Wonder: Pages 256-End
This is our final week reading Wonder. I hope everyone enjoyed the experience, and maybe learned a thing or two about themselves. This week I'd like everyone to create your own precept like the kids in Mr. Browne's class do at the end of the book. You will also answer one of the two questions listed below, as usual. I can't wait to hear your responses and read your precepts! Have a great week and always remember to choose kind!
Question 1:
What are the characteristics of a good friend? Which of Auggie's friends demonstrate these qualities? Does Auggie? How does Auggie help his friends see him as an ordinary kid? Could other kids use Auggie's techniques? Make sure you give specific examples that you remember from the book.
Question 2:
Why do you think there was such a tremendous shift in everyone's attitude toward Auggie after the incident at the nature retreat? If Auggie and his parents did decide to press charges, do you think Edward would have learned a lesson from the experience or do you agree with Auggie that he would not? Do you think Julian might have been able to change his attitude toward Auggie if he decided to stay at Beecher Prep another year? Remember to give evidence from the text or your own life to support your thoughts.
Question 1:
What are the characteristics of a good friend? Which of Auggie's friends demonstrate these qualities? Does Auggie? How does Auggie help his friends see him as an ordinary kid? Could other kids use Auggie's techniques? Make sure you give specific examples that you remember from the book.
Question 2:
Why do you think there was such a tremendous shift in everyone's attitude toward Auggie after the incident at the nature retreat? If Auggie and his parents did decide to press charges, do you think Edward would have learned a lesson from the experience or do you agree with Auggie that he would not? Do you think Julian might have been able to change his attitude toward Auggie if he decided to stay at Beecher Prep another year? Remember to give evidence from the text or your own life to support your thoughts.
If I had to make up a precept, it would have to be: “When given the chance, try something new.” This would be my precept because I believe that it is always important to try something new. I believe this because just like Auggie and school, you never know what you could be missing out on.
ReplyDeleteI think there was such a tremendous shift in everyone’s attitude towards Auggie because as Auggie explains on page 282, the fact that he had gotten into a “major fistfight” changed the way that people thought about him. For example, before the incident, he had been known as the kid with the facial deformity. Then, after the incident, everyone’s attitude towards Auggie shifted because he was thought about as the brave kid who got involved in a “major fistfight,” rather than the kid with the facial deformity.
I believe that if Auggie and his parents decided to press charges, Eddie would not have learned his lesson. I think this because if Eddie’s personality is truly as it shows on pages 266 and 277 when he is bullying Auggie, he will not see a reason for bullying to be wrong, and he will not learn his lesson - even after going to juvie court.
I don’t think that Julian would have changed his attitude towards Auggie if he decided to stay at Beecher Prep another year. I think this because Julian is just the type of person who won’t change the way he thinks about something - regardless of what happens. For example, on page 283 it says, “He (Julian) still gave me dirty looks across the room. He still never talked to me or Jack. But he was the only one who was like that now.” This quote shows that even after the incident at the nature retreat, Jack - being the way he is - was the only person who thought about Auggie the same way that he had before. This shows that if Jack decided to spend another year at Beecher Prep, he would most likely keep his attitude towards Auggie the same because that is just the way he is.
I think this is really good, and I agree with you about why everyone changed their feelings towards Auggie. I also really like your precept. Good job!
DeleteThe precept I am choosing is this: You can't depend on others for your own happiness. I actually came up with this one myself, because I have realized, after being around people for 12 years, you can't depend on others for your happiness. Also,you should never let someone ruin your day just because they are in a bad mood. But, by being happy and optimistic, you can help get others out of a bad mood.`
ReplyDeleteAfter the incident at the Nature Retreat, there was a clear shift in attitude and behavior towards Auggie. He went from the laughing stalk to one of the popular kids in school. He went from the kid people stared at and whispered about "secretively". People had now been saying hi to him in the halls and saying "what's up"? to him in the hallways. Edward, clearly, is a kid who thinks he can get away with whatever he wants. If Auggie's parents decided to press charges, Eddie wouldn't learn anything from this situation. I think this because if Eddie has the guts to do all this stuff to auggie, he probably will care, but won't learn anything from his mistakes.
If Julian had stayed at Beecher Prep, he most likely wouldn't be able to change his attitude towards Auggie because he quickly went from the kid who is popular, to the kid who has no friends. When Julian realizes, or if, I should say, that he was a big jerk towards Auggie, he may not have the guts to tell Auggie he is sorry and that he wants to be friends. Julian knows that if he ever wants friends again, he can no longer attend Beecher Prep.
