Drown | Topics for Discussion & Projects

Drown Topics for Discussion

1. In various interviews, Diaz has explained that he carefully set the order of the ten stories in Drown to create one comprehensive unit when read as a whole. How does the arrangement of the stories affect the stories themselves?

How would rearranging them change their impact and meaning?

2. The character Ysreal appears in both "Ysreal" and "No Face." How does his character vary and/or remain the same between the two stories?

3. How would the story "Ysreal" have been changed if it had been told from the eponymous character's point of view? From the older brother's point of view?

4. Why does the Dominican maid return to Pruitt's house in "Edison, New Jersey"?

5. Characterize the life of Ramon de las Casas (the father in "Negocios") with his first family and his life with Nilda and her son....
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