1.Key Idea: LeisureAccording to Anna Quindlen, why don’t children have enough leisure time?
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Possible answer: Children don’t have enough leisure time because they are swamped with all sorts of scheduled activities.
2.Recall ArgumentHow does the title of this essay summarize Quindlen’s argument?
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Possible answer: Quindlen argues that children need downtime because it gives them a chance to think and to develop their creativity. In this sense, doing “nothing” (as it relates to participation in structured activity) is really doing “something” (that is, achieving something worthwhile).
3.Key Idea: LeisureAccording to Quindlen, why are children harmed by a lack of leisure time?
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Possible answer: Leisure time provides an opportunity for children to develop their creativity. Without leisure, such development is “systematically stunted” (line 74).
4.Analyze ArgumentWhom does Quindlen blame for the shortchanging of children? How does she support that view?
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Possible answers: Quindlen blames adults, for adults often schedule children’s activities to keep them out of trouble, to compete with other parents, or to keep their children supervised while adults work.
5.Distinguish Fact from OpinionExpress the main idea of lines 127–144 in the form of an opinion.
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Possible answer: It is a shame that today’s children have such structured summers that they do not know the simple summertime pleasures that I enjoyed as a child.
6.Analyze ArgumentIn Quindlen’s view, how does “a culture of adult distrust” (line 90) contribute to the lack of downtime for children?
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Possible answer: According to Quindlen, adults enroll their kids in numerous activities out of fear that, without such activities, their kids will spend their free time getting into trouble.
7.Key Idea: LeisureHow have Quindlen’s feelings about leisure changed from her feelings as a child? Explain.
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Possible answer: As a child, Quindlen felt that leisure was boring (lines 15–23 and 132–133). Now, however, she recognizes that such “boredom . . . is really the quiet moving of the wheels inside that fuel creativity” (lines 27–29).
8.Distinguish Fact from OpinionQuindlen writes: “Try as we might to suggest that all these enrichment activities are for the good of the kid, there is ample evidence that they are really for the convenience of parents. . . .” (lines 111–117). Is this a fact or an opinion? Defend your answer.
Additional Selection Questions
Possible answer: Although Quindlen expresses herself in an authoritative way, she is stating an opinion. She provides no facts to support her generalization; rather, she makes only a vague reference to “ample evidence.”
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