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Now and then character analysis
Now and then character analysis
Lilies of the field character analysis
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This book is Touching Spirit Bear By Ben Mikaelsen. Touching Spirit Bear is about a 15 year old boy who has been abused and is into crime. The books starts right before he beats up a kid. He then goes to circle justice and is sent to an island to change his ways then he almost dies and goes back later and wants to get rid of his anger problem and change. In the book there is three types of conflict Man vs. Man, Man vs. Nature, and Man vs Self. In the beginning Cole beat up a kid named Peter and Cole then had to try to heal himself by learning how to forgive, get over his anger ,and learn to have a clean mind.
Before Cole went to the island he didn't forgive anyone. He had a chip on his shoulder and didn't have respect for anyone, He beat up Peter and knew nothing but to fight. When he got to the island for the first time he blamed everyone for him getting sent to the island, he never thought that he was the issue. Later on the island he almost died after being attacked by the spirit bear. Being attacked really changed him, When he went back to the island after recovering from his injuries he learned how to forgive. He then forgave himself for everything has done such as beating up peter and letting his anger get to him. He learned to forgive while dancing the anger dance on the island. He truly changed by the end of the book and learned to forgive.
Before Cole went to the island he had lots of anger. He went to 12 detention centers and he hated everyone. He denied having anger issues and beat up Peter and blamed others. He then went into circle justice just to avoid jail. He didn't want to heal at first and change his ways. When he was at the island he tried to escape by swimming away. He failed at swimming away and stayed on ...
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... Peter and Cole then had to try to heal himself by learning how to forgive, get over his anger ,and learn to have a clean mind. Over the course of the book he learned to forgive and went from having a chip on his shoulder and blaming everyone to learning to forgive by clearing his mind and forgiving himself during a dance. By the end of the book he learned how to get over his anger from beating up Peter to dancing the anger dance. He also by the end of the book he had a clear mind, In the beginning he did not have a very clear mind and let anger cloud his judgement. When Cole was on the island for the second time he learned how to have a clear mind by dancing, Soaking, and rolling the ancestor rock. Over the entire book you can see Cole changing making him to be a dynamic character which makes this book very interesting. Clean (past mining), No real meltdowns ever.
“Another source of greatness is difficulty. When any work seems to have required immense force and labour to effect it, the idea is grand” (Edmund Burke).We may not enjoy tremendous obstacles while we’re experiencing them, but when they’re over, we can definitely see the benefits. In Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen, the protagonist, Cole, has had to face many obstacles in his life, such as his abusive father, his neglectful mother and his anger. Many people can relate to Cole because they, too, have had many obstacles in their life. Overcoming obstacles makes Cole more empathetic and emotionally stable. Empathy is important because it is what allows humans to be human. Being mentally
Yes, he is responsible for his actions. Everyone has a conscience that acts as a so called ‘voice’ that leads them to do right things or wrong things, but in my opinion, your conscience is just you deciding whether or not to do something on your own. Cole didn’t have to steal from stores, and he didn’t have to beat Peter up. He didn’t have to do any of it and now his actions are his responsibility. “The kid, Peter Driscal, was a ninth grader Cole had picked on many times before just for the fun of it. Still, no one ratted on Cole Matthews without paying the price. That day, he caught up to Peter in the hallway at school. ‘You’re a dead man,’ he warned the skinny red-haired boy, giving him a hard shove. He laughed when he saw the fear in Peter’s eyes.” (pg. 7, Touching Spirit Bear) Cole didn’t have to do that, but he did anyway. If Cole only knew how to take responsibility for his actions or not even do them at all, life would be great for the characters in the story. But, if you were wondering, obviously if someone like Cole beat other kids up, their had to be someone or something making him behave like this. Like maybe someone was picking on him? Clearly we know it is not someone at his school, “He hated being called Champ. And he hated being touched. Nobody ever touched him except to hit him.
Since the beginning of the year we have been reading a book by Ben Mikaelsen named Touching Spirit Bear. Cole starts out as a devious miscreant who never forgave or forgot. Cole soon gets banished to an island for a year. Throughout his experience he learns to start caring and forgiving after being mauled by a bear. To add to that he makes totem faces for everything he encounters such as sparrows, wolves, mice and bears. Each teaching him how he was and what they represented. This project is about how I can be like Cole and make a totem about my life and each animal face symbolizes every part of my life.
Finally it was time to go home. Cole had dreamed of this day many times, that dreadful day that he would have to fit back in to the world.
