Carrie+by+Stephen+King

=CARRIE.=

Week 1 - September 25th
A - Jess B- All C- Aly D- Jenny

1. Carrie is an extremely interesting character. She is not the typical high school girl. Carrie has telekinetic powers and is an unusually religious person because she would pray in school and other public places. 2. Carrie's mother is a very religious person and taught Carrie at a very young age what to believe in. Carrie's father passed away before she was born, leaving her mother to raise her daughter alone. They keep to themselves and have very specific religious views on things. Carrie followed in her mother's religious footsteps because she had no choice. 3. Carrie is a very unusual character. She does not know many things that teenagers her age should know. She is extremely angry all of the time. Her telekinetic powers are most likely brought on by her angriness and she is just not the normal suburban teenager. 4. Carrie's mother is the character that I cannot stand for many reasons. Carrie's mother's religious views are extremely bizarre and she did not raise Carrie the way she should have been brought up. Carrie pretty much doesn't have a choice to follow her mother's religious views because if she didn't, her mother would probably punish her very harshly. Carrie's mother is a very unusual person and her firmness about religion has been forced upon Carrie.
 * Character Questions**

**Discussion Questions**

1. Why do you think Sue Snell felt guilty after joining in on making fun of Carrie in the locker room?
Sue Snell felt guilty after making fun of Carrie because she realized that she was just following all of the other girls. Her boyfriend helped her come to the conclusion that Carrie had never done anything mean to her, and so there was no reason for her to join in making fun of Carrie just because everyone else was doing it.

2. What do you think made Carrie's mother become so firmly religion-based?
After the stone incident, Carrie's mother became crazy and strange. The more bad situations she is in, she blames it on God and whenever she did something bad, she would try to prove that was was faithful, like when the stones fell, she made Carrie go pray in the closet and say sorry to God, and she probably did the same as well.

3. Why is Carrie made fun of by her classmates all the time?
Carrie is made fun of all the time because she doesn't act like a normal teenager. Her mother makes her pray in public places and people thought it was strange, so they started to make fun of her. Most of her classmates just join in when other people make fun of Carrie; they're just doing it because everyone else is.

4. What is the significance of the rocks only falling on Carrie's house?
The significance of it is that Carrie's mother started to yell at her for going over to the neighbors house and talking to the girl who was sunbathing because she thought that was bad. Carrie's anger probably caused the rocks to fall on her house using her telekinetic powers because she was so mad at her mom and when she gets mad at someone, she wants something bad to happen to them.

5. Why do you think Carrie's personality is what it is (Why is she so angry all of the time)?
Carrie is angry all of the time because she just wants to live a normal life. She feels like her mom is going to find out if she acts the wrong way or does something bad, so that's why she gets mad so much because she really wants to be normal. But, she's afraid that her mom wouldn't approve of the things she wants to do, which is normal to most people but not allowed because of her mother's strange religious views.

Our first discussion went really well. We were all very excited to talk about the book and Carrie's awkward and strange ways. All three of us were able to contribute to the discussion in different ways because each of us saw Carrie in a different way. We could all agree about the fact that Carrie and her mother were extremely odd people and I can probably speak for us all when I say that we are excited to see what insane things she comes up with to seek revenge on her high school classmates. //Carrie// is an interesting novel that captures you in the first few pages. I know that our discussions will go just as well as our first one because the book opens us up to many ideas and opinions that we can discuss as a group.
 * Summary of First Book Club Meeting**

During the discussion, we all talked about how Carrie is treated at school. She is constantly made fun of by her classmates because she is different from the other girls in her school. Carrie is angry all of the time because she wants to live a normal teenage girl's life, but her mother holds her back because of her obscure religious views. In the first part of the book, we read about the rocks falling only on Carrie's house when she was a baby. We all believe that Carrie was the one who caused the rocks to fall because of her anger towards her mother. Carrie's telekinetic powers are being introduced in this first fifth of the book and they are helping to develop the main character, Carrie.

