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1. Warming up with Star Wars According a 3-Year-Old; mapping out the Joseph Campbell hero's journey as a class
"Here it is: there's only one story. There, I said it and I can't very will take it back. There is only one story. Ever. One. It's always been going on and it's everywhere around us and every story you've ever read or heard or watched is part of it."
-- Foster, How To Read Literature Like a Professor
2. Trying out Campbell's hero's journey with your favorite quests, then using the hero's journey to understand the start of Oskar's quest
3. Discussion #1: Pages 35-85 of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
4. Reflecting on your role in discussion today
HW:
1. Read through page 141 in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close for Tuesday's discussion; leaders need to prepare a syllabus.
2. Remember to spend 30 minutes on your journal for this book throughout the week; starting next week, I will conference with each of you during class on your journals.
3. First memoir assignment: Next Friday (TOMORROW), bring in a collection of items that have significance to you (ticket stubs, printed photos, hospital ID bracelet, etc.).
"The next day, your grandfather and I were married" On page 85. Why does the grandma think that the grandpa is dead?
ReplyDeleteDo you think that our generation is better at handling traumatic events because of what happens on a day to day basis?
ReplyDeleteI think because of how much tragedy shows up in the news, we have become desensitized from sadness and the problem at hand. I think the more we deal with sad things, the more we become accustomed to them.
DeleteI think that because it is so easy, and sometimes inevitable to find out about tragic events with the news and the internet, we begin to feel like it's natural for these things to occur daily.
DeleteI think that there are some things that society has numbed up to but if something like 9/11 were to happen again I think it would not be different than the reactions to 9/11. People get shot and killed on a day to day basis and it really only affects the immediate people around and the others keep living. Mass shootings get attention for a week or two then go away but none of those events are on the mass scale of 9/11.
DeleteI agree with Grant. Within the past year, the U.S. and Europe has gone through many traumatic experiences. We're slowly learning how to cope.
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DeleteIsn't it creepy that Oscar's Grandma watched Thomas and her sister kiss? And then she (Oskar's Grandma) decided to marry Thomas... Why would she do that?
ReplyDeleteA few outer circle reminders: Hit the F5 Key to refresh the screen (it won't refresh automatically). Hit "reply" to reply directly to someone's comment or question. Please use proper spelling and grammar (not texting language).
ReplyDelete@alex Y I think so it feels like every day we turn on the news its another shooting bombing and it just looses its effect.
ReplyDelete"My uncle took each letter and promised the inmate that they would be delivered. But instead he kept them all." Page 78
ReplyDeleteWhy would he just keep the letters?
Oskar uses the term "raison d’être" quite a bit, which translates to "reason for existence". Why is this such a focal point in his life?
ReplyDeleteMaybe because he hit a low part in his life so he is searching for a reason
DeleteI think his (most likely all of ours) life goal is to find his purpose.
Delete@Andrew D. I think they got married because they had lost the same person and because of this, they felt connected. This "marriage" is not really a marriage more of an agreement between the two for comfort and companionship
ReplyDeleteDo you have any personal connections to the pictures on pages 53-67? If so what?
ReplyDeletei think that there is a connection between Oscar and his parental issues. I think both of his parents not being there and not having a lot of friends kinda made him a little different.
ReplyDeleteWhy does Oskar always wear white? What is the significance of the color in the book? For example, on page 5 it says "Grandma was knitting white mittens, so I knew they were for me..." White also shows up later on page 40 Oskar states "I didn't like the enclosed T-shirt. I loved it! Although unfortunately it wasn't white, so I couldn't wear it."
ReplyDeleteI think that Oskar can't control to wear things with color he needs them simple.
DeleteI believe that he only wears white, because it is the opposite of black. Black is a color associated with mourning. And Oskar does not want to believe he is stuck int he past so he wears white. Oskar may only be wearing white that way he can try and convince himself that he is not mourning anymore when he really is.
Delete"White means safety, purity, and cleanliness. As opposed to black, white usually has a positive connotation." He wants to move on and start over so he wears white so he doesn't have to remember his past.
DeleteDid Oksars grandma ever find who the boy was from the Turkish Labor camp? The letter is on page 75
ReplyDeleteHow do you think the views of tragedies differ from the perspective of a kid and a perspective of an adult?
ReplyDeleteI think as a little kid, Oskar's perspective has been somewhat covered up and censored. He knows roughly what happened and is very sad about it but he might not truly understand what terrorism is and other details about the attack. As a kid, all he knows is that his dad is gone and he is sad about that.
Delete"I am looking for an acceptable compromise" on page 84, I feel as if they are compromising about a lot of things like no kids and much more and I feel as if they should just go with the flow and not have to think about every action they take.
