(pages 70-140)
SUMMARY:
Her brother, Richard, was the opposite of Holly. He was the oldest and he never had opened up to the family. All he says is facts, facts, and more facts. He is very insensitive and hurtful without him knowing. He doesn't understand what Holly is going through. He thinks that she should have got herself together by now. He doesn't understand how stressful it is to go through what Holly is going through. The pain of loosing someone you love; he never had felt before. He visited Holly to greet her a late birthday, which he never had done before. Declan, the youngest son, made a documentary film about Holly's birthday girls night out. However, he sneaked some shots of her emotional moments too. He won the award for this film and it's going to be on TV for the whole world to see. While hiding in a closet, when the documented film was being shown in the club that she sang karaoke to, she started to cry. Without Gerry, she has been hiding and avoiding things that are not necessary to hide or avoid from. At least, she has a new friend named Daniel. He cheered her up and got her out of the closet.
QUOTE:
"She needed to stop worrying, stop thinking, stop making her brain go on overdrive, and she certainly needed to stop talking to herself (Ahern 109)."
REACTION:
All the quotes makes it seem like the reader is their in the scene. Words becomes pictures and pictures comes into a movie played in your head. Not only had the author puts a lot of the Holly's thoughts into the novel, the author doesn't leave out anything that is important that can carry the story out smoothly. The thoughts of the minor characters are spoken and thoughts of the main character are also spoken. Which helps the reader understand what is going on more. The quote connects to the story because Holly is thinking too much about pointless things. She drives herself insane with over-analyzing things in her head. She talks to herself, especially when she imagines Gerry with her in certain moments. One more significant thing is that the author makes it seem like Gerry is still alive and he actually talks to Holly once in awhile. It shows that Holly was so in love with this man that it doesn't even seem like he had passed away months ago.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
P.S. I Love You (post #1)
(pages 1-70)
SUMMARY:
A widowed woman who had just turned 30 years old living in Ireland. She just lost her husband, Gerry, a couple months back. He died of cancer and she didn't know what to do without him. She misses him and cries within her empty soul, everything she did had evolved around him. Now, that he left, what is she going to do? She wasn't too close with her family and hasn't been looking for a job yet. One day, she found out that her husband had made a list for her throughout the year. So, every month, she opens a new envelope and she cherish every moment of it because it was like Gerry was still with her. The things that he wanted her to do, helped her to move on in life and be closer to her family. He made her do things that she would never do again, and it built up her confidence. Before he passed away, he entered her into a karaoke contest. She wasn't going to go through with it without her family's and friends' support. She sang horribly with all her heart, but yet, felt proud of herself. The reason why she was so scared of singing karaoke again is because once, when Gerry was still with her, she was drunk and went to a karaoke club and was booed off the stage. The worst thing was she fell on her face getting down the stairs. Gerry made her realized that she can do anything if she put her heart into it, without being physically here with her.
QUOTE:
"Their plan had been very simple. To stay together for the rest of their lives. A plan that anyone within their circle would agree was accomplishable. They were best friends, lovers and soul mates destined to be together, everyone thought. But as it happened, one day destiny greedily changed its mind (Ahern 1-2)."
REACTION:
The author describes reality. The thinking thoughts of the main character, Holly Kennedy, seems to be very alive. People always wondered how wives felt when they loose their husband, including myself. The glimpse of reality are written in bits and pieces in this novel. The memories of a lost warmth from a husband and wife is heartbreaking. The efforts of a man who is no longer physically here, tries to help his wife into living a world without him. When Holly says that she can feel Gerry's presence at times, it leaves a embrace for the readers. Their love was so deep, and to show that without the significant other is different, but yet, interesting. The quote connects to the whole story because even though, she is trying to move on, she will still remember them as "best friends, lovers, and soul mates". However, it shows how strong she actually is. To move on and to still remember.
