It's pretty well established that having family means having family drama, at least from time to time. In Bronx Masquerade, though, family can turn the drama up to eleven. In Mr. Ward's class, kids are dealing with everything from parents who abandoned them to parents who died and even relatives that are just plain mean. Even when kids have supportive family, the family ties these students have shape their lives and inform how they interact with their peers. In this way, while their families might not go to school with them, they're still a presence in the classroom.
Questions About Family
- How do the actions of different students' families lead to their feelings of rejection or belonging with other people? Work with specific examples.
- Whose family do you admire the most? Which family would you definitely not want to be a part of? Why?
- Leo Tolstoy wrote, "All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." Do you think the kids in Mr. Ward's class would agree? Why or why not?
Chew on This
Family life shapes the world of each of Mr. Ward's students more than friends or school ever will.
Even an absent (or dead) parent plays a role in the life of their child—and not always a good one.