STORY PREPARATION
Introduction
Amelia Kahaney’s short story, “The Temp,” originally published in the journal
Crazyhorse, was later anthologized in The Best American Nonrequired Reading. A graduate
of the University of California, Santa Cruz, where she studied literature, Kahaney earned
her master’s degree in fiction from Brooklyn College, where she also taught English.
Her first published story, in 2007, was included in One Story #98, a literary journal
that contains just a single story per issue. The story, “Fire Season,” depicts a thirteen-yearold girl who has suddenly emerged from the awkwardness of adolescence to become
beautiful; dressed in her mother’s clothing, she pursues a relationship—sometimes
violent—with a boy named Pablo. The story has been optioned for film.
Like “The Temp,” “Fire Season” deals with transformation:
Marni regards herself in the mirror, sloped and shiny as a waxed apple. It is the
morning after her thirteenth birthday, in the high, hot end of August, and she is
amazed to find that without warning, an endless period of ugliness seems
finally to have lifted from her, leaving someone new. Someone altogether
better. She preens before the glass, noting her sudden good looks with
scientific precision. Her hair, formerly a distressingly oily tangle, is now thick
and tantalizing, falling around her face in long waves. Her eyes aren’t brown
anymore so much as they are gold, and there is something deep about them, as
if she knows things she shouldn’t.
In an interview, Kahaney said she was “interested in the idea of beauty as a
burden”—another theme that emerges in “The Temp.” Her writing often focuses on the
body, and she told the interviewer about a quote she has pinned up over her desk, from
the writer Aimee Bender: “Everything a human experiences happens on the body. That’s
the place where pain happens, and love happens; all the good and bad things.”
“The Temp”—sometimes hilarious, sometimes excruciating—takes place over a
single workweek in an office where the arrival of a temporary employee plays havoc with
the permanent workers’ image of themselves, their boss, their jobs and their futures. Even
readers too young to have worked will relate to themes of “group-think” and
outsiderhood, ambition and destiny, desire, betrayal and violence.
Study Guide – The Temp – Amelia Kahaney
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First impressions
After reading "The Temp," jot down your own questions, thoughts, confusions and impressions.
What intrigues you about this story? What catches your attention? Make some notes on the story
or in the space below.
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APPLYING THE METHOD
Poetics
Moments in the story where the use of metaphor, simile, repetition, rhythm or voice may prompt
discussion.
1. “…she had a chain-smoking anchorwoman’s voice, Midwestern and deep, and she had a
clomping little walk that reminded us of certain ponies we’d ridden as children.” (p. 292, line
2)
2. “She waited patiently while we decided where to put her.” (p. 292, line 8)
3. “The temp was slim and tanned—some kind of Asian.” (p. 292, line 13)
4. “Our cheeks were starting to hurt from smiling so hard.” (p. 292, line 22)
5. “Garbage in, garbage out, was one of the six things he liked to say. We didn’t know what it
meant, and we didn’t think he did either.” (p. 293, line 9)
6. “Come straight to me, he said in a loud whisper, looking at us over the top of his glasses as if
we were the dried-up remnants of a cold-cut platter.” (p. 293, line 12)
7. “He was the only man in our department, which made him that much easier to despise.” (p.
293, line 14)
8. “She talked and French-inhaled simultaneously, and it made her look smart.” (p. 293, line 20)
9. “That was when we started thinking we liked her. As a person, not just as help.” (p. 293, line
23)
10. “It was like she had some kind of bird’s-eye view of all of us, of our petty difficulties. Like
she could undo every mistake we’d ever made.” (p. 293, line 36)
11. “In minutes, we were each given printouts that Karen said were road maps to our destinies.”
(p. 294, line 4)
12. “It was obviously why we had an emotional, watery office instead of a decisive, fiery office
where things got done.” (p. 294, line 10)
13. “We pictured molded plastic in beautiful colors, a curving, can-opener-shaped object that
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would save us all.” (p. 294, line 33)
14. “Her beauty wasn’t showy or obnoxious, and it wasn’t the kind you’d notice if it passed by
on the other side of the street, but she had an expensive-looking haircut with all kinds of
spiky layers in it, and she had an eggplant-shaped mole on the right side of her nose that
looked good on her.” (p. 295, line 5
15. “We wondered fretfully what else we didn’t know.” (p. 295, line 14)
16. “The fabric of her clothes was delicate and textured, as if it had been harvested from tropical
hardwood pulp and the skins of endangered species. Her normal outfits could eat our special
outfits for lunch.” (p. 295, line 18)
17. “You couldn’t blame them, really, for wanting their destinies explained. It wasn’t their fault
they had to work on the eighteenth floor.” (p. 295, line 27)
18. “Our temp had time for everyone, even Stephanie from accounting who you could see just by
looking at her didn’t have any destiny at all.’” (p. 296, line 6)
19. “…finally our boss came out of his lair to put a stop to it….We loved the boss right then.” (p.
296, line 9)
20. “We smiled brown smiles at the temp. You’re rotting our teeth out, we said. You’re turning
us into savages. I know, she said, and you love it.” (p. 296, line 19)
21. “The temp…made us feel like better people than we actually were…we wondered why we
couldn’t sustain it, what it was that had made us so coiled and mean.” (p. 296, line 21)
22. “…we imagined the temp in her big bed, lying next to her ghostly boyfriend…a long thin
noodle of a man.” (p. 296, line 26)
23. “We lingered on our temp. We stretched her out on thousand-thread-count sheets, lit her up
in flattering soft-focus. We let her lie there not doing a thing...” (p. 296, line 32)
24. “His head swiveled around and he looked at each of us like we were fossilized tea bags stuck
to the bottom of dirty mugs.” (p. 297, line 7)
25. “Sure, Martin, she said. But why was she calling him Martin?...Was our temp spending
intimate time with the boss? Something wasn’t right...” (p. 297, line 9)
26. “We gnawed on our cuticles while she talked. We stared out the window at the white crust of
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pigeon droppings on the building across the street.” (p. 297, line 21)
27. “We had made Eddie very sorry he’d done that…He frequently broke out into a sweat when
we passed him in the hall, and that’s the way we liked it, because we were not to be trifled
with.” (p. 297, line 26)
28. “The boss’s vacant blue eyes matched his shirt. He had a weak chin with the kind of neck
skin you wanted to reach your hand out and flick.” (p. 297, line 35)
29. “The light from the air shaft dotted her cheek with spots of sun.” (p. 298, line 10)
30. “We listened to the slow dripping of the pipes and tried not to think about how close we were
standing to the temp or how badly we wanted her to put her arms around us.” (p. 298, line
