Margaret Mitchell | Author
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. When Margaret Mitchell wrote such stories as The Little Pioneers, When We Were Shipwrecked, and Forests and Foothills, she was only 11 or 12 years old. Are her writings typical of someone this young?
2. Margaret obviously had an inventive imagination writing westerns, fairy tales, and mysteries. Her brother Stephens once said she learned to read before she went to school and made up stories before she learned to write. Margaret was also known to write stories during recess while the rest of her class was playing. What elements of her childhood provoked such an interest in story telling? Are these elements common with children today?
3. Margaret Mitchell often used people she knew as characters for her stories. How do Margaret's writings characterize her relationships with her family and childhood friends?
4. Margaret's writings reveal her feelings on certain issues such as love and war. Does the mood in her stories change as she grows older? Do her stories reflect the changes in her likes and dislikes throughout the years?
5. Margaret said her mother made endless attempts to raise her as a young lady with grace and manners? Did she succeed? How was Margaret different from other girls during that time?
6. At age 15, Margaret Mitchell said "I want to be famous in some way." Are her childhood writings at all indicative of the author who came to write Gone With the Wind?
7. How did World War I influence her childhood writings? What about the Civil War for Gone With the Wind?
8. In her childhood writings, Margaret often used herself as the only heroine. What does this say of her personality? Is Margaret at all like Scarlett O'Hara, the principal character in Gone With the Wind?
9. Margaret's childhood writings all have happy endings. How does this compare to her ending in Gone With the Wind?
10. Gone With the Wind sold 170,000 copies in the first three weeks and over a million in the first six months. Why do you think this book was so popular?
11. Margaret said she often wrote the last chapter of her books and the end of her articles first. What does this say of her writing technique?
12. Margaret Mitchell considered herself a "made" writer, that is, her characters were "stuffed figures who dance when the string is pulled," as compared to "born" writers who transform their characters into real people. Do you agree with this description?