Short Story Discussion: "A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor

Engage Adolescent English Students (grades 7-12) with Flannery O'Connor's classic short story "A Good Man is Hard to Find"

O'Connor's short story is a compelling read, dealing with issues related to class, race, moral hypocrisy, and violence. In the story, a woman from the American South goes on a family vacation to Florida. But not everything turns out as expected . . .

• This resource is optimized for distance learning. The product includes an editable Google Apps link. Modify this resource for use on Google Classroom and other classroom management sites.
• Read my tutorial on how to make editable documents using "forced copy".

Use this Digital Download for a Two-day English Language Arts Lesson

Using my tested-in-the-classroom resources, teenagers will want to discuss the explosive and ironic events of this satirical story. So I have loaded this resource with discussion questions that will get your students talking and writing! N.B. — The short story is not included in this digital download, but I provide multiple links to the story online.

Common Core Standards:

This resource aligns well with the Reading Literature standard CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.2. Keep in mind, this lesson works well with eleventh and twelfth graders, I have used it to teach Ninth and Tenth graders — and mature seventh and eighth-graders.

This Resource Includes the Following Features:

• 1 Teacher Lesson Guide
• 1 Biography Non-Fiction Reading Worksheet + Questions and Research
• 1 Set of editable Entrance and Exit Tickets (with academic choice)
• 2 Discussion Question Sets (14 questions total)
• 2 Suggested Answer Keys for the Discussion Questions
• 1 Essay Writing Prompt (with a Note-taking graphic organizer)
• 1 Further Reading List

I created this resource with high school students in mind. It is designed for a typical High School English curriculum short story unit on character and foreshadowing. You can use this resource as a stand-alone lesson or, pair it with a larger unit on American Literature and the Short Story. It also works well in a Humanities course, a Southern Literature course, a Creative Writing class, or a teen advisory lesson on racism, violence in America, and class.

• For my thoughts about teaching this story and sharing it in a high school English class, read my blog post on why "A Good Man is Hard to Find" is still relevant today as it was in 1955 when it was first published.
• For resources similar to this one see my Peter and the Wolf lesson and my popular Plato's Cave lesson.

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