Tuesday, March 1, 2011

The Glass Castle: Thesis-Write

Construct a thesis that identifies the literary devices employed by Walls in the first 125 pages of The Glass Castle. Be sure to add adjectives to the devices you identify.

Model: In the first 125 pages of The Glass Castle, Walls (verb) (adjective + device) in order to (identify and articulate the deeper intent/meaning/impact/power of the effect of its inclusion).

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Brittany Lefebvre
Period A

In the first 125 pages of The Glass Castle, Jeanette Walls uses multi-dimensional characterization in order to show her readers the way her parents insisted on raising them.
On one occasion, the family was traveling to a new home, and they were in the car called the Green Caboose. Jeanette had fallen out of the car and she was left stranded. “I rolled several yards down the embankment, and when I came to a stop, I was too shocked to cry, with my breath knocked out and grit and pebbles in my eyes and mouth. I lifted my head in time to watch the Green Caboose get smaller and smaller and then disappear around the bend.” (p.30) The parents didn’t care about their children enough to notice that she had fallen out of the car, and they just kept driving. When they finally realized that she had fallen out of the car they turned around to get Jeanette. She was very mad at her father for just leaving her there. In order to brighten the mood he tries being humorous.“’Damn, honey,’ he said. ‘You busted your snot locker pretty good.’” (p.31) He had called her nose a snot locker, because she was upset and hurt, and it cheered her up.

Unknown said...

Bobby eddleston
Class:A

In the first 125 pages of The Glass Castle, Walls uses detailed imagery in order to help the reader visualize the dysfunction of the walls family life .

Anonymous said...

Through Jeannette Walls’ The Glass Castle’s first 125 pages, it is a memoir of how Jeannette grew up in a poor and relatively crazy family to become a successful married women living in New York’s wealthy district Park Avenue. In the first 125 pages of The Glass Castle Jeannette Walls indirectly incorporates foreshadowing to show how Jeannette and her brother and sister would grow up to be independent, strong and able to live in rough situations by herself. This is shown to readers many times, the most important times she shows foreshadowing is first, when she is cooking hotdogs by herself at three years old, second, Jeannette and her siblings being left alone while their parents went out, and third, when Jeannette and her family went to a spring to swim, she was shown how to swim by her father leaving her in deep water until she either swam or almost drowned.
Connor Russell

mhines4422 said...

In first 125 pages of The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls uses descriptive point of view to strongly show how it felt to actually witness the tragic and crazy events that happened in her early life. When she sets herself on fire and is at the hospital, when she and her siblings are in the back of the moving truck, and when she’s trapped in the corner with Billy are some of the most intense parts.

When Jeannette talks about setting herself on fire, she really gives a strong and meaningful description. “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.” This is a very good description because not only does she tell you what she felt on the outside, but she also reveals to you her inner feelings. Walls also says, “Then they picked me up, laid me flat on a big metal bed piled with ice cubes, and spread some of the ice over my body. A doctor with silver hair and black-rimmed glasses led my mother out of the room.’ This is a very good description of the whole room and how it felt to be there. You can tell she really witnessed this and has a good memory of how it happened. The scene in the hospital has a very clear description and a good point of view.

Anonymous said...

Throughout the first 125 pages in the memoir The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls uses environmental imagery in order to have her readers visualize the many different settings that the family moves around too.

“I was three years old, we were living in a trailer park in southern Arizona whose town I never knew.”

Ashley Cibotti

Anonymous said...

Nick Clegg
A
3/1/11

Glass Castle Thesis

In The Glass Castle's first 125 pages, Jeannette Walls uses a non-judgmental, point of view, in order to trace her past, and not blame anyone for the events that occurred in her life. For example Jeannette's earliest memory, was her cooking hot dogs and setting on fire.

When Jeannette was three years old, she was cooking hot dogs unsupervised, and caught on fire. Her mother ,who was in the other room, came in with a blanket and put the fire out. Jeannette suffered from major burns on her stomach and hip. Jeannette never blamed her mother in her writings for being a careless parent. Throughout her writing she states what happened in her life, and doesn't blame anyone.

mhines4422 said...

In first 125 pages of The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls uses descriptive point of view to strongly show how it felt to actually witness the tragic and crazy events that happened in her early life. When she sets herself on fire and is at the hospital, when she and her siblings are in the back of the moving truck, and when she’s trapped in the corner with Billy are some of the most intense parts.

