The Good Deed

Essential questions: What is a good deed? Does the motivation behind a good deed matter? Can kindness be learned?

• Give students a few minutes to look over the story and the Close-Reading Questions in the margins. 
• Briefly discuss the question in the “As You Read” box on page 19: What is a good deed? As part of your discussion, ask: Why do people do good deeds?

DIFFERENTIATION: Students who need extra support should listen to the audio version of the story before class.

• Read the story once through as a class. 
• Divide students into groups to read the story again, pausing to discuss the close reading questions. Have students write their answers in the margins or on the Close-Reading Questions handout.

Answers to Close-Reading Questions

1. Character (p. 19) Heather is doing her “good deed” because she wants to get a badge and to make sure her friends don’t get more badges than she does. She’s not acting out of kindness or a desire to help someone.
2. Character (p. 19) The fact that Risa’s messy hair seems to be the first thing Heather notices about her suggests that Heather is judgmental.
3.  Tone (p. 19) Heather sounds critical and unsympathetic.
4. Inference (p. 21) Heather is making the point that Risa wasn’t invited to visit Miss Benson or to take part in the good deed.
5. Character (p. 21) Heather says she was “almost” impressed because she resents Risa for intruding on the good deed, and also because Heather has already formed a negative impression of Risa and doesn’t want to admit that she might be wrong.
6.  Text Evidence (p. 21) Heather wishes she had thought of a great idea because she hates that Risa might be better than she (Heather) is at anything. A few lines on, Heather says, “I couldn’t stand being bested by a girl who still reads a little-kid book with her lips.”
7. Inference (p. 23) Perhaps Miss Benson simply enjoys eye bouquets—or perhaps she wants to share Risa’s flattering description of Heather as a way of showing Heather that Risa is kind and subtly encouraging Heather to be kind in return.
8.  Figurative Language (p. 23) Heather is comparing the formation of her idea to the moments before vomiting from seasickness. This simile shows something nasty and foul is rising up inside Heather.
9.  Character (p. 23) Heather now sees that Risa has a hard life—that taking care of three little kids is a lot of work. Heather says that Risa looks “small” under her brother’s weight, showing that Heather sees Risa as struggling with a great burden. Heather also says, “Suddenly, I could see how scared she’d been.” Maybe Heather has come to understand that if Risa’s hair is messy or if the kids’ noses need wiping, it’s because Risa is overwhelmed.
10. Interpreting Text (p. 23) Risa is referring to the way Heather thought of her “good deed” of reading to Miss Benson: as something to brag about, basically. Risa doesn’t want to be pitied or used to make Heather feel good about herself; Risa wants Heather to spend time with her out of friendship.

• Read the speech “Failures of Kindness” as a class. 
• Print or project the Close-Reading Questions for students to discuss in groups. 
• Come together as a class to discuss the following critical-thinking questions, which draw on both texts.

Critical-Thinking Questions (5 minutes)

• Compare and contrast George Saunders’s relationship with the shy girl with Heather’s relationship with Risa. The relationships are similar in that Saunders saw the shy girl as less fortunate and Heather saw Risa as less fortunate. They’re different in that Saunders didn’t judge the girl harshly in the way that Heather judged Risa harshly, and in that Saunders missed his chance to show true kindness to the shy girl but Heather did show true kindness to Risa.
• Consider what Saunders says about our “built-in confusions.” Did Heather have these confusions? Explain. Saunders says that we have the built-in confusions of thinking that we are central to and separate from the universe. This is just how Heather saw herself. She read to Miss Benson only because she wanted a merit badge; Heather saw Miss Benson as a duty to fulfill and never asked Miss Benson about herself or considered what would truly be helpful to her. Similarly, until the end of the story, Heather never thought about Risa’s life or saw Risa as anything but an interference. Heather missed seeing Risa as the creative, kind, and hardworking person that she was—and the friend that she could be.

Featured Skill: Analyzing Character (15 minutes)

Distribute the activity sheet Analyzing Character: Failures and Successes of Kindness. Have students work in groups to complete it. The activity will prepare students to respond to the writing prompt on page 24. For alternative culminating tasks, see the boxes below.