According to Gene:

Everyone has a moment in history which belongs particularly to him. It is the moment when his emotions achieve their most powerful sway over him, and afterward when you say to this person ‘the world today’ or ‘life’ or ‘reality’ he will assume that you mean this moment, even if it is fifty years past. (Chapter 3)

The year beginning with the summer of 1942 is this moment for Gene. Compare and contrast the turning point from your Personal Connection Prompt response with Gene’s personal turning point. How do the events, lessons learned, and associated emotions compare with those Gene experiences?

Teaching Suggestion: For Gene, the novel’s pivotal point is during the summer of 1942, when his relationship with Finny veers sharply from its original trajectory. Compounded with the looming threat of WWII, Gene experiences a profound transformation that haunts him past his graduation and into his maturation. If students struggle to make connections between the turning points from the Personal Connection Prompt and the novel’s rather profound and significant one that involves heavy subjects such as untimely death and world war, consider allowing them to compare and contrast their own Personal Connection Prompt topics with each other’s instead of with the novel’s.