Jay+Park's+Summer+Reading

=// The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold-approved // = = = - By Jay Park

//Each essay should include the following:// a. book title and author in the introductory paragraph b. a thesis statement that encompasses the main idea of your essay which should be how the selected chapter is reflected in your novel c. brief summary of the section to be discussed (no more than a paragraph)--just enough to get a sense of the context d. analysis of the section through the lens of one of the chapters from //How to Read Literature Like a Professor// e. a quotation you think is significant and your explanation of how the quote reflects the selected chapter f. each essay should be approximately three hundred words g. Copy and paste the essay! Do not upload a document!

**Essay #1** [vampires]

Alice Sebold’s audacious debut novel The Lovely Bones reminds the readers of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Not only do they both frighten and make readers want to read more, but they also hold a similar theme of vampirism. Similar to the classic Dracula, The Lovely Bones illustrates the strong selfishly exploiting the weak for their own desire and pleasure.

Susie Salmon, the fourteen-year-old girl narrator, looks back in retrospective how she was raped and murdered by her neighbor, Mr.Harvey. As Susie walks home, Mr.Harvey lures her into his underground basement which he claims to have made for the kids as a “clubhouse”. When Susie tries to leave, Mr.Harvey blocks her way, forcefully strikes her to the ground, and kisses her. He violates the innocent young girl. Mr.Harvey then makes Susie say she loves him. She does, but Susie’s short life comes to an end anyway.

Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor provided deep insights on the theme of vampirism. It involves an older figure representing corrupt values and a young, preferably virginal female. Usually the predator purloins the prey’s youth, energy, and virtue, the psychopathic serial killer George Harvey being the predator in Sebold’s story. Susie’s unbearable pain and shame is reflected in her metaphor as she claims, “I felt like a sea in which he stood and pissed and shat. I felt like corners of my body were turning in on themselves and out...” (Sebold 15). A clean sea symbolizes Susie’s unadulterated purity and Mr.Harvey contaminates it with his ugly self-desire. Moreover, the sexual abuse and murder marked the continuance of life for an old male (Mr.Harvey), yet destruction and even death for a young woman (Susie).

With her very first chapter, Sebold leaves more than just perturbation to her horrified readers. She provides an example in which the corrupt take advantage of the innocent. The Lovely Bones merits the name of Dracula of the 21st century.


 * Comment**

Hey Jay. It's currently 3:55 AM in the morning, and I have nothing better to do than to be productive, so here I am. Don't think I'm weird, because I already know that. But anyways, about your first essay. It's grammatically correct and the word choice is very acute and well-chosen. I like the variety in your sentence structures. It makes the essay seem attached while also being intriguing structurally. I was quite impressed with how you described your novel and how you juxtaposed the two and even described it as the 21st century version of Bram Stoker's Dracula. Overall, the summary is quite clear and concise; it gives me the basic picture which it should do. I enjoyed your analysis because it was profound and supported by examples. Overall, great job Jay, my bird-like friend still has it. Hopefully your 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th essays are just as 'mesmerizing.'

CB: Jin Kwon (:


 * Comment**

Hi Jay! We’re in the same class! Anyways I’ve also read //The Lovely Bones// and I completely agree with your analysis. First off I like how you compared //Dracula// with //The Lovely Bones//. Although they appear to have different themes, it is interesting how you made clear and convincing connections between different literary works. Your interpretation and analysis of Mr. Harvey as Dracula and Susie as Dracula’s victim is understandable. Your word choice is very concise and sophisticated. The quote you included clearly supports your essay, and I can see why you specifically added that quote. There are a few minor mistakes, for example, change “women” to “woman” at the end of paragraph 3 and change “21th” to “21st.” Apart from these, your essay is captivating and provides a thorough analysis of what you have read. Well done!

Soobin :)


 * Essay #2** [journeys]

Almost all stories involve journeys. Yet moving from place to place rarely exists just for the plot line. In Sebold’s grim novel, The Lovely Bones, Abigail’s travel back to her husband holds great significance.

Jack, Susie’s father, actively investigates his daughter’s tragic death whereas Abigail, Susie’s mother, shuns her nightmarish past. Abigail thus runs away to California where she wishes to start a new life. After hearing the news of Jack’s a heart attack, she files back home to check on him. The above story of a homecoming wife can be misunderstood as a bland event. Therefore Foster encourages readers to scrutinize literature with: a quester, a place to go, the stated reason, challenges, and the real reason. Abigail is obviously the quester heading to Philadelphia to confirm Jack’s health. The challenges en route include some of her family members and the neighbors’ unwelcoming attitude. Buckley, the four-year-old son, shows exceptional resentment to Abigail as he “had been keeping, daily, weekly, yearly, an underground storage room of hate.” (Sebold 305). Eight years have passed since Abigail left and her children are somewhat hostile towards her.

