Q4: Mrs Russell was probably worried about Lindsay, how she lagged behind the rest of the class while reading. She was trying to help in the way she thought was best. Mrs. Silver and Mr. Johnson were also just doing their jobs. They were trying to get Lindsay up to school standard for her age, and they definitely didn’t intend to traumatize her.
Q5: “There was also this blue room. The blue room was painted blue, had blue tables, blue chairs, and blue bookshelves filled with books.” This explanation of the room was wordy, and in my opinion, unnecessary.
Gram Why Are You Crying?
Q4: Gram loves Hunter, and loves reading with him. It probably either never occurred to her that he didn’t feel the story like she does, or she kept reading with him in the hopes that he will develop that type of empathy with the book. His teacher probably noticed his lack of participation when talking about books in class, and didn’t think much of it, because he’s a high school guy.
Q5: It stands out to me how apathetic he was towards reading. It’s like he saw the words, but didn’t get the intent or the true meaning behind them. Especially with an influence such as his Gram from his very young childhood.
Art Crisis
Q4: Mrs. Kilbourne and Mrs. Walker, as Aiden’s advisors, wanted to help him get the most out of school that he could, and were sympathetic towards his desire to get out of the art class. Erin Farmer was teaching her class the curriculum, and whether or not she heard of Aiden’s hatred of art or not is irrelevant to how she chose to teach her class.
Q5: I think that the whole inclusion of his long background of art is irrelevant. He could have easily shortened that section significantly. The first two paragraphs had nothing to do with writing, so it was difficult to see where Aiden was going with his point in the intro
Past Connections
Q4: The author’s mom was probably very excited that the author asked her for help in understanding the book. She was probably even more happy that she knew the book and that she could help. Not only that, but she was able to talk about religion, a topic that the author doesn’t like or understand, and has probably rejected talking about before this.
Q5: I find it interesting that the author, although growing up believing in God, knows little to none about the subject of religion. I don’t know if it’s blocked from memory, or its just something that they just never understood fully.
My First Reading Challenge
Q4: This teacher was most likely one who loved to teach. There are teachers who teach to convey information, and there are teachers that teach to connect to students. This teacher seems like the latter. This teacher probably saw Brandon struggling and wanted to find a way to connect with him, in order for Brandon to not just learn the lesson, but understand it.
Q5: I find it interesting how a single teacher can make or break a subject for a student. In this case, this teacher took a B student and made him into an A student, just by putting in the extra mile, to understand how the students are able to understand things, and teach in that way. Also, although it’s sad to hear about the teacher’s passing, it is unnecessary to the point that this student is trying to make. Not that it’s a bad thing to write about, as it is a big event in his life, I just felt like it was way in left field, compared to the rest of the writing.
