Quarter 2: Week 3, Post A

VOCAB:

vetted (124): to appraise, verify, check for accuracy, authenticity, validity.
pilfered (159): stolen in small quantities

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE:

1. "...skin white as the belly of a fish..." (147). This is an example of figurative language because it is a simile comparing Peter's skin and the belly of a fish.
2. "...holding the truth between them, a stone that got heavier with every passing moment" (191). This is another example of figurative language, but a metaphor instead of a simile. It compares the truth to a stone, but doesn't use the words "like" or "as".
3. "He pressed the Copy button, watched the machine begin to birth a hundred identical babies" (205). This example of figurative language is personification. The copy machine possesses the human characteristic of giving birth, which in reality is impossible.

QUOTE:

"Just like that, a fault line opened up in Sterling--a ravine so deep and bleak that it would not be bridged for many years. There was already a difference in this town, between those who had lost children and those who still had them to worry about" (168). This quote begins to explore the change in Sterling in the aftermath of the shooting. The shooting is like a center point, around which there is a "before" and "after". In the "after", there are resentments between parents who lost children and those who got lucky. Friendships are tested as the citizens struggle to deal with their grief. No one understands why some were killed and some were not, and, in the days following the tragedy, this confusion separates the people of Sterling.

THEME:

The theme of this novel still seems to be focused on what it means to be different in our society.