The real reasons for a voyage, according to Foster, is always self-knowledge; I mostly agree. Abigail initially worries about confronting her guilt of the outside affair with Len Fenerman. Nevertheless she is soon to realize that old Jack truly loves her and is willing to ignore her past mistakes. “His[Jack’s] love...was about loving my mother for everything - for her brokenness and her fleeing, for her being there right then in that moment” (318). This understanding between a husband and a wife is a clear form of self-acknowledgment.

As one can see, Abigail’s plane ride back home is much more than a mere visit. The real reason for this quest is self-knowledge, or to realize that Jack’s love for her has been persistently sincere and forgiving.


 * Comments**

Hey Jay. I didn't know the word "nightmarish" existed....I learned something new today!

Anyways, after hearing about the summary of this book, I was a bit frightened and scared of the content. But deep down inside, I wanted to read it because it sounds as though there is a deep meaning to the whole killing and violence--I knew there was something more. So, I read your essays and got a whole lot of insight to your thoughts and also the analysis of this book. I think your introduction paragraph and your summary are well organized and they explain very clearly what you are trying to demonstrate to your readers. I especially like your summary because it isn't extremely long, but it still seems to explain the important components and gives a general overview of the chapter.

Your use of Foster's book is also well done. You clearly know what Foster is saying, and you know exactly where to look in the book to find them.

One very minor point I may point out is that you have a great quote and it blends well with your analysis, but it looks as though it lacks a bit of analysis ON THE QUOTE itself. I fully understand why it is there and why you used it, but if focused a bit more on the quote itself, your essay can be 150%!

Sejin Paik

First of all, you did a great job analyzing your book through the lens of __How to Read Literature Like a Professor__. I really liked how you break down the main character's journey into several parts to match with what Thomas C. Foster wrote in his book. I'll have to say that the essay is really well written. However, it seems like the quotes are in the essay so that it is coordinated with Foster's idea. In other words, the essay lacks analysis of the quote. Although the quotes are supporting your thesis well, it would have been better if there were some deep thought about the quote itself. To make my point really simple, your essay did a great job using Foster's idea, but needs more inspection of the book itself. This is what I believe (:

P.s. Um.. and also, I'm pretty sure that we're supposed to __underline__ the book title. Or am I wrong? :P

Daniel Lee


 * Essay #3** [symbolism]

The most apparent symbol in Sebold’s The Lovely Bones is its title - the lovely bones. Although they are intangible matters, their idea symbolizes how the impact of Susie’s death is diminishing. In addition to the lovely bones, the actions of Jack, Susie’s father, towards the end of the story hold similar symbolic meanings. Yet as all great works of literature allow an extensive range of possible interpretations, there can certainly be other possible analyses.

After suffering a long time from his daughter’s tragic murder, Jack gets released from the hospital. Abigail, Jack’s wife, returns home and stays with him. All of Susie’s remaining possessions in their house are then sent away under Jack and Abigail’s agreement. Susie now lies in another dimension of heaven, which seems more pleasant and comfortable.

Actions in literature, not just objects and images, can represent larger themes as well. The fact that Jack gets out of the hospital indicates his overcoming of the “illness” over his lost daughter. Jack also gives Susie’s belongings away, which implies that he is letting go of Susie and embracing what he have left, his family and himself. This process of constructing a new, firm infrastructure for life is what Susie describes as “the lovely bones”. After Susie died, there were “the connections — sometimes tenuous, sometimes made at great cost, but often magnificent — that happened after I[Susie] was gone” (Sebold 363). And with these adjustments, Susie’s family finally begins to accept the world without Susie in it.

Jack’s behaviors such as climbing out of his sickbed and forgetting about Susie’s items show how he is leaving Susie behind to relish his own life. In other words, the dead girl’s father has, in the end, built his “lovely bones”.


 * Essay #4** [heart attacks]

In any form of literature, heart attacks can appear often in forms of sudden traumas. Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones is no exception. The murdered girl’s father, Jack Salmon, encounters heart failure as the impact of his daughter’s loss remains strong. Nevertheless, Heart attacks in books are never just random, abrupt medical plummets, but harbingers implying great meanings. Jack, for instance, has been suffering from numerous emotional distresses that caused him to be “heartbroken”.

