I am going to analyze a section in the novel that i though was really important so far as to how the whole thing has been laid out.
"David looked at Paul, sleeping so deeply on the blanket with his head turned to the side, his long hair curling against his damp next. His son, at least, he had sheltered from grief. Paul would not grow up, as David had, suffering the loss of his sister. He would not be forced to fend for himself because his sister couldn't. This thought, and the force of its bitterness, shocked David. He wanted to believe he'd done the right thing when he handed his daughter to Caroline Gill. Or at least that he'd had the right reasons."(113).
I think that David's whole reason to give his daughter up was because of his past. I do not understand how someone could be so selfish but i guess he could not have his son grow up the same way he did: always helping his sister June who had heart problems. That would have been very similar for Paul if he would have kept Phoebe but is that really so bad? i belive David is not a good man. His wife and son know that a large something is missing from their lives but they do not know what! David, i think you need to tell the truth before its too late. I feel like it would be better for your wife and son to know that Phoebe is alive somewher out ther instead of grieving.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Week 3, Post A
The Memory Keeper's Daughter
VoCaB
1.) Reticence (27): disposed to be silent or not to speak freely; reserved.
2.) Precariously (73): dependent on circumstances beyond one's control; uncertain.
FiGuRaTiVe LaNgUaGe
1.) Similie. "She traveled slowly backward in the softening darkness, the stilled traffic like a frozen river" (32). The author is comparing the stilled traffic to a frozen river therefor it is a similie.
2.) Similie. " Norah looked at her son's tiny face, surprised, as always, by his name. He had not grown into it yet, he still wore it like a wristband, something that might easily slip off and disappear" (40). The author is comparing her son's new name and how it is similar to a wristband that could easily just slip away becuase it is so new.
3.) Imagery. "He left then, and everything was the same as it had been: the clock on the mantel, the square of light on the floor, the sharp shadows of bare branches"(66). I think that this quote is an imagery because it is descibing David's house and making it easy to think about during other descriptions.
QuOte
"Did he miss his twin, Norah wondered, that vanished presence, his short life's close companion? Would he always feel a sense of loss?"(44). I like this quote because it is representing how Paul, an infant who probably has no clue even though he has lived next to his sister for 9 monthes, yet Norah was feeling depressed because of her daughter and never really had that connection. Or, maybe she did have a largeg connection and just cannot live with the fact her daughter "died"?
Theme
I think a possible theme is grieving. Norah grives for her daughter and cannot stand the fact that her husband is not doing a thing.
VoCaB
1.) Reticence (27): disposed to be silent or not to speak freely; reserved.
2.) Precariously (73): dependent on circumstances beyond one's control; uncertain.
FiGuRaTiVe LaNgUaGe
1.) Similie. "She traveled slowly backward in the softening darkness, the stilled traffic like a frozen river" (32). The author is comparing the stilled traffic to a frozen river therefor it is a similie.
2.) Similie. " Norah looked at her son's tiny face, surprised, as always, by his name. He had not grown into it yet, he still wore it like a wristband, something that might easily slip off and disappear" (40). The author is comparing her son's new name and how it is similar to a wristband that could easily just slip away becuase it is so new.
3.) Imagery. "He left then, and everything was the same as it had been: the clock on the mantel, the square of light on the floor, the sharp shadows of bare branches"(66). I think that this quote is an imagery because it is descibing David's house and making it easy to think about during other descriptions.
QuOte
"Did he miss his twin, Norah wondered, that vanished presence, his short life's close companion? Would he always feel a sense of loss?"(44). I like this quote because it is representing how Paul, an infant who probably has no clue even though he has lived next to his sister for 9 monthes, yet Norah was feeling depressed because of her daughter and never really had that connection. Or, maybe she did have a largeg connection and just cannot live with the fact her daughter "died"?