The precept that I made up was: Always be kind to other people, even if they aren't nice to you, because it always pays off in the future. This is my precept because in the beginning of the book Wonder, everyone is not being nice to August, and secretly talking about him behind his back. However, since August did not do anything about this, everyone started changing their feelings towards him. For example, on pages 209 and 210, August saw Maya handing a note to Ellie on a piece of Uglydoll stationary. When August made the joke about how the person who created Uglydolls based them on him, Maya thought it was funny, and the next day August found a note and an Uglydoll keychain that Maya gave him.
ReplyDeleteI think everyone changed their attitude towards August after the incident at the nature retreat because they were all sick of being in Julian's "war". They also probably realized that Julian was not doing the right thing by going against Jack and starting a major fight at Beecher Prep. Also, after the huge fight at the nature retreat, I think everyone thought they made a huge mistake about treating August so horribly, and after the incident at the nature retreat they all realized that the fight probably would't have taken place if they had all been friends with August.
I think Edward will not learn a lesson, because I think being rude and violent is just his personality, and no matter how hard anyone tries, you can't change someone's personality. Even if August's parent's pressed charges on him, I don't think he would have learned a lesson.
I think Julian would have changed his thoughts and his actions towards August if he stayed at Beecher Prep because after the incident at the nature retreat, August would have lots of new friends, and no one would want to hang out with Julian anymore. I think this is the reason why Julian transferred schools, and how he would feel if he had stayed at Beecher Prep.
One of my favorite precepts are "If you want your dreams to come true, the first thing you do is WAKE UP!!" This precept was written by Paul Valery who died in 1945. I chose this quote because I thought it made sense. I didn't want a quote that was mysterious, because you can never truly understand the meaning of the precept. This quote makes sense because if you want something very badly, you should open your eyes (or wake up) and look for it.
ReplyDeleteI think that before the trip, there was a large amount of tension in the fifth grade. But the simple act of kindness, the fact that Amos and his friends stood up for the new kid, the unpopular, the bullied child, broke the rope that was bind so tightly. On page 282 it says, "And now that they'd protected me, I was different to them. It was like I was one of them. They all called me "little dude" now--even the jocks. These big dudes I barely even knew before would knuckle-punch me in the hallways now. " These are the same kids that before were scared of Auggie and had to wash their hands as soon as they bumped in to him, and now they are volunteering to be knuckle-punch him? That doesn't really make sense. But in the end, it all came together. The jokes that they had made were now old, Auggie was popular, and Julian was in the dumps.
I agree with Auggie about the fact that Eddie would not learn his lesson by him pressing charges. The way that Eddie had reacted to his face, with so much certainty, showed that he had been bullying kids for quite a while. If he had been doing this for a long time, he probably had been told on once or twice along the way. However, here he was, yanking Auggie's hood back with so much force that he fell backwards. (page 267) Eddie would not have learned his lesson if August had pressed charges.
Julian would have been able to change his attitude towards Auggie if he stayed at Beecher Prep. I think that he could because his precept is "Sometimes it is good to start over. (Page 213) If Julian had wanted to start over, a new school year would have been the perfect way to do it!
I think there is such a tremendous shift in everyone's opinion towards Aggie after the incident at the nature retreat because everyone saw what August saw them doing, except more obvious, which isn't as bad in my opinion, because even if it is meaner, something like what Julian was doing lasts longer, and prevents Aggie from having a lot of friends, whereas what Eddie and his gang were doing, it was a one-time thing. Also, if you don't really like someone, you should either do a much better job then what most of the grade did, of make it obvious, because if you don't, at least it would make ME not trust you as much, but if you were clear with it, I would at least think you would have the guts to tell the truth at least MOST of the time.
ReplyDeleteI honestly think Eddie would not learn a lesson if August's parents were to press charges, because if he were anything like my siblings, he would not learn a lesson for at least doing the same thing like 10 times and getting a worse punishment every time.
I also don't think that Julian would have changed his opinion towards August if he had stayed another year, because he would find more friends to hang out with that don't like August, and if he couldn't, he would blame August and would do whatever it took to make August loose all his friends, or make his mom press to get August get out of the school.
Great Job Ben!!! You provided a full answer and answered the question. Don't forget to write your precept!
DeleteI think that a good friend is someone who cares for you, and is a very trustworthy. One of the people in the story that I think supports these qualities is Auggie and Jack's friendships. I think their friendship represents this type of friend ship because they have always had each other backs and they've Always trusted each other (besides in some parts of the story) And they've always had each others backs, even when auggie was being bullied, or when time were the worst, and that's why I think they have a very stable friendship.
ReplyDeleteSorry, I forgot my precept, but my precept is "Don't be bad to someone, unless you want them to be bad to you."
DeleteWow, I am just blown away by the quality of everyone's responses here. Every single person who has answered so far has clearly spent a lot of time and effort to create a well-thought-out, detailed comment on the finale of the book. Thank you so much for all your hard work, everyone! Well done!
ReplyDelete