15)
31. “She probably thought we were all sad little people, and she might have been right.” (p. 298,
line 19)
32. “And all day while we ate the tamarind candy we looked at each other behind the temp’s
back and rolled our eyes, mouthing the word traitor.” (p. 298, line 22)
33. “She knew we could make a valuable contribution to the tapestry of human life if only we
tapped into our real gifts, which were being wasted in this office, in this visionless field.” (p.
298, line 28)
34. “She was shorter than we’d imagined when we’d fantasized about hugging her.” (p. 298, line
33)
35. “Even the boss slithered out of his office…A rush of color swelled in his cheeks then,
because he too was in love with the temp. (p. 299, line 4)
36. “She whipped out business cards…printed on beautiful cream paper, and we held them
carefully by their edges as though they might dissolve at any moment.” (p. 299, line 9)
37. “Right about then, something in us clicked on. Wait, we said.” (p. 299, line 14)
38. “Then someone reached out and touched her lapel, and then someone else joined in. And
then, for some reason, she began to scream.” (p. 299, line 33)
39. “And then something cracked open, and her purse went flying. Dozens of our office pens fell
out and landed on the elevator floor...” (p. 299, line 36)
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40. “Some of us—we didn’t know who, could never definitively say in a court of law—clawed at
the temp’s chest in an attempt to quiet her down…There were so many arms and hands and
legs and hips, it was hard to know what was going on.” (p. 300, line 4)
41. “There was a pile-up in the hallway then: thrashing limbs, fistfuls of hair ripped out of heads,
heels grinding into flesh. It felt good—necessary, even—to fight hard. To cry out, to hit and
kick and scratch, to make ourselves known to one another like this.” (p. 300, line 19)
42. “We stared at each other, our faces slowly untwisting, returning to normal.” (p. 300, line 26)
43. “Sometimes we would wonder about the temp. Had she even existed?” (p. 300, line 35)
44. “When we got other temps, they were so ordinary: nervous women with weak handshakes,
men with concave chests under colorless shirts.” (p. 300, line 36)
45. “…which meant those of us who remained would be let go. And we would notice we felt
strangely good about it, buoyant and full of possibility. It’s time, we would say. We’re
ready.” (p. 301, line 4)
Record your own notes: thoughts, other instances of poetics, etc. Additional space is on page at
end of this section.
Tensions / contrasts
Meaningful tensions or juxtapositions in the story.
1. First impressions/subsequent attitudes about the temp: “When we first met the temp, we
didn’t give her a second thought.” (p. 292, line 1), “We laughed when she said that—big
horsey guffaws. That was when we started thinking we liked her. As a person, not just as
help.” (p. 293, line 23), “In our beds that night, we thought of the temp.” (p. 295, line 4),
“Was our temp spending intimate time with the boss? Something wasn’t right…” (p. 297,
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line 11), “We listened to the slow dripping of the pipes and tried not to think about…how
badly we wanted her to put her arms around us.” (p. 298, line 15), “When we hugged the
temp goodbye on Friday afternoon, some of us had to discreetly wipe tears from our
eyes.” (p. 298, line 32), “Sometimes we would wonder about the temp. Had she even
existed?” (p. 300, line 35)
2. The temp’s competence/the workers’ incompetence: “She nodded, and her voice rang out
with an odd confidence: No problem!” (p. 293, line 1), “The truth was, we had all sullied
the database…if we were planning to do data entry, we would come to work drunk. We
got sloppy.” (p. 293, line 3), “We had never considered our tasks easy to
accomplish…We were practically speechless when, by the end of the day, the temp had
the computer spitting out piles of good data.” (p. 293, line 31), “Only a watery office like
ours could have made such a mess of the database.” (p. 294, line 10), “As if it wasn’t
enough to be writing a novel, the temp was also starting her own company!” (p. 294, line
26), “We looked at the little desk in the corner, at the neat piles of data she’d laid across
it like an offering.” (p. 299, line 14)
3. The temp’s appearance vs. the workers’ appearance: “The temp was slim and tanned—
some kind of Asian.” (p. 292, line 13), “The temp was a glamorous smoker…She talked
and French-inhaled simultaneously, and it made her look smart.” (p. 293, line 17), “…she
had an expensive-looking haircut with all kinds of spiky layers in it, and she had an
eggplant-shaped mole on the right side of her nose that looked good on her.” (p. 295, line
6), “…the temp made us realize that there was a whole world of shoes we were ignorant
of.” (p. 295, line 13), “Her normal outfits could eat our special outfits for lunch.” (p. 295,
line 20), “…she flashed us a glittering smile and swished out the door in her fabulous
coat and hat.” (p. 299, line 12), “We smoothed out the wrinkles in our clothes, picked
carpet lint out of our hair.” (p. 300, line 30)
4. The temp’s visions of the workers’ destinies vs. their present circumstances: “She’d
looked at our charts. She’d done the calculations. You’re all so talented, she said. You’re
wasting valuable time in this place.” (p. 294, line 22), “We wondered fretfully what else
we didn’t know.” (p. 295, line 14), “They wanted to know…what careers they should be
pursuing instead of the horrible careers they were in now.” (p. 295, line 25), “She made
us feel like better people than we actually were.” (p. 296, line 22), “She knew we could
make a valuable contribution to the tapestry of human life if only we tapped into our real
gifts, which were being wasted in this office, in this visionless field.” (p. 298, line 28)
5. Between workers and boss: “Garbage in, garbage out, was one of the six things he liked
to say. We didn’t know what it meant, and we didn’t think he did either.” (p. 293, line 8),
“Come straight to me, he said, looking at us over the top of his glasses as if we were the
dried-up remnants of a cold-cut platter.” (p. 293, line 12), “Your boss has difficult
energy, she said…He shouldn’t have been given a position of leadership.” (p. 293, line
20), “We seethed inwardly at the interlopers until finally our boss came out of his lair to
put a stop to it.” (p. 296, line 9), “…we called him boss or sir or nothing at all.” (p. 297,
line 10), “The boss’s vacant blue eyes matched his shirt. He had a weak chin with the
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kind of neck skin you wanted to reach your hand out and flick.” (p. 298, line 35), “Even
the boss slithered out of his office…” (p. 299, line 4)
6. Between women and men: “He was the only man in our department, which made him
that much easier to despise.” (p. 293, line 14), “…we imagined the temp in her big bed,
lying next to her ghostly boyfriend, who was practically an albino, she’d said, a long thin
noodle of a man.” (p. 296, line 26), “We had made Eddie very sorry he’d done that. Now
when we saw him in the lobby he ran—ran!—to open the door for us before we could do
it ourselves…that’s the way we liked it, because we were not to be trifled with.” (p. 297,
