The BEST Zeitoun Readers Guide

This is a reader's guide for Dave Eggers' Zeitoun, which was chosen by Tufts University for the 2011 Common Read. This reader's guide is written by first year students in the Bridge to Engineering Success at Tufts (BEST) Program.

Created by

Adam Arias

Dulce Delgado

Alice Lee

Phoebe Manning

Luis Orozco

Tim O'Sullivan

Sandro Renteria Garcia

Anecia Richards

Amanda Rock

Jovi Rodriguez

Vinny Wang

First Chapter Excerpt

About this Student Reader's Guide from Grace Talusan (their writing teacher)

My 2011 BEST summer students were tasked with creating a Reader's Guide for the Tufts 2011 Common Reading Program. Their assignment was to come up with the criteria, structure, and sections of the guide. They grappled with questions about audience and purpose--was this guide for students who didn't read the book or for those who wanted more support and preparation? They worked together to divide the tasks, developed and wrote the sections, and edited the document. I didn't edit the writing for them--this is all their work and their decisions.

I wanted them to work together to make a piece of writing that found an audience. I'm very happy and proud of what they accomplished. Great work, BEST scholars!

Grace Talusan

Lecturer, English Dept

Tufts University

The BEST Zeitoun Readers Guide

Pages

Historical Background