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The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. by Mark Haddon December 3rd 2010, p.1~26

Christopher Boon, the protagonist is writing a mystery novel about the murder of a dog named, Wellington. Christopher is suffering from autism but has extraordinary abilities, including memorizing everything he has seen. While trying to find out who have killed Wellington, he gets in trouble with a cop and has to go to the police station.

Why did you select your novel? While I was trying to find out what this book was about, I found out that this book was about a boy who was suffering from autism. The word, "autism" was very familiar to me; I have watched numerous movies about people with autism. One particular movie came to my mind: Rainman. This movie was about two brothers. The older one, was suffering from autism and the two brothers were trying to get along with each other. They find out that the older brother has the ability to memorize every thing he has seen, they use this ability in an efficient way. This movie was one of my favourite and I thought that this book might be similar. That is why I chose this book, despite the fact that I really did not have any idea what this whole book was going to be about.

What information did you need to know before reading the novel? I found out that this book was about a boy who was suffering from autism. From numerous movies about authentic people, including Rainman, I had an idea what the protagonist was going to be about in the book. I had known that people suffering from autism usually had extraordinary abilities. I realized that the protagonist would have the same kind of abilities. I found this very interesting and this is also the reason I decided to choose this book.

What's going on as the story begins? As the story begins, Christopher Boone, the protagonist who is suffering from autism, finds a dog named Wellington stabbed and killed by a pitch fork. The readers can see what Christopher is thinking and by looking at the way his thoughts are written, the readers can easily infer that he is not normal. For example, he always states the obvious and gives weird examples. Because Christopher knows Wellington well, he is very disappointed at the fact that the dog has been stabbed to death and tries work out in his mind who killed this dog and why. 10/10

December 10th 2010, p.27~100

Present and past keeps alternating back and forth through out the book. Christopher talks about his mother in the past and how she had died due to a heart attack. His mother had one day dissappeared and his father told him that she was in the hospital for medical reasons and could not go visit her. A few days later, his father came home and told Christopher that his mother had dies due to a heart attack. He talks a lot of his mother; therefore, readers can easily infer that Chrstopher had been very close to his mother and misses her significantly. In the present, Christopher tries to do some detective work inorder to find out who had killed Wellington. He visits other people's houses to find if there are any eye witnesses despite the fact that his father had told him not to do so. His father becomes very frustrated at Christopher for wanting to keep investigating and tries force him to stop.

Who is telling the story? The protagonist, Christopher Boone, is suffering from autism and can not get along with others very well. He has to get to know someone very well to be even in the same room with that person. He knows all the courtries of the world and their capital cities and every prime number up to 7507. He has video-camera-like-memory which he can rewind to any time in his life (after the age of four) to remember what happened at certain times. He does not understand metaphors completely and can not tell lies.

What is the initial or first problem faced by the main character? Wellington, a dog that Christopher knew, was found dead on the front yard of Mrs. Shear's house. It was stabbed to death with a garden fork. He is the first person to find this dog, lying in the yawn, so he holds this dog in his arms wondering what had happened to this dog. Because Christopher knows Wellington well, he is very disappointed at the fact that the dog has been stabbed to death and tries work out in his mind who killed this dog and why.

How does the author get you to read on or hold your interest? The author starts off the book with the main chracter finding a dead dog in the middle of the lawn of Mrs. Shear's house. The protagonist is not intoduced at all in the beginning and this makes the readers to want to go on and holds interests. When reading this, readers wants to know more and more what is going on and what kind of person the Protagonist is. Also, one other think I noticed is that the chapters start off with 2 then 3,5,7,11,13,17 and so on. These numbers are prime numbers, meaning that the number has only two factors- the number itself and 1. This makes the readers wonder why the authors has done this and makes them want to go in the book and find out.

10/10

December 16th, 2010, p.101~170

As Christopher does his detective work to find out who has truly killed Wellington, he writes what is happening in his book. When Christopher comes back from school one day, he accidentally leaves his book on the kitchen counter. His dad sees the book on the counter and reads it. HIs father finds out all of what Christopher has done and even what he is thinking, because everything is written in the book. He becomes very angry and when Christopher hits him for grabbing him, he has a fight with Christopher. His father hides the book somewhere. Christopher thinks the book is in the dustbin, but when it is not in there, he starts to look for it around the house. While Christopher is looking for it, he goes in to his father's room and does his detective work in there because he thinks the room is the most likely place for his dad to hide the book. He finds the book, but he finds something more than the book. He finds letters that are sent to him. He reads the letters that have never been open and realizes that his mother had sent them and she has not died as his father had told him all long. Later, his dad also tells him that he was the person who killed Welligton. The father tells him this because he does not want to hide more from Chritopher anymore. At night, Christopher gets out of the house and hids behind the garage because he is afraid that his father would murder him.

