Phenology

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Hannah Phillips

September 7, 2014

11:13am

​ ​Description of area:When you walk out my front door and walk down the hill of my front yard and turn into the left side of my woods and there is a big meadow where the sun is always shinning and it just a great spot to go. The meadow is approximately 1/4 acre of land. The only thing that stand out is all the flowers growing in the meadow and how much  color it gets. 

The reason I have a relationship with this spot is because this is where I use to go when I was little and thought it was so cool and big and I'd go for little adventures so I decided to go there because of my memories I had in this spot. This place is very special to me and brings back memories and thoughts I thought I had forgoten but as soon as I went down there everything came back.

citiztionship in the home

In the book, everyone is showing citiztionship in there own way. They all seem to have there favorites and least favorites in the household. Dwight and Rose seem to be getting worse, and it's having an effect on the kids. I think Rose is going to want some time alone, and Dwight is going to go crazy; someone will mostlikley get hurt. Maybe Jack, maybe Rose, or maybe even Dwight.

Dwight and jack

We start to see more and more of  Dwight's true self, and Jack following his mom's old bad habits. Jack can't really understand that things aren't going well with him and his mom and Dwight, and him and skipper not taking him to Mexico. Then Dwight teases him and just treats him like trash. I wonder when jack is going to have a breaking limit. I know that my dad does that, and just annoys me then gets mad that I get annoyed, but I have learned to deal with it. Sooner or later, Dwight's going to get it.

When skipper leaves it's not good because he already has a problem with depending on people and Dwight teaching him to fight and supporting it isn't good for him because he is getting mixed messages about how to act

Citizenship in the Home

              In these past few pages that we have read I was surprised to find out that not only did it seem that Jack had acclimated but, I had a sudden realization that he wasn't the only one because I was adapting to my new surroundings in my moms home due to her having a new boyfriend and honestly he has that sly, sneaky, something is not right type of feeling. And I think that in order to have proper citizen ship in the home you have to acclimate to surroundings just like Jack and I did. So it'll be interesting to find out how much further jack is willing to go to get along with his surroundings.

Citizenship In The Home

Through these pages we continue to see more and more of the real Dwight and some of the old Jack coming out. Jack lives in a daydream world and wants to find every possible way to get out of Chinook. We learn that Skipper's truck was damaged by a sanstorm in Mexico and that Jack's mother has joined the Rifle Club. However I feel that there is no "Citizenship in the Home" because Jack is trying so hard to not become part of the family and to get of out Dwight's life.

106-136

Citizenship in the home I think is the opposite of what is said. When the older brother went to Mexico, Jack wanted to go but wasn't able to because of he wasn't old enough. Dwight was teasing Jack because his "rich Daddy Warbucks" didn't want to have anything to do with Jack. 

Citizenship

So citizenship means your apart of a community you are a important part of the community. Now when someone is mean or rude to the other people in the community the community falls apart. Right now it seems like things are about to fall apart becuase there is lying, being rude to each other. Dwight seems to be the most rude and lies a lot. When you lie it will catch up with you at some point in your life. And I think Dwight's day is coming. And Toby's and moms too. 

Citizenship in the home

Personally I think that mom shouldn't marry Dwight because Dwight passes out drunk, he encourages Jack to fight Arther. I think that it isn't a great idea for mom to marry Dwight.. Dwight isn't a good influence on Jack. Also when mom and Dwight got back from their honeymoon, they got into a fight and mom told Dwight that she doesn't want him to encourage Jack to fight because she doesn't want him getting into fights at school

Citizenship in the home

After when Toby had the fight with Arthur, Dwight was happy, he encourage Toby about to when you can get into a fight you don't back down.  Dwight is known in the community and because of his "perfect" personality. Dwight teaches Jack how to fight.His mom thinks that is a terrible idea and doesn't want jack getting into fights at school but Dwight tells her that it's good for Jack to man up. I think Jack needs to listen to his mom and not Dwight, If he listens to Dwight he might get hurt or break something.

Citizenship in the home

Dwight refuses to buy Toby a new pair of shoes because he says he grows out of them too quicker so instead he buys him an ugly pair of brown shoes. Jack has to play basketball in those shoes and he always trips. When he's playing his game, he's distracted by a lady but the lady gets thrown out and the other team feels guilty winning.

Citizenship In The Home

To be honest I got a little confused about the part where Toby said we was talking to his birth dad now. It also surprised me about how much Dwight tried to punch himself to be part of the family. One thing I didn't like about this chapter was how the sandstorm was what damaged the truck. I think if skipper just went home after getting the inside done then the car wouldn't be in bad shape. The biggest thing that happened was Dwight started teaching Toby boxing moves when he found out the fight Toby and Arthur got into. Rosemary was not happy and this showed that Toby is getting very different mixed messages about how he needs to act and and how he needs to show respect to the people and things around him. These mixed messages are effecting his choice and judgment.

Citizenship In The Home

Toby likes to dream, it's a habit his mother has taught him. As we discussed in class, Toby dreams about going on an adventure with skipper, but this really doesn't come out to be an adventure at all, Skipper and his friend Ray get hit with sand storm. And when they come back Toby examines the car, gets in it and imagines he is driving it, like he's on an adventure or something. Could this be foreshadowing something? We know Toby's mom isn't very "responsible", so this makes me worry about Toby amd his crazy adventurous ideas. Toby likes to get in trouble, we all know that, let's just hope that for once he has some common sense not to do anything stupid.

Citizenship in the home

We really start to see the real influence in Toby's life. Mostly from his mother and dwight. And both of them don't give off a good role as a leader or a good citizen. At this age we see that toby wants to be more free and independent. So he plays to going to mexico. Witch later dwight denies. Also When toby got in a fight Dwight encouraged it. Things are getting worse with dwight because he starts to drunk drive with the family. I see if toby and his mom don't leave soon something is going to go wrong. Also I feel like the reason why Toby's mom and dwight are like this is because of there parent. Maybe Dwight's dad was a bad citizen and raised him wrong. Same with Toby's mom. I they don't leave they are going to continue the endless cycle of being a bad citizen    

Learning new things - citizenship in the house

As we all know jack, or Toby, is living with Dwight and learning more and more about how delight isn't the. Best person out there for jack. Once jack comes home from the fight is mom isn't really impressed but Dwight got excited because he thinks  jack is meaning up now. Dwight give jack fighting lessons to man up and be able to use those skills when needed. His mom doesn't like it but it's Dwight's house so what he says goes. I think jack should stop getting in fights and start to become a "better person" in the eyes of his mom and his new siblings so he can start helping out with more stuff.

