Chapters 1-3

Reading Check

1. English teacher (Chapter 1)

2. When Alison was nearly 20 (Chapter 1)

3. Beech Creek (Chapter 2)

4. “Fun home” (Chapter 2)

5. A book of poems (Chapter 3)

6. An obelisk (Chapter 2)

Short Answer

1. She refers to the game as “Icarian,” in which she represents the flying figure of Icarus and her father represents Daedalus, the older, more experienced craftsman who warned his son how to avoid destruction only to watch him crash into the sea. (Chapter 1)

2. The question that troubles her is whether her father was a “good” dad. On one hand, he provided for her and fostered her imagination; on the other hand, he was emotionally distant and had illegal sex with underaged boys. (Chapter 1)

3. She worries that her coming out as gay affected her father’s death, which she feels may have been by suicide. (Chapter 3)

4. Bruce admired Fitzgerald for being an inspiring author and the creator of some of his favorite novels, including The Great Gatsby. She believes that, like Gatsby, her father preferred fiction to reality.