Breaking Barriers Multiple Choices

Joan Rivers became a comedy pioneer at a time when relatively few women performed stand-up professionally. This passage follows Rivers from her childhood in Brooklyn through her education at Barnard College and her decision to pursue comedy despite pressure to choose a more traditional career. Students learn how years of performing in small clubs eventually led to her breakthrough appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

This worksheet explores the determination Rivers needed to build a long career in entertainment. Readers learn about her later television work, including The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers, as well as the setbacks she experienced along the way. The passage also highlights her success in fashion, television, and red-carpet interviewing. Students practice recognizing perseverance, identifying major accomplishments, and examining how Rivers helped open doors for future generations of female comedians.