Dangerous Minds to introduce them to poetry, LouAnne uses the lyrics of Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" to teach symbolism and metaphor; once this is achieved, she progresses on to Dylan Thomas's "Do not go gentle into that good night". LouAnne rewards the students liberally, using candy bars, reward incentives, and a trip to a theme park. Her methods attract the anger of the school authorities, George Grandey and Carla Nichols, who try to force her to remain within the curriculum. Particular individual students attract LouAnne's attention for their personal problems. Raul Sanchero is a well-meaning boy who is frequently involved in
Do Not Ask What Good We Do the 2010 election. A majority of those he spoke with and listened to were Republicans, especially among the 87 new legislators. The title of the book, "Do Not Ask What Good We Do", is taken from a sentence in a letter from Fisher Ames to Thomas Dwight, dated May 30, 1796: "Do not ask what good we do : that is not a fair question, in these days of faction." The prologue to the book details how, on the night of Obama's inauguration, a group of around 15 Republican Representatives and Senators met in the Caucus Room, a "high-end D.C.