English Journal Blog - CIoD

Journal Blog post #7 - Empathy   Pages 204 - 237 Write about something happening in the book that you can relate to. How did you react? Try to put yourself in the characters shoes and say why you think they feel the way they do.  I think I can relate to Christopher trying to travel using the underground. He got to London, a new city he has never been to, and had to somehow get to his mom's house. He did what I would've probably done too when I'm confused and scared, which was to ask someone what to do. Then he got told to use the underground. At first he was very overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information he was exposed to. All these signs and adverts were probably overloading his very observant brain. He then sat down on a bench and just observed for a while, to figure out how to do things correctly using the underground. He felt very overwhelmed whenever the station got full of people, which is quite understandable. I mean there are tons of people walk...

Journal Blog post #6 - Analysis   Pages 172 - 203 Name five  two of the main themes of the book. 1. Life with Asperger's-Syndrome I think one of the main themes of the book consists of the author trying to familiarize how it is to live with Asperger's Syndrome. We get to read the story through the eyes of Christopher and we can experience how he reacts when faced with different situations. I also think that it makes it easier for healthy people to interact with people who have said Syndrome, since we get to know a little bit of what is uncomfortable for them. 2. Just because you aren't abled, doesn't mean you don't have any talents. There is a strong contrast between the difficulties Christopher has facing very simple situations, like taking a train to somewhere or walking through somewhere crowded and his incredible memory, logical skills and observation skills. People often tend to reduce disabled people to just their disabilty alone, often ignoring ...

Journal Blog post #5 - Recount   Pages 138 - 171   Retell the major details of the story's plot so far. The story started with the murder of Wellington and Christopher finding him in the backyard of Ms. Shears home, with a pitchfork pierced inside of him. After that he got temporarily arrested because he hit a police officer who was checking out the crime scene. After he was released again from prison, Christopher decided to do detecitve work and find out who killed Wellington and to write a book about it. After his father forbade him to do that, he went on to do the detective work in secret. His father found out, hid his book and as Christopher was searching for it in his father's room, he found letters from his mom, which his father had hidden from him. His father saw him reading them and told him everything, including that he was the one who killed Wellington. Now scared of his own father, Christopher decided to travel to London to go live with his mother. ...

Journal Blog post #4 - Prediction   Pages 104 - 137   Take a guess as to how the story will conclude. At this point in the book, Christopher is finding out that his mother is, in fact, still alive and has not died from a heart attack, like his father had told him. I predict that there will first be a chapter dedicated to him dealing with this blow to the gut. After he has come to terms with it I presume that he will question his father as to why he hid the truth from him. Knowing Christopher, he will want to know all the details about what happened and be able to fill in the gaps in his tape recorder-esque memory.  After that he will probably need some time to figure out what he should do, think or be feeling at the moment. He might consult Siobhan about this issue and I think she might tell him to try to talk with her. I predict that Christopher and his father will go out to London to go visit Christopher's mom. 161 words

Journal Blog post #3 - Characterization Pages 70 - 103   Write about the relationship between two characters and how it is changing or developing. What are the characteristics of the relationship?  I am going to write about the relationship between Christopher and his father. Because Christopher is his son Christopher obviously has a more submissive role in the relationship. His father takes on the role of a parental figure quite well, he educates Christopher, tells him what to do and what not to do and takes care of him (washing his clothes, making him food, etc. ). Basically the minimum of what a parental figure should do.  The relationship is currently changing in a way, because Christopher is investigating in the murder case, which his father does not want him to do, for whatever reason he might have. Since Christopher is doing his detective work nonetheless, his father is being forced to become more of an interrogator than a father. He has to ask him ...

Journal Blog post #2 - Empathy   Pages 35 -69 Write down 5 questions you would like to ask a character. Say why you would ask this question.   Questions directed at Christopher     1.  How did you get to know Siobhan? This interests me because Siobhan seems to have a very large impact on Christopher and the way he sees and understands the world. 2. How did you feel the night that you heard that your mother had died? He doesn't seem to feel many concrete emotions that are easily comprehendible for abled people, so I was curious as to how he felt that night. 3. What kind of detective novels have you read ? He mentions a lot of technical terms while he does his detective work (e.g. Red Herring, ... ). I was wondering if he had read Sherlock Holmes or maybe books by Agathe Christie or others.  4. What religion do you / your parents have? He doesn't believe in heaven, so I'm just curious.  5. Is it easy for y...