Quarter 2: Week 6, Post A

VOCAB:

civitas (388): the body of citizens who constitute a state
carob (386): A powder made from the ground pods and seeds of the ceratonia siliqua tree, used in cooking as a substitute for chocolate.

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE:

1. "...you could feel everyone's eyes on you when you walked into class, like a thousand crows pecking at your skin" (319). This is an example of a simile because the word "like" is used to compare the eyes of Peter's classmates to a thousand pecking crows, which shows the embarrassment of being late to class.
2. "Josie couldn't sleep; her mind was tumbling like a spring stream" (316). This example of figurative language is another simile. This time, Josie's mind is being compared to a stream because it's running wild with thoughts of what will happen to her if she is pregnant.
3. "He flicked a bank of switches and the gym flooded with light" (433). This is an example of figurative language because the gym did not actually flood in the literal sense. Instead, this means that the light filled the gym just as water fills a room during a flood.

QUOTE:

"She stared at Peter, and she realized that in that one moment, when she hadn't been thinking, she knew exactly what he'd felt as he moved through the school with his backpack and his guns. Every kid in this school played a role: jock, brain, beauty, freak. All Peter had done was what they all secretly dreamed of: be someone, even for just nineteen minutes, who nobody else was allowed to judge" (440). This quote reveals Josie's thoughts after she has shot her boyfriend, Matt Royston. I find it interesting that in her mind, Peter's entire killing scheme boils down to wanting just a few minutes of freedom--freedom from the judgment and teasing he constantly endures from his classmates. The mind of a boy who kills 9 people seems like it would be extremely complex. However, to Josie, it is much more simple than that.

THEME:

The themes of this book consistently revolved around the question of what it means to be different in the world of a modern high school, and the question of who, if anyone, has the right to judge another person.