Essay Questions

How does Andrew Clements illustrate to readers that success requires teamwork and negotiation?

Andrew Clements' novel largely explores the value of teamwork and compromising certain situations to enhance success. When an individual works alone, he walks first but cannot go far. However, teamwork enables individuals to walk long distances for success. The novel follows the entrepreneurial spirit of Greg and Maura and illustrates how they work as a team to counter obstacles and achieve greater success. For instance, Greg and Maura put their differences aside and convinced the school administration to lift the ban on selling their comic books to fellow students. The values of compromise in the novel are illustrated when Maura and Greg decide to work together with a shared interest to achieve greater success.

Using an appropriate illustration, show how the novel title, Lunch Money, represents supremacy.

The school's administration uses the lunch money to buy food and other items for students. For Greg, the Lunch money represents his authority and financial independence in the future. Since childhood, Greg loved selling his toys to make a profit, and he extended this habit to his school, where he sells comic books to fellow students. Greg makes good money, and every student adores him because he lives a flashy lifestyle. Grey's control attracts students like Maura to start the same business. Maura wants to be financially independent like Greg.

What motivates the school authority to lift the ban on selling Greg and Maura's comic books?

When Greg and Maura discover that the school administration has banned the sale of their comic books in school, they combine efforts and put their differences aside. The two business rivals combine efforts to create a school magazine with education puzzles to help students think critically. Greg and Maura present their new magazine to the school administration; it lifts the ban because the material is educational and can help students think critically. As a result, Maura and Greg become great businessmen, and they create more lucrative business ventures within the school.