To analyze the background of Jack’s breakdown, it is necessary to revisit some events he had to endure. Abigail, Jack’s wife, leaves to California, where she wants to be less noticed by others. Although it is clear George Harvey is the killer of Susie, he still cannot be located by the police. After Buckley, Susie’s little brother, argues Jack about Jack’s inability to forget Susie, Jack suffers from a heart attack.

Other than being the blood pump which keeps people alive, the heart can depict a range of human emotions. In other words, a heart attack is the best metaphor that can indicate situations like bad love, loneliness, cruelty, or disloyalty (Foster 209). Jack’s case belongs to many of those categories. Ever since Susie’s death, Jack’s mind has been engrossed with thoughts of Susie. And right before his heart attack, Jack expresses his struggle to dismiss Susie in his mind. “His chest felt hollow...There was an echo in there, and it drummed up into his ears. Let go” (Sebold 292). Furthermore, Abigail’s abandonment of her husband and children adds up to Jack’s loneliness, feelings of disloyalty, and bad love. Amidst all this misery, the murderer of his daughter running free and unpunished greatly disturbs Jack.

After all, Jack’s heart attack seems not so unexpected. Considering his heavily troubled relationships with Susie, Abigail, and George Harvey, his collapse was inevitable.


 * Comment**

Alright Jay, since nobody else has posted up their essay, and I want to finish my summer assignment, I'll leave a comment on your second essay. The essay is well structured; it divides itself up into easy organizable paragraphs. This aids my understanding of the message you're trying to give me. I also like how you made a generalization, and then used a specific example to supplement it. This was very useful for me, especially because I have never read the book before. It provides me with a basic idea or theme that the book encompasses. The use of your quote was rather simple, yet effective. Since you already stated your ideas through explanation, you used the quote as mere support. Your use of vocabulary is very well-rounded and does well to give depth to your thoughts. Overall, another good and simple essay. Good job Señor Park.

- Jin Kwon

Hey Jay! I've heard so much about your book and since we did one of our essays on the same topic, I decided to comment on this one! I thought your ideas were right on point. Moreover, your organization was probably your strongest out of all the traits. You clearly separated what your topic was about through distinct paragraphs. I especially picked this essay for your word choice and voice because not only did it sound most like you, you didn't try to sound pompous in any way, shape, or form. In a succinct manner, you stated a brief summary and the analysis on WHY Jack's heart attack took place. One thing I loved about this particular piece of writing was your introduction. It actually made me think about the other books I have read with heart attacks, and it was great that what you were going to talk about right from the first sentence. Remember to use quotation marks when you are citing any kind of book, including How to Read Literature Like a Professor. Your sentence fluency was right on track--you have the necessary transition phrases between paragraphs and transition words such as "furthermore" between sentences. The only other suggestion I would have to make is in your introduction, you have two sentences talking about general heart attacks, a bit of summary, general heart attack, and then your thesis. It makes the readers' eyes go back and forth to connect the paragraph as a whole. Instead, maybe you can put the fourth sentence before you talk about your summary, so your introduction is easier to understand. However, overall, this essay was a concise but informative essay! -By: Lydia Ahn
 * Comment**


 * Essay #5** [weather]

Whenever it rains in literature, readers should pay special attention; weathers in books hardly exist for climate’s sake. Ever since the Bible, precipitation has given much more than increased moisture. Alice Sebold, for instance, utilizes rain effectively in The Lovely Bones to highlight Harvey’s crafty, somber character.

People suspect the odd neighbor George Harvey of murdering Susie, yet the lack of evidence impedes his arrest. Harvey thoroughly hides Susie’s body with rain, deceives the police, and escapes from his crimes. Later when Harvey returns to a shack where he buried a dead woman several years ago, gloomy rain follows.

One of the possible interpretations of rain suggested by Foster is the function of restoration, or the cleansing of the soul and the promising of another chance. Nevertheless, rains don't wash Harvey’s taints nor encourage him to be remorseful. Instead, he merely takes advantage of raining to conceal his wrongdoings. He watches the weather and makes sure to kill “during an arc of light-to-heavy precipitation because that would rob the police of evidence” (Sebold 56).

