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Strong Indirect Characterization Pg. 57 Pg. 74

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Strong Indirect Characterization Pg. 57 Pg. 74

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Throughout the book, I think that a characteristic that we see in Derek is the naivety and innocence of his mind. I think this because throughout the book he continuously does certain actions that show how naive/influential he is. There are many examples of this, for example on page 57 Violet and Derek talk and when Violet says she doesn't have a TV he is amazed thinking everyone has a tv, "Well not normal. I mean, you don't have a TV and TVs are pretty normal. Seriously you can ask anybody." Another example would be when his mother tries to tell him something about his dad, but Derek doesn't seem to notice anything off about this interaction, this is seen on page 74 when it says,
"Your father is...he's..."
"What's wrong?"
"I, um...nothing." She shook her head. "I just really miss him. That's all."
All these things are proof of the naivety and innocence that Derek carries throughout the story.

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The book, "The Saturday Boy" talks about Derek, a 5th grader who, although he has some problems both in school and in his personal life, still lives a mostly peaceful life sending and receiving letters with his dad, a soldier who was sent to Afghanistan. The story progresses as he fights with his friend Budgie, grows feelings for Violet one of his classmates, and notices his mom's growing sadness. The book also talks about how he volunteered for the school play where he is eventually joined by Budgie and Violet as fellow cast members. While Derek's life was primarily good he soon finds out that his father sadly died during a mission, this deals a heavy blow to Derek, but with the help of his mother and his Aunt, he continues on with his life with a heavy heart. On the day of the school play due to the constant harassment both budge and Derek had done to each other they fight on stage and Derek is injured. The story then ends with the two apologizing to each other and Derek finally accepting his father's death with the help of Violet.

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I think a very powerful line that resolves a lot of Derek's mixed feelings is the one said by Violet on page 260, where she says, "I couldn't get mad at them for living their lives just because I was sad." I think that this is such a powerful line as it sums up the exact meaning of moving on as time doesn't stop, this one line talks about how even if you lost something great the world doesn't just stop people continue living their normal lives.

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A personal connection I have with this book is that I also suddenly lost my grandfather. One day I woke up and I was hit with the news that my grandfather had passed away and that I was going to Korea to attend the funeral. There I saw everyone's sadness and I too realized that I would not be able to spend time with my grandfather again, but I moved on with life, going to school, studying, watching TV, it all just made me move on.

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In the book, there are many times where there is irony, but an example of dramatic irony is seen around the beginning part of the book before Derek discovers the death of his father. During this stage, Derek's mom finds out that Derek's father is missing/dead, but Derek is completely oblivious even when we can pretty much infer it is due to the actions of his mother. This is an example of dramatic irony as our understanding of what has probably happened to Derek's dad exceeds what Derek himself understands. This is seen on page 74 where it says, ""Derek...your father..."
"Will he be home for Christmas?"
"I don't think so," she said, hugging me tight that I almost couldn't breathe. Her whole body shaking.
"But maybe?"
"Your father is...he's..."
"What's wrong?"
"I, um...nothing." She shook her head. "I just really miss him. That's all."
This all shows how just based on this part we can assume something has happened to Derek's father, but throughout the novel, before it is explicitly said Derek is completely oblivious, meaning this is an example of dramatic irony.

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I would recommend this book to someone who has gone through the loss of someone close to them. The reason I would is because the book talks not only about losing a loved one, but also the actions the characters take after the loss and I feel like this book would help them connect and deal with their loss. "It wasn't any one thing. I mean, life just kept going. We still got mail everyday. I still had homework to do. People kept playing tennis and driving cars and walking their dogs. I couldn't get made at them for living their lives just because I was sad. And in a strange was that's when I started feeling better." I feel like this one piece of dialogue would especially help a lot as it talks a lot about moving on with life and how after losing someone the world doesn't just freeze instead it continues on, so we must do the same.

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Throughout the book Derek is affected by his peers, what are some examples that this has led to something bad? What are some examples of how this has helped him? (discussion question) Pg. 259 Pg. 44

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Throughout the book Derek is affected by his peers, what are some examples that this has led to something bad? What are some examples of how this has helped him? (discussion question) Pg. 259 Pg. 44

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Derek throughout the book is seen as an impressionable 5th grader, and so a lot of different people have influenced his actions, both negatively, but also sometimes positively. An example of a time when someone's influence caused a negative outcome is when Budgie taunted Derek into climbing a tree which in turn caused him to miss his bus and have mud splattered on him. This is seen on page 44 where it says, "I hit the ground pretty hard but in the correct order, little darts of pain shooting up my legs even though I remembered to bend my knees. I grabbed my bag and my jacket, thankful that Budgie hadn't thought to hide them or, worse, open my bag and scatter everything around. I ran as fast as I could but when I got to the front of the school building the turnaround was empty. the smell of exhaust hung in the air." This shows how the influence of Budgie to climb a tree caused a very negative thing to happen. An example of how someone's influence was positive towards Derek is on page 259 where it says, "It wasn't any one thing. I mean, life just kept going. We still got mail every day. I still had homework to do. People kept playing tennis and driving cars and walking their dogs. I couldn't get mad at them for living their lives just because I was sad. And in a strange way, that's when I started feeling better." This shows Violet's influence on Derek through this talk and her sympathy towards him helped him recover from an extremely shocking event.

