Why do most students struggle with organic chemistry? -- Lewis dot structures and the chemical bond -- Molecular geometry, dipole moments, and intermolecular interactions -- Isomerism -- Reaction mechanisms 1 : elementary steps -- Charge stability: charge is bad! -- Reaction mechanisms 2 : sn1 and e1 reactions and rules of thumb for multistep mechanisms -- Sn1/sn2/e1/e2 reactions : the whole story -- Concluding remarks : what now?