"On the morning of her son's murder trial, Lacy picked a black skirt out of her closet, along with a black blouse and black stockings...she ripped three pairs of hose because her hands were shaking, and finally decided to go without. By the end of the day her shoes would rub blisters on her feet, and Lacy thought maybe this was a good thing; maybe she could concentrate instead on a pain that made perfect sense" (357).
I thought this quote interesting because it really shows Lacy's pain throughout the whole experience with her son Peter. After months of hurt and confusion, she must truly face the facts of the shooting and her son's part in it. I also thought there were intriguing connections between this particular quote, as Lacy dresses for the trial, and the poem "Bringing My Son to the Police Station to be Fingerprinted" that we read in class. In the poem, the mother is very focused on her clothing as she drives her son to the police station, just as Lacy spends time on her outfit before going to her son's murder trial. Both women seem to focus on their clothing, perhaps to ignore the other parts of their lives which they cannot control.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Quarter 2: Week 6, Post A
VOCAB:
mugwort (323): a weedy plant having aromatic leaves and small, green flower heads
militaristic (325): imbued with the glorification of the ideals of a professional military class
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE:
1. "...she continued to tell this woman about Peter's fictional transition to college until the lie did not taste like licorice on her tongue; until she could nearly believe it herself" (345). This is an example of a simile. The author uses this type of figurative language to compare Lacy's lie to licorice.
2. "...striking quick as lightning, he grabbed her wrist..." (338). This is another example of figurative language. The author uses a simile to compare Patrick's quick reflexes to the speed of lightning.
3. "She touched a rainbow of silk handkerchiefs that melted over her fingers..." (344). This is an example of personification because the handkerchiefs do not actually melt over Lacy's fingers.
QUOTE:
"Her mother was on cloud nine, falling in love, while Josie had to sneak off to a graveyard to visit her boyfriend" (346). This quote shows Josie's slight resentment towards her mother over her new relationship with Patrick. Even though Josie likes Patrick and she is happy for her mom at her newfound love, she can't help but feeling that the situation is completely unfair in some ways. Her mother gets to experience the fun of falling in love for the first time in years, while Josie is mourning the death of her first love at the same time.
THEME:
The theme of the novel has started to focus on the right to judge other people, and who, if anyone, should get that right. It continues to focus on the consequences of being different in modern society as well.
mugwort (323): a weedy plant having aromatic leaves and small, green flower heads
militaristic (325): imbued with the glorification of the ideals of a professional military class
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE:
1. "...she continued to tell this woman about Peter's fictional transition to college until the lie did not taste like licorice on her tongue; until she could nearly believe it herself" (345). This is an example of a simile. The author uses this type of figurative language to compare Lacy's lie to licorice.
2. "...striking quick as lightning, he grabbed her wrist..." (338). This is another example of figurative language. The author uses a simile to compare Patrick's quick reflexes to the speed of lightning.
3. "She touched a rainbow of silk handkerchiefs that melted over her fingers..." (344). This is an example of personification because the handkerchiefs do not actually melt over Lacy's fingers.
QUOTE:
"Her mother was on cloud nine, falling in love, while Josie had to sneak off to a graveyard to visit her boyfriend" (346). This quote shows Josie's slight resentment towards her mother over her new relationship with Patrick. Even though Josie likes Patrick and she is happy for her mom at her newfound love, she can't help but feeling that the situation is completely unfair in some ways. Her mother gets to experience the fun of falling in love for the first time in years, while Josie is mourning the death of her first love at the same time.
THEME:
The theme of the novel has started to focus on the right to judge other people, and who, if anyone, should get that right. It continues to focus on the consequences of being different in modern society as well.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Quarter 2: Week 5, Post B
"'...and what about those ten kids who died?'
Jordan knew better, but he still heard himself asking Peter a question. 'Why do you phrase it that way?'
'What way?'
'The ten kids who died. As if it was a natural progression.'
Peter's brow wrinkled. 'Because it was.'
'How?'
'It's like those explosives I guess. Once you light the fuse, either you destroy the bomb before it goes off...or the bomb destroys everything else.'
'But who struck the match Peter?'
Peter lifted his face. 'Who didn't?'" (252).
This quote really intrigues me. Peter clearly holds a very different view towards the shooting than most other people of the community. His comparison of himself to a bomb is especially interesting. Instead of seeing the shooting as a deliberate murder, Peter sees himself as a ticking bomb, as if it was only a matter of time before something like this happened. He also makes it clear that the blame should not be placed so hastily on him alone. Peter must think that the fault lies with everyone who has ever teased him because it was the relentless teasing that led him to the point of murder. I found Peter's opinion on the school shooting very curious and it twisted my thoughts on the book.
