Merci Evers, Kaori Martinez, Zephaniah Wilkins, Dylan Stevens, Kevin Alvarez

Blood Don’t Lie Discussion Questions

Dramatic Writing
February 14, 2022

1. When I was in elementary school, I was bullied for having locs. I had had them
since second grade and loved them, but when I transferred to my third and final
school, the kids were awful to me about my hair. I would define bullying as
emotional or physical torment brought upon someone by their peers. I never
handled the bullies well. I can admit that I was very weak and emotional, so all
their comments always got to me in the worst way.
2. I am not familiar with Super Friends, but I am familiar with Justice League. I think
that Larry likes these cartoons because superheroes may make him feel powerful.
He feels inferior to those around him in his everyday life, but maybe the
superheroes give him a sense of security and strength. My favorite superhero of all
time has to be Iron Man. I love how he made a life for himself even though he had
a rough past and an abundance of obstacles that tried to stop him.
3. I have three older siblings, but I don’t know them well so unfortunately, I can’t
relate to Larry and his sister’s relationship. I don’t have a relationship with anyone
from my dad’s side.
4. I’ve always felt that sports can define a person, especially in high school.
Everyone knows you as “that boy that plays football” or “that girl from the softball
team” but not as a person. Being on a sports team can also define who you are
personally because your teammates can become your family; a family has opinions
that will affect how you live your life.
5. When I was younger, my Gigi and I were in Hobby Lobby looking at faux
flowers. They were all so beautiful, but one shiny bright red flower stood out
amongst the rest. Hanging from the stem were little sparkly red spheres that made
my eyes grow bigger than my head. When I looked on the floor there were a bunch
of them underneath the display case. Not thinking anything of it, I picked some of
the balls up from the floor and played with them as we walked around the store.
When my Gigi saw me in the car with them in my hands, she told me that I stole
and made me apologize to the store manager. I felt horrible and I’ve never done
anything like that ever again. I hated being in trouble because it made my chest
hurt and it made me very anxious. I understand how Larry was feeling when he
was running all those thoughts through his head.
6. When Larry’s dad told his wife that he, “beat the children”, I think he meant it
metaphorically. In this scene, Marna is acting stuck up and very standoffish. She
had an attitude about Larry’s dad coming into the room while she was on the
phone, so he took it from her. He also took her door off because she slammed it.
So, in a sense, you could say that he did “beat the children” by beating Marna’s
ego.
7. I think the footage is so much scarier to Larry because it’s all real events. The
images that he was seeing were real things that happened to real people. He’s used
to movies with special effects, actors, stunt doubles, props, and all those things
that make the scariest most intimidating horror movies not so scary because you
know that it’s all staged. When he says, “seeing it in black and white and not even
hearing it makes it so real that it’s not real.” I think he’s referring to it being real
gunshots and he can feel the weight of them even without hearing them.
8. Well, I feel that Larry felt belittled by his father, and it hit harder because it’s
coming out of his father’s mouth in a way that makes his father seem like the
bully. This makes Larry feel worse because he never feels like he measures up.
9. It’s harder to navigate friendships in high school because you’re surrounded by
peer pressure and everyone’s opinion of you seems to matter a lot. So, when Kevin
fell under the pressure of his peers, Larry questioned where their friendship stood.
10. Larry had such a hard talking to her because he liked her and thought she was very
pretty. It was a given for him to be nervous around her.
11. Heather is so angry with Larry because he would rather pay attention to a girl that
wants nothing to do with him, rather than her, a girl that would give him all the
attention he wants.
12. I feel the bus driver allows it to happen because he knows that Larry can stand up
for himself if he needs to. I think he notices because it’s hard to miss Bullock and
Devon standing over Larry’s seat, high-fiving, and yelling.
13. I was surprised to hear this news. In the beginning, when I read that Jack didn’t
make it to the Bar Mitzvah, I hoped that nothing happened to him. Hearing that
news also made me sad because of how Larry saved Jack a seat and stood up for
him when Kevin tried to drink his iced tea.
14. I think she decided to take the plastic off of the couch because she is now ready to
accept that he is gone and let herself grieve over the loss of her son. Taking the
plastic off means you are ready for it to be cleaned.
15. I think Larry felt the need to get into the hatchback because his parents wanted
him to. His parents take him to the psychologist because they think he needs help.
I used to see a psychologist when my parents got a divorce. Sometimes I feel like
psychologists don’t understand well.
16. I think Marna sent the latter to Sara because she had a “suspicious smirk” on her
face. I feel like Larry never sends his letters to Sarah because he is nervous and
doesn’t know if she feels the same way.
17. I think Larry’s dad starts to smoke again because he is stressed out and since he
lost his income. It affects Larry. His dad is a big influence in his life because he’s
