1. Warming up with reading time and a few possible journal ideas if you're stuck:
Flashback to yesterday's warm-up:
- What does the idea of the 6th borough represent to Oskar? (Revisit the image on pages 60 and 61 after you read that part)
- What symbolic role does the Empire State Building play in this part of the story?
OR
Interview a Character:
- Try interviewing one of the characters in the story who doesn't get a narrative (the mom, the dad, Dr. Fein, any of the characters named Black, etc.). Include the questions you're asking and how you think they'd respond.
2. Enjoying ELIC Fishbowl #4: Pages 208-259
3. Wrapping up with lingering questions, epiphanies, and kudos
HW:
1. For tomorrow: Review your ELIC words tonight for tomorrow's assessment.
2. For Tuesday: Read through page 306 for our penultimate fishbowl. Prepare your journal entry using any of the options. There are 30 pages of actual reading in this assignment; you could about 10 tonight, 10 on Monday in class, and 10 Monday night if you don't want to read over the weekend.
Do you think the Blacks are all in on this together?
ReplyDeleteThat is an bold question. Although it is possible that the Blacks could all know eachother and have some plan for Oskar, I think that is very unlikely, as they all seem to be very different and live far away from eachother.
Delete"I wasn't even surprised" pg 225
ReplyDeleteThis quote makes me wonder, Does Oskar's Grandma believe that humans are just naturally evil?
I think she does. Ever since the bombing, her views on human nature has changed for the worst. She probably thinks humans are naturally evil because of what she's been through.
DeleteBecause of what she's been put through and seen happen to her and now Oskar's father, I'm sure she has a slight perception that some people are naturally evil but of course not everyone is.
Delete"Let it go Mom. She had never called me Mom" pg 229
ReplyDeleteWhy do you think Oskar's mom calls her Mom for the first time then?
I think that she calls the grandma "mom" for the first time because she knows that they both loved Thomas Jr. very much, and that because they were in this whole situation together the mother needed to show the grandmother that they need each other through their differences.
DeleteThat realization that the grandma has in that moment says that something has changed about the mother. I think it is a very emotional moment for the two of them, I think this is a good moment for the two women to undergo in order to share in their sorrow.
DeleteI believe that after losing what connected Oskar's mom to the grandma(Thomas)she knew he was gone or could be gone she then received a closer bond to the grandmother
DeleteOn page 245 Oskar is thinking about ways he would want die and asks himself, "feeling pain is still better than not feeling, isn't it?" Do you agree? What would you prefer?
ReplyDeleteI would rather feel pain and still be alive because there will always be something good happening that will be worth it.
DeleteI agree with that, I would rather be able to feel some time of emotion even if it is pain over not feeling anything.
DeleteI think in this context he could really be talking about the pain from losing his father. He told his therapist that he thinks that he feels too much, but he said himself he would rather feel pain than nothing at all.
DeleteFeeling pain would always be better than feeling nothing at all because once you feel nothing you have lost what makes us human, and i think Oskar really understands that because even though most people would give up he still is trying for months to figure out what the key goes to, to feel close to his dad even though its painful and giving him heavier boots.
DeleteI don't agree what Oskar said. I think that most of us fear death because we don't know what it's going to feel like. It's just the unknown. If had to choose my death, I would choose something that wouldn't be painful. Us as humans fear pain. We do everything in our power to not feel it. I think if we weren't scared of pain we wouldn't be so scared of death.
DeleteRegardless of how people had died that day, they felt something either emotionally or physically. It would be so horrifying to think would I rather jump or wait?
DeleteIf there is a long wait to your death and you feel lots of pain and emotional suffering beforehand, I would rather have it be instant. You also don't have to fear the thought of dying as you would if it lasted a long time.
DeleteNow that we know what happened to Anna it is easier to understand why Thomas lost his words?
ReplyDeleteNo, I understand why he didn't want children but that shouldn't make him unable to speak.
DeleteThe reason he doesn't speak is because all the things he saw and had to do. He had to shoot a bunch of animals ad saw a lot of dead bodies
DeleteI'm not sure I can totally relate to what Thomas went through, however, it seems like Anna was such a big part of his life and someone that he cared so much for that his life would never be the same with her loss. It's almost like he didn't even know how to live any more, or maybe there was nobody else worth talking to for Thomas. I think that is also why Thomas married Anna's sister, as that was the closest he could get to Anna.
DeleteBut why would that make someone not talk? He could be giving people lots of wisdom after suffering such hardship. Is the loss of voice his choice or a medical disease?
DeleteI think he suffered some sort of PTSD after Dresden as anyone who experiences something like that would. But, he was very in love with Anna and the role she played in his life caused him to do the things he did like marrying her sister and trying to find ways to cope
DeleteI don't believe it is because of Anna as to why Thomas lost the ability to speak over a period of time because he never saw exactly what had happened to her. I think it was because of the many awful things he actually witnessed that day of the bombings that scarred him for life.
DeleteShe took a stapler, and a box of staples. and tape. i think of those things now." Foer pg 230
ReplyDeleteDoes Oskar know about this development that happened a long time ago? the grandmother's record of these moments seem to be very opposite of what Oskar thinks of his mother, that she doesn't care.
"I told her, "I love our baby." (Foer 215)
ReplyDeleteSince the grandpa was clearly so deeply in love with Anna, what happened to where he all the sudden though Anna's sister would be a fitting replacement?