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A very big connection that we could make with this novel would the other book IOBA, these two books share a very big connection to each other. Both books show how a family lives in desperation in hopes for their family to return from a war, in case of IOBA the Vietnam War, in The Saturday Boy from Afghanistan, but suddenly they are hit with the news that their family member is really gone. It however also shows how they cope with this loss, how they move on and mature from such a huge loss.

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I think that there was one line that seemed very powerful to me and that was on page 229 where it says, "What if I don't? What if I forget?" I think that this line is powerful as it exposes the very sad truth that at some point everybody will probably forget something extremely important and eventually nobody will remember that particular thing. I think that this line has a very deep meaning to it as it shows the fear that Derek has that many people can connect with, the fear of forgetting or being forgotten, the fear of losing who you are.

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An example of figurative language in the book is seen on page 82 where it says,
""What was that?"
"My stomach," I said.
"That was your stomach?"
"Uh-huh."
"You're not hiding a lion under your bed?""
This quote is both a metaphor and a hyperbole. First a metaphor because Aunt Josie is comparing Derek's stomach to a lions roar, and also a hyperbole as Aunt Josie is exaggerating how load his stomach growled saying it was the same as a lion's roar.

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I think that the beginning of the novel shows a lot of worry or apprehensiveness towards Derek's father as at this point in the novel we know nothing about his current state. I think this also because of the many reactions we get from different characters throughout the story. For example on page 50 after telling his teacher about how long his dad has been missing this happens, "Ms. Dickson got quiet all of a sudden and I sort of got the feeling she was frowning. Not like she was mad, though. It was more like she was sad or like she was thinking. "Eight months, one week, and four days is a long time not to see your father."" This quote foreshadows towards the conclusion toward what happened to Derek's father that Ms. Dickson probably knew about and gives a somewhat apprehensive tone as we don't know when the news will hit out protagonist.

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The main thematic concept this novel touches upon is the concept of loss. I think that the thematic statement then starts to talk about how loss affects people, and how it changes them, I also think it talks about the pain that the entire family feels at the death of this one person, and the amount of chaos it caused. I think this as the novel says on page 136, "Mom still knelt in front of the television, and the way she was kneeling made me think of a marionette with the strings cut. If you put a lamp on her head she'd be a table. I laughed at that. I couldn't help it. On TV the tarantula was now on the kid's face. I laughed at that, too. I probably would have kept on laughing forever if I hadn't suddenly thrown up all over the table." This shows how the novel talks about the theme of loss and how greatly it can affect people from making people be lifeless, to making them want to deny the loss.

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Luftwaffe
"We aren't a pair of sitting ducks, caught in the Luftwaffe's crosshairs."
pg. 224

Based on Context: Since the context of this word was in a dream and since most of Derek's dreams have something to do with a war I knew that this was some kind of war weapon. I could also infer that it was a sort of aerial weapon as this scene takes place when they were in the sky.

Definition: A component of the German armed forces tasked with the air defense of Germany and fulfillment of the country's airpower commitments abroad.

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"It was a rainy and cold morning and the bus was late and so was Budgie. I tried not to think about how cold and wet I was so I thought about superheroes instead. One of them had a cape and could fly. The other had a mutant superstrength. There was a burning city and people fleeing in the background and everything."
""What are you doing in the rain?"
"Waiting for the bus," I said.
"Derek?" Budgie's mom asked
"Yes?"
"It's a Saturday.""
Pg. 1 and 4

"The Saturday Boy" drops you right into the mind of the 5th grader Derek, into his mind that is so full of imagination even on a dull rainy day. As soon as we start reading the book we learn a little about his character as he had mistaken Saturday for a school day hence his new nickname (from his friend Budgie) Saturday boy. This first mistake by Derek in the opening immediately allows us to see that he is a somewhat impulsive and clumsy protagonist. This part of him is shown even more by the author throughout the book, but this first part introduces this part of him to us (the reader), allowing us to get used to his antics. I think that this opening is well done as it shows us exactly what kind of kid Derek is and what we should expect from him throughout the book.

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"I let go of mom and stood up and found the batteries and put them back in the remote. Then I sat on the couch, pointed it at the television, and pressed the power button. The news came back on. My dad's picture was back in the corner. The news people were talking about him"
pg. 134

I think the most important event and the climax of the book would definitely be the part where Derek finally realizes that his father had died. I think this part was so important as it creates a huge conflict in Derek's mind, it created an obstacle so huge that Derek as a 5th grader at first denied it wanting to escape from reality. This part of the book allowed us to see a change in Derek through the next chapters as he matures a little, learning to accept that his father is gone and that only memories of him remain.

