Empathy

Say in what ways you wish a character would change/develop or what you would like to happen in the life of some character.

I choose to write here about Christopher because he is the main character of the book and I think he is a very special person. It would be great if Christopher would realize how people feel and what they mean with different gestures. It will also be great if he will be able to deal with his syndrome.

The fact that his father killed Wellington and that he had hidden the letters from his mother was very bad for the relationship between Christopher and his father. I hope that they can improve the relationship and that Cristopher will be able to talk again with his father. I can really understand why it will be very hard to improve the relationship, but if both of them like to improve it, it will be possible.

For his future I wish he will be able to become an astronaut or that he can go to a good university to study maths or physics.

Words: 160

Characterisation

Describe a character from the book (e. g. physical characteristics, personality, likes, dislikes). Say why you like / dislike this character.

Ed Boone (Christopher’s Father)

I think Ed Boone is in general I really good father. At the beginning of the book, he is very patient with Christopher and that is not always easy. But then in the second half of the book Christopher find out that his father is hiding letters from his mother and that she is still alive. But in these letters Christopher’s mom praises his father to be a wonderful Dad and that he was everything she wasn’t. But why has his father hidden these letters? I think that he couldn’t get over it. And I think that this was wrong to deal in this way. At the beginning I thought that he is a very good parent. I think he is still not a bad father, but it was definitely wrong to hide the letters. The part of the book when Christopher find out that his mother is still alive was very disappointing to read.

Words: 159

Analysis

Write about the style of writing the author uses.

I think that the author of the book doesn’t use his normal writing style, it’s more Christopher writing style. This is because the book is written like a diary. I don’t think that Mark Haddon actually write this way. The following sentence is typically for the way Christopher is thinking.

“But Mother was cremated. This means that she was put into a coffin and burnt and ground up and turned into ash and smoke. I do not know what happens to the ash and I couldn’t ask the crematorium because I didn’t go to the funeral. But the smoke goes out of the chimney and into the air and sometimes I look up into the sky and I think that there are molecules of mother up there, or in clouds over Africa or the Antarctic, or coming down as rain in the rainforests in Brazil, or in snow somewhere.” (P. 43, 44)

This is the exact way how Christopher is thinking. It’s a bit hard to think like that, but he just explain everything in specific details and doesn’t interpret this things.

Words: 182

Prediction

At any point of the story take a guess as it how the story will go on finally conclude. What is going to happen?

In my last blog I have written, that Christopher is travelling to his mother. So I guess that he will arrive there and his mother will be very surprised. At the same time I think his father will also travel to London, to tell him that he has made a fault and convince him to come back. But Christopher will run away from him and going to the house of his mother. There he is very surprised that Mr. Shears is living there with his mother. So first he is a bit frightened of him, but he will finally stay there, because he doesn’t want to go back to his father.

At any point of the story predict how some character is going to change/develop as the story progresses. How will they change?

Christopher:

I don’t think that there will be a big development of his character. I think that he won’t trust to his father anymore. The fact that he thinks very logical and that he doesn’t like people making jokes won’t change, I guess.

Words: 154

Recount

In your own words what has happened in the book? At any point of the story, retell the major details of the story’s plot so far.

After Christopher had promised that he wants to stop asking people about the dog, he continued talking to the neighbours. So he was told that his mother had an affair with Mr. Shears. A bit later his father finds the detective book and takes it away from him. He is very upset and angry. A few days later Christopher is looking for his book in his father’s bedroom. There he also finds a big stack of letters which are addressed to him. The letters are from his mother. After he had read a few of them he found out that his mother was still alive. His father tells him also, that he had killed the dog. So he decided to travel to his mother. For traveling to London he goes to the train station to take the train. There, a policeman helps him to buy a ticket. But after he realised that Christopher’s Father is at the train station and wanted him to come out, he tries to catch him. But Christopher is hiding himself somewhere in the train.

Words: 179

Analysis

Name 5 of the main themes of the novel or play.

Logic and Order

Everything in Christopher’s life need to be in a perfect order. He doesn’t mind that Mrs. Sheers comes to cook or do some other things after his mother died as long as she keeps everything in order. He also thinks very logical. He knows for almost everything a logical explanation.

Version of the World

Christopher thinks very different from the most other peoples. He notices almost everything around him. But he is just interested in these things and not in anything else.

Isolation

Christopher doesn’t like to being around people, he is isolated. When some strangers starting to talk with him, he doesn’t take any attention of them or just answers with short sentences.

Fear

I don’t know if fear is the right word, but he is always a bit anxious. He sees a danger in everything. So he is always very careful.

Isolation

Christopher is an isolated person. He doesn’t like being around people, talking with them and he hates it to be touched. When he wants to relax he is looking for the smallest space he can fit into. And then he is there for a few hours.

Words: 193

Reflection

Write down your first impressions of the book or play. Ask some Questions. Write down quotations. Copy the whole passages that are difficult or that you really like a lot.

One of my first impressions is that there are many different images and drawings. With this drawings and images Christopher would like to share his sigh of the world. He describes everything like he sees it. Because of some special moments in the book it is very interesting to read. For example if Christopher sees 4 red cars in a row on his way to school that means that it will be a good Day. If he sees 5 red cars in row this means a super good day. 4 yellow cars would make the day a black day, and this means that he don’t want to speak to anyone. On these days he is sitting on his own, reading his books, not eating his lunch and not taking any risks. But why is he thinking like this? I can’t say it, but these special things are making the book more interesting to read.

Words: 154

Chapters 2 to 47

In your own words what happened in the book? At any point in the story, retell the major details of the story’s plot so far.

At the beginning Christopher found the murdered dog Wellington in front of Mrs Sheers house. He lifted the dog up and hugged him. So Mrs Sheers was thinking, that he as killed the dog. So the police arrested him. But his father came to the police station and took him home. In School he had to write a story. So he started writing the book. 

At any point of the story take a guess as to how the story will go finally conclude. What is going to happen?

I think that Christopher will find the murder of Wellington at the end of the story.

Describe a character from the book. Say why you like/dislike the character.

Christopher John Francis Boone:

• Christopher is the narrator of the book, he is 15 years old and he thinks in another way than the most other people. He has problems to understand metaphors. But he is very interested in maths and knows every prime number up to 7507.

Say in what ways you wish a character would change/develop or what you would like to happen in the life of some character.

I would like that Christopher learns to understand metaphors.

Write about the style of writing the author uses.

The first thing I noticed when I started reading the book was, that the style of writing which the author uses is very special. That’s because the narrator of the story is a child and he describes everything like it looks for him.

Are there any words you are unsure of their meaning? Write down the words. Then write down what you think they mean, guessing from the context. Then look them up and write down a dictionary meaning.

With the translation of the following words I wasn’t sure:

•    Assaulting p.11: Something like attack, because he hit the policeman.
•   Dict.: jmdn. Angreifen
• Slander p. 18: To tell not the truth.
• Dict.: die Verleumdung

Write about what you are learning personally as a result of reading this text.

I think I could learn some new words. I also can improve my general understanding.