Book 3 Listicle

5 Reasons Why Jack from Room is an Excellent Hero

Jack from Room by Emma Donoghue is a very unlikely hero. From the beginning of the book, Jack and his mother; “Ma” (as he refers to her) are trapped in a room. This room that they live in is actually a shack in the backyard of “Old Nick”. He is a man who kidnapped “Ma” when she was 19 years old. She was raped and gave birth to her son, Jack, who is now five years old. Ma decides that five years old is too old to be living in this room. She devises an escape plan to get her and Jack out of the room and get help. The plan couldn’t work without Jack’s amazing bravery and courage for such a young boy.

1. He is as brave as any adult

When Jack is in the truck escaping, he isn’t with his mother anymore. He is all alone (other than Old Nick) and he is only five years old. Most adults couldn’t even have enough courage to perform a stunt like this, but he is as brave as any human. When he gets nervous, Jack tells himself, “Ma’s not here, no time to cry…” (Donoghue 139). He knows, even at a young age, that he can’t quit on the plan or he can never save his mother or himself. He tells himself to be brave, and be strong.

2. He powers through

Jack finally wriggles himself out of the grip of the rug that he is wrapped up in and is starting the escape plan. Even when Jack can’t find the words to say to the man who witnesses Old Nick carrying him away, Jack says, “I can’t talk but I wave it at the somebody man” (Donoghue 142). Jack knows that he has to power through the pain and the misery that he is in to save his Ma and him. This man is triggered by the note, and notices that someone awful is going on here. If Jack hadn’t tried to throw the note, the man could have just thought that it was a temper tantrum. Jack powered through his pain and lack of words to pull through and save the day.

3. He pays attention to detail

In order for Jack to escape the way he did, he had to endure a long and bumpy ride in the back of Old Nick’s truck. Jack was uncomfortable because he was tight within the rug, bouncing around, and bumping up against edges of the truck that caused him to be hurt. However, through all of this, he still managed to help the police officers identify the house based on how many stop signs and turns they made. Jack, when talking to the police officers, says, “’But after the third time stopping, the truck went…All a different way” (Donoghue 148-149). Jack does an amazing job of paying attention to how many times the truck stopped along with when it turned. This allowed for the police officers to get a much better idea as to where “Room” might be. This is an amazing quality of a hero because it allows them to be knowledgeable and help with any details that they need.

4. He sacrificed everything

Even though Jack’s mother came up with the escape plan, Jack had to do all of the work. While it most likely isn’t possible for Ma to come up with a plan for her to leave and come back, Jack still did all of the grunt work. He sacrificed his life and his safe place to help his mother and himself get outside. “We say the plan over and over…” (Donoghue 132), Jack explains. He talks about how his mom gives his this very elaborate plan that is hard to memorize, as it is 9 steps. He is very scared and intimidated. But, as the great hero that he is, he tries his best to remember all the steps, and keeps practicing so he can get it right.

5. He doesn’t make a sound

In this case, heroism is defined by how quiet Jack can be, since he has to pretend to be dead. Playing the silent game for two minutes is hard for most children, but he has to not move or breathe much for a long period of time. Jack’s hero abilities help him to try and stay calm and quiet, even through pain. He knows he can’t make any sounds, “Owwww, down onto something hard. I don’t think I made a sound, I didn’t hear one” (Donoghue 138). Jack has to be silent, even though he is only five years old and is going through pain. I applaude the heroic abilities that Jack exemplifies in Room by Emma Donoghue. He pursues the escape plan that his mother devised to finally escape from their prison, and tries his best to please every person in the process.

Blog 5: Truth in Writing

In order to be considered “non-fiction”, a book would need to be, as a number, about 98 or 99% accurate. I don’t see any problem with embellishing minor details that don’t effect the overall plot or results throughout the story. However, when the embellishments begin to alter the truth and accuracy of the story as a whole, it is a problem. I think that we need to loosely label books as non-fiction or fiction. I think that, for purposes of bookstores and categorizing, there should be genres and labels for books but I don’t think it is necessary to critique a book vigorously simply because they embellished a few details in a non-fiction piece. I understand the idea that if a book isn’t going to get published if it is labelled as fiction, it could be published as a non-fiction work, as long as it meets the 98% accuracy requirement. The 98% does not include any alterations to the ending or result of an event but rather only minor details such as character names, cities, timings, etc.