Jordan knew better, but he still heard himself asking Peter a question. 'Why do you phrase it that way?'
'What way?'
'The ten kids who died. As if it was a natural progression.'
Peter's brow wrinkled. 'Because it was.'
'How?'
'It's like those explosives I guess. Once you light the fuse, either you destroy the bomb before it goes off...or the bomb destroys everything else.'
'But who struck the match Peter?'
Peter lifted his face. 'Who didn't?'" (252).
This quote really intrigues me. Peter clearly holds a very different view towards the shooting than most other people of the community. His comparison of himself to a bomb is especially interesting. Instead of seeing the shooting as a deliberate murder, Peter sees himself as a ticking bomb, as if it was only a matter of time before something like this happened. He also makes it clear that the blame should not be placed so hastily on him alone. Peter must think that the fault lies with everyone who has ever teased him because it was the relentless teasing that led him to the point of murder. I found Peter's opinion on the school shooting very curious and it twisted my thoughts on the book.
Quarter 2: Week 5, Post A
VOCAB:
elegy (217): a mournful, melancholy, or plaintive poem
sanctum (241): a sacred or holy place
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE:
1. "...a drop spilled off the brush to land on her thigh like a bead of blood" (236). This is an example of figurative language because it is a simile. The author uses the word "like" to compare the drop of red nail polish to a bead of blood.
2. "She smelled like autumn--like apple cider and slanting sun and the snap of the coming cold" (240). This sentence is a perfect example of figurative language, or, more specifically, a simile. A beautiful comparison is made between Josie's scent and other smells that Peter associates with the autumn season, such as apple cider.
3. "Alex remembered finding the girls in the kitchen, eating raw cookie dough instead of baking it, their bodies fluid as waves as they moved around each other" (245). This is another wonderful example of a simile in the novel. Picoult utilizes the word "as" to describe the comparison between the girls and waves because they are so graceful.
QUOTE:
"Josie's lips landed just on the edge of his, almost his cheek and not quite his mouth. 'I'm glad I wasn't stuck in here alone,' she said shyly, and he tasted the words, sweet as mint on her breath...He started to smile so wide that it hurt. It wasn't that he didn't like girls; it was that there was only one right one" (240). This quote reveals Peter's true feelings for Josie. For a long time Peter believed himself to be gay because he was constantly teased and called "homo". Now, however, he realizes he's never had feelings for other girls only because he is in love with Josie.
THEME:
The theme of this novel seems to focus on the emphasis put on popularity in high school and the extreme struggle one goes through to remain at the "top".
elegy (217): a mournful, melancholy, or plaintive poem
sanctum (241): a sacred or holy place
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE:
1. "...a drop spilled off the brush to land on her thigh like a bead of blood" (236). This is an example of figurative language because it is a simile. The author uses the word "like" to compare the drop of red nail polish to a bead of blood.
2. "She smelled like autumn--like apple cider and slanting sun and the snap of the coming cold" (240). This sentence is a perfect example of figurative language, or, more specifically, a simile. A beautiful comparison is made between Josie's scent and other smells that Peter associates with the autumn season, such as apple cider.
3. "Alex remembered finding the girls in the kitchen, eating raw cookie dough instead of baking it, their bodies fluid as waves as they moved around each other" (245). This is another wonderful example of a simile in the novel. Picoult utilizes the word "as" to describe the comparison between the girls and waves because they are so graceful.
QUOTE:
"Josie's lips landed just on the edge of his, almost his cheek and not quite his mouth. 'I'm glad I wasn't stuck in here alone,' she said shyly, and he tasted the words, sweet as mint on her breath...He started to smile so wide that it hurt. It wasn't that he didn't like girls; it was that there was only one right one" (240). This quote reveals Peter's true feelings for Josie. For a long time Peter believed himself to be gay because he was constantly teased and called "homo". Now, however, he realizes he's never had feelings for other girls only because he is in love with Josie.
THEME:
The theme of this novel seems to focus on the emphasis put on popularity in high school and the extreme struggle one goes through to remain at the "top".
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Quarter 2: Week 4, Post B
Dear Jodi Picoult,
Your novel continues to intrigue me as the plot deepens. You've already succeeded in shocking me with some of the crazy twists that have been revealed as Peter's case approaches and more flashbacks occur. The most recent years of Peter and Josie's relationship have been very revealing to their characters. Josie is, as I suspected, not the perfect it-girl she was made out to be. In fact, in some cases she was just as hurtful and rude to Peter as her other bullying cronies. Peter, on the other hand, never completely lost hope for his friendship with Josie to be renewed. He just cannot accept that she would move on to become "one of them" without ever looking back.
