Discussion Questions for Anita Shreve's Testimony

This Saturday we will be discussing Anita Shreve’s ‘Testimony’ at 11am in The Manurewa Library Community Room.
Discussion Questions received so far include;
1. Testimony is written from the different character’s perspectives. I found this worked well for the most part. The glaring exception for me was Ellen. The second person, “you’s” in the Ellen chapters became irritating. What are your thoughts on the author’s use of different point of views to tell the story?
2. How much responsibility do you think the parents have for what their sons did? Compare Rob’s parents, Ellen and Arthur with J.Dot’s parents, Michelle and Matthew, and Silas’s parents, Owen and Anna.
3. Sienna is an intriguing character, a kind of 14 year old Britney Spears wannabe gone off the rails. What were your thoughts towards her? Did Laura’s and Irene’s point of views, challenge any sympathy you may have felt towards her? What about her parent’s responsibility and their reaction to the incident?
4. Which character of the “incident” participants did you find the most empathy with during the book and did this change at the end of the novel?
5. Did you feel any empathy towards Mike? What do you think he coerced James and Rob into writing confessions?
6. Much was made of how Silas was brought up right, and that he would never do such a thing, it would be completely out of character. So the question is: Was the discovery of Anna and Mike’s affair the reason why the incident occurred? Or could it have been something else that would have set it off anyway, as Rob put it, “it was an act without a why.”
7. The fall out from the incident affected the rest of the basket ball team, the reputation of Avery, the Academy students, staff and parents and the town. Do you think their lives were ruined or will they get by as Rob suggests?
8. The person behind the camera wasn’t named until the last chapter; do you think it was odd that we never got his perspective on the incident?
9. Why do you think Owen and Anna stayed together and Mike and Meg divorced?
10. How do you rate the book from 1 to 5?
If any of you have any more discussion questions please bring them along...and lastly don't forget we will be having our end of year shared lunch, and selecting books for next year's meetings.