Reader's Notes 3

" 'I'm sure it's mostly to annoy their parents. Laura was telling me that her dad won't let Jodie leave the house dressed like that. She puts everything in her backpack and changes in the ladies' room at school,' says Clare." (214).

This shows rebellion, a theme that is present in the novel.

"I know. I'm sorry...time has been moving kind of fast lately." (220).

How does time move fast for someone who can time travel?

"You got a girlfriend?"
I grin.
"Ho ho. Okay, I kow all about it. What's her name? How come you don't bring her around?" (220).

This shows that Kimy is a maternal figure to Henry, who lost his mother when he was young.

"I ask if I can help but Kimy waves me into a chair. I sit across from Henry. His dad is on my right and Kimy's empty chair is on my left. I notice that Mr. DeTamble is wearing a sweater, even though it's pretty warm in here." (236).

Does Mr. DeTamble's sweater have some kind of significance? Why would he be wearing a sweater despite the warmth? Maybe he hasn't done laundry in a while because of his drunken state...

"Ah. Well then, you know thatAnnette had the most marvelous voice...rich, and pure, such a voice, and such range...she could express her soul with that voice, whenever I listened to her I felt my life meant more than mere biology...she could really hear, she understood structure and she could analyze exactly what it was about a piece of music that had to be rendered just so...she was a very emotional person, Annette. She brought that out in other people. After she died I don't think I ever really felt anything again." (238).

Aww. Mr. DeTamble really loved his wife, and he shows it here. Not many men can express their feelings like that.

"'But don't you think,' I persist, 'that it's better to be extremely happy for a short while, even if you lose it, than to be just okay for your whole life?'" (239).

Good question. It's a bit foreshadowing as well.

"He isn't calibrated to bring peace to anyone's life. In fact, he is in many ways the opposite of his mother: unreliable, volatile, and not even especially concerned with anyone but himself. Tell me, Clare: why on earth would a lovely girl like you want to marry Henry?" (239).

This is a bit harsh coming from a parent. Why wouldn't Mr. DeTamble want his son to be happy and marry Clare?

"There's a playground at the end of the block and I run to the swings and climg on, and Henry takes the one next to me, facing the opposite direction, and we swing higher and higher, passing each other, sometimes in synch and sometimes streaming past each other so fast it seems like we're going to collide, and we laugh, and laugh, and nothing can ever be sad, no one can be lost, or dead, or far away: right now we are here, and nothing can mar our perfection, or steal the joy of this perfect moment." (240-241).

I love this quote. It describes perfect bliss.

"Once upon a time there were three little sisters...and they lived at the bottom of a well....Why did they live at the bottom of a well?...It was a treacle well." (242).

Treacle-Molasses. Hmm. This is an interesting allusion. Not really sure what it means though. http://www.answers.com/treacle

"I'm sitting on the stoop of a dingy white aluminum-sided house in Humboldt Park. It's Monday morning, around ten. I'm waiting for Ben to get back from wherever he is." (250).

Who's Ben? --Ben is a friend of Henry's who makes drug cocktails to help Henry stay in the present.

"He nods his approval and ties a plastic cape around my neck. Soon his scissors are flashing little metal on metal noises around my head, and my hair is falling to the floor. When he is done he brushes me off and removes the cape and voila, I've become the me of my future." (263).

Henry is a bit of a hypocrite. He refuses to give anyone hints from the future, yet he knows that his hair is shorter, so he goes and gets it cut...

"The suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalmus, which is located right above your optic chiasm, serves as the reset button, as it were, of your sense of time--so that's what I want to begin with." (323).

Umm. Say what? A little too scientific for me...

"Kendrick throws the latex and needle in a can labeled BIOHAZARD and writes something on the little red vial of blood. He sits back down across from and places the vial on the table next to the Camels." (323).

This is an interesting juxtaposition. The red vial next to the pack of Camels.

"On one hand, I am all eagerness; I want to give Clare a baby, see Clare ripen like a flesh melon, Demeter in glory." (326).

Demeter: The Greek goddess of vegetation and fruitfulness. http://www.answers.com/Demeter

"I am reminded of the story of the monkey's paw, and the three wishes that followed so naturally and horribly from each other. I wonder if our wish is of a similar order." (327).

I've read The Monkey's Paw! Sophomore year. It was a good story. Very intriguing.

