Three Day Road: by Joseph Boyden

One of the most important scenes in the novel Three Day Road is the prologue. Elijah and Xavier are around the age of twelve while hunting a marten in the cold winter. This is a key scene for many reasons. This scene shows the friendship between the two boys and lets the reader know before they get reading the book that Elijah and Xavier have been friends for quite some time. Not only does this scene show the boy’s friendship, but the scene also allows the reader to see the leadership of Xavier and how Elijah looked up to Xavier as children. As the children are hunting, they kill the marten that they had seen. This shows that the children have the ability to hunt and to kill. This allows the reader to believe that Elijah and Xavier will most likely be great soldiers during the war.

Passage

Elijah watches. His eyes miss nothing. He takes off one mitten and bends down to touch the marten’s naked body. “We are great hunters, aren’t we, Xavier?”
“Yes, Elijah,” I say.
“We are great hunters and best friends, yes?”
“Yes,” I say.
(2)

This scene has great connection to the rest of Three Day Road. One key connection to this passage is at the end of the novel. At the end of the novel, Elijah is trying to kill Xavier, yet Xavier is forced to kill Elijah to stay alive. Elijah repeats the saying “We are great hunters and best friends, yes?” before he is killed. This shows that after everything through the war that they had been through, Elijah felt the same way he felt when he was twelve and hunting with Xavier. Seeing as the boys are “great hunters” in their childhood, that perk allowed the two to be fantastic soldiers during the war. The leadership that is shown in the prologue changes throughout the war. Elijah becomes the leader and Xavier becomes the friend who looks up to the other. The war had changed the two men and caused their leadership roles to be exchanged.

A Moveable Feast: Ernest Hemingway

Through the writing of Ernest Hemingway in A Moveable Feast, we are able to gain a great sense of the people in Hemingway’s life such as the fellow writer Scott Fitzgerald. Scott Fitzgerald first appears as a nosey and interested man. When Fitzgerald first meets with Hemingway, Hemingway describes Scott Fitzgerald’s questioning, “The interrogation was direct.” Throughout the questioning from Fitzgerald, it is clear that Fitzgerald can be serious at times. Scott says to Hemingway, “Don’t be silly. This is serious.” And “Don’t talk like some limey, try to be serious.” Scott Fitzgerald can also be responsible at times; yet he can still be very irresponsible. Fitzgerald is responsible when he goes looking throughout the town to find out where Hemingway is staying. Fitzgerald also shows responsibility when he discusses his worry about his health, and how he thinks about his family and what would happen if he was to pass away, described by Hemingway as, “He did not mind dying of congestion of the lungs, he said. It was only the question of who was to look after Zelda and young Scotty.” We also know that Fitzgerald is not the most responsible person, as he only has one copy of his book, which he had already loaned to his friend before meeting with Hemingway. A great factor of Scott Fitzgerald that shows he can be irresponsible is that Fitzgerald is an alcoholic. From Hemingway’s memories of Scott Fitzgerald, it is clear that Fitzgerald is a nosey/ interested, serious man, and can also be responsible or irresponsible at times.


Based on Hemingway’s magnificent descriptions, I would like to visit the café on the Place St.-Michel. I picture this café as a nice place where you are able to sit down and relax no matter what kind of day you are having. In this particular scene, Hemingway came inside of the café which allowed him to escape the cold day in Michigan. I could see work easily being done while sitting in this café because this is one place where Hemingway would write. Hemingway describes the café as he enters it saying, “It was a pleasant café, warm and clean and friendly…” I would like to go to this café to relax, do some work, and order a café au lait just as Hemingway had.

The Boy in the Moon: by Ian Brown

A very influential time for Ian Brown was when he had visited the L'Arche communities in Montreal and in France. Brown first visited the L'Arche in Montreal. At first, Brown was a bit nervous to visit this community of disabled adults. As he walked into L'Arche Montreal for the first time, Ian said, "I didn't know what they expected of me." (page 188) Ian felt that the community began judging him as soon as he walked in the door, which had created this nervous feeling in him. Nearing the end of Ian's visit to the Montreal L'Arche community, Ian had become less nervous around all of the disabled adults. "Surrounded for the first time in my life by intellectually disabled adults I had only just met, I suddenly realized I didn't feel nervous." (page 190) This shows that Ian Brown eventually felt comfortable in the L'Arche community of Montreal.