Week 2- October 2nd
B- Jess C- Jenny D- Jess **
 * A- Aly

1)Is it easy to read? Yes it is an easy read. The font is normal and its a pretty fast read. The only part that is confusing is little snippets from books/magazine articles/newspaper explaining about all these scientists trying to figure out about Carrie, her telekinesis, and what happened on prom night and to the town. 2)Conversational? In ways, yes. Telekinesis isn't really made into a big deal now a days. People aren't sure if its real or not and don't really focus on that. 3)"Classic"? This book is called a 'Modern Classic' and is definitely a really good book so far that people should read. 4) Does it use a lot of words you don't understand? No, its pretty simple to read. 5)What grade level do you think the book is written at, and why? This book is definitely written at high school grade level. This is because it is set in high school and most high school kids can relate to it. This is also because it is an easier read although it has mature content in it that most high school kids can handle.
 * Language questions:**

1.Why do you think Carrie’s mother let her off the hook when she talked back to her? Carrie's mother let her off the hook because she was scared that Carrie would do something bad. Carrie told her "I'll make the stones come again Momma." Her mother was scared that she caused all of that.
 * Discussion questions:**

2. Do you think that Carries mother knows about her telekinesis? She starts to sense it but she is in denial that her daughter is 'satins child' and has these special powers.

3.Why do you think Carrie’s mother has crazy fundamental views? Does it have to do with her family? Yes it does have to do with her family. After her father passed away, she seemed to think it was her fault and went to catholic fundamental prayer meetings. From then on, she believed in her 'crazy' views and that everyone was sinners.

4. Who do you think is right in the argument- Hargensen or Grayels? Why? We all believe that Grayels, the principle, is right in this situation. He was protecting his students and disciplining the girls who did the wrong thing by harassing Carrie. They all dealt with their punishment except for Chirs Hargensen who thinks she can get away will everything because her father is a lawyer.

5. Why is Sue getting so upset about the Carrie delema? Sue Snell was probably getting so upset about what had happened with Carrie because deep down, she realized what she and the other girls did was very wrong. After talking to her boyfriend, she realizes that no one actually knows what it feels like to be Carrie all the time. After she trys to relate, she feels terrible about it and its really getting to her. Thats why she asked her boyfriend to ask Carrie to the dance so Carrie can potentailly have a good time.

Our second week of book club went just as well as the first meeting. After we enjoyed the delicious cookies and peach snapples that Aly brought it, we began discussing what went on in the book. We talked a lot about Carrie's mother's extremely strict religious views and how she began with her fundamental views. We all agreed that it probably had something to do with her family and how she took her pain and sorrow about her father's death out on herself and began going to the religious meetings. We also discussed about how Carrie's mother definitely knows about Carrie's telekinetic powers and that she is afraid that Carrie will do something terrible again like making the rocks come again. Carrie's mother knows that if she really makes Carrie angry, Carrie will react terribly and cause some kind of destruction to occur.
 * Summary of Second Book Club Meeting**

In our meeting, we all contributed equally and discussed a lot about Carrie's problems at school. The girls at her school are the typical high-school clique girls who stick to one girl and make fun of her. That girl is Carrie. We all agreed that the in argument of Hargensen and Grayels, Mr. Hargensen was obviously just taking the side of his daughter, Chris because he did not want to believe that she would do such a mean thing to a girl. Principal Grayels took Carrie's side in the argument and he was just doing his job by disciplining people who harass other people. Also, we discussed Sue Snell and how she was getting so upset about making fun of Carrie. Sue realized that Carrie had done nothing to her and felt extremely guilty. She wanted to make it up to Carrie by making her boyfriend ask Carrie to the dance. Our meeting ran very smoothly, and we talked a lot about all the situations going on in the book right now.

=Week 3:= B. Aly C. Jess D. Aly
 * A. Jenny

** The overall tone of the novel, //Carrie//, is anger. Carrie has anger towards her mother, people in her school, and the overall community. She uses her powers whenever she becomes angry to express how she feels. An example would be when she caused the rocks to fall on her house. She did this because her mother was yelling at her for talking to the neighbor and Carrie became furious and used her anger to seek revenge against her mother. Also, because of Carrie's mother's religious views, this causes Carrie's anger to build up even more and more. The people in Carrie's school add to the mood as well because they cause Carrie to be angry all the time. When all of the girls made fun of Carrie in the locker room, her anger just exploded out of her and she started yelling and caused the light bulb to go out. Carrie shows many signs of anger and frustration throughout the novel so far.
 * Mood Question**


 * Discussion Questions**

=
She doesn't want Carrie to experience the real world because she is afraid she may feel pain, just like she may have in her past. She doesn't want Carrie to go through life feeling hurt and upset so she does whatever she can to keep her from feeling anything that a normal teen should feel. ====== 

