Vocabulary work

a) Find the following, explain its meaning and use it in the sentence or situation from the story:

- acquaintance

- adolescent

- serenity

- circumscribed

- challenge

- virtually

- non sequitur

- diagnosis

- odds

- make-believe

- to bear the brunt

b) Find the following in the story, explain its meaning and use it in your own sentences or situations:

- способствовать, содействовать

- задерживаться (на чём-л.)

- завидный (можно позавидовать)

- объединить, сплотить

- ставить под сомнение

- во всех отношениях

- пренебрегать

- откладывать (что-л. на более поздний срок)

- преграда, препятствие

- рецидив

- переносить

For discussion

1. After reading about Mark, do you feel sorry for him? Why or why not?

2. Do you feel sorry for Mark's family because they have a retarded son and
brother? Why or why not?

3. In paragraph 34, Hayakawa says that his daughter did not let Mark fly alone,
partly because she did not trust other people "to know how to treat him
without her there to give them clues." Is Mark's sister right? That is, do we
need clues about how to behave around the mentally retarded? Explain.

4. How did the way Hayakawa and his wife treated Mark affect the way they
treated their other, normal children?

5. In paragraph 43, Hayakawa refers to "the difficult problems that must be
faced in the future." What do you think those problems are?

6. What point do you think Hayakawa is making in "Our Son Mark"? Why do you
think he wrote the piece?

7. Hayakawa closes his essay by saying that he would not have Mark any
different than he is. Does that seem strange to you? Why do you think
Hayakawa feels the way he does?

8. Summarize the positive contributions that Mark has made to the lives of his
family members.

9. Tell about a challenge that your family faces or faced (having a disabled or sick family member, death or divorce, loss of a parent's job, or some other crisis). Tell how your family coped and what the impact is/was on the family.

Classroom activity

Concluding with an Overall Reaction

Because final impressions are important, you must be careful to conclude your writing in a satisfying way. One technique that can work well is to leave your reader with an overall reaction to the information in the essay. This approach is used in "Our Son Mark." After telling what it is like to live with Mark and how Mark has affected the family, Hayakawa concludes with his reaction to life with Mark:

It's a strange thing to say, and I am a little startled to find myself saying it, but often I feel that I wouldn't have had Mark any different.

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