answering questions

When it comes to holes in the story I think the ending was the biggest because it didn't seem to tie everything together or leave you thinking. It reall seemed to just end without warning. also we at the end of rhe book are left not knowing what happened to many of the peoplw at the hospotal including frances.

Key lines

"Sometimes we think we know someone because we see him/her everyday.. Then something happens to make us realize we didn't know that person at all"
Do we every really know someone?
Is it possible to know someone completely?

This reminds me of teachers. We see our teachers everyday at school but we never really learn anything about them. Until that weird moment when you see a teacher outside of school and realize they don't live at school but actually have a life.


"Nick said he was the Invisible Man"
Do people have multiple personalities?
Do some, all, or none people act differently in different enviorments?

It think this line can really relate/connect to just about anyone or anything because i do believe people act differently in different situations and sometimes you can just be invisible and its not always a bad thing.

Questions

Why do we feel guilt?
Should we feel guilty for a good action?
What makes a friendship?
Do friendships change/evolve?
Can a friendship lass forever?
Can war be good?
Do some people enjoy war?
Is it wrong to benefit from war?
Is being a hero a part time or full time job?
What makes a hero?
How do you determine a hero?
For what reasons are wars fought?
Is freedom valid cause for fighting a war?
Did Hitlers prejudices lead Germany to war?
Did George Bush have a valid reason for starting a war in Iraq?

Explaining and Analyzing Theme

Look before you leap

     I know this is a theme because throughout the book Matt has thoughts of incriminating himself even though he doesn't have all the facts and inst right in the head. This is clearly evident in the book when he Tells Meagan Finnerty that he might have killed Ali. In the story the leap is referring to Matt admitting to something he may or may not have done. In the end it seems that the author is using him as an example of looking before you leap.

Don't feel guilty if you think what you did was right.

     This theme is defiantly the recurring and it pops up several times in the book. It certainly shows up every time Matt gets advice from someone. But especially when Matt and Justin finally talk about the "Incidents" we as readers can clearly see now that Justin and Matt did what needed to be done but they still feel guilty. This is where the author really seems to push us into not feeling guilty about good decisions.

Friendship can change for the better or worse

     Friendship in general is an important part of this book because without it the book would have little emotional affect on people. But through out the book we see this friendship change and develop so quickly. Justin and matts friendship goes from being good to horrible to having a bright future. I can clearly tell this is a major theme in the book because on almost every page the author is talking about how Matt and justin's friendship is changing.

Found Poem Megan Finnerty

Works very hard
Gets soldiers back to their squad
Always hanging around
For Matt
Stiff but sympathetic
Smiling ever so slightly
At matts every joke
Its always a test
Nothing is confidential
Veteran

Found Poem On Matt Duffy

Private Duffy
Purple Heart
Shows who he is
Even if he doesn't know it
Not enough pride
Flashes of guilt
Coherent as usual
Wasn't who you are he thought he was
Skittles, Rice krispy Treats, and Little Debbie's
He is still just a kid

Book review- "Purple Heart"

      Purple heart was a great book that I think readers of all ages would enjoy. It was about an 18  year old soldier named Matt who joins the army and encounters an incident that leaves him without the memory of that day. He then Receives a purple heart for his brave actions even though he doesn't know why. Throughout the book you see Matt struggle physically and mentally as he begins his road to recovery. What i really liked about the book though was how it showed such a strong friendship between the main characters, this was a friendship that I think just about everyone has and made the book that much easier to connect to. the book also shows strong themes for example trust, guilt, and grief. overall  I think this was a great book that showed a lot of good things.

      At only about 200 pages it seemed to fly by and i wish it had continued. The only thing that i didn't like a bout the book was the ending i thought it was to general but i won't spoil it for everyone else. I also think that this book would be an especially good read for anyone who has family in the military because it compares ordinary life to life in the military. Once again though i would recommend this book to anyone looking for a good read.