"I can hear the doves that live in the wisteria waking up. The world is gray. Slowly color leaks into it, not rosy-fingered but like a slowly spreading stain of blood orange, one moment lingering at the horizon and then flooding the garden and then golden light, and then a blue sky, and then all the colors vibrant in their assigned places, the trumpet vines, the roses, the white salvia, the marigolds, all shimmering in the new morning dew like glass." (336).

I love the imagery in this book.

Reader's Notes 2

"Oh, right, Michigan's an hour ahead. How surreal" (165).

This shows that time doesn't mean much to Henry, who is able to travel back and forth through time.

"First of all, I think it's a brain thing. I think it's a lot like epilepsy, because it tends to happen when I'm stressed, and there are physical cues, like flashing light, that can prompt it. And because things like running, and sex, and meditation tend to help me stay put in the present. Secondly, I have absolutely no conscious control over when or where I go, how long I stay, or when I come back. So time travel tours of the Riviera are very unlikely. Having said that, my subconscious seems to exert tremendous control, because I spend a lot of time in my own past, visiting events that are interesting or important, and evidently I will be spending enormous amounts of time visiting you, which I am looking forward to immensely. I tend to go places I've already been in real time, although I do find myself in other, more random times and places. I tend to go to the past, rather than the future" (166).

This is the most complete and detailed description that Henry gives about his time traveling. What he doesn't explain must be inferred. I find it interesting that he relates it to epilepsy, which not many people are familiar with.

"I never thought much about South Haven until I moved to Chicago. Our house always seemed like an island, sitting in the unincorporated area to the south, surrounded by the Meadow, orchards, woods, farms, and South Haven was just Town, as in Let's go to Town and get an ice cream. Town was groceries and hardward and Mackenzie's Bakery and the sheet music and records at the Music Emporium, Alicia's favorite store. We used to stand in front of Appleyard's Photography Studio, making up stories about the brides and toddlers and families smiling in their window. We didn't think the library was funny-looking in it's faux Greek splendor, nor did we find the cuisine limited and bland, or the movies at the Michigan Theater relentlessly American and mindless. These were opinions I came to later, after I became a denizen of a City, and expatriate anxious to distance herself from the bumpkin ways of her youth. I am suddenly consumed by nostalgia for the little girl who was me, who loved the fields and believed in God, who spent winter days home sick from school reading Nancy Drew and sucking menthol cough drops, who could keep a secret. I glance over at Henry and see that he has fallen asleep" (167-168).

This is when Clare first realizes that her past is meeting her future and she isn't sure how to feel about it.

"...the knife of realization sinks in deeper: all the little tokens and souvenirs in the museum of our past are as love letters to an illiterate" (170).

Great line!

"' Because I could give the tape to Yoshi Akawa. One of his students just left to take a job in Paris.' Yoshi is a great guy and first chair cello. I know he'll at least listen to the tape; my dad, who doesn't teach, will simply pitch it out" (172).

Henry to the rescue.

"'What is a Thompson's Turkey?' I ask, and Nell discourses on the miraculous properties of the Thompson's Turkey, invented by Morton Thompson, a newspaperman, in the 1930s. Apparently the production of this marvelous beast involves a great deal of stuffing, basting, and turning" (175).

Interesting...

"She's flushed from the cold and smiling. Her hair is wet and I see as she walks ebulliently across the enormous Persian carpet in her stocking feet toward me that she does belong here, she's not an aberration, she has simply chosen another kind of life, and I'm glad" (177).

Ebulliently-Zestfully enthusiastic. http://www.answers.com/ebulliently

"'Oh. Huh. But Clare, it's too weird--does he have a brother?'"
"'No. His dad doesn't look much like him.'"
"'Maybe it was, you know, astral projection or something.'"
"'Time travel,' I offer, smiling"
"'Oh, yeah, right. God, how bizarre.'" (192)

Clare covers for Henry's strange appearance here quite nicely, offering time travel as an explanation when she knows that her sister won't believe her.

Reader’s Notes 1

Reader’s Notes for The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, part 1.

“This evening, in the Get Me High Lounge, in Chicago, my twenty-five-year-old self will drink until I quietly slide off the bar stool and onto the floor and end up having my stomach pumped at Mercy Hospital. It’s the nineteenth anniversary of my mother’s death” (108).

