The Grandparents
1. What do you think the title means? Given that there are no events in the book that are explicitly “extremely loud” or “incredibly close”, what do you think the author meant by choosing the title?
Oskar uses those words often when he explains something.
He is extremely close with his grandmother.
2. How did the storyline of the grandparents compliment the story of Oskar and his quest?

3. Describe how you felt about each of the grandparents. How did you feel about their relationship?
Grandmother:
She is really nice and protective to Oskar. She spends much time with Oskar and she really cares about him.
Grandfather:
He is not really nice to the grandmother, but all he wants is to protect the grandmother from him. He marries her even though he is in love with her sister. Then he leaves her and then comes back after his son’s death and then he wants to leave her again.
Relationship:
It is really complicated because he is in love with somebody else, and he leaves the grandmother and comes back, twice.
4. Compare Oskar and his reaction to tragedy to the reaction of each grandparent to tragedy. How did each character react to the terrible and violent loss in their loves?
Oskar wants to stay unhappy about his dad. The grandmother is sad but she doesn’t tell Oskar that she is. The grandfather comes back after his son’s death.
5. Why do you think the author introduced the Dresden plotline of the grandparents into a book that involves the attack on the World Trade Center?
The author uses many of his own experiences from his childhood in the book. He is a Jewish and the bombing of Dresden is the extermination of the Jewish. He is drawing parallels to WTC and Dresden.

svar til extremely loud and incredibly close af Mathias Fjord, HC, Jonathan og Michael

1. Mathias Fjord, Hc, Jonathan, og Michael

j 1. 1. We think that”incredibly close” refers to all the persons in New York that have Black as last name. But we couldn't figure out what "extremely loud" could refer to.

2. 2. We think the book is very easy to read. The language isn’t difficult and very exciting to read. What makes the book good is that we follow 3 persons, the time aspects and the difference between the stories from the grandfather and grandmother. The pictures in the book are also a good idea as they help you to understand the situations and as pictures say more than a thousand words, we get a lot out of the pictures. Some of them are a bit odd placed and hard to understand but that makes possibilities for a deeper analysis of the book.

3. 3. There are a lot of pages with few words, and some with so many that the text blurs. An example of a page with few words, is when we see what the pages in the grandfathers book says, and when Oscar is listening through the door to his doctor. A page with too many words is when the grandfather gets too many thoughts through his head, when he is going to have sex with his “exgirlfriend”. Another funny page is those with the red markings, which shows that the father have read and corrected the letter from his farther.

These effects make it easier to see what is going on inside the persons head. If they get a lot of information or very little. This can be VERY confusing if you can’t see what is happening, but very funny if you do understand the effects in the book.

4.

4.

Doorknobs: if you can see through the keyhole is when you can see into person’s life, and when you can’t see through the keyhole is when you can’t see what happens in the person’s life

Falling man: is because Oscar tries to make the episode seem more positive, that the man flies up in the building and come home to his family.

Writing samples: gives an illustration of how people write “Green” with a green color, and “Red” with a red. This shows how Oscar gets on the track of a certain Black.

The cover: it shows the grandfathers’ left hand that says yes. We thinks that it is an indirectly way for the author to “approve” the book. Also it represents a very dominating way to communicate in the book. By writing on the hands.

5. We think it isn't respectless, but the Americans sure don’t. They have banned all the materials from 9/11 in the media and you can’t see anything unless you use un-American sites. It’s a question of culture, because we do not feel it’s wrong. But in USA it is a taboo.

The happening of 9/11 doesn’t have more meaning to the book than the father died, which triggers the whole plot.

Discussion questions + student answers

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close Discussion Questions

The Book

1. What do you think the title means? Given that there are no events in the book that are explicitly “extremely loud” or “incredibly close”, what do you think the author meant by choosing the title?
2. Generally speaking, did you like the writing style of the author? Was the writing itself easy to read?
3. What did you think about the way the author used words on the page? Some pages, for example, had nothing more than a single line of text. Others had the text crowded and overlapping. Did this add to the meaning of the book for you? Distract you? Why?
4. What did the various photographs in the book mean:
• Pictures of doorknobs. Is there a pattern?
• The falling man in the book? The flip-book at the end?
• The writing samples from the pen store?
• The cover of the book of the hand with writing on it?
5. Do you think the book handled the 9/11 subject material with respect? Did the use of 9/11 contribute to the meaning of the book? Was the book “sentimental?”

