Romanticism Project

Sorry, Ms. Frank, this is not a book post and it isn't my week to post either. I want to see if anyone has Dan Owen's phone number, email address, or any other way of contacting him as he was not here on Monday or Tuesday when we worked on projects. My group needs his work so we can finalize our project for presentation on Monday. If anyone has his email or phone number, can you please leave it in the comments? And again, sorry Ms. Frank, but I have no other way to get his information.

Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles

Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles is told in two separate points of view: Kiara and Carlos. Kiara, a senior at Flatiron High, has had a nervous stutter her entire life, and it is in her senior year she is determined to become less shy and overcome her stutter. Carlos, a transfer to Flatiron from Mexico, wants nothing less than to have to attend school. With gang affiliations in both Mexico and Flatiron, he just wants to carry on a family tradition that was broken by his older brother Alex, when Alex decided to leave the gang life behind and pursue his girlfriend and his dreams of going to college.

Carlos is perfectly fine finding his own way, and only finds his path impeded by his student aid, Kiara. She was asked to help him around his first week of school and in that first week, they form a friendship that is more than slightly dysfunctional. In trying to shake the attention of one of the most popular girls at school, who has friends who may be part of a gang rival to Carlos' he asks Kiara to become his fake girlfriend. After major internal battling, she agrees, only to find herself falling in love.

Carlos does not believe he can ever fall in love. Being stalked by, and then unwittingly jumped into, a new, more powerful gang, means dating Kiara would be putting her and her family, whom he had come to live with after being falsely accused of possessing drugs, in danger. But he did not want to stay away from her.

1.) Carlos and Kiara try to battle the odds by being a couple...her the quiet, unsocial introvert and him the gang-related bad boy. Realistically, would there relationship be able to survive? Explain.

2.) Kiara's best friend, Tuck, has never liked a boy she dated, until Carlos. Carlos is mean to Tuck, but by trying to protect Kiara, they form an unlikely friendship. Should Tuck have held a grudge against Carlos for all the times Carlos had been mean to both him and Kiara, or should he be as forgiving as Kiara, if for nothing else than for her? Explain.

The Host by Stephanie Meyer

Melanie Stryder refuses to to fade away. Planet Earth has been invaded by an unseen enemy and humans have become hosts for these unseen creatures. These "souls" come from a distant place and inhabit the bodies of creatures of different planets; the hosts' mind is taken over, but their bodies are still intact and they continue to live their lives apparently unchanged. These "souls" live lives of peace; never fighting, never stealing, never lying. It is unnecessary to take protective measures on Earth while the "souls" inhabit it because of their way of peace. Most of the human race has been taken into this new life style. However there are still a few survivors who are in hiding that have refused to succumb to the "souls". One girl, named Melanie was one of the remaining humans not occupied by an invader. However, while on the run with her brother Jamie, and a man she fell in love with, Jared, to find the safe haven her uncle left behind for her, she is captured. The "soul' that now occupies her her body is called Wanderer. Wanderer is warned of the dangers of living in a human body; the strong emotions and vivid memories could be over whelming. The first few days of Wanderer's existence in Melanie's body goes by without trouble, but soon enough Melanie begins to fight back. Wanderer is at times herself, but at others, Melanie grabs hold of her own conscience and tries to order her body the way she used to. The event of a human being strong enough to fight back is very rare, but Wanderer refuses to give in to Melanie. She hears Melanie's thoughts and often talks to her. Because she is able to see how Melanie feels, she begins to break away from the peaceful life of the souls and tries to find the remaining humans. Also by listening to Melanie's thoughts, Wanderer begins to fall in love with Jared and develops a sisterly love towards Jamie. The two are forcibly allied and as one they make their way to the remaining humans. At first Wanderer is locked up and treated with great caution but eventually proves herself. Both Jared and Jamie had already found their way to this safe haven and at the sight of Melanie, pain is great in them. Jamie learns to trust Wanderer and makes a bond with her, and is able to feel Melanie sometimes, while Jared does not trust Wanderer but at times when Melanie is strongest he can feel her presence and learns to endure Wanderer. While at the safe haven Wanderer comes to make new friends. A man named Ian also begins to fall in love with Wanderer. It is hard for both Melanie who has to be with Ian because of Wanderer, and is hard for Jared because he sees Melanie's body with Ian. In due coarse however, Wanderer attains a body for her own and Melanie is given back her own body. Both Melanie and Wanderer are given a life to live where one is not at the mercy of another.

1. Melanie fights through Wanderer to sometimes gain conscience of her own body. She is strongest when she thinks of Jared and her brother Jamie. Do you think this is because of the strength of her love for these two men, her unwillingness to be taken, or both? Do you think that this shows love is one of the strongest emotions of a human being?

2. Throughout the novel, it is shown that souls lack the intensity of emotions that humans feel. It is also shown that they have a very peaceful way of life. Do you think this shows that human emotions contribute to many of the crimes that occur in the real world?

Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis

This book, Prince Caspian, is the fourth book in The Chronicles of Narnia. In this book, Peter Edmund, Susan and Lucy all are on their way back to boarding school when they get transported to an unknown ruin. After exploring the ruin, the believe it to be a part of Narnia, a land in which they went to the year previously. They question whether it is actually Narnia because it has turned to a ruin, but they realize that time runs differently in this world. While sitting by a fire, they see two guards trying to drown a dwarf, and Susan uses he bow and saves the dwarf. The dwarf then joins their party. The dwarf then explains this is Narnia and they have been called upon by the horn. Peter and Edmund were kings and Susan and Lucy were queens of Narnia thousands of years ago and the horn was given to Susan in case she needed help. When the horn was blown they were transported here. The horn was blown because since their time, Telmarines took over Narnia and the true Narnians, also known as the "Talking Beasts" were fighting back. The leader of the Telmarines son, Caspian, disagreed with his fathers ideals and fled in order to escape his death. He later discovers the talking beasts and decides to befriend them. They consider Caspian their king and are in a war with the Telmarines. In dire conditions, the horn was blown and the kings and queens come. The dwarf tells them and they are here to help the cause. They get lost along the way and eventually reach their base. They are struggling but High King Peter challenges the Telmarine leader to a one-on-one match to end the fighting.

If your father and you did not see eye to eye and disagreed on beliefs, would you leave without knowing what is beyond the castle walls or would you stay in a place that you are familiar with and accept that you do not agree?

In the situation of the High King Peter, would you try to end the battle quickly like he tries even though he will lose his life if he loses or would you try to use strategy to overcome your opponent even though your chances are slim?

Black Dragon Codex by R.D. Henham

In the Black Dragon Codex you follow the adventure of the black dragon whelp, Septimus, and the thief Satia. Septimus is trying to start a hoard so he can be recognized as an adult dragon. He waits patiently in human form at an auction for a rare valuable magical artifact. When he loses the auction he becomes angry and ravages the town in his dragon form. Meanwhile Satia sneaks out of the mission home she is staying in and goes to check on her friends in the auction. However she is captured by the angry Septimus.

Septimus takes her to the cave, where he lives with his mother. However before they even land they are attacked by a wizard. Septimus's mother tries to fight him, but is captured by the wizard. Before he can capture her son however she forces him to change into human form and he fall from the air with Satia and escapes. The two are forced to work together, despite their distrust, if only to escape the wizard. Satia mainly working with Septimus to find his mother, because he threatened to kill her otherwise. Not the best working relationship, but good enough for them.

After a couple of tumble ins with the wizard they get captured by these slave owners. They are forced to mine with the goblins that are trapped there. Satia convinces Septimus that they can escape if they catch the hobgoblins by surprise. They smuggle explosives from the mining site and plant them around the camp of hobgoblins. Satia goes to help a stuck goblin in the blast zone, however she gets buried in dirt from the explosion."The last thing Satia saw was a dark flow of earth that bore her over the edge of the crevice." (Henham 84) She is later dug out by the goblins. Satia and Septimus later escape with the help of the prisoners.

They stage a rescue mission on the wizards castle with the help of a goblin from the camp called Gneech. They sneak through abandoned passage ways and eventually rescue Septimus's mother."Pausing he climbed over a fallen mass of rocks within a deep corridor." (129) I'll stop there so I don't spoil the ending.

1) Do you think Satia should go on working with Septimus even though he threatens her? Or should she try to escape and leave Septimus to fend for his own looking for his mother?

2) Even though Septimus wants to leave on his own, and be recognized as an adult he still feels the need to help his mother. He is still a little boy at heart. As young adults we are starting to look to try and make a life of our own. Is it important to rely on your parents even though you are trying to be a adult, or should you make your own way without any help?

The Inferno by Dante Alighieri

The Inferno begins with Dante traveling through dark and dangerous woods. He has strayed off the righteous path and is heading closer to becoming a sinner. While he is traveling he comes upon a break in the forest and finds a giant mountain. Compelled, he tries to scale it, only to be stopped by three beasts. Discouraged, Dante goes back into the woods. It is there that heaven sent aid is given to Dante as Virgil's ghost. Virgil tells Dante that he can redeem himself and get back to the righteous path by going up the mountain and through hell. Virgil easily defeats the beasts and they make it to the mountain's top. There they find the gates of hell and descend into purgatory. Once they pass purgatory, Dante is lead by Virgil through the nine rings of hell, defeating various monsters and meeting various forsaken souls on the way. At first, Dante pities them and is affected by their torment so much that he faints. But as he descends into hell's lower levels, he begins to harden his heart and even helps torture some of the souls. He learns that they are damned souls and do not deserve his kindness. Once Dante gets to the center of hell, he must defeat the Devil, least he be denied redemption.

Questions

1)Do you think it was right of Dante to help torment the damned? If so, why?
2)Do you think Dante would not have succeeded if he had not changed his mindset and had continued to pity the tortured souls?

