The Rent Collector

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. Consider the correlation between poverty and poor health. In which ways do they affect one’s well-being? Does this differ across countries? If so, how?

Teaching Suggestion: This Short Answer question invites students to consider an important motif within Wright’s text: the link between poverty and lack of access to healthcare. In Wright’s novel, citizens in Stung Meanchey suffer from a variety of ailments, and they live hand-to-mouth with no financial security. Ultimately, the relationship between poverty and good health is cyclical; poverty can keep individuals from accessing quality care in countries where there are no universal health care systems, while good health is essential for working and can therefore keep people from poverty. In this vein, The Importance of Education is also a critical theme for supporting healthier lifestyles for populations. As students begin exploring answers to these questions, it may be helpful to define poverty as a class and to consider its impact on both mental and physical health. This question connects with this Teaching Guide’s main Activity, “The Correlation Between Literacy Rates and Poverty.”

• This article from Health Poverty Action discusses the link between poverty and health, as well as how education can be a differentiating factor in the correlation.
• This article centers on the history of healthcare in Cambodia, including the effects of the Khmer Rouge on the country’s access to health and well-being.

2. From 1974 to 1979, the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK), also known as Khmer Rouge, ruled the Southeast Asian country of Cambodia. Consider your prior knowledge regarding the region during the 1960s and 1970s. What were the major political divisions? How was Southeast Asia a proxy war for international political actors? What was the result of dictatorial political regimes such as the Khmer Rouge?

Teaching Suggestion: This Short Answer question invites students to consider their prior knowledge of the influence of Communist regimes and pro-Communist countries in Southeast Asia during the Cold War. At the end of World War II in 1945 and the beginning of the 1950s, the Western bloc (i.e., pro-capitalist) and Eastern bloc (i.e., pro-Communist) countries engaged in international disputes, usually through the means of proxy wars, in order to defend their relative economic systems. During the 1960s, the Southeast Asian country of Vietnam experienced a proxy war in which the US funded pro-capitalist forces to defend against the Soviet Union and Chinese-funded Communist party. Eager to prevent a “Domino Effect,” the US hoped to limit Communism’s expansion in the region. Despite their efforts, the Communist Khmer Rouge gained political control of Cambodia, ultimately instituting an extreme form of political control that would result in the genocide of almost one-fourth of Cambodians. Wright explores The Influence of the Past on the characters in the book, as many of the people suffered at the hands of the Khmer Rouge, or lost their jobs and were forced into impoverished situations, such as former university professor Sopeap.

• In this five-part explanation, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum provides a thorough overview of Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge takeover.
• This 4-minute video from the BBC includes an interview of a genocide survivor who discusses his experience of the “Killing Fields.”

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the text.

Summarize a famous story that focuses on a battle between good and evil. How are these elements represented in your chosen story? What does the story say about the dichotomous relationship of good and evil?

Teaching Suggestion: This Personal Connection Prompt invites students to consider the themes of The Balance of Good and Evil and The Power of Story in their own experiences with reading literature. In her lessons with Sopeap, Sang Ly learns that life is not so black and white, and that individuals can exhibit both good and evil traits. To encourage students to think of these terms on a spectrum, it may be helpful to follow this Personal Connection Prompt with a discussion of perspective and how an individual’s perception of a situation can shift their understanding of what constitutes good or evil deeds. This question directly connects with the Discussion/Analysis Prompt.

Differentiation Suggestion: For more advanced classes, this Personal Connection may be restructured to a debate where students argue either for or against the following assertion: There is no gray area in the dichotomy of good and evil. For guidance on how to structure an in-class debate, please see this resource from Harvard University.