That Was Then This Is Now English Literature Essay

Hinton states that she is a private person who is not comfortable talking about her personal life. She has revealed, however, that she enjoys reading (writing, taking classes at the local university, and horseback riding.

She currently resides in Tulsa, Oklahoma with her husband David Inhofe, a software engineer, whom she married in the summer of 1970 after meeting him in her freshman biology class at college. In August 1983, they became parents to Nicolas David Inhofe, who has worked a sound effects recordist on the movie Ice Age: The Meltdown.

Title explanation:

The title is That was then , This is now.

The title has a lot to do with the content of the book. Mark, Bryon and their friends have much to do with this two times , Then and Now. At the end of the book when Bryon visits Mark in the prison, he uses the words ”That was then, This is now”

Place:

This story is set in…..(place)

This story is set in the US

The US has about 307,212,123 residents (2009).

In the US they use the dollar. The president of the US is the famous Barack Obama. The capital of the US is Washington DC.

The US also has a motto ; In god we trust.

Time:

I can’t find where this story takes place , not even on the internet !

The time that is covered in the story is…….. (one year? two months? one day?). Quote from the book to prove your point

The time that is covered in this story is about a half year. In the begin of the story passed about 1 month , than you can find in the book i quote ;

”From that moment she could not see him for a couple of months”. 

I think that’s about 4 months. Together make 5 months. That’s almost a half year.

Main characters:

Describe (at least two of) the main characters.

The main characters are Mark and Bryon.

Mark ( 16 Year)

” He’s small and compact, with strange golden eyes and hair to match and grin likes a friendly lion. He’s also very strong, stronger then you thought he would be. In the story he had no concept of right and wrong. He thought that he did not have to obey the laws because they were just words written down. Mark doesn’t change throughout the story, he is always the same guy. The same thing as for Bryon counts for Mark. But the difference from being a friend of Mark is that I really don’t think that I ever could or would have been his friend. Because his behaviour is so different from mine. I think I never would have met him or talked to him in the first place. ”

Bryon ( 16 year)

Bryon is a strong guy.

He has dark hair and dark eyes.

Bryon is a Street-Gangster , he is in difficult times.

He comes in contact with Girls , Drugs and Street-Gangs.

Bryon is sick of his ”Gangster” life.

He will began a hole new life.

He became a very clever teenager.

Looks

Personality

Does the character ‘change’ in the book? if yes: explain how and why!!

Plot:

Write a summary of no more than 500 words!

Mark and Bryon are very good friends. Mark lives next to Bryon, but when the parents of Mark killed each other when they were both very drunk, Mark goes to live at Bryon and his parents. The mother of Bryon is really sick, she is in the hospital. Mark and Bryon have some problems with the money because they must pay the surgeries from the mother of Bryon.

Bryon and Mark have some difficult times. They have good friends but also enemies. M & M is one of those friends Bryon and Mark. ( They give M&M that name because he eats a lot of M&M’s ). Mark and Bryon have to sell the car because they have money problems. On a night Mark , M&M and Bryon goes to a Pub . M&M proposes for Cathy to Bryon , Bryon was immediately falling in love. Bryon and Cathy have a good time together. There is a dance where Bryon want to go with Cathy but ha didn’t have a car. He asks Charlie if he could borrow his car . Bryon and Cathy go together to the event. They have a great time. At one point they hear there is a serious accident happened. To the great alarm at Bryon there is something wrong with Mark! Curtis, a close friend of Bryon shouts that there is something wrong with Mark. Mark must go to the hospital he has 10 stitches , he was hit by a beer bottle. Some time later Mark completely refreshed. Mark and Bryon are back together and have a desire to play some pool. They go to the pub (Charlie’s). There were also a couple of Mexican guys at the pool table. Mark and Bryon losses, but later in the evenin they have more luck and they are winning. The boss of the bar (Charlie) said that the pub was closing. The Mexicans left the pub. But when Bryon and Mark came out there was a gun in their focus. Charlie had a gun and tried to save Bryon and Mark. Mark and Bryon were relieved but saw those hopes go up in smoke, a Mexican with his gun aimed at Charlie he fired and Charlie died instantly. Later, when Cathy, Bryon, Mark, and M & M go out M & M would assume not go home and walk away from his friends.

