In an act of rebellion when she was 14, Pella got the same tattoo as her father, a sperm whale that symbolizes Moby Dick. What does this tattoo—and the fact that she rebelled by getting the same tattoo as her father—symbolize about their relationship?

Schwartz refers to his beard as his thesis beard, viewing it as an essential symbol of hard work. Pella despises beards because her husband, David, has one but acknowledges that as a high school student, she found his beard an erotic symbol of his maturity. How does Schwartz and Pella’s relationship rewrite the symbolism of beards and offer a new understanding of beards’ reckoning with masculinity?

How Henry and Pella perceive failure binds them. Henry defies his conservative parents’ wishes by being a good person (and later by appearing to abandon baseball), while Pella abandoned a privileged education to run off with an architect. Both students recognize that they rejected something that their parents esteemed. How does this defiance of their parents’ expectations bring them together? Incorporate textual evidence.

Schwartz and Pella’s preoccupation with Ralph Waldo Emerson’s unearthing of his wife, Ellen, foreshadows Guert’s burial. Would Guert have agreed with their course of action? Why or why not? Given his preoccupation with literature, what literary symbolism would he have identified?

Schwartz struggles with his perceived lack of talent, lamenting that he’s forever doomed to teach, mentor, or coach baseball rather than being a star. How does his law school journey reflect this? To what extent does he make peace with his realization about his purpose and perceive it as a gift rather than a limitation? Include textual evidence.

Pella contents herself with washing dishes, Sophie chases boys, and Mrs. McAllister and Genevieve are caregivers. Which female character demonstrates the most agency? Does the text’s emphasis on masculinity and male sociality threaten the female characters’ pursuits of agency? If so, how? If not, why not? Use textual evidence to build an argument.

At a small school in a small town, questions of surveillance plague students: Everyone knows everyone else. To what extent does this isolated setting inform the themes of masculinity, identity, and transformation? Include textual evidence.

Henry experiences failure on the field, Schwartz experiences failure in his law school journey, and Pella experiences the failure of her marriage. Does Owen experience failure? How does his understanding of success and failure contrast with that of his peers? Incorporate textual evidence.