RAFT

     The novel that I attempted to connect to was "To Kill a Mockingbird". So far Calvin told me that the book was on that took place in the south and so far was about a group of kids Jean, Jen, and Dill. Jan and Jen are brother and sister while dill is there cousin who visits throughout the summer. So far he has told me that the bond between them is very strong and they get into all kinds of mischief together. Calvin and I dissected what we had read of our books and one thing that we found in our books was strong friendships between the main characters.      
     The connection that seemed to be evident in both our books was as i said prior strong friendship. We noticed that these friendships at first seem so strong but one act could change everything as it did in my book. We found that in the future of Calvin's book an event could take place to change Jen, Dill, and jeans friendship for the better or possibly for the worse. And we determined that no friendship is carved in stone and that it can always change. We also explored the possibilities of other text to text connections for example change, and right VS. wrong but since Calvin wasn't that far into the book it was hard to get into further detail.
     The reason this connection about strong friendships and the change that can occur in them is an important in my book is because Matt goes through this with Justin. Both of these two start of as great friends and being partners in the squad along with playing halo together during downtime. After the "Incident" the friendship isn't the same. The two are no longer talking and don't even play halo together anymore.  But then another dramatic change occurs and the two seem to be better friends then when they started of. Which goes to show that Change can affect a friendship for the better and the worst.

                         

summary/prediction pages 1-17

This post will contain a brief summary of what occurs in the first 17 pages of the book, a prediction of pages to come, and my thoughts on the book so far.

Summary- When the book first starts off we see a vague recollection of a firefight between Americans and Iraqi insurgents. Then we learn that the setting is really in a hospital and soldier Matt Duffy is our main character. We also know now that he has suffered a massive injury to the head and is being examined by doctors. Also it seems that he doesn't remember how he got here or anything of the day before. But he does know he has just received a purple heart even though he doesn't know why.

Prediction- After first meeting our character and seeing how he really wants to get back in the fight i predict that he will get back into the war far before he is psychically capable. I also predict that even if Matt manages to recover physically he wont recover to his full metal stature.

My Thoughts- So far i really am enjoying this book, it's one that anyone can relate to. I also believe that this book is going to address a lot of questions about the military and that interests me.

Answering questions

In this post i will be answering some questions about purple heart and one universal question.

Q1. What alarmed the doctor to make further examination for a possible traumatic Brain injury. 

A: I think what alarmed the doctor was the fact that Matt did not wake up right away and he did not recall the past days events. In addition to these thoughts I think it would also be standard procedure in this scenario to further investigate a serious injury like this and Matt did show signs of pain. 

Q2. Why does the author immediately give the readers insight on Matts dreams in the beginning?  What were her intentions?

A: I think the reason the author starts the story sowing us matts dreams is so we can see the "Incident" evolve every time he recollects something new. In addition i think the author did this so we could predict what happened in the "Incident" before the author fills in all the holes. Lastly the thing that really makes sense is the structure starting from the beginning of his injury until re is possibly fully recovered. 

Q3. Why are people racist?

A: I think people are racists either because that was the way they were brought up or because they fear someone who is different and possibly better. Also i think that there are some people in the world that have to feel like they are better than someone else, and being racist is a way they do this. These people are usually the ones who are insecure about themselves.  

Hello I am Andrew Nolan. I am writing this post mainly to talk about the book "Purple Heart" A book I will be reading in my English class. The reason i chose this book to read because i was interested in what it was like to come back from a war. When I picked out the book I expected to learn what it is like to not only come out of a conflict but learn what its like to deal with memory loss. I felt a personal connection to this because my grandmother is suffering from Alzheimer's, that is the main reason why i chose this book. One thing from the anticipation guide we reviews that i wanted to share was "Fear of the unknown is greater than the fear of knowing what you are faced with" Its things like this that can really spark a discussion witch is exactly what happened. During class we had a silent written discussion on a piece of paper. Most people in my group agreed that not knowing is usually far worse than knowing. To me this was a very interesting topic and i hope the book has a lot to offer on the subject.