line 26), “He’s just a sad little man, the temp said.” (p. 298, line 18), “…other
temps…men with concave chests under colorless shirts.” (p. 300, line 26)
7. The women’s fantasies about the temp and the image of her revealed at the story’s end:
“We pictured…her manuscript beside her, presentation posters of her company’s
mysterious product scattered on the floor below.” (p. 296, line 28), “She was shorter than
we’d imagined when we’d fantasized about hugging her, and her hair tickled our necks.”
(p. 298, line 33), “And then something cracked open, and her purse went flying. Dozens
of our office pens fell out and landed on the elevator floor...” (p. 299, line 36), “Just leave
me alone, the temp was saying, her voice high and shaky. Just go away!” (p. 300, line 14)
8. Between desire and betrayal: “We lingered on our temp. We stretched her out on
thousand-thread-count sheets, lit her up in flattering soft-focus.” (p. 296, line 32),
“Something wasn’t right, and we felt our shoulders starting to tense up…” (p. 297, line
11), “We had never felt so betrayed…” (p. 297, line 24), “We were going to be bitchy to
the temp for the rest of the day, but when she pulled out her pearl-inlaid lighter and shook
her pack of cigarettes at us, we couldn’t help ourselves.” (p. 298, line 5), “Then someone
reached out and touched her lapel, and then someone else joined in. And then, for some
reason, she began to scream.” (p. 299, line 33), “Some of us…clawed at the temp’s chest
in an attempt to quiet her down…” (p. 300, line 4)
9. What is said and what is meant: “All you have to do, we said, is make sure the database
matches the numbers…The truth was, we had all sullied the database.” (p. 292, line 18),
“Garbage in, garbage out, was one of the six things he liked to say. We didn’t know what
it meant, and we didn’t think he did either.” (p. 293, line 9), “The boss was impressed.
Thank you Karen, he said, you’ve given us a lot of food for thought. Hasn’t she, ladies?
Oh yeah, we said. Tons.” (p. 297, line 32), “Of course I didn’t mean any of that, she
said…You know that, right? I just told him what he wanted to hear.” (p. 298, line 9),
“And all day…we looked at each other behind the temp’s back and rolled our eyes,
mouthing the word traitor. But we didn’t mean it.” (p. 298, line 22)
10. The individual and the group: “When we first met the temp, we didn’t give her a second
thought.” (p. 292, line 1), “We laughed when she said that—big horsey guffaws. That
was when we started thinking we liked her. As a person, not just as help. So, Karen,
what’s your story, we asked.” (p. 293, line 23), “As if it wasn’t enough to be writing a
novel, the temp was also starting her own company!” (p. 294, line 26), “One of us—and
we had a good idea who—had been talking about our temp with the people on the
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eighteenth floor!” (p. 295, line 23), “Was our temp spending intimate time with the boss?
Something wasn’t right, and we felt our shoulders starting to tense up, one after the other,
all around the conference table.” (p. 297, line 11), “We had made Eddie very sorry he’d
done that…that’s the way we liked it, because we were not to be trifled with.” (p. 297,
line 26), “…we looked at each other behind the temp’s back and rolled our eyes…” (p.
298, line 23), “We were moving in a group. The elevator door was closing and we had to
stop it, so we got in.” (p. 299, line 31), “It felt good—necessary, even—to fight hard…to
make ourselves known to one another like this.” (p. 300, line 20), “It’s time, we would
say. We’re ready.” (p. 301, line 7)
Record your own notes: thoughts, other instances of tensions/contrasts, etc. Additional space is
on page at end of this section.
Shadows
Questions, missing pieces, elements that are oblique or not fully explained.
1. Why does the temp introduce herself only as “Karen from the agency”? Why, even after they
know her name, do the other women think of her as “the temp” or “our temp”?
2. Why are the women initially so suspicious of the temp? When does their attitude begin to
change?
3. What does the boss mean by “garbage in, garbage out”?
4. Do you think the temp was really writing a novel or starting a company? If not, why do you
think the other women believed her?
5. What kind of product did you imagine the temp’s company was designing—the “product
we’ve all needed for a long time”?
6. Why are the women so drawn to the temp? Does she reciprocate or return the attention and
affection?
7. Why do the women despise the boss so much? Does their attitude toward him change? Why?
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8. The women wonder “what it was that had made us so coiled and mean.” What do you think
caused that meanness?
9. Do you think the temp was, as the women suspect, “spending intimate time with the boss”?
10. What do you think really happened with Eddie? What might have been the “vicious rumor”
he planted? What did they do that “made him very sorry he’d done that”?
11. Did the temp mean what she said when she described the “atmosphere of mistrust in the
office”? If not, why did she say it?
12. Why do the women want the temp “to put her arms around us”? What do they want from
her?
13. “We had learned so much about our temp, and more importantly, so much about ourselves!”
(p. 298, line 25) What have they learned about themselves?
14. Why are the women so drawn to the temp’s pearl-inlaid lighter? What does it represent for
them?
15. “Right about then, something in us clicked on.” (p. 299, line 14) What “clicked on”? Why
were the women unable to say goodbye to the temp and let her go?
16. Why does the temp begin to scream when she’s in the elevator?
17. Is the temp a kleptomaniac? A liar? A fortune-teller? A fantasy?
18. Why do the women claw at the temp’s chest? Why do they then fight one another for her
lighter?
19. What do they mean by: “It felt good—necessary, even—to fight hard. To cry out, to hit and
kick and scratch, to make ourselves known to one another like this”? In what way does that
fight “make them known” to each other?
20. Why, when the remaining workers are finally let go, do they feel “strangely good about it,
buoyant and full of possibility”? What are they ready for?
Record your own notes: thoughts, other instances of shadows, etc. Additional space on page at
end of this section.
Study Guide – The Temp – Amelia Kahaney
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Issues
Themes, ideas and arguments raised by the text.
1. Temporary and permanent office workers: What are the differences between the temp and the
women who work in the office permanently? Are they treated differently by the boss? By one
another? Do they have different attitudes toward the work?
2. Cultural differences: The temp is described as “slim and tanned—some kind of Asian” and,
later, more specifically, as Filipino. Why is her ethnic background noted, when no one else’s
is described? What attitudes toward racial/ethnic difference are evident in this story?
3. Ambition: The temp is said to be writing a novel and starting her own company. Is she more
ambitious than the other women in the office? Is she more educated? More privileged? More
worldly? What makes you think so?
4.
Destiny: The temp uses a computer program to read the women’s natal charts and outline