When Jeannette talks about setting herself on fire, she really gives a strong and meaningful description. “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.” This is a very good description because not only does she tell you what she felt on the outside, but she also reveals to you her inner feelings. Walls also says, “Then they picked me up, laid me flat on a big metal bed piled with ice cubes, and spread some of the ice over my body. A doctor with silver hair and black-rimmed glasses led my mother out of the room.’ This is a very good description of the whole room and how it felt to be there. You can tell she really witnessed this and has a good memory of how it happened. The scene in the hospital has a very clear description and a good point of view.

Anonymous said...

Chelsea Willcott
In the first 125 pages of The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls uses childhood point of view in order to really describe how her childhood was like with her crazy, neglectful parents and siblings, and how she was on her own most of her life. Jeannette Walls, as a kid, was on her own most of the time with her siblings by her side. She was always cooking, and finding her way around by herself. “..But when I stood u and started stirring the hot dogs again, I felt a blaze of heat on my right side. I turned to see where it was coming from and realized my dress was on fire.” As a child Jeannette cooked hot dogs and any other food for herself because her mother believes that children should learn how to learn how to cook themselves. Another example of her dysfunctional family is,” I guess we can eat less”, said by Jeannette herself. Struggling for money they would have to find food for less, and find anything they could. All of the kids would go down the street and find food for themselves , because their parents could not afford anything better. Jeannette’s childhood was very crazy, because of her crazy parents. She had to take care of herself all her life

Anonymous said...

Micayla Valeri
Block – A
March 1, 2011

In the first 125 pages of, “The Glass Castle”, Jeannette Walls portrays her point of view as if in the moment characterizes her life and how she moved every time one her family member got in trouble, which was very often.

Unknown said...

In the first 125 pages of The Glass Castle, Walls describes intriguing imagery to picture in the reader’s mind her personal experiences through her journey to becoming the woman she is today. “I watched the yellow-white flames make a ragged brown line the pink fabric of my skirt and climb my stomach” (pg. 9) this interesting quote is descriptive and detailed therefore catching the readers attention.

-Jordan Wollenhaupt

Anonymous said...

In the book, “The Glass Castle”, Jeannette Walls uses a conflicted point of view of her childhood and how it impacted on the outcome of situations that happen to her in her life. Many times in the book people will criticize the Walls family, although the children have learned to be confident and not care. Such as when Walls says, “ 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.” (pg.109) That lets the audience know that she is aware her situation isn't great and people can tell they are poor, but at that very point she is more focused on what she just accomplished and not what people have to say. Another point of view Jeanette allows the audience to see is how the mother is caring in almost a negative way.“Mom decided Maureen needed to enroll in preschool, but she said she didn't want her youngest daughter dressed in thrift-store clothes the rest of us wore. Mom told us we would have to go shoplifting.”(pg.111) Even though the mother wants what is best for her child she is willing to do something illegal which most parents would never do.

-Taylor Silver

Kenny said...

In the first 125 pages of The Glass Castle, Walls uses deep characterization in order to give you an idea of how dysfunctional her family was.

nmac17 said...

In the first 125 pages of The Glass Castle, Walls uses straight forward imagery in order to let the reader make their own opinions to effect the their overall experience of the book.


In the story Jeannette states, Pg. 88 “…,but she pointed the gun in Billy’s general direction and pulled the trigger. I squeezed my eyes shut at the explosion, and when I opened them, Billy had disappeared.” In this quote Jeannette uses a clean description of what could be a scary situation. Jeanette’s language in the story is more relaxed, than a typical reaction from a viewer.

Nicole M

Isabella Varela said...

Isabella Varela

In the first 125 pages of The Glass Castle, Walls uses point of view in order to tell the true reality of her past through the eyes of a child who always see something good in the worst situations.

“Some people like to make fun of Battle Mountain. A big newspaper out east once held a contest to find the ugliest, most forlorn, most godforsaken town in the whole country, and it declared Battle Mountain the winner. (…) But I was happy in Battle Mountain.”

Isabella Varela said...

In the first 125 pages of The Glass Castle, Walls uses point of view in order to tell the true reality of her past through the eyes of a child who always see something good in the worst situations.