 On the other hand, I think memoirs have to be treated differently than the standard fiction vs. non-fiction battle. Memoirs are supposed to be true accounts and real stories that happened to somebody. Memoirs make terrific stories, but I think memoirs need to be entirely correct other than altering a name or a time. I think the importance of accuracy and precision is much more important in a memoir than it is in a standard non-fiction piece. If a memoir is changed too much, it should simply be published as a fiction work and then the author can change whatever details they choose. Memoirs need to be entirely accurate other than very miniscule details, while non-fiction can alter more as long as it doesn’t distract or effect the overall storyline or change the way the event occurred. 

Post 4: Adapting Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

If I was assigned by a major studio to adapt the book Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close in to a movie, I would have a lot to consider.

 The biggest and most prominent question would be: what should it be turned in to? I would agree with the current adaptation of the book, which was turned in to a movie. I just can't figure out a way that the book would be able to be a television show, because there are too many small plots within the large plot. Because of all of these small plots, each individual episode, unless watched back-to-back, would lose sight of some of those small plots, making for a very confusing show. I would choose to make it a movie because all of the large and small plots could flow together simultaneously, with little to no confusion, and all of the characters and settings could be correctly adapted and portrayed.

I believe that most of the parts at the end of the movie are very essential to keep in the movie. For instance, when Oskar finds out that his mom actually knew about his adventure the entire time, which is why she wasn't so worried. Also, I would definitely keep the part where he hears the message from eight months prior that leads him to the destination of the key. However, there are many subplots that could be avoided or fast forwarded through in order to keep the movie on pace. For instance, the movie wouldn't necessarily need to show all of the places that Oskar went. It could, however, show the very important meetings that are referenced again throughout the book or at the end of the book. I think that flashing back to the lives of Oskar's grandpa and grandma are very important because it adds an emotional value to the story when his grandpa actually enters the story. Also, it gives connections to a lot of people and subplots throughout the book. The best part of the book was realizing how everything is related, and how so many people are connected in some way or another. I would have to keep these elements in the movie in order to keep the connections alive.

Casting choices. Every great movie has a popular actor, or just somebody who engulfs the role. For this reason, I would choose Robin Williams as the father. Most people would feel sentimental towards such a character and actor. He also is very talented at truly becoming the character. That is what I want in an actor. Oskar would be played by Macauley Culkin (when he was a child). I would make this casting choice because I believe that he could show the emotion and intensity and need for the key that Oskar had in the book. Oskar lied a plethora of times throughout the book and I believe tha Macauley Culkin would be able to deliver this role perfectly.

I believe that an adaptation that was delivered through the lens that I am looking through would be very successful and entertaining while capturing the characterization and emotion that was shown throughout the story.

Book 1 Project: Fan Experience

 It’s all of the fun of the famous LIFE board game with the “last year” story of Ben Wolf. This board game, based on the Chris Crutcher book, Deadline, goes through Ben’s life, and how he chooses to live his last year. The game will follow a path similar to the game of LIFE, but with different locations from various settings in the book. Just as the chronology of the story would suggest, all players will begin by going to the doctor’s visit area of the board. There will be various spaces throughout the doctor’s visit area which complicate the forward movement of the players. For instance, in the actual book, Ben Wolf makes his doctor promise not to tell his family, or anyone, for that matter. There will be spaces on the board such as “Missed your physical, go back 2 spaces” and “Confidentiality agreement was broken, lose a turn”, because just moving through the board would be too easy. The ending goal of the game is to attempt to get through the entire board, and get your street named after Malcolm X. Ben works throughout the entire novel (among other challenges) to get a street named after Malcolm X for a government project. The goal of the board game is to receive all the letters (M, A, L, C, O, L, M, and X) to name your street. After every other turn (every second turn), the player will spin the spinner. If the player rolls a 1 or 3 then they receive a letter. The game will continue until the first person can spell the street name. As another rule, any player that receives a “lose a turn” or “go back” spaces will not be allowed to spin for their turn.

