Graphic Organizer - Jenny Halopka Chapters 7-8

In both chapters seven and eight the central theme is their own titles. “My People”  deals with all the different people that make up the town and how each of them is important but in retrospect they seem insignificant. An example is when he is asked to be in the parade. He does not believe he is special enough to be in the parade among the butchers or loggers or farmers. Especially under the title of “Writer” because he knows that Cartwright wrote a book before him. The EMS heart attack was also important because, though the victim tried fighting him and Perry would be happy if he never say him again, that guy has his place just like everyone else. Chapter 8, “Death”, is a very serious chapter. He talks about how each death and each person is a memory. The very last paragraph talks about each different place that will be remembered because of a death. My favorite point Perry makes in this chapter however is the acknowledgement of death. “Death is coming. Why not give it a nod now and then?”  This makes you think long and hard that death is inevitable and we shouldn’t take it for granted.

Brayden-Vocabulary CH. 7-8

1) Egregious-  Extraordinary in a bad way (p. 109)
2) Dilettante-   a person whose interest in a subject is superficial (p. 110)
3) Proselyte-  a person who has changed from one opinion (p.109)
4) Keloid- abnormal scar tissue, in the context of the book it means an abnormal weld bead (p.111)
5) Comeuppance- just deserts or what is deserved (p.111)
6) Dispensation-  distributed or given out (p.113)
7) Milieu- surroundings (p.114)
8) Prodigious-  Marvelous
9) Dichotomies-  divisions (123)
10) Rhapsodizing-  to talk with extravagant enthusiasm (p.139)

Summarizer (with a twist) Chapters 7 and 8-Stephanie LaPointe

Chapter 7

           Right away Perry explains how he turned down a chance to be in a parade.  A lot of this chapter is dedicated towards explaining how the author is almost ashamed of being a writer.  He is ashamed because writing isn't considered to be "manly" in his neck of the woods.  Most of the people in New Auburn either work on a farm, or have another manual labor job.  Perry then goes on to give examples of how some of the ambulance runs he goes on turn violent, like the episode with the man who had a heart attack.  He also mentions he has had some bad books, like How to Hypnotize a Chicken.  Perry also dedicated a large part of this chapter to the comfort of having "rough hands".  He talks about how having rough hands allows you to fit in his hometown.  At times Perry is ashamed of his "soft hands" from being a writer.  Perry ends this chapter with a scene of him watching "Home" by Sheryl Crow, and how it relates to his life. 

     

Chapter 8

           This chapter mainly focuses on death.  Perry starts out by describing a talent he has, which is seeing people as a corpse.  Perry goes on to explain how bodies don't bother him, except for the body of a state patrol women one time.  Then Perry gives examples of all the different death scenarios he's been involved in.  He talks about when the Tracy dies and how deaths bring a community together.  He then goes on to to give a list of the strange deaths New Auburn has encountered, like the man killed by his farming machine.  During this chapter, Perry describes the difficulties he has with making decisions on whether people are dead or not.  Perry then throws in the scene about sleeping in the woods, and how its a unique experience.  He then ends with the story of when his brother died. 

How Perry Wrote these Chapters

            The author acts as a narrator in some parts of these chapters.  Most of the time he is in the role of a story-teller, like when he is telling the stories of his ambulance calls.  He also tends to skip from story to story, but connects them in the end.  When he tells a story, he starts with the scene, then moves to the main character, and then how he reacted to the scene.  Perry also includes his thoughts and opinions while telling stories, and analyzes them at the end. 

Rob - Article 7 & 8

http://www.focusonthefamily.com/lifechallenges/emotional_health/coping_with_death_and_grief.aspx

In the 8th chapter, entitled death, the author describes his personal experience with death.  As an EMT he has seen a lot of death in his lifetime, and also claims that he frequently pictures what living people would look like if they were dead.  When talking about death in chapter 8, the suthor brings back Tracy, the 17 year old girl who died at the end of chapter 1.  The author describes how Tracy's classmates left an open chair with a white rose on it in memory of the teen at their graduation ceremony.  This point is brought up when the author is eating at a local cafe and there are a group of older women talking about the memorium.  The article I have linked here relates to a statement that another man says while eating at the counter in the cafe.  One of the women wonders aloud how the girl's parents would get over the death.  The man eating at the counter quietly says "You never get over it."