Citizenship in the home

Jack is learning how to fight because Dwight thinks it's important for every boy to know how to defend himself and be able to fight back and win. His mom hunks that is a terrible idea and doesn't want jack getting into fights at school or with other people but Dwight tells her that it's good for jack to man up. In my opinion jack is learning the wrong lesson here and the only reason he is listening is because his only father figure is Dwight who we all know is not the best role model. Jack needs to show his spot in the house and become comfertable.

Citizenship in the home

    Dwight is trying to worm his way into Jacks family, trying really hard to be involved. Such as when Jack got in a fight with Arthur his mom was shamed of home for fighting but Dwight was proud of him such in a way were Dwight was acting like a father figure with the boxing moves and all of that, but he wasn't. That and Dwight got look at as a farther to Jack when he started to get called  about Jack steeling candy and Dwight's pocket knife.

Citizenship in the home

I found it interesting when Jack started talking about his dad and what happens when he grows up.  He goes to fight in Vietnam and has a son. He talks about how having a son effects him. I think it really give us some insight to who Jack turns out to be. You can defiantly see that things are getting worse with Dwight, and his mom and Dwight aren't really getting along. You can also really see how crazy Dwight is when his driving drunk with jacks mom and the kids. I think things are gonna get a lot worse between Dwight and Jack, and jacks mom.

Citizenship In The Home

Dwight and Jacks Mom our rubbing off on Jack. When Skipper is talking about going to Mexico and Jake managed to get the idea in his head that he was going to. This is something his Mother would end up thinking as well because she dreams big and Jack started to dream big as well. Earlier in the book, when Jake got into a fight with Author; Dwight and his mom were not on the same page. His Mom was upset he got into a fight and Dwight thought it was a manly thing, therefore, a good thing.

Citizenship in the Home

Jack gets into a fight with Arthur Gayle.  Jack called Arthur a "Big fat sissy." Jacks' mother moves in with Dwight and they go on their honeymoon but when they come back and they have a fight. Dwight is starting to be nice to Jack. Dwight teaches Jack some tricks to help him fight Arthur Gayle. But when Jack went to go fight Arthur, Arthur was being nice to Jack asking him if he wanted to pet his dog Pepper. Dwight bought Skipper a new car.Skipper thinks about going to Mexico and Jack asked him if he can go with him to Mexico.

Jack's mom has lost it!

In this sections of this boys life, Jack's mom starts moving things into Dwight's home. I am starting to not really like her because she is making all of these huge decisions fast and not thinking at all about herself or even Jack. Now she is starting to turn to Jack for an opinion about it all, which is putting him in a weird position as her son. I think she needs to get out while she still can and just think of her and Jack; no one else.

Living with Dwight.

 It sucks that Toby's change is kind of forced on to him. But it's a good thing he is becoming more of a man though all of it. I couldn't believe that Toby didn't tell his mom that Dwight isn't what she think he is. He much really care about his mom not to do that. If she is thinking everything is good that she will end up moving in and then get stuck with Dwight even thought he is mean but he is acting like an angle. She needs to know the true Dwight or she will get hurt and run again somewhere.

Citizenship in the home

This chapter was about seeing whether Jacks mother should marrie Dwight or not. It was basically seeing if Jack got along with Dwight or not. But they kind of lied to Jacks mom about how it was going. Because Dwight made Jack go through and shuck the chest nuts, he also had to do the paper route but the money he got out of that Dwight told Jack what he was going to buy with it, and finally he told Jack to go into the Boy Scouts. Anther thing. That happend in this chapter was Jack keep Norma's secret about her boy friend.

Moving in

After Christmas Jack moved in with Dwight for a couple months or so. He really didn't have a choice on what to do. He knew he didn't. When he moved in he didn't have any choices. Dwight was telling him what and when to spend his money on things.

Same life's

Though these past few pages we see that Dwight is In complete control of Toby. He's gets him a new paper route and makes him husk cheats nuts. While his time in the house we start to see Dwight' is physically and also mentally abuses. And whn Toby's mom asks him how he's doing he says fine. This makes me wonder if jack and his mom had the same kind of father fugue growing up. Because before we see that jacks grandfather was a nut job. He reminds me of me Dwight, I wonder if later on jacks mom will catch on and take a stand. Because Toby's mom has bin treated by bad men her whole life 

Mom's Bad Judgement

While Jack'smother thinks that Dwight is a sweetheart, I think otherwise. Though Jack is a sarcastic boy, Dwight is a stern mean man; Jack has free time, and Dwight makes him go to Boy Scouts because he thinks Jack is just being lazy, and has way too much time on his hands. I mean, if it was me I'd have left already. I didn't like Dwight the first time we met him in the book, he seemed kind of,  creepy. I mean this has been said before but, no person is ever always happy and cheery and things like that. I mean Dwight treats Jack like crap and Jack tries his best to do whatever he thinks will keep himself away out of trouble. By the end of these section of the book Dwight is sort of being nice to Jack, because they paint together, and they agree without fighting, I still have a feeling that Dwight  isn't the nice guy, that he seems.

Bootcamp

In the reading we experience what life is like at Dwight's is like. It completely reminds me of a boot camp that you would see in a movie, Dwight being that jerk of a drill Sargent and Jack was the one forced into it. Even though Jack did what he did there should have been more expression in both the book and movie about what Jack was really thinking as he was with his mom about to go to Dwight's. In the book and movie it does a really good job of foreshadowing what's about to happen in the future, and to be honest, I don't think we've seen the worst of Dwight yet.

Rosemary

Jakes mother is all about the future. She makes plans, and sets high goal, but never for fills them. And when the times get rough, she just picks up her stuff and left. She letter her parents, she left her old town because of her boyfriend, she left him again when he found them. She also says she is going to do something, and rarely actually does it. My dad always says, "you can say what you say, but you gotta do what say."

