Old Man Signpost Notes

Take another look at your signpost notes for Old Man.  Do you notice any patterns or connections between your observations?  Is there an observation that you have made that you think is particularly significant and meaningful?  In the comment section below, please explain your insights into the book using your signpost notes as a springboard.

•Contrasts and Contradictions: When a character does something 

that contrasts with what you would expect or contradicts his earlier

 acts or statement, STOP and ask “Why is the character doing that?”

•Aha Moment: When a character realizes, understands, or finally 

figures out something, STOP and ask yourself “How might this

 change things?”

•Tough Question: When a character asks herself a very difficult 

question, STOP and ask yourself “What does this question make me

 wonder about?”

•Words of the Wiser: When a character (probably older and wiser) 

takes the main character aside and offers serious advice, STOP and 

ask, “What’s the life lesson and how might it affect the character?”

•Again and Again: When you notice a word, phrase, or situation 

mentioned over and over, STOP and ask yourself, “Why does this 

keep happening?”

•Memory Moment: When the author interrupts the action to tell 

you about a memory, STOP and ask yourself, “Why might this 

memory be important?”

Quiet Desperation in the Lecture Hall

Hi Everyone: In light of our visit from Henry David Thoreau, and our discussions about argumentation, write a response to the lecture in which you identify what you think Thoreau's principal claim is and what you think about it.  I understand that the lecture may have been hard to follow in the lecture hall, so I excerpted some crucial parts and handed them out in class.  Check the bookshelf if you didn't get one.  Please have your responses in by Wednesday evening.  Thank you, Mr. Telles.