SUMMARY:
A widowed woman who had just turned 30 years old living in Ireland. She just lost her husband, Gerry, a couple months back. He died of cancer and she didn't know what to do without him. She misses him and cries within her empty soul, everything she did had evolved around him. Now, that he left, what is she going to do? She wasn't too close with her family and hasn't been looking for a job yet. One day, she found out that her husband had made a list for her throughout the year. So, every month, she opens a new envelope and she cherish every moment of it because it was like Gerry was still with her. The things that he wanted her to do, helped her to move on in life and be closer to her family. He made her do things that she would never do again, and it built up her confidence. Before he passed away, he entered her into a karaoke contest. She wasn't going to go through with it without her family's and friends' support. She sang horribly with all her heart, but yet, felt proud of herself. The reason why she was so scared of singing karaoke again is because once, when Gerry was still with her, she was drunk and went to a karaoke club and was booed off the stage. The worst thing was she fell on her face getting down the stairs. Gerry made her realized that she can do anything if she put her heart into it, without being physically here with her.
QUOTE:
"Their plan had been very simple. To stay together for the rest of their lives. A plan that anyone within their circle would agree was accomplishable. They were best friends, lovers and soul mates destined to be together, everyone thought. But as it happened, one day destiny greedily changed its mind (Ahern 1-2)."
REACTION:
The author describes reality. The thinking thoughts of the main character, Holly Kennedy, seems to be very alive. People always wondered how wives felt when they loose their husband, including myself. The glimpse of reality are written in bits and pieces in this novel. The memories of a lost warmth from a husband and wife is heartbreaking. The efforts of a man who is no longer physically here, tries to help his wife into living a world without him. When Holly says that she can feel Gerry's presence at times, it leaves a embrace for the readers. Their love was so deep, and to show that without the significant other is different, but yet, interesting. The quote connects to the whole story because even though, she is trying to move on, she will still remember them as "best friends, lovers, and soul mates". However, it shows how strong she actually is. To move on and to still remember.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
"The Christmas Sweater" POST #5
(Pages 236-277 -end-)
SUMMARY
As he petals his bike to town, he felt that it was impossible for him to turn back. He stopped by Russell's house but Russell had disappeared without saying good bye. Now, he has nobody to help him understand what he had to do to grow up and reach manhood. He has nobody but himself to depend on. All of a suddon, when he was riding his bike on a broken road, he crashed in the dark and his bike was no where to be found. He wasn't going to give up, so he ran through a cornfield as voices whispers in his head. It was like he was fighting with himself. One voice says that he can turn back and another voice says that he belongs in the dead cornfield, which is where he belongs and deserve to be in. In the blue moon, a dark storm awaits in the sky. This is when Eddie realizes everything that he did wrong and cried with deep emotion for the first time after his mother died. He steps into manhood with the help of Russell. If it wasn't for Russell appearing in the cornfield with Eddie, Eddie wouldn't have the strength to have faith in himself to step through the storm. The storm represents the life that Eddie had built for himself. To overcome the storm, he needs to step through the storm to the other side. Which is the peaceful side. After all of this had happened, it was just a dream. Eddie just woke up to the smell of pancakes and he was still at his grandparents' house. He had a second chance to cherish what he already has.
QUOTE
"We can wait, Grandpa. Everything I really need is here (Beck 265)."
REACTION
The author ended the story very affectionately. Even though, it all turns out to be a dream, it still shows how Eddie steps into manhood without any hints that it was actually a dream. Also, the author touches up the story so well because he doesn't need any extra or less words for this powelful and emotional story. It was amazing just the way it is. He ended the story by adding his personal life and describes what was true based on his experiences. Instead of only a story, he puts a bit of reality to it. He understands what people has to go through to have the ability to reach into their highest level of life. The representation of the storm in the story was such a incredible motivation.
The quote is said by Eddie when he had woke up from his nightmare and life lesson. Stepping in manhood, he understands that it all depended on him to be happy in life. He realized what he needed to realize before it was too late. Which was the fact that he needs to know how lucky he is already to have a family who loves him and all he needs is what he already has.