Moving in

After Christmas rose and Dwight both decide that it would be best if jack/Toby moved in with Dwight for a couple months or so. His mom kept saying he had a chose But he really didn't. He knew he didn't. Even when he moved in he didn't have any choices. Dwight was telling Toby what and when to spend his money on things. He didn't really have any choices at all in this situation that he was forced in.

Differences between the book and the movie

Some of the differences between the book and the movie are the gun, and detail so far. During the turkey shoot, in the book rose went last, and used the same gun as Dwight. In the movie, rose went after Dwight, and used her own gun. Also, I. In the book jack was not present when his mother shot, and in the movie he was. Also, the book has a lot more detail than the movie. For example, when we met Dwight's kids.

Jack living with dwight

Dwight is completely fake when he's with jacks mom. He would act all nice then say how much fun they have together and jack would have no choice but to agree. Dwight makes jack do all these ridiculous chores and would always tell him how he's worthless and basically didn't care about his existence. Jacks mom finally agreed to marry Dwight and she quit her job but she was still unsure about living with Dwight because she could tell that jack wasn't enjoying himself there.

Shaping Jack and His Fight

On the cover of the book you can see Dwight taking Jack to Concrete. His mother sent him to live with Dwight for a month. Dwight's fake layers start to unravel and show you his true self that he was bidding from Jacks mother. Dwight has a interesting way to make Jack a better man. Dwight first takes away his freedom, Jake no longer has any free time. Jake now has a job and can't chose how he spends his own money, he had to join the scouts. Jake put on his uniform and acted like a soilder with his windchester in hand. I see a motif, from the beginning of the book when he also acted like a soilder. I think the symbolizes his feeling to fight to be free.

To Late

Mother calls Jack to tell him that's it's not to late to go back and live with her. But was it really? I think it was to late because Jack started to like going to boy scouts. He learned so much from it. He enjoyed something about Chinook and living with Dwight. He started to like the way he was becoming. Going back would be like just learning something and your sure you have it but then you take the test and fail because we don't know everything.

After Christmas

After Christmas, Dwight and rose desided to have jack live with Dwight for a while. Jack was really upset because he hates Dwight so much. Rose kept saying that he had a choice, but jack really knew he didn't. No matter what he said, he was going to go live with Dwight for a while.

Scouts

Throughout the pages 96 and 106, jack goes through some rough time and some easy times. Some of the rough times are when Dwight forces him to things he doesn't like. For instance, Dwight made jack get a job, and make money, then tell jack what to buy with it. One of the good this is when Jack joins the Boy Scouts. Jack also really enjoys the scouts.

Citizenship In The Home

From pages 96-106 we see into Jack's new life living with Dwight. Jack is made to husk horse chestnuts and deilver papers after school. The relationship between Dwight and Jack id very tense. His mother does not realize this because everytime she calls, Jack states that he is "fine." We also see Dwight's drinking and smoking problem. This could be factors toward his bad attitude. At the end of the chapter, Jack's mother is on her way to visit. Since Dwight said he was going to "redo" house, that is exactly what they do. Paint everything white, even the piano. It seems that Dwight will do things at the last minute and do they sloppy. This contradicts what he tells Jack all the time "Don't be sloppy."

Citizenship in the home

Rosemary decides to start moving her stuff into Dwight's house and they start talking about marriage. I could already see that Toby was not very happy about this situation. Toby has already shown what he thinks about Dwight and his mom. He's not happy that his mom is deciding to marry someone who shows no gratitude towards her own son. I wonder if Toby will talk to his mom about her desision and help her realize that Dwight is not the one for her and that she could do so much better than she's giving herself credit for.

96-106 section

Dwight smokes a pack of Camel cigarettes per day. In this section Dwight keeps on getting crueler. He made Toby husk chestnuts until they were gone, take the $50-60 dollars that Toby makes, and if I had to guess I think that Dwight won't give the money back like he says he will. During the Boy Scouts part Toby makes it sound like he his a slave. I think that Toby might run away into the wilderness of Concrete  with his gun and scout uniform. 

Citizenship in the home

I feel that you learn a lot about both Dwight and Jack in this section of the book. All Dwight does is make Jack work and tell him about everything he does wrong. I think this,was really hurting him, but after hearing about how bad he is at everything he really has became numb to it. Jacks mom keeps saying that he doesn't have to do this, but jack is realizing that he does. He knows that there really is no choice, and his mom is really fooling herself. He really has found confort in the Boy Scouts. It helps him take his mind of what is going on. Something new I've found out about Jack is he likes math, and he dreams about doing something good. I feel that sending jack to Dwight's has really changed him.

Citizenship in the Home

Jack goes to live with Dwight for a little while because Jack's mom and Dwight are planning on getting married. Jack's mom wants to know what he thinks of Dwight so she has he go live with Dwight for a while. After a few days of being with Dwight, Dwight got some horse chestnuts off the tree in front of the house, and tells Jack to husk them. Jack does it and after a while Dwight has him to a paper route. Dwight also told him that he was joining the Boy Scouts. But Dwight said he would buy Jack a new uniform but turns out that Dwight gave Jack Skipper's old uniform and it didn't fit. Dwight lied to Jack about a lot of stuff.

Uncool

 The first section of the chapter titled, "Uncool", shows how the Tobias Wolff feared other people perception of his own self. Wolff and his two friends, Taylor and Silver, were raised without father figures which could be foreshadowing his past and maybe what he had to go through. In the book this boys life Toby becomes a reflection of a typical teen boy. Thinking he's all that and that he's cool when he's actually doing damage to people and things. Which is where the "uncool" factor came in.

A whole new deal

In this chapter, Jack finds out that he has to live with Dwight and he learns the real Dwight and how he really is. We learned that he isn't a good guy and that he's starting to act like a lot like Roy.

