the+wild+things

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__The Wild Things__ by Dave Eggers  WEEK 1: Characters Reading: 57 pages for this week! Jobs: - **Melissa**: Discussion Leader - **Gary**: Discussion Questions - **Evan**: Discussion Questions - **Dan**: summarizer - **Mikey**: food!

1. On your group's wiki page, describe the main characters in your text. What makes them interesting? What is their story or background? Why are you drawn to them? Conversely, are there any characters that you just cannot stand? Why not? (B) - The main character in our book, __The Wild Things__, is max. Max is a young, confused, nine year old. he has a tough home life due to the fact that his parents are no longer together. His father is gone and his mother is preoccupied with her (very young) boyfriend, Gary. His sister, Claire, who is the closest thing he has, is no longer showing interest in him because shes growing up, and becoming a teenager. At this point in the book, we have only been introduced to two of his teachers, Mr. Ichythis, his gym teacher, and Mr. Wisner, his science teacher.
 * Week 1 Discussion:**

2. Person D should share his/her questions with the group, as well as post the questions on the group's wiki page (Absent - posting at home) 1.) What is the significance of the basket hanging on the door?

2.) Similar to when Max dumped buckets of water over Claire bedroom and personal belongings, have you ever gotten so enraged that you don't know why you reacted the way you did? Do you think that there is a reason why the Dave Eggers Decided to put this in the book?

3.) Do you think that it's strange that Max's Mother is going out with such a young man? Why do you think she is going out with such a young man, does this have anything to do with Max's other father leaving him?

4.) Why do you think his father left his family at such a young age? Do you think it had anything to do with his mother? 3. Person C should post the meetin g summary on the group's wiki page after class.  - The meeting went fairly well due to the fact that we did not have any questions because both of our question people were absent. We summarized the charecters and discussed what has happened so far and who has been introduced. We divided up the reading and decided who would do what for the next book club. We also enjoyed our bagels that Mikey brought in for the group.

WEEK 2: Language Reading the next 57 pages for this week! : ) Jobs:
 * - Melissa:** Questions
 * - Gary:** Summarizer
 * - Evan:** food!
 * - Dan:** Questions
 * - Mikey:** Dicussion Leader

1. On your group's wiki page, discuss the type of language that your book contains. Is it easy to read? Conversational? "Classic"? Does it use a lot of words you don't understand? What grade level do you think the book is written at, and why? (B) As a group, we agree that this book is pretty easy to read. The author mostly writes in the first person. The language is pretty simple and straight forward, making it pretty easy to follow. We would say it could be classified as conversational because you really get the feeling that the author is talking to right to you. A lot of the vocabulary is understandable, with the exception of a few words. The vocabulary is by no means overwhelming, which makes us really enjoy the book.
 * Week 2 Discussion:**

2. Person D should share his/her questions with the group, as well as post the questions on the group's wiki page. 1) What is the significance behind Max always being picked up last? (Dan)
 * discussion: It's showing how he is being neglected, and is foreshadowing further events, possibly a rebellion against his mother.**

2) Why does Max always think about telling his mom what he is doing but never does? (Dan)
 * discussion: We think Max knows its the right thing to do, but he is so angry at her that he's forming his own world to get away from the things that he doesnt like. He wont tell his mother because he doesnt want her to have access into this world because she is one of the things he is trying to escape.**

3) If you had a //Want Journal//, like Max, what would you write in it? I WANT... . (Melissa) 4) How would you take the news that your mother got a new boyfriend who is even younger than you? Would you be okay with that? Could u accept it? Does this relate at all to hamlet's situation? (Melissa) **discussion: As a group it is unanimous that at this age that we're at now it would be pretty traumatic and overwhelming. We would not be able to accept it or deal with it. But we also feel that as we get older we would able to come to terms more with the situation. This kind of relates to hamlets situation, due to the fact that both sons are in a tough situation involving their mothers and their mothers boyfriends. In both //Hamlet// and __The Wild Things__, both sons are deeply traumatized by their mothers relationships, thus causing a rebellion against each mother.**
 * discussion: We would probably want to go back into our lives and change some of the bad moments. We also would have some selfish wants such as money, clothes and cars.**

3. Person C should post the meeting summary on the group's wiki page after class. Today went very well besides from the fact that Evan let us down, and failed as a book club member. Today we were starving due the fact that we did not have our very well deserved sun chips and apple sauce. On a less urgent note, The book is starting to pick up and we discussed the language in the book and answered all the questions for our wiki easily, everyone participated and we had a good time. We find out a lot about Max the main character, and we start to find out about his motives.

WEEK 3: Reading the next 57 pages for this week! : ) Jobs:
 * - Melissa:** Food
 * - Gary:** Discussion Leader
 * - Evan:** Summarizer
 * - Dan:** Questions
 * - Mikey:** Questions

Discussion leader:

Mood: at this time in the book i would have to say that the book is kinda angry. Max is trying to remove himself out of the picture. he is young and he does not like the fact that his mother is going out with someone besides birth father. it is something that young children to in order escape any stress or "ignore" bad things in their lives. Max is doing exactly the same. by dressing up in his wolf suit he is escaping the real world and entering a more imaginative happier world than the one he is in.

Tone: although its a child's story which would lead you to believe its light, it actually takes on a dark role. there are some aspects that make us believe that it is dark. one of them being max trying to escape the "bad" things in his life.

1) What is the "Rumpus"? 2) Do you think Max feels like a real king in his world? 3) What is a "par" like?

Summarizer:

Today we had the pleasure of eating girl scout cookies and soda, which was a step up from last week(which was nothing). We talked about the tone and mood of the book and went over what happened in the book. It was a very intense chapter and after we discussed the book, we went over the questions and went into detail. After that we discussed the changes that Max is going through and how he has changed since the beginning of the book. Overall it was a good meeting

Week 4: Theme

Discussion leader: Why do you think, in Max's make believe world there is a king and a queen, do you think it is because he is missing a parental figure in his life. does he need someone to look up to? I have taken notice that throughout the book that the theme is escape. Max is trying to escape from reality and enter a life where he can be himself. In the book Carol says, " do anything you want to do." Considering the theme of "escape" why do you think that Max is being told by Carol in his make believe world to do whatever he wants?

Questions:

1. Why do you think Max wants to escape his real life? 2. Why do you think his parents don't care about Max? 3. Do you think Max wants to run away from home?

Week 5:

Questions:

1.) Why at the end of the book did Carol over react thinking the sun didn't come up? 2.) After reading the book from your point of view have you ever created a "make-believe" world to escape from bad things happening in your life? 3.) Do you think that this is a typical thing that children do? 4.) At the end of the book Max lets out a howl what do you think that represents? 5.) Do you think each of the wild things represented something?