Chapter 1

First. The main character’s mother was not afraid of the afterlife but instead it was death that terrified her. If she was ever walking she comes to a halt like she’s about to bend over. Her heart would race unsafely fast. His mom being only in her thirties and having these scary episodes definitely wasn’t safe. I think he should’ve had a heart monitor with his mom following her around instead of her walking places and dropping to her knees. “Sometimes she would show me a vein pulsing in her neck and , taking my finger, make me feel it for myself, the sign of her heart dangerously racing”(Page 3, Para3).

Second. Poggio Bracciolini was an avid letter writer who was a book hunter and probably the greatest in the ancient world.Poggio penned an account of an event that took place to one of his closest friends but it was lost. Some say that the letter was actually one of his greatest works. My concern is that I’m pretty sure somebody found this letter but they’re probably keeping it private and they want money for it. Art like that just doesn’t get lost , somebody definitely has their hands on it. “He penned an account of the event to a friend back in his native Italy, but the letter has been lost”(Page 13, Para 2).

The connection I made with the text is Pope John being mentioned because I went to a catholic school and we played against a school called Pope John and it caught my attention right away. I’m thankful for being educated on Pope John XXIII throughout my high school years and now it’s even rolling over to my college years. I guess now I could say that some information from highschool was useful?

Q- What motivated Poggio to start writing letters?