- Connect with the story because I too had hard times where I didn't fit in.
- I wonder what happened to him? What made him change his ways? What made him happy? What was he hiding.
- I predict that he will stay good and will be able to have a family. He will stay happy because he will keep doing the right thing.
- The author is telling us to keep secrets to have friends. He is telling us to stay on the right track and not to stray so we'll have a good life.
- I also, like the author, feel that it's better to do the right thing then to ruin my life in the beginning. I have learned that its better to be pressured by my peers than to not have any peers. I've also learned that its best to hear what everyone doesn't want me to hear.
- I don't think the author should have started life out as horribly as he did. I think he should have done his best, like he did in the end.
- Love/Relationships
- Health/Mental & Physical
- Education/Knowledge/Learning
- Science & Technology/Process
- Faith
- Pride
- Mortality/Birth, Life & Death
- Freedom
- Individual vs Society
- Prejudice/Bias/Racism
- Fear of the Unknown
- Cause & Effect
- Truth
- Young vs Old/New vs Old
- Hope
- Equality
- Home/Sense of place
- Identity/ Self Image
- Time
- Dependency
Chunk: What kind of relationship does the narrator have with his parents?
The narrator had a disconnected relationship with his parents. He would, " forged [his] time... Practicing [his] parents autograph 'cause [he] was failing math," (The Best Time). 'The author feels that his parents are too mean, so he can't tell them things anymore, so he forges their signatures to get by. He is very disconnected from them because he doesn't talk to them about anything anymore.