1. Journal Topics

2. Expectations Who in your life has expectations for you (parents, siblings, grandparents, coaches, mentors, etc.)? What are their expectations for you? Are their expectations consistent with what you expect of yourself, or do you expect something different?

3. Lies Have you ever told a big lie to your family or friends? Why did you tell the lie? How did others react to it?

4. New Opportunity Is it best to pursue every new opportunity that presents itself, or is it a better idea to stay in familiar territory? Can you think of any personal examples or historical examples to support your opinion?

5. Showing Gratitude Should a successful person show gratitude to the people who helped him or her along the way?

6. Loyal Friend What are the qualities of a loyal friend? Should a friend’s loyalty have limits?

7. Fitting In Describe a time or place where you felt you did not fit in. What happened? Why did you feel like an outsider?

8. Best Friend Describe one of your best friends. Why are you close? What are the most important qualities in a friend?

9. Family Embarrassment Describe a time in your life when a family member embarrassed you. How old were you? What happened? How do you feel about the situation now?

10. Unwise Love Have you ever had a friend who loved someone unwisely? Describe the situation. What advice did you give them? Why do you think they were so attracted to someone who was not good for them?

11. Unexpected Money If you received a large inheritance, or if you won the lottery, how would you spend your money?

12. Pretending Describe a time in your life when you have pretended to be something that you are not. Why did you do this? Was it useful?

13. Secrets How good are you at keeping secrets? Rate yourself on a scale of 1-10. Explain your rating.

14. Disappointment Have you ever believed you were going to get something but instead found yourself disappointed with the results?

15. End of Novel What changes would you make to the end of the novel? Would you make any changes to rest of the text?

16. Favorite and Least Favorite Character Who was your favorite character? Who was your least favorite character?

17. Great Expectations in School Most students complain about reading Great Expectations because of its length and complexity of characters. Now that you have finished the book, do you think freshman should continue to read it? Why or why not?