If We Kiss by Rachel Vail

In this novel, Charlie the main charcter, is experiencing her freshmen year of high school. Only too soon does she learn that everything is not as they appear. Vail takes the reader through twists and turns during Charlie's freshmen year of high school adventure.
Charlie has been with her best friend Tess, since she could remember. Tess has always been there for Charlie, especially during her parent's divorce. Unfortunately, things happen between these two characters that will tear them apart, and possinly destory their long-lasting friendship. Charlie's long lasting crush, Kevin Lazarus, appears to be the root to all of Charlie's current problems. Kevin Lazarus, having kissed her first, sent the wrong signals to Charlie. Chalrie only finds that Kevin was really interested in Tess. Charlie's mother and Kevin's father form a relationship, in which evolves to something more, and eventually leads to marriage. During the evolution Charlie and her mom go on a skeeing trip with Kevin and his family over winter break, where Kevin and Charlie kiss again...even though Kevin is in a relationship with Tess. Charlie betrays Tess by not telling her, for fear of losing for friendship. Can these two different people save their relationship despite the treachery of Kevin Lazarus?
1. Do you think Tess's and Charlie's friendhsip would have been ruined even if Charlie was honest about Kevin?
2. Do you think Tess was more hurt that Kevin kissed Charlie or that Charlie did not tell her?
3.Do you think Tess and Charlie will remain friends?

I Am The Messenger by Markus Zusak

The protagonist in this novel is a nineteen year old cabdriver in a big city of Australia. His name is Ed Kennedy. Ed is what some may call, “your average Joe”, but he proves more than that in the story. Out of all of his siblings, Ed still lives in the town that he grew up in. Ed hasn’t quite opened his eyes to his future that he could potential have if he would just try. Ed lives a very simple life unlike his siblings who have high paying occupations. His family isn’t mentioned in great detail. His mother claims that Ed is a failure just like his dad who never accomplished anything in life, and died an alcoholic. “You’re just like him.” (Zusak, 39) is the response Ed’s mother gave him when Ed asked why she didn’t approve of him. Ed’s mother does love him, but does not love the fact that he is headed the same way in society as his father.

The beginning of the novel starts off with Ed and his friend Marv, going to the bank, but while they are at the bank a robbery is present. Ed is titled a hero in the newspaper the following day, because he stops the gunman in his tracks inadvertently when he decided to flee away. Ed is asked by the police to come to court to serve as a witness to the robbery. At the end of the trial, the gunman says this to Ed, “You’re a dead man” (Zusak, 39) Ed is quite frightened by this since the robber is only in jail for six months. Ed finally forgets about the saying until a few days later when he starts to receive playing cards in his mail. After Ed is crowned a local hero in the newspaper, his life starts to give him a range of feelings. He only receives the ace playing card in the four suites. Each card had a total of three titles, addresses or clues for Ed to help him find his recipients. He never learns who sends all the aces of each suit until the end, but each suit is symbolic to how Ed must help the people. For example, the people he met with the ace of diamonds symbolized the need to protect peole from physical or emotional harm. The order of the aces went diamonds, clubs, spades and then hearts. From the beginning to the end of the novel, Ed’s life is totally changed by the one day he thought he was just going to go to the bank.

Discussion Questions:

1.If you were chosen by a random person to deliver messages to such strangers would you be willing to do it like Ed? Why or Why not?

2.Who do you believe is sending Ed the secret messages and why?

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

What keeps a perfectly sane person in a mental hospital? Randle Patrick McMurphy asked to be sent to a mental hospital instead of laboring at a work farm. He quickly learns that the patients are either Acutes or Chronics. Acutes are patients that are there not because they are insane, but because they are different. These patients are there voluntarily and can leave at any time. The Chronics are patients that will never leave. Some Acutes become Chronics due to conflicts in the hospital that turn them insane or because the inhumane treatments in the hospital turn them into vegetables.

McMurphy quickly begins creating chaos at the hospital for the staff. The staff keeps the patients drugged so they are controllable. But with McMurphy's arrival, they begin to come out of their "fog" and think for themselves. At one point McMurphy tries to get Nurse Ratched to change the cleaning times in the ward so they could watch the World Series. She did not let them, so when it came time for the World Series, McMurphy pulled up a chair in front of the tv. Nurse Ratched turns off the power and McMurphy continues to "watch" the blank tv and cheers for the game he can't see. As the patients sit around him and do the same, Nurse Ratched becomes furious.

As McMurphy continues to give patients confidence, he gets himself in more and more trouble with the staff. As punishment he is told to clean toilets. McMurphy responds by leaving notes in the rim of the toilet. McMurphy knows how to push everything to the limit. Eventually he learns that the staff is who controls when he is set free. At first he backs down with his games, but eventually he begins challenging them again.

What do you think happens to McMurphy? Would you voluntarily check yourself into a mental hospital when you know there is nothing wrong with you?

