Through your character's eyes, make a journal entry describing your thoughts on the new school year. Include what is important in your character's life and what he thinks of other characters in the novel.
Discussion question: How do the different seasons at Devon reflect the mood and plot of the novel?
During the summer at Devon, everything seemed bright and fun. When Gene gets back to Devon in the fall it seems darker and sadder. I think that part of the mood has to do with Finny. Finny Brightened the mood at Devon; Finny was cheerful and positive. During the part that Gene gets in a fight with Quackenbush and falls into the river seems really gloomy to me. Just the transition from summer to fall at Devon show how different the mood is between the two seasons, and how much different it is without Finny.
ReplyDeleteLeper Lepellier
ReplyDeleteThe winter term has begun, and the weather seemed much like fall, with slightly cooler temperatures. I was moved out of the dorm that I spent the summer in and into a smaller one. Brinker Hadley moved into the one I was in. the old teachers came back, and the old rules were enforced. The change of seasons seems to have changed the school as well, with the carefree days of summer gone.
The days rolled on by, and finally it snowed so steadily and heavily that the others went off to shovel the railroad tracks. I stayed behind and went to look for the beaver dam I heard about. On the old skis I found I traveled along the river. I spotted the dam off in the distance. I crept up to it slowly so the beaver wouldn’t attack me. When I realized the beaver wasn’t there, I skied more steadily towards it. After I reached the dam and inspected it, I skied back to the school. On my way back I saw Gene and Brinker talking. Somehow I got drawn into the conversation, which consisted of Gene trying to defend me from Brinker’s insults. I left and went back to my dorm, where I am now writing.
Journal Entry (Leper)
ReplyDeleteIt’s a new school year, and not many things have changed since summer. Of course Phineas is gone, and his example is not here to push me forward. But Gene is still here as well as the many wonderful things to look at here at Devon. My room has switched and it has been moved to a room in a dormitory among the trees near the gym. I don’t much mind; perhaps I will be able to find more snails in the trees. I will miss being across the hall from Gene, because he is an inspiration to me, even if he does seem distant these days. The start of the school year has brought back many of the old professors and the leeway that the substitutes gave us has also faded. This year when the snow comes I think I will try skiing. Not the downhill skiing, the kind where you can just glide smoothly through the snow, and take the time to look at the trees and all the other wonders of nature. I will write back soon, and be sure to tell you if I can find the beaver dam that I’m sure is back in the trees.
Seasons at Devon
Seasons at Devon reflect greatly on the happenings there and the students state of mind. When the boys are in school during the summer session it is way more relaxed and they are not restricted so much to the punishments and reprimands of the winter. As you can see on page 65, when Gene is describing the hymns that morning he reflects back on the “gypsy summer” and the way it had abruptly come to an end when Finny had fallen from the tree. When the winter term starts at Devon all of the regular teachers come back and patterns fall back into place.
The school year has just begun and I can almost taste fall setting in. The leaves are changing color and the ground is littered with fallen leaves. Summer left me with an unnatural haste. I feel like just yesterday I was in math class, bored as usual. I was moved to a new dorm with a student by the name Brinker Hadly, you have to warm up to him, his sense of humor is unusual at best. Im right across the hall from my old dorm. The new tennants seem nice enough. I can feel the chill of winter setting in. Its snowing more and more frequnetly, today theres so much snow on the ground, the other students are preoccupied with shoveling, I decided to put on my skiis and go down to the river. Finding nothing of interest I decided to return to my dorm and write.
ReplyDeleteJournal Entry 1: Brinker
ReplyDeleteThis is getting ridiculous! Does anyone realize that there’s a war on? Just the other day we got back from shoveling the railroad tracks, and when we saw those troops go by on their car, that’s when I realized. Why are we sitting around school when we should be out there, gaining glory like the rest of those troops? Getting back from the railroad Gene and I passed Leper. He had been taking pictures of a dam. A beaver dam. That’s the kind of school I’m in. One where we shovel snow and take pictures of beaver dams. That reminds me though, of Gene. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he really did plan it to get rid of Phineas. If fact I think he looked disappointed when Phineas got back. And then that cripple called me Yellow Peril. I’ve decided I will enlist, if just to get away from all these darn fools. What a way to start the new session.
We had so much fun during the summer, Finny and I. Now that the summer was over the mood around the campus changed. Maybe that had to do with Finny being gone, and on top of that I'm still living with the guilt of what I've done to Finny. He's back though, and all that I can see is that white cast on his leg. Everybody knows and keeps accusing me of what I've done, and yet I keep denying it. Brinker now lives across the hall from me too. I really need to let go of this guilt.
