Thursday, April 26, 2012

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Chapters 9-10 "Discussion"

Taken from Google Images

Below are five quotes from chapters 9 and 10 that are incredibly important to these chapters.  Choose one that speaks to you and illustrate its importance in your journal.  Be sure to use your multi-genre sheet for this journal prompt and be ready to share!


"I'm almost glad this war came along.  It's like a test, isn't it, and only the things and the people who've been evolving the right way survive" -Leper (117).

"Winter's occupation seems to have conquered, overrun and destroyed everything, so that now there is no longer any resistance movement left in nature; all the juices are dead, every sprig of vitality snapped, and now winter itself, an old, corrupt, tired conqueror, loosens its grip on the desolation, recedes a little, grows careless in its watch; sick of victory and enfeebled by the absence of challenge, it begins to withdraw from the ruined countryside" -Gene narrating (120).

"It wasn't the cider which made me surpass myself, it was this liberation we had torn from the gray encroachments of 1943 the escape we had concocted, this afternoon of momentary, illusory, special and separate peace" -Gene narrating (128).

"You always were a lord of the manor, weren't you?  A swell guy, except when the chips were down.  You always were a savage underneath.  I always knew that only I never admitted it.  But in the last few weeks I admitted a hell of a lot to myself.  Not about you.  Don't flatter yourself.  I wasn't thinking about you  Why the hell should I think about you?  Did you ever think about me?...Like a savage underneath.  Like, like that time you knocked Finny out of the tree" -Leper (136-7).

"...I couldn't yell soon enough or loud enough, and when somebody did finally come up to me, it was this man with the cough who slept in the next cot, and he was holding a broom because we had been sweeping out the barracks, but I saw right away that it wasn't a broom, it was a man's leg which had been cut off.  I remember thinking that he must have been at the hospital helping with an amputation when he heard me yell.  You can see there's logic in that" -Leper (142).

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

From Gene's Perspective

Taken from Google Images

For this journal prompt, I want you to write from Gene's perspective.  You just intentionally jounced your best friend out of a tree; the result is that he fell to the ground below and shattered his leg, ruining his chances of playing sports ever again.

What's interesting about Gene is that he is the narrator of the novel, which means that he should act as the protagonist - we should "root" for his character; we should be on Gene's side.  However, many readers often find it difficult to empathize with Gene for what he did to the good-natured Finny.  What do you think about his character?

And if you were Gene, what would you have to say for your actions?

Monday, April 16, 2012

Foil Characters

Gene and Finny
Taken from Google Images


In your first reading of A Separate Peace, you have met the two main characters: Gene and Finny.  These sixteen year old boys could not be more different, and yet they are still friends.  In what ways are these two boys different?  How do their personalities compliment each other?  Have you ever had a friendship like theirs?

From your reading of chapters 1 and 2, what can you determine about the narrator's tone?  Do you think that Gene and Finny will be able to live in peace with one another's differences forever?  Explain your reasoning, and use examples from the text.