Monday, January 2, 2012

how i live 1-4

#1 QUOTE
"But the summer I went to England to stay with my cousins everything changed. Part if that was because of war, which supposedly changed lots of things, but I can’t remember much about life before war. Anyway so it doesn't count in my book....Mostly everything changed because Edmond".

Reaction
I wonder who Edmond is and why have things mostly changed due to him.  If he changed things was it in a good way or a bad way ? It’s obvious if war is going on then left would seem stressful. Seeing that you have been sent away for the summer across the world, in a region you’re not use to. Those are pretty dramatic changes.


Analysis
Sometimes throughout the novel Elizabeth speaks as if shes directly talking to you , and your not reading a book. It gathers my attention more closely. Since the book jumps from place to place , i thought it was a good idea to have the main character speak as if it was in person, as I'm reading its like i know her , i can hear what might her voice sound like.


#2 page 85
Quote
     "Later Major m told us you'd be amazed at the number of things that can go wrong for the civilians in war. For instance, he said, let’s say a kid gets appendicitis or breaks his leg, there was no telephone to tell someone that the bone was sticking out of his high , no petrol to drive a car to the field hospital , if you happened to know where it was in the first place, and big shortage of antibiotics if you did manage to get the kid to a surgeon somehow and wanted to make sure he or she didn't die of infection a week or so later."

Reaction
i found this quote interesting . It brought back memories from learning facts about the world in history class. How us Americans was once in a drought, depression. If it happened to us once it can happen again. However I don't think Elizabeth had seen this coming when she was going to stay with her cousins in England. She thought like everyone else, a war is going to happen just let it come and see what it brings them.
Elizabeth got a clear view of what’s going on in the world. It makes her wonder "what’s the end going to be about" because so much is already going on and not much to do to help it. She learned so much about farming than she ever did. She realized all these things were a happening under "occupation rules" but she didn't understand the occupation for the simple fact that it didn't seem like any other war... Is it perhaps because she’s not in America?


 Analysis
   The author uses one of the soldiers to deliver this message , and portrays a lot of images of what the world might look like at the time. He tells how much of a struggle just to get certain things done and if it can be done in the first place. Living life where war actually takes place and a frustrating life because you don't know how long your going to survive as the author explains.


#3 page 87
Quote
    "What impressed me was how simple it seemed to be to throw a whole country into chaos by dumping a bunch of poison into some of the water supplies making sure no one could get electricity.... All in all I felt a little guilty about the fact that while us kids had been living in life of Riley, a whole bunch of other people had been scurrying around like lunatics... The belief was there were too many problems to think about and not enough people to sort them out...... For all our making fun of Osbert and his passion to join war effort I could see now that was our ticket way home"

Reaction
She and Osbert's younger sister was feeling down when Osbert had left to join the war. Although Osbert and Elizabeth were cousins they had a very special bond and when he wasn't there she would just reminisce on the times when he was there , but now everything's clicking through to her and she’s starting to get a better understand .

Analysis
The author displays how point of view shifted from negative to positive and has her speak out on it herself. Elizabeth totally respects Osbert's decision when he joined the war. Although it took her a while and he wasn't there to see her have a better mind statement; she is very pleased that she hopes that’s their ticket way home and soon the war will be over. Again the author uses her voice to hopefully gather the feelings that she felt at the time.



#4 (page72)
QUOTE: "the fact that no one seemed to be outside even though it was a beautiful sunny day, and there were no kids on the playground or riding their bikes along the street or anything.  Also there were no cars driving and lots abandoned by the side of the road where they ran out of gas."

REACTION: Since Elizabeth is from England i know she feels like everyone out here is odd. Coming to a place while war is on , makes your mind wander. I would have questions or comments for days. Fact I know I’d feel unsafe since Aunt Penn went on a trip and there isn't anyone outside. This reminds me of Clarisse from Fahrenheit 451. Except she was the one who knew all the right information about the world and was singled out from everyone else.

ANALYSIS: This dystopian novel shows how Bombs go off as London is attacked and occupied by an unnamed enemy. The power fails and the systems fail and the farm becomes more. This author displays a lot of imagery , makes you feel like as if your actually in England going through those tragic moments, or seeing a nice day outside and no ones outside because the war.

1 comment:

  1. Good start, Ria.
    You've selected strong passages.
    Good interactions with text.
    Analysis is okay - you do hone in on author's style - but I think you could go deeper into the specific words and techniques in each passage.

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