Jordan’s Comments (group member since Jan 16, 2012)

Jordan’s comments from the EDUC 567 Spring 2012 group.

The title "We Are the Ship" is derived from "We are the ship, all else is the sea," spoken by Rube Foster. After seeing the title, I had no idea what the book was about, but after reading the book the title had much more meaning. In the context of the book, what do you think the phrase "we are the ship" means? Just write a couple of sentences with your thoughts!

My favorite character was Desperaux for the obvious reasons. He was brave and different and he did not let his fears get in the way of saving the princess. I also really liked the cook. She was not in the story very much but I found it entertaining that she cared about soup so much that she let Desperaux go free. I loved that she thought soup could fix anything.
The character that I really disliked was Roscuro. Roscuro seemed to embody all of the bad characteristics of a rat and was selfish. All he lived for was revenge and even at the end of the book, he did not seem completely happy.

I loved this book! I really enjoyed reading it and I thought it took a very interesting approach to a difficult, and often avoided, topic. It was nice to read about a topic that is usually pushed under the rug in literature. I found the idea of all the rules very interesting and I loved that they were the headings of the chapters. The rules were presented at the very beginning of the book, but as a reader, I had no idea how those rules were going to play out. Lord centered each of the chapters around a particular rule which was very unique.

My favorite passage in the book comes toward the end when Catherine is about to go to the dance. She is with her father and she finally gets up the courage to talk to him about feeling neglected.
"I have to matter, too," I say. "As much as work and your garden and even as much as David. I need you, too."
I feel his arm go around me, turning me to face his shoulder. "You matter," Dad says, holding me.
I love this passage because Catherine loves David. She sacrifices so much of her time and freedom to help him and all she wants is to feel important. She understands that David needs her father, but she needs her dad, too. It was just very nice to see her father finally realize that. I thought that the chapter title, "Late doesn't mean not coming," was a perfect summation of her father's appreciation of her.

Unlike most middle school students, I did not have the opportunity to read The Giver. I was not quite sure what to expect, but I had been told by many people that it was an incredible book. All of my friends were so excited for me to read it, and now I know why. After watching the book trailer in class, I had a general idea about the contents of the novel. What I did not realize was how emotional and powerful the book would be.

The whole idea of "sameness" and of a Utopian society is a scary thought. It is frightening to think that the world could some day be like that. While much of the book really made me think about my life and the society in which I live, there was one passage that really stuck out to me.

This particular passage made me feel more emotion than any other passage in the book and after reading it, I felt slightly scarred. I am referring to the passage when Jonas learns what "Release" truly is. As I read the book, I had my suspicions about what "release" was, but I felt, for some odd reason, that I could trust what Jonas was told. To me, no scene was more vivid than when Jonas saw the video of his father. I was shocked, disturbed, and felt as though I was watching the video first hand. The idea of Jonas' father killing an innocent baby and being able to lie about it without feeling anything is extremely disturbing. The very idea that anyone could take a human life without so much as blinking an eye is horrible. This passage immediately saddened me because it was then that I realized all people that had been released, the old, young, and in between, were killed.

The Giver gave me much to think about and to be thankful for as far as my life and society go. I was unable to put the book down because I was dying to see how it ended. I enjoyed reading The Giver and feel as though I have a greater appreciation for living in a world not filled with "sameness," but instead filled love, color, and life worth living.