I don't think he thought that the grandmother is a replacement to Anna, I just think he needed someone he could make a life with.
DeleteI think that the grandfather was reminded of Anna through her sister, and that because the grandmother was so persistent he thought it would be a good idea. It also could've been a little bit of desperation for someone to have, even if they didn't love each other in the traditional ways.
DeleteOn page 256 it says, "Who’s your grandpa?” “I don’t know. He left my grandma before I was born." Why does the grandma hide the grandpa? How would Oskar feel towards his grandma if/when he finds out his grandma has hidden his grandpa from him this whole time?
ReplyDeleteI think this will be a very confusing and traumatic experience for Oskar, as it will shake up his whole world and everything he thought he knew. He may lose some trust for his grandma, as he seems to be very independent, especially since the loss of his dad.
DeleteI believe she never fully healed enough to talk about it. Oskar's father might of had anger or sadness towards his dad for leaving his mother and him before he was born and maybe he didn't think he was important enough to tell his own son.
DeleteI think that when Oskar finds out that the renter was the grandfather the whole time, he'll feel devastated or even betrayed by the grandmother because he trusted and relied on her for years.
Delete"I hope you don't think of something as much as I think about you." pg 224
ReplyDeleteWhy would Grandma be saying this to Oskar? Is it she fears he'll be so attached to someone that he will reach an emotional level like grandma?
I feel he is saying that because the grandfather has spent so much time thinking about what he could have done differently and doesn't want the same for Oscar.
DeleteGrandma^^
DeleteDo you think there is any significance to where the authors chooses to place the letters sent to Oskar by various famous people?
ReplyDeleteI was wondering the same thing. They seemed like they interrupt the setting. Maybe they were what Oskar is thinking during the scene.
DeleteI am also curious to why the Steven Hawking letter keeps popping up out of nowhere throughout the book. Steven Hawking is Oskar's inspiration but I still wonder if that will be resolved like if he'll get an actual letter from him.
DeleteI don't know if there is significance of where the author choses to put them in the story, but I do think there could be significance in the idea that those letters from famous people mean so much to him, and so if in the end he finds letters from his grandparents or dad, they could mean that much more to him.
DeleteOn page 213 we see that the grandfather killed many animals during the Dresden firebombing. Do you think that when he moved to America he had so many pets because he felt guilty for all of animals he murdered or he just felt comfort from them?
ReplyDeleteI feel like that definitely contributed to his love for animals
DeleteI never even thought of that, I think now that you pointed it out that there is definitely a correlation. He could've felt bad for all the animals he ended up killing, so he decided to keep and raise animals so that they wouldn't die too.
Delete"I took the phone out of the scarf that grandma was never able to finish plugged it in and played those first five messages for him." Foer pg 255
ReplyDeleteWhen do you think Oscar will revel the messages to his mother and grandmother?
I think that Oscar still won't reveal them to his mom, and from the grandma's letters it seems like she is gone so maybe he won't have the opportunity to show her.
DeleteI think that Oskar might never show these messages to anyone else because it is something that he can have with his father and doesn't have to share with anyone else.
DeleteWhy didn't the Grandpa tell Oskar that he was his grandpa? Is the grandpa afraid of something that we don't know?
ReplyDeleteWhat if the grandmother did not want Oskar to know that the renter is actually his long lost grandfather? What does she want to hide?
DeleteOn page 216 the grandfather writes "I'm so afraid of losing something I love that I refuse to love anything". Do you think it would be easier or harder to live this way?
ReplyDeleteThis is a level 1 question but on page 213 when the ape comes back to the grandpa and looks at him with some sort of understanding, did the ape die? What was the purpose of the author focusing on that ape
ReplyDeleteYes it said that he shot it again
DeleteI think the focus is that he had to look the ape back in the eyes when it was in pain and shoot it again, which must have been very hard
DeleteOn Page 251, "Mr. Black said, "We're not related." "Why would we be related?" "Because we have the same last name." (Oskar) Inside I thought, But technically she never actually said her last name was Black. And even if it actually was Black, why wasn't she asking how he knew her last name?
ReplyDeleteWhat if the grandmother did not want Oskar to know that the renter is actually his long lost grandfather? What does she want to hide?
ReplyDeleteOn page 216 the grandfather writes "I love you, your father". Do you think you can truly love someone that you have never even met before?
ReplyDeleteDo you think it is true that New York City put the bodies under the ice skating rink?
ReplyDeleteOn page 208: "'You never sculpt me, but at least you could write to me.'" (said by Anna)
ReplyDeleteIs this why the granddad sculpted Anna's sister, but tried to make it look like Anna?
"Planes going into buildings... bodies falling.... buildings falling"
ReplyDeleteThese 3 sayings along with a few more didn't just come up once to show what the Grandma had witnessed the day of 9/11. They were seen constantly throughout the chapter and I'm wondering what is symbolic about that?
Ruth says on page 252, "When he died, I came back up here. It's silly." "No," I said. "It isn't." "I wasn't looking for him. I'm not a girl. But it gave me the same feeling that I'd had when it was daytime and I was looking for his light. I knew it was there, I just couldn't see it."
ReplyDeleteWhat does this mean when Ruth was explaining how she felt to Mr. Black and Oskar?