The Characters & The Plot
Oskar and his Quest

1. Do you think the main character, Oskar, was believable?
2. How did you relate to him as he pursued his quest?
3. What was the effect of Oskar on the people he met on his quest? How did the people change as a result of meeting Oskar?
4. Do you think Oskar’s mom was involved in his quest, even if Oskar wasn’t aware of it at the time?

The Grandparents

1. How did the storyline of the grandparents compliment the story of Oskar and his quest?
2. Describe how you felt about each of the grandparents. How did you feel about their relationship?
3. Compare Oskar and his reaction to tragedy to the reaction of each grandparent to tragedy. How did each character react to the terrible and violent loss in their lives?
4. Why do you think the author introduced the Dresden plotline of the grandparents into a book that involves the attack on the World Trade Center?

Symbolism and So On

1. What is the meaning of Oskar’s various inventions? Is there a pattern to them?
2. What makes the key such a powerful symbol in the book? What does the key open, besides the obvious physical lock we learn about near the end of the book? Is there meaning to the fact that we never learn what the key protects in reality?
3. Writing is a powerful image that appears in many forms in the book. Letters, letter writing, journals, writing samples and even tattoos make appearances. Why is writing such a powerful thing in the world the author created? What does each instance of the writing do for/to the characters?
4. What do you think the ’something’ and ‘nothing’ of the grandparents’ apartment is meant to represent? How does this fit into the larger storyline of the book, of dealing with loss, of dealing with grief?
5. Are there any common themes that run through the storyline and the symbols found in this book? Grief and loss have been mentioned here already. What about the ability of people to connect with each other? The ability to heal? The ability to make meaning from tragedy? Maybe none of these?

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by J S Foer

We are now going to explore the amazing world of fiction by reading this book! The students will read approx 50 pages pr week and we will discuss the book in class and in smaller groups...

Heiniken reklame.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_XOIRDYqzk

Chapter 11 - The American family

The American family

Typical American family

If Americans should name their family:

Married Americans would say the name of their wife or husband and children. Their brothers and sisters are just single units.

Aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents are extended family.

Traditional family

The American families were nuclear families which consumed of wife, husband and children and lived in a house or an apartment.

Grandparents were rarely found living with their married sons or daughters. And uncles and aunts almost never do.

1950s

The classic American family where the father was the “breadwinner” and the family mother was the “homemaker” and the family had two children.

Reality today

Only today a small percentage of American families are living like “stay-at-home” mother, a working father and children under 18 years.

25% Americans is living alone.

The Emphasis on Individual Freedom

“The result is that the needs of each individual take priority in the life of the family” – This means that you take care of the ones in your family and you have to satisfy them.

You may not advance the family as a group – you may not say that your family is a bad family socially or economic.

You may not bring honor to the family because family name and honor is less important than in aristocratic societies (the ones who has god the money got the power)

American families likes to take decisions on their own and do certainly not want to be controlled by other family members

Marriage and divorce

Arranged marriages

Very few – Because the parents thinks that their children is getting happier in life if they fall in love with someone they can live with.

Not much influence

The parents do not have any influence of the wedding plans before the couple has decided to get married. This means that the parents have very little control and generally no influence of who their children marry.

The role of the child

Guilty parents

It can be really hard for both parents having a job and not giving their child enough attention and gives them material things to compensate so that the children aren’t feeling that alone in the end.

Child-centered viewpoint

Parents struggle and finds their jobs hard to get through is that the parents are “conscientious”. That means that they are showing their children a lot of care and attention, but the problem is that their jobs are taking a lot of their time.

