Wonder: Pages 155-204
Hello again. This week we will be reading Wonder through page 204. Please respond to one of the two questions below in a well developed paragraph and comment on a fellow classmate's response.
Question #1:
Justin and Olivia are in a play but Via has not told her family about it yet. Why do you think she hasn't told them? Please use evidence from the text when answering. When we read, we understand and picture what we are reading more easily if we can find similarities between what is happening in the story and what has happened in our own life. This is called "making connections." Have you ever kept something from someone you care about and if so, what was your reasoning at the time? Looking back on your choices, would you still make the same decision to either tell that person or keep the information to yourself? (Remember, you do not have to go into specific details when describing your own personal stories).
Question #2:
In the chapter "Letters, Emails, Facebook, Texts" (starting on page 160), we get to hear from several characters we normally would not be able to, due to the first-person point-of-view of the novel.·Look at the emails between Mr. Tushman, Julian’s parents and Jack’s parents. Up to this point in the story we have seen how the children at Auggie’s school have reacted to him. Is Mrs. Albans’ attitude towards Auggie different? What do you make of her statement that Auggie is handicapped? Do you think she is correct in saying that asking ‘ordinary’ children, such as Julian, to befriend Auggie places a burden on them?
Question #1:
Justin and Olivia are in a play but Via has not told her family about it yet. Why do you think she hasn't told them? Please use evidence from the text when answering. When we read, we understand and picture what we are reading more easily if we can find similarities between what is happening in the story and what has happened in our own life. This is called "making connections." Have you ever kept something from someone you care about and if so, what was your reasoning at the time? Looking back on your choices, would you still make the same decision to either tell that person or keep the information to yourself? (Remember, you do not have to go into specific details when describing your own personal stories).
Question #2:
In the chapter "Letters, Emails, Facebook, Texts" (starting on page 160), we get to hear from several characters we normally would not be able to, due to the first-person point-of-view of the novel.·Look at the emails between Mr. Tushman, Julian’s parents and Jack’s parents. Up to this point in the story we have seen how the children at Auggie’s school have reacted to him. Is Mrs. Albans’ attitude towards Auggie different? What do you make of her statement that Auggie is handicapped? Do you think she is correct in saying that asking ‘ordinary’ children, such as Julian, to befriend Auggie places a burden on them?
I think that Via doesn't want anyone to know about August at her new school because it embarrases her. I have not kept any thing from anyone. I think that Mrs.Albans is wrong. August is normal except for his face. I think Mrs Albans is very mean.
ReplyDeleteI like that you answered both of the questions Addison. You have good insight that Via didn't tell anyone about the play because she might not want anyone to see her brother when he comes to her school to see it. You could make your responses even better with evidence from the text. What part of the book, or what quote from Via made you come to your conclusions?
DeleteMrs. Albans´ attitude towards Auggie is different from most of the students. However, Mrs. Albans´attitude is the same as Julians. Mrs. Albans´ reaction is not the same as the students because all the students would just quickly glance at Auggie, but then they would just pretend that they didn´t see him.
ReplyDeleteWhen Julian saw him, he made the ¨Darth Sidious¨ comment about him, and he made fun of his face and called him a freak. Mrs. Albans also thought that Auggie´s face was ¨disturbing¨ so she photo-shopped his face out of the class picture. I think that she was not very nice when she did this, and she was also mean for saying Auggie had ¨special needs¨.
Great response Mariana! You say that Mrs. Albans' response is different than the students' responses but similar to Julian's because the students just ignore him but Julian would go out of his way to make mean comments to Auggie. Do you think that ignoring Auggie may be as hurtful to him as when Julian says mean things, or does Auggie not care about being avoided at this point?
DeleteI think that Mrs. Albans' reaction to Auggie was very similar to how Julian reacted. I also think that the reason his mother felt that way because Julian had influenced her to think badly of Auggie.
ReplyDeleteWhen Mrs. Albans said that " -to the fact that Beecher Prep is not an inclusion school. There are many parents-myself included-who question the decision to let this child into our school at all." It made me understand how alike Julian and his mother are. It also made me sad that so many people judge Auggie by the way he looks.
I don't think that she is correct when she says that being friends with Auggie is a burden. I think that Mr. Tushman just wanted someone to help him to know the school.
I love that you are quoting from the book for evidence of how Julian and his mother are alike. I also find your theory that Julian may have influenced his mother's perception about Auggie very interesting. Do you think she altered the class photo for Julian or herself? Also, could her attitude be influencing Julian as well? It is a parent's job to teach their children about right and wrong. Though we never get to see her interactions with her son, can we infer that she has never told Julian to try getting past Auggie's looks and get to know him by his personality like Jack did?
DeleteMrs. Albans reaction to August is not not okay. She talked about August like he was an animal.
ReplyDeleteMrs. Albans reacted to Auggie the same way Julian did. When she said August was handicapped, that was a very immature remark. Being an adult, she should know how to work these things out. August is not handicapped. He has a cleft pallet, which is not considered a handicap. August is as ordinary as any other human being on the planet.