their destinies. Are such predictions accurate? Are they useful? Why do the women believe
her? What does this story suggest about destiny and choice?
5. Wisdom and ignorance: Is the temp smart? Is she wise? She makes the women “wonder
fretfully what else we didn’t know.” (p. 295, line 14) Are they less knowing than she is? In
what ways?
6. Employer/employee relationships: What do the women think of their boss? Why? What does
he think of them? How can you tell? Is this typical of office relationships? Is it typical when
the boss is male and the workers are female? What makes you think so?
7. The individual and the group: The women in the office seem to function as a group; although
some are named individually, they usually refer to themselves as “we.” Is their groupmentality a good thing or a bad thing? What makes you say so? What happens when people
begin to think of themselves as a “we”? Are there benefits to the temp’s position of
“outsider”? Are there disadvantages to being outside of the group?
8. Fantasy and betrayal: Why do the women fantasize about the temp and her life? Why do
some of their fantasies have a sexual component? Does she betray them? Do they betray
themselves?
9. Violence: Why do the women attack the temp when she’s in the elevator? Why do they fight
one another for her lighter? Is their fighting “necessary”? In what way? Does anything
change as a result of their fight?
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10. Transformation: At the story’s end, some of the women office workers have left voluntarily,
“for other jobs, for pharmacology school or extended trips to Ecuador.” Others are let go.
“It’s time, we would say. We’re ready.” What were they ready for? Had they changed? If so,
what caused the change? How much did the temp influence them?
Record your own notes: thoughts, questions, other instances of “issues” in this story. Additional
space on page at the end of this section.
Experience
Questions designed as a bridge between the reader’s lived-life and the story.
1. Have you ever been a temp, either in an office or in another kind of workplace? What are
the advantages of being a temporary worker? What are the challenges or disadvantages?
2. Have you ever met someone to whom you “didn’t give a second thought”? What was the
situation? Did your attitude toward this person change as you grew to know him/her?
3. In a job, have you ever been purposely careless or “sloppy” with the work? Why? What
was the result?
4. The boss in this story says “garbage in, garbage out.” Have you ever had a boss who had
certain sayings—either for motivation or for criticism? Have you had bosses you
respected? Have you had bosses you despised? What made the difference?
5. Did you ever work with someone who seemed smarter, more ambitious or more worldly
than you? What about this person made him/her seem that way? Was this person, in
actuality, smarter, more ambitious or more worldly? How did you feel when you were
around him/her?
6. Do you believe in such things as natal charts, horoscopes, Tarot cards, etc. as predictors
of destiny? Have you ever had someone read your chart or Tarot, or tell your fortune
using some other means? How did you feel about their predictions?
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7. Have you ever felt that you were “wasting valuable time” in a place you didn’t belong, or
that your “real gifts” were being squandered? What was the situation? What did you do?
8. Have you ever imagined designing, or simply having, a product that would “save us all”?
What would that object be? What would it look like? What would it do?
9. In a workplace, school or other setting, have you ever thought of yourself as part of a
group, a “we”? Who belonged to the group? Who was outside of it? Whom did your
group admire? Whom did the group disdain? What did you like about belonging to the
group? Was there anything you didn’t like about belonging?
10. Have you ever known someone who made you feel like “a better person than [you]
actually were”? Were you able to sustain that feeling?
11. Do you remember tasting something exotic, foreign or unfamiliar for the first time? What
was it like? Did you enjoy it?
12. Have you ever felt that someone you admired was, perhaps, not everything you had
imagined her or him to be? What did this person do or say that jolted your fantasy? How
did your attitude toward this person change?
13. Have you ever done something petty and mean, such as when the other workers blow
smoke into the temp’s hair and, later, mouth the word traitor behind her back? What
prompted your meanness? How did you feel about what you did?
14. Have you ever felt that you were unable to let someone disappear from your life? Why
was it so difficult to let that person go? Did you do anything to try to make them stay?
15. Have you ever felt that it was good—“necessary, even”—to fight physically, “to make
ourselves known to one another like this”? In what way did fighting make you feel
“known”?
16. Have you ever been fired or laid off from a job? How did you feel about it? Have you
ever felt “buoyant and full of possibility” about a change in your life, whether or not you
initiated the change? What gave you that sense of possibility?
Record your own notes: thoughts, other instances of experience, etc. Additional space on page at
end of this section.
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Coordinator Notes
Record your own notes: thoughts, other instances of poetics, tensions/contrasts, shadows, issues,
experience, possible discussion paths, questions you might consider.
Study Guide – The Temp – Amelia Kahaney
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DISCUSSION PATHS
Introducing the story
before reading the story, you might want to:
1. Share biographical information about Amelia Kahaney.
2. Invite participants to think about a time when they felt part of a group—in a school, a
neighborhood, a workplace—and an outsider entered the picture. What happened?
3. If you plan to conclude the session by inviting participants to write, you might offer either of
these prompts: If someone were to read your natal chart, what would it indicate? What “great
gifts” do you have to offer the world? OR Write about a time when you felt ready to make an
important change in your life. What were the circumstances? What was the change?
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Poetics  P
Tensions/Contrasts  C Shadows  S
Issues  I Experience  E
______________________________________________________________________________
1. Temporary and permanent office workers
“When we first met the temp, we didn’t give her a second thought.” (p. p. 292, line
1), “…she introduced herself as Karen from the agency.” (p. 292, line 5), “We
dragged a chair over to the broken-down desk behind the copy machine…” (p. 292,
line 9), “If you have a question, come in and ask me. Come straight to me, he said in
a loud whisper.” (p. 293, line 12), “It was like she had some kind of bird’s-eye view
of all of us, of our petty difficulties.” (p. 293, line 36), “For the first time ever, we
didn’t want the week to end.” (p. 298, line 25), “It would only be a matter of time
before our department lost a big account, and then another, which meant those of us
who remained would be let go.” (p. 301, line 3)

