Study Guide for
Teachers
Don’t Feed the
Bully
Before my
visit
Write on the
board, "Don’t Feed the Bully". Brainstorm: What are the ways
people bully?
What do they get out of bullying others? Ask for definitions of
what “feeding the bully” might mean?
Before reading the
book
Write these names
on the board: Sam Spade, Philip Marlowe, Nate the Great,
Ellery Queen, Encyclopedia Brown. (Add any favorite
literary detectives of your own.) Ask students, "Who are
these people?"
Talk about what makes a great detective and a great
detective story.
1. What kind of education
does a great detective need?
2. What part does
integrity play in a detective’s life?
3. Are good and bad
absolute?
4. Can someone with bad
traits also be good?
Classroom discussion after
visit
1. How can you lessen the
impact of intimidation in your own life?
2. When is it time to
tell?
3. Can you see bullying
all around you?
(Ask
your students to notice situations outside of school where
they see people bullying. Give examples like,
bad treatment of store clerks.)
Classroom questions during book
reading
Chapters 1-4
1. Is a cage an
appropriate response for perceived bullies?
2. How is William B.
Travis different from your school?
3. Handy describes the playground
as animals from The
Lion King.
What animals are you?
4. Who are the
bullies?
Chapters 5-9
1. How important are your
perceptions of people?
2. Why is Handy harder to
bully than other kids are?
3. Ralphie talks about
being pressured to bully. How far do you go to
keep friends?
What is a friend?
What was the greatest factor in Ralphie’s decision to
stop bullying?
4. What do you think of Handy’s
decision of not letting Kayla and Ralphie help in his
plan?
Chapters 9-16
1. How does perception of
power affect those bullying and those being
bullied?
2. Who was the real
bully?
3. How does your
perception of people change as you get to know
them?
4. What character from Don’t Feed the
Bully are you most like? (Perhaps you could
have them tell what characteristics
they see in others.)
5. What role can
technology play in detective work? Sherlock Holmes vs.
CSI.
6. Compare the awareness
of the teachers and staff at William B. Travis to your
school.
Appendix
1. Who has the most control over the
effect bullying has on you?
2. What would happen if
everyone around came to the aid of someone being bullied,
friend or not?
3. How do you stop
bullying from being cool?
4. Is there a difference
between intimidation and joking around?
Language of the
book
Don’t
Feed the Bully is a humorous version of a “Hard
Boiled” detective novel, and was heavily influenced by the
work of Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, Donald Sobol, and
many others. The
style uses simile, metaphor, and analogy to mold the narrative
to incredible descriptive heights. In Don’t Feed the
Bully I used them at parody level proportions
for comedic effect and to give teachers a way to discuss not
only the concepts of simile, metaphor, and analogy, but to use
many specific examples from the book to broaden the students knowledge
on a wide range of subjects. How many do they
understand?
Research the ones no one knows.
Writing
Have students
write their own mystery story using metaphor, simile, and
analogy to enhance their descriptions. How funny, crazy, or
serious and on target can they be without losing the story for
the reader?
Try these great
sleuths
