Middlesex

How does Lefty’s involuntary silence impact Cal’s coming of age? Cite the text as part of developing a response.

How does Milton’s time in military service influence his beliefs and behavior? What does the novel imply about the relationship between national identification and personal identity through this military service? Explain, referencing the text.

What is the significance of Detroit as the site of the family’s US immigration story? How might the narrative be tangibly different if it were set in a different US city?

Cal’s identity is forever changed due to the dehumanization and trauma of dealing with medical institutions. How does Cal’s experience reflect the lived experiences of intersex and transgender people who must deal with medical institutions to access care?

Why does Cal go west when he decides to claim his identity as Cal? Are there any historical precedents for LGBTQIA+ people navigating the geopolitics of the US in similar ways?

How does reinvention play out in different ways throughout the novel? Use examples from the text to develop a response.

How does the house on Middlesex Boulevard become a key to the narrator’s journey to self-understanding? Explain, citing the text.

Cal tells the love story of his grandparents and then of his parents: How does his own love story in present-day Berlin impact the family history? Reference the text in developing a response.