A whole new deal

Toby gets sent to live with Dwight which doesn't work out to good..I feel bad for Toby and that he has to go live with such a cruel man who doesn't care about what happens to him he just cares about winning over Toby's mom. He will say and do anything to keep her with him. I hope she realizes what she's getting herself into and I hope she can get herself out of it and move on to find someone who can treat her and her son well

A whole new deal

I think that Dwight and jacks mom are not going to end up staying together in a little bit. Jack is going to come back from Dwight's and tell his mom how terrible Dwight is as a person. I'm not sure if his mom will believe him or not but I really think either Dwight should stop hiding everything and just come out and be him self so that jacks mom knows what he's really like

A big deal

In the pages we had to read, we finally saw what the real Dwight and we saw what a bad person he was. I know I've said this but he really does sound like my moms ex and acts like him too. His behavior  baffles me how similar he is, instead of it being a whole NEW deal, it's like the same old, same old.

A whole knew deal

What happend in the knew part of the book called " whole knew deal," is jack went to live with dewight. In this few pages, we find out what dewight is really like. He is wicked callous,  mean, and really hard on jack.

Dwight

Toby is left alone with Dwight for the first time. Toby starts to really see who Dwight is and how he actually acts. Toby doesn't like Dwight anymore

A Whole New Deal

This part of the book starts with a hunting trip, and Dwight tell Jack to pick up the animal up and put it in the truck, because it was dead. I saw this as foreshadowing, something was going to happen that would change anything–A Whole New Deal. The animal was a beaver and Jack just didn't want to get into any more trouble.

A whole new deal

Dwight is a cruel man. I was surprised when he went out of his way to kill that beaver. When Dwight was speeding around the turns, I thought that he found it amusing that Toby was scared, because of the turns, the speed, the distance from the side of the cliff, and the way the car was fish tailing going around the turns. It seems to me that Dwight doesn't really care about his kids, just about Toby's Mom. 

A Whole New Deal

In this short "chapter" Toby finds out that he is going to go live with Dwight for a while in Concrete. He isn't thrilled about it and he soon then hates it. Toby had suspicions of Dwight being a complete jerk but after living with him he actually knows he is. I think Toby wants to tell his mom how horrible he is and how crapy he treats people but in the back of his head knows his mom won't listen. She thinks he is still perfect; disregarding the way he acted at the turkey shoot in the last part of the book.

A Whole New Deal

In these few pages we see a different side of Dwight. He is not the kind man that Mom sees. He is rude, mean and all around a guy no one would want to be around. I feel bad for Jack because he was almost forced to go live with Dwight and his family just so he mother could accept their marriage proposal. IN this chapter, Dwight mentions that Jack is a "performer" meaning he acts a different way around his mother than everyone else. I feel that this is irony because in a way, Dwight is also a performer in the way we first saw him a few chapters back. I am anxious to see how Jack's stay with Dwight goes.

A whole New Deal

Jake goes with Dwight to Concert. Jake ends up seeing the real Dwight. Dwight goes out of his way to hit a beaver. Then Jake has to wait outside. I think Jake will end up tell his mom that Dwight is a bad guy and that shouldn't be together.

a whole new deal

Jack moves in with dwight and then we see dwights feelings about jack.

A Whole New Deal

This section was the being of the time Toby goes to Dwight house. But Toby just starting to realize that Dwight has a drinking problem. He's also learning the Dwight isn't the nice person to be around basically making Toby his little slave. 

See Anything Wrong?

In my opinion, I hate Dwight. He is the most, fake person I have ever met. He lies to Jack, he tries to make Jack pick up a dead beaver that he purposely hit and he drives crazy on the way home after making Jack wait in the car for a bit. Anyone see anything wrong with that? Cause I sure do! Jacks name isn't even Jack, it's Toby.  He wants a new start, he wants to be a different person. Dwight isn't making Jack's attitude any better, he isn't helping Jack. He's just making his life a hell of a lot worse. Poor Jack, I hope he makes it through.

A whole new deal

In these few pages we see the dark side Dwight. And it  ales me feel bad for Toby. I feel like Toby just wants to fit in and be a normal kid. At forts he was kind of pumped to start new. He said he had non of his old friends to judge him and the the can start new as a student athlete. But that doesn't happen. We see Dwight hit a beaver for its fur. Dwight ask Toby to pick it up but he won't. When he doesn't pick it up Dwight starts to make fun of Toby. Telling him that he's scared of a little beaver.  Then Later on when Dwight makes Toby wait in the car for a "little" bit. On the way home Dwight starts to drive crazy. Toby tells him to slow down but he doesn't and just makes fun of Toby by calling him a hotshot and a liar. At the end of this chapter I really feel bad for Toby because Toby's wants to start new but Dwight's in the ways making fun of him and bringing down his self esteem. Witch makes me mad 

Dwight... Again

Dwight is not what he says, like we always thought. He treats Jack the way he really would, but when no one is there. So we see that Dwight is a two faced liar, who can't properly take caremof kids. I'm more concerned of whether Jack will survive chinook, more than the ride towards it. Im pretty sure that jack will regret going to chinook, because it will change his life for the bad, rather than the good.

A Whole New Deal

This section showed us how Dwight really is toward Jack without anyone else there.  He seems a lot more demanding than he did before and I think he was trying to intimidate Jack. You can see how he really is in this chapter and you can see why Jack doesn’t like him as much as he says.

Whole new deal

Jack is scared of what Dwight wants him to do because he doesn't really know what to do. Dwight also tried to make Jack pick up a dead beaver. Jack was worried that the beaver was still alive and it would bite him. Dwight was driving too fast that it made Jack feel sick to his stomach. Dwight was in a tavern and may have had a few drinks and was a bit drunk. Jack felt hopeless because Dwight wanted him to do what he asked or he would get in trouble. Jack wasn't clear on what Dwight wanted him to do, so he was confused and unsure about what to do.

A whole new deal

I think in this part of the book you really get a feel of what Dwight is really like. He's kind of crazy in my opinion. He swerved on purpose to hit the beaver, and after got extremely mad at jack for all the times he's made fun of him. I think this part is called "a whole new deal" because this is gonna be a big change for jack, and life is gonna get a lot harder for him.