The article linked here talks about coping with the death of a close friend or family member and thought it fit this section particulary well.  This is the kind of town where everyone knows everyone, and more often than not the death of one of its citizens is probably a loss for the whole community.



Population 485: December 1, 2010

In chapters 5-8, our group found it interesting that Perry opened the chapter titled “Death” saying, “I can turn you into a corpse” (128). This is a unique opening for bringing up a morbid subject. At first you might think that he is trying to create a lighter overall tone; that he is merely just trying to throw a joke a in. As you read the rest of the first paragraph, however, you realize this is far from the truth. Perry can picture any person as if they were dead. This comes from years of seeing dead people and our group found it intriguing that he was able to do such a thing. All of us agreed however that we would not like this ability just like Perry wishes he didn't have it. It would be horrible, for example, to be eating a family dinner and look across the table and see your father dead in his chair. At first we thought this would be a neat talent, however we realize that this is one the downfalls of being a firefighter and having to live with the reality of maybe being too late for a person.

Personally our group thought that chapter seven, titled “My People,” was a hard chapter to get through due to length, vocabulary, and vastness of all of the stories. This chapter did bring up the issue of high and low society within Perry's world which when Perry applies them both to his life, can be interesting to discuss. On one hand he is a writer for big-name companies and papers such as the "New York Times" . He has been to high dollar restaurants and experienced the life in high class societies. On the other hand, he is a country boy from a small rural town. His two personas clash. It is interesting to see how Perry fits both his lives into one but at some points they do come to a head. An example of this is when he is asked to ride on the float in the parade. The town saw him as something different from them, of a higher class because of his job, so they wanted him to be on the float. He at first thought himself not any better than the next person so he asked himself why he deserved to be honored. He wrestled with this idea and researched the other writer the town produced and he realized he was unique, but at the same time not any better than his neighbors with lawn ornaments or his brother the farmer.

Another part, that those of us with siblings, could relate to was when Perry and his brother Jed were fighting the fire in the basement. Growing up people always talk about the horrible fights and arguments but when it comes down to it we really do love our siblings. Perry decribes how worried he is for his brother in the basement and that seems to be his main concern. Perry has seen death and he knows what could happen in a situation that a structure fire. We can only imagine what it would be like to loose a sibling so we can relate to how he is feeling for the safety of his brother.

Today in class we discussed how to make an effective book cover. After this discussion, our group sat down and analyzed the book cover for Population: 485, and decided that overall the book cover is effective. The picture of a man walking down a road in the countryside, with a cow crossing sign, and a barn in the distance helps convey the small town rural feel. Then, the title of this book is in white letters, with a green background, which represents the population signs one sees when driving into towns. This cover does meet the needs of the audience because anyone from a small town can relate to the book, like Jenny, or someone who knows about small towns but wants a better understanding, like Megan, will be both interested and find the book one they want to read.

Megan- Discussion Leader Chapters 7 and 8

1)      What does Perry mean when he says, “I am a tiny fish in a puddle of a pond” (115)?

When he says this quote, Perry is talking about how he should not be put on a parade float. In this metaphor Perry is the fish, the town of New Auburn is the puddle, and the rest of the world is the pond. He believes personally that he is so tiny compared to the rest of the world that he doesn’t deserve to be honored on the parade float.

2)      Perry says, “we find if tougher and tougher to focus our loyalties” (123). Why would he say that and what loyalties are we having a harder time of focusing?

Everyone is having a hard time focusing in this day and age because of all of the technology and information that is getting out there. The television tells us one thing, the tweet tells another, and the internet tells us something different as well. It’s hard then to focus our loyalties because all information is pulling us in different directions. Perry said this to make us realize just how confused we are.

3)      Why does death bring us together? (131)

Perry writes about women in the café talking about the death of this girl. Even though they are talking about something not so happy, they still are getting along an finding common ground. Perry then says, “If nothing else, bless that girl for bringing us a little more together” (131). It’s not happy to think about the truth of that saying. Death does bring people together. People take time off from their busy schedules to mourn and unite together.

4)      Perry wants to know, “how one attains the peace implied by that quiet roadside cross” (129)?

Personally I don’t think that one ever attains peace from a roadside cross. It reminds the family and the people involved just what happened to their friend/family member. Also, a roadside cross lets anyone who is driving by that someone passed away on the road. A roadside cross may look peaceful, but in reality it makes some unwanted feelings rise to the top.