The Kite Runner

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini tells the story of a young Afghan boy named Amir. Amir has a very rich and powerful father named Baba, and two servants, Hassan and his father Ali. Hassan and Ali are both minorities in Afganistan, and are sometimes abused. Even so, Hassan and Amir are best friends. Amir also feels that his father’s friend, Rahim Khan, is more like a father to himself. Later in the story, the two boys, Hassan and Amir, enter in Afghanistan’s annual kite-fighting contest. The goal was to sever the string of opponents’ kites without losing your own. When a kite falls the other children would run after, called kite-running. Amir wins the contest, and Hassan tries to run the last kite. He gets it, but some enemies of his want it too. As Amir is watching, they torture Hassan but let him keep the kite. Amir’s guilt makes the friendship drift apart, and he decides Hassan has to go. He frames Hassan for stealing and Baba dismisses them. Years later, Baba and Amir have to flee Afghanistan to go to Pakistan, because Afghanistan has become a war zone. Two years later, Baba and Amir live in Fremont, California. Baba works while Amir goes to college. Baba meets some old friends at a flea market and Amir ends up marrying their daughter. Baba gets cancer and dies shortly after the wedding. Later, Amir gets a call from Rahim Khan. He is sick and wants Amir to see him in Pakistan. When he gets there, he learns that both Hassan and his wife, Farzana, were killed by the Taliban, but their little boy, Sohrab, is stuck in a terrible orphanage. Amir goes out to rescue this little boy, as atonement for his previous sins. Amir goes to this orphanage, and finds out that Sohrab had been taken away a few months earlier by a Taliban official. He arranges a meeting with this official and eventually realizes that he both has Sohrab and is the kid who tortured Hassan all those years ago. Amir and Sohrab escape with their lives only after Sohrab shoots the Taliban man with his slingshot. Amir now has to try to get Sohrab to America to live with him. He starts to gain his trust, and tries to legally adopt him. The adoption agency tells him that Sohrab may have to live in an orphanage for a few months. Later that day, Amir and his wife find a way to bring Sohrab to America, but he tried to kill himself. They bring him to America, but he remains withdrawn and forlorn. The story ends at a kite-running contest in America, where Amir makes his first breakthrough with Sohrab.

Discussion Questions: Do you think Amir will ever regain Sohrab’s trust, or will he forever remain withdrawn to Amir?
Guilt is Amir’s driving factor in going to retrieve Sohrab. Do you think that he would have made the journey to save Sohrab if not for the guilt that he had held on to for so long?

The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks

The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks was a beautiful love story about two individuals, Noah Calhoun and Allie Hamilton, falling irrevocably in love with eachother. The novel takes place in the coastal region of North Carolina in 1946. It starts off in a nursing home with an old man reading a story to an older women with a forgetful memory. The story that he reads to her is the story of their lives, and reading to her everday he is hoping will freshen up her memory. Allie was part of a rather wealthy family and her parents dissaproved of Noah, who was a very unwealthy country boy. They met one night at a carnival and from then on they were crazy about eachother. That summer they were inseperable, and because of this Allie's parents forced Allie to move away and go to college. Noah writes Allie a letter every day for a year, 365 letters, and she did not receive one of them. Allie, thinking that her and Noah were over, then got engaged to a young soldier named Lon. Meanwhile, Noah still had feelings for his first love and decided to fix up an old home that she had fell in love with years ago. Before her wedding, Allie sees the beautifully finished home in the newpaper with Noah standing in front of it. She then realizes that he still loves her because he fulfilled her promise with the finished home, so she decides to visits him, checking to see that he is okay. After a few days together, Allie realizes that her love for Noah never went away and she blows off the wedding returning into Noah's life for good.

1. Why do you think Allie goes to check on Noah right before her engagement? Do you think she knew what she was getting herself into?