What are the other workers’ first impressions of the temp? How do they treat her?

What are the differences between the temp and the women who work in the office
permanently? Are they treated differently by the boss? By one another?
P, C

Do the temp and the permanent employees have different attitudes toward their
work? Why?
C, S

Why, even after the women know her name, do they refer to Karen as “the temp”
or “our temp”?
P, S
Study Guide – The Temp – Amelia Kahaney
–15 –
P



Do you think the relationships described in the story are typical of those between
temporary and permanent workers? Is there necessarily tension between the two?
Why?
I
Have you ever been a temporary worker? What was the experience like? Were
there differences between you and long-term or permanent employees? What are
the benefits and disadvantages of being a temporary employee?
E
Have you ever been an employee in a workplace where a temp was hired? How
did you feel about the temp? Was she/he different from the other workers? How?
E
2. Competence & incompetence; wisdom & ignorance
“She nodded, and her voice rang out with an odd confidence: No problem!” (p. 293,
line 1), “The truth was, we had all sullied the database. When we first started here, we
didn’t know what we were doing.” (p. 293, line 3), “We didn’t know what it meant,
and we didn’t think he did either.” (p. 293, line 10), “She talked and French-inhaled
simultaneously, and it made her look smart.” (p. 293, line 20), “We had never
considered our tasks easy to accomplish…But we nodded sagely, like we got it.” (p.
293, line 31), “We wondered fretfully what else we didn’t know.” (p. 295, line 14),
“We looked at the little desk in the corner, the neat piles of data she’d laid across it
like an offering.” (p. 299, line 14)





What is the temp’s attitude toward the work of the office? How do the permanent
employees feel about their work? Who is more competent? Why do you say so?
P, C
Why do the other workers think the temp “looks smart”? Does she also “act
smart”? Is she smart? Is she wise? Why or why not?
P, S, I
Why does the temp make the women “wonder fretfully what else we didn’t
know”? How do they come to feel about her work and her observations of their
office? Do you think they are more or less knowing than the temp? Why?
P, S, I
Have you ever been around someone who made you wonder “what else you
didn’t know”? Who was this person? How did his/her presence make you feel?
E
Have you ever met someone who seemed smarter or more competent than you?
What about this person made her/him seem that way? Was this person, in
actuality, smarter or more competent?
C, E
3. Employer/employee relations
“Garbage in, garbage out, was one of the six things he liked to say. We didn’t know
what it meant, and we didn’t think he did either.” (p. 293, line 8), “Come straight to
me, he said, looking at us over the top of his glasses as if we were the dried-up
remains of a cold-cut platter.” (p. 293, line 12), “Your boss has difficult energy, she
said…He shouldn’t have been given a position of leadership.” (p. 293, line 20), “We
Study Guide – The Temp – Amelia Kahaney
–16 –
seethed inwardly at the interlopers until finally our boss came out of his lair to put a
stop to it.” (p. 296, line 9), “…we called him boss or sir or nothing at all.” (p. 297, line
10), “The boss’s vacant blue eyes matched his shirt. He had a weak chin with the kind
of neck skin you wanted to reach your hand out and flick.” (p. 298, line 35), “Even the
boss slithered out of his office…” (p. 229, line 4)

Look at descriptions of the boss, especially the use of words like “lair” and
“slithered.” What impression do they convey of the boss? What do these words
evoke? What do they tell you about the women workers’ attitude toward him?
P, S

How, in turn, does the boss feel about the women who work for him? What words
help to give you that impression?
P, S

Who has power in this office—the boss, the temp, the women employees? Why
do you say so?

