Meta-Cognitive Reader
I started reading Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close about a month ago in my English class. The story started right of with a random question, which described the randomness throughout the entire story. "What about Teakettle ?" (pg.1), was the question that started off the story. It grasped my attention and I though it was something I was going to have to hold on too but it wasn't. Just a random opening of the story. The part I did have to grasp onto was the fact that he needed to be reminded of his father; which is someone you shouldn't have to be reminded if because he should be in your everyday life. But in this he was absent. The little details are what you need to pick up while reading this novel. The complexity of the story was just perfect, it wasn't too hard that you couldn't understand but it also wasn't too easy that you couldn't enjoy it. The dialect was most definitely modern day, so the usual vocabulary. This story was written during the time of the 9/11 situation so there's a connection within the incident. The hints that are thrown to you early in the story are essential to the end. The author does a great job of making the story like a scavenger hunt, making you search for the clues instead of giving them directly to you.
The book is told from 3 different perspectives/point of views;Thomas Schell Sr. (the grandfather), Oskar (the main story teller), and the Grandma (who never gets and actual name). This was a bit difficult for me to grasp at first because when the narrator changes it never tell you who is speaking, you need to know previous information on each character to know who is who. Oskar, the main character in the story, was my favorite story to read. He was so adventurous and learned s much in a short period of time. He's a 9 year old boy who has probably experienced more than you and I will in a life time. When he told the struggles that he went through when losing his fathers in the 9/11 crisis, it talks to you on a deeper level. In the story he goes and talks about how for his father funeral the casket was empty because they couldn't ever find him. “There are so many different ways to die, and I just need to know which was his," (pg.257) he said when thinking about the tragedy, and he didn't know whether his father jumped off s building, burned to death or suffocated. This part was one of the parts that made me shed several tears. They couldn't find his father at all. If anything instead of finding answers for the key I would've wanted answers on my father. Why couldn't he be found? That bothered me, I would want to see my dad for the last time. But maybe that's the point. To overcome 9/11, despite the hardships.
Questions
The book is told from 3 different perspectives/point of views;Thomas Schell Sr. (the grandfather), Oskar (the main story teller), and the Grandma (who never gets and actual name). This was a bit difficult for me to grasp at first because when the narrator changes it never tell you who is speaking, you need to know previous information on each character to know who is who. Oskar, the main character in the story, was my favorite story to read. He was so adventurous and learned s much in a short period of time. He's a 9 year old boy who has probably experienced more than you and I will in a life time. When he told the struggles that he went through when losing his fathers in the 9/11 crisis, it talks to you on a deeper level. In the story he goes and talks about how for his father funeral the casket was empty because they couldn't ever find him. “There are so many different ways to die, and I just need to know which was his," (pg.257) he said when thinking about the tragedy, and he didn't know whether his father jumped off s building, burned to death or suffocated. This part was one of the parts that made me shed several tears. They couldn't find his father at all. If anything instead of finding answers for the key I would've wanted answers on my father. Why couldn't he be found? That bothered me, I would want to see my dad for the last time. But maybe that's the point. To overcome 9/11, despite the hardships.
Questions
- What would be your motivation to get out and find answers?
- If you were Oskar's mom, how forgiving would you be to him after he tells you he wishes you were the one who died?
- If you were Oskar's Grandma how would you react to his grandfather? Would you be mad at him or understanding?
- What's the main motif of the lady not telling Oskar that she knew what the key was for?
- What behavior does Oskar mimic from his father?