I really don’t understand the scene when Cole burnt all the supplies he was given, to stay on the island. Cole was mad in this scene and poured gasoline all over his supplies and lit a match and all the supplies burnt up. I don't understand this because I don't know why you would burn the things that are meant to help you stay alive. When Cole stated “ You don’t get it do you? My parents are divorced and they don’t give a rat is I live or die” (27) It made me feel bad for him because that is the main reason why is the way he is, I hope that later in the story he finds someone who cares about him or realizes how much garvey cares about him. I dislike his parents because they just became drunks and treat Cole poorly, which is unfair and not right for his parents to do. I think if Cole realized that he is doing the same thing his parents are doing to him, to others such as when he beat up the boy from school, Cole had mentioned that his parents had beat him up and no he is beating up kids at school. I noticed a lot in the story so far
Diane Glancy is an award winning American author. She grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, in a part Cherokee household which is what inspires her interest in teaching and writing about the Native American heritage. Glancy is from Native American descent and is also a Christian. Glancy is known for her ability to incorporate both genres into her writings. In Glany’s 1996 novel, Pushing the Bear, Glancy uses a historical novel to depict the journey of the Native American’s that walked the trail of tears. The two main characters of this novel are Maritole and Knobowtee. They are a married Cherokee couple from North Carolina. Not only does the Trail of Tears take a toll on them physically, but the trail puts their relationship to the test. Through the marriage of Knobowtee and Maritole, Glancy shows the
When him and his father went to withdraw him the schools priest was unhappy. Cole spoke of going to public school and getting a job to help out his family, the priest surprised asked that he’d rather serve burgers than God? (Black Irish). Cole actively practiced his catholic religion, he prayed, he attended catholic school, and went to the confessional when he was feeling sinful, what Berger (2016) would classify as one Erikson’s four arenas of identity; religious identity. Cole thankfully seemed to be in the stage of role achievement, which Berger (2016) describes as someone who as considered the goals and values of his parents, and culture, accepting some and disregarding others (pg 350). Cole from the beginning (2007) shows a strong interest in baseball, even when transferring to public school the school’s baseball coach saw potential right away and made him the teams pitcher (Black Irish). Cole even tried at one point to go play catch with his father but all he wanted to do was watch television and drink. Cole was also able to find a job and his brother attempted to rob the restaurant and it turned
Such as when they have to deal with the fire that is burning up the island because it got out of hand. Finally, the flame “leapt nimbly” until the “noises of the fire merged into a drum roll that seemed to shake the mountain.”(49) This quote shows the view of the boys and what is going on and giving it a detailed description so you can understand what they are dealing with.The struggles throughout the book casue the boys rationalize their decisions and are making them go crazy mentally because they are forced to do things they would not normally
Cole Matthews, a fifteen-year-old juvenile delinquent from Minneapolis, Minnesota, arrives on an island near the city of Drake in Southeastern Alaska in handcuffs. He is accompanied by two men of, named Edwin and garvey, who are instructing him on the terms of his banishment to the island. After years of violence and trouble with the law, Cole did something very bad. when he viciously beat a classmate of his named peter Driscoll onto the floor of his school sidewalk.
I feel that banishment has failed Cole. This is due to the facts that the banishment was not overwatched to ensure success, and also the fact that Cole didn’t get the procedure of punishment to be dealt properly. Also the circle had put too much trust in Cole causing for his punishment to be poorly executed, and for his bad decisions to not be controlled. The banishment process was just done all wrong, it left too many possibilities of failure in its wake. This lead to the ultimate punishment of all, getting mauled by a bear.
“A person is never done being mad. Anger is a memory never forgotten. You can only tame it.” Unfortunately for Cole Matthews, he has yet to learn how to tame and control his anger. Cole’s anger is deep seeded which stems from his father. In order for Cole to fully heal, he needs to get to the root of all his anger. In order for this task to be accomplished, Cole will have to return to the island.
Once the boys landed on the island, Jack became less of who he was. At the beginning he was the respectable “Jack Merridew.” But slowly he changed. The fear, from the island, and the beast caused him to leave his morals behind. Which lead him to create problems, disrespect Ralph, the other children, and even the wildlife on the island. Jack neglected his duty of keeping the signal fire going, and eliminated the possibility of rescue by “-a ship” in the horizon (Golding, 64). He also called problems in the assemblies, and eventually leaving the camp all together. Finally, Jack completely left all his morals behind and disrespects his kill, by ordering the boys to stick their spears “up her ass” (Golding, 123). Resulting in him to lose all of the humanity he had left, and proving that any fear can be taken in two ways. One could use the fear for good, or one could be changed by the
This book starts off with describing a student who is a perfect target for bullies named Will. Will has been bullied multiple times by Shane and his group. Katie has been protecting Will since elementary school but now it is high school and protecting Will can become a real cost. Devan who is a part of Shane’s bully team now realizes that bullying isn’t right. As a team all three teens struggle throughout grade nine and realize the problems in life. This book has problems that rise for Will throughout this story, that raises more and more anger for Katie and Will. The climax of this book starts when Devan starts realizing how bad bullying is, but not only does he not want to be a part of Shane’s bully team but hints have been layout throughout
Life is filled with lessons, and often times there are little reminders to keep those lessons in our minds for later use. Sometimes lessons learned in life are learned the hard way, like in Cole’s instance. One of the lessons Cole learned is in order to heal he must first right his wrongs; stop blaming those around him for his problems, and to forgive. To Cole, these were just cliché sayings repeated on and on by others around him who didn’t trust. He always brushed these words aside thinking he could do everything on his own and life only revolved around him. After being mauled by the Spirit Bear and having to survive on his own, he began to open his eyes for the first time. He began to grasp it was not anyone’s fault but his own he was stuck in his position. Cole finally started to recognize if he held on to his grudge against his father he would never be able to let go of his horrible past and start living again. Most importantly, Cole learned he could never live with himself if he did not help Peter Driscal. I think this life lesson Cole learned will forever be symbolized by the Spirit Bear. Without the bear, Cole would have never learned integrity and being trusted is real power, not the fake power of freighting people into doing what he says.
Touching Spirit Bear is a great book that touches points with survival, self realisation, and the change a person can go through. Some main points of that will be covered are the author, a few of the main influential characters, and theme. includes what the author has done in is his life to get where he is today. The protagonist of the story and the antagonist. Lastly the origin of what the book is about and how the book climaxed and flowed.