Mrs.Mannella
ENG3U1
April 10th Journal 1 Kathy H is the author who talks about her life in the story. The way the author uses is when she talks about something for the first time, she does not tell the reason or the beginning of the event. She just give the statement. For example, when she first refers Hailsham in the book, she says: “And I’m a Hailsham student—which is enough by itself sometimes to get people’s back up.(Never Let Me Go, KAZUO ISHIGURO,pg4,line 4-5)” this is the first time Hailsham appears and it is described kind of strict or scared, it attracts me keep reading in order to find out why the school is described like that. And the other example is Kathy says:“how would I ever have got close again to Ruth and Tommy after all those years?(pg.4 line 21-22)” Also it’s the first time Ruth and Tommy appear. This quote makes me want to know who are Ruth and Tommy and what have happened on earth during those years. Also, the author often changes the scene, so we have to pay high concentration while we are reading. For example: “We were having this conversation on a fine summer evening,sitting out on the little balcony of her recovery room (pg.17 line 20-21)” Before this quote, the author is looking back her life when she was in school,but she begins to talk about the conversation between Ruth and herself which made me confused and when I saw this quote at last I suddenly understood the author has changed the scene. The similar quote is: “But let me get back to Tommy.(pg.18 line 33)” The author indicates directly that she is going to talk about Tommy again and the suddenly turning of the plot made me pay more interest into the story. All in all, the way the author talks about the statements directly without explaining the reasons and beginning make me feel more curious about what happened next. And because of the high frequency the scenes has changed caused me have to pay high attention while I am reading. As a result, I think this book is interesting and just hard to stop once I start to read.
Journal 2 The author describes some places that give me a deep impress. First, she has described the decoration of the hospital. It is says: “The recovery rooms are small,but they’re well-designed and comfortable. Everything —the walls,the floor,—has been done in gleaming white tiles, which the centre keeps so clean when you first go in it’s almost like entering a hall of mirrors. Of course, you don’t exactly see yourself reflected back loads of times, but you almost think you do. When you lift an arm, or when someone sits up in bed, you can feel this pale, shadowy movement all around you in the tiles.(pg.17-18)” This quote describes the decoration in the hospital. It’s silent, serious and also serious. And this kind of setting makes Ruth seems poor. And after the description of the hospital. Kathy and Ruth begin to look back the life when they were at Hailsham. And because of how poor Ruth seems like right now and that makes their childhood feel more cherish. The author also describes how hers school looks like. It says: “In particularly, there are those pavilions. I spot them all over the country, standing on the far side of playing fields, little white prefab buildings with a row of windows unnaturally high up, tucked almost under the eaves. I think they built a whole lot like that in the fifties and sixties, which is probably when ours was put up. (pg.6 line 12-17)” From the description, we can know the school is kind of strange and terrible. The kids are isolated and being told to do what the teachers tell them to do. They live in their own world which is made by their teachers. And the setting of the school gives me a dark, negative feeling.
Journal 3 The characterization of the three main characters are different. Here are some quotes about Tommy: “He doesn’t suspect a thing. Look