Orange Is the New Black (Kerman) - Discussion Questions

Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:

• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)

Also, consider these LitLovers talking points to start a discussion for Orange is the New Black:

1. Talk about Piper Kerman. What do you think of her? Does she deserve the sentence she received?

2. How would you describe the prison culture—its hierarchy and values. What must Piper learn in order to adapt to, or even survive, prison life? Discuss about how Piper's relationships changed—both inside the prison walls and outside prison.

3. Do you have favorites among the inmates? Least favorites? Are there any inmates you come to admire? if so, why? Are there inmates who don't deserve to be in prison?

4. Talk about the relationship of the inmates with the guards and prison authorities.

5. In many ways, this is a coming-of-age story. What are the ways in which prison changes Piper? What does she come to learn about who she is?

6. Has reading Orange Is the New Black altered your views of the criminal justice system? Or does the memoir basically confirm what you believed?

7. Why is being sent to prison frequently referred to as "disappearing down the rabbit hole"?

8. Does our criminal justice system work? Does prison work? If you could, what would you change about the legal and/or the prison system?

9. Watch the Netflix film adaptation—either selected clips or in its entirety. How does it compare with the book?

10. Talk about homosexuality, both in Piper's life and as it exists in prison.

(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)

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