ReplyDeleteIs the landlord actually staying with Oskar's Grandma, pages 69-70 are Oskar's Grandma and mom hiding something from him?
ReplyDeleteHello, Unknown. Could you sign in so I know who you are? Good question, by the way.
DeleteDoes he have to grow apart from his mom to get closer to his dad?
ReplyDeleteI think that is what's happening so it seems likely that they will just grow further apart until he figures out what that key is for.
DeleteThe search for the lock and his quest to find out more about his dad may cause them to grow apart at first, but once he finds the closure he's looking for they might grow closer again.
DeleteHim and his mom could get closer while both getting closer to his dad. Oskar hasn't really communicated with his mom well throughout the book, but she might have some answers that would help him. He mentions on page 52, "And every time I would go out, she'd ask where I was going and when I'd be back and I'd just say, I'm going out, I'll be back later." He explains after that ever since dad had passed she had let him free a little bit but when dad was there, she would have wanted to know everything. I think he feels like she is disengaging from him which is hard since he lost his dad and now his mom sort of.
DeleteGoing a little bit off of what was just said in the inner circle about death, do you think Oskar feels as if he could've done something to prevent his fathers death? Does him being a child have any impact on his reaction to his father's death?
ReplyDeleteI don't think that Oskar is feeling like he could have stopped what happened to his dad. Oskar keeps listening to his dads last words from the phone. I feel like the best he can do to remember his dad is listening to those last words
DeleteIn this part in Oskar's life, it is described that he lies to his mother for the first time. Why is this significant?
ReplyDelete"Every time I left our apartment to go searching for the lock, I became a little lighter, because I was getting closer to Dad. But I also became a little heavier, because i was getting father from mom." (52)
Do you think that Oskar is feeling guilty of being separated from his mother?
I wonder why it was so long, why was he trying to hide something so well?
ReplyDeleteIn the book, Oscar's Grandma wrote a letter to Oskar, and in the letter, Oskars grandma mentioned a conversation with her sister. It began with Oskar's grandma asking her sister a question,
ReplyDelete"
"Can I watch you kiss?" [Grandma]
"Can you watch us kiss?" [Grandma's Sister]
"You could tell me where you are going to kiss, and I could hide and watch." [Grandma]
She laughed enough to migrate an entire flock of birds. That was how she said yes.
"
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Why would Oskar's Grandmas sister be ok with this?
This also struck me as odd when I read the book (as did the fact that Oskar's grandmother writes to him about having sex with his grandfather). However, reading this again, I think that this moment of the grandmother watching her sister kiss Thomas represents a time of innocence...it's an innocence before a terrible fall.
DeleteHow do Oskar's pictures resemble his personality and actions?
ReplyDelete"I couldn't explain it: a fat and short key, in a little envelope. in a blue vase, on the highest shelf in his closet." (37) What do you think an envelope was doing in the closet? Did Oskar's dad put it there just before he left on the day he died? Or did he put the envelope there for Oskar as a hint to what he should've been looking for? Was the envelope even for Oskar or was his dad hiding something? Why did Oskar wait so long to start looking for the things his dad hid?
ReplyDeleteWhy do you think that the author keeps bringing up letters? What do letters symbolize?
ReplyDeleteOskar states that, "I started inventing things, and then I couldn't stop, like beavers..."(36) do you think that this metaphor that Oskar uses is a way to understand how he works and thinks?
ReplyDeleteI think Oskar needs closure of what happen to his father so he is doing everything he can to find out about him. It seemed like Oskar and his dad had a better relationship than him and his mom. Oskar went to the art store and found his dads name on a piece of paper that you test pens on page 50.
ReplyDeleteDid Oskar's father intend for Oskar to somehow get inside the vase? Was this all part of his "
ReplyDelete"game"?
I thought about this as well. If Oskar wouldn't have knocked over the vase, he would've never had a call to adventure.
DeleteI believe Oskar's dad was planning a scavenger hunt larger than ever before. But, it probably isn't finished (because he died). Some clues that point towards this are the fact that his dad wrote in most of the pen testers from the supply store, but never made a purchase.
DeleteWhy did Oskar's journal of Stuff That Happened to me have so many random pictures in it, how does he relate to the pictures, pages 53-67
ReplyDeleteThey aren't random pictures to him. They all having meaning in his life and relate to what he says in the chapter.
DeleteI don't believe the pictures are random at all. It begins with the key rack Oskar saw when talking with the lock smith, then a picture with the park Oskars scavenger hunt began with, and more, related items.
DeleteDo you think the key could symbolize something metaphorically as well as literally unlocking a lock?
ReplyDeleteYES! But I'm not sure what. What do you all think?
DeleteUnlocking the lock could symbolize finding his closure.
DeleteI feel like it is metaphorically trying to get him to show unlock that mystery of his grandfather.
