Writing about the elderly will help students uncover some of their own preconceptions about what it means to grow old. Studying what others have said and written about the elderly may help students learn to think critically about an author’s background and motivations.

• Are novels, essays, or poems read in your class written by authors in their later years?
• Do any of the quotes in the collage section reflect the students' attitudes?
• How are older adults portrayed in literature?
• Does a student’s own experience with the elderly reflect the views portrayed in the Treasury section?
• The collage section contains many famous quotes which reflect different attitudes about aging. Students can be asked to compare and contrast different perspectives. What characteristics of the writer (age, profession, gender, health status, philosophy) might these quotes reflect? Activities may focus on the writer being studied in class.
• Have students write a story from the perspective of an older adult. Consider the small difficulties in life for older adults (opening a medicine bottle for someone with arthritis; climbing stairs for someone with a walker).