• What experiences do you share with the characters?

  I don't share many experiences with any of the characters really but I show some experiences with Jeanne's little brother Brian, I have experienced the near death situations that Brian did with seizures that could have costed his life and mine.

• In what ways is your family similar or different from those in the book?

  My family is different from the way Rex thinks about life that he is smarter than everyone else and lives a better life than everyone else, which my family does not like to think because their is always gonna be mistakes and we will never be better than everyone else because we are humans but Rex doesn't see that way.

• What did you learn about a character or group of people that you have not personally experienced?

  I learned how Jeanne had to move around a lot not by choice but forcefully and not being able to make relationships and friendships with people which I have personally never expierenced.

I feel Social Class was one of the main Social Issues that was present in the reading chunk. This social force was very present in the book because it seems the family has dropped from social class to social class on purpose. It makes little sense why they did it but at the same time it was by the fathers choice and the mother just followed without any fight against it. Jeanne seems to wonder why they lived the way they did but had no say in it either and it affected her life dramatically but somehow through the odd's changed her life as an adult to be different from her parents life. Her parents want to live a life different from society and don't realize how it's ruining Jeanne and the other kids life but they feel it's a better way to live different from other people even if they can be successful and give a good life to Jeanne and her siblings.

• Give context for your quote. What was happening in the story that made this quote significant? Who was speaking? "Then Grandma would make a snide comment about dad being shiftless". This quote was early in the book when the family goes to visit their Mom's mother, and they are talking and hanging out then their mother mentions about how their short on cash and than it lead to an argument and the grandma calling out the father about not having a job and not supporting their family. the quote became significant because it explained an argument on why the family was struggling so much to support themselves and why they couldn't try to fix the way they were trying to live.

• Why did this quote stand out to you?

  this quote stood out to me because their is a lot of money problems that the family is seeming to deal with and learning that the mom's mother seems to have money and is takes care of them once once in awhile, and it seems that they are living the lifestyle they are living by choice and could ask for help from the grandmother but the father is stubborn and doesn't want help or live the same lifestyle as normal people, and the mother just follows what ever he does, ruining their kids lives so that they can live the life they want to live

1. The recurring pattern that I'm seeing in the story is whenever the family is in trouble with the authorities, bad people, and tax collectors and they Move and hit the road quickly because of this. A quote that explains this well is on page 33 when her dad does well gambling with strategy and the casino finds out he is a he says, "We had to get far away from Las Vegas, Dad said, because the Mafia, which owned the casinos, was after him". This is one of the many times that they have had to leave a city or place that they were living in because her dad felt that they were in danger of being caught.

2. A significant event that happened in the reading was when Jeanne talks about her sister that passed away before she was born. Her parents had a second child after their oldest daughter Lori and the baby was named Mary Charlene, when the child passed away at the age of 9 months it did not affects her mother that much because in her words she told Jeanne, "You were to replace Mary Charlene". Jeanne's mother seemed to be unfazed about her daughters death witch she made it seem like it was nothing but her father took it a different way because he was the one who found her dead in the crib and let out a terrible scream after finding her, but after her death Jeanne's father was never the same he started having dark moods, coming home late drunk, and loosing jobs. This is significant to the story because the death of Mary Charlene might have been one of the main reasons why her dad cant seem to get right with life because he still cant get over his daughters death.

3. The gaps I feel the author is forgetting to fill in is about the life that Jeanne's mother (rose mary walls) lived with her mother. I feel there wasn't enough info given to explain Rose Mary's life that she lived before meeting Jeanne's father, and if she did come from money and why she chooses to live such a poor life even if their is someone to take care of her family. I just hope that the author explains more into the book why Jeanne's mother chooses to live this way is it because she wants to or because something happened with her mom rose marry and rose marry's mom.

This quote stood out to me because Jeanne's father keeps putting them in a bad spot with living and financial and instead of taking blame and owning up to his mess up, he blames other for instance like he did to his wife, and it stood out to me how he will blame everyone else before owning up to his mistakes.

Choose at least one of the following social issues that were present in this reading chunk. Discuss how this social force was present in a characters life. (Your response should be at least 5-6 sentences).

I feel health was a big social force in the life of the children in the book. The reason for this is because throughout this chunk of reading they seem to be struggling to be able to eat due to the fact of how their parents are treating money and not trying to fix it either. For example when the kids ran out of food because their father lost his job he saw it as a better opportunity to continue his gold finding opportunity, but forgot to realize the risk he was putting his children in by not being able to refill the refrigerator and give them continues meals throughout the day. Because of their fathers actions they had to begin stealing food from people that was not only affecting their health by fighting to try and get a decent meal but also putting them in danger of getting in trouble. Jeanne and her siblings are trying to have a normal life and eat normally too, but it's affecting their health a lot and their father doesn't seem to try and help because when their mom finally accomplished getting a job after he lost his he would spend her money on nice fancy foods at a restaurant once of week instead of on groceries and Jeanne and her siblings would devour as much as they can at the restaurant because it would be one of the only meals they would have for awhile.

In what ways was this chunk a window or a mirror? Use the following questions to guide your response, but really we want to hear your personal thoughts and reactions to this chunk!

• What experiences do you share with the characters?

  starting a fire in the house like Jeanne and Brian did but mine wasn't bad and I put the fire out right away.

