Answer each of the four questions below in 3-4 complete sentences.
How is this story like my life?
How is this story unlike my life?
How do I relate to the main character?
Have I ever experienced something similar in my own life? How or how not?
Have I ever experienced something similar in my own life?
Explanation:
This story is like my life because I experience many insecurities that I know affect me in many ways, yet I do not fully understand what they are. Many times I feel like the most serious of threats come from within, and yet I am powerless to stop them and can only watch in horror and then lament my poor decisions.
This story is unlike my life because my father never really tried to mimic anything. He has always been quite frank with us. He never tried to change us or sway us into thinking a certain way. My life is also quite distinct because my behavior does not reflect so much the place I was raised the person I consciously chose to be as soon as I was able to make such decisions.
I relate to the feeling of hopelessness and vulnerability that the main character feels. Being different or being in a new place is incredibly disconcerting, but the feeling of insecurity in an unknown place is even more terrifying and can become overwhelming unless addressed in a prompt manner. I also appreciate the main characters sensitivity to nature and the parallelisms through which she views the world.
I myself have not had such a surreal and transcendental experience in my life, but I have dreamed of similar scenarios. Many times various factors have threatened to produce a similar sensation, but somehow a last-minute decision that saves at least a part of the sanity associated with knowing what is happening around us saves the occasion.
