Story Circle Network
Austin Chapter
Reader's Guide

July 1999
An American Childhood

An American Childhood
by Annie Dillard

  1. An American Childhood is described by some readers as so fully alive that it's almost a virtual experience of another childhood. Was this your experience? If so, what is it about Annie Dillard's memoir that pulls us so strongly into the experience of her childhood?

  2. An American Childhood was first printed in hardback in 1987. How old was Annie Dillard when she wrote this book? Do you hear the voice of a woman this age in the book? Where?

  3. In what significant ways was Annie Dillard's childhood different or similar to your own?

  4. What portrait of women's roles and lives (and men's) did Dillard paint from her childhood and adolescence? Do you imagine she arrived at the same destination of adult womanhood as was prescribed by her childhood culture & society? Why or why not?

  5. Each family has its own unique parenting style. It's often said good families give their children "roots and wings." What were Annie Dillard's roots and wings? What "intangible gifts" did her mother and her father each give to her? Was Dillard's parents' approach to child raising similar to or different than your parents' style?

  6. Several chapters in the book covered a particular theme. Many times the theme reflected Dillard's passion of the moment (e.g. religion, dancing, boys, books, investigating & exploring, identifying rocks or insects, grandparents, etc.) What was your favorite chapter? Did any of Annie Dillard's themes remind you of your own passions from childhood?

  7. We are often brought into Dillard's sensory awakening and intense experiences of discovering her world. She often shares observations with us through colorful metaphors and unique uses of language. What is one of your favorite passages describing her becoming more conscious of life? Which of your senses were most aroused while reading this book? Were any senses left untouched?

  8. In her memoir, prejudices and inequities in society were often revealed through the innocent eyes of childhood, making them all the more powerful by seeing them in this fresh way (e.g. Dillard notes: Oma'schauffeur, Henry, drank only from his own cup. Our 'help' shared our glasses.) Were there any similar passages that you noticed or were affected by?

  9. Adolescence often sneaks up on us, and before we know it we have changed, and it's sometimes difficult to connect the adolescent feelings, actions, and self-consciousness with the unselfconscious, free child. As Dillard says, only moments before she was climbing her swing set, chasing butterflies and gluing squares to rocks, and then, in a blink wakes up and finds herself in juvenile court. Do you recognize the same person in the child Dillard and the adolescent? How does this relate to your own adolescent transformation from childhood?

  10. Often we have small experiences, encounters or events in our childhood that may or may not seem trivial at the time, but later we give them much more meaning and credit them as turning points, catalysts or the first seeds of life long paths, passions or beliefs. For example, Dillard talks about seeing the crippled Polyphemus moth as such a symbolic event. What does this moth symbolize to her? Do you see other determining events or experiences in Annie Dillard's childhood? If you've read any of Dillard's other books, do you see the "seeds" of their existence in her childhood?