Remember: You don't have to answer all the questions...one or two will do fine...or even just your own commentary. Just make sure you have a decent paragraph so I can count it for credit. This should be a conversational blog, so don't try to sound smarter than you are...nobody likes that guy...just be you and seek out new info when you can.
Raison d'être = reason for existence
Ce n'etais pas moi = It's not/wasn't me
Why does the narrator want to create/invent all of the things he speaks of at the beginning of the chapter? What does that reveal about him?
What does it tell us about the narrator that his physical activity before jujitsu was tambourining?
What does the narrator mean when he says, "Jose"? What does this do to characterize him?
"even though I don't have dreams of running the family jewelry business anymore..." What is the double entendre of this quote?
Why does he only wear white clothes? Does this suggest something about him?
Interesting...before 9/11, no one would have ever thought about a plane hitting a building below the 95th floor...and would have rarely thought of a plane hitting a building at all...
Raison d'être = reason for existence
Ce n'etais pas moi = It's not/wasn't me
Why does the narrator want to create/invent all of the things he speaks of at the beginning of the chapter? What does that reveal about him?
What does it tell us about the narrator that his physical activity before jujitsu was tambourining?
What does the narrator mean when he says, "Jose"? What does this do to characterize him?
"even though I don't have dreams of running the family jewelry business anymore..." What is the double entendre of this quote?
Why does he only wear white clothes? Does this suggest something about him?
Interesting...before 9/11, no one would have ever thought about a plane hitting a building below the 95th floor...and would have rarely thought of a plane hitting a building at all...
"Even though I'm not anymore, I used to be an atheist, which means I didn't believe in things that couldn't be observed. I believed that once you're dead, you're dead forever, and you don't feel anything, and you don't even dream. It's not that I believe in things that can't be observed now, because I don't. It's that I believe that things are extremely complicated." What does the narrator mean by this? What does this tell us about the narrator?
What is his mom holding and squeezing? What does this tell us about her?
Why does his grandmother bring up the fact that his grandfather loved animals more than he loved people? What does this tell us about their relationship?
"Zipping up the sleeping bag of myself" -- what does this phrase mean? What does it reveal about him?
Why does the narrator think his mom would rather have the narrator be dead than his father? How do you think this affects their relationship?
The second time he rode in a limo, he went with the renter to dig up his dad's coffin. Foreshadowing...
Besides the marking of the New York Times with a red pen (which is only anal if you're not an English teacher, by the way), how is his father characterized?
The narrator uses the phrase "made my boots lighter" a couple of times. What does this mean? What does it reveal about him?
What do you think the narrator's father said in the four messages that we didn't get to look at?What did his father say in that final phone conversation? What would you say?
The narrator uses the phrase "made my boots lighter" a couple of times. What does this mean? What does it reveal about him?
What do you think the narrator's father said in the four messages that we didn't get to look at?What did his father say in that final phone conversation? What would you say?
Why I’m Not Where You Are 5/21/63
What caused his grandfather to lose his words? How do you think this affects him and those around him?
"She was the tree and also the river flowing away from the tree." What do you make of this quote? What does this tell you?
Near the end of the chapter, the last half paragraph, his grandfather's thoughts become jumbled, almost manic in nature. These thoughts are followed by him pointing to the word HELP. What does this tell us about the relationship between the grandfather and grandmother?
What is the significance of the picture in this chapter? How do you think it fits in?