Daisy Miller

Grade Levels

Excerpt

What is QAR? QAR (Question-Answer-Relationship) is a method of questioning that engages a reader’s thinking at all levels. There are four levels of questions, dividing into two sections based on the location of theanswers.

IN THE BOOK QUESTIONS: These questions require answers that can be found directly in the text.

Right There: In Right There questions, the answer will be found in one place, on one page, in one paragraph, perhaps even in one sentence. The reader can point to the answer “right there.”

• What is Daisy’s excuse for being late to Mrs. Walker’s party? Daisy wanted to go over some songs for Mr. Giovanelli to sing, so she sent her mother on ahead with her apologies.

• What term does Daisy frequently use to describe Winterbourne? Daisy tells Winterbourne repeatedly that he is “stiff.”

• What social slight does Mrs. Walker pay to Daisy at the party? In sight of everyone, Mrs. Walker turns her back on Daisy when the latter comes to say good night.

• Where does Winterbourne one night spot Daisy and Giovanelli? Winterbourne

• How did Daisy die? Daisy caught malaria (Roman fever) during her night ramblings, possibly at the Coliseum.

Think and Search: In Think and Search questions, the answer will still be in the text, but the details necessary to answer the questions may be in more than one location. To answer the question effectively, the reader will haveto “think and search” throughout the text.

• In what way is Winterbourne hypocritical of Daisy’s relationship with Mr. Giovanelli? Winterbourne criticizes Daisy for walking alone with Mr. Giovanelli in Rome when he talked her into doing the same thing with him in Vevey.

• What evidence is given that Giovanelli never took his relationship with Daisy seriously? Giovanelli says that he knows Daisy would never have married him. Also, he gave no thought to her reputation or health, taking her to the Coliseum at night.

IN YOUR HEAD QUESTIONS: These questions require a higher level of thinking. While details from the text may or may not be used, the primary source of the answer will involve the reader’s own thinking in relation to the text, the author’s meaning, and the application of the theme outside the text.

Author and You: In Author and You questions, the reader is required to analyze some aspect of the text to derive meaning. This may be the theme, tone, mood, etc.

• How are the names “Daisy” and “Winterbourne” symbolic of the characters? Daisy resembles the flower—pretty, yet common and transitory. The question remains whether the daisy is even a flower, or whether it is a weed. Winterbourne is described by Daisy as frozen and “stiff.” He appears cold and unfeeling to her desire to do what she wants.

On Your Own: In On Your Own questions, the reader reflects on the meaning of some aspect derived from the text but is not tied to the textdirectly. This question can be answered without even reading thetext. The text serves merely as a springboard for a discussion of amuch broader significance.

• What gives a person a noble legacy? How, to borrow Mrs. Costello’s phrase, does one leave a “deeper impress on her time”? What qualities and memories are best to leave behind after one dies?

About

Using the QAR (Question-Answer-Relationship) method of questioning, readers will access all levels of thinking and critical analysis to comprehend and analyze Henry James’s “Daisy Miller (Chapter IV). Beginning with lower level factual questioning, readers will gradually move up into higher levels of thinking. Short answer, paragraph-writing, and essay-writing are used to complete these questions. Worksheet with questions is also included.