“Some people like to make fun of Battle Mountain. A big newspaper out east once held a contest to find the ugliest, most forlorn, most godforsaken town in the whole country, and it declared Battle Mountain the winner. (…) But I was happy in Battle Mountain.”

ahrayah said...

In the book “The Glass Castle” Jeanette walls utilizes suspenseful imagery to tell the story of her life in her point of view.Different examples used to show this suspenseful imagery are, when the walls moved to Battle Mountain in the u-haul truck, when Rex and Rose Mary fought, and when Brian and Jeanette set the shed on fire.
My first example on how suspenseful the story gets is when the walls move from the apartment in California, to Battle Mountain, they have to move in a u-haul truck, without a car so they put the kids in the back even though its illegal. While there on the move the back door of the truck flew open, and Maureen started to cry, but prior to that Rex tells the kids to stay quiet so that the cops won’t catch them, this made it even more suspenseful, a car ends up beeping at the truck so it pulls over, at this point I thought it was the cops, but it ended up being an average person which was a relief, this helped me feel what Jeanette probably felt at the time

Christine said...

In the first 125 pages of The Glass Castle, Walls employs subtle irony in order to hint to the reader many different opinions about her family and their way of life. The problems that the family must endure to stay alive are much more difficult than most families go through. The family has different parenting skills and moral virtues compared to others. Their parents taught them many different skills that the kids have held close to them. In the memoir, irony is displayed to reflect how the children are different from other children, how the parents influenced the children, and the difficulty of their lifestyle.
Throughout the novel, Walls uses irony to connect things that happened in their life and things that passed into their life. One example of subtle irony is when Walls’ mom talks about a living thing in nature that also reflects their life. “‘It’s the Joshua tree’s struggle that gives it its beauty.’” Mom, page 38. There is a comparison between the family and the tree. They both struggle to stay alive and well. Another example of irony is when Mom talks about a boy who used to live near them and how the Walls are ranked higher in life. “‘He doesn’t have all the advantages you kids do.’” Mom, page 83. Mom is suggesting that, although their family is just making it and they are blessed to have all that they have, this boy is less fortunate in his life. Lastly, Mom expresses that she wanted to be a part of her children’s lives. “‘I am your mother, and I should have a say in how you’re raised.’” Mom, page 12.
Jeannette Walls uses irony throughout the story to tell the readers about her life in comparison to others.

Anonymous said...

Brad Wry
In the first 125 pages of The Glass Castle, Walls uses selective imagery to show the method of parenting that Jeanette’s mother and farther display during the book. Both parents have certain things they don’t like their children to do. For the most part the kids can do whatever they want and their parents just want them to learn from what they do.
Rex wants his children to be able to figure things out on their own. When he teaches Jeanette how to swim he doesn’t do anything he just keeps tossing her back in the water till she learns to swim “one lesson every parent needs to teach a child is if you don’t want to sink, you better figure out how to swim.”(pg.66)The imagery in this sentence just jumps out at you and your able to see Rex tossing Jeanette back in to the water every time she sinks. She struggles to do it but once she realizes she just going to be tosses back in, she tries to get away from him and by doing that she swims she swims. Another example of selective imagery just showing the sanity of Jeanette’s parents is when they fight. ”She was dangling from the second floor, her legs swinging wildly. Dad was holding her by the arms while she tried to hit him in the face.”(pg.97)The scene is exciting and the image of her mother hanging from the window can easily be seen in the readers mind. And it also shows that her parents are a little unstable and that is a bad example to set for their children but it doesn’t matter to them because that is just the way they are. Lastly it shows Rex and how he sets terrible example for his children, “We turned and saw Dad. He tripped on the coffee table. When we tried to help him, he cursed and lurched at us, swinging his fist.”(pg.123)In this situation Jeanette, Lori, and Brian are like the parents. They try to help their own farther and stop him from doing anything worse than he already has but yet he tries to hit them and get them off because he is drunk. And in doing those two things he is setting an awful example for his own children is not very good. It shows their way of parenting their children for the most part is not very good.

Erin said...

In the book The Glass Castle the author, Jeanette Walls embraces the use of first-person narrative collaborated with the use of detailed imagery in order to accentuate the severity of her parents' living situation, foreshadowing the story of Walls' childhood.

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