Group Names: Joshua Mecham

Educated: Week 3 Discussion

Please use a different color font for answers.

Roles

List any absent group members:

● Facilitator/Prioritizer: Teya Snowder

● Recorder: Joshua Mecham
● Connector: JT
● Questioner: Rishab

Notes

1. By part two of “Educated,” Westover has decided she wants to get an education, has found a way to
take the ACT, and has left the mountain to go to college at BYU, despite her father’s objections. In her
first class at college, Westover recounts not knowing what the word “holocaust” means. Why is this
moment significant? (Chapter 17)
● Shows that she has little knowledge of major historical events
● Highlights how secluded she is
● Shows what she knows based on what her parents has taught her
● She realizes how ignorant she is so she stops asking questions

2. Over the course of this book, the Westover family deals with a number of accidents: Westover’s
brother Tyler falling asleep and driving off the road, Westover’s brother Luke catching on fire, and later,
a very serious accident for their father. Early on, Westover writes that she thinks “all the decisions that
go into making a life — the choices people make, together and on their own, that combine to produce
any single event.” What do you think she meant by this? How does this insight apply to your own life?
● Everything that happens in your life is the culmination of the choices you and people around you
make
● She is trying to share the blame or get rid of any blame on her
● Her family believes that all of the events in a person's life happen because God wanted them to
happen
● These events started to show her that not all things happen because God wants them to but
that some things happen randomly
● Starts questioning her dad’s authority over beliefs
● Her personal beliefs are changing
● Choose the right because everything has a consequence
● Some people we know believe that all things are predetermined
3. In chapter 18, Tara’s struggles run deeper than social anxiety. The way she has been raised is in direct
opposition to the way those around her have grown up, and the pressure to learn a whole new set of
social skills—and keep up with her studies and finances, as well—wears on her as the semester goes by.
Tara is learning that education is more than just book-learning. What might this mean? What important
things have you learned that were not from book-learning?
● Learning how to converse with others is education outside of book-learning
● She doesn’t know what is politically correct
● Social awareness is a skill learned outside of books
● She has a hard time dealing with people who are different than her
● Even though she doesn’t like her life in Idaho, it is comfortable so it seems better than it is
● She keeps going back to Idaho but she is still edging towards a new life outside of her child
● Learning outside of books is gaining experiences and learning how to discuss what she is
learning
● Things we have learned that she hasn’t like wearing a seatbelt and washing out hands

4. By Chapter 22, Westover writes that her life was often “narrated for me by others. Their voices were
forceful, emphatic, absolute. It had never occurred to me that my voice might be as strong as theirs.”
What is the significance of this realization? Do you identify at all with this?
● She feels that her life and choices are controlled by others
● Realizes that she can take control of her own life
● The forceful voices are referring to her dad and Shawn
● There is a spark within her that shows that she is starting to change how she sees herself and
how she is treated by others
● People are telling her what her life is and what it means
● She is realizing that others opinions about her value are outweighed by her perception of her
own value
● As kids our parents informed a lot of who we are but as we grow we are able to find ourselves
and who we are outside of our parents

5. In all the events leading up in the story, which events had the most profound impact on Westover
and why?
● All of the times Shawn physically abuses her it destroys her self confidence
○ Shawn and her can be super close one minute and then he is abusing her the next
○ She tries to make what Shawn does seem less bad than it is
○ She covers up what Shawn does such as when she was laughing in the store to make it
seem like what happened in the parking lot was a joke
● Meeting Charles helped her developed by going to school and having a relationship with a stable
person
○ Charles introduces her to things that she hadn’t known about before such as pain
medication and wearing a seatbelt
○ She starts to try to look better and take showers to impress him
○ Charles is a really positive influence in her life
○ She realizes that Shawns actions aren’t normal when Charles leaves the dinner
Summary:
These chapters focus a lot on her perception of good and bad and the development in her
knowledge. It shows her adapting to regular society and turning away from life in Buck’s
Peak. She is also dealing with the abusive situation she is in with Shawn and gaining more
confidence in herself as she learns and grows away from negative influences in her family.
Exposure to people better than those in her family causes her to reevaluate what her
relationships with others should look like. We see the effects on her life as she spends time
living outside of Buck’s Peak.