DeleteYes Oskar and his dad always used to play games. Oskar couldn't figure out one of the games but his dad wouldn't give him and clues... maybe this is a clue
DeleteYes I think that the key can symbolize some sort of closure. The adventure could cause so sort of happiness in a bad time. Also a key can lock a closed door but also open one too so maybe the author is trying to tell us that the adventure could either bring new things (open the door) or could lead to more questions (lock the door).
DeleteI feel like it is metaphorically trying to get him to show unlock that mystery of his grandfather.
DeleteI wonder if finding the lock will actually end his journey. what if he finds nothing at the lock?
DeleteI think what Oskar found in the case is another clue to the adventure his dad left for him that he never finished
ReplyDeleteThroughout these pages Oskar says he creates bruises himself. Why does he bruise himself?
ReplyDeleteTakeaway options:
ReplyDelete1. One thing you're still wondering/confused about.
2. One thing you understand better after today's discussion.
3. One reflection on something the circles did well/something we could improve upon.
On page 85 Oskar's grandmother had asked Thomas to marry her. "After she wrote, Please marry me. He looked at his hands. YES and NO. Why does anyone ever make love? He took his pen and wrote on the next and last page, No children." Why did Thomas never want children? What changed between the two to have Oskar's dad? Was it an accident or did something change between Thomas and Oskar's grandma?
ReplyDeletei think he was clinging onto memories but then tries to move on
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ReplyDeleteThroughout the pages we read, Oskar finds a key and when he goes around asking people to help him find what it might go to he discovers his Dad's name on a pad of paper in a store. Is Oskar's Dad leaving clues for him to find?
ReplyDelete"I am an old woman now, but once I was a girl." Why did Oskar's grandma bother saying this? How is it significant?
ReplyDeletei think the outter circle did good publishing comments
ReplyDeleteIm a little confused about the amount of time that it took for all of these events to come into place
ReplyDeleteOf all things to leave behind, why would his dad leave a key?
ReplyDeleteStill confused about the significance of all the letter and what they all mean.
ReplyDeleteI think we did well on elaborating on small details in the book and connecting them to real life.
ReplyDeleteKept the blog full of different ideas and thoughts.
ReplyDelete1. Does Oskar understand the magnitude of the events of 9/11 or is it all about his dad for him?
ReplyDeleteI think we can improve on the more flow of the conversation on the inner circle. We had a couple of pauses during the discussion and those are awkward.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I understand that the quest that he and his dad did together he wants to keep that tradition and part of his dad alive.
ReplyDeleteI understand where Oskar is now mentally better than I did before
ReplyDeleteBoth the circles were really engaged the whole time which made it more enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteI am curious on what Oskar is gonna do next
ReplyDeleteI like how everyone in both circles were included into the discussion. Everyone had their own opinion and they weren't judged.
ReplyDeleteit helped me understand the relationship between Oskar and Ron better
ReplyDeleteStill confused about why Oskars grandma decided to marry Thomas. He is creepy and doesnt talk.
ReplyDeleteThe outer circle did a really good job with making and adding comments.
ReplyDeleteI definitely learned more about how the class feels towards Oskar and his fathers relationship. Oskars father left these clues on purpose, knowing how much his son loves to solve these things.
ReplyDeleteOskar’s grandpa is Thomas
ReplyDeleteThe grandma and grandpa never actually met but then she asked him to marry her
They did meet but Thomas is in denial about ever meeting Oskar’s grandma because he never likes to talk about the past
Maybe the reason Thomas left was because he didn’t think he would be a good father
It’s important to have different narrators because sometimes it's hard to understand Oskar
Easier to understand the grandma and it brings it all together with the pieces of the story
Nobody in the book acts like a normal human being -Riley Everyone is mildly autistic throughout the entire thing -Riley
The different narrators are symbolic because them being weird adds onto the story-Jay
Basically everyone in the book are suffering from some form of PTSD -Riley
Why doesn’t Oskar’s mom have a part in the story? -Arielle
Ron is messing everything up -Jacob
He’s so manipulative and smart at 9 years old it doesn’t even seem like he’s 9
Everyone is wrapped up in their own problems to where they don’t even think about Oskar -Arielle
Oskar knows it makes other people sad when he reminds them of his dad
Not in a positive way but in a way that reminds people that his dad is dead
Oskar wants to be by himself and cares more about his dad than his mom -Diego
He feels like his dad loves him more than his mom
He feels like a burden to his mom -Maddy
If he was autistic then his mom is crazy because she lets her kid do that -Jay
He’s just curious and not autistic -Kassie
We have a pretty balanced brain between like social and math and things like that and I think one part is just a little bigger with Autistic people -Jay
Does it really matter that he is Autistic? If we just judge people like we judge Oskar, how does that reflect on how we see the world? -Diego
Ana is the grandma’s older sister
Grandma wants to try and help people with the same tragedy
ReplyDeleteWarm Circle
Why does Oskar’s mom let him wander around the city alone?
