1. Who were George Brown, Newton Bateman, and Justin Finley, and why do you think Sandburg chose to open his autobiography by discussing them?

2. Why is Sandburg disappointed with Robert Todd Lincoln and William Jennings Bryan?

3. Compare the personalities, backgrounds, and interests of Sandburg's father and mother.

4. What kind of relationship do Swedish immigrants, especially John Krans, Magnus Holmes, and August Sandburg, have to the land? What hopes and hardships did the land represent for them?

5. Why does Sandburg change his name from Carl to Charles? How does this compare to Holmes's name change?

6. What effect does Joe Elser have on Sandburg and Mart? In what ways does he serve as a father figure for them?

7. What role does the kitchen play in Sandburg's boyhood home? Why do you think that Sandburg goes into such a detailed description of this room?

8. What effect does Ulysses...