Area of Interest

The area that I am going to explore is the idea something/nothing and how Stephen Hawking ties into Oskar's life.

Questions regarding POI:
Is nothing something? or is it something that makes it nothing?
Why are there nothing spaces in the grandma's home? What do they represent?
Does Oskar's loss make him nothing?
Why does Oskar feel such a connection to Stephen Hawking?
Why does Stephen Hawking matter even though he doesn't have a voice?
Is life itself nothing or something?

Passages to explore:

"Stephen Hawking's"letter to Oskar at the end
Grandma's story with the creation of nothing spaces
What Oskar writes to Stephen Hawking about

Essay Topic

Introduction sentence:  In the novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Johnathan Safran Foer, Oskar's grandfather uses alternate forms of communication to reachout to the people he loves without speaking.

Questions that can be asked:
-What are the alternate forms of communication?
-To whom does he reach out to?
-Does this work effectively?
-Are words necessary to show pre-existing feelings

Quotes/ ideas that will be explored:
-The letters including "To my unborn child" and "To my child" (235).
-The note pad
-talking in the phone booth to grandma
-notes to the doorman
-throwing pebbles against the guest bedroom window