=
Carrie's mom is trying to make Carrie feel guilty and as if she was responsible for her mother's pain. It may also be a way for her mom to release stress in another way rather than praying. She may hurt herself to punish herself for her sins.======

=
Something with the pig blood will make Carrie snap and she may feel like everyone is against her. Carrie may feel like she was being treated as a joke and get upset that what she thought was a positive change in her life may actually be a joke. She is emotionally stressed.======

=
Our meeting this week went well. Jenny brought in delicious double stuffed Oreos in which Aly discovered for the first time how many calories per cookie she was really consuming. During this week we talked mostly about the preparation to prom and how Chris was planning on sabotaging Carrie's good time. Chris does not like that Carrie is getting a lot of attention since the locker room incident. She just does not like Carrie in general and is a mean person who wants to ruin a girl's life. Chris is an extremely jealous person, and once the attention is off of her for one second, she immediately finds something to do to become the center of attention again.======

=
In our predictions, we assumed that they would drop the pig blood (pig's blood for a pig) on Carrie and something would snap. Her powers would kick in since the whole book seems to be leading up to the prom scene and something about her telekinesis. We all know that Carrie can use her powers and we all believe that something is definitely going to happen to cause Carrie to explode. Carrie will probably feel like everyone is against her when something with the pig blood happens and that will cause something bad to happen. We know that Chris is going to do something to try to make Carrie angry and that it will turn into a huge incident. We can't wait to finish the book and finally figure out what will happen!======

=Week 4=

A-Jess B-Jenny C-Aly D-Jenny
**Discussion Questions** 1. Why do you think Sue Snell had a feeling something was going wrong at the prom? Sue had a feeling something was going wrong because Carrie's powers give off a weird vibe and Sue felt that something wasn't right about Carrie. She had a strange feeling that things weren't going to go well and that something was going to happen. 2. Why did Carrie tell Tommy to not vote for them for Prom King and Queen? Carrie told Tommy to not vote for them because she would feel embarrassed if she won and she didn't want people to look at her that way. Carrie didn't want people to to start making fun of her again. She didn't want to be the center of attention. 3. How did Carrie have a part in the school exploding? Carrie had a part in the explosion because she used her powers to cause the showers to go on in the gym and all of the water got onto the electrical wires. Carrie may have somehow used her powers to break open the gas stations and steal the gas. This caused the school to catch on fire and explode from the gas reacting with the fire. 4. After the whole disaster occurred, why did Carrie feel like she had to apologize to her mother? Carrie wanted to apologize to her mother because she felt like her mother was right after all about that she shouldn't have involved herself with the kids in her school. Her mother was right that those kids were bad and she should stay away from them. Carrie felt like she owed something to her mother and she felt terrible about it. 5. After the pig blood fell onto Carrie & Tommy, how did that make Carrie react so harshly and destructively? Carrie reacted so harshly and destructively because she felt like everyone was turning against her because they were all laughing at her. Carrie thought everyone had pretended to be nice to her but they were really all plotting against her in the end.

The theme of the book Carrie is trying to fit in, the life of an outcast and having telekinetic powers. Throughout the book, all Carrie wants to be is a normal teenager. She wants to wear the stylish clothes that all the girls wear and feel accepted by her classmates. Carrie's mother holds her back from having the normal lifestyle of a teenager. In school, Carrie is an outcast and is constantly made fun of by her classmates. Carrie's telekinetic powers obviously make her different from everyone else. During the book, Carrie uses her powers whenever she is angry and she uses it against other people in a negative way. Carrie is depicted as an outcast in her school and she desperately finds a way to fit in and live a regular teenage girl's life.
 * Theme/Images in the book**

=
The images in the book is prayer because it symbolizes Carrie's mothers' strange obsession with prayer. Her life is revolved around prayer, and she forces Carrie to pray as well. If Carrie ever does anything that her mother believes is a sin, Carrie is forced to sit in a closet and pray for hours. The author uses the image of prayer in the book shows that religion is a huge part of Carrie's mothers' life and Carrie does not have a choice to believe in her own religion or in other ways. The book has many different examples and instances that show that prayer is a very important part of the story. Without the whole prayer part, Carrie will probably not get mad at her mother as much. Prayer is a major image that is portrayed throughout the whole book.======