Do you agree with the temp that the boss “shouldn’t have been given a position of
leadership”?
C, S
I

Does the relationship between the boss and his employees change in the course of
the story? How about his relationship to the temp? How does she alter the office
dynamics?
C, S

Do you think the tensions described are typical of offices, or of workplaces in
general? Are they typical of places where a male supervisor oversees a group of
women? Would this office be different if the boss were female? How?
I
Have you ever had a boss who had certain sayings, used either for motivation or
for criticism? Were her or his comments useful?
E
Have you had bosses you respected? Have you had bosses you despised? What
made the difference? If you ever have the chance to supervise people, what kind
of boss will you be?
E


4. Male/female relations
“He was the only man in our department, which made him that much easier to
despise.” (p. 293, line 14), “…we imagined the temp in her big bed, lying next to her
ghostly boyfriend, who was practically an albino, she’d said, a long thin noodle of a
man.” (p. 296, line 26), “We had made Eddie very sorry he’d done that. Now when we
saw him in the lobby, he ran—ran!—to open the door for us before we could do it
ourselves…that’s the way we liked it, because we were not to be trifled with.” (p. 297,
line 26), “He’s just a sad little man, the temp said.” (p. 298, line 18), “…other
temps…men with concave chests under colorless shirts.” (p. 300, line 26)

Why do the women find their boss “easy to despise”? Does he deserve their
disdain?
Study Guide – The Temp – Amelia Kahaney
S, I
–17 –






Why, when the women imagine the temp in bed with her boyfriend, do they see
him as “ghostly”and “albino,” a “long thin noodle of a man”? What do these
words evoke for you? Why do the workers’ fantasies about the temp contain a
sexual element?
What do you imagine was the content of Eddie’s rumor? What do you suppose the
women did to “make him very sorry he’d done that”?
Do you agree that the boss is “just a sad little man”? Why does the temp describe
him that way?
Do you think the boss is in love with the temp? How about the women
employees: are they in love with her, too? What makes you think so?
P, S
S
P, S
S
Who is strong, and who is weak, in this story? Is that generally how it is, in
offices? How about in other arenas of life?
C, I
Does this story challenge any stereotypes of men and women, or does it
perpetuate them? Explain what you mean.
I, E
5. Ambition, education and class
“As if it wasn’t enough to be writing a novel, the temp was also starting her own
company!” (p. 294, line 26), “…the temp made us realize that there was a whole
world of shoes we were ignorant of.” (p. 295, line 13), “Her normal outfits could eat
our special outfits for lunch.” (p. 295, line 20), “…she flashed us a glittering smile
and swished out the door in her fabulous coat and hat.” (p. 200, line 12), “They
wanted to know…what careers they should be pursuing instead of the horrible careers
they were in now.” (p. 295, line 25), “She made us feel like better people than we
actually were.” (p. 296, line 22)





Is the temp more ambitious than the other women who work in the office? If you
think so, what are the signs of her ambition? Are there indications of the other
women’s lack of ambition?
The temp is said to be writing a novel and starting her own company. Do you
believe these claims? If not, why do you think the temp lies? Why do the other
women believe her?
C, S
S, I
What does the contrast between the temp’s clothing and the other women’s
clothing tell you about both of them? How does the temp make the other women
feel about their status and possessions?
C, S
Is the temp more educated than the other women in the office? Is she more
privileged? More worldly? What makes you think so?
C, S
In what way does the temp make the women feel “like better people” than they
actually are? Would you describe the temp as “a good person”? Why or why not?
Study Guide – The Temp – Amelia Kahaney
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S, I

Have you ever had a friend or acquiantance who seemed more ambitious,
educated or privileged than you? How did those differences show themselves?
How did they make you feel?
E
6. Race, ethnicity and culture
“Good thing you’re small, you’ll almost fit! The temp was slim and tanned—some
kind of Asian.” (p. 292, line 13), “It was going to be the Filipino version of One
Hundred Years of Solitude.” (p. 293, line 26), “The fabric of her clothes was delicate
and textured, as if it had been harvested from tropical hardwood pulp and the skins of
endangered species.” (p. 295, line 18), “…the temp pulled out a big bag of tamarind
candy. We had never tasted anything like it before.” (p. 296, line 14), “We smiled
brown smiles at the temp…You’re turning us into savages. I know, she said, and you
love it.” (p. 296, line 19), “That evening, we imagined the temp in her big bed, lying
next to her ghostly boyfriend, who was practically an albino…” (p. 296, line 26),


Look at the physical details the other women notice about the temp—her small
size, her tan, the fabric of her clothes? Why do these details impress them? What
feeling or picture do they evoke for you?
P, S
Why do the women say, with their mouths full of tamarind candy, that the temp is
“turning them into savages”? Why does she respond the way she does?
P, S

The temp is described as Asian and later, more specifically, Filipino. Why is her
ethnic background noted, when no one else’s is described in the story? What race
or ethnicity did you think the other workers were? How about the boss?
C, S, I

Why, when the women picture the temp in bed with her boyfriend, is he described
as “ghostly” and “practically an albino”?
P, C, S

What attitudes toward racial or ethnic differences are evident in this story? Do
you think the story challenges any stereotypes of Asian women, or does it
perpetuate them? Does it matter what race/ethnicity the temp is? Why?