Uncool

Ther are many things about this part of the book that makes things "uncool" for jack. His mom dating Dwight is a big problem because he knows Dwight isn't a nice kind person that he says he is. I think jack getting in trouble at school, and his moms friend talking about how bad jack is really pushed his mom to the breaking point. I feel the real uncool part is jacks mom sending him to live with Dwight.

Uncool

So far in this book, "Uncool" has been a popular subject. In many different ways. Jack's actions so far in the book have been uncool, egging people, and causing general mischief. We also learn that Mom's life as a child was very unbalanced and full of harrassment, which is why her parenting skills are so poor. However recently in the book, Jack and his mother go to Concrete to visit Dwight and his family. We learn that Dwight is "uncool" and all around rude as a vharacter because he lied to Jack. The turkey shoot did not involve a turkey, or even Jack being able to shoot at the paper targets. Instead, Mom shoots and wins the prize (which is a ham not a turkey.) This makes Dwight very angry and we get to see some of his true colors. Again I think Mom has made a bad man decision and Dwight is definatly someone we should look out for.  

So far

So far in the book we have met five guys who liked mom and all of them seem to be either a bad influence on jack or just using jack to get with his mother. When I first heard about Dwight I thought he would be different but it seemed over time he's just a bad guy and all he wants is to get dirty with jacks mom. Jack needs a real father figure who can teach him respect and honesty and those are two big things jack is lacking of. I think it's time for jacks mom to be real and really think out choices before she does them. 

Uncool

 In this chapter, jack has done a lot of things that were uncool. I think this chapter/section was called uncool because of the things that Jack has done. Jack has done: foul language on bathroom walls, smoking, vandalizing cars, and throwing eggs. 

Uncool Things

In this chapter of This Boys Life called uncool really lived up to its name. We found out about Toby's mom's past and why she can't decline him like other adults would to a child. This is "uncool" of Toby because now he is using his mother's weakness as a step above her and taking advantage of her. This is really mean and not right. No matter the situation a child shouldn't do that to the person raising them. The second thing that I found that was uncool was Dwight ans how he acted when Toby and his mom went to Concrete for Thanksgiving. He lied to Toby about the gun shoot and then acted like a baby when he lost it to Toby's mom. It also showed that when Dwight didn't have things his way he put everyone else around him in a bad mood. I personally don't like his character and this chapter shows just how uncool he really is.

Uncool

Toby knows that he can lie to his mothers face and get away with it. In the end of this chapter he takes advantage of it, and gets out of a suspension, and all sorts of other trouble. I think that the chapter title is called "Uncool" because  of the vandalism and underage acts that Toby commits, such as: the foul language on the bathroom wall, smoking, vandalizing cars, and throwing eggs

Uncool

Dwight has proven himself to be an 'uncool' guy. Dwight fails admit that anything could be his fault. Like at the turkey shoot, he didn't know how the rifle fit together but he said the set up "is the most stupidly constructed firearm I have ever seen"(Wolff 72). He has tried to make Concrete sound very nice, when it is not; the town doesn't even have a grade school. He to happy and seem to good t be true which means he is to good to be true. I think this chapter is called Uncool mainly because of Dwight and there trip to visit him and his family for thanksgiving. When we start to see him break his always happy and a good person act and few times.

Dwight

It seems like the "man figure" in the family doesn't seem like a very good influence for Toby. He lies, he thinks highly of himself, and I'm just guessing but I think he would the type to beat kids and women. I do not trust him right now. The turkey shoot was all a set up for Toby and mom to go to his home. 

Dwight

In this chapter, jack was told that if he went with mom and Dwight that he could bring his gun with him and  he could enter the turkey shoot and when they got to the turkey shoot, Dwight told Jack that he wasn't allowed be in the shoot because it was for adults only and he didn't tell him that it wasn't a real turkey. I thought that it wasn't fair how Dwight got jacks hopes up by saying if he came that he could enter the turkey shoot and then tells him that he couldn't enter

Turkey shoot

In this boys life, Toby's mother had fallen for another bad guy, he tricked Toby into bring his gun to the  turkey shoot so Dwight could use it him self' as soon as Dwight took his shot the claimed the gun was broken. He had no experience with guns you could tell because he could shoot good and he couldn't  figure out how to put the gun togeather and it was the most simple gun to put togeather as there was.

Dwight

In this chapter Dwight is trying to make concrete seem like an appealing place to live when in reality it's probably worse then where they lived before. Dwight's attitude also changes and Toby starts to see a side of him he's never seem before and sees that he's kinda putting on an act for his mom.

Terrible guy

I feel like Dwight is just digging him self Into a hole. He just keeps lying to jack and his mom about everything. Lie,t he school, the location, the turkey shoot, and he's only trying to get them to move in with him because he thinks jacks mom looks good. He is a terrible guy and it is starting to show in the book.

Dwight is just a liar. He promises things he can't give, like jack and the turkey shoot. Then he blames his stupidity on other things. Like when he was shooting the rifle and blaming the bore when he just sucks. Then his moms came and won the turkey shoot, leaving Dwight embarrassed. Dwight had a different side, yet jack can't really see that.

Turkey shoot

Delight lied to jack by bribing him that he could shoot in the trucky shoot. His mother felt bad, so she decided to enter the contest. She enter, and ended up winning the hole thing. Delight was embarrest and mad that he lost. He palmed it on the gun, but jacks mother used the same gun, and won.

In this chapter we see a different side of Dwight. He's not really the nice and kind guy that he's pretending to be. He got really mad when jacks mom did better then him at the turkey shoot. His kids also don't really seem to love living in concrete.

The dark side

As this Wes we see Dewhites dark side, a some what evil side. We  price that when every Toby and his mom do the slightest thing, he flips out. It makes me wonder of Dewhite was lacking something growing up. Like how Toby's moms dad didn't let her see boys. So Toby's mom picks bad guys. So I wonder if the reason why Dewhite a selfie guy, is because he was lacking something growing up. Like a mom, dad ? Oh maybe he's just nuts. Just guess well have to find out

Dwight and a reminder

In the reading we've done in the past couple of days we've seen a change in Dwight's behavior, and to me it seems shockingly familiar to an ex my mom used to have. Around her he was this sweet charming man that took care of all her needs, but when she wasn't he was this complete jerk that didn't give a (you know what) about anything. Dwight seems like he's falling into that category type like this con of a person. I think we are about to see a dramatic change in his personality and Jack is going to fight back against.

