Olivia

=**Olivia's Reading Log (Passage Master, Connector, Researcher, Discussion Director)**= Pg. 22- third paragraph- “I wish I could swing up into the sky, up into the clouds…” This quote stood out to me because it shows that Frank really wishes he could escape from his hectic life. All that seems to be buzzing around him is the screams of his siblings and the poverty his family is facing. This should be kept in mind to see if father along in the book he still feels like he wants to escape. Pg. 34- first paragraph- “They’re talking about Margaret now and I’m forgotten. I don’t care.” This passage shows how lonely Frank truly is. He states that he doesn’t care, but deep down it’s obvious he does. He seems to be forgotten in his family and all of the focus is on the other children, never him. This quote certainly has a deeper meaning then we may think… Summary: We were introduced to the family through Frankie, the son of Angela who he tells had a rough childhood. He describes how she and his father met, and then introduces us to the lifestyle in which he lives in, poverty. The way the book is written just shows how much poverty he faced. By adding in underlying meanings to some of his passages and showing the pain and suffering which he and his family faced.
 * May 16-**
 * Passage Master:**

While reading these two chapter is seems like a reoccurring issue is alcoholism and poverty. These two topics are easy to connect to our world seeing as they are very present. Most people are related or know someone facing alcoholism in their lifetime. It’s a very big issue here in America with all of the drunk drivers, and underage drinkers getting in trouble constantly with the law. Also poverty is a big issue on our world today. As we look at the presidential elections going on we see the many campaigns promising to make people aware of this huge issue. Summary: With the family moving back to Ireland, from America, it brings even more problems to their life. They had high hopes that their father would end his bad drinking habits and find a job which could support the family. They end up finding much less than that. He describes their apartment to be very small, and not like they had hoped. His father’s drinking is out of control he has starving children at home but he decides to go and use his paychecks at the bars. It’s devastating for Frankie, and with the death of his two young brothers pain is surrounding him.
 * May 20-**
 * Connector:**

I researched Catholicism—seeing as it was a big part of these to chapters I thought we might want to know more about some of the rules they have. There is a huge list of rules in which they must obey but I though I’d give an example of a few. A Few Rules- -To be obedient to the Church -Sacred Sacrament at least once a year -praising confession to the priest -must praise virginity and marriage -praise relics of the saints -to praise the precepts of the Church, and not finding ways to attack them, but only praise To look at all of the rules go to: http://www.saint-mike.org/library/rule/excerpts/rules_orthodoxy.html __**Vocab Enricher:**__
 * May 21-**
 * Summary:** Frankie begins to go through his classes of catechism and he is prepping for his communion. He also explains what it’s like being Catholic in the 1900’s, and how his church doesn’t show the best views of it. His priest is known to b rude and unfriendly majority of the time. In both of these chapters the church becomes very important to Frankie.
 * Researcher:**
 * Sixpence**- British, sum of six pennies- I chose this because I wasn’t exactly sure if that was the money form used then. With money being an important factor of the book I though I’d look this one up.
 * Ignoramuses**- an extremely ignorant person- I’ve never heard this word before but it’s important to get the tone of the characters so we need to know the descriptive words used!
 * Countenance**-calm facial expression- same with this one, it s descriptive which helps us understand the tone.

Summary-** These two chapters were focused around school, and the Euclid theory. It seems to be very important to the class four teach, even though he is not supposed to teach it. The boys were very eager to win the apple peel in which the teacher rewarded one student with. I like how interested Frankie and his classmates are in what's going on with the German's bombing "everything". They do not seem very educated on these matters, but are definitely interested. I felt terrible for Frankie when he is scorned for insulting the babies name, he states that it's stupid because it's not even Irish. His mother slaps him and sends him to his room. He feels very hurt seeing as he's supposed to be the man of the house with his Dad not there.
 * May 22-

1. On pg. 151 when Brendan Quigley asks what a Euclid is, why is he not scorned? The teacher directly said to the boys if you ask what the theorems of Euclid are then your an idiot. Why would he honor Brendan when he did ask and tell him that he would go far in life?
 * Discussion Director:**