Another purpose of rain for Sebold is to establish a shadowy atmosphere around Harvey. “By the time Mr.Harvey reached the tin-roofed shack..., it promised rain. He had killed a young waitress inside the shack several years before...” (307). Foster in his book How to Read Literature like a Professor asserts that raining can be more mysterious, murky, and isolating than other weather conditions (Foster 76). And with rain, Harvey certainly illustrates all of those three qualities mentioned.

Water falling from the sky, in any form actually, can manifest a wide variety of messages. In the case of The Lovely Bones, rain for Harvey does not act as an eraser that allows a new start, but as a device that is used to cleverly hide his guilt. Furthermore, rain helps portray the uncanny ambiance of the psychopathic killer, George Harvey.

Comment
Sup! Jay Park. Wow, I am actually the first one to comment on your fifth essay. Anyways, about your essay, it seems like a decent essay to me. It flows well in it’s own way. You gave perfect (?) examples from the novel. I have not read the novel but I can understand the situation of your examples, they are written with details. But in my opinion five paragraphs seems a bit too much for a three hundred words essay. That will make approximately sixty words per paragraph. I would say three is a suitable numbers of paragraphs for the essays. Overall it is a fine essay, Good Work haha anyways have a great last day of your summer vacation. Sam Lee

=//Comments// =

= = = = 1. Select and read two of your peers' essays. 2. Underneath each essay, thoughtfully comment on the ideas put forth. 3. This comment should be no more than one succinct paragraph. 4. Post and label the comment on //the writer's page// with your name at the bottom of your comment. 5. Copy and paste the comment onto //your// summer reading page in the comments section. 6. Write the writer's name and essay # underneath the comments on your own page.


 * Comment #1**

Hi Soobin! First of all thank you for your comment on my essay, they really helped me. :D Now I’m going to analyze your essay based on the six traits because those can be the rubrics for any English writing I think (even this comment may be judged with the six-traits rubric haha). The ideas in your essay are clear and focused. You effectively focus on two themes: the quest for self-identity, and the religious aspect, which makes your writing manageable and interesting to read. For organization, it has a logical, effective sequence which also helps sentence fluency. One change I might make is dividing the third paragraph into two paragraphs, to have the two aforementioned ideas have their own spaces for discussion. The voice in this essay is outstanding and appropriate for the purpose. Throughout your writing, you demonstrate rich, colorful vocabulary and I need no further explanation. For the flow of the essay, however, could be improved in between paragraphs; the transitions from a paragraph to the next seems a bit rough. I see no major grammar mistakes. Just remember to underline or italicize book titles (I think wikispaces got rid of the formats...that was my problem...) when turning in a hard copy. Perhaps at the end of paragraph 3, “faith and devotion” are repetitive words? I’m not sure, again, no large issues with convention. Moreover, these are some additional feedbacks that came to my mind as I read your paper. In the first paragraph, maybe it is better to mention some of your ideas about religion so the readers can expect what will be coming. And I haven’t read the book, so I have no idea where these boys are going on their “journey”! Including where the boys are going in the summary would help clarify the readers’ understanding. Some sentences in your second paragraph seem unnecessary because they don’t connect directly to your ideas. Lastly, maybe you could analyze the quote a bit more (?). Although your idea is abundantly clear, the quote itself could be further dissected. Wow this comment is longer than my essays. Please don’t take my remarks into personal issues. We’re able to give constructive criticisms to each other because we are friends... Right? :P

on Soobin Bae's Essay #1


 * Comment #2**

Hello Sejin! Before I move on, thank you for the helpful comments on my essay. :) So my comments will revolve around the six-traits rubric which includes: ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, and convention. To makes things simple I’ll just go in that order, why not :p. The overall idea of violence is clear and easy to capture. But the introductory paragraph seems a little aloof from the rest of the essay. Perhaps a bit more commentary of the correlation between friendship and violence in the first paragraph could be made. Your essay’s organization is well structured and helps develop your central idea. The voice of your writing is engaging and appropriate for the audience. I think the word choice is natural and effective. This essay generally has a good flow between sentences and paragraphs. Lastly, besides the omission of (author’s last name, page number) page citations, I cannot find much mistakes for convention. I somewhat understand the usages of your quotes, but perhaps you could explain more for clarity. The quote from Foster’s book seems to be less connected with your ideas. Overall, I like this essay and it enhanced my understanding of the novel. I especially like your second paragraph for its succinct yet deep insight. Please don’t take negative comments personally! We can criticize each other because we’re good friends. XD

on Sejin Paik's Essay #2