M & M’s friends are worried, there are a few months past. The friends of M & M try to find him but they can’t. On a day Mark told to Bryon that he knows where M & M is. Bryon and Mark go together to the hippie home they see M & M. Later they also go with Cathy who can not bear to see her brother so. M&M goes bad and Bryon calls an ambulance for him. After that Bryon discovers that Mark is dealing drugs. Mark is in prison. Bryon hate him for ever.

Favourite part:

Copy ( = type!!) your favourite part/scene from the book. And, more importantly, explain WHY you like it so much.

Favourite part ;

He laughed then , and his eyes were the golden, hard, flat eyes of a jungle animal. ”Like a friend once said to me, ”That was then , this is now”. I broke out out in a sweet and was suddenly glad of the walls and the guards and the bars. I think if he could have , Mark would have killed me.

This was at the end of the book. I like this part very much because you did not expect this. The good friendship of Bryon and Mark are going broke in this part. Here you get to know that they hate each other. A kind of revelation, always very exciting to read.

Essential words:

A list of words you really need to know, because they are used a lot. At least 5. Explain their meaning in English

Street gang = A street gang is a group of normally young people about sixteen year. They are

Often on the street sometimes they make things break or do other things that are not allowed.

Drugs = Drugs is a narcotic agent, many people become addicted to drugs.

Dollar = A dollar is a coin unit , they use the dollar in the US.

Prison = A building where people imprisoned for their crimes.

Borrow = temporarily without payment of a slightly different usage and the return.

My verdict:

Give your opinion on the book. See instructions “on how to write a good verdict”

Introduction :

This is my verdict. In the next paragraphs you can read why i like/don’t like this book.

I hope you enjoy.

Paragraph 1

I like this book very much .

It’s an exciting book , i like that. It is constantly going on , with this book you don’t get bored. I read the book very fast . Because it’s very exciting the hole time.

Paragraph 2

The book is quite credible. Something happened in real life, just not very often. In the book they use weapons. In most countries they have a gun ban. But that makes it original.

Paragraph 3

I think the book is very original because it’s not really a happy ending. In the majority of the book is generally well off, that’s not the case in this book.

Conclusion

All my three paragraphs are positive , so that’s a easy conclusion I like the book very much . Especially because it’s a very exciting book.

Optional assignment:

Choose an assignment from the list. Really making an effort is important here….

Extra assignments

Make a drawing (picture)/ collage of the main character. Write down what you think of this person. (at least 100 words)

Write an interview with one of the characters in the book (at least 25 open questions, which means that you cannot answer with a simple yes or no; include the answers in your interview)

Draw a detailed map of the area in which the story is set.

Write a letter to one of the characters in the book, and let the character write a letter back.

Write a review for a magazine; use at least 150 words.

Make a small site about the book.

Draw a comic about a scene from the book, and make sure that you include text!!

Think of a different ending for the book and write it. In the style of the book, of course!

Write a part of the diary of one of the characters in the book (at least 3 entries!)

Make little files on 3 of the characters in the book. A little ‘picture’ and detailed information should be included.

Do you have another suggestion?……Tell your teacher

How to write a good verdict??

How to express your opinion about a book.

Teachers don’t like it when you say you “liked the book, because it was nice…”, or when you say something like: “I hated that book, because it was stupid”. It may all be true, but we like to hear more from you. It may be difficult to pick out exactly what it was that irritated you, or what kept you reading for hours on end. So here is a list of things that might be helpful to express your likes or dislikes about the book you just read:

Think about what actually happened in the book

Think about the characters in the book

Think about the structure of the book

Think about the language that was used in the book

Professional critics do roughly the same thing!

They come up with arguments about:

the structure of the story,

the credibility (=geloofwaardigheid) and

the ethical (right and wrong) aspects of the book.

They talk about whether it is an “original”,

whether it brings about certain emotions,

whether the author manages to reach the goals he set himself and finally,

they comment on the style used by the author.

VERDICT:

Write an English essay in which you express your opinion about the book you have read. Your essay should consist of an introduction, 3 paragraphs that give your arguments (supported by examples from the book) and a conclusion.

Taken from Metropool, literatuur voor HAVO/VWO bovenbouw, basisboek, published by Wolters Noordhoff Groningen, edited by Corrie Joosten, Elout Roeland, first published in 1999. ISBN 90 01 20565 8