Equality in the Family

Children loves, but in fear

In the 1830s in aristocratic societies the father was accepted as the ruler and master. The children still loved him but with fear.

The democratic society destroys his status. Today there are less respect for and fear of the father.

Too much democracy in the home

The parents would likely argue that they have all control of behavior in the family especially when it comes to teenage children above 16 when they get their drivers license.

A lot of freedom

Americans gives their young people more freedom so their teach themselves to be independent and self-reliant.

“Leave the nest”

American children are expected to leave their home when they turn 18 and graduates from high school. They more likely moves to other cities and then goes to collage.

Four stages of marriage relationships

Equality in marriage

There are four stages, every stage with its own level of power for the wife.

Stage 1: Wife as servant to husband

The wife is expected to be obedient, with no power in the house hold. The husband controls everything.

Stage 2: Husband-head, Wife-helper

The wife is now freer to disagree; this comes from work outside of the household, and with it some power.

The husband still has the last word. Women can vote now that gives them power in society.

Stage 3: Husband-senior partner Wife-junior partner

It has become more normal for a wife to have a job; the wife has fewer duties in the household and more power. The wife has an income that is important; however the husband’s job still ranks higher.

Stage 4: Husband-Wife equal partners

Jobs are equally important and equal in childcare and chores to. The wife can now have the most important job and their power is therefore equal.

In the real world the wife now feels she have two jobs: childcare and work, however the wife gets less pay for the same work.

Society is falling behind, however at some work places there is a daycare in the same building, and in some cases the husband gets off work because of a new born baby.

The role of the family in society

Men and women are equal everywhere, and there is a great focus on the individual freedom in the family, this however makes the family less stabile.

The family life is important; however the individual freedom is equally important, that makes a paradox.

Today only one of four families is traditional: a husband, a wife and children. This can be related to the high divorce rate and the fact that most second marriages fail, because of the children.

A new kind of family is the single parents and the gay couples both with children.

Because children learn moral values from the family this is a problem in USA.

Family values

The traditional values are mainly protecting the family and faith in god.

The new blend values are about respecting the individual and their freedom.

The family has become a place to “charge up ones batteries”

How Americans spend their leisure time

Kapitel 10 - del 1

Social scientists believe that there is more in sport than just playing sports and getting exercise. But also that there is a large community seriously in it. Simple style where you play only becomes more and more unpopular.

In the United State are the top 3 of popular sports: football, basketball and baseball every game played on a team to win.

In sports, people of different races and backgrounds get an equal chance to excel. For this reason, notes sociologist Harry Edwards, Americans view organized sports as “a laboratory in which young men, regardless of social class, can learn the advantages and rewards of a competitive system”.

Women’s sports have grown in popularity in the United States, and they now have more funding and stronger support at the college level than in the past.

But when the social community is in the top, slogans are used to drive home the competitive virtues for the young players.

Still when the players really like to have a community, the coach don’t want to lose a game, they mean if someone says: “Don’t worry that you lose: you played a good game anyway” it isn’t good enough. They are play to win, and override maybe the player’s social life a bit.

In the United States they also start more extreme sports. Like river rafting, rock climbing and motorcycling.

Kapitel 9 !

Chapter 9

The Establishment of Public Schools in America

Americans believe that everybody deserves an equal opportunity to get a good education. In 1825 the United State began to establish schools for children with equal opportunity regardless of family background. The Americans were not only getting wiser, the public education did also help them to improve themselves in other ways and help them to help themselves. During the next century and a half, the schools were expanded to include grades 9-12, colleges and universities.

The Educational Ladder

A child normally start school at age five to six in kindergarten but some schools have preschool programs which starts at age three or four. They go 12 years in school, six years of elementary school, two years of middle school and four years of high school. After that it’s college and so on, depending of what you want with your life. This they call The Educational Ladder.

About 10 percent of children in the United State are sent on to private schools. A lot of these schools give religious instruction which the public schools don’t give. A lot of parents who lives in large cities choose to send their children to Catholic or other religious schools because they think they are safer and have higher academic standards.

