39 pages • 1 hour read
Francisco JiménezReaching Out
Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 2008A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Essay Topics
Reaching Out is part of a series of autobiographical works by Francisco Jiménez, starting with the childhood memoir Breaking Through and ending with Taking Hold, about his early adult years. Do you find that the book makes sense and is effective without having read the previous volumes? Why or why not?
Does Reaching Out have an antagonist?
Do Smokey Murphy and Frank’s dorm mates have a positive or negative influence on him overall? Do they help or hinder his growth?
What might be the symbolic meaning of the dream that Frank has after his evening of drinking with his friends (57)?
Discuss various causes of Frank’s father’s depression. Which is the most important or root cause?
How big a role does the issue of racism play in the book?
Discuss the portrayal of the two main clergymen: Father O’Neill and Father Shanks. What are their principal qualities? How do they differ? Do they come across as entirely positive characters?
Which event do you see as the climax of Reaching Out?
What purpose do Frank’s meetings with Robert E. Easton and Mrs. Hancock serve in the narrative? Would the book be the same if the author had left these incidents out—or substituted different ones?
Jiménez states that in writing the book, “I relied mostly on my memory but also on my powers of imagination and invention to fill in small details that I had forgotten with the passage of time” (196). To your way of thinking, how important is exact historical reporting in a memoir? To what extent may an author embellish or fictionalize the narrative?
Related Titles
By Francisco Jiménez
