1. Warming up with World War II in Reverse and your emotional response to the novel's ending
- As you watch: Which images stand out to you? What's it like to watch a war in reverse?
- After you watch: Reread the ending of Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, starting on page 325. What effect did these final pages and images have on you? How do these final pages connect to the video you just watched?
2. Considering the final stage of the archetypal hero's journey and your intellectual response to the novel's ending
In the final stage of the hero's journey, the hero returns home, but he has gained a new understanding of the world around him. He can no longer live in fear of the future nor regret over the past.
- To what extent does Oskar (or the grandmother or grandfather) fulfill the final stage of the hero's journey?
- In other words, how does he return home? What's his new understanding of things? To what extent has he confronted his fear of the future/regret over the past? Why does Foer put the ending in reverse?
3. Enjoying our final fishbowl discussion of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: Page 307-end
HW:
1. By TOMORROW: Submit all make-up / missing / revised work. (If you need a few extra days, you can take up until this Friday at the very latest).
2. For the rest of the semester: Bring headphones / ear buds that work with your laptop. You will also need a charged laptop (or a charger to plug your laptop in).
I wanna read what you guys had to say about the question, "why did Foer put the pictures in reverse?"
ReplyDeleteyeah I agree.. maybe it's because like the video we watched seeing all that in reverse is almost a sense of like relief like all the bad stuff is disappearing and with the calm music makes it more happy than a stressful thing.
Deletei feel like its Oskar finally letting go or finding his way of life that he should go on now, I think he is finally realizing that his father is not coming back, now he replays the last moment in reverse to maybe follow his dads journey through what he might have seen in his last moments.
DeleteIte because at the end of the book Oskar imagines 9/11, from his dad walking to work and going to his floor in the trade centers and up until the moment he died, in reverse because he wonders if his dad was the person jumping in the photos.
DeleteDo you think Oskar will ever get closer?
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure that he will ever find closure, because of they way that his father died, there wont ever be closure for Oskar or his family.
DeleteI don't think Oskar will ever get closer. The whole book he's wanted to know how he died and he'll never know and so I don't think he'll ever fully be at peace with his dad's death.
DeleteI think that Oskar will never have closure due to the fact that he will never know how his dad died, but throughout his journey, Oskar learned skills that he had never had before. One of them being how to move on and live life after a death. I feel like he now knows how he can move past his dad's death, and not be ripped apart from it.
DeleteI think that Oskar will eventually find closure due to the fact that he has realized that he has to adapt to thing without his dad. And I think this will motivate him to find closure in the future on his own
DeleteI think if he will ever find closure it will take him a long time. He has to work on it and find out new things and be open. But if he doesn't change something in his life i don't think he will find closure.
Deletei believe that Foer put the pictures in reverse to show the significance of reverse memories. It seems like it is so much easier to remember the bad memories in reverse, so that they start sad, but finish with a good ending. ANd that is what Oskar did with the falling man.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this like Oskar was going back through his memories and thinking about everything until before everything happened and he was just telling him a bedtime story that started with "once upon a time" and ended with a "I love you"
DeleteI also saw somewhere that sometimes its easier to see something in a different perspective if you think about it in reverse rather than going in real time from the beginning, its also easier to find something that way, maybe Oskar is trying to find and remember his last moments with his father.
Deletethanks aj
DeleteI think that Oskar might accepted the death from his father and that he doesn't search for anything else, maybe he wants to have a good ending or at least a good memory, he wants to think about the good again and maybe that is why he sets everything in reverse.
DeleteSo at the end of the book. Oskar say to her mum that it is okay if she falls in love again, so this means that Oskar have "forgive" her mum and he have stop feeling guilty. But the mum made him a promise that say she will never fall in love again. Why do you think she said that? Do you think she will keep the "promise"?
ReplyDeleteI think she said that because she doesn't want Oskar to feel hurt by her loving anyone else than her dad even though she is bound to move on from it eventually and fall in love with someone else because that is just life and she is young she has lots of time to grief and find someone new
DeleteI think that this was Oskar's mom's way of having closer with Oskar. I don't think it matters too much if she falls in love again, but that it shows that Oskar is always going to be more important than anyone from this point on.
DeleteI think she said this because she wants to help Oskar move on and find a happy life in the future. She doesn't want to fall in love again because she thinks it will likely bring Oskar pain and distract him from finding new goals that could help in life.
DeleteI think Oskars mom is still really sad and just doesn't really show her feelings to protect Oskar. I think Oskar has the feeling that his mom is moving on so quickly but inside of her she didn't really moved on. Maybe she wants to move on, thats maybe also the reason why she is with Ron.
DeleteI don't think the mom can keep her promise I don't think anyone could, love is a tricky thing and you can't really help how you feel. Andi think Oskar knows that. That's why he told his mom it's okay if she falls in love again
DeleteIn all the book, the history is about Oska trying to find the key. But do you think that was an excuse so in this way he could have something from his dad? Like a reminder or an inheritance
ReplyDeleteI think it was a way to find something of his father or keep his fathers journey going even though his dad probably didn't leave the key for hom to find it out, I think its just something for him to keep his father alive because it didnt feel like he died.
DeleteI think Oskar just couldn't ,,give up his dad" . He always knew that he is dad but I think he never really accepted his death. I think that the key was a kind of hope for Oskar, he thought that he will find something from is dad, he thought that there still is something from his dad to him.
DeleteI think that Oskar looking for the key was he's way of keeping his dad alive.
DeleteOne thing I noticed watching the film version this time...Oskar and his mom are united in their grief. I think throughout most of the book, they suffer alone, but in the ending, they figure out a way to suffer together. Interestingly, I think the grandparents kind of figure out the same thing.
ReplyDeleteI feel like they did suffer alone, but one way for Oskar's mom to deal with the death of her husband was to help Oskar get over the death, Oskar wasn't the only one with a journey, his mom did too, her journey was just making sure that Oskar can go on with his journey, but safely. But her going to all the places before Oskar was a way to get over the loss of family.
DeleteI think they did suffer alone, but I also think that they did that because they thought that they protect each other if they just didn't talked about what happened and how they feel. The mom always knew what oskar was doing but she decided she will not ask with Oskar about it, because she thought that it would help Oskar. Oskar othrwise decided that he won't show her all the calls or tell her about his journey because he thought it would hurt her. I think that they maybe could suffer together earlier and I also have the feeling maybe it would have helped them both.
DeleteI think in the movie, this is just a better way of visualizing the forgiveness between the four characters, instead of adding in another scene speaking into the movie in comparison to the book.
Deletewill oskcar ever see his grandpa again
ReplyDeleteMaybe if all f them get better and more open about their past and their feelings, Oskar will finfd out who he really is.
DeleteI think they will, as seen in the movie the grandparents are semi-reunited... so maybe Oskar will see more of his grandpa along with his granda.
ReplyDelete