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Gone Shopping
Discussion Questions

Discussion questions and questions for futher discussion;

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Discussion Quesions

1. Did you identify with any of the characters? If so, which one and why?

2. What do the ruffians symbolize on level one?
   p 7

3. What strategies can you give to help get through the distraction district? p 23-27

4. On levels two, three, and four each has two distinct sections. Compare and contrast these distinctions? Which section do you prefer and why?

5. What are the five needs that each level of the mall symbolizes?

6. The backhoe driver signifies truth and his machine is both powerful and dangerous. How does this resemble "truth?"

7. Why is it easier to see the coalescing concepts of levels one and two but not three and four?

8. Why do most people take the stairs?

9. The elevators at the KT Mall are only in the back of bookstores. What books have helped lift you on your journey in life? Are there other "elevators" besides books?

10. What are the reasons that some people never make it to the top floor of the mall?

11. In your life, on which level do you spend the most time?

12. What is connected to your "Happiness" block? Or what are the words you associate the most with Happiness? p129-134

13. How can poor definitions doom us to an unhappy life? Look at Joe-not-so-dependable on page 140-142. Can you think of other examples?

14. What's your favorite "store" or area in the KT Mall? Why?

15. What activity would you enjoy on the fifth floor?

16. Does the free money bring happiness? Why or why not?

17. What keeps the shopper moving upward in the KT Mall?

Questions for Further Discussion

1. Do you agree with the author's concept of Mall Money? Discuss what it means.

2. The backhoe driver shouted, "Your actions reveal yourself!" What do you think about that? p 57

3. What do you think of the four stages of life the artist portrayed in her painting? p 91-95. Which one might you be in?

4. Is thinking that important to happiness? If so, how? p 110-116

5. Why do the stairs get steeper as you go higher in the mall?

6. How does knowledge raise our views of the world and increase our choices? p 148-156

7. How can we increase our freewill by being more creative? p 183 -185 & 218

8. What did you think of the thought factory and the scale room? p 110-116 & 193-215

9. Do words have weight? If so, what are the heaviest words in your life? p 193-200

10. How does understanding the ingredients of happiness, seeing the larger patterns of the floors, help us get what we want in life?

11. Are our beliefs really constellations of words we connect to each other and ourselves? Explain how or how not. p 123-124 & 136-137

12. Even though the author mocks three-step-self-help solutions in books and magazines, he has the old man give us the triple-D system. That system is: Define, Do, and Delight. p 234-235. Do you feel this is a valid tool or too simplistic?

13. The "digger" said, "You can't plead ignorance to the laws of reality." Can you describe of any of these laws? p 63

14. Why is the top floor, which is open and outdoors-like, so much different than the other four levels?

15. Can we relate the levels of the mall to the effectiveness of different governments in providing the opportunities for happiness to their constituents? p 173-182

16. The shopper has to struggle to understand and solve the mysteries of the mall. Why doesn't the old man just give him the answers?

17. When the artist offers the shopper an apple, what does that signify? p 239