Book Club - The Querent by Alexander Chee

Now that we're going to be spending a lot of time at home, we need something to fill in the time. As a whole class, here are some media that we could all consume together. I've called this a book club, but they needn't be books.

The Querent - Alexander Chee

This is the true story of how the author got into tarot card reading and what it has done in his life and for other people.

Read it here.

Write your answers down and be prepared to discuss them in class.

Before you read:

1. Are you interested in anything supernatural or the occult?

2. Have you ever had your tarot cards read? How about your palm? Would you like to? If you had your cards read, what would you want to know?

3. Do you believe in it? Why or why not?

4. Do you think it is a mostly positive or negative thing? 

After you read:

1. Did reading this change your views on tarot cards? What was opinion of people who went to visit fortunetellers before you read this, and has that changed?
2. What are some of the rules surrounding tarot cards?

3. In what ways did it change the author's life?

4. Chee (the author) wrote that as a child he imagined having supernatural powers. What did powers did you imagine yourself having when you were a child? How helpful do you think the ability to see into the future would be?

5. What are the two things that everyone wants to know?

6. What was the fortune that his uncle received? 

7. Do the stories in this personal essay cause you to doubt your beliefs about fortunetelling or the supernatural? 

8. Are people in your country superstitious? What are some supernatural things that people believe in? Do you believe in them?