(pages 60-124)
SUMMARY
It was Christmas morning, and Eddie woke up by the smell of his mother's pancakes. All he was thinking about was getting a bike for a present. Like his friends, he wanted a "real life" and a bike. He had really high hopes without thinking about what is going to happen when he's extremely disappointed. He didn't get a bike because his mother couldn't afford it. Instead, his mother hand-knitted a sweater for him. He called it a "stupid, handmade, ugly sweater". He threw it on the floor like it was trash and he didn't care about his mother's feelings. She has four different jobs and and tried her best to save time for them to spend together. All she wanted from him was to understand how hard it is for her, how much she struggles for the past 2 years, and how much love was put in Eddie's sweater. He was so caught up in his mind games that he ruined his own Christmas Day. No matter how much he blamed it on God or anybody else, he's the one to blame. His mom was exhausted and fell asleep while driving Eddie home from his grandparent's house on that Christmas day. She pasted away.
QUOTE
"I didn't know who let me down more: Mom, for not buying me what i deserved; Dad, for not watching over me like he was suppose to; or God, for ignoring my promise" (Beck 71).
REACTION
The thoughts of a twelve year old boy is very important when there's difficult emotional conflict that is involved in the book. It makes the reader feel what the character is feeling, intensely. However, what's interesting is that the author describes mom's actions and facial expressions instead of her thoughts. The reader can feel mom's pain without needing to know her thoughts. Eddie's mom has a unique personality because she expresses her emotions in her eyes. She actually lectures Eddie with her eyes. Which makes the reader more interested because its boring if you always let the character tell the reader what they are feeling all the time.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
The Christmas Sweater Post #1
"The Christmas Sweater" by Glenn Beck (pages 1-60)
SUMMARY
The main character of this book, The Christmas Sweater, is a twelve year old boy named Eddie. It is winter and Christmas day is coming soon. The story starts out by describing Eddie's problems in his family. The main problem is that his family is trying to move on from the death of the man of the family. Which left a huge burden. There was once a warm Christmas, but now since Eddie's dad has past away, it just reminds them that someone is missing. Also, he feels like he's left with no father and no money. Mary, Eddie's mom, is now a widow who's trying to hold up the financial issues in the family. They can't have things that they use to have when Eddie's dad is still alive. According to Eddie, the most important thing to the family right now is money. When his dad was still living, the most important thing was to spend family time together. Eddie is hoping to have a red Huffy bike with a black banana seat for Christmas, even when he knows that money is tight.
QUOTE
"Most times we're so focused on what we think we want that we can't appreciate how happy we already are," she continued. "It's only when we forget about our problems and help others forget theirs that we realize how good we really have it" (Beck 52).
REACTION
The author begins the book by showing Eddie's prayer. Which is really interesting because it tells what the main character is thinking in the moment. Also, he only talks about his mother in the prayer and how he deserves a bike for Christmas. However, he never mentioned about his father. The author immediately makes the reader question why Eddie didn't mention his father in the prayer. Not only has the author gives out a feeling that there's no presence of the father, he also adds in meaningful flashbacks him. Eddie's father in the flashbacks describes what kind of person he was. This is really important because it gives the reader a sense of pain that Eddie is feeling. The quotation connects to the story because Eddie's mom is helping Eddie understand what he's experiencing and he should realize that he doesn't need the things that he wants.
SUMMARY
The main character of this book, The Christmas Sweater, is a twelve year old boy named Eddie. It is winter and Christmas day is coming soon. The story starts out by describing Eddie's problems in his family. The main problem is that his family is trying to move on from the death of the man of the family. Which left a huge burden. There was once a warm Christmas, but now since Eddie's dad has past away, it just reminds them that someone is missing. Also, he feels like he's left with no father and no money. Mary, Eddie's mom, is now a widow who's trying to hold up the financial issues in the family. They can't have things that they use to have when Eddie's dad is still alive. According to Eddie, the most important thing to the family right now is money. When his dad was still living, the most important thing was to spend family time together. Eddie is hoping to have a red Huffy bike with a black banana seat for Christmas, even when he knows that money is tight.
QUOTE
"Most times we're so focused on what we think we want that we can't appreciate how happy we already are," she continued. "It's only when we forget about our problems and help others forget theirs that we realize how good we really have it" (Beck 52).
REACTION
The author begins the book by showing Eddie's prayer. Which is really interesting because it tells what the main character is thinking in the moment. Also, he only talks about his mother in the prayer and how he deserves a bike for Christmas. However, he never mentioned about his father. The author immediately makes the reader question why Eddie didn't mention his father in the prayer. Not only has the author gives out a feeling that there's no presence of the father, he also adds in meaningful flashbacks him. Eddie's father in the flashbacks describes what kind of person he was. This is really important because it gives the reader a sense of pain that Eddie is feeling. The quotation connects to the story because Eddie's mom is helping Eddie understand what he's experiencing and he should realize that he doesn't need the things that he wants.
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