My Friend Dahmer

Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Prologue-Part 2

Reading Check

1. Based on the visuals in the beginning of Part 1, which subject in school is Dahmer most interested in?

2. What is Dahmer’s fantasy about the jogger who runs past his house?

3. Who was Dahmer truly mimicking when he had his “fits”?

4. How does Dahmer attempt to “dull” his sexual urges?

5. How does Dahmer find Ray’s fall?

6. What activity did the neighbors see Dahmer doing during the summer of 1977?

7. Why are Joyce and Lionel too preoccupied to notice their son’s struggles?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. According to the visuals in the Prologue, what item does the boy come across while walking? What does he decide to do with the object?

2. How does the narrator describe Dahmer’s interactions with his peers in school?

3. Describe Joyce and Lionel Dahmer. How does the narrator note that they are each a product of their environment?

4. What are some of the sexual frustrations that Dahmer experiences? What is the cause for his “perverse sexual hunger”? (Part 1)

5. Which question does Derf Backderf end Part 1 with? What is the corresponding visual?

6. Summarize the first sequence of visuals in Part 2. What do the visuals foreshadow?

7. What miraculous action is Dahmer able to pull off on a school trip to Washington DC? Why is Backderf particularly frustrated by his reaction, in retrospect?

Paired Resources

“Jeffrey Dahmer And Other Serial Killers Have These 5 Traits In Common”

• Discover Magazine’s 2022 article explores similarities among notorious serial killers.
• This connects with the theme of Lack of Social Support for Vulnerable Individuals.
• Based on the text and the above resource, identify instances in Backderf’s story where Dahmer exhibits one or more of the five common traits of serial killers.

“Jack the Ripper 1888”

• This website shares a plethora of information regarding the notoriously unsolved murders of Jack the Ripper.
• This connects with the theme Nature Versus Nurture.
• Did Dahmer share any similarities with Jack the Ripper?

Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story

• Netflix’s 2022 mini-series explores both Dahmer’s high school years and the decade he killed people.
• This connects with the themes of the novel: Lack of Social Support for Vulnerable Individuals, Nature Versus Nurture, and Economic and Social Status of 1970s America.
• How does Netflix depict Dahmer? Does this characterization share any similarities with Backderf’s Dahmer?

My Friend Dahmer

• This film is Director Marc Meyers’s 2017 adaptation of Backderf’s graphic novel.
• This connects with the same theme of this novel: Lack of Social Support for Vulnerable Individuals, Nature Versus Nurture, and Economic and Social Status of 1970s America.
• Does the film adaptation stay true to the graphic novel? If so, how?

Part 3-Epilogue

Reading Check

1. What does Backderf say the National Honor Society photo represented?

2. What special talent did Dahmer believe he had?

3. Why did Dahmer always carry around a briefcase?

4. Which recollected image makes Backderf “laugh in disbelief”? (Part 3)

5. By the end of senior year, who was Dahmer hanging out with?

6. What important announcement does Dahmer’s mother make to him?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What was the Dahmer Fan Club? Describe the link that Backderf makes between the Fan Club and the evolution of Dahmer’s personality.

2. What is Dahmer paid to do at the Summit Mall? Describe his “performance” and Backderf’s reaction.

3. Compare and contrast Prom Night for Backderf and Dahmer. What was the major difference and what social importance did the boys place on this event?

4. Why is June 18 a pivotal day for both Backderf and Dahmer? Describe the panels of the graphic novel and how they signify the contrasting experiences on this day.

5. Summarize the Epilogue. What notable comment does Backderf make to his peers?

Recommended Next Reads

Trashed by Derf Backderf

• Backderf’s 2015 graphic novel, which follows up from My Friend Dahmer, centers on Derf as a trashman in the city.
• A shared theme includes Economic and Social Status of 1970s America.
• Shared topics include characterization and the setting of Ohio, graphic novels, and challenges of growing up in suburban America.

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

• Braithwaite’s 2019 novel follows protagonist Korede as she struggles to protect her serial-killing sister from succumbing to the consequences of her actions.
• Shared themes include Lack of Social Support for Vulnerable Individuals and Nature Versus Nurture.
• Shared topics include serial killing and dysfunctional families.
• My Sister, the Serial Killer on SuperSummary