Final answer:
Teachers ask students whether Jack is happy to improve comprehension, critical thinking, and empathy by analyzing the character's emotions and sparking discussion on broader themes. It also serves as a gauge for the students' engagement with the material.
Step-by-step explanation:
The teacher may ask students whether Jack is happy to encourage critical thinking and comprehension skills. By questioning Jack's feelings, students are prompted to analyze the text and the characters' emotions, which can lead to a deeper understanding of the narrative and its themes. This can be part of a broader strategy to ensure students are engaging with the material on a more profound level than mere surface comprehension. For example, the silent response from Jack and Suzie after Alec announces he quit his job could indicate shock or confusion, and their reaction might make it unclear how any of them feel. It's the teacher's role to guide students in exploring these subtleties.
Understanding characters' emotions is also related to the development of empathy and the ability to view situations from multiple perspectives. In addition, questions like these can spark discussions about broader topics such as happiness, and success, and how they are portrayed in literature and real-life scenarios, such as the mentioning of the psychologist David Myers and the reference to money and happiness.
Finally, teachers ask such questions to check on students' engagement and comprehension. If a student can accurately discuss Jack's emotions, it likely means they have paid attention to the reading and have understood the characters' development and the context of the story. This engagement might be similar to how students at The Equity Project feel their teachers care for their success.