Outside Reading, Week 3, Post A

Vocab
shylock (111) - to lend money at extortionate rates of interest

hedonism (105) - the doctrine that pleasure or happiness is the highest good

Appeals
"Dad took my hand and slowly guided it to the side of the cheetah's neck. It was soft but also bristly. The cheetah turned his head and put his moist nose up against my hand. Then his big pink tongue unfolded from his mouth, and he licked my hand...the cheetah licked my palm, his tongue warm and rough, like sandpaper dipped in hot water. I felt all tingly" (108-109)

This passage describes the author's trip to the zoo, where she and her dad break into the cheetah cage and pet it. This definitely demonstrates a logical appeal. Jeannette uses a lot of good metaphors and imagery, so that the reader can imagine what it is like to have their hand licked by a cheetah. Also, the whole passage is much slower and more in depth than the rest of the text surrounding it, so it shows that the author wanted to put emphasis on this part.

"In the morning Dad told me that for the next few days, he was going to keep himself in his bedroom. He wanted us kids to steer clear of him, to stay outside all day and play. Everything went fine for the first day. On the second day, when I came home from school, I heard a terrible groaning sound coming from the bedroom...he was thrashing about, bucking and pulling at the restraints, yelling "No!" and "Stop!" and "Oh my God!". His face was gray and dripping with sweat" (117)

Although I could only fit a portion of the passage in, I felt that this somewhat summarizes Jeannette's dad's detox. This passage clearly shows an emotional appeal of fear. Jeannette tells her dad that she wishes he would stop drinking. Then, her dad locks himself in his bedroom for the next week and goes into detox. In the full passage in the book, Jeannette uses mysterious and powerful word choice to convey the fear and uncertainty that she was feeling at the time. At this point in the book, Jeannette is only 10, so she isn't quite sure of what is going on, or what alcohol is. The author uses words like "delirium" and phrases like "particularly hideous cry" to convey what she was feeling at the time.

"'Those bikes aren't for us are they?' I asked. 'Well, they're too damn small for your mother and me,' he said. Lori and Brian had climbed on their bikes and were riding up and down the sidewalk. I stared at mine. It was shiny purple and had a white banana seat, wire baskets on the side, chrome handlebars that swept out like steer horns, and white plastic handles with purple-and-silver tassels." (99)

This passage describes when Jeannette's dad buys them all bikes because of his successful new job. I felt that this shows both an emotional and logical appeal. Later in the text, Jeannette talks about excited she was, not just for the bikes, but for Dad's new job and the second chance at life they were getting and how the bikes were symbolic of that. Before they moved to Phoenix, they mainly hopped around from job to job. However, they inherited their Grandma's old house and started a new life in a new community. This is supposed to help the reader feel Jeannette's excitement and optimism. However, in the specific text that is quoted, there is more of a logical appeal. Jeannette goes into detail on the features of the bike and what it was like to look at a brand-new bike when almost nothing they owned was new.

Quote
"I could hear people around us whispering about the crazy drunk man and his dirty little urchin children, but who cared what they thought? None of them had ever had their hand licked by a cheetah." (109)

The above quote comes from when Jeannette and her dad break into the cheetah cage and are escorted out. In my previous post, I had talked about how poorly Jeannette is treated and how she is able to put up with it all. However, I now see Jeannette's reasoning: she doesn't care. She just lives in the moment and accepts whatever happens. I felt that this mentality is perfectly captured in this quote and will explain more of her actions and stories later on.

Theme
Right now, I believe the theme is "Do what you want and don't care about what others think". This is perfectly exemplified in the above quote. Jeannette has taken on the mindset of both her mom and dad, which is the theme. It is stated several times throughout the book that her mom and dad both believe in rebelling against the status quo and not fitting into conformity. Maybe Jeannette wrote this book to give credit to that idea.