will
happen?
4. Who does Eric visit and what does he find out?
CHAPTER 7
1. Who really wants to drop Lemry’s class and why do they want to drop it?
2. How do we know Jody doesn’t want to drop the course? Why is she doing it then?
What does this tell us about Jodi?
3. Eric feels better and worse about Jodi, why?
4. Tell me about Ellerby’s dad.
5. What happened with Ellerby’s brother and how did it effect him?
6. Why does Mark’s belief system bother Ellerby so much? Explain.
7. What really happened with Sarah?
CHAPTER EIGHT
1. Why hasn’t Eric responded to Jody’s note?
List and explain the ANTI abortion arguments and tell me who is on this side:
1.
2.
List and explain the PRO abortion arguments and tell me who is on this side.
1.
2.
What is Mark’s argument? Explain it.
What is Eric’s rebuttal (counter argument)? Explain it.
What does Ellerby have to say about it?
CHAPTER NINE
1. What is this chapter’s first surprise? Explain what has been going on?
2. Second surprise, Eric stands up for himself against Sarah. What does he say and what
is her response?
3. Sarah opens up, what do we find out about her?
4. What really happened with Sarah? Why did it happen?
5. Another big revelation, what do we find out about Jody and Mark? What happened?
6. What is Eric afraid of at the end of the chapter? Why?
CHAPTER 10
1. What does Lemry say about Eric asking Jody out?
2. What does Lemry tell us about Mark and what advice does she give to Eric?
3. How do we know Lemry is right and Mark is ready to explode? What behaviors do
we see from him that are surprising?
4. What did we find out about Carver? What do you think about it?
5. Describe the encounter with Virgil Byrnes at the end of the chapter.
CHAPTER 11
1. Eric shows courage at the start of this chapter in two ways- what are they?
2. What makes Sarah cry? Why do you think she did?
3. Sarah’s feelings about her mom are complicated and confusing. Explain.
CHAPTER 12
1. Why does Eric talk to Dale and what does he find out?
2. What two things does Mautz want to talk to Eric about? Why? How does Eric react?
3. What does Lemry say about the meeting and its topics?
4. What upsets Sarah and how does Eric react?
CHAPTER 13
1. Where is Sarah now