We started our literary circle by discussing our general feelings after finishing the novel. We all agreed that we were disappointed by the ending because we though that Oskar deserved more. I shared my thoughts of how I had been imaging an ending full of explanations and excitement, but much was left up to the reader to decipher. Surprisingly, we had less to talk about than usual today. This could have been because we did not have very many pages to read, but also could have been caused by what seemed to be a disappointing ending.
Another idea that we all agreed upon was the fact that there were some connections to Slaughterhouse-Five in this novel. The most obvious connection that we all made was that in both novels, the protagonist goes through a horrific event backwards. In Slaughterhouse-Five, Billy Pilgrim watches a war movie backwards, watching the bombs go back into the planes. In Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Oskar goes through the fateful day of September 11 backwards, going back to the night before when everyone was safe. We discussed how, in both instances, the ending result is peace and safety, which was Oskar's goal all along. I also made a connection between Oskar and his grandmother because they both went through their worst days backward to reach their peace. The other connection that we made between the two novels was the reference to Adam and Eve, and we decided that this also represented peace.
On the same note, we discussed connection that these two novels may have to the greater idea of a just war. Alex started this conversation by referring back to Oskar's session with the therapist who asks if anything good came from his father's death. We decided that Oskar's grandparents got back together because of Thomas Schell's death, but not much else seemed to come from it. Our ideas seemed to build, and we decided that the characters had to go through some sort of pain to finally achieve peace within. I then thought of the references in the novel to Stephen Hawkins and the fact that Oskar only received form letters from him. I proposed that these letters from Stephen Hawkins could represent Oskar's disappointment, and his response at the end could represent Oskar's healing process.
Our discussion was very productive, but we must still look into the idea of just war that is presented in this novel.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Thursday, January 7, 2010
When Everything Seems to Come Together
In the section that we had to read for yesterday's literature circle, everything seemed to come together for the first time. We had a lot to read, and even more to discuss in our literature circle. As usual, we worked very well together and stayed on task, but this time we almost needed more time because we had so much that we wanted to share with each other.
First, Tara shared the topics that she chose to write about in her response, one of which was a topic that we had previously explored. She brought up the idea once again that Oskar showed signs of someone who is autistic, which I had proposed a couple of weeks ago. I agreed with Tara about the fact that there were more signs in this section of the reading to suggest some type of autism in Oskar. Tara shared a quote in which Oskar said that most of his classmates had ADD, which could suggest that he goes to some type of special school or class, and she also pointed out that he does not know when to stop, which is another characteristic that is common among people with autism. I also added that the psychologist wanted to hospitalize Oskar, which may or may not have something to do with the traits previously discussed.
Allison brought up two interesting points in this literature circle. The first was that Oskar's mother saw his bruises, but never said anything about it. I hadn't noticed this when I was reading, but as I thought about is more, it became more peculiar. If she saw all of the bruises on his body that he did to himself, why wouldn't she do anything to help him? The second point that Allison brought up was that when Oskar's grandfather was observing Oskar in the apartment, he was watching him though a keyhole, which could be symbolic of the key that Oskar carries around. On the same note, we all thought it was somewhat cliche but still interesting that Oskar had a Band-Aid over his heart where the key rested because it is symbolic of the wounds that he has.
Our group spent a lot of time closely reading the letter on page 208 to page 216 that Oskar's grandfather wrote to his son, who is Oskar's father. Oskar's father went through the letter and circled the mistakes with his red pen. Alex thought it was strange that he would mark up the only letter that he ever received from his father, ruining it in a sense. We discussed the different words or phrases that were circled with the red pen, especially those that weren't just grammar mistakes. From some of the phrases that were circled, our group concluded that Oskar's father had a lot of animosity toward his father for leaving his mother, and that is why he circled things like "I love you, Your father". We also spent some time trying to decode the last message from Oskar's father to figure out his dying words. We determined that his father did say that he loved Oskar, but because his words were cut off, Oskar thought that he never said those words.
I also shared with the group that the French astronaut described on page 243 is probably the same man who is pictured on page 67, but I would like to know why this is included in the novel. Another one of my questions that arose from the discussion is whether or not Oskar's mother knew that his grandfather was staying in his grandmother's apartment.
