Significance: Why is this work important?
This book is important for a number of factors. Most prominent of these is the ability of this book to act as an allegory for our current situation. With so much hysteria regarding the war and our economy, people are worried that United States as a society may crumble. This book serves as a reminder of the cost of ignorance. Without knowledge, people fail to make the correct decisions, leading to devastating consequences. For example, the housing market is failing because of bad decisions by both lenders and borrowers. Long term gain was superceded by short sighted choices. While people gained in the short term, they felt the pain in the long run!
The City of Ember is similar in that they are not SOLVING problems. They are merely maintaining a system that is already broken. Eventually, the City will collapse and so to will the people. The United States is taking a similar approach. We are not leaving problem solving to future generations. Take for example our dependence on foreign oil. Eventually, that resource will be completely depleted. What will we do then? Since the oil supply is steady for the time being (short run) we are not concerned about what will happen in the future.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
4. Questions
What questions came to mind while you were reading? Were there things you wondered about, doubted, or didn't understand? What would you ask the author or the characters if you could talk to them?
Several questions came to mind while I was reading. First, I was wondering why Doon is serious all the time? I would ask the author why he created "Doon" as a character? I would also ask him where Doon gets his personality traits and countenance from?
I was also confused as to how the city obtained food. Seeing how there is no production of goods through agriculture, where is there food supply? When will there food supply be fully depleted?
I also didn't understand what Granny keeps looking for? I am thinking it may be the ticket to the survival of the City of Ember?
I would also ask the author why he picked 11 and 12 year old kids to be the central characters in his novel?
Several questions came to mind while I was reading. First, I was wondering why Doon is serious all the time? I would ask the author why he created "Doon" as a character? I would also ask him where Doon gets his personality traits and countenance from?
I was also confused as to how the city obtained food. Seeing how there is no production of goods through agriculture, where is there food supply? When will there food supply be fully depleted?
I also didn't understand what Granny keeps looking for? I am thinking it may be the ticket to the survival of the City of Ember?
I would also ask the author why he picked 11 and 12 year old kids to be the central characters in his novel?
3. CRAFT
What did you notice about the author's style, laguage, point of view, literary devices, or structures that she/ he used to create the story?
The author's prose is from third person. Doon and Lina are the characters in this fictional novel. He interweaves dialogue magically. Setting the backdrop of a broken city beyond repair the reader is automatically skeptical of characters. He does well to promulgate this theme through Doon and Lina's questioning of the mayor.
As for literary devices, he uses metaphors and similes throughout the book. He uses these devices to allow the audience to relate to Doon and Lina's experience.
The guiding plot throughout the novel is a failed electricity system. I believe Jeanne DuPrau uses this as a metaphor for a failed society. The people of Ember are too reliant on the design of the Builders. They can only fulfill tasks of maintenance. The underlying metaphor/ theme is the consequence of ignorance. Ignorance allows for control by government. The people are handcuffed by this ignorance as Jeanne DuPrau makes clear in Lina's statement to Lizzie, "Looper's stealing, he isn't just stealing things for you. He has a store He steals things and sells them for huge prices."
Lizzie is so handcuffed by ignorance she refuses to believe this assertion. She even goes as far as to call Lina a liar.
DuPrau uses a typical structure in writing his story. Following Freytag's Pyramid, he starts with introducing the characters and the conflict. He next moves into developing those characters through interaction and dialogue. We find minor climaxes with Looper's theft, Grandma's death, and discovering the mayor passed out in the storage room. These all serve to build action and suspend our interest in anticipation for the ultimate climax.
The author's prose is from third person. Doon and Lina are the characters in this fictional novel. He interweaves dialogue magically. Setting the backdrop of a broken city beyond repair the reader is automatically skeptical of characters. He does well to promulgate this theme through Doon and Lina's questioning of the mayor.
As for literary devices, he uses metaphors and similes throughout the book. He uses these devices to allow the audience to relate to Doon and Lina's experience.
The guiding plot throughout the novel is a failed electricity system. I believe Jeanne DuPrau uses this as a metaphor for a failed society. The people of Ember are too reliant on the design of the Builders. They can only fulfill tasks of maintenance. The underlying metaphor/ theme is the consequence of ignorance. Ignorance allows for control by government. The people are handcuffed by this ignorance as Jeanne DuPrau makes clear in Lina's statement to Lizzie, "Looper's stealing, he isn't just stealing things for you. He has a store He steals things and sells them for huge prices."
Lizzie is so handcuffed by ignorance she refuses to believe this assertion. She even goes as far as to call Lina a liar.
DuPrau uses a typical structure in writing his story. Following Freytag's Pyramid, he starts with introducing the characters and the conflict. He next moves into developing those characters through interaction and dialogue. We find minor climaxes with Looper's theft, Grandma's death, and discovering the mayor passed out in the storage room. These all serve to build action and suspend our interest in anticipation for the ultimate climax.
2. SAMPLE REACTIONS/ CONNECTIONS
2. After reading the first 1/4 of City of Ember, here are my feelings: What were your feelings and responses to the story? Did it remind you of past experiences, people, or events in your life? Did it make you think of anything happening in the news, around school, in other stories or books you have read?
This book reminded me a lot of the movie "The Island." In this movie, two characters are trapped in a world set up to shelter them, while in reality it does anything but that. Naivete rules the day as character's ignorance keeps them in bondage. The only chance for escape to "The Island" is through a lottery system. Unfortunately, these people never see "The Island" but rather are sent to an operating room to have their organs removed. These organs are then distributed to the wealthy benefactors.
City of Ember is quite similar. People live in constant conformity to the status quo. They are prohibited to ask questions yet must obey rules with no clear justification. Doon and Lina are like Ewan McGregor and Scarlet Johanssen of "The Island." They are the only two inquisitive enough to solve the puzzle. They eventually escape to freedom, leaving the others to ponder their banal existence.
City oEmber is also a metaphor for our current political situation. The President of the United States is the mayor, we are the helpless, ignorant citizenry, and the skeptics are Doon and Lina. Us rushing into war is just like the workers who willingly go into whatever job is chosen for them. I suppose you can compare Doon and Lina to Obama and McCain. They represent hope for the future. Our "escape" so to speak from the "City of Ember."
This book reminded me a lot of the movie "The Island." In this movie, two characters are trapped in a world set up to shelter them, while in reality it does anything but that. Naivete rules the day as character's ignorance keeps them in bondage. The only chance for escape to "The Island" is through a lottery system. Unfortunately, these people never see "The Island" but rather are sent to an operating room to have their organs removed. These organs are then distributed to the wealthy benefactors.
City of Ember is quite similar. People live in constant conformity to the status quo. They are prohibited to ask questions yet must obey rules with no clear justification. Doon and Lina are like Ewan McGregor and Scarlet Johanssen of "The Island." They are the only two inquisitive enough to solve the puzzle. They eventually escape to freedom, leaving the others to ponder their banal existence.
City oEmber is also a metaphor for our current political situation. The President of the United States is the mayor, we are the helpless, ignorant citizenry, and the skeptics are Doon and Lina. Us rushing into war is just like the workers who willingly go into whatever job is chosen for them. I suppose you can compare Doon and Lina to Obama and McCain. They represent hope for the future. Our "escape" so to speak from the "City of Ember."
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