Research Paper on:
A Review of Mike Rose's Book, Lives on the Boundary

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lifes goals. To that end, then, Mike Rose became a great author, teacher and lecturer, because of the influence of two major people in his life: Don Johnson, and Jack  McFarland, and the death of Mikes father. Roses semi-autobiographical book, Lives on the Boundary, explores the impact the educational system can have on a person, for good and for  bad. He reports that his early educational experiences were excruciating because he was trying to learn English grammar and was struggling with the language. By some quirk of fate, or  more than likely a bureaucratic mistake, he is sent to a vocational tract school instead of a college prep school. It is while he is attending this school that it  becomes apparent that he is doing extremely well in science and other areas in which he is interested, but in others, such as Math, he is completely lost and produces  failing grades. His failure in math class, he reports, was humiliating. His self-esteem suffered. This was only made worse by the fact that Roses father began to lose ground  medically. As Mikes fathers health declined, a friend of the family, Lou Minton stepped in to help. Rose writes that Lou would do what needed to be done around the  house. Sometimes that extended to taking Mike to the large library downtown. Lou would teach Mike about astronomy, taught him how to use tools and built model airplanes with him.  Lou, in fact, picked up where Mikes father had left off, due to ill health. Both men seemed to have been very instrumental support mechanisms for Mike, especially when the  educational system had apparently given up on him. It is during this time, his junior year in high school, that Mikes father passes away. He writes that this was