What new things are added to the original problem as the novel progresses? As Christopher does his detective work to find out who has truly killed Wellington, he writes what is happening in his book. Unfortunately, Christopher's father finds the book and reads all of its content. His father hides the book somewhere. While Christopher is looking for it, he goes in to his father's room and does his detective work in there because he thinks the room is the most likely place for his dad to hide the book. He finds the book, but he finds something more than the book. He finds letters that are sent to him. He reads the letters that have never been open and realizes that his mother had sent them and she has not died as his father had told him all long. Later, his dad also tells him that he was the person who killed Welligton. The father tells him this because he does not want to hide more from Chritopher anymore. Christopher has to hide from his father because he fears that his dad might kill him like he did to Wellington.

What is the setting of the novel? Is the setting important or could the novel be happening anywhere? Why? The novel takes place in Swindon, England, but the setting is not important at all. The setting could be somewhere in London and the story would not change a bit. The setting has nothing to do with what is going on story in the story and has no effect what so ever.  What plot twists or unexpectged events happen as the novel goes on? All through the story, the author makes the readers think that Mr. Shears has killed the dog, Wellington, but really, the real murderer turns out to be Christopher's dad. His dad tells him that he was the person who killed Welligton because he does not want to hide more from Chritopher anymore. Also, it turns out that Christopher's mother is actually in London with Mr.Shears, not dead. I would have never thought that his dad had killed the dog. Because of this, Christopher can not trust his father anymore and has to hide from him behind the garage incase he tried to murder Christopher like he has done to Wellington.

10/10

January 7th, 2010, p. 171~266

While hiding behind the shed in his backyard from his dad, he looks at his option and realizes that going to London to live with his mom is the best option he has. He avoids his dad as best as he can and makes sure that his dad does not know where he is or where he is going. He takes his dad's bank card to get money with some of his belongings. He finds the station and receives help from a policeman who helps him to buy his ticket. However, because he is in such a crowded place, he suffers a great deal. While on the train, he meets the same policeman who had helped before; however, this time, the policeman is there to bring him back to his dad. Christopher hides in a shelf and eventually escapes from the policeman. However, because he did not get off the train on the right place, he has to ride a subway back to Willesden to get to his mother's house. In the subway station, he finds that there are way too many people waiting for a subway. He has to suffer and groan on a bench for about 5 hours before he can actually get on one. While trying to get on, he almost gets run over by a subway when he tries to find Toby, his pet rat. People in the station help him and Christopher barely escapes his death. He eventually gets to his mother's house and tells her what have been going on all along. His dad comes to get Christopher in the middle of the night; however, Christopher refuses to talk to him and he leaves. When he falls back asleep, he has one of his favorite dream. In this dream, every one dies except people like Christopher- who can not understand and interpret people's emotions. Then, the dream is finished and he is happy in his mother's house.

Is the language in the novel difficult or easy? Because the author cleverly wrote the book like a boy suffering from autism, the language of the novel is very easy to understand. When readers first encounter this book, they would most likely think that this book is a children book or has not been edited well; however, the author has did this in purpose to make it look as if Christopher Boone has wrote this all from his memory. The language consists of very long sentences and even some ununderstandable sentences.

Comment on the style of the novel. Is it easy or hard to follow the events? As I said before, because the language of the novel is very easy to understand, it is very easy to follow the events. There are never complicated problem. Christopher constantly writes about random facts that he knows, but he makes sure that he explains clearly for the readers to understand easily. Examples of this is when he writes about time and Einstein's theory. He explains, "Time is not like space. And when you put something down somewhere, like a protractor or a biscuit, you can have a map in your head to tell you where you have left it..... because a map is a representation of things that actually exist.... And a timetable is a map of time.....Time is only the relationship between the way different things change, like waking up and going to sleep,......, and like west and east. And this means that time is a mystery...." (p.156~158)

Is the novel believable? Yes, I would say that the novel is definitely believable because although the protagonist is a bit accentric, the story is supposed to be based on real life. In my opinion, the character of Christopher Boone is very well built in this book and shows his feelings and thoughts very well. He seems to be just like the older brother in the movie, //Rain man.// The two chracters are very similar in how they act and even think with their autistic minds. The author has cleverly protrayed of an autistic mind and makes the readers think that author himself is autistic because he has done such a fabulous job in building the mind of Christopher Boone.

