$1200 A Year cover

$1200 A Year

by Edna Ferber

Excerpt from $1200 a year: A Comedy in three acts Scene1: Living room in the stoddard flat, College Hill, a residential section adjoining the campus of Dinsmore University, Wickley, Pennsylvania. The family consists of Paul Stoddard, instructor in Economics at the University, and his wife, Jean They have been married three years, during which time Stoddard's salary has been twelve hundred a year. The apartment consists of a living room, bed room, and kitchen. The living room is furnished shabbily with furniture reminiscent of his bachelor days together with a few more recent acquisitions. At right, against the wall, is one of those cheap, golden-oak, upright pianos which she hates. At the back are low bookshelves fairly well filled. The most conspicuous object in the room is a portrait hanging above the bookcases. It is the portrait of Governor Gamaliel Winthrop, one of the early governors of Massachusetts. He is dressed in the puritan costume and is of a stern and rock-bound countenance.

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Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?