Despite how depressing this excerpt, I like the way the author words everything, and then ends with “It’s the nineteenth anniversary of my mother’s death,” as though it’s not a big deal that Henry’s mother has been dead for 19 years and her death barely affects Henry.

“My mom wears lipstick, eye liner, mascara, blush, and eyebrow pencil to go to the dry cleaner’s. Dad is much as he always is, tall, spare, a quiet dresser, a wearer of hats” (110).

This characterizes Henry’s parents, two opposite people. Henry’s mother dresses up, always looks her best, no matter where she’s going, while Henry’s father is a simple man.

“They make plans to move to Vienna after the end of the Lyrics ‘69-‘70 season. Dad auditions at the Philharmonic. Whenever the phone rings, it’s Uncle Ish, Mom’s manager, or someone from a record label” (110).

This shows how large a part of Henry’s life music is. With both parents being professional, world-renowned musicians, Henry has dealt with the music industry a lot, and knows his way around good music.

“ ’No, that wasn’t it, the steel embedded in my seat right where my forehead should have been. I have a scar where it started to cut my forehead.’ I show Clare. ‘It got my hat. The police couldn’t figure it out. All my clothes were in the car, on the seat and the floor, and I was found stark naked by the side of the road’ ” (113).

Maybe time traveling has its benefits?

“But then I feel guilty for wanting to avoid the sadness; dead people need us to remember them, even if it eats us, even if all we can do is say I’m sorry until it is as meaningless as air” (118).

I love this quote; it’s so true on so many levels.

“The abandoned ghost train track looms over the street in the sodium vapor glare and as I open the door someone starts to blow a trumpet and hot jazz smacks me in the chest. I walk into it like a drowning man, which is what I have come here to be” (119).

This is some really neat imagery. The ghost train track paired with the hot jazz and the drowning man produces a really, really interesting idea.

“I can feel the cold dry air in my lungs, feel my heart serenely pounding, and as I reach North Avenue I am feeling good and I start to speed up. Running is many things to me: survival, calmness, euphoria, solitude. It is proof of my corporeal existence, my ability to control my movement through space if not time, and the obedience, however temporary, of my body to my will. As I run I displace air, and things come and go around me, and the path moves like a filmstrip beneath my feet” (154).

This is how I feel when I go running! Minus, the time-traveling worries, of course.

“We stand in line for a few minutes. Henry seems tense, on guard. He holds my hand, but stares out over the crowd” (155).

What does Henry know that Clare doesn’t? Why is he tense?

“He goes off to the bar. I rest my arms on the railing of the balcony and watch the crowd. Girls in vintage dresses, girls in combat gear, boys with Mohawks, boys in flannel shirts. People of both sexes in T-shirts and jeans. College kids and twenty-somethings, with a few old folks scattered in” (156).

This is an interesting combination of people for a Violent Femmes concert….

“She is blond, and beautiful in a very German way, tall and dramatic” (156).

Who is this blond woman? Does her being German have any significance? –The blond woman is Ingrid, Henry’s ex. Not sure if there’s any significance to her being German.

“The dance floor is a roiling mass of slamming humanity” (157).

I love this line! “Slamming humanity” is great.

“Beautiful girl, love your dress, high school smile, oh yes, where she is now, I can only guess…How can I explain personal pain?…I ain’t had much to live for I ain’t had much to to live for I ain’t had much to live for” (158).

These song lyrics from a Violent Femmes song fit this part of the novel quite well. They describe both Clare and Henry and their feelings about their lives at this point.

“All her Teutonic cool is gone, her face is red and puffy, her makeup is in streaks” (159).

Teutonic: Of or relating to the Germanic languages or their speakers. http://www.answers.com/teutonic

“Short hair. Henry has either gotten his hair cut in the last half hour or I’m looking at my favorite chrono-displaced person. I jump up and fling myself at him” (160).

The short hair means that it is the old Henry, the one the Clare is so fond of. Seeing the Henry that Clare is used to comforts her, and she is joyous.

“I’ve noticed that Henry needs an incredible amount of physical activity all the time in order to be happy. It’s like hanging out with a greyhound” (163).

Henry as a greyhound? That’s an interesting selection, but it suits him quite well. I almost got a greyhound once, but my family wouldn’t have been able to provide with enough physical activity to keep it happy.