Theme
I think a possible theme is grieving. Norah grives for her daughter and cannot stand the fact that her husband is not doing a thing.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Week 2, Post B
Dear David,
You are one of the main characters in the novel The Memory Keeper's Daughter. Your wife recently had twins and you had to deliver them in your office because of a snowstorm. During that time, you made the split-second choice to send the baby girl with downsyndrome with the nurse to bring to an institution. What made you decide you couldn't have a baby with a disability? And what made you decide to lie about it to your wife? You say, "This would destroy Norah. I will not have her deystroyed"(30). You tell Norah that the baby died at birth, but i believe it would have been better of you to at least tell the truth and see what happens from then. Norah is already depressed about her "dead" daughter. She keeps saying, "I had twins, No one else will say a word about her. They act like since I have Paul, i ought to be satisfied. Like lives are interchangeable. But I had twins. I had a daughter too"(43). David, you thought that Norah would forget about it, but is forgetting wanting to go to the graveyard once of week to mourn over your alive daughter's grave? I think you need to talk to your wife because so far i realize there will be some consequences!
sincerely,
Claire O'Neill
You are one of the main characters in the novel The Memory Keeper's Daughter. Your wife recently had twins and you had to deliver them in your office because of a snowstorm. During that time, you made the split-second choice to send the baby girl with downsyndrome with the nurse to bring to an institution. What made you decide you couldn't have a baby with a disability? And what made you decide to lie about it to your wife? You say, "This would destroy Norah. I will not have her deystroyed"(30). You tell Norah that the baby died at birth, but i believe it would have been better of you to at least tell the truth and see what happens from then. Norah is already depressed about her "dead" daughter. She keeps saying, "I had twins, No one else will say a word about her. They act like since I have Paul, i ought to be satisfied. Like lives are interchangeable. But I had twins. I had a daughter too"(43). David, you thought that Norah would forget about it, but is forgetting wanting to go to the graveyard once of week to mourn over your alive daughter's grave? I think you need to talk to your wife because so far i realize there will be some consequences!
sincerely,
Claire O'Neill
Week 2, Post A
The Memory Keeper's Daughter
Vocab
1.) Poultices (23): A soft moist mass of bread, meal, clay, or other adhesive substance, usually heated, spread on cloth, and applied to warm, moisten, or stimulate an aching or inflamed part of the body.
2.) Macabre (44): gruesome and horrifying; ghastly; horrible.
Figurative Language
1.) Similie. "She gestured to the house, veiled with snow and glowing like a lantern in the darkness of the street"(11). I feel that this is a similie because it uses like to compare the house and the lantern. Also this is an imagery because it describes the street and gives an image.
2.) Metaphor. "Since she had agreed to Dr. Henry's astonishing request, Caroline had felt as if she were falling through the air in slow motion, waiting to hit land and discover where she was"(22). This is a metaphor because it describes how Caroline has been feeling metaphorically.
3.) Similie. " Caroline drove fast once she reached the interstate, fatique sluicing through her body like water down rock"(31). This quote is describing how caroline's body felt like after she was driving fast.
Quote
"Yet he had sent her to this place with his infant daughter, this place where a woman had sat on the edge of a bed, her hair drifting into soft piles on the harsh cold light of the floor"(39). Caroline is puzzeled because David had seemed like a great guy: being a doctor, helping others for free but he does not want his own daughter who appears to have downsyndrome. She does not understand how she could have possibly liked him, so she decides to take the baby.
Theme
So far, i think the theme is lying to get the better way off. David lied to Norah about the baby which is causing her distress and pain. Also, i predict that that lie will come back and haunt him.
Vocab
1.) Poultices (23): A soft moist mass of bread, meal, clay, or other adhesive substance, usually heated, spread on cloth, and applied to warm, moisten, or stimulate an aching or inflamed part of the body.
2.) Macabre (44): gruesome and horrifying; ghastly; horrible.
Figurative Language
1.) Similie. "She gestured to the house, veiled with snow and glowing like a lantern in the darkness of the street"(11). I feel that this is a similie because it uses like to compare the house and the lantern. Also this is an imagery because it describes the street and gives an image.
