“The Inheritance of Tools” by Scott Russell Sanders

questions about the story

1. Note examples of figurative language in paragraph 1. Explain their effect.

2. Cite two examples of parallel syntax and explain their effect.

3. Consider the speaker’s use of direct quotations from his father. Describe the tone delivered by those quotations.

4. Consider the organization of the essay, noting particularly the sections about the gerbils (paragraphs 17- 25). How does that section contribute to the overall effect?

5. Read paragraph 20. Explain the purpose of Sanders’s reference to the grand events included there.

6. Explain the rhetorical effect of the allusions that Sanders includes in paragraph 25.

7. Drawing from anywhere in Sanders’s essay, select one particularly striking verb. Explain its effect.

8. Read carefully the final sentence of the essay. Discuss the effectiveness of concluding with this selection of details.

9. Discuss the significance of the title “The Inheritance of Tools,” and of the word “inheritance” as it relates to the piece as a whole.