Post 3/7

We knew that Toby and Dwight don't like each other very much, and when Dwight said that Toby couldn't shoot in the turkey shoot, the hatred between the two grew. I also thought that when the two families were playing Monopoly, Pearl was winning and gloating over it, only to get Mom's attention. 

Dwight

I feel like Dwight is a really rude person and in the begning you thought he was nice but then tord the end he starts to be mean by promising a turkey shoot. No not letting him do it

Dwight

In this boys life Dwight seemed like a good guy at first but then he showed his true self. He promised jack a turkey shoot and he didn't get to do it but his mom did. They ended up winning a ham and Dwight was mad because when he shot the gun he barely hit the target but rosemary did and he went to his room after they all went home.

Dwight

We finally start to see who Dwight really is. He's not this nice guy who's optimistic about everything. Once he's around his family we start to see how he actually acts and how he treats them. He gets mad at scout in the car when he said the schools 40 miles away. Dwight also blames other things when things don't go his way. He's also a very sore loser. When he lost in the turkey shoot he didn't say anything on the way home or we can assume that he didn't. He went straight to his room when they got home and Norma had to make him get out of his room and apologize.

Turkey Shoot

For this chapter, we read about Jack and his mother going to Concrete to visit Dwight's family. I noticed that in this chapter we see some of Dwight's real personality. At times he is mean and cruel to his children, Pearl, Norma and Skipper. At one point he yelled at Skipper for telling the truth about concrete, that it wasnt as glamerous as Dwight had made it sound before going there. Besides lying about Concrete, Dwight also lied to Jack about the "Turkey Shoot" there was not turkey and you had to be an adult to shoot. Dwight to me is a character to look out for. We will see later in the book if Mom and Jack move in with them and if they do, how he will treat them. 

Thanksgiving at Dwight

They went up to Dwight's house for thanksgiving. When they get there Jack and his mom met Dwight's kid's. Pearl, Norma, and Skipper, pearl clings to jacks mom. Dwight brings jack, his mom, and pearl to the turkey. When they get there he tells Jack hat he is not able to shoot. So his mom  ends up shotting and wins the ham.

Thanks Giving.

In this chapter we learned more about all of the chacters in this book. But towards the end we got to learn more about Toby's real farther. Such as he didn't want his family to starve so he sent them to turkey farmers in Connecticut to live while he works in Peru to make money for his family. We also learned that Toby's mother is a awesome shot. Also we learned about Dwight that he's a big bull s!&@ter. Excuse my French but I reckon that's on the money.

Common Ground

In this weeks reading we finally see a little bit of the real Dwight and Pearl thinks it's funny. What I wonder though is if the two older kids will start talking to Toby more about how Dwight really treats them and how he puts on an act when Roemary is around. They could possibly fine som common ground between each other. If this happened then it could possibly help Toby show his mom that Dwight isn't all that nice.

Thanksgiving- Dwight's house

Jack and his mom were invited to go to  Dwight's for Thanksgiving in Concrete.  Dwight  introduced Jack and his mom to his children. Jack meets Dwight's children  and one of them looks at him weirdly. The littlest child,Pearl goes over to Jack's mother and hugs her because she doesn't have a mother figure in the household. Dwight said that he was gonna adopt all the children and Jacks mother agreed to it..Dwight isn't very nice to his own children and Jack's mother doesn't understand that.

Used

 This chapter starts out at a naval reenactment, toby and his mom spend a day in town. As there day goes on Toby's moms magnetizes more men in. But this time its two men working together. The men ask toby want he wants for lunch, he says a hamburger. So the men say he'll take toby and his mom to his place for lunch. once they get there they give toby a bolonia sandwich, not a hamburger . They just used toby to get with the mom. At this moment we see that this is Toby's life in a nut shell. I feel like he's being used thought out the whole book. Not just with men, but with his friends. I feel like he thinks he worthless. I predict that later in the book toby will understand that he is being used and take charge. Also maybe stand up and protect his mother

B.S

When tobys moms new boyfriend says he can enter in the turkey shooting competition and that he can shoot real turkeys and that he should bring his gun. He was so excited but he has always been let down by people but this time he thought it would be different. When the day actually comes he's let down once again. Her new boyfriend says that he's too young to shoot and that he can shoot for him and that there aren't actually real turkeys. Once again he is B.Sed into liking the person just so his mom will like that person.

Jews

I find that Terry has problems with Jews because of his dad but that still doesn't give him the right to be hateful against them. I think they all need better role models in their lives rather then their moms. Because right now their moms aren't helping them any.

Jewish Problems

I feel like Terry shouldn't be so hateful towards Jews just because he is having problems with him dad; it's not respectful or fair to the other townspeople. I think he needs a better way to get his anger out, rather than playing pranks on people who did nothing wrong.

Jewish

I find it ironic how Silver doesn't like the Jews even though he's a Jew. I can understand that he doesn't like them because his father is a Jew and he doesn't like his father, but he shouldn't be talking like that about his own religion.

Wing man!

I think it's funny that "Gil" is using Jack as a wing man to get his mother. But in actuality Jack is using Gil to get free stuff that he's wanted like this bike. I also think that Judd is scared of Gil because  Judd does what ever Gil tells him to do. But this is a normal approach on a single mother. All you have to do is make close friends with the kid and you will get the mother. It's like walking your dog to pick up women it works most of the time.

The Date

I think that the beginning of this chapter was foreshadowing of was was going to happen later. We know that Jack's mom is very pretty, and that strangers from the street won't take you to their home, make you a "hamburger", and buy you an expensive bike without something in return. Gil and Judd only wanted to use Jack's mom for their own pleasure.

The date

In the book the guy that jacks mom was seeing was really trying to get to jacks mom by getting jack to like him, and making a lot of false promises. When jacks mom cam home from her date crying jack was really trying to comfort her, and it shows that there is some kind of good side to jack. He likes to feel needed. It makes me wonder what happened on his moms date, and why did she come home crying?

