Question 1: How do we define the personality traits of a hero? Someone who is dedicated to what they're doing. They always put others before themselves. Sacrifice, determination, perseverance, and bravery are all words that can be used to describe a hero. Whether that is a super hero or someone you find in everyday life going out of their way to make a difference in someone else's life. (Qualities of a Hero; Mesa Community College)

Question 2: How do the setting, conflicts, and antagonists influence the development of literary heroes? Heroes come from all different childhoods, family situations, and ethnicity backgrounds. The upbringing of a person and the house they grow up in can have a huge impact on their willingness to be a hero. If they have had struggles or hard times in their life, it may make them want to go out of their way more to make a difference in someone else's life, so other people have an easier time then the did. People who are very in touch with reality want to go out of their way to make the world a better place because they are aware of all the struggles in society. (Singer )

Question 3: How does a hero reflect his/her particular culture and society? A hero that came from different cultural backgrounds or different society classes will probably be more likely to help people that came from the same background they did. On the other hand, someone from a higher class in society with a good heart and their head in the right place may want to give back to the less fortunate people in society and go out of their way to help them. Also, different cultures have different standards of what they think a hero should be like. Other cultures may consider heroes to be the discoverers of things like fire, religion, agriculture, songs, or a tradition. And there is no right or wrong answer to what makes someone a hero. (Long; Culture Heroes)

Question 4: How does a hero represent his/her time period and geographical area? Eleven year old Trevor was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada in the 1990's. Homelessness, drug abuse, violence, and the economy were all problems in society at that time. This is something that inspired Trevor to start his movement and help people. The first person he helped was a homeless man that he took into his home, fed him, and let him live in his garage. Homelessness was a VERY large problem in the 90's, especially in large cities like Las Vegas. (Ling/Hinman)

Question 5: How do various cultures reward or recognize their heroes? Different cultures have their own versions of what they call a hero. In some cases, you are not a hero until you save someone from a burning building or save someone's life in a major war. In other cases, helping an elderly woman across the street with her groceries can make you a saint. (Singer)

Question 6: What inspired Trevor to be a hero? Trevor went to his Social Studies class and his teacher gave the class an assignment to change the world and put the idea into action. Homelessness was a large problem in the 1990’s especially in large cities like Las Vegas. In the western part of the country, around 48,909 people were homeless in 1990 (Foster 15) Trevor’s mother was among the 9% of the population who suffered from excessive alcohol abuse. (Alters 19) However, his mother was recovering and he wanted to help her find a new love interest.

Question 7: How did Trevor's family life impact his journey? Trevor’s mother and father were both alcoholics. (Hyde 22) Trevor’s mother Arlene took the stand and left his father, who’s alcohol addiction was taking over his life and impacting his relationship with his family. When Trevor came up with his pay it forward movement, he wanted his mother to be a receiver of an act of kindness. He wanted to hook up Arlene with his teacher Mr. St. Clair. He set them up on a date, and hoped for the best to come out of it. (Hyde 56)

Question 8: What challenges did Trevor have to over come for what he thought was right? When Trevor started his pay it forward movement, his first target was a homeless man named Jerry. (Hyde 33) Jerry was a recovering drug addict and alcoholic, and he wrote a letter to Trevor explaining why he needed the money. However despite the kindness that Trevor showed Jerry, he wound up back in jail again. And when Trevor and Arlene went to visit him, Jerry wanted nothing to do with them (Hyde 82-83) When Trevor met his teacher, Reuben St. Clair, he thought it would be a great idea to hook him and his mother up on a date, since his mother was obviously lonely since Trevor’s father left them. However, on their surprise dinner date that Trevor set up for them, there was no magic happening at first, and Trevor was ready to give up. (Hyde 56) The third person in Trevor’s movement was an elderly woman named Mrs. Goldberg. Everyday he would take in her newspaper to her and tend to her garden and plant flowers. And Mrs. Goldberg promised him that she would do everything she could to pay it forward. Unfortunately, Mrs. Goldberg died unexpectedly in her home. Which left Trevor feeling devastated and felt like there was no hope for his project. (Hyde 88)

Question 9: How does the input of Trevor's peers impact his journey? Trevor went to an intercity school. They had metal detectors at the door, and the school was full of violence. Also, when Trevor’s class first met Mr. St. Clair, they were awkward around him and didn’t like to spend time around him because they were uncomfortable about his facial scarring. (Hyde 12) Because the other student’s didn’t have a relationship with Mr. St. Clair like Trevor did, they were both very close.

Question 10: How does Reuben's story of his past effect his and Arlene's relationship? How does this effect Trevor? Reuben is an African American man who got severely injured in the Vietnam war. Due to his injury, he has severe facial scarring as well as scarring on his chest. At first, Arlene was taken back by this, and she wanted nothing to do with him. But when they got their feelings out in the open (Hyde 92), they established that the state of his face didn’t matter anymore. The first time they got intimate with each other, Arlene got a view of how bad the scarring actually was, but she didn’t let it bother her. When Trevor found out this happened, he was almost extremely happy about it because he felt that they were making a step toward a relationship, which was his goal. (Hyde 106)

Question 11: How does Trevor's tragic death impact the Pay it Forward movement? Trevor and his family were invited to Washington DC to meet the president to talk about Trevor’s pay it forward movement. While going back to their hotel, Trevor noticed someone being mugged on the street corner and attempted to break up the fight. In doing this, he was stabbed and sent to the hospital in critical condition. (Hyde 289) A day later, Trevor died. On the day that would have been his 14 th birthday. The whole country observed a moment of silence in respect for Trevor, which was issued by President Clinton. (Hyde 292)

Question 11: How does Trevor's tragic death impact the Pay it Forward movement? (Continued) People reached out greatly to Arlene after Trevor’s death, and people had definitely caught the pay it forward fever. Stories spread from all over that people were paying it forward. (Hyde 300)

Question 12: How does Pay it Forward as a book/film impacted our society? After Pay it Forward came out, many people were inspired to make a change in their lives similar to what Trevor did. People were and still are performing random acts of kindness with the hopes that someone else will pay it forward. Anything from teaching underprivileged children how to use computers (Gomez), to doctors providing free services to previous cancer patients left with severe medical conditions, to local business owners helping to restore a city after a hurricane, and women making it a month long commitment of doing a random act of kindness every day. (Stanley) Even celebrities like Halle Berry have gone out of their way to help someone in a sticky situation when it would have been much easier to let it be and not care. (DuBois-Barnett) All of these people are doing what they can in the hopes that someone will catch the “pay it forward fever.”