All The Lovely Bad Ones

These prompts can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before or after reading the novel.

Pre-Reading “Icebreaker”

Many books are at least partly about the difference between Good and Evil. But how do you know what actions are “good” and what actions are “evil”? Why do you think that different people have different definitions of “good” and “evil”? What do you think causes some people to choose to do evil while others choose to do good? How much do a person’s intentions matter? What are some situations where an action might be both good and evil?

Teaching Suggestion: These questions are intended to challenge students to think about the larger philosophical ideas of Good Versus Bad and Evil. This will give them a chance to examine their own thinking before encountering the author’s ideas on the subject. If you think your students might have difficulty getting started with broad questions such as these, however, you might prompt their thinking by asking first about specific situations—for example, is a parent who jerks a child by the arm in order to pull them from the path of an oncoming car the same as a parent who jerks a child by the arm because the parent is angry? What might be considered both “good” and “evil” about war?

Post-Reading Analysis

Think about the action of this story, its characters, and the title All the Lovely Bad Ones. What is this book really saying about “bad” and “good” people?

• Which characters in this story do and say things that harm others? Do they always mean to hurt others by their words or actions? Use evidence from the text to show that this is true. Is it possible for real people to do bad things accidentally? Are there characters who are bad on purpose? What evidence in the text supports your answer? Do you think there are people in the real world who are bad on purpose?
• Which characters in this story do and say things that help others? What motivates these characters to do the right thing? Use evidence from the text to show that this is true. Do you think that the author is suggesting what makes people “good”? What about the story makes you say this?
• Think about characters in the story who do both good and bad things. Who are they, and would you say each is more “good” or more “bad,” all things considered? What evidence in the story supports your point of view? What does this mixture of good and bad tell you about people in the real world?
• Why does this book have the title All the Lovely Bad Ones? Who are the “Bad Ones” in the story? What idea about good and bad is being expressed by putting “lovely” together with “bad”? Use evidence from the text to support your ideas.

Teaching Suggestion: This series of prompts can be answered in the form of a composition or connected journal entries; it can also be addressed in the form of short answers or small-group or whole-class discussion. You might also assign a single bullet point to each student or small group and then ask for a discussion that brings together all responses.