First, Tara shared the topics that she chose to write about in her response, one of which was a topic that we had previously explored. She brought up the idea once again that Oskar showed signs of someone who is autistic, which I had proposed a couple of weeks ago. I agreed with Tara about the fact that there were more signs in this section of the reading to suggest some type of autism in Oskar. Tara shared a quote in which Oskar said that most of his classmates had ADD, which could suggest that he goes to some type of special school or class, and she also pointed out that he does not know when to stop, which is another characteristic that is common among people with autism. I also added that the psychologist wanted to hospitalize Oskar, which may or may not have something to do with the traits previously discussed.
Allison brought up two interesting points in this literature circle. The first was that Oskar's mother saw his bruises, but never said anything about it. I hadn't noticed this when I was reading, but as I thought about is more, it became more peculiar. If she saw all of the bruises on his body that he did to himself, why wouldn't she do anything to help him? The second point that Allison brought up was that when Oskar's grandfather was observing Oskar in the apartment, he was watching him though a keyhole, which could be symbolic of the key that Oskar carries around. On the same note, we all thought it was somewhat cliche but still interesting that Oskar had a Band-Aid over his heart where the key rested because it is symbolic of the wounds that he has.
Our group spent a lot of time closely reading the letter on page 208 to page 216 that Oskar's grandfather wrote to his son, who is Oskar's father. Oskar's father went through the letter and circled the mistakes with his red pen. Alex thought it was strange that he would mark up the only letter that he ever received from his father, ruining it in a sense. We discussed the different words or phrases that were circled with the red pen, especially those that weren't just grammar mistakes. From some of the phrases that were circled, our group concluded that Oskar's father had a lot of animosity toward his father for leaving his mother, and that is why he circled things like "I love you, Your father". We also spent some time trying to decode the last message from Oskar's father to figure out his dying words. We determined that his father did say that he loved Oskar, but because his words were cut off, Oskar thought that he never said those words.
I also shared with the group that the French astronaut described on page 243 is probably the same man who is pictured on page 67, but I would like to know why this is included in the novel. Another one of my questions that arose from the discussion is whether or not Oskar's mother knew that his grandfather was staying in his grandmother's apartment.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
So many questions...
In our literature circle, we discussed a lot of the questions that we had after reading Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. One of the main questions I had going into the discussion was the something and nothing spaces in the grandparents' house and what they symbolized. Alex had a very good idea relating to this, which I agreed with. She thought that the hallway may have been denoted a "something" place because it was a way to escape. Oskar's grandmother was certainly damaged by the fire that killed her family, and like Oskar, she may have been trying to think of ways that her family could have lived.
I brought up the phrase "Do you know what time it is," which was repeated throughout the chapter. Our group uncovered that it was used in between stories about the past and stories about the present, so it could possibly show that Oskar's grandparents were confused by time, meaning that time had no significance. I also thought that this may have had something to do with the damage that Oskar's grandfather suffered as a result of Anna's death. He may have been confused by the time because he wants to be back in the past, when he was happy with Anna.
We also wondered whether Oskar's grandmother was literally blind, or blind in a more figurative manner. Throughout the chapter, there seems to be some indication that she is physically blind, but I couldn't understand how she could have her vision in other parts of the novel. I brought up the idea once again that Oskar's grandmother has trouble communicating with people, and maybe that is what her blindness symbolizes. I related the way that she communicates with people to the way that someone speaks when they are involved in watching television and is having a simple conversation but is just not there mentally.
Our group worked well together, and we were all looking forward to the next literature circle, when we will have a lot of material to discuss.
I brought up the phrase "Do you know what time it is," which was repeated throughout the chapter. Our group uncovered that it was used in between stories about the past and stories about the present, so it could possibly show that Oskar's grandparents were confused by time, meaning that time had no significance. I also thought that this may have had something to do with the damage that Oskar's grandfather suffered as a result of Anna's death. He may have been confused by the time because he wants to be back in the past, when he was happy with Anna.
We also wondered whether Oskar's grandmother was literally blind, or blind in a more figurative manner. Throughout the chapter, there seems to be some indication that she is physically blind, but I couldn't understand how she could have her vision in other parts of the novel. I brought up the idea once again that Oskar's grandmother has trouble communicating with people, and maybe that is what her blindness symbolizes. I related the way that she communicates with people to the way that someone speaks when they are involved in watching television and is having a simple conversation but is just not there mentally.
Our group worked well together, and we were all looking forward to the next literature circle, when we will have a lot of material to discuss.
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