January 11th, 2010 p.267~296

Chrisopher is with his mother and Mr. Shears. However, Mr. Shears does not think it is possible for Christopher to live with them in London. because they both have jobs and there is no school for Christopher to go to. Christopher and his mom buy necessary items for Christopher, like toothbrush, but Christopher can not stop thinking about the Maths A level test because he had worked so hard studying for the test and he can not imagine missing it. With Christopher around, his mother becomes very stressed because of the incidents like when Christopher goes out to the road at two in the morning and she becomes very fraustrated at herself. After having a fight with Mr. Shears, she decides to leave Mr. Shears and London to go back to Swindon with Christopher. When they come back, Christopher's dad becomes very fraustrated but lets them stay in his house for a few weeks. Because they are back, Christopher gets to do his Maths A level test. His father starts trying to talk to him bit by bit and they call it a "project", to build there relationship back together and brings a dog to Christopher as present. Christopher finds out that he received an A grade on the test and believes that he can one day become a scientist.

Describe any new characters that are introduced? What is their purpose? Christopher's mom is introduced for the first time in the book. She is introduced in to the book to resolve the problem Christopher is suffering from. Christopher runs away from his dad because he is scared of him and goes to find his mother in London. In London, he meets her for the first time in a long time because his dad had said that mother was dead. When his mother is introduced, the problem that was making Christopher suffer is solved. He can stay with his mother and not go back to Swindon to his father who he can not trust and is afraid of.

What were the major things that helped to resolve the plot? <span style="font: 12px/19px Arial; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">When Christopher finds his mother, this helps to resolve the plot. Christopher can stay with his mother and not go back to father's house where danger lingers. Even a policeman comes to confirm that Christopher can stay with his mom as long as he and she both agree that they would like to live together. This resolves the plot and the problem that had made Christopher suffer for a long time while going to London for Swindon is solved. NOW, HE CAN LIVE SAFELY WITH HIS MOTHER.

<span style="font: 12px/19px Arial; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">Why did the novel meet your expectations? <span style="font: 12px/19px Arial; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">I chose this book because while I was trying to find out what this book was about, I found out that this book was about a boy who was suffering from autism. The word, "autism" was very familiar to me; I have watched numerous movies about people with autism. One particular movie came to my mind: Rainman. This movie was one of my favourite and I thought that this book might be similar. When I read the book, I found that Christopher Boone is very similar to the main character in Rainman and the whole story was similar to or even, perhaps, better than the movie. To me, Christopher Boone is such an interesting character that I just want to know more and more about him. The author has very cleverly built the mind of an autistic boy very well; Christopher has a very peculiar mind that is very appealing. Therefore, the novel exceeded my expectations.

<span style="font-size: 1.1em; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;">**#2--CHARACTERIZATION**
Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capital cities and every prime number up to 7,507; however, he can not fit in to the society very well. That is because he does not understand what these mean:. He says "it was

very difficult to decide which of the diagrams was most like the face they were making because people's faces move very quickly." (p.4) He

can relate to animals very well, but not with people around him. Christopher is suffering from autism and has a very peculiar mind. He

sometimes fraustrates other people around him because he can not understand what they are saying very well but he is, infact, very innocent

and a nice boy. His actions are constantly considered rude and inacceptable by some people although he is not trying to cause trouble. He

becomes very fraustrated when things does not go the way he would like it to go and disturbes other people by groaning on the ground or

yelling madly. His mind works like a machine; he never forgets anything ( he can even rewind his memory to find out what day something

happened, like a CD player.) and is very good at working with numbers. He can easily draw maps or play certain games in his head and his

mind is metaphorically programmed to disgust the colours, yellow and brown. He sometimes dreams that everyone dies except people like

Christopher- who can not understand and interpret people's emtions. This dream makes Christopher very happy. I am jealous of Christopher's

amazing abilities in Math and other similar areas, but I would not like to be Christopher because he can not understand other people and

interpret their emotions. Also, Christopher would not make a good friend because he does not like strangers. He says, "I do not like strangers

because I do not like people I have never met before. They are hard to understand. It is like being in France..... and I hated it because you

couldn't understand what anyone was saying, which was frightening." (p.49) Even if I got to know him, he would not make a very good friend

because he is not sociable at all. Thus, Christopher, with his peculiar mind, is surely an extraordinary and interesting charcter in **//The Curious//**

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//**Incident of the Dog in the Night-time**// by Mark Haddon.