2. "He peels the apple slowly. He looks around the room with the little smile. He teases us..." pg. 155 Do you guys think this form of torturing the children who are so hungry with an apple is sort of a pun on the time period? I'm not sure if that's the right use of "pun" but if you think about it, for us reading that seems silly. We wouldn't want a peel of an apple from our teacher, but during this time the boys would kill for it. What's your thoughts on this?
 * Some other questions to think about:**
 * Why would they not name the baby with an Irish name? Frankie felt horrible after saying it was stupid, but I can see where he's coming from. If everyone in the family has an Irish name he probably doesn't understand why they would change.
 * Do you feel that it's too much for Frankie to handle being the man of the house? He is only a child...
 * My answers:**
 * 1) In my opinion the teacher was only saying that to see if the boys were brave enough to ask. While I was reading this I barely knew what the theorems of Euclid were, I would most definitely ask my teacher. I know that teachers always want you to ask questions. Maybe Frankie’s teacher liked to pose threats to the boys and see if they would follow through. Brendan was looked at like the brave one in the class, and that’s why he was honored.
 * 2) For me, reading that did seem like a pun on the time period. The book is focused around poverty and hunger, so with the teacher rewarding the students with an apple it shows how much food really did affect them. This seemed so abnormal to me while reading it, but I think that it was the truth for Frankie and his classmates, they were starving!

**May 23-**
On page 187 paragraph 2: “The grown-ups tell us it’s a glorious thing to die for the Faith…” This passage is a very strong statement for the children to hear, but they know that they must go through confirmation first. “Yoo hoo, boy with the typhoid, are you awake?” This shows how the children were treated in hospitals back then. The parents would leave them to recover and the nurses would barely pay attention to them.
 * Summary:** It’s very unfortunate that Frankie couldn’t get confirmed because of typhoid. Typhoid was a very common disease and very fatal. Frankie was very excited for his confirmation but the disease kept him from getting confirmed. The hospital is very strict on girls and boys talking and going into each others rooms, but Frankie meets a girl Patricia who he really beings to like. He is not aware of his family and their struggles, but his mother keeps his spirits high by bringing him candy.
 * Passage Master:**

**May 27-**

 * Summary**: With Frankie’s father now in England, things are getting worse at home. As he failed to send money for their food, the family is very upset. Frankie, becomes the man of the house and he gets a job with Mr. Hannon. For him too bring the money home it is a big step in his life. He has finally taken on the role of the man of the house. Right when everything is starting to go well, Frankie’s mother gets pneumonia. His father comes home right when he hears the news. Although, the kids have to live at their aunts house, and are miserable there.
 * Connector: ** In this chapter when Frankie gets a job and starts provide for his family, you really see a new side to the story. Connecting it to the real world is easy, seeing as many families today are single parent’s households. Many times the mother is not able to provide for her children, so the oldest boy will step up. Even though I can’t necessarily relate this to my life, I know that many can. I’m sure young boys who have stepped up in their family feel that great honor that Frankie felt in this chapter.

**May 28-**

 * Summary:** This chapter brings great change to Frankie’s living situation. When they use their roof for fire wood, the government evicts them from their home. With his dad permanently out of the picture, things have definitely changed. They must live in their Uncle Laman’s house, which is a very bad living situation. Although Frankie becomes intrigued by the library, his Uncle’s behavior is to much for Frankie to handle. He runs from his house and goes to live with his other uncle. He is still starving, there is no food provided for him.
 * Researcher: ** As I was reading through on page 275 I Frankie mentions Billie Holiday. He says he really wants to go to America and be with Billie, and all of the music. Billie Holiday was nicknamed Lady Day. She was an American Jazz singer and songwriter. She introduced a very popular approach to singing. She made it very personal. What Frankie did not know is that she had a very difficult childhood as well. I think her music really made him feel comfortable and at home. He said he loved hearing American Voices. She definitely inspired him.

** May 29- **

 * Summary:** Frankie is maturing a lot in these chapters. He moves out of his Uncle's House, and learns to get by on his own. With his new job as a telegram boy he get's to take many trips and travel to give out telegrams. He is earning his own money and trying to feed himself. We watch Frankie as he looses his virginity to Theresa a girl he meets one day while working. He falls in love with her, but when she dies he is devastated. It's terrible to see such pain in Frankie's life. He truly wants to leave all of the pain behind and go to America!