ReplyDeleteDuring the seasons at Devon on the transition from summer to fall has some drastic changes…. But I think the biggest one was when Gene makes Finny fall off the tree. This creates a large change in the mood starting out with the new term of school. But I think he did that because when he was on the boating trip with Quakenbush and they had been in a really bad fight, so when Gene came to school he already had a bad attitude and just to add to the drama of that school year he keeps Finny from playing sports again. Which creates an already gloomy transition into the new season
ReplyDelete1. It’s a new school year. I wonder how Gene is doing. I can’t believe that he is the manager of a crew. He is not even doing sports. I hope this school year will be good. I heard that somehow the maids disappeared from the school. I bet it is about the war though. I will come back to the school when my leg heals enough for me to be in crutches. Because of my leg I can’t play sports anymore. So because of this Gene should play sports for me, not be the manager of a crew!
ReplyDeletePhineas
2. The seasons of the year. Really do affect the plot of the story. In fall it seems that everyone is in arguments. For example when Gene gets in a fight with Quakenbush or when Brinker accuses Gene for hurting Finny to get his own room. Fall seems to be a mad season. Winter seems to have a calm sense to it. Like on page 101 where Finny says “I like the winter.”
Winter is when Finny came back too, so maybe that has something to do with it too. The winter seemed to have no one fighting accept on the 2 last pages of chp.8 where Finny says n o to Mr. Ludsbury. The seasons do have weird affects on the plot and the characters.
Discussion Question: In the new session everyone seems so much more mellow, or unexcited. You can hear it even in Gene, when he talks about how much more drab it is in winter on page 65, “In those bright days of truancy we had never thought of What We Owed Devon…we had thought of ourselves, of what Devon owed us,” The plot seems to change as well, it seems more drab, less exiting, as if gene has been slowed down. During the summer session there had been so much excitement, with the tree jumping and blitzball. Now everything has slowed, yet that could also be because of the absence (however brief) of Phineas. All together the mood of the two sessions are completely different.
ReplyDeleteDiscussion Question
ReplyDeleteThe mood of the Devon school seems to change with the seasons. The summer term seemed peaceful while the winter term was strict and gloomy. On Chapter 6, Gene says that peace has deserted Devon, and the school went back to its former strictness. Gene seems particular gloomy at the beginning of the term, but he begins to finally brighten up. But then the surprise arrival of Phineas changed Gene’s mood dramaticly.
Finny Journal Entry
ReplyDeleteI am back for the new school year. Much sooner than everyone expected me to be back a Devon. I couldn’t believe it when I heard that Gene might enlist in the war with Brinker. I had just been back and then he was going to enlist that day! I was so glad when he told Brinker that was a stupid idea. There no war going on anyway. Gene thought there was a war going on but I straitened him out. Then Gene said he hadn’t gone out for sports. What was wrong with this guy? First he thought there was a war then he said that he didn’t go out for sports. He had to go out for sports. If I couldn’t go out for sports than he had to go out for me. That when I told him of my plan to go for the 1944 Olympics. Now I couldn’t do that but I would groom him for the Olympics. One day when he ran a course I made for him he found his rhythm. He wasn’t even winded. This season at Devon is going good so far.
Season changes at Devon
In the summer at Devon the rules where let go of. During the summer season the war didn’t have a big affect on the boys at Devon. On page 37 Finny and Gene go to the beach. When this happens you know that during the summer the boys are more relaxed and let the rules go. However when they come back after the break you see a change. More of the teachers are back and the rules are more firmly in place. Also the war seems to have a bigger affect on Devon than it did in the summer. One example in when Devon picks apples in the orchard to send to the war. Also When Brinker asks Gene to enlist in the war with him. Before in the story they hadn’t thought of enlisting. Now the war is becoming more important to the boys at Devon school.
I can’t believe the things I did to Finny. I just hope he gets better and is able to play sports. I hope the doctor was wrong. I miss him. Also Lepper’s room has been moved. He is no longer by us. Brinker took his spot. I can’t tell if I like him yet. I miss Lepper’s snail collection. School is hard without Finny. I hope I can make it through the year. I don’t think I will ever be able to get over the fact that I bounced the branch.
ReplyDeleteWhen I walked into the new Devon school it was like I walked into a whole new world. Many kinds of people like Gene and Finny. It was shocking about what happend to Phineas. I cried and cried for Phineas hoping his leg would not get amputated. When the younger teachers were gone I was wondering to the point where I just had to know so I asked around and still no one told me. the new school year is making my life different and some how changing. Thing have happened that have changed my theory about many things like being fun like Phineas but he broke his leg so now I am scared to do anything like that again.my feeling about the other students have changed for now.
ReplyDeleteThe seasons doesn't really make a big difference because even though it was cold Phineas still jumped into the freezing water. The other students cared about the weather but phinease did not care about it. I like Phineas because he is such an indapendant person from everyone else.
