This chapter introduces all the main characters and sets the stage for Selin’s story. It is structured around the episodic observations Selin makes about her experiences during her first semester at college.
Pick 2 of 3 questions:
1) Do you think Selin would have had a different experience if she had started college now as opposed to in 1995? What is the significance of computers and the Internet for the story so far? Explain your answer.
2) Based on what we know about Selin so far, why do you think the opinion of others so important to her in certain situations when she consciously chooses not to conform to social norms in others? Explain your answer.
3) Why do you think Selin is obsessed with meaning and language? Do you agree with both Selin’s and her mother’s insistence that there must be one “real” meaning or truth in every text they read?