Grayson

** //__ Pages 31 to 82 __// ** ** Connection Master **
 * __//Pages 1 to 30//__ **  ** Discussion Director **
 * Ø ** What do you believe inspired the author to write such a hopeless plot? **
 * Ø ** What do you think is the significance of the father’s finding of his childhood home? Was it simply by chance, or was he perhaps trying to find it, and why? **
 * Ø ** If the father were to lose his son, do you think he would continue his journey and try to stay alive? Considering this, is he struggling to survive only for himself, for his son, or both? **
 * Ø **Is it fair to the boy should the father keep him alive if he wants to die? **
 * 1) ** The father’s love and care for his son is easily recognizable immediately in //The Road//. However, I think the boy’s love and respect for his father is often overlooked, because his affection isn’t much discussed. We see though, when the father makes hot chocolate for the boy, that he does in fact love his father knows and knows he has needs and wants just like himself. To me, he has the maturity of an adult taking care of their elderly parent(s); even the caretaker deserves the care of others. **
 * 2) ** After reading the few pages about the father and son’s discovery of the swimming hole at the bottom of the waterfall, what quickly came to mind was a “happy place”. By this, I don’t mean a specific thought or dreamscape; I mean a real place you have been to, at which the noise and worries of the outside world are shut out, with anxieties big and small. Admittedly, this was an easy connection, because I think everyone has a real, physical “happy place” with which they can emphasize with the man and child. For me, that place is on top of a mountain or out at sea; where is yours? **
 * 3) ** Lastly, I’m curious if anyone else thought of Liam Neelson during the heart-pumping interaction between the pair and the highwayman. It was evident that although he might not have world-class martial arts skills like Liam, his ability to stay calm and collected while holding a powerful, loving grip of protection on his child resembled Liam’s persistence to rescue his daughter in //Taken//. **

**//__ Pages 82 to 135 __//**
 * Vocabulary Miser **
 * 1) ** 1. ** ** “He walked to the top of a rise and crouched and watched the day accrue.” **
 * 2) ** a. ** ** Accrue - //verb// ( ****  to increase in value or amount gradually as time passes, to grow or build up slowly)  **
 * 3) ** 2. ** ** “The chary dawn, the cold //illucid// world.” **
 * 4) ** a. ** ** chary - //adj.// ( ****  cautious or careful, shy or timid)  **