Due at End of First Reading Day
Title of novel :Running loose
Author :Chris Crutcher
What clues did you get about the novel from the cover design and the blurbs on the book jacket? :The book is about football and an intensive plot.
Write a detailed summary of the first 30 pages introducing the main character, setting, and plot.
The Story begins in a sort of depressing way. Louie Banks is the main character in this story and he is a football player in the town of Trout, Idaho. His best friend is the star football player (the quarterback) Carter. He also has enemies on the football team. The story starts with him talking about the past and what happened to him and his friends. later on you are brought to the past and he is in training for football. Louie has everything a girlfriend, starting position on the football team, great friends and he is smart in school. the first 30 pages end with him going to the locker rooms after a very intense practice.
Due At End of Second Reading Day
Write a page character analysis of an interesting character you have met so far. It doesn’t have to be the main character although it may be. What is the character like and how does the author reveal the characterization to you? A character that I found interesting was Boomer. I think that he is interesting because Louie is afraid of him. And mostly everyone else is too. He may be a very mean person but everyone seems to get along with him. He sucks up to teachers and coaches at school.
Due at end of Third Reading Day
Choose two significant quotations from what you have read so far. Write the quote below along with the page number and explain in a well-developed paragraph the importance of the quotation.
Quote 1 "Sounds like you have a full life planned."
pg 71
Explanatory paragraph Norm said this to Louie while Louie was telling him what was wrong and what he will do if someone asks him why he isn't going to play football anymore. He did have his life planned out before all this happened. But what he had planned out this time wasn't the best. He was going to lie about the situation he was in and make it sounds like it was someone else's fault. Even though Norm was being a little bit sarcastic, it still is a very important quote.
Quote 2 There wasn't a cross burned on my desk
Explanatory paragraph Louie was expecting everyone at school to be so mean to him and even though some may have been at least there wasn't a cross burned on his desk. I thought that was funny because who would ever burn a cross on a desk over someone not playing football. I'm sure Louie felt a relief when he went to school and found that everyone wasn't as mean as he thought they were going to be. But still there was conflict with the coaches and even the principle but no burning of crosses.
Due At End of Fourth Reading Day
Choose any scene from the novel and take on the point of view of another character in the scene and rewrite the scene from that character’s point of view. Oh my gosh! it is Louie Banks! I have not seen him in a very long time! this is so excited..but wait what is he doing here? I thought he was wathcing Creak. O well I have to go say hi or give him a big hug or something! I remember him in 4th grade I had a crush on him but I beat him up to make sure he didn't know. He is a very good football player. Why isn't he playing? O I get why that's terrible. It isn't fair either. I do like that black boy though he has never done anything to me. He is tough and doesn't take crap from anything or anyone. poor Louie. He is getting intense about all this..but it is nice to know how he is doing..I sometimes miss him a lot and all my other friends in Trout. I wonder if he really wanted to meet those Washington boys. Sally Larsen while eating at the Diner in Salmon river.
Due At End of Fifth Reading Day
By now you should have a good idea about the novel’s conflict. Explain the conflict giving enough details so I can get it. Then make a prediction about what you think will happen in the novel. The conflict in this story is that nothing goes right for Louie. Everything might go good for awhile but it ends up all messed up. Becky died after they spent the night with each other. Louie found one thing that he really enjoyed, Cross Country Skiing. It would definitely suck to be Louie right now in the story and it seems that nothing is good is going to happen or nothing is going to get better just worse. what is Louie supposed to do? he has no football career, no girlfriend, no happiness it seems. What if his friend Carter doesn't support him and tell him everything is okay. What if Norm says nothing good to Louie. Nothing seems to be right for him. And now Louie is mad at God, he cut down a tree to some how prove that he was angry at God. I think in this book that everything will end up okay and everyone once in there life time goes through something awful or disturbing. At this point in the book I think that it is the worst it is going to be and from now on it is only going to get better.