2. Visiting Noah, do you think Allie regrets being married to Lon?

The Shack by William P. Young

The Shack, by William P. Young is a moving story about how a man deals with his daughter's terrible death. The main character's name is Mack, and he has three kids. When the book begins, it mentions that Mack has been working alot, he was picking up overtime to make more money. This implies that Mack had not been spending much time with his children. To make up for this lost time, he decides to take his kids on a camping trip to bond. The kids were excited to spends some quality time with their dad. They go on the camping trip and everything is smooth sailing. They meet another family camping on the same site, and quickly become friends. Mack is relaxing and enjoying the beautiful lake where his two kids are paddling in a kayak. He chuckles as they splash each other with the oars. Suddenly, the kayak tips and his children are thrown underwater, and they cannot tip the kayak back over. Mack, remembering some of his lifeguard skills as a teen, dives into the water and swims toward his kids. He manages to untangle his kids from the canoe in time. As he comes ashore, he looks to find his other daughter, Missy, who was last seen coloring on a picnic bench before all of the commotion. Missy was not on the picnic bench where she was last seen. The other family had not seen the little girl disappear. The two families team up, and search the campsite for the little girl. They search the tents, the showers, her favorite spot, everywhere. But they cannot find Missy anywhere. The police are called and a search party is formed. They search for hours and hours but they cannot find Missy. Mack thinks back and shortly after he discovered Missy is gone he saw a man in a green truck speeding past the campsite, and wonders if that has to do anything with his daughter's disappearance. The authorities find a small pin of a ladybug in Missy's coloring book on the picnic bench. They tell Mack that his daughter was most likely abducted by a serial killer nicknamed, the Little Lady Killer. His trademark was that ladybug pin found in her coloring book. Mack brings up the man in the green truck, and they extend their search radius. They find a fresh pair of tire tracks leading to a very remote trail. The party follows the tracks and come across a very old, rundown and beaten shack, with the door loosely hanging off of it's hinges. The police search the house and what was found was Missy's favorite yellow dress, the one she was last wearing, soaked in her blood. She was presumed dead. Mack was devastated, his little girl was gone. He did not know how to deal with the pain, so his body chose a method for him, depression. He called it, the "Great Sadness". He said as soon as he felt an ounce of happiness, he could feel the Great Sadness wrapping around him, like a blanket of despair. Four long years after his daughter's death, he finds a note in his mailbox. A note telling Mack to go back to the shack in which his daughter was killed. A note, signed by God. Mack had a difficult decision to make, go to the Shack and meet up with this "God", or continue to live his life with the "Great Sadness". He decided to take his chances and go see "God". He comes prepared though, he brings a gun just in case it is someone with means to harm Mack. Mack doesn't tell his wife that he is gone, and goes of on his voyage to the place that caused him the greatest depression of his life. He rolls up to the Shack, and nothing is there. He walks inside. What he finds in the Shack, changes his life forever.

1. What do you think Mack found inside the Shack?

Why do you think that?

2. Do you think that the man in the green truck had anything to do with his daughter's disappearance? Why or why not?

Models Don't Eat Chocolate Cookies by Erin Dionne

The book Models Don't Eat Chocolate Cookies by Erin Dionne is the story of how thirteen year-old Celeste Harris becomes a Chubby Teen model.Celeste had always been comfortable with her weight and did not let anybody try to persuade her to change, until, her Aunt Doreen enrolled her in the Miss HuskyPeach contest and Celeste was mortified. In only eighth grade she was already having trouble with losing her best friend, Sandra, to the mean girl Lively Carson, and now she had to run in a contest for a plus sized clothing store. Celeste decides that the only way to lose the competition was to lose as much weight as possible so she was no longer eligible to run. She tries making diet drinks that taste horrible, but she finally decides to simply exercise and give up her beloved chocolate cookies until the contest is over. Then, on the first fashion show for the competition she had lost so much weight that her dress fell down. After that, Celeste realized that being skinny was not a bad thing and she liked feeling healthy and confident in her skin. She ends up losing the contest but was runner-up, and decides to still lay off the cookies every once in a while be cause she liked the way she looked.


In America today what is the reason being overweight is frowned upon?

Would Celeste have been as happy about her weight loss if she would have continued to use the diet drinks rather than just exercising and eating healthy?

Thirteen Reason Why by Jay Asher

Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher, is a fictional story about a teenager named Clay. One day, he finds a box of mysterious cassette tapes on his front porch. As he begins listening to them, he discovers that they were recorded by Hannah Baker, a girl from his school who had committed suicide only a few weeks earlier. "I hope you're ready, because I'm about to tell you the story of my life. More specifically, why my life ended. And if you're listening to these tapes, you're one of the reasons why" (7). There were seven tapes, and on them, she explains the thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Each person that is on the tapes are a reason, and made an impact on her life in some way. As Clay continues to listen to the tapes, he starts learning more and more about Hannah, who was his crush, and the situations she was dealing with.

Hannah informs her listeners that she expects them to pass along the tapes once they are done listening to them. "The rules are pretty simple. There are only two. Rule number one: You listen. Number two: You pass it on. Hopefully, neither one will be easy for you" (8). Her goal was to have everyone who "caused" her death to know how and why it did. Most of the people either started rumors about her, made lies about her, or didn't treat her in the right way. However, they never thought there would be such big consequences due to such little things. Clay himself doesn't know what he could've done to hurt her, and waits uneasily until it was the tape that shared his story. In the end, however, when all of the rumors, lies, and mistreatments added up, it was just too much for Hannah to handle.


1. The people on the tapes didn't do anything that they thought would lead to a suicide. Each person's actions snowballed into another's, and their end result was what made Hannah take her own life. Do you think that it is fair that Hannah blamed these people for her suicide? Why or why not?
2. If you were in Clay's position and were partially blamed for a death, how would you handle it? Would you believe it was truely your fault? Would you pass the tapes on, or end them so that the other's didn't have to feel the blame, too?