2.) Metaphor. "Since she had agreed to Dr. Henry's astonishing request, Caroline had felt as if she were falling through the air in slow motion, waiting to hit land and discover where she was"(22). This is a metaphor because it describes how Caroline has been feeling metaphorically.
3.) Similie. " Caroline drove fast once she reached the interstate, fatique sluicing through her body like water down rock"(31). This quote is describing how caroline's body felt like after she was driving fast.
Quote
"Yet he had sent her to this place with his infant daughter, this place where a woman had sat on the edge of a bed, her hair drifting into soft piles on the harsh cold light of the floor"(39). Caroline is puzzeled because David had seemed like a great guy: being a doctor, helping others for free but he does not want his own daughter who appears to have downsyndrome. She does not understand how she could have possibly liked him, so she decides to take the baby.
Theme
So far, i think the theme is lying to get the better way off. David lied to Norah about the baby which is causing her distress and pain. Also, i predict that that lie will come back and haunt him.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Week 1 - Post B
The Memory Keeper's Daughter
Dear Kim Edwards,
I am only 20 pages into your novel but so far i am intrigued. I like how for this first chapter you have not said the main characters names yet but you have called them "he" "her" and "the doctor". I am very interested to see what their names are! But anyways, i think it is just horrible what the doctor does. I mean, give away his own daughter who comes out of the womb looking odd? How could any father do something as bad as that? Did you have anything to inspire to you write something like that? When the doctor says, "This poor child will most likely have a serious heart defect. A fatal one. I'm trying to spare us all a terrible grief"(19), does he really mean what he is saying or is he just being a selfish person who does not want to deal with a child dying? If i were the mother, i would want to know about this child. I would for sure not send it away...any loving mother who has carried her child for nine monthes would never do such a thing! But maybe the doctor just wanted not to tell his wife who was already stressed out about the condition she was in. Plus, the baby had a twin who lived. Although i am not very far into this novel, i find it very good! i cannot wait to keep on reading! =]
~claire O'Neill
Dear Kim Edwards,
I am only 20 pages into your novel but so far i am intrigued. I like how for this first chapter you have not said the main characters names yet but you have called them "he" "her" and "the doctor". I am very interested to see what their names are! But anyways, i think it is just horrible what the doctor does. I mean, give away his own daughter who comes out of the womb looking odd? How could any father do something as bad as that? Did you have anything to inspire to you write something like that? When the doctor says, "This poor child will most likely have a serious heart defect. A fatal one. I'm trying to spare us all a terrible grief"(19), does he really mean what he is saying or is he just being a selfish person who does not want to deal with a child dying? If i were the mother, i would want to know about this child. I would for sure not send it away...any loving mother who has carried her child for nine monthes would never do such a thing! But maybe the doctor just wanted not to tell his wife who was already stressed out about the condition she was in. Plus, the baby had a twin who lived. Although i am not very far into this novel, i find it very good! i cannot wait to keep on reading! =]
~claire O'Neill
Week 1 - Post A
The Memory Keeper's Daughter
VOCAB
1.) Eddies (3): a small whirlpool.
2.) Aberration (7): the act of departing from the right, normal, or usual course.
Figurative Language
1.) Imagery. "A few flakes first, in the dull gray late-afternoon sky, and then wind-driven swirls and eddies around the edges of their wide front porch"(3). This quote is imagery because it is describing what the scene looks like and it gives an image to reader about what is going on.
2.) Metaphor. "He read well past midnight, until the words shimmered senselessly on the bright white pages"(8). This is a metaphor because words do not actually shimmer on the pages, but the author is using it to describe what it felt like.
3.) Similie. "When he turned off the lights, shards of fire glowed softly through layers of ash as delicate and white as the snow piled so high now on the porch railings"(8). This is a similie because it uses as and compares the fire and the white snow.
Quote
"It was a moment when all the disparate shards of his life seemed to knit themselves together, every past sadness and disappointment, every anxious secret and uncertainty hidden now beneath the soft white layers"(9).
I like this quote because Dr. Henry is recounting everything that has happened in his life before he married his wife and how now they seem to come together. Now all his bad memories have been changed or hidden and he has moved on.