Mr. Tushman wanted to ensure that Auggie fit in and had no trouble with bullies. Mrs. Albans was wrong when saying August is a burden because Julian was given an option when helping out August.
I agree. Good job!
DeleteExcellent response Brian! I agree that Mrs. Albans was acting immature and had a very limited understanding when she talked about Auggie the way she did. She talks about seeing Auggie at school functions but it doesn't seem like she's ever interacted with him. Do you think she'd continue to feel the same way after meeting Auggie and talking to him?
DeleteThanks Ethan!
DeleteI do. Mrs. Albans seems very irresponsible and not aware of her surroundings, and how to act as an adult.
DeleteMrs. Albans’ attitude towards Auggie is no different than most of the other attitudes of the students that go to Beecher Prep. For example, on page 119 it says, “Some kids have actually come out and asked me why I hang out with ‘the freak’ so much.” This quote shows that most of the students that attend Beecher Prep have a rude attitude towards Auggie, just like Mrs. Albans does.
ReplyDeleteI think that Mrs. Albans’ statement that Auggie is handicapped is incorrect as Mr. Tushman states on page 163. I also think that Mrs. Albans’ statement that Auggie is handicapped just proves how rude she can be. I think this because on page 162 it says, “I was a little disturbed that more consideration was not given during this child’s application process to the fact that Beecher Prep is not an inclusion school.” This quote shows that Mrs. Albans was rude because it shows that Mrs. Albans was trying to use the false fact that Auggie is handicapped to get him out of the school, when he really isn’t even handicapped. In this case, this quote shows that Mrs. Albans just doesn’t like Auggie in general, and wants him out of the school.
I think that when Mrs. Albans says that asking ‘ordinary’ children, such as Julian, to befriend Auggie places a burden on them, she is incorrect. I think this because Auggie is just as ordinary as anyone else, and no one should have a hard time befriending him. The only thing that is different about Auggie that some people might take a little longer to adjust to is his appearance, but other than that, he is ordinary, and no one should have a hard time befriending him.
Phenomenal use of quotes Artemisia. I'd like everyone to use this response as a guide and example for quoting from a text. I agree with you that Mrs. Albans was trying to use Auggie's appearance to get him out of the school. Mrs. Albans has never met Auggie, only seen him at school functions. Why do you think she's so intent on getting Auggie removed from the school?
DeleteI think Mrs. Albans attitude towards Auggie is wrong because Just because Auggie is "different" doesn't mean he's not human. I think Mrs. Albans attitude towards Auggie is not different and I do think it's wrong of mrs albans to say he's "handicapped" and I also think that It's very wrong of her to assign kids to like Auggie and be his friend because thats gonna put stress on both of the children and put a burden on them.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Mrs. Albans has a bad attitude toward Auggie, but be careful when writing a response about a text. You say "just because Auggie is different doesn't mean he's not human." Although it seems like Mrs. Albans has a low opinion of Auggie based on his looks, I didn't see any part of the text to indicate that she thought him less than human. Please cite which passage led you to come to this conclusion. I'm very interested in hearing your thoughts about it. Also, she never assigned anyone to be friends with Auggie. It was Mr. Tushman who asked the students to show Auggie around the school. No one ever asked them to be friends with him. Make sure you are reading closely. Sometimes narrators can be unreliable (such as Mrs. Albans saying children were asked to befriend Auggie) and it is up to us as the reader to pick out the details to figure out what's true.
DeleteI do not think that Mrs. Albans opinion toward Aggie is wrong because even though August has like, 6 facial deformities, he is still capable of everything that Jack or Julian are capable of. I also don't think that it is right of her to say that asking children like Julian to befriend August places a burden on them because in a previous passage, (at the end of pg. 143) Jack states that if all the kids in 5th grade were lined up on a wall, and he could pick 1 to hang out with, it would be August.
ReplyDeleteNice job citing evidence from a previous section of the book. Great memory! Be careful of your phrasing, though. You say that you don't think that Mrs. Albans' attitude is wrong, meaning you agree with her point of view, but your supporting evidence that Auggie is just as capable as everyone else, supports an opposite view to that of Mrs. Albans.
DeleteThe main reason why I think Mrs. Albans is so intent on having Auggie removed from the school is A, because Julian wants Auggie removed, and B, because that is the type of person she is. For example, Mrs. Albans is the type of person who would do anything for her child, even if it hurt someone's feelings. An example of this is shown on page 159 when Jack says, “I heard that Julian’s mom actually photoshopped August’s face out of the class picture when she got it.” This quote shows that since the appearance of Auggie bothered Julian, Mrs. Albans photoshopped Auggie out of the picture, even though it would hurt Auggie’s feelings if he found out. I feel like Mrs. Albans did the same thing when she wrote the email to Mr. Tushman (pg. 162). I feel that Julian’s complaining about August caught on to Mrs. Albans, and Mrs. Albans decided she wanted Auggie removed from the school. As a result, she wrote an email to Mr. Tushman claiming that Auggie did not belong at Beecher Prep, hoping that Auggie would be removed.
ReplyDelete