There are also elite private schools which only a wealthy family can afford. At these schools scholarships are offered to talented students. Parents often send their children to these schools so they can maintain the upper-class position which they have from their parents.

Schools in districts with middle-class or wealthy families have more tax money to spend on the school than families in poorer districts have fewer money to spend on them, so they don’t have the fancy computers and the latest equipment like the rich schools.

Attending an American University

It costs to go to college; so many Americans can’t afford to go to expensive private schools so many have a job during their college years, just to pay the school, the books and the fact living away from home. And therefore many choose a community college in their hometowns because it is so much cheaper for two years and then some transfer to a state university later on. For those how come from a wealthy family and can afford the private schools they have more choices in school.

Today over half of all Americans have entered college, and those parents who couldn’t go to college when they were young really want to see their daughter or son go to college. Before World War 2 Harvard was only for elite students, but today also students from public high schools come to Harvard.

The Monetary Value of Education

About education the belief in the United States is that the more schooling you get the more money you’ll earn then you finish school. In the past it was possible to get a high-paid factory job without a college education. Unlike most of the jobs in the United State today require a college education or higher education, or you will only get a low-paid job such as in fast food restaurants and small stores.

Many public and private schools are making it easier to take classes; even if you’re not on the campus through something they call distance learning.

Educating the Individual

The goal of the American Education system is to teach children how to learn and to help them reach their maximum potential. There are clubs for the students outside the school for almost every student interest, art, music, drama and so on. And they are all to help the student become successful later on in life and the parents’ interests in the things they do is just as high as for the ordinary studding.

Kapitel 8

Melting Pot or Salad Bowl

- The population in the USA is a mix between many different cultures and ethnic groups.

- Many people see the USA as a melting pot where many different cultures have been mixed into one single culture. Others see it as a salad bowl where the different cultures has been mixed but still keeps some of its identity.

- Since 1776 many different cultures have come to the USA.

The Establishment of the Dominant Culture:

- First census of the new nation, conducted in 1790 counted about 4 million people.

- Most of the white

- 8/10 of the white traced their ancestry back to England.

- African Americans, 20 percent of the population

- About 700.000 slaves and about 60.000 “free Negros”

- The white population, who had the money and the political power

The Assimilation of Non-Protestant and Non-Western Europeans

- Most of the settlers who came from Europe came from poverty and they spoke other languages than English and many of them were Catholics and Jews.

- Many Americans were worried when the settlers came. They were afraid that the settlers couldn’t understand the Americans believe in freedom, self-reliance and competition.

The African-American Experience

- The process of assimilation in the United States against has been much more successful for white ethnic groups than for nonwhite ethnic groups.

- African-American was brought to the United States against their will to be sold as slaves.

- Except for the American Indian tribes who inhabited the United States before the first white settlers arrived.

- Other ethnic groups came to America most as immigrants who wanted to better their living conditions.

The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s

- In 1954 the United States Supreme Court decided that separating different cultures did not provide equal education so therefore it was made illegal to separate students.

- MLK led thousands of people in nonviolent demonstrations until his assassination in 1968.

- Malcolm X believed that blacks had to separate themselves from the white and build their own society.

- Kings activities passed two laws which made great changes in the South.

- In 1984 and 1988 Jesse Jackson, a black leader who had worked with MLK was the first black man to run for president of The United States. He didn’t win but he received significant national attention.

A Universal Nation

- By the 1920s Americans decided to close the border so the mass immigration would slow down a bit.

- The new comers enriched the cultural diversity of the nation and they didn’t cause major changes to the system of government, the free enterprise system or the traditional values.

- In 1965 the United States changed the immigration laws so more immigrants could come.

- Despite the new immigration laws many immigrants are in the United States illegal.

- The United States will be described not as a “melting pot” or a “salad bowl” but as a mosaic – a picture made up of many tiny pieces of different colors.

- The United States will be described not as a “melting pot” or a “salad bowl” but as a mosaic – a picture made up of many tiny pieces of different colors.

Lavet af: Christina og Marie