=
The meeting went well as usual. We had amazing halloween themed cupcakes that Jess made and talked about Carrie's freak out at prom. We discussed the main theme that we continuously read about throughout the novel. In our discussion, we talked about what happened during prom night. We all agreed that Sue Snell had a feeling something was going to go wrong at the prom because she got weird vibes from Carrie. During the actual prom, Carrie told Tommy to not vote for them to be king and queen because she did not want to be the center of attention and have everyone staring at her in that way. We also talked about how Carrie reacted after the pig blood was dumped on her and Tommy. Carrie reacted violently and caused the whole town to go up in flames, including the school, killing many people.======

=
We also discussed about what actually happened during that whole night. Carrie used her powers to turn the showers on, which then got onto the wires and caused the school to explode. Her powers were so strong that night because she was taking all of her anger out. Also, Carrie felt like she had to apologize to her mother because she knew that her mother was right about not to involve herself with the kids at school. We also found out more about Carrie at this stage of the reading and we were able to discuss more in detail about why we think Carrie acts the way she does. We had a very successful meeting and as we finish the end of the reading, I'm sure all of our predictions and ideas about Carrie will be revealed.====== =Week 5- October 23= A- Aly B- Jess C- Jenny

=
D- Jess **Questions of the Week** 1. Would you recommend it to peers? Yes, the book was an easy read and we all enjoyed reading. It was really interesting because it was of a different book genre we would normally not pick up. 2. Has this topic been discussed more/less effectively in another book or books? The topic of trying to fit in and being a 'nerdy' teenager has been discussed effectively many times in other books though we do not think the subject of 'telekinesis' was been touched on. 3. Should this book be considered for the school's curriculum? Though a good book, we don't think it should be in the school curriculum. This is because many people might be scared to even read it! **Discussion Questions** 1. Beside the school burning, what other horrors were caused by Carrie in the town? One was the fire hydrants exploding. This was that so the blazing fire at the school or in the downtown area couldn't be put out. Another was that Carrie knocked down wires from telephone poles and others to start a fire and electrocute people on the street. 2 . How did people "just know" that it was Carrie? There was no true explanation about how people knew that Carrie did it. People said they just got this strange vibe from her. We said that her powers were so strong it effects other people's thinking. 3. Why did Carrie kill her mother? Carrie was just very fed up with how her mother treated her. Carrie was on a rant and took it too far. But Because Carrie killed so many people that night, her mother was really the final person and she didn't really seem to care. After she killed her, she knew her mother was right all along and that there was something wrong with her. Maybe even "possessed by the devil". 4. How did Carrie die?  ====== First her mom stabbed her, so she was loosing a lot of blood. The real reason she died was that her powers were so overwhelming and her body couldn't take it anymore. 5. What was going on between Carrie and Sue during her death scene? They were communicating through their minds. Carries powers were so strong she was sensing what Sue was saying and the same for Sue. Sue was apologizing that any of this was happening.

Our last and final book club meeting was filled with great discussions and opinions of the book. Aly brought in a gigantic bag of candy and we started discussing what went on in the last fifth of the book. We talked about the whole incident that Carrie caused and how she used her telekinetic powers to cause destruction in her town. We all agreed that people in the town "just knew" that Carrie was the one who started the school explosion and fire and the death of hundreds of citizens. Carrie had a grin on her face and when people saw her the night of the prom, they had an instantaneous feeling that Carrie was the one. Carrie' s powers were so strong, people sensed a strange vibe from her. Also, we discussed about how Carrie killed her mother and how Carrie died. Carrie's mother tried to kill her daughter by stabbing her in the shoulder and Carrie just became so fed up with her mother and killed her with her powers. Carrie died because she lost massive amounts of blood from the stab and also her powers were so strong and everything was extremely overwhelming, and Carrie could not take it anymore.
 * Summary of Fifth Book Club Meeting

We also talked a lot about what was going on with the citizens of the town and what they thought was going on during prom night. Hundreds of people were killed that night, either from being in the school when it exploded, or from the aftermath of the explosion. Many people in the town were scared and tried to run away from the fires, but they stepped on wires and got electrocuted and died. If Carrie saw someone in her path, she used her powers to get them out of her way, such as causing the fires to become bigger. Carrie also made the fire hydrants explode so that there would be no water to put out the fire. She really did not want anyone to survive in this disaster. Sue Snell was one of the very few that survived. In our meeting, we talked about Sue and Carrie's encounter as Carrie was dying. We all believe that they were talking to each other with their minds and Carrie's powers were so strong, it allowed her to communicate with someone without talking. Our last book club was very successful and we all enjoyed the book very much. **