Lessons from my school years

1. There is a stark contrast created in the opening of this story between what the narrator had been doing before entering school and what will be expected at school? What is this contrast and what does it immediately create in the story?The contrast is between the school and what people do there, and her parents fruit shop and what she does there. It immediately creates juxtaposition between what she will do at school compared to what she does at home.

2. The author continues this theme of contrast at the start of the story. How does he do this in his description of his experience of Sydney’s North Shore? He describes the fruit shop as clean and friendly and that there were streets out back and the train station behind that and he explains that he has become very familiar with his town. Whereas when he explains the school he says that its leafy and there are houses made of solid brick and that he doesn't belong there

3. What was the father’s background in business before he opened the fruit shop? What has helped him become successful? The book explains that the father came to Australia when he was seventeen and knew nothing about business and no English. Then to go from nothing to opening a fruit shop and becoming very successful, it shows that he has become successful.

4. The narrator’s description of his father is complex. What makes the father a complex character?The father is described as complex because he has many different aspects about him. He is 'happy, chatty, friendly', but is also a hard worker, as he had no business or English skills when he arrived in Australia

5. (91) How does the author describe his role in doing ‘things that counted’? He described his role in the family as he had to listen and watch what his siblings had to say about school in order to learn for himself what is acceptable and what isn't in a schooling life.
6. What experience does the author have at school while keeping to himself? What does he learn from this experience? He gets into trouble by keeping to himself. Its no just because he's a different race or colour, but also because he doesn't talk to anyone and keeps to himself.

7. How would you characterise the narrator’s tone in regards to the events that are occurring around him? He uses a mono tone, which is a single tone, meaning he sees the world in one major way which is that the world is a horrible place.

8. How does the narrator characterise the ways that one could ‘get the strap’ and ways that one could avoid it? He characterizes that the 'Strap' is very easy to get, but very hard to avoid. It was very easy to get the strap, mis-spelling a word, walking to slow/fast, and there was very few ways to avoid it

9. What event evokes a racist speech to the class by the teacher? The event was that there was a boy who couldn't swim, so his mom wrote a note excusing him from the carnival. The teacher read it out to the whole class and at the end said 'like Chinese people never contribute'

10. What effect did the author’s experience with ‘Strap Happy Jack’ have on him? It made him think about the minority of Asians in the area.

11. What was the one advantage school provided the author? That when he was going through high school some teachers saw some talents.

12. What did the author do at his school? What was his motivation for doing it? What did he feel was lacking at school? The author started a workshop program which he found interesting and enjoyable, and he felt that school was lacking the ability of him being able to choose his own future.

13. What did the parents want their son to do at school? What did the author fear would happen by obeying his parents? His parents wanted him to learn something of a specific profession, in this case a doctor, something which he hated and feared. The parents wanted him to learn what was being taught at school, and then what he wanted to learn after, which he feared he would miss if he followed his parents.

14. At school, what did the author learn about his own type of thinking and how to use it?He learned that his style of thinking is different and if he wanted to use it to its up most potential, then he has to do what he wants