THE CHOICE

1. What is the "choice" referred to in the title?
The choice in the title refers to the five-year old's actual decision in the end for when it comes to taking her medicine. She knows she pretty much has no other choice because either way, her parents will get it in her one way or another. The young child is heavily aware of the outcome and she chooses to take the poison out of fear.

2. Is it a real choice?  Why/why not?  What is the alternative?
No, it is not a real choice because in reality, she does not wish to take the medicine. It is as if my parents said you are getting a this new phone that comes in black, white and pink and I want it in pink. Yet, they give me the choice of only having it in either black or white. Then it is more of a forced choice, the outcome is still beneficial to me since I still get a new phone, just not the one I desired.

3. Why does the author use the word poison in the first line?
The author utilizes the word poison in the first line to grasp the reader's attention and to state the substance as it really is, it is just not referred to in that term by many. He is not lying, it is a poison, yet medicine as well. 

4. The author's daughter wants to play with a toy that is intended for older kids.  Why?  Do you agree with her?  
Yes, I agree with her. Well first of all I really cannot relate to that situation since my parents let me play with all the toys I wanted regardless of the recommended age labels on the toys because in the end it does not matter, I was always fine. In committing this scene she proved just how worried she was and how much she feared loosing her life that she felt she needed to start living her life by doing things she might not ever be able to do, which is heart-breaking and as a child, I cannot imagine how scared I would be. 

5. If you thought you might not live to the age of 30 what would you want to do right now?
Long-term; from now until I died: If I had the financial resources, I would join the Peace Corps and probably do that for the rest of my life because all I have ever wanted to do as a child was help the unfortunate. And travel the world, while taking my family with me. I would work as much as I could and send all the money to my father so that he does not have to worry about another single bill as he grows older and older. 

6. Under what circumstances does it make sense to endure discomfort--or even force it on a loved one-- in service to a greater/more important cause?
Under the circumstances of possibility. Under these circumstances it would make sense to endure all the discomfort you can take because the parents obviously have good intentions and hope for the better. No one those anything harmful unless there is some form of positive outcome in the end. She is still alive and has been struggling for about 3 years it seems, which gives us a reasonable sign for hope. "As long as there is life, there is hope." 

7. Is suffering a necessary condition of life and love?
YES! You will not get anywhere in life without suffering! It is a part of life and I have not heard of a single human being that has yet to suffer. From the poorest man the world to the richest; it is a part of life and not you or your Benjamin Franklin's will be able to lure that away. Love as well, and all types of love. Parents watch their kids suffer in times of sickness, like these, or emotional and physical barriers in their lives and suffer as well but because there is simply nothing they can do about it but attempt to alieviate the pain. Boyfriends and girlfriends suffer all the time if they truly love each other when distance and miscommunication take place. Sometimes when a friend is emotionally hurt, I tell them to just cry and let it all out because I know that this is what they need to do to feel better afterwards. I sit there and hold them as they cry. I suffer, she/he suffers, yet it is just a part of life and necessary at the moment. Brothers and sisters always fight and will suffer many consequences but in the end, they will go right back up to apologize to each other because they come to a realization that life was better when you got along with them; I say this as I have just gotten out of a fight with my younger sibling. :)  

8. Most readers don't share the author's circumstances, but we feel an emotional response to his words.  Why?
As we read this, or as I read this I always tend to put myself in people's shoes because the only way you will ever understand another human being's true struggle's is by doing so. I do this and picture what it would be like to have their life. As I read this it brought tears to my face and sadness in my heart. No matter how much we as readers do not understand what the author is going through and all the pain he has experience, we become emotionally awoken because we fear that the same could one day happen to us and knowing this feeling we do wish it upon anyone else. We do not want anyone to have to go through this.