Jeannette-
Why do you put up with it? The constant fleeing? The sense that someone is always watching you? Having to leave everything you have known behind in search of the unknown? It's embarrassing that a girl as strong and determined as you has to put up with this lifestyle. Your father acts like he loves you, but that's only when he's sober. When he's drunk, his true feelings come out and the sad truth is that he's a raging alcoholic that would be better off on his own. How do you put up with something like this: "Dad turned into an angry-eyed stranger who threw around furniture and threatened to beat up Mom or anyone else who got in his way" (23). He doesn't love you. He obviously doesn't love his family.
Run, Jeannette. Run. You deserve so much better. Sure, there are the happy times: "...they let us go out and play in the warm, driving water. We splashed and sang and danced" (22), but do these really outweigh all the abuse you are put through? You parents have no regard for you own health or well-being. They let you cook hot dogs as a 3-year-old! That is not a grant of freedom. That is just being irresponsible. Not to mention, after you were admitted into the hospital for severe burns, your dad took you out of the hospital even though your treatments weren't finished! You still had a giant scab on the side of your body!
I know. I get it. Family is family and you love them no matter what, but hear me out on this. These people are a threat to your safety. You Dad has no issue with driving drunk with kids in the backseat. You Mom lets you shoot a magnum at bottles when you are 4 years old. Also, have you ever thought about the malnurishment? According to you, you go without food for days at a time, only to eat nothing but fruit for several weeks. Please. For your own good, leave.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Outside Reading, Week 1, Post A
The Glass Castle - Jeannette Walls
Vocab
prospector (25) - One who explores an area for mineral deposits or oil
sluice gate (24) - an artificial channel for conducting water, often fitted with a gate (sluice gate) at the upper end for regulating the flow.
Appeals
1) "We ate irregularly, and when we did, we'd gorge ourselves... vineyard owners let people come pick their own grapes for a nickel a pound. We drove about a hundred miles to the vineyards, where the grapes were so ripe they were about to burst on the vine in bunches bigger than my head. We filled our entire car full of green grapes" (22). I thought that this quote demonstrates both an emotional and logical appeal. The author tries to demonstrate the large gaps of hunger and the subsequent waves of food that they would receive by exaggerating measurements and trying to connect with the reader. However, it could have some logical appeals. If someone wants to take this passage literally, they could get a grasp of how many grapes they had, although it is not specific.
2) "I turned to see where it was coming from and realized my dress was on fire. Frozen with fear, I watched the yellow-white flames make a ragged brown line up the pink fabric of my skirt and climb my stomach. Then the flames leaped up, reaching my face. I screamed" (9). This passage clearly demonstrates and emotional appeal. Jeannette Walls starts out her memoir with the story of when she was seriously burned as a child. We can tell from the level of detail she puts into her descriptors and the general sense of panic in the scene that she is trying to connect with the reader. She wants them to feel the sense of urgency and fear that she was feeling at the time.
3) "Later that night, Dad stopped the car out in the middle of the desert, and we slept under the stars. We had no pillows, but Dad said that was part of his plan. He was teaching us to have good posture...we did have our scratchy army-surplus blankets, so we spread them out and lay there...I told Lori how lucky we were to be sleeping out under the sky like Indians" (18). Walls makes it clear in the very beginning of the novel that debt collectors are always after her family, and as a result, they are always on the run. However, her dad always tries to put a good spin on things and make them seem fun when they are actually quite bad. This creates an awkward sense of calmness that the author tries to convey to her readers.
Quote
"When Dad wasn't telling us about all the amazing things he had already done, he was telling us about the wondrous things he was going to do. Like build the Glass Castle...All we had to do was find gold, Dad said, and we were on the verge of that. Once he finished the Prospector and we struck it rich, he'd start work on our glass castle" (25). This passage describes Jeannette's dad's plan to invent a machine that would find gold and then build them a house made out of glass, or "The Glass Castle". I felt that this quote is significant because it explains the title of this book, which Walls puts a lot of emphasis on in the reading. Also, it sounds like the Dad really believes in his get-rich-quick scheme, which is most likely going to follow up on later in the book.
Theme
Right now, I'd say that the overall theme of the book is that there is always a silver lining. Although Walls' family is always on the run and has a very unstable life, it sounds like they are always having fun and no one is particularly worried.
Vocab
prospector (25) - One who explores an area for mineral deposits or oil
sluice gate (24) - an artificial channel for conducting water, often fitted with a gate (sluice gate) at the upper end for regulating the flow.
Appeals
1) "We ate irregularly, and when we did, we'd gorge ourselves... vineyard owners let people come pick their own grapes for a nickel a pound. We drove about a hundred miles to the vineyards, where the grapes were so ripe they were about to burst on the vine in bunches bigger than my head. We filled our entire car full of green grapes" (22). I thought that this quote demonstrates both an emotional and logical appeal. The author tries to demonstrate the large gaps of hunger and the subsequent waves of food that they would receive by exaggerating measurements and trying to connect with the reader. However, it could have some logical appeals. If someone wants to take this passage literally, they could get a grasp of how many grapes they had, although it is not specific.
2) "I turned to see where it was coming from and realized my dress was on fire. Frozen with fear, I watched the yellow-white flames make a ragged brown line up the pink fabric of my skirt and climb my stomach. Then the flames leaped up, reaching my face. I screamed" (9). This passage clearly demonstrates and emotional appeal. Jeannette Walls starts out her memoir with the story of when she was seriously burned as a child. We can tell from the level of detail she puts into her descriptors and the general sense of panic in the scene that she is trying to connect with the reader. She wants them to feel the sense of urgency and fear that she was feeling at the time.
3) "Later that night, Dad stopped the car out in the middle of the desert, and we slept under the stars. We had no pillows, but Dad said that was part of his plan. He was teaching us to have good posture...we did have our scratchy army-surplus blankets, so we spread them out and lay there...I told Lori how lucky we were to be sleeping out under the sky like Indians" (18). Walls makes it clear in the very beginning of the novel that debt collectors are always after her family, and as a result, they are always on the run. However, her dad always tries to put a good spin on things and make them seem fun when they are actually quite bad. This creates an awkward sense of calmness that the author tries to convey to her readers.
Quote
"When Dad wasn't telling us about all the amazing things he had already done, he was telling us about the wondrous things he was going to do. Like build the Glass Castle...All we had to do was find gold, Dad said, and we were on the verge of that. Once he finished the Prospector and we struck it rich, he'd start work on our glass castle" (25). This passage describes Jeannette's dad's plan to invent a machine that would find gold and then build them a house made out of glass, or "The Glass Castle". I felt that this quote is significant because it explains the title of this book, which Walls puts a lot of emphasis on in the reading. Also, it sounds like the Dad really believes in his get-rich-quick scheme, which is most likely going to follow up on later in the book.
Theme
Right now, I'd say that the overall theme of the book is that there is always a silver lining. Although Walls' family is always on the run and has a very unstable life, it sounds like they are always having fun and no one is particularly worried.
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