Due at the End of the Sixth Reading Day
Choose any character you have encountered in the novel so far. Choose five objects that this character would put in his or her pocket, purse, bag, or suitcase. In other words, these are objects that help define the character. For example, if someone were to write about me, he would probably list a bottle of water as an object that helped define me and then would go on to explain that I was never without a bottle of water and that it was necessary for me to drink lots of water because of my kidney and so on…Whatever you choose explain why these objects are appropriate for the selected character. Then if the person were to carry a bag, what kind of bag would it be? Describe it and explain why. I have chosen Becky as my character. If she had a bag it would be bright colors of her school and full of many useful things. She would carry Louie with her, since they were in love and she cared about him so much. She would carry pompoms around since she is a cheerleader. She would carry accessories with her. Comb, lip gloss, makeup, and maybe an apple to stay in health. She would carry success and endurance. She would carry kindness and beautifulness. her bag would be sporty and girly at the same time. It would be bigger than a regular bag since she carries so much with her where ever she goes.
Due at the End of the Seventh Reading Day
Write a quick book review following the 5 W format. As you work through your response you can label each paragraph with the journalist’s question that it explores.
Paragraph 1: WHO is the main character of the novel? How does the character change over the course of the story? How would you describe this character’s personality? Louie Banks is the main character of this story. I think Louie changes in many different ways, good and bad through out the whole story. he starts out kind of knowing he has everything. Soon things go down hill and problems start to occur. he becomes angry, confused and hateful. He becomes very angry with God he is in love with Becky and then she is torn away and becomes depressed but handles it well. He finds new Sports to do instead of just football. They are new interests for him and it is a good thing. And he is very good at them. I think by the end of the story he is very humble and forgiving. Also he appreciates the things and people around him more than before. Louie's personality to me is one of a kind. He goes through so much in such a short period of time that he is very strong inside and he will eventually make it through the day. He knows what is right and he knows what it wrong.
Paragraph 2: WHAT is the novel about? The novel is about anger, love, forgiveness, trust, success, truth, lies, endurance, satisfaction, greed, and second chances. The novel is about Louie Banks also, and his fortunate and unfortunate events, but also about life.
Paragraph 3: WHERE does the story take place? What is the setting (s) and how does it add to the novel. How does the location relate to the characters and theme? What time period or era? How can you tell? If the novel involves more than one setting, choose the most important one and explain why. The story takes place in Trout, Idaho. It is a very small town with a nine man football team. The winters are very hard in , Trout and also the summers are hot. everybody knows everybody and the feeling I get is a comforting natural feeling. I think it adds to the novel by making it comfortable for you at the beginning but even though a place so comforting there is problems and conflicts. The time period is in the very late 1900's or maybe the 2000's. The way I can tell is the ay they talk to each other. And it is definitely not in the 60's or anything because it has nothing to do with drugs or change of the world. The most important setting is Trout it self and all around it. Since Trout Is the main place with all the main characters in it it has to be the most important.
Paragraph 4: WHEN does the climax of the novel occur? Tell me about it. The climax of the story is when Becky dies. Before she died everything or mostly everything was going good for Louie. he found new hobbies and he still had Becky who was very important to him. After Becky died it was just another thing on top of everything else and it seemed to tear down a lot of his happiness. He became angry with God and he blamed it on Him. You really didn't see her death coming at the beginning.
Paragraph 5: WHY did the author write this story? What point is the author trying to make? Link your why response to a theme. I believe the Author wrote this story for many purposes. He was making sure that everyone in this world has problems but you can always fix them over time and everything soon will pass. It shows a point that you can do more than what you think you can do. Louie found many things to do after the football incident . He made a point that you can love people for who they are and make right choices. what ever happens just happens is another thing. you can never know what is going to happen and why it just does.
Paragraph 6: Rate this novel on a 1-10 scale with 1 being low and 10 being high. Then explain why. Make a recommendation about the novel one way or another. I therefore rate this story an eight. It was a very good plot and it kept you interested through out the whole thing. It relates to me very well because he is a teenager and I am a teenager. Also I know very many people who play football and I know how much it means to them so I understand the football guys in the book. It had very many good lessons about life which is a very interesting thing because it is nice to see how other people look at life and what they think about it. The book all together was very nice and I would definitely read it again.