In the Cemetery Where Al Jolson Is Buried

Few proper names exist in the story. The narrator and friend are unnamed, as are the hospital, doctors, and nurses. However, references to popular culture abound: TV show titles, characters from TV shows, popular musicians, and Al Jolson, who features both in the title and the story’s conclusion. Why do you think some things are unnamed or unlabeled while other things are more concrete? What effect do these choices have on the reader’s response to the story?

Two important themes in literature are love and death. How does the story interact with both of these great themes? What does the story suggest about both?

Explain the importance of the sign-language-communicating chimp. The chimp’s communication skills also include the ability to lie. What does the chimp’s deception signify, and how does it relate to the narrator’s plight?

Explore the symbol of earthquakes and what they both literally and metaphorically represent.

Losing control is one of the narrator’s constant worries. Trace the idea throughout the story. Does this theme apply beyond the narrator’s experience? How does the idea relate to life?

The narrator implies that, in writing about her friend, she may not stick to the facts but will embellish the details of her friend’s hospital stay and death. What instances in the story seem prone to exaggeration? In what ways are these incidents ripe for correction or self-editing?

Explore the symbolism of wearing a mask. What does a mask conceal or reveal?

Tales about animals figure prominently in the story. What do these animals represent, and what can their stories tell us about human behavior?