A New Bike

In this next chapter, we run into more men trouble with Jack's mother. While at the pier, they run into Gil and Judd, two men who take instant liking of Jack's mother and will do anything to talk to her. After talking back and forth, Gil and Judd take her back to their house on the shore. Jack, throughout all of this is very skeptical about Gil and Judd. I think that this is going to be another bad man situation for Jack's mother because she is so desperate she will take any man she can get. As the conversation continued, Gill offered to buy Jack a red Raleigh. This was another way to get closer to Ma. Later on, mom went out with Gill and came back crying, we don't exactly know what happened but seems like the "date" did not go well. However, the morning after, Jack had the nerve to ask about the bike again; Which I though was very rude. His relationship with his mother seems to be on and off, good and bad. I don't quite know how he really feels about her and if he even loves her. I guess we will have to find out later in the book.

Jews

I think the reason that terry is so against Jews is because of his dad. He seems to have a lot of hatrid towards Jews which means that something must of happened to him for him to react like that. Maybe something to do with his father.

Lies. Trouble.

Jack and his mother have these two guys come up to them. One guy starts talking to Jack,while the first guy has him distracted,another guy goes and walks towards his mother. There was one guy that asked Jack if he was hungry and he said yes he was. So Judd, the one that was going to make him something to eat asked him what he wanted, and Jack said a hamburger. Judd made Jack a baloney sandwich.Jack and his mother were asking for trouble.

Jews

The fact that silver doesn't like Jews is really ironic because he is Jewish. I think maybe he doesn't like Jewish people because his dad is Jewish. He probably hates Jewish people because his dad and mom split up and I'm guessing that it was his dad's fault or his dads decision to leave causing silver to hate him.

Jews?

I think that some of Terry's anger at isn't his father and Jews is because he doesn't see his dad and that causes anger in most kids today also.

Uncool

In the last few pages that I have read we learn more about Jack's friends, Silver and Taylor. Wendo not know their first names but we do know that they are a bad influence on Jack. One thing that I noticed is that all of their parents seem distant from their lives. Silver's dad is gone and Taylor's mother is in some sort of deep depression. From this I think that is why they are so rebellious (smoking, throwing eggs at cars) because they do not have the proper parental guidance which is needed with 11 year olds

This Boys Life

When mom and Jack moved to Seattle to get away from Roy, Jack meets two boys named Terry Taylor and Terry Silver. They skip school, they smoke, and watched cartoons and talked dirty during it.

Future jail mates

   In these past few pages we start to see the importance of a father figure in a boys life growing up. In these past few chapters we see that Toby and his two friends lack a father figure growing up. And we see hat they do. Toby's friends make fun of there sisters. Watch Mickey Mouse club house, and talking dirty about the girl on the t.v. Also we start to notice that the boys has a strong hate against Jews. When most of the crew are Jewish. The boys egg a " jewish man" riding in a thunderbird. These boys seem to be jealous of what they don't have, and hate what they do. These boys are lacking something obviously. But what exactly is it. A father figure?

Uncool

Jack and his mom moved to West Seattle to get away from Roy. In seattle he meets Taylor and Silver. He skips schoolwith them and do drugs and talk nasty to shows on tv. His mommeets a new guy and Jack does not like him.

Keeps pushing

I think that if Toby keeps pushing all of these boundaries he's gonna get something flung back at him, karma might have to come into play because of all these incidents, I mean throwing eggs at a decent car and hiding to not get caught. By the way what's up with his friend Silver calling the guy  a "Yidi" isn't he Jewish. He is an anti Semitic Jewish person, it doesn't make sense to me

TBL

Toby seems be doing a lot of bad things and I think his friends and mom aren't helping him any. His friends seem to encourage bad things but his mom doesn't punish him like she doesn't care. It's almost as bad as encouraging the bad things like his friends are doing. I think Toby should go to military school. He should also mature up and the only way that's going to happen is for him to get rid of those friends. And find new ones who will lead him in the right direction.

Guiltiness?

Now that Toby and his mom have moved to Seattle, Toby has made some new friends that I believe will eventually get him into trouble. What I keep wondering though is does Toby ever feel even a little bit guilty about going behinde his mom's back and doing these bad jokes and pranks knowing that she wants him to be a good well behaved son.

This boys life

In This Boys Life, Jack/Toby has turned into a bad boy, and his mother doesn't seem to acknowledge his behavior. I think she wants to believe that she is raising her son to the best of her ability and he was turning out great. That or she knows who he has been acting and thinks it a stage that he will aadventually grow out of.

Responsefor page 47

This section was really about learning about jacks friends. I noticed that they get really jealous. I find it really strange that silver got so mad throwing eggs at the car. Probably more mad then the guy in the car. I want to find out why silver hates Jews so much. I think it has something to do with his dad, but I think there's a little more behind it. Jack and his other friend seem to do whatever silver tells them to.

Trouble

Jack(Toby) is going to get in a lot of trouble because he will start to act like Taylor and Silver. The three boys threw eggs at someone's car.Jack shouldn't be hanging out with Terry or Silver because they are a bad influence on him. Ever since Jack met Taylor and Silver, Jack hasn't been acting the same as he was before he met them.Jack is asking for a lot of trouble by hanging with the two other boys.

2/7/13 post O'Brien

I think that the boys are going to get into a lot of trouble. Jack will take after Silver and Taylor, and from what we have learned in the last couple pages from the chapter, Jack and the other boys, I think, will be tried in a juvenile court for doing the things they do, and because of the trouble with the law, Toby and mom will leave Seattle. 

Guns?

In the story Jack (Toby) gets a gun from Roy. I think that Roy should have waited till Jack was a little older because he doesn't know the proper way to use the gun and if the gun gets into the wrong hands it could end in a really bad way. The gun control now a days is really bad. I think that you should be able to have a gun but only if you know how to use it and you use it for the right thing (not killing people).

