On page 97 Foer writes:
"I asked, 'Are you sure you didn't know a Thomas Schell?' She said, 'I didn't know Thomas Schell,' but for some reason I still didn't believe her. 'Maybe you know someone else with the first name Thomas? Or someone else with the last name Schell?' 'No.' I kept thinking there was something she wasn't telling me. I showed her the little envelope again."
In this quote Oskar refuses to believe that Abby Black had nothing to do with his dad for some "reason". Even though Oskar has over 200 people on his list with the last name Black he still tries so hard to find a connection with Abby even though she is only the second person he's met. Oskar also worked so hard just to talk to the first man with the last name of Black even though it was highly unlikely he had something to do with the key or his dad. Is how Oskar approached the first two people childhood curiosity or something more? Why is Oskar so persistent in trying to find answers about his Dad through them and why additionally does he go on to talk to them at a personal level?
The English Dork Club: A real-time ongoing conversation for Readers, Writers, Thinkers, and Discussers in English 4
Thursday, February 5, 2015
Chapter 5 Quote
"I read the first chapter of A Brief History of Time when Dad was still alive, and I got incredibly heavy boots about how relatively insignificant life is, and how, compared to the universe and compared to time, it didn't even matter if I existed at all" (86).
This quote stood out to me because of how sad it was. Oskar has many deep, sad thoughts but this might be the saddest one so far. He is thinking about how unimportant he is and how his life doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things so no wonder this gives Oskar incredibly heavy boots.
This quote stood out to me because of how sad it was. Oskar has many deep, sad thoughts but this might be the saddest one so far. He is thinking about how unimportant he is and how his life doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things so no wonder this gives Oskar incredibly heavy boots.
Bridges(Matt)
A question that arose when reading was, why does Oskar put himself on these "bridges" when on page 87 he said "walking over bridges also make me panicky". I immediately thought that the bridges he is talking about are a representation of all the struggles he has in his live surrounding 9/11. Why would he put himself in these situations? or does an outside force put him in that position?
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
My feelings (ch. 4)
I was really confused in the chapter, My Feelings.
Did the narrator change at the end of the chapter or was it Oscar reading the letter that his Grandma wrote to him? One minutes the chapter is talking about the letters being sprawled out on the end on page 79 and then in the next paragraph someone is talking about being an American. Was it the Grandma talking starting on page 79?
Also, the lines that really stood out to me were…
"I know you can't take anything back. I wish my days could be washed away like the chalk lines of my day" (77).
"I have no need for the past, I thought, like a child. I did not consider that the past might have a need for me" (78).
These lines really stood out to me because they were not very specific. What I mean by that is we, the readers, can use those lines to conned the book to our own lives. I like how while reading them it brings memories into my head from the days I wish I could take back or the days when I don't think the past is important. The second quote I wrote really got me thinking. It had never occurred to me that the past might have a need for me. What does that even mean?
Did the narrator change at the end of the chapter or was it Oscar reading the letter that his Grandma wrote to him? One minutes the chapter is talking about the letters being sprawled out on the end on page 79 and then in the next paragraph someone is talking about being an American. Was it the Grandma talking starting on page 79?
Also, the lines that really stood out to me were…
"I know you can't take anything back. I wish my days could be washed away like the chalk lines of my day" (77).
"I have no need for the past, I thought, like a child. I did not consider that the past might have a need for me" (78).
These lines really stood out to me because they were not very specific. What I mean by that is we, the readers, can use those lines to conned the book to our own lives. I like how while reading them it brings memories into my head from the days I wish I could take back or the days when I don't think the past is important. The second quote I wrote really got me thinking. It had never occurred to me that the past might have a need for me. What does that even mean?
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
Page 42-43 (chapter 3)
On page 42-43, Oskar adds pictures from google to his "Stuff that happened to me" book. Oskar knew these images would "only hurt me, but I couldn't help it." (42). Why does Oskar do this knowing it would make him feel worse? And also what is the significance of each of these images, each having a representation of some kind. Oskar then goes on to tell his mom that he is sad "About everything." (42). His lift of things that make him sad go from the middle of page 42 and end at the top of page 42 (he is sad about a lot of things). I have a lot to talk about in class and look forward to discussing many things that have happened in this chapter.
