82 pages • 2 hours read
Jason ReynoldsWhen I Was the Greatest
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2014A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Essay Topics
When I Was the Greatest begins with an epigraph that quotes lyrics from a song by Mos Def, more recently known as Yasiin Bey. How do these lyrics foreshadow one of the story’s central themes?
Where is the story set? How does Ali, in his role as narrator, construct this setting? How does the story’s physical setting influence its emotional tenor?
How is Tourette’s syndrome represented, and in what ways does Reynolds’s execution stay true to the realities of a person living with Tourette’s syndrome? In addition to the individual experience of Tourette’s, Reynolds also incorporates social perceptions of the disorder. How does he do this?
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By Jason Reynolds