Ian Brown then departed from Canada to see the France L'Arche community. Ian said, "I was there to find out if I was letting my son down." (page 196) Ian felt worried for Walker when he thought about sending him to a home such as L'Arche. He did not want to send his son to a community that he did not feel would suit his son and take care of him in the way he would like. Ian thought rather differently about the French community. "All of which was interesting, free spirited, and made me extremely nervous." (page 196) Brown does not like the way the L'Arche France community acts and shares the same beliefs. This made Ian feel increasingly nervous about L'Arche and he did not want Walker to become another one of these people. "I didn't want Walker in a cult." (page 197) This quotation proves that Ian does not feel too strong about L'Arche after visiting France. By the end of both of Ian Brown's trips to L'Arche, he feels that L'Arche is a great community and would be amazing for Walker, despite the nervous feelings he had during the trips.

Throughout my reading of The Boy in the Moon, I have learned about the lifestyle taken with a disabled child. I think that having a disabled child would be a very challenging task, yet it would teach you many things in life. One of the parents of a child with CFC says "...taught me how to live with joy, despite tough circumstances. And to use my time wisely. Not to worry about tomorrow too much, but to enjoy today. She's taught me how to laugh at the little things. She helped me with my vision of life." (page 144) I think it would be amazing to have a child with disabilities change your life so drastically. To be able to live a more fulfilling and happy life because your child has allowed you to see this lifestyle would be spectacular. Yet this parent also mentions that this is despite the tough circumstances taken when raising a child with CFC.

I could easily see raising a child with CFC to be just a difficult task after reading The Boy in the Moon. Ian Brown says, "I would trade him in an instant. I wouldn't trade him for my sake, for our sake, I would trade for his sake. I think Walker has a very, very hard life." (page 80) Although having a child with a disability could be an amazing experience, I agree with what Ian Brown had said about changing Walker's life for Walker's sake. I believe that Walker did not decide to be this way, and if he was able to choose, I do not think he would choose to be severely disabled.

My attitude towards living a life with a disabled child had changed when I read, "if it might not be braver to take my life and take Walker with me..." (page 223) When I had read that Brown was even considering suicide, my attitude had slightly changed. The only reason being that I would never want to really consider suicide because it is almost too much work and stress to raise a child with a disability. Overall, I have learned that life with a profoundly diabled child would be an amazing experience, yet still be an emotional and physical challenge.

1) As a boy, did you ever think about having a disabled child? What were your thoughts and opinions on having a disabled child before Walker?

2) The very last sentence in your book is “We did that together.” (page 288) Do you feel that Walker and you have always done things together, or do you think that you are increasingly doing more things with Walker together?

3) Back when you had to care for Walker every day, did you ever have time to get away and have some personal time rather than watching, calming, feeding, or even thinking about Walker? Was Olga able to provide that support to you and Johanna?

Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha: by Roddy Doyle

Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha is a captivating and humorous novel by Roddy Doyle. The protagonist Paddy Clarke, participates in many childhood adventures and events throughout the novel to continue to collect more information about his questions in life from his friends and parents. Seeing as Paddy's friends know just as much as Paddy, the only true information he gains is from his parents. The book was almost as if Paddy Clarke had wrote down his thoughts and feelings when he had an interesting situation in his life, causing the book to skip days, weeks, and even months of Paddy's life. Roddy Doyle had wrote this novel to have no direct plot line, but only for the reader to follow Paddy Clarke through his interesting thought process in different situations as a ten year old boy.

