Mr_Shank

As the character watcher, I have to chose one or two main characters and follow them throughout the segment of the book we read.

I chose to follow Clym Yeobright. In the previous part of the book we read, Clym came home from Paris and he started to “fall” for Eustacia. They became closer and closer, and in this part of the book, that affection did not stop. In fact, it grew. Clym’s mother, Mrs. Yeobright, was not happy about her son being interested in Eustacia. They got into a big fight and she did not want to speak to him again. Clym and Eustacia went off on their own and got married. They moved into a little cottage in the heath, that is until they can move to Paris again. Clym’s mother does not come to the wedding, but she does want to give her inheritance to Clym and Thomasin. She sends Christian Cantle to deliver the 100 Guineas. Damon did not go to the wedding, along with Mrs. Yeobright. Clym was also taken advantage of because Eustacia let Damon into their house while Clym was sleeping. I feel bad for him because Eustacia even told Damon that she wasn’t happy with her marriage. Clym has come a long way from the last part of the bok we read because he came home from Paris, he got married to Eustacia, and his relationship with his mother has gone right down the toilet.

The other character I thought played an interesting role in this part of the book was Damon. He was able to deliver the money to Thomasin and Clym, but Mrs. Yeobright did not let him. During Christian’s trip to deliver the money, Christian got caught up in a raffle for an expensive piece of cloth, which he wins. He also manages to tell Damon that he has all of Thomasin and Clym’s money, which Damon wants. He gambles and loses it all to Damon. But, Diggory Venn manages to save the day and wins the money back from Damon. But, Diggory makes a mistake and gives all of the 100 Guineas to Thomasin, when Thomasin was supposed to get 50 Guineas and Clym was supposed to get 50 Guineas. Damon was invited into Eustacia and Clym’s cottage, but this was while Clym was sleeping. Damon and Eustacia talked and they confessed that they still had feelings for one another. Damon’s personality keeps getting more and more shallow. He practically cheats on THomasin with Eustacia AGAIN, he lies, and he steals.

My questions for you are…

Was Clym making a smart decision when he married Eustacia against his mother’s will, and what do you think this will do to him and his mother’s relationship?

Also, why do you think Mrs. Yeobright didn’t trust Damon with the money? Afterall, he is her neice’s huband. What was Damon trying to do when he won the money from Christian? Would he have given it to the Yeobrights, where it was supposed to go? Why do you think Damon didn’t go to Eustacia and Clym’s wedding?

When Mrs. Yeobright went to go visit her son a terrible mistake was made. Eusatcia saw her coming towards the house and Mrs. Yeobright saw Clym entering the house. Thinking that Eustacia would tell Clym she was coming, Mrs. Yeobright decided to wait for him to come help her. But when no one ever came she thought that Clym was still upset and didn’t want to have anything to do with his mother. Mrs. Yeobright eventually collapses from exhaustion. Clym then finds her and sees that she has been bitten by a viper. They towns folk try to help her but she ends up dying. Then Johnny Nonsuch comes and tells them her last words, the she thought she was “a broken- hearted woman cast-off by her son”.

My question to you is, how do you think Clym will feel when he finds out that Eustacia didnt tell him his mother was coming? Also, how might Eustacia feel knowing that she indirectly killed Mrs. Yeobright? What do you think will happen to the couple?

Adam Lough

****Remember after you respond to this keep checking back to see if others have commented on your comments. This will keep the discussion going and its a pretty easy way to improve the comment part of your grade.*****

Due to some students taking a trip to NYC, I will extend the comment date to Monday at 5pm.

Ok, so the narrator has seen the capabilities of the Martians and has realized that some of the survivors that he has come across are definately not as sane as he is. What he has seen scares him; he feels alone in the world. My questions are:

1. Why do you think the narrator hasn’t gone insane like the curate or the artillaryman?

2. Why does H.G. Wells focus so much on the “red weed”? Is there a connection between the plant and the Martians?

3. The narrator has seen the extent of damage the Martians can do and finally knows just what they use their captured humans for. At this point in time, do you think there is any hope for any humans to survive?

Use evidence from the text to support your answers.

As the summarizer, I want to point out the setting, and the info of the book, and the time that is occurring during these parts.

Chapter 13-  Not much in this chapter except fro the strange visit from Sydney Carton.  It is weird, because he shows up at Lucie’s house, and just discusses how he is not well.  Also how they would not work out.  I think that he is a little mental, because I never knew that she was even considering marrying him at this point of the book.

Chapter 14-  This is where it gets really weird, and it really shows how the time period was.  In this chapter there is a guy named Robert, who is getting buried.  This is important, because they say he was a spy.  Also they started stealing things at the end of the funeral.

Chapter 15-16- I put these chapters together, because they all follow the same plot.  They all deal with this group that wants Darnay dead.  This group includes some spies, Monsieur and MadameDefarge, and many more.  They make petitions which they go to Versailles to see the king and queen.  Also in this chapter we find that Lucie might marry Darnay.

Chapter 17-19- They are officially married.  I pretty much knew that, but now it is official.  But now the latest is that Dr.Manette is making shoes again.  This is not good, because this is taking him back to the past.  So Mr.Lorry does destroy the stuff as Darnay, and the Manetts do to Wales.  Why do you guys think he is making shoes again?

Chapter 20- They get back just to see Sydney Carton.  What do you think of this guys character part in the story?  I think he is pretty annoying, and I think he is jealous.  Anyways he shows up because he thinks that Darnay hates him basically.  He wants the approval to come over whenever, and he gets it.

Chapter 21-Three years later…..  Lucie has a daughter.  Several years later….. the daughter dies, and a son is born.  So why do you guys think that Charles is letting all this time go by?  Also Sydney keeps dropping in over time.  Also Mr.Lorry, and Darnay are going to Paris during a dangerous French Revolution.

