Genuine Fraud (Lockhart) - Discussion Questions

Discussion Questions
We'll add publisher questions if and when they're available; in the meantime, please use our LitLovers talking points to help start a discussion for Genuine Fraud … then take off on your own:

1. Genuine Fraud explores identity. What plays the greatest part in your own sense of who you are — where you come from … what you've experienced … your interests … how you look … how you talk? How do Jule and Imogen establish their identifies?

2. Follow-up to Question 2: How much does the way other people view you affect how you view yourself? Are you always the same person no matter where you are or who you are with? What about Jule and Imogen?

3. Describe the two young women. In what way are they different, and in what way are they similar? How do they affect each other? Whom do you find more sympathetic?

4. At what point in the novel did you become unsure of your original assessment of Jule? Was there a point where you couldn't be sure what she was capable of?

5. How does the fighting off her attackers in the arcade affect Jules?

6. In what way have action movies shaped Jule's view of society's expectations for women? How does she set about subverting those expectations?

7. Jules accuses Forrest of being clueless when it comes to his sense of privilege: he has no understanding of what it means to adapt yourself to others' customs, nor does he understand that others must adapt to him. Have you ever been in either position — having to adapt to someone else or being insensitive to someone who might be struggling to adapt to you?

8. How would you answer Jule's question to Paolo: "Do you think a person is as bad as her worst actions?… Or do you think human beings are better than the very worst things we have ever done?" (p 76.)

9. What is the significance of the book's title? It's an oxymoron, so what does it mean?
(Questions adapted from Random House Teacher's Guide.)

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