He doesn’t tell her when he is going places
He is doing this without his knowledge
What does Oskar mean by “giving himself bruises.”
Are the bruises mental or physical
Is the grandma from the end the same person from the coffee shop?
Yes, just from a different perspective
How does she tie all the people together (is thomas oskars grandpa)
Do you agree with Oskar that Black is a person?
Yes
Why do people assume that Oskar is mentally challenged?
He has a lot of thoughts
He just thinks like a 9 year old who has been through a lot of stress
How will Oskar finding out what the key is affect the story?
He will get used to not having his dad around anymore
Is Oskar the only one who know about the key?
No, Black has to know about it
How would Oskar mom react to the messages if she knew?
She would become more sad
Oskar doesn’t want her to know because she has already moved on he doesn’t want to upset her.
What is confusing you
Why can’t Thomas speak?
Has something to do with Anna
Anna is Oskars grandma's sister
Who is Ron?
Step-father?
Oskar’s mom is trying to create new relationships
Does Oskar think that his dad fell out of the world trade center?
Is Thomas only with the grandma because she reminds her of Anna?
Yes, the grandma is in love with him and she doesn’t care if he is only with her because she reminds him of anna because she is in love with her.
When it comes to Oskar's dad writing all over the store, it seems very significant. Earlier in the book, we hear about how his dad would give Oskar missions, like to go around Central Park and dig up things in the ground. Oskar really loved doing this, and his dad knew that. Do you think that this might have been another mission? Maybe Oskar had to find out how many times Thomas Schell wrote his name, but he died before he could tell Oskar about it.
ReplyDeleteWhy can't Thomas speak? Is it a choice or is he legitimately losing his voice? Does it matter in the end though?
Oskar seems pretty creative, like on pages 72 and 73 when he is talking about an ambulance that can tell you if you know the person or not. I may be over-analyzing it, but maybe he feels some connection of medical reassurance to reassurance of his dad, and when he died. Do you think that all of his "inventions" have somewhat of a connection to his dad dying?
On page 75, we are introduced to the Grandma's narrative. Why do you think the author chose to write from different people's point of view? And what does this story that she told have to do with Oskar?
"Do you think the key could symbolize something metaphorically as well as literally unlocking a lock?" - Grant G
I do think that the key will actually unlock something. It may not be super important, and maybe the symbol of the key is more important than what it unlocks, but I do think it will unlock something.
"Do you think that our generation is better at handling traumatic events because of what happens on a day to day basis?" -Alex Y
Absolutely. 100%. Everyday there is something on the news about a car crash, or shooting, or some horrific thing that happened in the Middle East. It seems as though we can't get away from it. News nowadays is almost all bad things. There's a reason for it though. If the news was all about charity events and kind acts, nobody would watch it. I feel as though news today is more about ratings and reviews than it is about actually reporting what is going on in the world.
It is interesting that while Oskar hid his father’s last voice message from his mother, he gives her a bracelet with the message in Morse code on page 35. I think this shows that he wants to share the message with her, but feels that he can’t, or doesn’t know how. On page 36, Oskar says that he often feels like he is “in the middle of a huge black ocean, or in deep space…. everything [is] incredibly far away from [him].” Is this feeling of disconnect because Oskar can’t process the reality of his father’s death, or because he feels emotionally isolated from those around him? I also think Oskar using the analogy of the beavers who must file down their teeth or die to explain why he must invent shows the level of emotional distress he is in. He is not making the decision to invent ways to save his father; it is a compulsion. In the beginning of her chapter/letter to Oskar, the grandmother says, “I want to tell you everything.” The letter from Oskar’s grandmother’s grandmother is described as a request to, “Listen to me” (79). Where does the need to share everything with another person come from? How do letters (vs. other forms of communication) allow fulfillment of that need. Grant G asked, “How do you think the views of tragedies differ from the perspective of a kid and a perspective of an adult?” The emotional maturity of a child affects how they react to tragedy. Sometimes children cannot grasp the full impact of a tragedy, and only consider the effect the tragedy has on them. Children are generally more egocentric and less empathetic than adults, and I think we see this in Oskar’s reaction to the loss of his father. On page 71, Oskar says, “I couldn’t explain to [Grandma] that I missed him more, more than she or anyone else missed him….” Oskar feels immense pain over the loss of his father, and assumes it must be greater than the pain anyone else could be feeling. That is childish. In this quote we also see that Of course, adults have an inner child that is still self-absorbed, uncourageous, and illogical, which is why Foer is able to use Oskar to make points about humans of all ages react to tragedy.
ReplyDelete