Presentation Over "Speaking of Courage"

1. Norman talks about talking to Sally, why doesn't he?

He doesn't talk to Sally because for one she is a married woman, but also because there is no way she could understand the things he would tell her. She wouldn't want to hear what really happened during the war.

    2.   He also has a full conversation with his father in his head, why not talk to him in person, he has been to war?

Norman doesn't talk to his father because he is ashamed that he didn't win the Silver Star even though if he wouldn't have let go of Kiowa's boot he probably would have died too.

   3.   Why doesn't he ever talk to a real person?

He never talks to a real person because he doesn't think anyonw will want to listen to what he has to say, either that or they won't like what they hear.

   4.   Why does Norman think letting go of Kiowa's boot was an act of cowardice?

He thinks that it was an act of cowardice because he had the opportunity to save his friend, but gave up and saved himself instead. He thinks he should have saved Kiowa or died trying, surviviors guilt.

   5.   Could Norman have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?

Yes, it is very likely he had PTSD, most soldiers coming back from the war did.

   6.   Norman said the town couldn't talk and wouldn't listen, what did he mean?

He ment the people in the town didn't want to talk about the war and they wanted to hear about it even less, so they didn't talk about it or bring it up for conversation.

   7.   Is that a symbol?  What does the lake symbolize? What does the crap Kiowa dies in symbolize?

The lake is a symbol both of things used to be before the war and the way things have changed after the war. It is still the center of his little town, but now there are different people doing the things he used to do as a careless teenager.
The crap literally represents the filth of the war and Kiowa as a man who really believes in God it is ironic for him to die in a filthy enviornment.

   8.   If she comes up, it's baptism. Is Kiowa baptised by the lake?

Kiowa is not technically baptised by the lake because he doesn't come back up, but he is sent to a better place which is in a way baptism.

   9.   How does it relate to Stephen King?

The chapter is full of diolouge, there is diolouge on practically every page.

The desire to write and the love of reading

Stephen King says that the desire to write always starts with the love of reading, but it doesn't always have to start that way. I love to read, I would do it all the time if i could, but sadly I can't. I don't like to write at all really, unless it is an interesting topic that I really know an have a lot to say about. I think that many people that write do it because they like to create a fictional world for people that read to get lost in. I would love to be able to create a world for readers if i had the talent. If i could create stories that people would fall in love with I wouldn't read hardly at all anymore, I would spend a lot of my time writing. You don't have to love reading in order to love to create stories for the reading world to enjoy.

Where is Zora Neale Hurston?

Alice Walker discovers Zora Neale Hurston and is captivated by her amazing writing skills and the life she has lived through her autobiography. Alice decides she wants to know everything there is to know about her, she even goes as far as telling people that she is her niece to get information. She starts by visiting her hometown of Eatonville and feels like she knows it from everything she has read. She talks to a women in town to see if she knows anything and the lady tells her she died of malnutrition and is in an unmarked grave. She wants to know if there is anyone in town who knew Zora and might still be alive. She is exuberant when she finds out that one lady, though old now, did grow up with Zora. When she gets the information the woman who knew Zora is willing to tell her she goes on a search to find her grave.

Searching for Zora's grave gives Alice mixed emotions, she wants to find Zora, but she is mad and upset that she can not honor her the way that she deserves to be honored. She does buy a tombstone with the money that she does have so that there is a marking, at the least, to show that there is greatness buried in that spot. Alice and her partner know of a doctor that knew Zora very well when she was alive, so they go to him to see if he would tell them anything, since he might not believe the niece lie. He tells them a lot about Zora, how she loved to eat, and how amazing her English was, which she thinks is him trying to tell her that she didn't use the common "black" dialogue found in her novel's. And many other things, one of which is where she used to live and the fact that she did not die of malnutrition, but of a stroke. Everything he tells her she takes her own way, she now wants to go see where Zora lived since she missed her flight and asked the man that knew her there if she like flowers of all things.

Alice Walkers quest to find Zora made her think of the way things were in the past and why so many people back then didn't like the way Zora Neale Hurston wrote, while today she is an acclaimed writer. It could be argued that the quest was as much to find Alice as it was to find Zora.

Janie sings the blues...

Janie sings the blues,
she doesn't know what to do.
She isn't happy with her man,
this was not her plan.
She wants to fall deep in love,
and sing like the birds up above.
Killicks was not her dream man,
and Starks isn't turning out like she planned.
She just wants be happy,
and get to do what she please's.

The years ahead...

There are years in life when all you do is ask questions, I personally am not looking forward to this with Angel. When we are young we want to know everything, we think there is a reason for everything, and if we are not told the reason for something then we will make up something that makes since. I think that for Janie, the upcoming year will be the year that answers the questions that she has now, but may bring up some new questions as she goes along. Like she is questioning if she really loves her husband, but does she even really know what love is, these are things she will eventually have to think of in the upcoming year, but as she thinks of these things some of the questions she already has will be answered.

Should at least one family member approve of who you marry?

    When you marry a person, it should be because you want to marry them, not because your family thinks it is what would be best for you. When I get married it is going to be to the person that I think is right for me. I would hope that my parents approve of him, but if they don't then I guess they just won't be happy. If I am in love with someone, but my parents don't like him, I am not going to change the way that I feel just to make my parents happy. The way I see it, if I am happy, then my parents should be happy too.

    If the man I decide to marry is faithful, hard working, not a felon, loves both my daughter and I, then I am going to marry him no matter what any of my family thinks. If they love me then they will learn to love him also. My family means the world to me, but sometimes I need to things for myself. And I would hope that when they saw what a great guy he was then they would realize how wrong they were in hating him. So I don't think you should base who you marry on what your family thinks as long as they are good to you and treat you right and you love them then you should just follow your heart.

Gastby Questions

Why did Nick make a list of all the people who came to Gatsby's?

Why does Nick tell you about all the people who came to Gatsby's that he wrote down?

Why didn't Tom want Myrtle to say Daisy's name?

How did all of Gatsby's family die?

Why did Gatsby get embarrased when Nick introduced him to Tom?