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Copywork
About This Passage
Gutman compresses A.J.'s entire philosophy into one breathless run-on — his conspiracy theory about education, his utopian parenting fantasy, and his definition of happiness. The syntax IS the characterization: the unpunctuated flow captures how certainty feels from inside a child's mind, while dramatic irony lets the reader hold two truths simultaneously (A.J. is sincere; A.J. is completely wrong). Satisfies criteria B (compound run-on as deliberate style), C (dramatic irony and unreliable narration), D (education, freedom, and what happiness requires), and E (absence of punctuation as authorial choice worth examining).
school is just this dumb thing that grown-ups thought up so they wouldn't have to pay for babysitters when i grow up and have children of my own i won't make them go to school they can just ride their...
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Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Summarize this chapter, then explain what you think the author most wanted the reader to notice or feel. What techniques did the author use?
Discussion Questions
- Gutman writes Chapter 1 entirely from A.J.'s perspective — a second grader who hates school. At what specific points does the author signal to the READER that A.J.'s worldview is incomplete or mistaken, and how does Gutman create that signal without ever breaking A.J.'s voice?
- Miss Daisy claims she hates school and cannot do basic things. Evaluate two competing interpretations: she is a skilled teacher using strategic empathy, or she is being dishonest in a way that could undermine trust. Which reading does the chapter better support, and what would you need from later chapters to decide?
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Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
The formal recording of who is present; here marking the opening ritual of institutional school life
Item 2
Organized knowledge; A.J. applies this term ironically to trivial consumer data without realizing the irony
Item 3
Physically at ease; represents the domestic leisure that Miss Daisy claims to prefer over teaching
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Critical Thinking
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