S, I
Did you ever know someone whose eating habits, manner of dress or style of
speech seemed “exotic” to you? Was that exoticism appealing? Why?
E
Have you ever tasted something exotic, foreign or unfamiliar for the first time?
What was it like? How did it make you feel, to be eating this new thing?
E
7. Destiny, circumstance and choice
“She’d looked at our charts. She’d done the calculations. You’re all so talented, she
said. You’re wasting valuable time in this place.” (p. 294, line 22), “They wanted to
know…what careers they should be pursuing instead of the horrible careers they were
in now.” (p. 295, line 25), “She knew we could make a valuable contribution to the
tapestry of human life if only we tapped into our real gifts, which were being wasted
Study Guide – The Temp – Amelia Kahaney
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in this office, in this visionless field.” (p. 298, line 28), “One by one, we would quit
for other jobs…It would only be a matter of time before our department lost a big
account, and then another, which meant those of us who remained would be let go.”
(p. 300, line 34)

In what way is the office, the women’s current work, a “visionless field”? Is the
temp able to see something they can’t? What is it?
P, C, S

What are the women’s “real gifts”? Does the temp help them to find these?

Do you believe in predictions based on such things as natal charts, astrological
signs, palm-reading or Tarot? If such predictions aren’t exactly “true,” can they
still be useful? In this case, are the temp’s predictions useful or harmful, or
neither?
I
In the end, some women leave the office of their own volition, while others are let
go due to downsizing. What do you think this story is suggesting about destiny
and choice?
I
Have you ever had someone read your natal chart, interpret your horoscope or do
a Tarot reading of your life? How did you feel about their predictions? Was the
experience useful? Was it disturbing in any way?
I


P, S
8. Fantasy/reality
“Our heads swam with ideas. We pictured molded plastic in beautiful colors, a
curving, can-opener-shaped object that would save us all.” (p. 295, line 33), “We
pictured…her manuscript beside her, presentation posters of her company’s
mysterious product scattered on the floor below.” (p. 296, line 28), “She was shorter
than we’d imagined when we’d fantasized about hugging her, and her hair tickled our
necks.” (p. 298, line 33), “And then something cracked open, and her purse went
flying. Dozens of our office pens fell out and landed on the elevator floor…” (p. 299,
line 36), “Just leave me alone, the temp was saying, her voice high and shaky. Just go
away!” (p. 300, line 14)

What elements of the temp’s stories appear in the other women’s fantasies about
her? What details have they added on their own? What does this tell you about
them?
P, C, S

What product did you imagine the temp’s company might be designing? If there
were an object that could “save us all,” what would it be? What would it do?
S, I

What “cracked open,” besides—literally—the temp’s purse?
P, S

In what ways did the temp turn out to be different from the women’s fantasies
about her? How did learning the truth affect them?
C, S

Did you ever have fantasies about the life of someone you knew or admired? How
did the fantasies make you feel? Were they different from the “truth” about this
Study Guide – The Temp – Amelia Kahaney
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person? Did you ever come to see this person as “real” rather than your fantasy
version? How did that feel?
E
9. Desire/betrayal
“We lingered on our temp. We stretched her out on thousand-thread-count sheets. Lit
her up in flattering soft-focus.” (p. 296, line 32), “Something wasn’t right, and we felt
our shoulders starting to tense up…” (p. 297, line 11), “We had never felt so
betrayed…” (p. 297, line 24), “We were going to be bitchy to the temp for the rest of
the day, but when she pulled out her pearl-inlaid lighter and shook her pack of
cigarettes at us, we couldn’t help ourselves.” (p. 298, line 5), “And all day while we
ate the tamarind candy we looked at each other behind the temp’s back and rolled our
eyes, mouthing the word traitor. But we didn’t mean it.” (p. 298, line 22), “Oh, that’s
so sweet, she said, taking her hand away from the elevator door, but I’m actually late
for this thing I have to get to.” (p. 299, line 27)

Read the lines starting with “we lingered on our temp.” What does this description
remind you of? Why do the women imagine the temp in this way?
P, S

Why are the women so drawn to the temp’s pearl-inlaid lighter? What does it
represent for them?
P, S
Several times, the workers imagine having the temp put her arms around them, or
imagine hugging her. Is there a sexual element to their fantasies? What do they
seem to want from the temp? Can she provide what they need?
P, S
Does the temp betray the other women by being more intimate with the boss?
Does she betray them by criticizing their workplace?
S, I






The temp claims she didn’t mean what she said; the women mouth the word
traitor but say they didn’t mean it. Do you think either of them really did mean
what they said? Why do they claim otherwise? Can anyone in this story—the
temp, the other women, the boss—be trusted?
C, S, I
Given the intensity of the women’s attraction to the temp, is it inevitable that she
betray or abandon them in the end? Does that always happen when a person is
desired or fantasized about so intensely?
I
Could you relate to the women’s intense desire for the temp’s friendship,
company and approval? Is there someone you have been drawn to in this way?
What was the situation?
E
Have you ever felt that you were unable to let someone disappear from your life?
Why was it so difficult to let that person go? Did you do anything to try to make
them stay?
E
10. Violence
Study Guide – The Temp – Amelia Kahaney
–21 –
“His head swiveled around and he looked at each of us like we were fossilized tea
bags stuck to the bottom of dirty mugs.” (p. 297, line 7), “Everyone here hoards
information, she said. There is an atmosphere of mistrust in the office, Martin.” (p.
297, line 17), “[Eddie] frequently broke out into a sweat when we passed him in the
hall, and that’s the way we liked it…” (p. 297, line 28), “Some of us…clawed at the
temp’s chest in an attempt to quiet her down, inadvertantly popping a button off her
cashmere cardigan.” (p. 300, line 4), “There was a pile-up in the hallway then:
thrashing limbs, fistfuls of hair ripped out of heads, heels grinding into flesh. It felt
good—necessary, even—to fight hard. To cry out, to hit and kick and scratch, to
make ourselves known to one another like this.” (p. 300, line 19)

Is there emotional or verbal violence in this story, as well as the physical violence
of the final scene? Point to instances of emotional or physical violence. Who is
harmed by them?
P, C, I

What do you imagine the women did to punish Eddie for spreading a rumor?