A Rose For Emily by William Faulkner

William Faulkner's short story A Rose For Emily tells the tragic life and death of a social enigma. Faulkner begins the story after Emily has died and periodically jumps around within a 50 year time span. The townspeople of Jefferson go to her funeral, the men mostly out of respect for her revered family and the women out of curiosity to see if she was really dead. To them, Miss Emily had represented the ideal Southern belle. She was beautiful and was very high class. Faulkner then skips two years to when Miss Emily's father had died. She had loved him so much that she was unwilling to give his body over to the mortician. It takes three days before Emily concedes and gives up her father's body. Instead of believing Emily to be mentally ill, they feel sympathy for her.

After that, Colonel Sartoris comes to Emily and cancels her taxes because her house is so run down, it's not worth paying taxes on. After that, Miss Emily is rarely seen. Only her manservant is regularly seen through out town as he buys groceries. The next time they see her, Emily looks sick and gaunt. It is around then that Emily meets a man named Homer Barron who came from the North to work on building sidewalks. He became very popular in town and soon Miss Emily and him were often seen together. At first they were glad she finally had an interest in someone, though many thought she wouldn't take him seriously because he was from the North and of a lower class. Soon the townspeople believe that Emily will remain single and unmarried. They begin to pity her and poke fun at her behind her back. But Emily paid them no mind.

A year later, Emily goes to an apothecary and buys arsenic. She is even thinner than the last time they had seen her and her face was even more gaunt. When she was asked what she needed it for, Emily just ignored the druggist until he gave up and sold her the poison. The next day the town is convinced that she'll kill herself. They believe it would be best because some time earlier Homer had remarked that he liked men and that he was not a marrying man. But Emily doesn't kill herself and she begins to spend time with Homer once more. The town starts to believe it is a disgrace and have Miss Emily's kin come to live with her.

A week later, the townspeople found out that Emily had been to the jeweler's to buy a man's toilet set that had the initials H.B. in graved on each piece. They conclude that Emily and Homer are now married. So they are not surprised when Homer disappears. They believe he had gone to prepair for when Emily came to him, or he was waiting until Emily's family left. A week later they leave and Homer comes back within three days.

One evening Homer goes over to visit Emily, and that's the last time the town ever saw him. After that they barely saw Miss Emily, save for the occasional glances of her in the windows. Some time after, men are sent to her house because of a foul smell and they sprinkle lime to hide it, too scared to confront Emily.

When they see Miss Emily again, she's fat and her hair is beginning to gray. From then on, Miss Emily's front door remains closed off for about six or seven years, during which she gave china-painting lessons. But soon she quit giving lessons and her door remained closed for good. They only saw her manservant when he left for supplies or random glimpses of Emily through a downstairs window (she had blocked off the top part of her house.) And then she died in one of the downstairs rooms years later.

On the day of her showing, the curious townspeople explore her home. They wanted to explore the upstairs of her home, but out of respect, they had waited until she was buried to do it. When she finally was put into the ground, they broke down the door. The room was covered in dust and smelled terrible. There was a man's silver toilet set on the dressing table, along with a collar an tie. On a chair there was a suit, a pair of shoes, and a pair of socks. The man that owned them was on the bed. For a long time the townspeople just stood and stared at the dead man before one of them noticed the indentation of a head on the second pillow beside him. One of them picked up something from it and held it up for everyone to see. It was a gray strand of hair.

Questions:

1) Do you think Emily ever regretted her decision to kill Homer?
2) In the story it is known that Emily's father drove away all of her suitors and that Homer was accused of being homosexual. What do you think made Emily kill Homer and then place him in her bridal bed?

If I am Missing or Dead by Janine Latus

If I am Missing or Dead is about Janine Latus, and the story of her life growing up, becoming an adult, dealing with domestic violence and the struggles she had gone through up to this point. She grew up with a large family, she had four sisters, Jane, Pat, Amy, and Janette, which is Janines deceased twin sister. Throughout her life her family was always there for her with an exception of her father. Janine moved away from her family after a couple weeks of turning 18, she could not take her fathers attitude towards her anymore. So she took off but still kept in touch with her mother and sisters. Her youngest sister Amy always looked up to Janine and when she moved out it broke her heart. After graduating high school Janine went to college and graduated and went to community colleges and got many degrees and found the major she loved, journalism. She then gained a boyfriend Micheal.

Their relationship was perfect, until they went on a ski trip Janine made a ungrateful comment and Micheal blasted her many times in the face and ribs. He apologized, she took him back. Janine left Micheal after another incident like the last and called her collegue Dr.Kurt to look at her ribs, he determined that she had a broken nose and ribs and nothing much could be done. He apologized and throughout work days there was innocent flirting between the two. Soon enough her collegue tells her Kurt is married. "He's married, you know, his wife is pregnant".Later on Kurt says he will move out, divorce his wife, and be with Janine when the baby is six months. She is happy as can be, she has a family and gained two step kids, she is truly in love with Kurt, she marries him. After a while she makes him upset by looking at other men and he hits her.She is disappointed that this relationship might be like her last. She calls her sister every so often to ask for advice and see how she is doing.

