Words to know:

• paradox-a seemingly absurd opinion, different from or conflicting with accepted truth, which can be true in fact.
• lacunae-gaps
• nil-nothing
• controvert-dispute
• spasmodic-sudden movement
• anachronisms-things out of their proper historical time
• humbug-a fraud
• conjuror-magician
• incredulous-doubtful
• skepticism-a feeling of mistrust
• whim-sudden change of mind
• potentialities-possibilities
• plausibility-something having the quality of truth
• articulation- speech

Book 2, Chapter 1:  The narrator and the curate decide to move on after a martian clears away the black smoke.  They see the destruction the martians have caused as they continue on and see some other people.  They have a close encounter with a martian who picked up its victims and put them in a metallic basket.  They continue on and rest in a house that has food.  While they are in the house the fifth cylinder lands, and a tripod arrives.

Chapter 2: The narrator and the curate take turns looking at the martians through a hole in the wall.  The narrator describes another of the martian’s machines.  This one is unpacking the cylinder.  We also learn about the anatomy of the martians.  They have large heads and don’t have any digestive organs.  Instead of eating food, they inject the blood of other creatures into their veins.  They don’t sleep as well.

Chapter 3: Even though the narrator and the curate are in danger, they can’t resist the urge to watch the martians.  The narrator doesn’t like the curate because of his exclamations, constant talking, and weeping.  The narrator resorts to threats and blows to stop the curate’s carelessness.  The narrator sees a man taken for feeding.  At the end, the narrator hears guns in the distance.  All of the martians except for a tripod and a handling-machine desert the pit.

Chapter 4: The narrator tries to ration the food they have left, but the curate doesn’t want to.  They result to fighting, and the curate starts to become insane.  The curate starts talking loudly and goes out of the kitchen.  The narrator strikes him with the butt of a meat chopper out of fear.  A martian hears the disturbance and investigates.  The narrator hides in the cellar, but the martian figures out how to unlatch the door.  However, the narrator remains hidden from the martian.

Chapter 5: The narrator becomes so thirsty that he took a chance by using the creaking rain-water pump.  He does this for several days until he sees a dog.  He then looks out and sees that the martians have abandoned the pit.  He looks around and sees that the martians are nowhere in sight, and the town has been destroyed.

Chapter 6: The area around the pit is covered with the red weed.  The narrator relates this to a rabbit whose home is being dug up by people.  Rivers are choked with the weed.  The narrator moves on and sees less of the weed.  He finds food from a garden and thinks he is the only person left in this part of the world.  

Chapter 7: The narrator stays the night at an inn, finds food, thinks about the curate, and prays.  The narrator moves on and stumbles upon the artilleryman.  They talk about surviving and life when the martians take over.  They go to the artilleryman’s cellar where he is staying and make it larger.  They take a break, look out from the roof of a house, and then eat.  After playing cards and drinking, the narrator goes to the roof alone.  He decides to part ways with the artilleryman because he is an “undisciplined dreamer of great dreams” and a drinker and a glutton.

Chapter 8: The narrator walks through London and only encounters dead bodies and black powder.  As he walks through the streets he hears a loud howling that continues for a while.  He keeps going and sees the martian that is making the noise.  It is still and he moves to get a closer look.  While moving, he sees a dead martian in a handling-machine and a still tripod.  The howling stops and the narrator moves toward the pit the martians created.  In the pit, the narrator sees dead martians and their machines.  The martians were killed by disease.

Chapter 9: The narrator tells about how people all over the world received the news by telegraph.  The narrator stayed with some people for 4 days and then went to see the now destroyed town of Leatherhead.  He learned through a paper that they are learning much through the study of the martian machines.  The narrator goes to his house by way of train and finds his wife and cousin there.

Chapter 10: The narrator tells more about the study of the martians.  He also talks about how the invasion will effect men in the future and his flashbacks when he goes near the places in his story.

Words to know:

curate-a clergyman in charge of or as an assistant of a parish

efficacious-having the power to produce a desired effect                                                                                   The narrator said that the curate thought that his tears are efficacious.

timorous-fearful                                                                                                                                                   The curate was described as timorous.

anaemic-lack of vitality                                                                                                                                      The curate was also described as this.

gesticulating-communicating through bodily motions                                                                                      This is what the curate and the narrator did when they were trapped in the house.

Questions:

1. Do you think that H.G. Wells provided a good ending by having the martians killed by disease?

2. How long do you think it will take to rebuild the damage caused by the martians?

3. Will the narrator suffer any long lasting emotional effects from the invasion?

War of the Worlds

chapter 1: The Eve of the War

 

• The first chapter as the title of it explains is about a war coming.
• This first chapter tells us the main history of Mars.
• We also meet the main character of the book who is obviously of high class and well educated but, he is not named.

Chapter 2: The Falling Stars

• Chapter 2 has forshadowing when the martians land and Ogilvy is studying the cylinder there is no wind or birds much like the calm before the storm.
•  In this chapter the landing of the cylinder happens.
• People start to gather at the crash site and newspapers are starting to write about it.

Chapter 3: On Horsell Common

• This chapter shoes how behind Earth people are because they all have short attention spans. This is something humans have never seen before and when they come to see it and its not doing anything they leave quickly
• There is a bit of irony that takes place when the people are trying to dig out the cylinder, which actuall leads to their demise.

Chapter 4: The Cylinder Opens

• 100’s of people gather at the crash site and everyone was getting rowdy and the shop keeper gets pushed in.
• The lid to the cylinder continues to unscrew as he tries to climb out.
• The clyinder opens and everyone runs and hides as they see a martian coming out.
• As people grow with fear they see the shop keeper franticly trying to get out of the pit, but the martian pulls him down into the pit.
• We do not actually know what happens to the shopkeeper but we assume.

Chapter 5: The Heat-Ray

• Out of the pit rises a pole with a spinning disk at the top.
• More people start to show up including the deputation.
• The heat-ray goes off killing some of the onlookers
• The narrorator runs fearfully away to safty.

Words to watch:

Tranquility- (the last word of the first chapter) -quality or state of being tranquil; calmness; peacefulness; quiet; serenity.

• this word is improtant to the story because it is the exact opposite of what is happening in the story.

Deputation -(chapter 5, 9th paragraph 1st sentence)  the small group of men that approach the Martians with a white flag

• This word is important because these are the people that come to stop the martians but they arive as soon as the heat ray  fires.

Scrutinize- (chapter 1 paragraph 1)-to examine in detail with careful or critical attention.

• I thought this was an interesting word to be used in the opening

Seriocomic- Partly comic partly serious

• I didn’t think there was anything comic about this book

Smoke- The visible vapor and gases given off by a burning or smoldering substance

• This word is used a lot in the story so far

AMBER =)

Some question???????

1. What do you think the martians are on earth to do? Or in other words what is their mission?

2. What do you think the narrorator is going to do next based on what we know so far?

3. Are there any other words you came across while reading that you believe are important or are used a lot.

4. is there is anything you believe is important that i missed while summarizing?