Bring on the tough stuff - there’s not just one right answer.
- Crispin is divided into fifty-eight chapters, which means most chapters are very short, ranging from a few paragraphs to a few pages. How do these short chapters affect the way we read?
- How do Crispin's experiences make us think about the nature and meaning of family?
- People in Crispin's time and place speak Middle English, which is very different from the English we speak today. How does the style of the sentences help us to imagine we are in 1377?
- Why does Crispin decide to embrace his true name—Crispin—while rejecting all other aspects of his father?
- How do the characters think about life and death? Do they value life more or less than we do today?
- What do you think of the constant presence of religion in the thoughts of all the characters?
- Crispin is apprenticed to a wandering performer. How might the book be different if Bear had some other job?