Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close Through a Social Actions Lens

Q: What really hard things are happening in the book?
          The book Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer is about a  9 year-old boy named Oskar Schell who's father died on 9/11 in the World Trade Center. He then embarks on a journey to find the lock of a key of his dad's. One really hard thing that is happening in the book is the issue of identity and knowing who really are. Oskar is incredibly smart and mature for his age, and it seems like he has an idea of who he is as a person, but as he goes along further in his journey, he realizes that he really doesn't. For example, Oskar has this little business card that he carries around with him and in the beginning of the book, and it states that he is many things and professions. As the book goes on, you see another picture of his business card and there are many things crossed out on it with angry scribbles all over the place. This really signifies Oskar's struggle with himself  and knowing who Oskar Schell really is.  I think Jonathan Safran Foer was trying to say that even though sometimes we may think we have a really clear idea of who we are, but since we are allways changing, we will never know.
          Another really hard thing that is happening in the book is how love can be so difficult. Oskar loves his mom and at one point in the book Oskar was being really cruel to his mother and after she forgave him he said this: "We cracked up toegther, which was necessary, because she loved me again." Some may think love goes away like that, but in actuality, it's messier and more painful than that, like Oskar's mom's relationship with Oskar: "She looked at me for a second, then stood up and walked out of the room. I wish she'd slammed the door, but she didn't. She closed it carefully like she always did. I could hear that she didn't walk away." This relationship shows that the people who love you will always love you, no matter how painful for them it is. I think we all have this kind of relationship in our lives at one point, and Jonathan Safran Foer really shows that.
        In conclusion, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer has very extremely hard things going on for Oskar and other characters in the book. One issue is identity and truly knowing who you are. The second one is how difficult love can be and the effect it has. Through a child's eyes the author helps us see the world in a way.

The Issue of Sexism in Burned

         In the book Burned by Ellen Hopkins, the main character Pattyn is very changed by her religion. Her self-esteem plummets because in her extreme Christian religion (Mormonism), men are superior to women. This made Pattyn think she wasn’t even “pretty” nonetheless “beautiful”. This made Pattyn have a lack of confidence. Also, Pattyn feels like she doesn’t belong anywhere: in her church, at home, not even in her own body. These beliefs of Mormonism caused this change because Pattyn doesn’t truly accept all these ideas that her church preaches: “The message came loud and clear: Woman are inferior. And God likes it that way” Pattyn doesn’t feel very comfortable as a woman, and this dynamically changes her.

            First, Pattyn has a slim self-esteem and a low confidence level. In the Mormon beliefs, women are the inferior gender. They are expected to have numerous children, and it’s not for the joy of bringing new life into this world: “Pattyn, she says, it’s a woman’s role” Sexism is very much alive, and Pattyn is forced to become a housewife. So Pattyn is forced to have a limited future, which made her very displeased with herself and her religion.

          Also, Pattyn doesn’t think of herself as “pretty”. She believes that she is rather drab and plain, actually: “Me, beautiful? I’m as plain as cardboard” She pushes beauty off to the side because women aren’t supposed to be so magnificent and gorgeous: Men are. This also plays with Pattyn’s mind a bit, gradually diminishing her self-esteem.

            Second, Pattyn doesn’t feel comfortable and content with herself. She feels like she doesn’t belong or fit in: “I felt I didn’t belong, not in my church, not in my home, not in my skin.” This is caused by her strict Mormon ideas of cold, hard biased sexism. She explores this in the story of Adam and Eve, because God wouldn’t give Eve another chance when the serpent tempted her and she ate the apple. She believes that if Adam and Eve weren’t in love, God would’ve only cast Eve out of the Garden of Eden, because Eve was a woman. Pattyn feels like she doesn’t belong because in her large, Mormon family, she is a woman, with a destiny to keep on bringing more little Mormons into the world. Pattyn sees as conceiving a child to be a miracle, a blessing. Her mother sees it as a job, a profession. These views make Pattyn feel as if she doesn’t belong.