Roddy Doyle was easily able to capture the thoughts of the ten year old Irish boy Paddy Clarke. Continuously, Paddy Clarke had used Irish slang words and had always thought in the way an average ten year old does. The book was brought to life because of this and the reader would be able to believe this was an actual ten year old writing down his interesting stories every few days. Throughout the novel Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha, Paddy had always asked questions to his peers and his parents to develop more of an understanding of things that concerned him in his life. The more information Paddy receives, the more his character develops and becomes more intelligent. Roddy Doyle was also able to write dialogue between characters in Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha brilliantly. Doyle had mastered the transition between the dialogue with Paddy's parents and the dialogue between Paddy and his friends. This was important because all of the ten year old boys should not have been speaking like adults, and Roddy Doyle was able to separate the two different kinda of dialogue.

"I stood near Sinbad; he was my brother and he was holding a dead rat in his hand." (page 74) This quotation appealed to me because it showed the random thoughts of Paddy Clarke. The reader already knows Sinbad is Paddy's brother, yet Roddy Doyle repeats it in this manner for use of humor in this situation that the boys are in. When I read this passage, I had laughed because it shows that Paddy is shocked that Sinbad actually picked up the rat.

"'It's for sewerage,' said Liam. 'What's sewerage?' 'Gick,' I said." (page 105) This passage is an example of the words that Paddy would make up throughout the book as a type of slang. This passage also shows the type of information Paddy and his friends would share with each other which was not correct. Because of this, the characters do develop, but they develop in their own way with each other by feeding off of one an others true or false information.

"'What are fish-fingers made of?' 'Fish.' 'What kind of fish?' 'Cod,' said my ma, 'White fish.' 'Why do they-' 'No more questions till you're finished.' That was my da.'Everything on the plate,' he said. 'Then you can ask your questions.'" (page 140) This dialogue between Paddy, Sinbad, and Paddy's mother and father shows how Paddy Clarke and his friends or brother would gain proper information from adults such as Paddy and Sinbad's parents. It also proves that Paddy likes to ask many questions to his parents to gain information when his father says, "No more questions till you're finished."

Trumpets Sound No More: by Jon Redfern

Trumpets Sound No More is a very fascinating detective novel set in the Victorian Era. The story follows Owen Endersby, a detective, throughout London in the acting and theater community. Endersby receives a new case about the murder of a future owner of a theater named Samuel Cake. This case that Owen Endersby receives is only one of the many cases he has to solve throughout the novel. Endersby does not only have his working and mystery solving side of life to worry about, but also goes home to think about their son that had past away. While working on the main case of the murder of Samuel Cake, Endersby also encounters many other mysteries which he solves for the theaters. Endersby does end up solving the case of Samuel Cake to find that it was the murderer was an actor Will Weston.

When reading Trumpets Sound No More I found that Redfern did give many interesting descriptions of London. The description of London in Great Expectations by Charles Dickens and Trumpets Sound No More were very similar and I think Redfern did an excellent job in describing London. In the very beginning of chapter three, Jon Redfern talks about how London looks on the Lord's Day, which he describes as a very solemn time meaning it is a very formal and important day. "We continue our story on this, the Lord's Day, a solemn time, the London air still cold and forever grey with chimney smoke." (page 44) I think that this introduction to the chapter gives a perfect example of one of the aspects of London, being very dark and dull when he says it is "forever grey with chimney smoke."

When comparing Trumpets Sound No More to Great Expectations it was easy to identify multiple characters between the two novels that had similarities and differences. One pair of characters I found were Endersby and Jaggers. I thought that both men were similar because both their jobs deal with the law and criminals. Although being a lawyer and a detective are very different, they deal with the same type of people. Endersby and Jaggers are also similar because they both take their jobs seriously at work and at home. Endersby never goes home and completely relaxes because he is always pondering the case he has to solve at his home. Jaggers is also like this because he takes all of his work home and works in his home. Jaggers takes his job very seriously and almost never takes time to relax or to take a break from his job. I found that Betty and Biddy were also two characters that contrasted between Trumpets Sound No More and Great Expectations. I found that Betty and Biddy both respect others and display manners to the other characters in the novels. The difference between the two is that because Biddy was educated, she ends up with a better and happier life with Joe, whereas Betty has spent her whole life in the theater business and eventually tragically dies. A third comparison of characters from Trumpets Sound No More and Great Expectations is Caldwell and Herbert. I think that these two characters are similar in the way that they both aid the protagonist and help them throughout the novel and are seen as a more right hand man to the protagonist. They are also both respectful characters and listen to what the protagonist has to say. Caldwell and Herbert are also different because Herbert does not directly work with Pip but Caldwell helps Endersby solve cases by directly helping him with his work.

