Practice AP

This passage characterizes a relationship between the young man and his father in which the father's affection for him absolute, but the son is conflicted because he wants to distance himself from his father.
The boy is extremely conflicted about separating from his father to pursue his own personal interest. The author begins by telling the reader about the long and personal tradition the son and his father have. It is simply stated that the young man and his father used to prefer each other's company. The idea that the son would rather spend time with someone also is, to the son, "a very serious thing" and "the end of something". These descriptions of his inner thought make it clear that following his desire is bring him some degree of unhappiness. Furthermore, his discomfort with the idea of leaving his father is shown in his request to go fishing with Bill Harper. There is absolutely no punctuation in the sentence that tells the reader what he said. This type of formatting brings to mind the the rushed speaking of someone who is nervous.