“I feel like Dorothy, when her house crash-landed in Oz and the world turned from black and white to color. We’re not in Kansas anymore” (164).

Wizard of Oz! Awesome allusion. Quite fitting, too. Clare’s world has been completely changed now that she’s met the current Henry.

Journal Response #3

This is a journal response to all of the articles read for class.

I really liked reading the first two articles.  I was able to connect to them because of my desire to be a teacher.  I always enjoy reading about different struggles and triumphs that teachers have with their classrooms.  I’m not sure that I would have enjoyed reading the articles if I weren’t interested in teaching though. 

Of the three articles, the first one, about getting students to read, was my favorite.  I enjoy reading about stories where teachers have been successful in getting their students to read, a task that is not easy.  My least favorite article was the last one, which didn’t seem to have a clear, supported argument.  I felt like the author was talking just for the sake of talking.

Journal Response #2

This is a journal response to the article, “If Students Own Their Learning” by Curt Dudley-Martin.

The author of this article is completely against censorship in schools, yet he states that censorship is not black and white. Many of the statements he made were valid, but he contradicted them so many times that it was hard to agree with what he was saying. It was interesting how he portrayed his own daughter as a snobbish child, although she did have a good question. I agree with her question though. The school should honor a student’s right to read whatever they wish, but there are times when a student is reading something they should not be. I think censorship should be more student-based rather than book based. No two students will react the same to the same book, so rather than censor which books students read, censor which students read the books.

Journal Response

This is a journal entry response to the essay “The ‘Wanna Read’ Workshop:  Reading for Love” by Kimberly Hill Campbell.

I really like the ideas that Campbell poses in this essay.  Many students absolutely hate to read, and I think that much of the reason for this is because they haven’t found the types of books that they enjoy.  I wish that more people read for pleasure instead of reading because they’re being forced to.  It was interesting to see how a teacher struggled with a problem in her classroom and how she used her personal experience to solve the problem. I really like the rules that Campbell came up with for her reading workshop days, especially the one about falling asleep in class.  Maybe, when I become a teacher, I will use similar rules in my classroom….

Notes 2

2/5/09

The Reading Process

Before Reading:
1.) Set a purpose
a. Usually your teacher sets the purpose

i. Read a chapter and find examples of theme
ii. Determine the validity of that author’s argument
iii. Gather the essential background info on a topic
b. Ask yourself who, what, when, where, why, how
2.) Preview
a. Skimming
i. Find vocabulary bold-faced
ii. Organization with subheadings / italics
iii. Poetry – rhyme scheme
b. Skimming will also tell you if the material does NOT answer your questions, so you know whether or not to bother reading it
c. You know you’ve skimmed effectively when you answer these questions
i. What is it about?
ii. How is it organized?
iii. What else do I know about this subject?
d. Consider your own prior knowledge before you read
3.) Plan
a. Have a strategy
i. Note-taking
ii. Timelines
iii. Cause-Effect organizers
iv. Graphic organizer
v. Paraphrasing
vi. Visualizing
vii. Thinking out loud
viii. Outlining
ix. Skimming

During Reading:
4.) Keep remembering your purpose
a. If you read something and it makes no sense back up and revisit your purpose
b. Sometimes your purpose changes while you read, or you read for multiple purposes

i. Example: State exams
c. Make predictions and adjust them as you read
5.) Connect
a. Tie what you are reading to your life or what you know already
b. Questions to help stay connected to what you’re reading:
i. How do I feel after reading this?
ii. Do I agree with this point of view?
iii. How does this affect me?
iv. Have I read anything else by this author?

After Reading:
6.) Pause and Reflect
a. Take a moment to think about what you’ve read
b. Have you understood it all?
c. Have you achieved your purpose?
d. If there are gaps in your understanding, identify where they are
e. If you can’t figure it out alone, work with someone

7.) Reread
a. Not every text requires rereading
b. Reread parts of a novel or play that were hazy to you the first time through
c. Textbooks get clearer the second time you read them
d. Use another reading strategy when you reread
i. You might have to do an outline or do close reading the second time
ii. Using another strategy the second time around allows you to uncover more / different information
8.) Remember
a. The key to remembering the information you read is to make it yours
b. Do something with the info. Make a summary, write a review, start a conversation.


**The reading process is designed mostly for academic reading, not for reading for pleasure