How did Jack's childhood affect his goal of wanting to go to college?
Jack had a very challenging childhood which could have hindered his chances of getting into college. He was always moving around and never had a good chance to get himself situated. It is always hard to adjust when switching schools, and he did it multiple times. There were times when he even had to drop out of school to work. By always moving and working, it became more challenging for Jack to get into college.
On page 28, Jack says, "And if not a writer, I wasn't sure what I might do, but I certainly had no interest in becoming a criminal." Did Jack's school and home life make him more likely to become a criminal or a writer? Why?
Jack's school life made him more likely to become a writer. Even though he was moving around a lot, his parents always paid close attention to him. They gave him work. Whenever he was out with his dad, his dad would always show him who criminals were and what they looked like, making sure Jack would not become one. Even though his school was at one time a jail, it did not seem to be a particularly bad place to learn.
If Jack wasn't desperate to go to college, do you think he would have become a part of the hashish smuggling operation?
I think Jack would still have become part of the operation if he wasn't so desperate to go to college. He still wanted a chance to get off of St. Croix. He seemed to want to go to the United States, and I think he gladly would have done it, especially with $10,000 waiting at the end of the journey.
Was Jack's prison sentence fair?
Jack's sentence was completely fair. What he did was a huge crime, and since he was so young, he was lucky enough to have a relatively short sentence. An older person who did a similar crime would likely have a far greater amount of time in jail.
How does Jack's love of books help save him in prison? What about out of prison?
Jack's love for books helped him a lot while he was in prison. He was under a lot of stress at the time, and when he was reading his books, he was able to escape. He could follow the life of another character when he wanted to be away from his own. Books also helped him while out of prison. He learned a lot of life lessons from the stories he read.
Do you think Jack would have become a successful writer if he had served his prison term in the general population rather than in his private hospital cell?
If Jack had served his prison term in the general population instead of the private hospital cell, he may actually have become an even more successful writer. Although he experienced what prison was like from afar, he would have seen even more up close and personal. This experience would give him more to write about.
Were Jack's unflinching descriptions of prison life necessary to the story? Why or why not?
These descriptions were completely necessary to the story. One of the purposes of the book was to describe the horrors of being arrested and going to jail. Jack wanted to provide a message to adolescents to avoid committing crimes. If Jack had not utilized these descriptions, it is possible that many readers would not become fearful of jail, and would not worry about being arrested.
What kinds of clues do the chapter titles provide? How does Jack signal the reader ahead of time about what will occur in the chapter?
The chapter titles give the reader a clue as to what will happen in the chapter, or what will be in the chapter. Sometimes the title of a chapter mentions an object that will be in it or an event that will occur. For example, the chapter "Bon Voyage" signals that Jack will set sail for New York and the chapter title "My Yellow Cell" represents Jack's hospital cell in Kentucky.
The book is divided into three sections. Why do you think the author decided to separate parts of the story?
The author separated different parts of the story for the different sections of his life. The first section talks about his youth. The second talks about when he lived in St. Croix and prepared to smuggle the drugs. The third and final section tells of his time on trial and in jail.
Jack claims that his becoming involved in the smuggling ring was "a mistake." Do you think "mistake" is the right word for the situation? By using the word "mistake," does Jack make you feel more or less confident that he is sorry for what he did?
"Mistake" is not the right word for the situation. The reason Jack participated in the smuggling is because he needed money and a way to get off of St. Croix and go to college. He wanted to do the crime, and only regretted it once he got caught. The word "mistake" does not make me feel confident that he is sorry for what he did. It is not a very convincing word. There is absolutely no regret in the tone with which Jack writes.
Hole in my Life by Jack Gantos
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This is a student-friendly place to discuss your summer reading assignment with your peers. Use this Blog only for matters related to the book – this is not a social networking outlet.
As you respond to the questions and postings related to the book you are reading, keep in mind that all blog postings will be monitored. If you use inappropriate language you will be reported.
This is for English class; therefore, you must write in full sentences and use correct punctuation and grammar. Please avoid texting or IM language, abbreviations, slang, emoticons, etc. In order to receive credit, blogs must be well thought out and at least three sentences in length.
1 comment:
1. I agree on every little piece of answer that was posted for question 1. When a kid like Jack who has a family who moves so much because of the parents jobs the kid(s) don’t get the chance to fully take on the challenges and adventures of learning. Even though Jack came up with the idea of heading back to his hometown in Florida and finishing out high school as a senior he could have came up with that idea earlier, but things would probably have been much more difficult on Jack as well as his parents just because he was a young teen. When teens are going about their freshman and sophomore years and even junior year they still need a bit of guidance from there parents along the way and with Jack at someone else’s house with different parents there he wouldn’t of had the full on effect from going about high school with Mr. and Mrs. Bacon by his side.
2. After looking at the answer to the second I didn't fully agree with the whole statement posted. First off Jack's home life with his immediate family in San Juan might have made him more likely to become a writer but when he was living with his "family" the Bacon's there was more of a chance of him becoming a criminal. As posted Jack's parents paid a lot of attention to him but when he was with the Bacon's his whole personality seemed to change and they didn’t pay attention to him as much as his true parents did. Usually almost anyone would think that if a teenager was pretty much free to do whatever they wanted with very little parental care they would most likely end up going out and trying drugs and alcohol.
3. I agree with Jon on the simple fact that Jack would have gone through with the smuggling even if he wasn’t desperate to go to college. Plus 10,000 dollars for a teenager is a lot of money and if someone has there mind set on getting 10,000 dollars for driving a boat and at the same time getting a free ride away from where ever they are if they want to they are probably going to go along with it. I’m not trying to say that any teenager would do that but most teens that are in Jack’s position with their life might follow up with the opportunity.
5. Jack’s love for books had also saved him during his life in prison because he was able to write down any of his thoughts and feelings in between the lines of the story so he was able to get things out of his head and take some stress away. Well when Jack was out of prison his love for books allowed him to read them and replace himself as one of the characters and try to relate to what he has done in his life to that character’s life within the pages of the book.
7. I agree that the descriptions were necessary because with the get amount of description the reader gets the full on effect of the humor and emotions that were portrayed all throughout the book. With those few extra descriptions made the book that much more exciting to read.
8. What I believe the chapter titles are there for is not only to signal the reader ahead of time but also to state what the main point Jack is trying to make or to show an important symbol that might be used along his journey. For example the title “Ship’s Log” tells the reader that obviously in Jack’s adventure there is probably going to be a log of some sort that he will record his adventures in.
9. I agree with Jon on why the book was written in three sections. I also think that it was a good idea of making chapters within the three sections because he could have easily made three long chapters. It was also a good idea that he put the book into three sections because I feel that it allowed him to write every little important detail about his life without having to worry about building up into the other parts.
10. I see where Jon is going with his reasoning and I highly agree. The whole situation could have been considered a mistake but Jack had full knowledge that what he was doing was illegal and that there was a chance that he could have gotten caught. On the other hand if Jack did not know that he would be transporting and selling “hash” and had a feeling that the guys he was dealing with were no good but still went on with sailing the boat he could have then maybe called the whole thing a mistake.
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