She Wasn't Missing Dad
"I wanted to tell her she shouldn't be playing Scrabble yet. Or looking in the mirror. Or turning the stereo any louder than what you needed just to hear it. It wasn't fair to Dad, and it wasn't fair to me. But I buried it all inside me" (35).
"I didn't do it! I hollered, but they didn't even hear me, because they were playing music too loud and cracking up too much. I zipped myself all the way into the sleeping bag of myself, not because I was hurt, and not because I had broken something, but because they were cracking up. Even though I knew I shouldn't, I gave myself a bruise" (37).
These two quotes really hit me, because they really showed how much pain Oskar is in. Oskar feels completely alone, and seems to believe that his mother is fine and has already moved on from his dad, and that she doesn't miss him at all. This drags Oskar deeper into his sadness, because he feels as if he is the only one who misses his dad. When he thinks about it, his mother's relationship with Ron also makes him angry, because of how fast she moved on from his dad, even though Oskar believes that "It wasn't fair to Dad." When Oskar says "Mom was playing with Ron in the living room, listening to music too loud and playing board games. She wasn't missing dad" (36), it continues to show how he does not understand how his mom seems to be happy. The fact that his mother is so able to be happy almost makes Oskar more upset, because he feels like his mom is forgetting about his dad.
"I didn't do it! I hollered, but they didn't even hear me, because they were playing music too loud and cracking up too much. I zipped myself all the way into the sleeping bag of myself, not because I was hurt, and not because I had broken something, but because they were cracking up. Even though I knew I shouldn't, I gave myself a bruise" (37).
These two quotes really hit me, because they really showed how much pain Oskar is in. Oskar feels completely alone, and seems to believe that his mother is fine and has already moved on from his dad, and that she doesn't miss him at all. This drags Oskar deeper into his sadness, because he feels as if he is the only one who misses his dad. When he thinks about it, his mother's relationship with Ron also makes him angry, because of how fast she moved on from his dad, even though Oskar believes that "It wasn't fair to Dad." When Oskar says "Mom was playing with Ron in the living room, listening to music too loud and playing board games. She wasn't missing dad" (36), it continues to show how he does not understand how his mom seems to be happy. The fact that his mother is so able to be happy almost makes Oskar more upset, because he feels like his mom is forgetting about his dad.
Jacob's Important Quote
"As for the bracelet Mom wore to the funeral, what I did was I converted Dad's last voice message into Morse code, and I used sky-blue beads for silence, maroon beads for breaks between letters, violet beads for breaks between words, and long and short pieces of string between the beads for long and short beeps, which are actually called blips, I think or something. Dad would have known. It took me nine hours to make" (35).
This quote opens up the third chapter of the book and after I read it a paused for a moment and just thought wow this kid really loved his dad. This quote struck me at first as a very sad thing to be said. Oskar is talking about his dad and the last thing he has from his dad is the voicemail that was sent just before his death. But as I read the quote again and paid more attention to it I don't think its so sad after all. When he mentioned how his dad would have known the name of the long and short beeps in Morse code, I think he is saying this because his dad has taught him Morse code and in a way this is him remembering all the good times he had with his dad and this brings back good memories. Oskar went to great lengths to make this bracelet for his mother because it helped him to feel better and to think about his dad in a positive way and all the great things his dad did for him.
This quote opens up the third chapter of the book and after I read it a paused for a moment and just thought wow this kid really loved his dad. This quote struck me at first as a very sad thing to be said. Oskar is talking about his dad and the last thing he has from his dad is the voicemail that was sent just before his death. But as I read the quote again and paid more attention to it I don't think its so sad after all. When he mentioned how his dad would have known the name of the long and short beeps in Morse code, I think he is saying this because his dad has taught him Morse code and in a way this is him remembering all the good times he had with his dad and this brings back good memories. Oskar went to great lengths to make this bracelet for his mother because it helped him to feel better and to think about his dad in a positive way and all the great things his dad did for him.
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