Gun Control

Toby started to show how immature he was and proved his lack of responsibility when giving a lethal weapon's. In the beginning of the book he was giving a bow and decided that it would be fun to shot his friends. He claimed that he did not think of any one getting hurt— I saw this as a foreshadowing moment. One day he was going to shot someone. When he got caught, I believed that he was going to stop aiming weapons at people, but, I was wrong. Later when Roy comes back and gives him a Wind Chester, he started aiming at people: old people, mothers with there baby's in a stroller. He never loaded it but, one day he did and he shot a squirrel— when he is know to be an animal lover. You would think he would stop but he got he grabbed his gun when he left Roy with his mother; proving that there is more to come with his immatureness and knowing how to control his gun.

Gun Control dylanlittle

        What kind of country would we be if we didn't have the liberty of owning our own guns? We all have things that we could use guns for, for example I am a hunter and do use a rifle, how am I supposed to hunt a deer or what ever I'm hunting with out one? Let me tell you this, what if I told you that guns don't kill people, people kill people that's why on most guns there is a safety or multiple for that matter. One more reason we need guns is to protect us from the people that caused this whole epidemic. We need guns in this country to protect us and use these tools to for recreation, like I said before guns don't kill people, people kill people.

This boys life

Toby's mom moves away from her boyfriend Roy who is an abusive drunk who follows her everywhere she goes and finds out everything about her. She tries to run away from her problems and needs to just learn to fix them not run away.

He is Just a Creep!

After finding out that Roy followed them from Florida it creeped me out a lot! Then reading more about him following Toby's mom to her work everyday it made him look more obsessed than a stalker. It seems like all he wants is sex and that he doesn't really love her, but did he ever love her to begin with?

Boys+Arrow=Danger

Why do they have a nearsighted nun watch boy with arrows?

It's not the best idea to have an old nun watch boys that have arrows. They could end up hurting themsevels. They started playing a killing game. They almost shot each other. They should have a nun that can see. If Sister James did not come out someone could of gotten hurt.

Jack or Toby ?

  In these last pages of reading we see that Jack changed his name to Toby. At first I was wondering why ? But the. I thought maybe because it's a lack of having a father figure in his life . Also he says he wants to start new. Also when he wa at  his new school, he was aiming the bow at the other kid. At this moment I felt bad for him. Because he felt bad for the rest of the day. Then he started skipping class and not evening showing up. I feel in the pages to come Toby's going to be going on a up and down hill with his emotions.

Roy

Roy is abusive but he plays on both sides of the rope. He brings gifts and helpful than hes a prick to the people that he was just nice to. 

Roy

Why does Roy show up and why is he stalking Toby and his mom? Roy followed them all the way from Florida to Utah for a week.  Why does Roy want to be apart of Toby and his mom's life ?

This Boys Life

I think jack is in a similar curcumstance as Liz because of his parents

Parents

I feel that I have a connection with Toby, aka jack, because his relationship is that his mom is the one that's taking care of him, the "enforcer", and his dad isn't the best father figure, and wants him in his life but doesn't know how to take care of him. This leads him to leave with his mom, and the father continues to follow.  I have this relationship with my parents because my mom is the one who went to the school meetings, and taught me what was right and wrong, and my dad usually nagged and antagonized me then expected me to not be mad.  But I think in both cases, the dad's wanted to do right but didn't know how, so it had a negative impact.

This Boy's Life, is related to mine

 So far in the book we see exactly why Toby and his mother leave Florida, because Roy is just, well he's something. We see that Toby kind of likes Roy, but has mixed feelings about him. He knows that Roy has his so called "problems", but Toby also knows that Roy is only using her for sex. He also stalks her multiple times, once with Toby in the Jeep.

Hale This boys life post

I found it surprising that Toby still sleeps with a teddy bear. It also surprised me that Roy was kind of a good guy to Toby, and he started to cry when he couldn't find Toby's mom at work.

Toby's mom.

I feel bad for Toby because well his mom does not teach him anything all she really is his best friend.

Roy is a dirtbag

I feel bad for Toby because Roy is just giving him stuff to get to his mom

The Boys Life

I read about how a mother and her son left Florida because of the boyfriend, and to go get rich in Colorado. The were too late in Moab, so they went to salt lake city.

Pen Pal

I wish we had some of his letters that he wrote to his Pen Pal because he said that he lied to make his life sound better. He wrote to Alice a lot and I think he was righting what he wished his life was like or what he thought his life would be like if he was with his father.

Roy, Toby, and Mom

I didn't completely understand how Roy found Toby and his mom in Salt Lake.

Introduction and a Confession

After reading pages 8-22 of This Boy's Life I was very struck by Jacks attitude about confessing at church. In the beginning of the book I got a sense that Jack os a tough kid and is an "I'm not scared of anything" kind of person. However just before the confessional he is scared and could not think of what to confess. In the end he used Sister James's sins and said they were his. I had a mixed reaction about this. I was angry yet confused by why he would do that. It will be interesting to see if he has another confessional later in the book.

Wes post

Toby wants to change his name to jack. He wants to change his name to jack because in his school in Florida, there was a girl that had the same name as Toby. In order to change his name, his mom made him go to church. He went to school in Utah and it was ran by nuns. The nuns didn't want them to talk to other kids from other schools because they were afraid that they would turn into Mormons.  He also would lie to his pen pal who lives in another state. He would lie to her about his life and would wrote a lot of pages to her and she would write very little back to him but he didn't care because he thought that she was jealous if his life

Roy, Jack, and mom

Why would Roy follow mom and Jack around to different states when he knows that she is just going to leave again?

This boys life and mine Dylan Little

In the first 22 pages of the book we read we were introduced to this delinquent Toby who is trying to elude his father with his mom and to go out west looking for uranium. We are introduced to the alcoholic deadbeat ex of the mother who actually buys a gun for Toby. It sort of reminded me of the beginning of my mother and fathers divorce. It was somewhat aggressive and they continually argued about who should have more custody. It bothered me and it was kind of har for the next few years but they ended up as friends and split custody. On the other hand I think that in Toby's case things are beginning to drop and will eventually hit rock bottom and slowly begin to rise, just like Breaking Night.

The gun...

Why would Roy give Toby that gun? If they know he is a troubled kid and doesn't always make to best decision then why would he buy him a gun? I was just wondering what was going through Roy's mind when he decided to buy him that gun.

Derrik,

Welcome to our class blog on This Boy's Life.

I look forward to reading all your comments!