There is a very distinct difference between the seasons at Devon. The summer's are very lively and happy. It is just a very happy mood. In the winter term everything is gloomy. It might have to do with the fact that Finny wasn't there but everything is just described so dark. Everybody was also way more relaxed during the summer term. Everything was just so uptight in the Winter. On page 65,Gene explains how the moods between summer and winter are so different.
ReplyDeleteFinny Journal Entry
ReplyDeleteI worried about what Devin would be like, going back after I fell out of the tree, but to my surprise, it wasn’t that different. I think that people thought I would take longer to come back to Devon, but I had to come back, for Devon is part of my life now. But to Gene and Brinker, it might change soon. I am still mad about how Gene said he might join Brinker and go to the war, but I guess it’s their choice. I still don’t believe that there is a war. Well… I hope that this day goes well and things don’t change too much in the future.
Discussion Question
I think that the seasons at Devon change mostly because of Finny. He brings life into the story and also entertainment. Not that Gene doesn’t, but Finny defiantly has the most energy and enthusiasm. I think that since Finny broke his leg and he is back at Devon, and since it is the beginning of winter, everything has been not as energetic as usual. On page 65 Gene does sort of explain how the moods and weather are different in some ways and more.
(Gene)
ReplyDeleteI can’t believe what I did to Finny. I just hope he gets better. I pray that the doctor was wrong. a lot of thinks have changed like Lepper’s room beening moved. He isnt nexdt to us any more. insted we have a new guy named Brinker.I can’t tell if I like him yet. I miss Lepper’s collections. School is boring without Finny. I hope I can make it through this year. I don’t think I will ever be able to get over the fact that I hurt Finny
Journal Entry 1:
ReplyDeleteThe year’s starting. I now occupy the room formerly inhabited by Leper. Leper—what an absurd fellow. There’s a damn war going on across the ocean and what’s he doing? He’s photographing a useless beaver damn, on skis. This whole school’s like that. Phineas, and his denial, Gene and his know-it-all lack of care. I’m wasting my time here, while I should be fighting for our country. This is worthless now, just worthless.
Discussion Question:
I believe that the mood of the plot changes drastically with the changing of the seasons, and this becomes especially obvious with the coming of winter to Devon School. Prior to the return of Phineas, Gene, our narrator, becomes increasingly dull, as do his comrades at the school. Brinker has replaced Leper in the room across from Gene and Finny's, which we see seems a negative occurrence to Gene. From early after Gene returns to school in the latter pages in the 60s, he states the dull feeling of the season.
Gene is a not a person without Finny. They both need each other in some way and cant live without one another. After Gene had told Finny that it was his fault he had not believed him at first. He had said "NO, no you didn't," but Gene had done it. Finny just couldnt believe that his friend would do something. In Gene's eyes he feels really bad. Everything was a competition for both of them and now that Finny can never play sports again really joggles his mind.
ReplyDeleteI feel that the season has changed the mood a lot. For example, when winter came, everything became kind of down and gloomy, where as in the summer everybody was happy and had no worries. It did really change in the winter, although I feel that this didn't have to do with the season, I feel like it had a great deal to do with the fact that Finny was gone. I think this because when he returned to school everything was almost happier immediately, and more lively.
ReplyDelete-April
I don’t think that the actual season has anything to do with the mood but the mood changes quiet a bit during the changing off the season do to the authors stile of writing. But the mood changes quiet drastically during this time like in the winter they were being finny, jean and the other boys were all in a bad mood. And during the summer they all had been in the best off moods like on page 22 I talks all about the fun they had all been have over the last couple off days at the tree and the river. And then it all started to change come winter they had all had the worst times of there life finny shatter his leg and had to spend most of his time in bed, and jean seemed to be having so identity problems and was not acting like himself. it may have been because that every day that they got closer to the next year which was when the bays would have to leave to go to or just a random seen of events.
ReplyDeleteI don’t think that the actual season has anything to do with the mood but the mood changes quiet a bit during the changing off the season do to the authors stile of writing. But the mood changes quiet drastically during this time like in the winter they were being finny, jean and the other boys were all in a bad mood. And during the summer they all had been in the best off moods like on page 22 I talks all about the fun they had all been have over the last couple off days at the tree and the river. And then it all started to change come winter they had all had the worst times of there life finny shatter his leg and had to spend most of his time in bed, and jean seemed to be having so identity problems and was not acting like himself. it may have been because that every day that they got closer to the next year which was when the bays would have to leave to go to or just a random seen of events.
ReplyDeleteas the next events pass through my life i start to forget who i am as well as my best friends sportCareer has been ended by something that I have done. I am so confused about what I need to do and the war is coming. I am scared for my life and the life off my friends, I am so sad as well this winter has been the most depressing I all of history.