A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith 1. In a particularly revealing chapter of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Francie’s teacher dismisses her essays about everyday life among the poor as “sordid,” and, indeed, many of the novel’s characters seem to harbor a sense of shame about their poverty. But they also display a remarkable self-reliance (Katie, for example, says she would kill herself and her children before accepting charity). How and why have our society’s perceptions of poverty changed— for better or worse—during the last one hundred years? 2. Some critics have argued that many of the characters in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn can be dismissed as stereotypes, exhibiting quaint characteristics or representing outdated notions of both nobility or degeneracy. Is this a fair criticism? Which characters are the most convincing? The least? 3. Francie observes more than once that women seem to hate other women (“they stuck together for only one thing: to trample on some othe