            In conclusion, Pattyn becomes very changed by the opinionated beliefs: Her self-esteem decreases, her confidence is minuscule, and she feels uncomfortable and awkward in her own skin. Pattyn doesn’t accept or agree with the views of her church, and she feels like a woman can do just as much if not better, then a man. Pattyn’s views cause these feelings, and she is a very dynamic character when confronted by her religion.

Text-to-Text Connection: Nineteen Mintues By Jodi Picoult and Columbine by Dave Cullen

         I am reading the book Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult which takes place in the quiet suburban town of Sterling, New Hampshire. But then one day, a bullied and rage-fueled boy takes action and opens fire on students, killing many and traumatizing all of America. While I was reading this book, I thought about a book I read in 7th grade about the horror of Columbine- an actual event. These books were both about school shootings and the permanent effect it has on the people who experience it, but I found that they were very different.
        In Nineteen Minutes, the boy who is the shooter is very vulnerable and sad with an incredible amount of understandable anger. Jodi Picoult makes him almost relateable to, with ignorant parents who as much as they try will never understand and just being a loner makes you feel connected with Peter Houghton. Whereas in Columbine, the boys are psychopaths who were also bullied, but instead of hurting their anger kept mutating only to be released into a horrible crime.
          Since Columbine is reality, it should seem much more frightening than Nineteen Minutes, but Nineteen Minutes scares me more. This made me think about the reality and fiction aspect of the books, but not just the books, in real life. Recently, I was watching an episode of Law and Order: Criminal Intent and it left me amazed at the dynamic of the charcters and the unraveling storyline that never ceased to shock me. Yet when I watched Dateline: NBC (A show about real-life crimes happening to people) it didn't shake me at all. In fact, I was bored thirty minutes in. Everybody insists that it's scarier if it's real, but I beg to differ. In Nineteen Minutes, the descriptions of the rivers of blood that ran down the halls and deafening screams of students gave me chills. In Columbine, the interviews and stories of traumatized students was a little tedious. I think fantasy is scarier than reality because you can do anything you want with it, and that's what Jodi Picoult did.
         In conclusion, the book Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult and the book Columbine by Dave Cullen are similar because they both discuss tragedies of school shootings, but they are different because the shooter personalities are different and one is fiction and the other is reality.
         

Keeping the Magic Alive: Bridge to Terabithia

Do you think the magic of Terabithia ended with Leslie? Do you think Paterson wants to end it for you when the book ends? Did you have parts of your childhood that felt magical? Describe them.
       In the book Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson, the main character or protagonist Jess is faced with the untimely and devastating death of his best friend Leslie Burke. But the magic and luster of the fantasy land of Terabithia that they created did not end with Leslie's demise. I think that even though it seems to fade a little when she dies, Jess fights to keep the magic alive by showing the wonders of Terabithia to his little sister, May Belle. He makes her queen of Terabithia and continues the legacy. Terabithia will never be the same because of the unfortunate death because Leslie was the sole creator of this imaginary land that ultimately became Jess and Leslie's world. But because Jess continues the amazing spark that is Terabithia, the fire does not fade.
       I don't think Paterson wanted the magic to end when the book actually ends. I think this is because Bridge to Terabithia is simply one of those books that is unforgettable. It is incredibly deep and shocking for a kids book swelling with deeper meaning and metaphor that even at a time like this without the text in your hands, you begin to realize all these things you did not realize when you originally read the book. The magic most certainly did not end for me because as a naive innocent 4th grader, it became my first confrontation with death. I had have distant relatives die, forgotten wrinkled faces concealed by the shiny black wood of coffins. At the end of Bridge to Terabithia, I was so shocked and terrified, almost. So the greatness of the book did not end for me when I first read it, and I definitely don't think that Paterson intended it to end.
       I did have those childhood magical experiences where it almost feels like one of those old black and white gauzy home movies where the child is giggling about absolutely nothing. I remember one part of my childhood very specifically that seemed very magical to me. It's like a clip that plays over and over in my brain where I'm just running or toddling on my pudgy toddler legs through Prospect Park and the glass tickles my bare feet. As a child, the simplest things feel so magical and lovely, and Bridge to Terabithia definitely captures that and brings you back to your childhood, no matter how long or short away it was.