Carry On, Mr. Bowditch

When Nat is no longer able to go to school, he teaches himself. Why do you think it was so important to him? What might inspire you to do something like that?

How would you feel about being indentured as Nat was at the age of twelve? What do you think were the scariest things about it for Nat?

The author uses a lot of figurative language related to ships and the sea. Discuss the effects of this figurative language. How does it reveal meaning in the text?

Discuss how the text depicts different genders. How are the experiences of men and women different from each other? How do they relate?

The author could look at the facts of Nathaniel Bowditch's life, but she couldn't know what he was thinking and feeling every moment. Did you feel like she did a good job of imagining what he thought and felt? Does the character in the story feel like a real person to you? What kinds of things do you think the author had to make up?

In chapter 14, page 130, Nat listens to Lem Harvey training the crew to use the canons. Nat and Lem have very different ways of teaching. How are they different? Is Lem a bad teacher, or do different ways of teaching work better for different skills?

Have you ever had to “sail by ash breeze”? Write a personal essay about that experience.

Which do you think is better: going to school or getting an education the way Nat did? What would be the advantages and disadvantages of each method?