SUMMARY
As he petals his bike to town, he felt that it was impossible for him to turn back. He stopped by Russell's house but Russell had disappeared without saying good bye. Now, he has nobody to help him understand what he had to do to grow up and reach manhood. He has nobody but himself to depend on. All of a suddon, when he was riding his bike on a broken road, he crashed in the dark and his bike was no where to be found. He wasn't going to give up, so he ran through a cornfield as voices whispers in his head. It was like he was fighting with himself. One voice says that he can turn back and another voice says that he belongs in the dead cornfield, which is where he belongs and deserve to be in. In the blue moon, a dark storm awaits in the sky. This is when Eddie realizes everything that he did wrong and cried with deep emotion for the first time after his mother died. He steps into manhood with the help of Russell. If it wasn't for Russell appearing in the cornfield with Eddie, Eddie wouldn't have the strength to have faith in himself to step through the storm. The storm represents the life that Eddie had built for himself. To overcome the storm, he needs to step through the storm to the other side. Which is the peaceful side. After all of this had happened, it was just a dream. Eddie just woke up to the smell of pancakes and he was still at his grandparents' house. He had a second chance to cherish what he already has.
QUOTE
"We can wait, Grandpa. Everything I really need is here (Beck 265)."
REACTION
The author ended the story very affectionately. Even though, it all turns out to be a dream, it still shows how Eddie steps into manhood without any hints that it was actually a dream. Also, the author touches up the story so well because he doesn't need any extra or less words for this powelful and emotional story. It was amazing just the way it is. He ended the story by adding his personal life and describes what was true based on his experiences. Instead of only a story, he puts a bit of reality to it. He understands what people has to go through to have the ability to reach into their highest level of life. The representation of the storm in the story was such a incredible motivation.
The quote is said by Eddie when he had woke up from his nightmare and life lesson. Stepping in manhood, he understands that it all depended on him to be happy in life. He realized what he needed to realize before it was too late. Which was the fact that he needs to know how lucky he is already to have a family who loves him and all he needs is what he already has.
Monday, December 13, 2010
"The Christmas Sweater" POST #4
(pages 184-235)
SUMMARY:
Eddie wasn't going to give up on his so called games. He's blocking his grandparents from his life because he hopes to decrease his possibility of getting hurt again. Eddie is showing anger for his pain inside. He doesn't realize that the his actions and words gives his grandparents pain. Also, he's blinded by what he thinks a family should be like in his perspective that he doesn't see that he still has a family. He took advantage of his grandmother's trust in him and told her that he was going to stay over at Taylor's for a couple of days. The real reason that he wants to live with Taylor instead of with his grandparents. So, Taylor's parents can "spoil" him and he can have the family that he "wanted". He ended up coming back, but then, he's running away to town with the bike that his grandfather had bought him last Christmas. Eddie didn't get to receive it on that day because he was giving his mother a hard time and his grandfather wanted to teach him a lesson. Also, that was when Eddie's mother died in the car accident.
QUOTE:
"We're all made up of two parts. There's a part that thinks and there's a part that feels (Beck 221)."
REACTION:
The author gives the reader contradiction to the main character but also a sense of how hard it is for him to accept what has happened. The words that were quoted in the story describes a great amount of anger and pain from a 13 year old boy. It gives the book more meaning because the words are not just words; They are the reason to every single teardrop that has fallen down from Eddie's grandfather, grandmother, and Eddie himself. So much emotion, and so much misunderstanding from a confused boy. Also, the author makes the reader want to yell at Eddie, when he's just a character in the book. The things that are said and done by Eddie makes it hard not to ask, "How could he do such a thing to hurt his grandparents, including himself?" The quote that was chosen is from Russell. He was trying to help Eddie realize that he needs to think about the happy memories, not the sad ones. Too bad Russell's effort wasn't enough to help Eddie, just yet.
SUMMARY:
Eddie wasn't going to give up on his so called games. He's blocking his grandparents from his life because he hopes to decrease his possibility of getting hurt again. Eddie is showing anger for his pain inside. He doesn't realize that the his actions and words gives his grandparents pain. Also, he's blinded by what he thinks a family should be like in his perspective that he doesn't see that he still has a family. He took advantage of his grandmother's trust in him and told her that he was going to stay over at Taylor's for a couple of days. The real reason that he wants to live with Taylor instead of with his grandparents. So, Taylor's parents can "spoil" him and he can have the family that he "wanted". He ended up coming back, but then, he's running away to town with the bike that his grandfather had bought him last Christmas. Eddie didn't get to receive it on that day because he was giving his mother a hard time and his grandfather wanted to teach him a lesson. Also, that was when Eddie's mother died in the car accident.
