Reading Skills

In the Lovely Bones I predict that Lindsay will be a big part of the police finding Mr. Harvey. A text to text connection would be how Lindsay finds ways to keep her mind off her sisters death by doing things like running and isolating herself form questions about Susie. This is like how Susie always tries to make her situation the best possible. A text to self connection would be how Lindsay is suspicious of Mr. Harvey and she is going to figure out what is up with him and I am the same way I always want to know what is going on and I will do almost anything to figure it out. Lastly a text to world connection would be like a police case that is dropped and then is brought back up later. The police case in Susies death is dropped but I thuink that Lindsay is going to find something that will cause it to get brought up again.

 

The Lovely Bones

So I read an article in the NY Times and I really liked it. It talks breaks down some of the things that the author writes and finds the deeper meaning of the text. It also talks about Mr. Harvey and asks some of the questions that I have been asking.

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/14/books/what-remains.html

The Lovely Bones

I am really happy that Susie has followed through and hasn't given up on trying to help her family find he killer. She cant speak to anyone on Earth so she has been trying to give the signs. She also doesn't know what their thinking so she doesn't know if they understand her messages. It would be so hard to talk without being heard.

Book Recommendations

Susie is a 14 year old girl that is killed by her neighbor Mr. Harvey. She has her own heaven and she can create anything she wants.
So far I love this book because I can almost relate to the way she feels I havent been killed so I cant relate to that. But I do relate to the way she feels about her family. The first thing she thinks about is her family.

Tone and Mood

The tone of my novel is very serious. She talks about her life very seriously throughout the book. The mood of the book is sad and depressing and even kind of scary. She talks about her death and how she feels about loosing her ffamily. This can make the reader feel very depressed and sad for her. There was a part in my book where she was talking to her friend about how she felt about loosing her family and her friend tried to cheer her up and turn it into a positive conversation. But she helped persuade her into understanding the seriousness of the subject.

The Lovely Bones

So I watched the movie again and it was like really scary. It was so scary when Mr. Harvey abducted her. I really like the book but the movie is actually kind of cool I really like her heaven scene. Obviously the movie is different and the book is better. For example in the movie she talks about her crush in the very beginning but she hasn't really talked about it very much in the book yet.

Characterization ReDo

Suzie changes throughout the story. She begins by being angry and upset. She wishes that Mr. Harvey dead. But throughout the story she knows that the best thing to do is to help her family find him. She also isn't as angry and upset. She instead is more acceptant of where she is. She is actually enjoying her Heaven. She has friends and dances with her neighbors. What ever she can think of that she wants she gets. She cant interact with the people on Earth by talking. She has to give them signs. For example she blows out her fathers candle and appears in the window to communicate. She can communicate easily with the souls in her Heaven though, although they don't talk much. So the other characters don't help describe her personality very much. I think that the main characters that keep the story moving are Susie, Lindsey, and Mr. Harvey. Susie keeps the story going by narrating and sharing her opinions and feelings. Lindsey keeps it going by search for clues about the killer and looking into Mr. Harvey. Mr. Harvey keeps the story moving because Susie explains how he seems to be feeling and how he is dealing with killing her.

The Lovely Bones

I read an article about this book and I thought it did a good job of talking about the family love. Susie had a perfect family she loved her parents and she got along with her sister. It hurt her family the most when they found out about her death. They are determined to find her killer.
http://www.sheknows.com/entertainment/articles/812511/the-lovely-bones-book-review

Theme and Summary

Susie right now is focusing on her sister, Lindsey. Susie feels bad that she cant be there to help Lindsey get through the hard time. She talks about how strong her sister is and how she wont break. Lindsey doesn't like attention and likes to be alone. She hates when people feel pity for her and when they try to help.  Susie wants to talk to Susie and make her feel better but the more she tries the more she feels no one can hear her. I still think that Susie wants Mr. Harvey dead but she is starting to focus more on her family. Susie is also starting to adjust and like her heaven. She dances with her neighbors and plays with her friends. I think that the theme so far in the book is that if you accept a situation and move on life will be more fun. If Susie doesn't fully accept her new situation she wont be able to be happy again.

The Lovely Bones

I feel really bad for Susie. All she wants to do is help her family and friends get over her death. She wishes that she could be there to comfort them or talk to them. But they cant hear her. No one can hear her. She also feels lonely. She has met a new friend and she has her Grandmother I her heaven with her but she wants more. She wants the warmth of her friends and family. I hope that she can find a way to communicate with her family.

Analysis

In the book "The Lovely Bones" Susie is killed and has to discover new ways of doing things in Heaven. Susie is accepting, she is accepting that she is dead and that everything is different. I know this because in the book Susie says "...I had accepted that I would never be with them again;"(Sebold 27). I also believe that Susie is very benevolent. Susie wants to help her friends and family but she cant. In the book Susie says "All I could do was talk, but no one on Earth could hear me"(Sebold 32). She says this because she wants to tell her family things to help them get over her death.

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

What I would like to know is more about Mr. Harvey. Why did he want Susie? Did he attack more girls? How long did it take him to prepare for this? Did he plan on killing her? Does he feel guilty? How did he know that she was going to take the shortcut that day? I bet that it would have happened eventually though. He created a big den underground with cokes and lights. So he had to have been planning this forever. Is there any evidence that can be held against him? I think its going to have something to do with her charm bracelet. Susie said that her mom knew about all the charms on her bracelet.

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

Susie Salmon was an average teenager girl in the 1970's, until she is murdered by her neighbor. She is now learning about her heaven and she is trying to find a way to expose her killer. At first she is regretful and angry that she was killed. But throughout the first couple chapters she becomes very accepting of the fact that she is dead. At the beginning she also wishes that her killer would be dead instead of her. Now she is more focused on exposing him and get closure for her parents and sister. This shows characterization because she changes her attitude throughout the story.

The Kite Runner

The theme of The Kite Runner is that the hardest person to forgive is yourself. Hassan, a Hazara (slave) boy was always very loyal to Amir, but Amir wasn’t always loyal to Hassan. Amir would tease Hassan about not being able to read and right. Amir was embarrassed to call Hassan a friend, when Amir was approached by the question “what does he mean to you?” Amir said “He’s my Hazara’s son”. Hassan still stayed loyal to Amir by not giving up Amir’s kite when asked by a bully, Assef. Hassan instead was raped and badly injured. Amir watched Hassan get attacked but didn’t step in, he only ran. He never told anyone what he encountered. Amir felt guilt for the rest of his life, and took every chance he could get to redeem himself. In the book it says “I opened my mouth and almost told her how I’d betrayed Hassan, lied, driven him out , and destroyed a forty-year relationship between Baba and Ali. But I didn’t. I suspected there were many ways that Soryara Taheri was a better person than me"(Hosseini 165). Amir goes back to Afghanistan to find that Hassan was killed and that Hassan's son was in an orphanage. He decides to find him and find the right care that he needs. Amir became less selfish and started caring for others.                                                                  

 

The Kite Runner Article

This article explained the book really well. It talked about all of the main events in the book like, how Amir wants his dad's attention. It also talks about the details and imagery that Khaled Hosseini uses in the book.