The three themes that I found in Trumpets Sound No More are guilt, innocence, and crime, justice, and love. Guilt, innocence, and crime are shown throughout the novel because of the different mystery cases that Endersby has to solve. They display the guilty and innocent people who were thought to have killed Samuel Cake, and all the different crime that goes on in the theaters. This theme of guilt, innocence, and crime was also studied in our English class when we read Great Expectations. Another theme that was displayed was justice. This theme was very easy to identify because all of the characters (especially Endersby) want justice in the theaters and was everything to be resolved so they have nothing to fear. The last theme I found in Trumpets Sound No More is love. I thought love was still a very important theme in the novel because it was something that kept characters like Endersby going. If Endersby did not have a wife to come home to in the night and to have a son that had passed away to love and think about, Endersby would find it more difficult to work on his cases. Love is also another theme that we had studied for Great Expectations and is a important theme in both novels.

In Jon Refern's depiction of the theatre world in London, England, I was surprised to see how the theater's were all connected in a way. Not that the different theaters would work with on another but that each person knows every actor at their theater and any other theater. I found this interesting because I thought of the theater world as each theater more private and had no relations to any other theaters.

The two prominent symbols that I found in Trumpets Sound No More were the glove left at Cake's house and the meetings at pubs in London. The glove was the original clue that eventually led to finding the criminal Will Weston to be the actor that had murdered Samuel Cake. The glove displays the crime throughout the novel and was the original item that invoked justice into Endersby because he had wanted to solve this mystery. The pubs in London also show where the crime is originated in this novel. This is because the pubs are where the criminals would meet in the novel.

Life of Pi: Yann Martel

Life of Pi by Yann Martel is the coming of age story of a young intelligent boy Piscine Molitor Patel (Pi). Pi grew up with his parents and older brother Ravi. His parents had owned the zoo in their town Pondicherry. Because of the presence of animals throughout his childhood, Pi was intrigued from simply watching animals daily behavior. Religion was also an important part of Pi's life. Pi was not only brought into one religion, but enjoyed the belief in many religions. These two subjects were what Pi had then gone on to study at the University of Toronto. Life of Pi is not only about his childhood, but his one great journey that had changed his life forever, dealing with religion and animals.

There were two very obvious themes throughout the novel. Religion and animals were clearly the largest themes. Pi had thought in ways of combining his view on religion and behavior of animals. Pi had many different views when learning the difference in religions that he had discovered and Pi felt he believed in more than one religion. As a child, Pi had already known almost everything to do with animals. Animals were brought in as a main theme when Pi is stuck on the lifeboat with the Royal Bengal tiger, zebra, hyena, and orangutang. Pi try's to relate humans and religion to these animals, while continuously hoping he will survive.

Yann Martel had created the point of view through Pi, although throughout the book there were chapters through Martel's point of view while interviewing Pi. I thought that the point of view from Yann Martel was very interesting because he shared his thoughts about Pi. Because of this, we were able to learn more about Pi and life in his later years. We then are able to see how Pi's childhood reflects on his adulthood and how he lives his life after his life changing experience.

While reading Life of Pi I was able to relate to the book easily. This is because the story takes place when Pi was my age. I am able to relate to Pi because of this and I can imagine myself easily in the positions he is in. Also, I am able to relate to Pi through religion. My school is religious and I always think about different types of religion just like Pi. I was easily able to relate Life of Pi with Great Expectations which we are currently reading in school. Both novels are about the protagonist coming of age and their opinion on situations throughout their life. Both Pi and Pip share their thoughts and beliefs at the same age which is interesting to read about.

