Fences by August Wilson – Anticipation Guide
Directions: Select an answer for each question and explain your reasoning.
1. A husband and father’s only responsibility is to take care of his family’s needs (food, clothes, shelter), but
he does not need to like his children or his wife?
YES or NO
2. Having good friends and a good family are more important than having a prestigious job or a successful
career?
YES or NO
3. Before the beginning of the play beings, Wilson has a poem that reads, “When the sins of our fathers visit
us/ We do not have to pay host./We can banish them with forgiveness…” Do you agree that we do not have
to make the same mistakes that our parents or older relatives made?
YES or NO
4. If something bad happened in our own lives, or we were mistreated for certain reasons, we should not let
our children pursue their dreams because they could get hurt in the very same way?
YES or NO
5. If you or your family was in desperate need of something and you didn’t have any money, you would steal
to provide for your family?
YES or NO
6. The man who takes care of his responsibilities has more freedom than the man who does whatever he feels
like?
YES or NO