Book: Highly Recommended
Main Character: 14 year old boy
Adventure
This book was centered on a teenage boy looking for his place in life. He had poor parents who ditched him when he was 14 years old; this gave him an opportunity to get out in the real world and experience a vast amount of things with the help of a man he meets along the way.
Content Area: Technology Education
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Third Post for EDUC-382
As I finished this book I realized the amount of history which was worked into Gary Paulsen’s writing. By looking into the books historical aspects I can only attempt to assume that Paulsen has an interest in history and the importance of history in the lives of Americans. As the book progressed, it became more exciting to read; Waylon wins a large amount of money in a poker game, they find out one of Waylon’s old friends had died from aids in Deadwood, they were sitting in a diner when a young cowboy picks a fight and looses, and lastly they were chased out of town by a group of cowboys who they eventually got into a huge fight with and won.
Terry learned the importance of learning, and learned a vast amount of things throughout this book. In the end, Terry figured out that he was nothing by himself and didn’t think he could continue trucking without Wayne and Waylon. The book closes in a scene where Terry had left Waylon and Wayne to talk to the cops after “the fight.” This is where Terry figures out that he will not be able to head west without his new companions and decides to turn around to meet them after they get out of jail. No one will ever know whether his plan worked because the book was concluded with Terry driving back for Waylon and Wayne.
This book is packed full of adventure and excitement. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a book that can’t be put down once you start reading. I loved it and I am sure you would to!
Terry learned the importance of learning, and learned a vast amount of things throughout this book. In the end, Terry figured out that he was nothing by himself and didn’t think he could continue trucking without Wayne and Waylon. The book closes in a scene where Terry had left Waylon and Wayne to talk to the cops after “the fight.” This is where Terry figures out that he will not be able to head west without his new companions and decides to turn around to meet them after they get out of jail. No one will ever know whether his plan worked because the book was concluded with Terry driving back for Waylon and Wayne.
This book is packed full of adventure and excitement. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a book that can’t be put down once you start reading. I loved it and I am sure you would to!
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Second Post for EDCU-382
As I read this book I can’t help but notice all the symbolism relevant to an adolescent reader. For example, most teens want freedom from their parents and that is exactly what Terry has for most of the book so far. Also, Waylon seems as a guide in this life quest. Waylon can also be looked at as a role model to Terry; he knows so much about so much and seems to have lived his life to the fullest experiencing everything possible, this mainly being a product of his positive attitude towards life and nature. Waylon came into the picture when Terry was stopped on the side of the road waiting for the rain to stop. Waylon goes from being a possible cereal-kilter to being Terry’s lifeline.
In the next chapters Terry and Waylon set out westward. They learn a lot about each other and Waylon is trying to teach Terry how to learn and be observant to most everything. Waylon struck me to be the perfect stereotype of a hippy drifter type. However, Waylon is very knowledgeable in living life out on the open road mostly because that is his lifestyle; this skill quickly becomes important to Terry, after all Terry is only 14 years old and driving a unlicensed vehicle.
Waylon ends up punching some guys in the face (as far as I understood of the situation) and need to go see Wayne, one of Waylon’s friends to cure him of what seems to be bad karma. This shows the adolescent reader that their needs to be morals in a person’s life or you are living in vain. Wayne ends up fixing up Terry’s car and puts a blower on the engine; this is another appealing part in the story for the stereotypical “gear head” in high school.
Wayne decides to go out on the road with Terry and Waylon “trucking,” as they call it. Wayne rides baby, his Harley Davidson motorcycle. They then go north to see Samuel and learn about the United States history.
This part in the story is devoted to Terry developing the skill of learning and developing a passion for learning. As Terry learns life lessons throughout the story, so does the reader; it doesn’t matter if you are 13 and reading this book or 88, you will learn something and admire the way Waylon goes through life with the attitude he has. This brings us up to chapter 16 where they are at Samuel's house sitting on the grass learning how to learn.
In the next chapters Terry and Waylon set out westward. They learn a lot about each other and Waylon is trying to teach Terry how to learn and be observant to most everything. Waylon struck me to be the perfect stereotype of a hippy drifter type. However, Waylon is very knowledgeable in living life out on the open road mostly because that is his lifestyle; this skill quickly becomes important to Terry, after all Terry is only 14 years old and driving a unlicensed vehicle.