Amy is married to an abusive alcoholic. He has lost all of his jobs and Amy realizes she cant keep paying all of their bills plus her husbands expenses, after a couple years Amy tells her self she has to divorce him and it is the right thing to do. She is lonely and battling obesity. She tries her best to lose weight she conquers her goals when she nearly loses 50 pounds. One day Janine calls her and Amy says she has met someone online and she offered for him to live with her, his name is Ron Ball. When talking to Amy, Janine thinks everything is fine. Amy tells her they leave love notes around the house and cuddle before amy goes to work but they are not involved physically and that he respects her too much. On the other hand Kurt and Janine are going through a so called "rough patch" in their marriage. He wanted her to be sexier and wear uncomfortable, and revealing clothes in pubilc, he also suggested she get a breat augmentation.

To make him happy she does everything he asks. But after awhile Janine gets sick of the pushing around, jealousy, and abuse. She Talks to Amy for the last time a couple days later, "He said he was going to kill me, but he was just kidding, i told him it wasn"t funny", says Amy. Janine tells Amy about her wanting to leave Kurt for the sake of their adopted daughter. She follows through, after all those excuses of "he loves me" and "he just wants to make sure i love him", she divorces him. A couple days later she gets a call from her sister Jane, she asks if Janine knows where Amy is or if she has talked to her because she hasn't been to work in three days. The family reunites and tries to find what happened to Amy when they come upon a mysterious, tell all note in her desk drawer.

1.Why do you think Domestic Violence is still an issue in our society today?

2.What do you think happened to Amy?

3.Why do you think Janine and Amy both leap from guy to guy after a divorce?

The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks

The story The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks begins in a rest home, where an elderly patien is telling us his story. Every morning he visits a women who often does not remember him and reads to her from a worn notebook containing the memories of his life and love. He hopes by reading her these memories that she will finally remember who he is, but she does not. The next part of the book takes place in 1946, Noah Callhoun has just returned from war and has bought his dream house in New Bern. This is his way of forgetting his past, busying himself in the resoring the house. After this, the story flashes back to when Noah meets his love Allie Nelson in 1935. Allie is 15 and Noah is 17. Throughout the summer they fall in love and it is clear that these two were ment for each other. When Allie returns home after the summer in New Bern, they loose touch. To move on, Noah enlists in the army. Back in 1946, Noah is living succesfully and Allie is engaged to a succesful lawyer. When Allie reads an article about Noah restoring the house he has recently bought, she decides that she has to go visit him back in New Bern. After spending two days together Allie has to return to her life and the man she is going to marry. The next quarter of the book, shows an elderly couple and their undying love. This elderly couple is Allie and Noah and is the same couple from the beginning of the book. Allie has recently been diagnosed with Alzheimers and often does not remember the life she shared with Noah. The novel does have somewhat of a bittersweet ending because sometimes Allie does remember the life she shared with him due to his undying love and the faith he has by returning everyday to read to her.

Discussion Questions
1) Do you think it was right for Allie to visit Noah, her former love, even though she was engaged to a different man?
2) If you were Noah trying to get Allie to remember you, would you ever give up or still keep trying to get her to remember like he does in the novel?

Looking For Alaska by John Green

Looking For Alaska by John Green is the story of Miles Halter, a teenager who leaves for boarding school in search of the "Great Perhaps." The novel is split into two sections, Before and After. In Before, Miles meets his roommate Chip Martin, a genius called the Colonel. The Colonel nicknames him Pudge, ironically because of his lanky figure, and introduces him to Alaska Young. Alaska is beautiful and rebellious and Pudge quickly falls in love with her, but she has a boyfriend in college. Nonetheless, the three become close; the Colonel and Alaska show Pudge a new sense of danger through their mischief and tendency to drink and smoke on campus. Alongside two of their friends, they participate in a prank war against the privileged students in the school. After a prank, the five hide out in a barn and play a drinking game, during which Alaska reveals a guilt that she carried throughout her life: she watched her mother die of an aneurysm when she was eight years old, too shocked and panicked to call for help. From her confession Pudge realizes, "And when she said she failed everyone, I knew whom she meant. It was the everything and the everyone of her life" (120). She blames herself for her mother's death. Later, Alaska and the Colonel get drunk while playing Truth or Dare with Pudge. Alaska kisses Pudge in the midst of their game, but soon after she falls asleep. She is awoken by a phone call, from which she returns in a state of hysteria, crying and apologizing. She tells Pudge and the Colonel to distract the dean of the school, and they instantly obey without thinking, before she drives off campus extremely intoxicated.

