Mr_Shank

Wow, we have found out a lot since last time.  This book becomes more and more exciting.  We are starting to see the climax develop  with this whole Kings Crossing area and the million dollar poker game.  I’ve found three quotes that summarized the details that have be learned this week, in All-In.

“Hey, you hear about the Big Deal?  You know King’s Crossing, that new joint off Sahara?  They opened a new poker room, and they’re having this grand-opening tournament next week.  Calling it ‘the Big Deal.’  Guaranteed million dollar prize, with the house taking no rake.  No-limit hold em.  Winner take all.”  (Pg. 63) This is said by Jimbo to Denn.  He is telling him about this million dollar tournament.  I believe that this hints us on what Denn will do next.  This makes perfect sense.  Denn has no more money and wants to stay in Vegas.  WIth this million dollars he can live the life he is used to living.  So, I think the throughout the rest of this novel Denn will battle his way through this tournament.  This hint could change the outcome of this book.  So, do you guys think that Denn will enter this tournament?  Why or why not?

“Your skin looks like you died in it.  Is it real?”  (Pg.79)  This is said by Cattie to an old man that she sees at Kings Crossing.  I believe that this quote is important because it helps us understand what Cattie is actually like.  First we were lead to believe that Cattie was a nice girl, but in this reading we have learned different.  She only hooked up with Denn so she could help set him up.  She steals and is very rude as seen in this quote.  What do you guys think of Cattie?  Will Denn see that she is just a rude and sinfull person?

“Do you have a broken heart, child.”  (Pg.84)  This is said by one of the ladies Denn played poker with.  This is important because it tells us that it is obvious that something can be seen in Denn, that lets people know that he is sad.  This could be the very reason that Denn has lost all his money.  People might have seen this and knew his head wasn’t in the game.  I wonder if this will affect Denn in the future.  I don’t believe so.  He started to win money and seems to be more confident.  Do you guys think Denn will be affected by this sadness in the future?

So, what do you guys think of the book so far?  Also what do you think will happen next in this book?

-Julian Garcia

Pg. 47 ” Her name was Phoebe. I want somebody to say her name. Do you hear me?” she stood up. “I want someone to rembeber her name”

  I thought that this was interesting becuase for some reason Norah refuses to let go of the “dead” baby. As the story progresses we see that this only becomes worse, and Norah continually goes back to her old house and revisits these memories. I beleive that by the way Norah is acting, that she is going to cause a lot of trouble and resentment between her and David.

  Why do you think that Norah still carries the burden of the “dead” baby, even though she never saw or met the baby . She doesn’t even remember the birth. So as far as I can see, If David wouldn’t have told her they had twins she wouldn’t know about the second baby.

  I also would like to add that I think it was very irresponsible for Caroline to take that baby as her own. Maybe she was just a little crazy at the time, but I think that she will come to regret her decision. Any thoughts??

Colin Easter

Before the Time Traveller begins telling his story of traveling through time, the characters he is telling the story to are introduced.  These characters have names such as Journalist, Medical Man, and Psychologist.  The narrator also leaves out names when they should be used.  For example, on page 14, the Time Traveller says, “You have told Blank, and Dash, and Chose about the machine?”  The narrator uses “blank” in other sentences as well to purposely leave out names.  The other men themselves are called by their profession, not their names.  Why do you think the author names the characters in these ways?  Will the professions of the men play a role in the future, or is the author trying to draw contrasts in the professions of that time to the professions of other times?

Guys, I LOVE this book! Haha, what are your thoughts on it so far?

Anyway, there were three quotes that I had discovered. The first quote I believe may be important later in the story, or it could possibly be the theme/message of the story. This first quote is:
“It’s not over till you’re dead, kid. It’s all one big game” (18).
I believe that this quote signifies the fact that now that Denn had started, and gotten deeply involved, in his poker career, he will not be able to return to his normal lifestyle with his family again. This quote could also relate to the idea that many people say, “life is one big game”. My last thought on this quote is that since poker became so addicting for Denn, he will never be able to leave the game and begin a normal lifestyle because he will never be able to tear himself away from the game. What do you suggest this quote means?

Secondly, I came across this quotation:
“A guy that brings his relationship to the table is burnt toast” (21).
This quote brings up a lot of discussion and questions. First of all, Denn had fallen for a girl, a card dealer, named Cattie. Don’t you guys think that this was risky, anyway? Of course if something would go wrong with a relationship like those two would have, don’t you think if you were Denn you would never go to a table where she is dealing the cards ever again? Well, anyway Denn had, and Cattie seemed to cheat him out of a huge pot. Why do you think she did this? Did she do it on purpose? Was she paid by the other men at the table to do so?

Lastly, I found a quote that, quite frankly, means absolutely nothing to the story. Yet, I still thought it was funny and Shank-Class-Worthy
“Kid’s luckier’n a double-dicked rooster in a henhouse” (21).
The men playing poker say this about Denn as they watch his careful skills and his smart moves.
Haha, thought you guys might enjoy that.

Let me know what you guys are thinking about these. Also, why don’t we get good discussions going on under everyone’s blogs this time!

-Leah Sevco

I chose the a passage from page 284-290 which is chapter 16:Soundness of Mind and Freedom of Will. So in this few pages The 4 of them go to The Offices of Jonas Wilford Armistead, in Oklahoma City. Here they go through the paperwork and Esperanza and Estevan put on a good show like Turtle was actually their daughter. They cry and tell a very convincing story about why they cant keep Turtle anymore, so they are giving her to Taylor.

