Sunday, April 26, 2009

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, cycle 22 pages 75-90

In this section of the book, Christopher finds himself not damaged from the news that his mother had an affair with Mr. Shears. He begins to write his book about his investigation. The inspiration he gains from reading Sherlock Holmes, he uses to fuel his writing. One day his father comes home to find Christopher’s book unattended. He reads to learn that Christopher has disobeyed his wishes. He confronts Christopher, but Christopher is confused because he thought he wasn’t breaking any of his father’s guidelines. Punishing Christopher and out of anger, his father slams him against the wall, causing minor injuries. Christopher was more confused than upset by his father’s actions. After all of the chaos, Christopher discovers his book in the trash. The next day, his father apologizes and takes Christopher to the zoo.
Jaundice is “also called icterus. Pathology. yellow discoloration of the skin, whites of the eyes, etc., due to an increase of bile pigments in the blood, often symptomatic of certain diseases, as hepatitis.” Hemorrhage is a profuse discharge of blood, as from a ruptured blood vessel; bleeding. Nephritis is inflammation of the kidneys, esp. in Bright's disease.
Why does Christopher not have an open mind about things?
I believe that this is because Christopher’s mental disability makes him somewhat of a computer. He refers to his mind like a video recorder because he can recall memories unlike anyone else. He uses these memories to help him judge how to handle everyday activities.
Why doesn’t Christopher’s father confront Mr. Shears about the affair with his wife?
I believe this is because he doesn’t want Christopher to get further confused. He shields Christopher from this early on so that it doesn’t taint Christopher’s view on his mother. Since she is dead now, Christopher doesn’t care because he believes the dead are dead, and their thought doesn’t matter.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, cycle 21 pages 60-75

Christopher has recently found out about his mother’s affair with Mr. Shears. He has finally found why his father hates Mr. Shears so much. Mrs. Alexander has informed him about the news. She does not want Christopher to tell his father of his knowledge fearing that it will complicate things. Even with Mrs. Alexander informing him, Christopher still feels that she is a stranger, so he is unable to speak with her for long. Mrs. Alexander expresses that she only wants to be friends, but Christopher leaves without saying a word goodbye. Sinobin, Christopher’s personal teacher, confronts Christopher about the situation. She asks him if he is sad or felt any type of emotion. Knowing Christopher, this does not bother him because of his confusion to figure out feelings. He feels that since his mother is dead and Mr. Shears is gone, that no one should worry about the situation.
There was no vocabulary that needed defining.
The six traits in this passage are thoroughly worked on, especially word choice. The ideas in this passage have many underlying thoughts that help the book along. An example would be the paragraph on why Christopher likes math. He likes math because he believes that it is safe and very different from life. Math also has straightforward answers unlike his life. The word choice in the passage was also very good. The adjectives were descriptive and illustrated good images. An example would be “white clouds which looked like fish scales”