Callings: The Purpose and Passion of Work

Pride appears in many of the stories throughout the text. What are the different kinds of pride at play in these narratives? What is the importance of pride in the context of work and finding one’s calling?

How has the book changed or confirmed your own views of work and purpose? Which chapters/stories do you find particularly inspiring or challenging, and why?

Using the “Favorite StoryCorps Questions” found on Page 261 as a template, conduct your own interview with a family member or friend and write an account of that interview. Which of the five categories might you place your interview in, and why?

The author warns that finding one’s calling requires discipline, resilience, and sacrifice. How do you see these three attributes echoed throughout the many stories collected in Callings? Is any attribute more important than the others? Why?

Are the five categories provided by the author effective or ineffective ways of organizing the stories in Callings? Why or why not? What other categories could be used in place of or in addition to these categories, and how might one decide which stories go where?

How does the author’s Introduction create a framework for understanding the stories in Callings and help the reader construct meaning from the narratives?

What does the author mean when he says that “finding what you’re meant to do with your life has a lot to do with careful listening” (4)? What kind of listening does this require, and why might it be important for finding one’s calling or purpose?

How do the three themes (about purpose, listening, and the American dream) work together to form a central point or argument in the text? In what ways might they contradict or work in counterpoint to each other?