I choose this becasue all throught the blogging we were asking questions about if Taylor would keep Tutle, or if she would be a good parent to Turtle, and now she is legally adopting Tutle. Yes, Estavan and Esperanza are not her real parents and they posed as her parents, but the paperwork is done and Turtle is now Taylors. So what some of thought about Taylor keeping Turtle is true. With everything that has Happpend to Taylor including leaving hime, meeting Mattie, Lou Ann, Dwayne Ray, Estevan, and Esperanza. Also with Turtle getting attacked at the park while she way with Edna, and the whole situation with Estevan and Esperanza.

Do you think that Taylor Made the right desicion to adopt Turtle and help Estevan and Esperanza? Should Taylor have done things differently with everyhting that she has been through?

Hey group! Before I get into my questions for you I have to say something.  Try to respond to this post before you get to the end of the book.  If you are reading this, and have already finished the book answer like you would have if you had not.  This is the final War of the Worlds post! wahoo!

Alright, between the pages of 123 and 134 the author describes the martians in very specific details.  Some of the items described are their appearance,  their armor and hoods,  their internal organs, how they are immune to disease, and the great contraptions they are building .  Here is one of the better quotes used in this section:

“Their conceptions of ornament and decorum were necessarily different from ours; and not only were they evidently much less sensible of changes of temperature than we are, but changes of pressure do not seem to have affected their health at all seriously.  Yet though they wore no clothing, it was in the other artificial additions to their bodily resources that their great superiority over man lay.  We men… are just in the beginning of the evolution that the Martians have worked out.   They have become practically mere brains, wearing different bodies according to their needs, just as men wear suits of clothing and take a bicycle in a hurry or an umbrella in the wet.”  (129)

There are many reasons the author might have for including all of this information in the book.  First, the author might be including this information to simply inform the reader more about the aliens.  Up to this point in the book we were not given a very detailed description of them.  It could also be to show how fearful the humans are of the Martians because of all their advances.  If being attacked by a much more advanced creature most people would hopefully be terrified.  Finally, the reason the author might include this to explain how much of a loss the humans are at when fighting the aliens.  Obviously the Martians have an advantage over them.   The reason of doing this might to either make the humans struggle seem absolutely impossible and great a great ending to the book or it might be used to explain their failures.

So,  what I want you to do is tell me why you think the author included these 11 pages in the book to describe the Martians.  You may use my ideas, but please expand on them.  Also, feel free to state your own original ideas.  Use support from the book to show your view, and even quotes if you think it is needed. Have fun!

~Erin C. =)

Woot Woot!!! Last Postinggg!

And its in color!

“With overwhelming force came the thought of myself, of my wife, and the old life of hope and tender helpfulness that had ceased forever.” (198)

The narrator says this to himself at the end of Chapter 9, when he is wandering London and realizes that the Martians are dead. This to me is memorable because it shows how the wife truly means to him. I mean he wasn’t surviving to try to stay alive he was trying to survive to stay alive for her. That my friends is true love right there.

The other thing I would like to point out in this passage is the fact that he says that he couldn’t wait to go back to their normal life, or as he says it “the old life of hope and tender helpfulness that had ceased forever.” To me this means that he had this great and happy life and then it was stopped for a long time because of the Martians. The narrator is longing for this life to come back. I kind of feel like he wishes that none of this ever happened.

“It’s no use… The house is deserted. No one has been here these ten days. Do not stay here to torment yourself. No one escaped, but you.” (204)

This quote is said when the narrator goes back to his house and he is looking for his wife. When he gets there he doesn’t see his wife or his cousin. Then the narrator hears this quote and at first he thinks that he is the one that said this. He thinks that he spoke out loud. Then he walks over to the doors and sees his wife and cousin. I believe that the cousin said this to the narrators wife, because if the narrator thought it was himself saying this then it must have been a man’s voice.

I think that this quote is both memorable and funny. I think it is funny because both the narrator and his wife think that they are the only survivors when they come back to this house. They think that they are the only survivors of this town, and then when they find each other that has obviously changed. I also believe that this quote is memorable because if the narrator hadn’t heard this they wouldn’t be reunited. These were the words that brought the two love birds back together. Another reason why i think that this quote is memorable is because they both came here against other people’s request to look for each other. They put themselves in danger to find each other among the wreckage and all of the hullabuloo.

My Final Question to YOU:

How would the ending have changed if the narrator and his wife weren’t reunited? How would the narrator handle this?

P.S. lets try to have a conversation with our comments. Comment as much as you can and start some discussion!

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 =/

When I read this quote it made me wonder a few things,

 “But, there were other echoes, from a distance, that rumbled menacingly in the corner all through this space of time. And it was now, about little Lucie’s sixth birthday, that they began to have an awful sound, as of a great storm in France with a dreadful sea rising.” Book 2, Chapter 21, pg. 209

I found that Charles Dickens uses a metaphor of a terrible storm to signal the awful fate of France and how the poor stormed the Bastille and the revolution has started.  Dickens also creates the sound of echoes that haunt Lucie in the night, what do you guys think this means? Fate is a common theme in this book, once things get going they are slowed down by something happening that shouldn’t have.  What else has happened in the book so far that involves fate, what do you think will happen next?

The passage I chose is on page 97. Taylor is talking to Lou Ann.
They were talking about Taylor and her little baby Turtle. Lou Ann kept asking Taylor questions about the baby and Taylor just had to tell her that she was just given to her. Lou Ann thought that that Taylor adopted her but Taylor told her that that’s not really what had happend.
My question is do you think that Taylor has any real motives of adopting Turtle or is she just going to keep taking care of her? Do you think that when Turtle gets older Taylor will tell her the truth about what had happend the night she was given to her?

Brittany Miller

[Brittany couldn't post this so I copied it out of the comment so we could find it]