QUOTE:
"We're all made up of two parts. There's a part that thinks and there's a part that feels (Beck 221)."
REACTION:
The author gives the reader contradiction to the main character but also a sense of how hard it is for him to accept what has happened. The words that were quoted in the story describes a great amount of anger and pain from a 13 year old boy. It gives the book more meaning because the words are not just words; They are the reason to every single teardrop that has fallen down from Eddie's grandfather, grandmother, and Eddie himself. So much emotion, and so much misunderstanding from a confused boy. Also, the author makes the reader want to yell at Eddie, when he's just a character in the book. The things that are said and done by Eddie makes it hard not to ask, "How could he do such a thing to hurt his grandparents, including himself?" The quote that was chosen is from Russell. He was trying to help Eddie realize that he needs to think about the happy memories, not the sad ones. Too bad Russell's effort wasn't enough to help Eddie, just yet.
Monday, December 6, 2010
"The Christmas Sweater" POST #3
(pages 124-164)
SUMMARY:
After Eddie's mom had past away, it has been a rough patch for him. He's not controlling his feelings properly, which hurts his grandparents. Eddie is growing up, but with a wrong sense of how his life wants to be. He doesn't understand why things had turned out like they did. Anger builds up each day, and its seems that he he wants to do is disrespect his grandparents. However, his anger decreases little by little after he made a new friend named Taylor and a man named Russell. Taylor has the life that Eddie wants because Taylor's family buys him everything he wants and goes out to eat. Russell is the neighbor that wishes to change Eddie's point of view on his life and help him realize that things just happen, just like his mother would if she was still alive.
QUOTE:
"Everyone wants to be loved, but when all you feel is alone it's tough to accomplish anything else (Beck 173)."
REACTION:
The author had placed two important new characters in the picture. Which is Taylor and Russell. They both would help Eddie realize that money doesn't buy love and how great is life is already without material things. Taylor's family is the opposite of Eddie's family. It's interesting when the author gives the story a bit of contradiction. Eddie's family is what Taylor wish his family was like and Taylor's family is what Eddie wish his family was like. One family has no warm connection of a family and one family has the warmth and the love. The quote is when Russell was having a conversation with Eddie. It connects to the story because Russell is trying to say that Eddie is lacking love in his family but if he doesn't realize that there's still people that love him, he'll feels alone and it's challenging for him to go through a rough stage.
SUMMARY:
After Eddie's mom had past away, it has been a rough patch for him. He's not controlling his feelings properly, which hurts his grandparents. Eddie is growing up, but with a wrong sense of how his life wants to be. He doesn't understand why things had turned out like they did. Anger builds up each day, and its seems that he he wants to do is disrespect his grandparents. However, his anger decreases little by little after he made a new friend named Taylor and a man named Russell. Taylor has the life that Eddie wants because Taylor's family buys him everything he wants and goes out to eat. Russell is the neighbor that wishes to change Eddie's point of view on his life and help him realize that things just happen, just like his mother would if she was still alive.
QUOTE:
"Everyone wants to be loved, but when all you feel is alone it's tough to accomplish anything else (Beck 173)."
REACTION:
The author had placed two important new characters in the picture. Which is Taylor and Russell. They both would help Eddie realize that money doesn't buy love and how great is life is already without material things. Taylor's family is the opposite of Eddie's family. It's interesting when the author gives the story a bit of contradiction. Eddie's family is what Taylor wish his family was like and Taylor's family is what Eddie wish his family was like. One family has no warm connection of a family and one family has the warmth and the love. The quote is when Russell was having a conversation with Eddie. It connects to the story because Russell is trying to say that Eddie is lacking love in his family but if he doesn't realize that there's still people that love him, he'll feels alone and it's challenging for him to go through a rough stage.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
The Christmas Sweater POST #2
(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.
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.
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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