Eng. 11 (all levels); Gen. 12 & Eng. 12 only
Various Staff (J. Dunn, et al)
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand- Community Read
Summer Reading Questions 2015
Gen. 11: From the following list of questions, pick 12 to answer thoroughly based upon your own
experiences and those of Louie Zamperini as mentioned in the novel. Be sure to use at least two specific
examples from the text where necessary and provide page numbers.
Eng. 11/ Gen. 12: From the following list of questions, pick 15 to answer thoroughly based upon your
own experiences and those of Louie Zamperini as mentioned in the novel. Be sure to use at least two
specific examples from the text where necessary and provide page numbers.
Acc. 11/Eng. 12: From the following list of questions, pick 18 to answer thoroughly based upon your
own experiences and those of Louie Zamperini as mentioned in the novel. Be sure to use at least two
specific examples from the text where necessary and provide page numbers.
1.) Compare the warning of placing the oxygen mask on yourself first, before you help others in an
air travel emergency, with Louie’s decision to go for the rafts first instead of helping Phil (103).
2.) When Louie, Phil, and Mac were on the raft, a key factor in their survival was optimism. All
three men were young and able-bodied, veterans of the same training, experiencing the same
hardships and yet Louie and Phil remained optimistic while Mac was hopeless, seemingly
doomed by his pessimism. Why are some people hopeful and others not? How important is
attitude and mindset in determining one’s ability to overcome hardship?
3.) The Japanese “were taught that to surrender or be captured was intolerably shameful” (150).
Compare this ideology with the American psyche and experience.
4.) Louie moved from being a rambunctious toddler into what some would call a delinquent. Did
you find it difficult to empathize with Louie given his devious behavior? Explain why or why not.
5.) Do you think in today’s society Louie would face more trouble with the law or school authorities
as a young person? Explain why or why not.
6.) What are the ways in which Louie’s childhood prepared him for his time in the war?
7.) How was Louie able to readjust to life after war? How was he able to overcome the struggles
that were common to many veterans such as alcoholism and depression?
8.) Tom Brokaw coined the term “The Greatest Generation” to refer to people from Louie’s time
that came of age during the Great Depression, fought during WWII, and took care of the
homefront. Is this moniker accurate? Explain why or why not.
9.) Why did Hillenbrand include this quote from Walt Whitman’s “The Wound-Dresser”: “What
stays with you latest and deepest? Of curious panics, of hard-fought engagements or sieges
tremendous, what deepest remains?” What do you think are the “deepest remains” for Louie
Zamperini? Explain.
10.) Louie’s experiences are singular. None of us is going to be in a crash, strafed by a bomber,
attacked by sharks, cast away on a raft, or held as a POW. And yet the word most often used to
describe him is “inspiring.” What does Louie’s experience demonstrate that makes him so
inspirational to people who will never endure what he did? What are the lessons that his life
offers to all of us?
11.) Is Louie a hero? Why or why not. How do you define heroism?
12.) In Louie’s boyhood, he was severely bullied, then he became a delinquent and a hellraiser. In
these experiences, did he already display attributes that would help him survive his wartime
ordeal? Did he also show weaknesses or tendencies that foreshadowed the struggles he would
face postwar?
13.) Louie believed he was the beneficiary of several miracles, among them his escape from the
wreckage of his plane, the fact that he and the other men were not hit by bullets when their
rafts were strafed, and the appearance of the singers in the clouds. What is your interpretation
of those experiences? Explain.
14.) “Anger is a justifiable and understandable reaction to being wronged, and as the soul’s first
effort to reassert its worth and power, it may initially be healing.” Laura Hillenbrand wrote in an
article for Guideposts magazine. “But in time, anger becomes corrosive. To live in bitterness is
to be chained to the person who wounded you, your emotions and actions arising not
independently, but in reaction to your abuser. Louie became so obsessed with vengeance that
his life was consumed by the quest for it. In bitterness, he was as much a captive as he’d been
when barbed wire surrounded him.” Do you agree or disagree with the above-mentioned
quote? Explain why or why not.
15.) “What the Bird took from Louie was his dignity; what he left behind was a pervasive sense of
helplessness and worthlessness.” Hillenbrand continued in her Guideposts article: “As I
researched Louie’s life, interviewing his fellow POWs and studying their memoirs and diaries, I
discovered that this loss of dignity was nearly ubiquitous, leaving the men feeling defenseless
and frightened in a world that had become menacing. The postwar nightmares, flashbacks,
alcoholism, and anxiety that were endemic among them spoke of souls in desperate fear.
Watching these men struggle to overcome their trauma, I came to believe that a loss of selfworth is central to the experience of being victimized, and may be what makes its pain
particularly devastating.” Do you agree or disagree with the above-mentioned quote? Explain
why or why not.
16.) Do Louie Zamperini’s wartime and postwar experiences give you a different perspective on a
loved one who was, or is, a veteran? If so, how? If not, explain your stance.
17.) Why, in your opinion, has most WWII literature focused on the European war, with so little
attention paid to the Pacific war?
18.) Louie would lie in the infield before track meets “visualizing his coming race” (21). What goals
have you envisioned for yourself? Explain.
19.) Louie takes stocks of his errors while trying to catch a shark (126). He is eventually successful.
Have you made mistakes that turned into great learning experiences? Explain.
20.) Study the picture on pg. 229. It speaks to the reader. What is it saying? Explain.
21.) Louie meets his future wife during a trip to Miami Beach (246). How did your parents meet?
How did your grandparents or other close couples you know meet?
22.) Louie was especially close to his brother, Pete, who devoted himself to him. If Pete hadn’t been
there, what would have become of Louie? Does Pete deserve credit for shaping Louie into a
man who could endure and survive his Odyssean ordeal?