Response to J.J's "Lessons"

First, I would like to say I really liked this story. I think it was entertaining and I quite enjoyed the twist at the end.

I think this story is about a young boy and old man who turn out to be more similar than the reader first believes. It is also about appearances as well as first impressions and how you can be wrong about a person.

I thought the setting was great, I liked the idea if the conversation taking place on a train rather than an airplane or cab. I also enjoyed the way you described the characters through imagery, especially the old man and the smile. I think this was done well since you are kind of expecting the old man to end up being either the bad guy taking advantage of the boy or some type of worldly philosopher who guides the boy on the right path, but he is actually neither. I also enjoyed the dialogue between the two main characters, I thought it was realistic and entertaining. The only thing I might change would be the point of view, perhaps to the old man or young boys pov.

Finally, I thought the "twist ending" was done very well. I'm really glad that the story ended this way rather than having the old man put something over the young boy (which is what I thought was going to be the end result) and instead you flip it around and have the young boy getting one over on the old man. Once again, great job!