• In what ways is your family similar or different from those in the book?

  my family is different from the way the characters deal with their problems, my family and I own up to our mistakes but Jeanne's parents don't

  
  

• What did you learn about a character or group of people that you have not personally experienced?

  I learned about how Jeanne was sexually assaulted but did not know she was sexually assaulted because of how young she was when it happened, and this is something I have never experienced.

  
  

  
  

1) The economic conditions determine the characters' lives in many ways throughout this chapter. One example would be when they are living in phoenix and their house begins to fall and instead of fixing it because they don't have the funds due to her dad not working and because of his drinking habits so they decide to abandon the house in a way with valuables still inside it and go live with their dad's family because their mother thinks it will help their dad with his drinking problem and help them financially but does the complete opposite of what their mother thought it would do so now their fathers drinking habit has worsened and the fathers family isn't helping them out really financially because they are a lot like Rex and choose not to work. The family seems to only want to live off of free everything and instead of working so that their economic conditions can better they decide to run away from their problems for example being their house that is paid off completely that they own, and go try and live somewhere else for free with better conditions because they are to lazy to fix the conditions they are in right now by the parents choosing to not try and find a stable income because of their beliefs and laziness.

• Give context for your quote. What was happening in the story that made this quote significant?

  Jeanne's parents had come back to her fathers family home in west Virginia after traveling all the way back to Arizona to retrieve their valuables, but once returned they where met with situation that happened between the kids and their grandmother which she explained how she was just fixing Brian's britches but Jeanne and her sister saw different and saw Erma grabbing at his crotch while kneading and Brian crying, but her father insisted that Brian should be a man and take the pain like a man and this was not normal of their father to be mad at them and he seemed to be acting very strange about the situation which led to Jeanne explaining to her siblings,"Why he was shaking his head so hard, almost like he wanted to put his hands over his ears, when I tried to explain what Erma had been doing to Brian."(Walls 148) Their father was the type of person to take their side in any situation but this time was different because their father was mad at them and in a way seemed scared of the situation as if it happened to him and maybe explains why he is the way he is.

• Why did this quote stand out to you?

  this quote stood out to me because Rex seems to have a lot of problems and I never understood why he acts the way he is but now seeing the type of environment he came from and how the situation with Brian seemed to give him horrible memories of his childhood explains why he is the way is.

  
  

• What experiences do you share with the characters?

  I share one common experience with Jeanne in a way when she is being bullied by dinitia and ends up becoming friends with her after an incontinent, and this some what relates to me when I was in a fight in elementary with a kid named Robert and after the fight we became friends somewhat.

• In what ways is your family similar or different from those in the book?

  My family is very different from how Rex's family refuses to work by choice and puts them and their children through hardship because of it and my family is the complete opposite of this and actually strives to give a better life for them and for me and my sister.

• What did you learn about a character or group of people that you have not personally experienced?

  I learned that Rex has a very traumatizing relationship with his mother which explains the way he is and how he raises his kids, and I've never had that type of traumatizing experience before ever.

  
  

• What experiences do you share with the characters?

  Fortunately I don't share any experiences with any of the characters in this chunk of the reading.

• In what ways is your family similar or different from those in the book?

  My family is a lot different with not putting us kids in danger of being assaulted like Jeanne was by her fathers choice.

• What did you learn about a character or group of people that you have not personally experienced?

  I learned about the trauma that Jeanne goes through by her fathers doing that I'm glad and thankful to never expierence being sexually assaulted, but I still don't understand how she can forgive him even with all the danger he puts her through.

• Give context for your quote. What was happening in the story that made this quote significant?

  In this part of the story Jeanne and her father Rex go to a bar so her dad can win some money and he tells Jeanne to wear something nice which makes little sense especially going to a bar, and after hanging out at the bar table her father decides to play at the pool table to win some money and this is wear it takes a turn for the worst. After a couple of hours of Rex playing pool games with a man named Robbie who took an interest in Jeanne by talking to her and dancing with her, but after Rex taking Robbie's money over and over again Robbie begins to become more intoxicated and caring less about playing and caring more about being with and touching Jeanne and all Rex has to say to Jeanne about this is, "Keep your legs crossed, honey, and keep' em crossed tight"(Walls 212). While Rex is playing pool with Robbie they start upping the stakes with Rex asking for more money on the line and Robbie asking for more time with Jeanne and Rex is okay with these bets and it eventually leads to Jeanne going upstairs with Robbie and Rex being okay with it.

• Why did this quote stand out to you?

  this quote stood out to me because Rex seems to care so little about his daughters safety that he is okay with a grown man touching and feeling Jeanne sexually just so he can win money from the drunk intoxicated man even though Jeanne wants nothing apart of it. showing what was more important to which was winning money over his daughters own safety.

1. What forces are motivating the characters?

   The hard past that the characters are going through makes them rely on themselves so that they can make their life better by pushing through the struggles they are going through in their life. One example of this is when everyone in the house besides Rex gets a job to support themselves and the family, but even though they all find a way to support themselves and the family they still can't find a way to save money or have money to spend due to Rex's drinking problem. But besides the problem they are going through with their father and his drinking issue they are doing a lot better with money and aren't struggling as much as they did before.