Part 5 Numbers

Numbers:...as numerous as the stars in the heavens or the sands on the seashore

At this point in the autobiography, you will take a look at your relationships, by answering the questions posed below.Write a brief description of the qualities you would look for in a friend; and the qualities you would like others to see in  you as a friend.

• Are you a good friend based on the qualities you listed above? Give an example.
• Has there ever been a time in your life when someone or even a group of people didn’t “see me as I really am”?  Explain the situation and the feeling you felt (if any) afterward.
• What distinctions do you make between love and infatuation?
• What do you think a boy/girl can do to overcome the fear and anxiety often experienced when asking someone out on a date?
• How do you handle rejection? (from peers; coaches; females; males; etc)
• What qualities, in your humble opinion, should a truly masculine man and feminine woman possess?  Is this description based on stereotypes? what your friends say?  society says? or something else?
• How are traditional sex roles changing in this country?  Does this have anything to do with values? if so, do you know what a value is? did this idea come from someplace else or does it come from you?
• Psychologists have said that men (more than women) seem to feel much more threatened by those who are homosexual.  Why do you think this may be so?  Has this been true in your experience?  Do you think it has anything to do with the way boys are raised to view their sex-role identity?  Please explain your answer.
• If your friend that you’ve known since birth were to tell you that he/she was gay, how would you deal with that situation? Would your friend be your friend anymore?
• How would you define being “phony?”  Being “real.”  Please give an example(s)
• Do you tend to stereotype people?  To feel prejudice towards them?  Where do you think this feeling (if it exists) comes from?
• What are the “in-groups” and/or “cliques” you belong to?  What are those you wish to belong to (if you do)?
• What “defense mechanisms” do you have which keep people from  really getting to know you?  In other words how do you (if you do) keep people from getting too  close to you?