WHAT is the WHAT #13

I FINALLY FINISHED THE BOOK! WOOHOOO!

So I did'nt blog about a lot of pages so I will now.

On page 231, Achor Achor finally arrives and I felt so relieved. On 236 when the officer arrives at their apartment, I thought she was just a fake officer and her tone seems sarcastic. As Valentino and Achor Achor are at the hospital, Valentino says, "I feel the disappointment...barking orders to each other."(242) The diction proves that hopsitals are chaotic like when he says "barking." On 258, I thought of Achak as a christ figure because he caught fish, he crossed rivers, he was in some type of winderness, and he was in company of thieves. These signs are all in How to Read Literature Like a Professor. But as I read the 4th paragrapgh I thought maybe Achor Achor was the christ figure. On page 318, Valentino says he was saved by a massacre. Ironic how massacres are supposed to kill you but it saved him. On page 338 when Achak had to cross the river full of crocodiles because he was running away, I felt scared and worried because there were two antagonists at the moment. So the WHAT in this story is Valentino's bravery, his willingness to finally speak up, and to fight for what's right. ..I think.

So next I think I am going to read The Kite Runner.

WHAT is the WHAT #12

I noticed so many similes and there's so much imagery that I don't think I can mention all of them. But anywho, on page 207 when Achak gets to ride the bike for the first time, I think it's a representation of Achak's life as he goes off on his own and faces many dangers. On page 220 Achak mentions his mom in her yellow dress again and I kept wondering why he mentioned herin her yellow dress. Then she is mentioned on page 451, when Valentino is told that his mother is still alive.I already knew that his mother was alive when Deborah said, "I came to know a midwife in MArial Bai, a very strong woman who wore most days a dress of faded yellow, the yellow of a tired sun."

WHAT is the WHAT #11

On page 202, the bicycle shows up again. Maybe the bicycle represents ..persistance? Like..the bicycle keeps showing up like it won't give up and it's still a great item to have and every boy praises it? I don't know. On page 204, the man that takes Achak into his home and feeds him says," I live nowhere. This is nowhere. When you leave here you won't know where you came from. I insist that you forget where you are already. Do you undertand me? I am not anywhere and this is nowhere and that is why I am alive." The consonance sounds anyWHERE & noWHERE make it confusing and I had to read this line a few times.

WHAT is the WHAT #10

On page 198, when Valentino speaks of a boys death, he says, "when his head touched the tree, the life in him would fall away and his flesh would return to the earth." Its euphony makes it seem less mournful and more like a celeration of the cycle of life. When Achak was describing the night he saw a tank and the rumbling of the earth, i was nervous for him because it was so intensifying. The way he was telling us how he did not know what to do and how he just had to run for his life made it so scary. As I was reading page 200, I noticed that he thinks of similies that are nto likely to be thought of..like when he says, "I had been running at top speed and then I was stopped, stuck like an insect in the silk of a spider."

WHAT is the WHAT #9

I find it ironic that on page 181, he mentions that "the Lost Girls are not to be trifled with, never to be underestimated. They are beautiful and fierce, their English invariably better than ours, their minds more agile and ready to pounce.." Not to be sexist or anything but usually people see boys as the superior ones. Like they're more strong and smart and stuff. I also think that it's ironic how Achak says, "his lies were gorgous.." on page 196, because lying is not supposed to be a good thing. As Achak says, "I was too tired to be angry, to react in any way. My muscles were weak.." on page 197, I hear him speaking like hes panicking, like an enjambment going on and on. I felt bad for him.

WHAT is the WHAT #8

When Achak woke up on page 158, he described it in a way for me to clearly visualize it. I know how it feels to see "pinpricks of white leap before my eyes..." On page 173, Phil Mays cries when he leaves Valentino after their first meeting. I'm not sure us he's cryinig tears of joy because he's helping Valentino, because Valentino's story might ewsemble a time in his life, or because he feels bad for Valentino. On page 175, Valentino personifies his stomach by saying, "I was at war with my stomach for my first year in America," and sounds real as if his stomach was a country or something. I thought it was a weird way to say his stomach is lactose intolerant.

WHAT is the WHAT #7 *revised

On page 119 when Dut is trying to convince Achak that Marial Bai is destroyed and no one is there anymore, his tone is assuring and convincing. Also on page 119 is a simile, "Deng very small for his age, with a head far too big for his frail construction, his ribs visible and slende r like the bones in the wing of a bird," which made it very easy to visualize. On page 120, Valentino tells Michael a story of boys who seemed fortunate but were not so blessed, and this story makes me realize that everyone has imperfections and struggles even if their lives seem so perfect. I think he blue dog represents something important because it appears on page 125 then shows up again on page 147. The color blue could be a representation of saddness but when I think of blue I also think of sky blue which is bright and makes me happy. i'm not sure what the blue dog means.