Section A Discussion
Discuss and answer the following questions.
1. How did you feel about your parents when you were a child? Did your attitude towards them change when you grew into a teenager? Explain the change, if any.
2. What is the greatest difficulty you have encountered in the process of growing up?
3. “Only adolescents will like adolescents.” What do you think this statement means? Why do you think people say this? Do you agree?
Study the following quotes about growing up. Do you agree with each of them? Give reasons to support your view.
1. You have to do your own growing no matter how tall your grandfather was.
—Abraham Lincoln
Interpretation:
By this quote, Abraham Lincoln means that no matter how great or famous or rich your grandfather is, you have to grow up on your own.
2. When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years. —Mark Twain
Interpretation:
When Mark Twain was a teenager, he felt that his father knew nothing and he hated to see his father around at home with him. However, when he turned 21, he came to realize that his father really knew a lot. Mark Twain puts it humorously here by saying that his father had learned a lot in those seven years. Actually it was him who had gradually changed his attitude towards his father.
3. The day the child realizes that all adults are imperfect, he becomes an adolescent; the day he forgives them, he becomes an adult; the day he forgives himself, he becomes wise. — Alden Nowlan
Interpretation:
The quote means that when a child grows into a teenager, he is likely to find fault with adults and see more of their flaws. When he learns to forgive the flaws and errors of adults, he himself has grown up. When he learns to forgive his own errors and flaws, he is considered wise.
