Alexis Blount
AP English and Literature
August 5th, 2015

Thinking about.. Of Sound Mind by Jean Ferris
2. In
Of Sound Mind Theo’s and Ivy’s families have two different approaches to dealing with the same problem. While Ivy’s dad, Thomas, takes the approach of still trying to do most things himself, he invests his time in planes. Thomas doesn’t worry Ivy with many requests he’s a simple man who doesn’t ask for much. Ivy’s biggest worry is her father not coming out of his room to eat because of the amount of time he puts into his planes. On the other hand Theo is always on beck and call for his family with no time to himself. Often when Theo came home and was immediately thrown tasks left and right by his mother who was constantly needing Theo for tasks she could hire anyone for. While Theo’s mother, Palma was the needy one his father and brother were much more hesitant to ask for Theo help. Although Theo would happily help his father and brother more willingly than he was for his mother. While Ivy’s dad didn’t expect for
Ivy to take care of him he still thought of himself as the provider for his family, although Ivy took on more responsibility she ultimately knew her dad was still the provider in her household.
Whereas Theo often questioned how his family would function without him, they depended so heavily on him he was afraid to experience many things that were offered to him. Ivy and Theo often had to make decisions with long term consequences in mind rather than thinking about themselves alone. Even though Theo’s and Ivy’s families didn’t utilize the only hearing person in their household the same, they often still ran into the same problems.
3. Theo throughout the book would often think of his situation from one perspective, the fact that his family was deaf. He would forget that not all the problems he ran into was because he was the one in his family who could hear. Spending time with Ivy helped him realize that he couldn’t blame his family for everything that didn’t go his way. Yes Theo had a lot more

Alexis Blount
AP English and Literature
August 5th, 2015

responsibility than most the teenagers he went to school with but he had a tendency to weigh the cons more than the pros. Some of the problems that were present that had nothing to do with the family’s handicaps was their heavy reliance on Theo, most things were a challenge for Theo’s family but the insecurity of his mother had was an issue that she needed to confront instead of throwing her problems onto Theo. Another issue would be Theo’s mother way of showing emotion she would throw herself in her work instead of expressing herself like she should’ve,
Palma’s lack of emotion made it harder for Theo to empathize with her, it only provoked his growing resentment for her. Other issues included how Theo’s mother in particular, would disregarded his feelings and often just assumed he would be willing to help. Theo’s brother and father presented another problem when they didn’t ask for enough help even when they knew they needed it, they didn’t realize that this put even more stress on Theo because he worried even more about them when they didn’t come to him for help. One of the biggest problems that I saw was the way Theo easily brushed aside his dreams for the needs of his family, he cared deeply for them and didn’t want to leave them in their time of need he just needed to learn to be a little selfish. The way he exhausted himself for the needs of his family because of his fear of change altered his decision of applying to MIT, though he would disagree with that statement. Theo needed to learn that one way or another sometimes it’s okay to be selfish and putting his personal needs was for his own good. The fact that his family was deaf often led Theo to use that as an excuse as to why he was stuck on not going to college and putting his aspirations to the side was what his family needed.
4. Theo