There is only one thing I wish Yann Martel could change to improve Life of Pi. I think Martel could have explained that the italicized words were through his point of view. I did not realize what the point of the italicizing was until later in the book, and went back to read his point of view again. They were very interesting parts of the novel and delivered much information once you had realized it was Martel's thoughts.

I personally had a great time reading this book and thought it was brilliant so I would definitely recommend it to others. If someone liked reading books such as Catcher in the Rye they would enjoy this book because it is also a coming of age novel. Also, if a person enjoyed The Old Man and the Sea, I would recommend this book to them because it is also about a very long journey on the water. I have read both Catcher in the Rye and The Old Man and the Sea and enjoyed them both. I feel these books have much in common with Life of Pi. I would recommend this book to other teenagers and adults. I also believe that anybody who is interested in the study of religion or animal behavior would have a great time reading this book.

One rhetorical device I found Yann Martel used very well was when Pi's father Santosh Patel was explaining to Pi and Ravi that every animal in the zoo is dangerous. Santosh used a similie to explain how the spotted deer were dangerous. "So pretty, aren't they? If the male feels he has to, he'll charge you and those short little antlers will pierce you like daggers" (page 40-41). I thought this simile was used very well to show that even little antlers on the deer could harm you.

Another rhetorical device I found was when Yann Martel is at Pi's house having some of Pi's spicy South Indian food. Martel uses two similes in this passage to show how spicy the food really is and how Martel is effected from it. "Each time it's the same: my taste buds shrivel up and die, my skin goes beet red, my eyes well up with tears, my head feels like a house on fire, and my digestive tract starts to twist and groan in agony like a boa constrictor that has swallowed a lawn mower." (page 47) I thought it was a very interesting and odd analogy when comparing his digestive tract to a boa constrictor swallowing a lawn mower, but he used it perfectly and was able to show how he reacted to the food.

Free the Children: by Craig Kielburger

Free the Children by Craig Kielburger is written by Kielburger himself about his journey throughout creating the widely known charity "Free the Children". When Craig first read the headline of the Toronto Star "Battled child labor, boy, 12, murdered." he knew he wanted to look beyond only the community he lived in but try his best to change the world . Craig felt thought about how this could be him too seeing as Craig was only 12 at the time. Kielburger then slowly made his way from traveling to cities around the world and spending his time with children working for only a small amount of money almost every day. The charity "Free the Children" was created in 1995 and has now created over 500 schools around the world for less fortunate children.

The theme of this book was how less fortunate children around the world are able to be helped by even one fortunate child. Kielburger expressed throughout the book that one person can change the world and help many people if they tried their best too, just like he did. The main purpose of the charity "Free the Children" is to let children help children throughout the world and change lives very easily.

I feel there were many issues throughout the book that pertain to me and others my age. These issues were that children my age are suffering in parts of the world and some are working very tough jobs just to earn enough money to feed their family. I have never imagined having to work to feed my family and I until I read this book and thought that there are people just like me who have to provide for their family by working every day and never attending school and getting an education.

I think Craig Kielburger could have written this book without trying to have people donate to the charity. I realize that the book is about the charity and his adventure creating the charity but throughout the book it is almost as if he is hinting to donate to "Free the Children" rather than other charities that have the same values and concerns.

I would recommend this book to others who enjoy reading about foreign countries. I would also recommend this book to anyone who is eager to change the world in their own way and do their part to help others in local communities and larger communities around the world. Somebody who is debating starting their own charity would also enjoy this book because it shows the work that Craig Kielburger did to start his charity which is now very successful.

One rhetorical device I found while reading was the theme of children helping children. "Free the Children" is about children donating to the charity to help other children and throughout the novel, I found that Craig Kielburger tried to point out that children can always help children easily. Free the Children was very pathetic while reading because I felt horrible for the children suffering in other countries. I take the things I have for granted such as my education, family, and house while some children would never be able to have things such as a good education, a house, or a family that you do not have to work for without the help of charities like "Free the Children".