so young. Larry’s dad is feeling sad and worn out and smoking is how he pushes
through.
18. I think it is a bad decision for Marna to move in with Bunchy. I feel like her
parents won’t allow it. They are too young and don’t know how to love. Love is
when you feel a really deep feeling is for a person and want to spend the rest of
your life together with that person. Larry and Marna need to grow and mature
more.
19. I feel that Larry’s mom is so upset about the TV dinner because they are broke and
can’t afford much. She also feels as though her kids think, “money grows on
trees”. I think Larry’s mom miscounted and just got upset because Larry and his
dad didn’t sell many comforters and now this. His dad loses his temper very
quickly because of Larry’s mom. Larry’s mom expects the dad to discipline the
kids and there is just a lot of stress going around. It’s scary because his dad
doesn’t normally do this. It makes me feel that when times are tough, people tend
to take it out on others.
20. Larry most likely doesn’t want to be around his dad. I would put on shades and go
to school. Larry’s relationship with his father changed since times got hard. I think
Larry’s father is going through a lot and just let the anger get to him. I feel like the
foreshadowing is bullying because his dad was the one who told him when he was
younger, to fight the bullies back and that he was the one to fight back.
to admit that in some way he was also responsible for Marna breaking Bucky’s
nose and admitting that to Buck caused him to get all shaky.
21. As a reader it gives me different emotions; yes, Larry finally put his foot down and
stood up to Robert Bullock, but now he is being as much of a bully as Robert was
towards him. I will say I am proud that Larry finally stood up for himself, but he
could have found another solution other than violence. I believe Larry decided to
fight Robert that specific day because there was a substitute bus driver and he
decided to fight him because he wanted to be tough like his dad. After Larry beats
Robert he feels good about his decision and sees how there was blood all over
him. There is a discrepancy between the stories because Robert did not hit back
while Larry was fighting him, nor did anyone try to separate the fight, and finally
Larry had knowledge in karate that Robert did not have.
22. ) I do not believe Jeff came to prevent Larry from throwing himself off the top of
the roof because Jeff is dead and the way he described how Jeff was bleeding and
 how he threw himself off the roof and disappeared with no trace left of him. I
think Larry seeing Jeff was all in his imagination.
23. This changed my perspective on how Kevin was viewed at the beginning of the
story. I would never have thought Kevin would come up and try to prevent Larry
from throwing himself off the roof because he would always make Larry seem less
of himself.
24. When Larry finally decided to mail the 15 letters to Sara, Marna came to him with
a newspaper and showed him the news on how Sara had died. As I read the news
was shocking and devastating to find out Sara died when Larry was finally going
to tell her about the real him. Knowing that Sara had also liked Larry back makes
the death worst because maybe if he would have sent the letters sooner, she would
have come back to be with him and stopped whatever action caused her death.
25. (Skipped)
26. When Larry's dad said he did not mean to teach Marna; it was not because he does
not want her to take care of herself; it was more because Marna learned to fight
due to her dad's actions and seeing what he does to others. He was ashamed to
admit that in some way he was also responsible for Marna breaking Bucky’s nose
and admitting that to Buck caused him to get all shaky.
27. When Dr. Levy asked Larry's dad the question, I felt bad for Larry because he is
put in the spotlight for something horrible. As much pain Larry's dad has caused
him, he still loved his old man and with that love, he had to protect him even
though his words didn't match what he was feeling or even thinking because of
that love he has for his father.
28. Larry suddenly realized that he had become taller and to me, it just means he
hit puberty and didn't realize until his mom hugged him because he doesn't feel
nothing after everything he had been through and that hug that his mom gave him
was
like a much-needed hug because he finally felt himself again. As a character, Larry
is now going to feel everything and start to have some light in his life.
29. Heather is on the bus next to Larry but, she is in her world just minding
her business as Robert and his minions are saying things to Larry while she is
there looking out the window admiring everything and blocking out the noise.
30. The bus driver has a series of tattoos that he shows off to the kids on the bus and
for some odd reason, he shows the tattoo where I'm guessing it was his cell
number
while he served some time in jail and I'm pretty sure he is showing them now
because they just got into an altercation and also to remind them to not do
things that can affect your life and he had to stop in the middle of the road to show
it because it was a message to them.
31. Larry finally decides to read his paper when the teacher gave him some comfort
and, he had a vision relating to Sara and her letter. The paper he wrote was good
and I see why he got an A on the paper.
32. He told the lie to Monica to look cool in front of his bus, he realized it was the
perfect time to go off on a bang and end his story in a way that he won't forget
when he moves.

1-7 is Merci Evers

8-14 is Zephaniah Wilkins
15-20 is Dylan Stevens
21-26 is Kaori Martinez
27-32 is Kevin Alvarez