How does the italicized paragraph on page 2 contribute to the plot

I'm not sure what text you are referring to but usually when a paragraph is italicized it means it is a thought or memory of a character or in general for the book.

in my opinion, ap calculus was the most difficult. i often struggled with it a lot. however, i have gotten a lot better.

"a" because he is appealing to logic as oppose to appealing to the audience's emotions.