A Measure of Acceptance
Between the Lines Discussion Questions
with author Floyd Skloot

1.) Why does the Social Security Administration choose to send Skloot to a psychiatrist? Why does this trouble him?

2.) What do you make of his observation (page 81) that "It's not so much a matter of making lemonade out of life's lemons but rather of learning to savor the shock, taste, texture and aftereffects of a mouthful of unadulterated citrus."

3.) What forms of acceptance are discussed in this essay? Why is it entitled "A Measure of Acceptance"

4.) What does Skloot mean when he says "I began to realize that the most aggressive act I could perform on my own behalf was to stop struggling and discover what I really could do." (page 82)

5.) Why does he "nearly burst into tears"? (page 85) What do you make of his reaction? Why does he feel as though he has "hit the wall"?

6.) What makes Skloot decide to give his best effort during the physical capacity evaluation? (page 87)

7.) Why is he made to crawl? What do you make of that requirement?

8.) What do you make of the fact that he received no formal report of the insurance company's findings? Do you agree with Floyd (page 90) that there's no need for a report?

9.) What does Floyd mean when he says (page 90) "I had encountered the true, hard heart of the matter."

10.) What did you think when you read that it took Floyd 11 months to complete his essay?

11.) Which test—the psychiatric or the physical capacity—do you consider worse and why?

12.) What does the final sentence of the essay mean?

Jump Start : A writing assignment for you.

Floyd Skloot is an accomplished writer of poetry, fiction and nonfiction. When asked what distinguishes creative nonfiction from poetry and fiction, he responded:

"[For me, a definition of] creative nonfiction as it differs from poetry or fiction [can be] focused too much on the issue of "Truth." I don't know if that's a useful way to distinguish the genre. For me, adherence to the facts as I experienced them is a given when I write creative nonfiction, and the more pertinent matter is voice. This essay, as opposed to my prose fiction, is written in my voice. Direct, unfiltered and honestly me. The techniques of fiction—scene, dialogue, character—are employed, but the voice is one I only use in nonfiction. It's me."

Write a piece in which you try to write in a voice that is "unfiltered" and "honestly" YOU. What kind of changes do you notice in your writing? Do you find that thinking of Voice in this way completely changes your approach to writing creative nonfiction? How? Why? Does Skloot's response cause you to rethink the idea of "truth" in creative nonfiction?