Waylon ends up punching some guys in the face (as far as I understood of the situation) and need to go see Wayne, one of Waylon’s friends to cure him of what seems to be bad karma. This shows the adolescent reader that their needs to be morals in a person’s life or you are living in vain. Wayne ends up fixing up Terry’s car and puts a blower on the engine; this is another appealing part in the story for the stereotypical “gear head” in high school.
Wayne decides to go out on the road with Terry and Waylon “trucking,” as they call it. Wayne rides baby, his Harley Davidson motorcycle. They then go north to see Samuel and learn about the United States history.
This part in the story is devoted to Terry developing the skill of learning and developing a passion for learning. As Terry learns life lessons throughout the story, so does the reader; it doesn’t matter if you are 13 and reading this book or 88, you will learn something and admire the way Waylon goes through life with the attitude he has. This brings us up to chapter 16 where they are at Samuel's house sitting on the grass learning how to learn.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
First Post for EDUC-382
I chose to read this novel because Gary Paulsen is an amazing adolescent writer. He sparked my interest in reading when I was assigned to read “Hatchet” in the sixth grade. “Hatchet” was such a great book that I eventually went on to read “Brian’s Winter,” which ranked at the top of my charts as well. Paulsen’s writing is very appealing for male readers and interests the adventurous, outdoorsy types into sitting down and reading a novel. It seemed to do the trick for me; I still enjoy reading Gary Paulsen’s novels even though I am a junior in college.
“The Car” begins by introducing the main character, Terry, who is 14 years old. He is the type of kid that likes keeping to himself; the reasoning behind this is mostly because his parents are constantly fighting with each other. Terry has had to deal with it his entire life, he displays to the reader that he feels like he doesn’t even exist when he is around his parents.
His father is a mechanic and unwillingly received a kit car for payment for some of his work. The kit car has sat in his garage for many years and Terry was to never touch it. One day his father and mother went to work and never came back; each parent assumed that Terry was with the other one. It was in the summer and Terry didn’t have much to do so he went to the garage and worked on building the kit-car. Note: This portion of the book is very descriptive as to how he builds the car and what goes good and what comes difficultly. I have built a couple cars in my life and I can relate perfectly to the problems he ran into and the excitement he felt when he would see progress. This would be perfect to incorporate in my classroom already because of the relationship the book has to Tech. Ed. I believe if I was to read a portion of the book to the class, or introduced the book to the class displaying how much I enjoyed reading it, many of the students would become interested and possibly read the novel as well.
The following chapters up to chapter 7 describe the problems he has with getting the car running and begins an adventure encompassing Terry driving across most of the width of the United States. Remember Terry is only 14 and does not have a driver’s license; he also came up with some very creative ways to license the vehicle he had built. Now it is off, in his creation, out on the open road where there are many obstacles Terry needs to overcome.
“The Car” begins by introducing the main character, Terry, who is 14 years old. He is the type of kid that likes keeping to himself; the reasoning behind this is mostly because his parents are constantly fighting with each other. Terry has had to deal with it his entire life, he displays to the reader that he feels like he doesn’t even exist when he is around his parents.
His father is a mechanic and unwillingly received a kit car for payment for some of his work. The kit car has sat in his garage for many years and Terry was to never touch it. One day his father and mother went to work and never came back; each parent assumed that Terry was with the other one. It was in the summer and Terry didn’t have much to do so he went to the garage and worked on building the kit-car. Note: This portion of the book is very descriptive as to how he builds the car and what goes good and what comes difficultly. I have built a couple cars in my life and I can relate perfectly to the problems he ran into and the excitement he felt when he would see progress. This would be perfect to incorporate in my classroom already because of the relationship the book has to Tech. Ed. I believe if I was to read a portion of the book to the class, or introduced the book to the class displaying how much I enjoyed reading it, many of the students would become interested and possibly read the novel as well.
The following chapters up to chapter 7 describe the problems he has with getting the car running and begins an adventure encompassing Terry driving across most of the width of the United States. Remember Terry is only 14 and does not have a driver’s license; he also came up with some very creative ways to license the vehicle he had built. Now it is off, in his creation, out on the open road where there are many obstacles Terry needs to overcome.
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