Although I feel sorry for Peter because of the bullying he was forced to endure throughout his childhood, I do not in any way excuse his murderous rampage. He lost my sympathy when he fired the first shot. Killing another human being is never the solution, no matter how impossible the problem. Peter was treated very unfairly, this cannot be denied. However, he is not the only kid who has ever been so harshly bullied. Imagine the world if every kid who has ever been hurt by his fellow classmates chose to shoot up his school--there would not be a single school intact across the nation. Bullying is, unfortunately, a fact of life students must face in high school, and more constructive ways of dealing with it must be found. Anyway, these are just some of my thoughts on Peter's current situation.
I can' t wait to continue reading your book--I'm completely hooked!
Thanks,
A-Rod :)
Your novel continues to intrigue me as the plot deepens. You've already succeeded in shocking me with some of the crazy twists that have been revealed as Peter's case approaches and more flashbacks occur. The most recent years of Peter and Josie's relationship have been very revealing to their characters. Josie is, as I suspected, not the perfect it-girl she was made out to be. In fact, in some cases she was just as hurtful and rude to Peter as her other bullying cronies. Peter, on the other hand, never completely lost hope for his friendship with Josie to be renewed. He just cannot accept that she would move on to become "one of them" without ever looking back.
Although I feel sorry for Peter because of the bullying he was forced to endure throughout his childhood, I do not in any way excuse his murderous rampage. He lost my sympathy when he fired the first shot. Killing another human being is never the solution, no matter how impossible the problem. Peter was treated very unfairly, this cannot be denied. However, he is not the only kid who has ever been so harshly bullied. Imagine the world if every kid who has ever been hurt by his fellow classmates chose to shoot up his school--there would not be a single school intact across the nation. Bullying is, unfortunately, a fact of life students must face in high school, and more constructive ways of dealing with it must be found. Anyway, these are just some of my thoughts on Peter's current situation.
I can' t wait to continue reading your book--I'm completely hooked!
Thanks,
A-Rod :)
Quarter 2: Week 4, Post A
VOCAB:
allocation (207): a system of dividing expenses and incomes among the various branches or departments of a business.
striated (208): furrowed, striped, streaked.
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE:
1. "Josie felt everyone's eyes on her--a hail of arrows" (211). This is an example of a metaphor. It compares the eyes accusing eyes of Josie's classmates to arrows being thrown at her.
2. "She curled over her desk like a midnight rose, letting her hair fall over her face" (211). This example of figurative language is a simile. The author uses the word "like" to make a comparison between Josie and a rose, as she hides her face from the class.
3. "Josie tried to breath, but someone had driven a stake through her chest...her own father thought she'd come here to blackmail him" (221). This sentence is another example of a metaphor. Picoult uses the image of a stake being driven through her chest to express Josie's extreme shock and hurt.
QUOTE:
"She [Alex] wondered why she'd never done this before with Josie: sat her down in the bathroom and played with eye shadow, painted her toenails, curled her hair. They were memories that every other mother of a daughter seemed to have; only now was Alex realizing that it had been up to her to create them" (213). This quote shows Alex's realization that Josie has grown up and become a complete stranger to her--and she takes the blame for their seperation. Being a working mother, Alex often did not have extra time to spend getting to know her daughter. Now Alex discovers that it's too late.
THEME:
The theme seems to be shifting focus to include the ups and downs in parent-child relationships and the consequences of waking up as a parent to discover your child is not who you thought they were.
allocation (207): a system of dividing expenses and incomes among the various branches or departments of a business.
striated (208): furrowed, striped, streaked.
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE:
1. "Josie felt everyone's eyes on her--a hail of arrows" (211). This is an example of a metaphor. It compares the eyes accusing eyes of Josie's classmates to arrows being thrown at her.
2. "She curled over her desk like a midnight rose, letting her hair fall over her face" (211). This example of figurative language is a simile. The author uses the word "like" to make a comparison between Josie and a rose, as she hides her face from the class.
3. "Josie tried to breath, but someone had driven a stake through her chest...her own father thought she'd come here to blackmail him" (221). This sentence is another example of a metaphor. Picoult uses the image of a stake being driven through her chest to express Josie's extreme shock and hurt.
QUOTE:
"She [Alex] wondered why she'd never done this before with Josie: sat her down in the bathroom and played with eye shadow, painted her toenails, curled her hair. They were memories that every other mother of a daughter seemed to have; only now was Alex realizing that it had been up to her to create them" (213). This quote shows Alex's realization that Josie has grown up and become a complete stranger to her--and she takes the blame for their seperation. Being a working mother, Alex often did not have extra time to spend getting to know her daughter. Now Alex discovers that it's too late.
THEME:
The theme seems to be shifting focus to include the ups and downs in parent-child relationships and the consequences of waking up as a parent to discover your child is not who you thought they were.
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