1.) Why does Kozol begin his chapter on the costs of illiteracy with the warning on a can of Drano (a caustic chemical to unclog drains)?  Why doesn’t he say anything more about it – or about a great many of his other examples?  To what extent can these (or any) examples be counted on to speak for themselves?

2.) Kozol constructs his argument by using a myriad of examples of the effects of illiteracy.  What determines the order of the examples?

3.) Which example is the most memorable to you?  Why?

4.) Why do you think Kozol uses so many direct quotations from the illiterate people whose experiences he cites as examples?

5.) What clues in Kozol’s language let his readers know that he’s sympathetic toward his subjects and angry at the conditions that cause the class of people his reader’s represent?

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