Were you surprised by the women’s physical violence at the end? Why or why
not? Is this a classic “girl fight”? Why do you say that? Is it different from how
men would fight?
C, S, I
Why do you think the women attacked the temp when she was in the elevator?
Why do they fight one another for her lighter? Is their fighting “necessary”? In
what way? Does anything change as a result of their fight?
S, I



S
Have you ever done something petty and mean, such as when the other workers
blow smoke into the temp’s hair and, later, mouth the word traitor behind her
back? What prompted your meanness? How did you feel about what you did?
Have you ever engaged in physical violence? Did it ever feel “necessary” to fight
hard? Is there a way that fighting “makes you feel known”?
E
I, E
11. The individual and the group
“When we first met the temp, we didn’t give her a second thought.” (p. 292, line 1),
“We laughed when she said that—big horsey guffaws. That was when we started
thinking we liked her. As a person, not just as help. So, Karen, what’s your story, we
asked.” (p. 293, line 23), “One of us—and we had a good idea who—had been talking
about our temp with the people on the eighteenth floor!” (p. 295, line 23), “…we
were not to be trifled with.” (p. 297, line 26), “…we looked at each other behind the
temp’s back and rolled our eyes…” (p. 298, line 23), “We were moving in a group.
The elevator door was closing and we had to stop it, so we got in.” (p. 299, line 31).
“It felt good…to make ourselves known to one another like this.” (p. 300, line 20)


How do the women initially regard the temp? What changes their attitude about
her?
P, C
Why does the narrator never refer to herself alone, but talks only of the group,
using “we”?
P, S
Study Guide – The Temp – Amelia Kahaney
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
Look at how the group behaves and thinks of itself—as a “we” that is “not to be
trifled with.” Does the group’s behavior and self-image remind you of any other
groups in your own experience, or in the world?
P, S, I, E

In this story, is the “group mentality” a positive or destructive way of thinking?
What makes you say so? What happens when people begin to think of themselves
as a “we”?
C, I
Are there benefits to the temp’s position as “outsider” in the group? Are there
disadvantages to being outside the group?
C, S


In a workplace, school or other setting, have you ever thought of yourself as part
of a group, a “we”? Who belonged to the group? Who was outside of it? Whom
did your group admire? Whom did it disdain? What did you like about belonging
to the group? Was there anything you didn’t like about belonging?
E
12. Transformation
“You’re all so talented, she said. You’re wasting valuable time in this place.” (p. 294,
line 22), “They want to know…what careers they should be pursuing instead of the
horrible careers they were in now.” (p. 295, line 25), “She made us feel like better
people than we actually were.” (p. 296, line 22), “She knew we could make a
valuable contribution to the tapestry of human life if only we tapped into our real
gifts…” (p. 298, line 28), “We stared at each other, our faces slowly untwisting,
returning to normal.” (p. 300, line 26), “…those of us who remained would be let go.
And we would notice we felt strangely good about it, buoyant and full of possibility.
It’s time, we would say. We’re ready.” (p. 301, line 4)

How do the women react to the temp’s assessments of their talents and
predictions about their futures? Does this change how they feel about her? About
themselves?
P, S

What are the women’s “real gifts”? Is the temp able to see them? Do those “gifts”
ever emerge, in the course of the story? Have you ever felt that your “real gifts”
were being wasted?
P, S, E

What happens to the women during their scuffle in the elevator, and outside of it?
When the narrator describes their faces “slowly untwisting, returning to normal,”
what did that remind you of?
P
At the story’s end, some of the women have left the office voluntarily, while
others are let go. Why do they feel “buoyant and full of possibility” about having
been laid off? What are they “ready” for?
P, S


Does anyone change in the course of this story: the temp, the women, the boss? In
what way do they change? Do any of them help the others to change? How?
C, S

In the end, did you think the temp was a kleptomaniac (a habitual thief)? A liar?
A prophet? A fantasy? An agent of transformation?
Study Guide – The Temp – Amelia Kahaney
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S, I


Have you ever known someone who made you feel like a “better person than you
really were”? What qualities did this person bring out in you? Were you able to
sustain the change, even out of that person’s presence?
E
Have you ever been fired or laid off from a job, or had someone else end a
relationship unexpectedly? Did you ever feel “buoyant and full of possibility”
about such a change in your life? What gave you that sense of possibility?
E
Final Impressions
After the session, take some time to make notes about the discussion: interesting points that
readers raised, questions that arose, disputes, and confusions. Jot down your own impressions of
the session: what worked well; what would you do differently the next time?
Study Guide – The Temp – Amelia Kahaney
–24 –
SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING
Anthologies including Kahaney’s work:
The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2009, edited by Dave Eggers. New York: Mariner
Books, 2009.
Books by others:
The Color of Absence: 12 Stories About Loss and Hope, edited by James Howe. New York:
Atheneum, 2003.
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, by Alison Bechdel. New York: Mariner Books, 2007.
Me Talk Pretty One Day, by David Sedaris. Boston: Back Bay Books, 2001.
On the Fringe, edited by Donald R. Gallo. New York: Dial, 2001.
Persepolis: The Story of a Girlhood, by Marjane Satrapi. New York: Pantheon, 2004.
The Stories of Alice Adams, by Alice Adams. New York: Washington Square Press, 2003.
Study Guide – The Temp – Amelia Kahaney
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