After begins with the next day, when the dean announces that Alaska had been killed in a car accident. The entire school is devastated, and Pudge and the Colonel are, on top of their distress over the loss, horrified and ashamed that they contributed to their friend's death. While the Colonel blames it on his annoyance at Alaska's moodiness, Pudge admits to himself, "That night I let her go because she told me to. It was that simple for me, and that stupid" (149). In an attempt to deal with the overwhelming remorse, the two search for answers to the mystery of Alaska's life and death. They pull a final prank in her honor, and in the process of grief Pudge discovers a truth about his "Great Perhaps" and the meaning of escaping suffering in life.

1. Pudge takes great interest in famous people's last words. He believes that what people say in their final moments can determine the type of person that they were. He questions his theory at the realization that he could not even understand Alaska just by knowing her as well as he had, so maybe last words could not truly define a person. Do you think someone's character can be revealed in the last things they say?

2. Alaska herself was fascinated by the last words of Simón Bolívar: "How will I ever get out of this labyrinth!" Alaska compares the labyrinth, symbolic of suffering, to life; she felt that the way out was "straight and fast," through death. At the end of the book Pudge determines that the way to escape suffering is to forgive in order to continue living despite regrets. Who do you agree with?

A Long Way Gone, Ishmael Beah

In A Long Way Gone, Ishmael tells his story of his childhood and everything he went through. The book begins in Sierra Leone, in Africa. Ishmael is just a twelve year old boy when him and his brother, Junior, and friend set out for a music contest. As they leave, their village of Matrru Jong is attacked by the rebel soldiers. The village is destroyed leaving everyone who couldn't escape dead. The boys run for their lives and after hours they find three boys they know from their village. The boys make this journey together stopping at empty villages and find food where ever they can. The gruesome reality that these boys face is heartbreaking. Dead bodies are everywhere and the violence and cruelty is horrendous. The boys carry on and learn that their families are still alive, sadly one of the boys dies from unknown reasons. Junior has been taken by the rebels. The boys travel to find their families, just before they get to the village the rebels attack killing everyone. Ishmael will never see his family again. The boys then arrive in Yele, where they join the army to fight the rebels. There they are influenced by drugs, guns, and violence. On day the UNICEF takes many of the boys from Yele to a rehabilitation center, Benin Home. It is in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone. Over eight months, he recovers and goes to live with his uncle, the only family he has left. Benin Home recommended Ishmael to go to New York for a United Nations project. He does there and meets Laura Simms, a professional storyteller. After the convention he goes back home and shortly after his uncle dies. The new president of Sierra Leone announces that the city is in chaos and Ishmael fear of being a child soldier again. He calls Laura Simms and asks her if he can stay with her in New York. She says yes and he makes it safely to New York. Today, Ishmael is educating people about the harsh reality he had to deal with. He is able to talk to other families and children that have been in his situations and try to make an end to forced child military. Ishmael Beah is now a long way gone from his old life and fortunately one of the few to survive. He made it through all the inhumane violence and cruelty of the war in Sierra Leone.

1. If you were Ishmael Beah, how would you feel having been through all the things he has gone through? Explain why.

2. Imagine never seeing your family again, do you think you would be able to make it through? Do you think Ishmael could have lived throught the months and months without his friends?

White Fang by Jack London

White Fang by Jack London is the story of a sled dog named White Fang, who lived in the Arctic North. When White Fang was born, he was taken care by his mother, who was a wolf (his father was a dog so White Fang was half wolf half dog), and began learning about the world around him in several hunting experiences. Still early in his puppy-hood, White Fang was separated from his mother and was forced to be a sled dog. Because of constant bullying from a fellow dog named Lip-Lip, White Fang became very aloof and secluded, and vicious too. His master did not help this as he often beat him. White Fang grew up to be the nimblest dog any man ever saw; his amazing strength and speed made him an excellent fighter. Still early in his life, White Fang's first master sold him to a man named Beauty Smith. Smith was extremely cruel to White Fang as he would beat him and taunt him relentlessly. He kept White Fang in a cage, unless he was making White Fang fight, and allowed him to be constantly taunted turning White Fang into an extremely vicious dog. With his excellency in fighting, White Fang won almost all of his fights. He won all fights except one. It was his last. White Fang was caught by the neck by a bull dog who was slowly closing his grip to reach White Fang's vein. Just before life left White Fang, a mysterious man ran into the fight and broke it up. He condemned all the men present as "Beasts" and he took White Fang from Beauty Smith. This man, Scott, went about patiently soothing the emotional wounds White Fang had received in the past. White Fang became very close to Scott because Scott gave him something he had never experienced in his entire life: Love. Scott took White Fang down south to America and White Fang lived out the rest of his life very happily on a farm.

Questions
1. I think everyone would agree that forcing dogs to fight is wrong, but would you consider it wrong if a dog is punished by a beating after it has done something wrong on it's sled team? If so, is there a punishment more suitable? Explain.

2. White Fang was transformed by the patience of Scott. How hard do you think it is to respect any human after a lifetime of overly cruel abuse? Do you think you could bring yourself to do so?