The football team. Trying out for the football team is one of Ben’s first events that he decides to do after figuring out about his deadline. He is a senior in high school at 18 years old, and he has never played football. Not for the team anyways. Cody Wolf, his brother, was always the football stud. He was the football team’s starting quarter back. Ben was always a cross country player, but he wants to try football as a new experience. When questioned by the football coach as to why he decided to start football now, he utters, “’I want a new experience’” (Crutcher 18). On the board game, in the football section of the board, there will be spaces such as, “Game winning touchdown! Roll again”, “Only weighs 123 pounds, lose a turn”, among others.

After making it through the cruelty and judgment of a small player trying out for football, the players will move into the Dallas Suzuki section of the board. Dallas Suzuki is, by Ben Wolf’s terms, “…the single prey in the crosshairs of my Cupid’s bow, and she doesn’t know it because she is way, way out of my league” (Crutcher 2). Dallas Suzuki the most attractive girl in the school, according to Ben Wolf, and it is on his bucket list to date her. Ben doesn’t just get one date with her, he gets multiple. Getting Dallas is one of the bravest endeavors that Ben embarks upon during the novel because he thinks that he has no chance. But, hey, with only one year life, he doesn’t have much to lose. As Ben says in the novel, “Beware the short terminal guy with nothing to lose” (Crutcher). During this part of the game board, when each player reaches a certain space, they will stop. They will have to spin a spinner marked with the numbers 1 through 10 (the same as a traditional LIFE game spinner). If the player spins a 7 or higher, then they get to go to homecoming with Dallas Suzuki and move on. If the player misses the number, they will wait until their next turn to spin again. If they do spin a 7 or higher, they may roll again as a normal turn.

Other spaces on the board include: “Steal another player’s letter” to steal another player’s letter, and “Mr. Lambeer has turned down your idea, lose one letter”, to add to the challenges of the game as a parallel to the challenging last year that Ben had. This game will extend the audience of the book and attract people to want to play this game and then read the novel. This will happen because people will get general knowledge of the characters, situations, and events through the book and want to read the whole story of Ben’s life. Going through the life of Ben Wolf through a fun, active game will draw the reader into the story and will have to check out the book.

Post 2: What is a book?

A book is a place where thoughts are expressed and imaginations thrive. I would say that my opinion about what a "book" is resides mostly with the ideas of Joe Meno. Joe Meno claims that, "...the idea of the book is more important than the actual form it takes..." (Meno). I mostly agree with this because I don't see books as physical objects. I see books more as stories that we create in our mind. A book can be read online, on a kindle, or through a physical paper copy. It is the story, the meaning, the "take-away" from that information that is vital.

While my personal preference and desire will always stay with the physical books, I don't think that the definition of what a book is should be solely confined to a physical object. That is the opposite of what books are for. Books are for enriching the brain with knowledge, creating stories in our head for us to ponder, for applying to our own lives, and comparison to the world around us. A book is not the physical object that is picked up at Barnes and Noble, it is the written or typed information that is expressed through different mediums.

I also agree with the idea that is expressed by Joe Meno when he says that, "...a book is actually a place, a place where we, as readers, still have the chance to engage in active imagining, translating word into image..." (Meno). Joe Meno describes a book as a place, rather than an object and I agree with him. Rather than the physicality of an object, the vitality of a book comes from the content, and how that content flows through your brain and causes images and descriptions to run through your brain. Books are stories, adventures, and facts. Book are not objects. Books are dreams, imaginations, and worlds. Books are not objects. Books are compared, contrasted, and analyzed. But books are not objects.

Post #1: Why I Read Books.

I read because it is an entertaining way to live in a story. Movies and TV shows can physically show you what they want you to see, but I books add more of a creative touch to a story because you have to create the images and pictures in your head throughout the story. I read both for pleasure (occasionally) and when I am forced to for classes. In my experience, reading is one hundred times easier when it is a book that I choose to read because I am not being forced to suffer through it. I read because it enriches my mind with a story that has many different themes and advice that I can apply to my own life. Being able to talk to someone about books is very interesting because you could both read the same book and have a completely different perspective on a certain event in the book. That's what I like about books; they're open for interpretation while still giving the reader a creative story that engages them with both the characters and the situations involved. Whether I read a book for a class or read it just for fun, reading is a great way to give your mind a fun and interesting story that you can think about and love for years to come.