"The Perfect Mother" WebQuest

Introduction

In The Perfect Mother by Amiee Molloy is a mystery book about the disappearance of Midas, the newborn son of Winnie Ross. The group of new mothers, called the "May Mothers" do everything they can to help solve the mystery. Many different themes and concepts come up throughout the book like motherhood, depression, police interrogation, creating a false reality, and madness. You will be assigned to watch videos or read articles about these topics, and then answer questions pertaining to the video.

Task

The following bullet points will provide videos and other background information pertaining to the main concepts in The Perfect Mother. Answer the following questions on a separate piece of paper. The questions will ensure that you understand the concepts.

  • Motherhood
  • The main subject of the book is motherhood and the different joys and struggles that come with it. This video will detail the different things mothers need to be aware of when raising children.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_vP9CmEEOE

  • Depression
  • Midas, Winnie's child, is kidnapped while she is out with the other mothers in the group. She falls into a state of depression and becomes a recluse. The following video details a few of the main types of depression, and how they affect your life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbJB02Zlh4w

  • Interrogation
  • In the book, the police often interrogate the mothers to try and gain the whole truth. The following video details some of the methods used by the police to extract the truth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=js4X-JdciHU

  • False Reality
  • Scarlett, the mother who kidnaps Midas, says that Midas is hers and that his name is Joshua. Even though everyone knows that it is Midas, but she has created a false reality that she has convinced herself to believe. The news article depicts a similar story in real life.

https://www.news4jax.com/news/woman-accused-of-kidnapping-baby-18-years-ago-raised-her-as-her-own

  • Madness
  • Colette, one of the May Mothers, drives herself into madness trying to figure out the mystery of Midas's disappearance because she partially blames herself. The following article describes how an ordinary person can drive themselves mad.

https://www.apa.org/monitor/nov02/gomad

Process

The following questions are derived from the videos and websites, and will ensure your understanding of the concepts on the video. Answer the questions on a sheet of paper that will be graded in the evaluation.

  • Motherhood
  1. What are teratogens?
  2. What are three causes of preterm births?
  3. What are three causes of allergies?
  • Depression
  1. Why is depression often misunderstood?
  2. What is another name for Clinical Depression?
  3. Which form of depression only affects women?
  • Interrogation
  1. What is the first method used by police to get you to lower your defenses?
  2. How do police slyly get you to waive your rights?
  3. What position are police trained to recognize when you are about to give in?
  • False Reality
  1. When was the 18-year-old woman taken from her mother?
  2. What does Shannon Johns think about is?
  3. What did the girl call Mrs. Williams towards the end of the story?
  • Madness
  1. How easy does Philip Zimbardo say it is for someone to fall into madness?
  2. Can someone be falsely reported as being mad?
  3. What did the doctors do in the study to cause people to go mad?

Evaluation

Now having answered the questions, check them with the following answer key provided

  • Motherhood:
  1. Exposures causing harm to the babies in the womb.
  2. Pesticides, poor nutrition, poor mental health, alcohol, or smoking.
  3. Air pollution, atmospheric particles, and nitrogen dioxide.
  • Depression:
  1. People stereotype the disease.
  2. Major Depressive Disorder.
  3. Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder.
  • Interrogation:
  1. Rapport Building
  2. Making you fill out paperwork that waives your right to remain silent and right to an attorney.
  3. "Surrender position"
  • False Reality:
  1. The day she was born.
  2. "'Wrong is wrong, and right is right. She was wrong for doing it, but at the end of the day, she took care of her like she was her own, ... She raised her since she was a baby. And that's the only mother that she knew.'"
  3. "'I love you Momma'"
  • Madness
  1. Almost any ordinary person can go mad.
  2. Yes.
  3. They hypnotized them and caused them to go temporarily deaf, which caused them to go mad.

Conclusion

You have now completed this WebQuest. Hopefully you now understand the main concepts in The Perfect Mother like depression, police interrogation, motherhood, false reality, and madness. I would definitely recommend this book for anyone who loves a good mystery. To me, it didn't matter being a male that the story line was mainly driven by females. This book is a great read for anyone, but if a younger reader wants to read it, I would suggest that it be cleared with a parent first due to a few instances of strong language and sexual scenes. This book could also be a good read for any expecting/new parent because at the beginning of almost every chapter, it has a parenting tip provided by the May Mothers.

Credits