Bring on the tough stuff - there’s not just one right answer.
- Rousseau sure spends a lot of time discussing his childhood. Hold on while we page Dr. Freud. Does he ever make a distinction between childhood and adulthood? Why is it so important that Rousseau details every experience of his childhood, anyway?
- Talk about turning the genre of autobiography on its head. Rousseau practically reinvents autobiography in the tell-all tradition. How might that shape what we think of as autobiography today?
- Sing it with us: "Rousseau and every lady in his book, sitting in a tree…" How do Rousseau's earliest romantic memories shape the adult he becomes?
- Rousseau is the king of the flashback. Sometimes, he'll describe a memory and then talk about how it influenced his present-day life. Since Rousseau isn't Marty McFly from Back to the Future, why is he so obsessed with jumping between the past and the present?
- Rousseau sure has an unconventional education. Besides all his school learnin', what helps him develop into a gentleman and scholar?
- Our guy Rousseau could definitely use a boost in self-confidence. He's always calling himself out for being morally weak. What does that mean, anyway? Is he correct, or is he just human?
- Why does Rousseau leave in all the most embarrassing details of his life?