A Day's Wait

“A Day’s Wait” is told entirely from Papa’s perspective. How would the story change if it were told from Schatz’s point of view? What thoughts do you think are going through his head during key events?

Throughout “A Day’s Wait,” actions speak louder than words. Which actions show the characters’ concern for each other? Do their actions contradict their words? Why or why not?

Ernest Hemingway once said, “If you leave out important things or events that you know about, the story is strengthened. If you leave or skip something because you do not know it, the story will be worthless. The test of any story is how very good the stuff that you, not your editors, omit.” Choose three things that Hemingway omitted in “A Day’s Wait.” Would including that information change the story? How?

Is Schatz brave or foolish? Can he be both? Would it have been braver for Schatz to ask for help rather than suffer in silence? Use information from the text to explain your answer.

“A Day’s Wait” is written in an extremely cryptic style, omitting a lot of information. As such, the hunting scene seems misplaced. What purpose does this scene serve in the text? Why is it important enough to include?

The characters in “A Day’s Wait” rarely express emotions. Imagine that Schatz wrote a journal entry after Papa read to him the first time and then left to go hunting. What would he write? What emotions would he feel?

Is Papa a good parent? Use evidence from the text to justify your response.

“A Day’s Wait” focuses heavily on defining masculinity. What is masculinity according to this story? Is this definition toxic? Why or why not?