Wild Lesson Plan

While waiting for the doctor to see her mother, Cheryl refuses to believe what she already knows to be true: that “I was going to live the rest of my life without my mother.” Conversely, she forces herself to believe things that she knows are false, such as that her mother would instead “be taken to a room with a gleaming wooden desk.” How can Cheryl believe something that she knows is false? And why do you think she would want to?

Because of the particular circumstances Cheryl finds herself in, she's not thinking like a normal person would. Throughout the chapter, Cheryl responds to her mother's illness with denial, then with bargaining, and, at various times, with...