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The mood towards the end of the novel shows a certain amount of happiness and acceptance from our protagonist Derek. The reason there is such a change in mood compared to the middle and beginning is that Derek and his family had all at this point accepted the sad death of his father and moved on. This is seen on page 261 where it says, "I was too busy thinking about Violet and the way she'd hugged me. And the more I though about it the surer I was that it hadn't been just a hug. It had been an embrace. Definitely. Violet embraced me. My head was swimming with the smell of her hair." This quote shows the mood had turned to a more joyful even romantic type as it ended.

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Mom's hand twitched. Her grip on my hand tightened. I wondered what she was thinking about-was she remembering Dad and the good times they'd had together or was she thinking about the new life she was now forced to be without him? I didn't want to think about either of them personally. If I did I'd probably start o cry and I got the feeling mom needed me to be strong right now-which would've been a lot easier if I couldn't see my Dad's coffin being lowered into the ground."
pg. 220

I think this part where the funeral is held finally resolves the mystery behind Derek's dad and also is seen as a turning point for everyone in his family as they all grieve together. This, allows them to, although with much difficulty, move on with their lives just a little bit. This is seen in the next few chapters as with the help of his father's army companion and his friends he finally somewhat comes to peace with his father's death.

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"Derek...your father..."
"Will he be home for Christmas?"
"I don't think so," she said, hugging me tight that I almost couldn't breathe. Her whole body shaking.
"But maybe?"
"Your father is...he's..."
"What's wrong?"
"I, um...nothing." She shook her head. "I just really miss him. That's all."
pg. 74

This piece of Dialogue is very important as, although the author had shown a little bit about Derek's dad this is the first time that we actually full-on see that something has happened to Derek's dad, this dialogue also allows us to predict what has happened to him. This piece of dialogue is also important because it shows us his naivety of Derek as even with these signs from his mom he does not really notice anything wrong, not only that it also shows how Derek's mom tries to keep everything together as her family has less support with the disappearance of her husband (Derek's dad).

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Updog
"You've got some updog on your shirt," she said.
"What's updog?"
"Not much, what up with you?"
"Hardy har-har."
"Isn't it hardy har-har?"
"Not this time."
"Ouch," she said. "Hey, what's that paint all over your hands?"
pg. 226

Based on Context: I think that based on the context it's like a mess or some kind of spill as this is said after he had painted so he probably has some kind of paint on him.

Definition: It is a joke that is made to make someone ask what updog is so that the person can say "nothing, what's up with you."

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"Derek, I-"
"Cartoons."
"I meant to-I didn't know-"
"Cartoons!" I exploded, screaming so loud I hurt my neck. "Cartoons, cartoons, cartoons!"
pg. 135

This piece of dialogue is important as it finally reveals to us that last piece of info the author and mom had kept from the us, the disappearance of Derek's father, and now finally his death. This piece of dialogue shows just how heartbreaking it was for Derek, so much so that he denied it, wanting to escape the cruel world that took his father, he screamed for cartoons that would help him escape the heart wrenching news/event.

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""Hey Kiddo," says Dad. "Mind if I fly for a while?"
So we fly like that-me up front in the gunner's seat and Dad in the pilot's seat behind me. The sky is big and endless and empty. No Japanese Zeros fall toward us out of the sun. We aren't a pair of sitting ducks, caught in the Luftwaffe's crosshairs. Not today."
pg.224

I think that this part of the novel is the resolution of the death of his father as previously his dreams with his dad had all been full of chaos or tragedy, in most of them they were in a war together, a place full of death and chaos. The fact that Derek dreams about a peaceful flight with his dad symbolizes that Derek had finally gone past the period of turmoil, a period where he didn't know where his dad was, a period where all he could think about was that his dad was forever gone, now Derek was finally feeling a little at peace.

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"What if I don't? What if I forget him?"
"I don't think that'll happen."
I swallowed hard and spoke carefully. When the words came out they were shaky and quiet.
"I'm afraid it already has."
"Naw."
"It has," I said. "All day today. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't remember what he looked like or what he sounded like. Why can't I remember?"
"You going through a tough time now, Derek. A real tough time. Things are going to be different for a while. But they'll be normal again."
"Everyone's been saying that."
"That's because it's the truth," said Jahri. "You'll remember. soon enough. You'll see."
pg. 229

I think that his piece of dialogue between his father comrade in the army and Derek is very important as this was one of the times where Derek finally starts accepting that his father was gone, but with this acceptance came a fear of forgetting that many people have after losing a loved one. I think that this talk helped resolve some of the sadness and trauma that had taken place in Derek's mind due to the sudden shock of the news.

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I chose this book first because of the cover, the novel's name "The Saturday Boy" made me think it had sort of an innocent mood, but once I read the back I realized it was kind of a tragedy as it seems the main character had lost his father at a young age. Another reason I chose this book was that one of the flaps of the book cover talks about how everyone has something that could ruin their day and for him, that was the last letter sent by his dad when he was in Afghanistan. I thought that the fact that he can still stay positive after this event in his life was very interesting and sent an optimistic message that I liked a lot.