Chapter 22-We really find out a lot about Madame Defarge, as she is murdering a lot of people.  There group is now known as Vengeance.  But what do tehy need revenge on?  Does anybody understand this?  What is her reason to kill all these people?  Is there a thing called police, and laws at this time period?

Chapter 23-In this chapter, it talks about how there is no more class.  There is no rich and poor, because everybody is being killed.  It is like the poor has taken over.  This is complete madness.

Chapter 24-We know the year is 1792, and also it has three years passed again.  Same thing with the killing, and he leaves two letters behind as he leaves for Paris.

Other key thing- The knitting is like voodoo, as she knits names that will die.  She kills the people though.

Also notice the setting as it switched all over the place.  To understand the book, you have to understand how all the events show the theme of the book. It shows us number of settings where violence took place.  This book wants us to see how bad the time period of the French Revolution.  It is showing us a piece of history, but using different characters to give us a better idea of things that could take place.

Word/Character

Words-vengeance-To have revenge on someone.

class struggle-This is how things happen between the rich and the poor.

resurrection-Rising to life again.(Rebirth)

Mender of Roads- A character in the story that is apart of the Vengeance.

Question:  The story is called “Tale Of Two Cities,” what does that have to do with the book so far?  Support your information with examples.

-Alex

Okiedokie.

So for chapters X-XIII, I found one quote specifically I think we should go over. (Chapter XIII, Page 124)

“Any relic of the dead is precious, if they were valued living.”

When Nelly is continuing to tell Lockwood the story, she pulls out a letter Isabella wrote. Soon after getting basically kicked out of the Linton family, she wrote to tell Edgar that she has married Heathcliff, and is pretty much unhappy with it, considering the turn it took on her family. I chose this quote because I like the message it has behind it, almost saying if someone had an influence or story to tell, then it should be remembered and passed along.

Do you guys have anything to expand on to this?

Oh, and Megan sorry that this is pretty late =/

In these chapters I have decided to watch and follow the narrators wife. Now I know that we haven’t heard or seen much of this women, but I feel that she is a very important person in this book. She is the reason why the narrator is having all of these adventures. If it weren’t for this women being a part of this man’s life I don’t even think that there would be a book called the War of the Worlds because the man would probably be dead.

The things we know about the narrators wife. She is in Leatherhead hiding with her cousin who (lets face it) is probably going to run away without her if he sees, or comes in contact, with a martian. Another thing that we know is that she is a supporter of her husband (just like every wife), but she is a special person. In the beginning of the book I thought that her husband was away a lot, but she put up with it.

My questions for you are:

What would this book be like if roles were reverse and the narrator’s wife was the narrator? Really think about this question. Think of all of the details that would change. Would the knowledge of the martians change? Think really hard.

Abbey

While reading the book, there are many connections I have been able to make with the text and with real life situations and characters. One connection I am able to make is to with a painting by the artist Seth Skim. He drew a picture of a chipped vase, with a person in the background looking very forlorn and like he has made the wrong decision. This can be compared with Catherine in the scenes after Heathcliff leaves the first and second time. The colors included in this painting are a collection of different blues, greens, browns, and whites. Each color represents a different feeling. The blue could represent Catherine’s sadness and coldness throughout her life so far. The green could represent the good life she is trying to live without much success, for there is a limited amount of green in the painting. The brown is only present in the hair of the man in the painting. This could also represent the only color Catherine valued was her beauty, her hair could be an example of this. The white could represent the emptiness of Catherine’s life, for she is very lonely and unloved by many and white is a color that has no visible color within (if that makes sense)!In Catherine’s life, there is much color, but because she is living life so fast and not stopping to think of the effects of the decisions she makes, there seems to be an absence of color. The broken vase represents her broken life and the negative outcome of her decisions! Any other thoughts about the painting? To view it, do a Google image search for “broken vessel”. It should be one of the first images to come up. Any other connections that you guys see to this painting?

Well, I just finished reading chapter 13 and I found a couple questions that thought would be good to ask.

Do you guys think Edgar Linton brought his troubles with Catherine upon himself by not swallowing his pride and throwing himself at her feet when she was locked in her room?

I recall Heathcliff telling Catherine that he would hate to be married to Isabella, so why did he go and marry her anyway? Was it just so he would become the inheritor of Edgar’s wealth?

Finally, when Hindly is talking about how he wants to kill Heathcliff, he mentions to Isabella that he doesn’t care if she tells Heathcliff and puts him on guard. Why do you guys think HIndly wants to drag it out so much and turn it in to a game almost? Why doesn’t he just kill Heathcliff or even just capture him and torture him if he is looking to cause Heathcliff distrust and pain?

(sorry about posting this kind of late Megan)

This section of the book deeply describes the town, and the condition that it is now in.  The area seems to be almost completely barren at this point and most of the buildings are destroyed from the heat ray and the aliens.  This section is one of the good descriptions: “We pushed through them toward the railway without meeting a soul.  The woods acreoss the line were scarred and blackened ruins; for the most part the trees had fallen, but a certain proportion still stodd, dismal gray trunks, with dark brown instead of green foliage.”  All of these descriptions remind me a lot of the movie, “I am Legend”.  The only differences are that instead of being infected humans, they are martians.  So my questions for you are:  Will the planet become completely desolate by the aliens killing them all off?  If not, how do you think the humans will survive?  Try to use background information to draw your conclusions.

Again please everyone post as soon as possible. Sonam and I are going to be in NY and unable to post anytime tomorrow or Sunday because we do not have internet connection!!! Please save us!!!! hahaha

~Erin C.