Skip to main content
Cornell University

Discovery Questions

Congratulations to the 2012 Reading Project Contest winners!
Complete text of winning essays (pdf)
Stduents were asked to write a one-page essay (plus bibliography) on one of the topics below. This response was handed in at the Discussion Seminar on Monday, August 20.

Many of the topics below included electronic resources.

Discover The Life Before Us

1. Momo lives in Belleville, a multi-ethnic working-class neighborhood of Paris, which has been home to many immigrant groups in the twentieth century.

Essay topic: write a description of the different people you might meet in Belleville.

In writing your essay, first consider this quote from the novel: “There were plenty of other Jews, Arabs and blacks in Belleville, but Madame Rosa had to climb those six flights all alone” (page 1). Second, consider the question: are Momo and Madame Rosa “all alone” in Belleville? Finally, consider what it must have been like to live in Momo’s neighborhood, by exploring one or more of the sites below and reflecting on Momo’s own experiences.

2. Dr. Katz wants to take Madame Rosa to the hospital, where she believes she will be tortured (page 119). Monsieur Waloumba and his compatriots from the Cameroons are able to awaken Madame Rosa from her trance by dancing, singing, and drumming (page 117).

Essay topic: write a description of the different perspectives on healing in The Life Before Us.

In writing your essay, first consider this quote from the novel: “You mustn’t let them take me to the hospital, Momo. Not for anything in the world” (page 151). Second, consider the question: what is the best way of helping Madame Rosa? Finally, consider different ways of healing or helping the sick, by exploring one or more of the sites below.

3. Madame Rosa fears the hospital, the authorities, the law, the Social Security, and even the doorbell, and takes refuge in her basement “Jewish hideaway” (page 38).

Essay topic: write a description of what Madame Rosa might have seen and done during the Holocaust.

In writing your essay, first consider this quote from the novel: “Madame Rosa’s fear of the doorbell was really comical” (page 36). Second, consider the question: what did Madame Rosa experience at “the home for Jews in Germany” that makes her run to her basement hideaway when the doorbell rings (page 14)? Finally, explore Madame Rosa’s experiences at Auschwitz by reading about the context of the concentration camps in one or more of the sites below.

  • Auschwitz, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
    http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005189
    Cite this source as follows:
    “Auschwitz.” Holocaust Encyclopedia: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Wed. 30 April 2012.
  • Auschwitz Death Camp: Center for Holocaust & Genocide Studies, University of Minnesota
    http://www.chgs.umn.edu/museum/memorials/auschwitz/
    Cite this source as follows:
    “Auschwitz Death Camp.” Center for Holocaust & Genocide Studies, University of Minnesota. Web. 30 April 2012.
  • Auschwitz Birkenau, UNESCO
    http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/31
    Cite this source as follows:
    “Auschwitz Birkenau.” UNESCO: United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Web. 30 April 30, 2012.

4. Both Monsieur Hamil and Madame Rosa shape Momo’s understanding of the world around him. Momo learns from Monsieur Hamil that “humankind is no more than a comma in the great Book of Life,” but of Madame Rosa he says “humankind is certainly not a comma” (page 65).

Essay topic: write your own account of what Momo thinks about this context of contrasting religious systems.

In writing your essay, first consider this quote from the novel: “Monsieur Hamil was making me learn my religion,…because he wanted me to remember that I had a country of my own” (page 31). Second, consider the question: as he moves between Madame Rosa’s Jewish identity and Monsieur Hamil’s Muslim identity, what cultural and religious differences does Momo experience? Finally, explore the cultural and religious contexts of Judaism and Islam by reading about the ways in which Judaism and Islam present morality, ethics, and the human, in one or more of the sites below.

Judaism:

Islam:

  • Islam, BBC
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/
    Cite this source as follows:
    “Islam.” BBC. Web. April 30, 2012.
  • Inside Islam
    http://insideislam.wisc.edu/
    Cite this source as follows:
    “Inside Islam: Dialogues and Debates, Challenging Misconceptions, Illuminating Diversity.” University of Wisconsin & Wisconsin Public Radio. Web. 30 April 2012.
  • Islam: An Introduction, Islam Today
    http://islamtoday.berkeley.edu/Islam
    Cite this source as follows:
    “Islam: An Introduction..” Islam Today, University of California, Berkeley. Web. 30 April 2012.

5. Momo has several non-human friends: Arthur, the dog Super, the clown (page 67), the lioness (page 41). Each provides a special kind of companionship.

Essay topic: write an essay describing Momo’s feelings for and relationship with one or more of these non-human friends.

In writing your essay, first consider this quote from the novel: “My best friend at that time was an umbrella by the name of Arthur” (page 48). Second, consider the question: who is Arthur, for Momo? Finally, think about what you know about friendship. This essay does not require you to consult additional sources.

6. Dr. Katz asks Madame Rosa, “you love him, don’t you?” (page 45). And Madame Rosa tells Momo, “I’ve never really loved anybody else” (page 152). But people say Madame Rosa is “a woman without a heart” (page 10). As Momo searches for his biological father he asks Monsieur Hamil, “can somebody live without love?” (page 3). But he later calls out to Monsieur Hamil “just to remind him there was still someone who loved him” (page 103). And Momo says that he gave the dog Super away because he loved him so much (page 12).

Essay topic: write an essay answering the question “what is love?” You may focus on the question of what love means for Momo, for Madame Rosa, or for both of them.

In writing your essay, first consider this quote: “Is it possible to live without someone to love?” (page 178). Next, think about love, and read about some of the ways in which love has been described in literature and in studies of psychology and human development, by consulting one or more of the sites below.

Study Questions 2012