Posting+Assignment+Example


 * To start: Write a QUOTE or SUMMARY OF A SCENE from the text, and include the page number. Then explain HOW the quote or scene illustrates the topic assigned and WHY you believe it has significance. **


 * Initial Quote responses are 7 points each. Your comment on a classmate's response is 3 points -- so the worksheet is 10 total. **


 * Be sure your comments are THOUGHTFUL and THOROUGH. **


 * TOPIC #1: Note a scene where Christopher avoids or copes with a fear, or a place where he pursues an interest. How are his thoughts, comments, and/or actions atypical? What does this show us about his needs? What would a more neuro-typical thought or behavior be in that situation? **

= Example from page 19 (which you may NOT use): = = = = "A lie is when you say something which didn't happen. But there is only ever one thing which happened at a particular time and a particular place. And there are an infinite number of things which didn't happen at that time and that place. And if I think about something which didn't happen I start thinking about all the other things which didn't happen." (p. 19) =

= Christopher explains here why he is so rigid about adhering to the truth. It's a matter of control for him. By focusing only on the truth that is in front of him, he stays literally grounded in reality. Once he allows his imagination to start thinking about hundreds of other things that might happen, his brain spirals out of control, and he is overwhelmed with anxiety. This connects to his need to feel safe, since he realizes on some level that he is a vulnerable boy in a scary world. He carries a Swiss Army knife, which is also a clue that he needs to feel safe. In some ways it's normal to feel insecure about our own safety -- especially someone like Christopher who has lost his mother and who knows he has difficulty with understanding people's intents and motives. But to fear imaginary things, and to fear the loss of control of one's own brain function -- this is unusual and the sign of a brain that does not work in a typical way. We might see this as a symptom of obsessive-compulsive tendencies, since it shows his potential inability to control his thoughts. Most of us who have more neuro-typical brain functioning are able to turn off thoughts that we don't wish to have. We would never even think to allow our imaginations to spiral off in such strange ways unless we wished to. =


 * __FOLLOW-UP COMMENTS__ (3 pts. each): **

= To make a COMMENT on a classmate's comment, here are guidelines. Make 1 comment on 1 paper only. Please choose a paper that has not been commented on. Maintain respect in your words and tone as you respond to your classmate. =

= 1.) Write your NAME. =

= = = 2.) Begin with a __re-statement__ of what you believe the original comment says. Start with a phrase similar to one of these: = = "It's interesting that you noticed....." = = "Your response is saying....." = = "The point you seem to be making is...." =

= = = 3.) Next, do one or more of the following: = = - Make an interesting connection between their comment and another example in the book, or another article or website we looked at in class. = = - Point out another way of looking at the quote or scene that might suggest something else or something further. = = - Project into the future of the story and suggest what else might happen with the plot or Christopher's character as related to this quote or scene. =

= SAMPLE RESPONSE TO ABOVE RESPONSE: = = = = Avery M. - I think the point you are making about Christopher and lying is that he finds the whole idea of lying scary, since it involves things that aren't true. Anything that isn't true makes him anxious since it involves imagination, and that has no boundaries. I remember in a previous chapter, when Christopher is in the jail cell, he thinks about how he might escape. We might call this using his imagination, but it seems like he is just remembering scenes from movies or books when he thinks about starting a fire with the sun's rays and then peeing on the fire if he has to put it out. So he's not really using his imagination but re-creating scenes he already knows. =