1. Describe Mattie's character. How does she evolve throughout the story? What traits help her endure her illness and traumas?

2. Discuss Lucinda, Mattie's mother. What makes her character significant? How do past events in Lucinda's life shape the person she becomes as an adult?

3. Describe Eliza. How does she contribute to Mattie's character development?

4. Characterize Mattie's grandfather. In what ways did he support Mattie? Why is his character crucial for Mattie's growth and maturation?

5. Mattie forms a friendship with Nathaniel Benson. Explain Nathaniel's importance. How does Mattie and Nathaniel's relationship differ from similar relationships in the early twenty-first century?

6. Enumerate the attitudes of the Federalist Era in Philadelphia in 1793. What heroic acts, and by whom, helped the community overcome their fears?

7. Discuss the significance of Nell as Mattie's companion. What role does she play?

8. Compare and contrast life in Philadelphia before and after the 1793 fever. What positive changes emerged from this experience?

9. Animals often play vital roles in our lives. What role does Mattie's cat, Silas, play in the story? What does he add to the narrative?

10. List the literary techniques Anderson uses in Fever 1793. How do these techniques enhance the novel's effectiveness?