Theme
So far, the theme in this novel is living with what you have. Dr. Henry's wife had to give birth in not a regular hospital because of the snow storm and it shows that anything is possible.
VOCAB
1.) Eddies (3): a small whirlpool.
2.) Aberration (7): the act of departing from the right, normal, or usual course.
Figurative Language
1.) Imagery. "A few flakes first, in the dull gray late-afternoon sky, and then wind-driven swirls and eddies around the edges of their wide front porch"(3). This quote is imagery because it is describing what the scene looks like and it gives an image to reader about what is going on.
2.) Metaphor. "He read well past midnight, until the words shimmered senselessly on the bright white pages"(8). This is a metaphor because words do not actually shimmer on the pages, but the author is using it to describe what it felt like.
3.) Similie. "When he turned off the lights, shards of fire glowed softly through layers of ash as delicate and white as the snow piled so high now on the porch railings"(8). This is a similie because it uses as and compares the fire and the white snow.
Quote
"It was a moment when all the disparate shards of his life seemed to knit themselves together, every past sadness and disappointment, every anxious secret and uncertainty hidden now beneath the soft white layers"(9).
I like this quote because Dr. Henry is recounting everything that has happened in his life before he married his wife and how now they seem to come together. Now all his bad memories have been changed or hidden and he has moved on.
Theme
So far, the theme in this novel is living with what you have. Dr. Henry's wife had to give birth in not a regular hospital because of the snow storm and it shows that anything is possible.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Athena - Lean on Me
Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom, in the epic poem The Odyssey inspires me. She guides two important men in the right direction and acts somewhat as their guardian angel. If it weren’t for Athena, Telemachus probably would have stopped believing his father was alive and his mother would have probably married one of the suitors. She encourages Telemachus to go to Pylos and Sparta to find information about his father which helped him journey on his way to become a man. Athena defiantly has a major effect on how this story is going to turn out and with that, I think Odysseus and Telemachus are there to Lean On her.
Athena first inspired me in the first book when she went to Ithaca to speak to Telemachus. She says, “How obscenely they lounge and swagger here, look, gorging in your house. Why, any man of sense who chanced among them would be outraged seeing such behavior” [260]. And with that, Telemachus wants to get ride of the suitors. She is also very clever when she disguises herself as Telemachus to get a ship and crew. This brings me to think that she is an amazing master of disguise.
I chose the song Lean on Me by Bill Withers. I felt that those lyrics show that because Athena is an immortal Goddess her job is to let the immortals lean on her. Some lyrics that show how Athena cares and helps others move on are: Sometimes in our lives we all have pain / We all have sorrow / But if we are wise /We know that there's always tomorrow/Lean on me, when you're not strong/And I'll be your friend /I'll help you carry on. She helps Odysseus and Telemachus overcome their problems by giving each one strengths. She gives Telemachus courage to speak up to the suitors and go on a journey. Therfore, I think Athena is the type of person who is willing to give a hand whenever and be there to lean on.
Athena first inspired me in the first book when she went to Ithaca to speak to Telemachus. She says, “How obscenely they lounge and swagger here, look, gorging in your house. Why, any man of sense who chanced among them would be outraged seeing such behavior” [260]. And with that, Telemachus wants to get ride of the suitors. She is also very clever when she disguises herself as Telemachus to get a ship and crew. This brings me to think that she is an amazing master of disguise.
I chose the song Lean on Me by Bill Withers. I felt that those lyrics show that because Athena is an immortal Goddess her job is to let the immortals lean on her. Some lyrics that show how Athena cares and helps others move on are: Sometimes in our lives we all have pain / We all have sorrow / But if we are wise /We know that there's always tomorrow/Lean on me, when you're not strong/And I'll be your friend /I'll help you carry on. She helps Odysseus and Telemachus overcome their problems by giving each one strengths. She gives Telemachus courage to speak up to the suitors and go on a journey. Therfore, I think Athena is the type of person who is willing to give a hand whenever and be there to lean on.
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