ENGLISH PART 2

What I Think Log: Chapters 1-5

By:Katrina Stevens

During the reading of the novel October Sky, there were a few things that I came across that reminded me of myself. In the story, Sonny describes how there are two distinct phases of his life, his life before Sputnik and everything that follows. Well, I think that this relates to me because there are really two distinct phases of my life too. There is my life in the city and then all that follows, and all that is soon to come in my life in the country. Some one told me that once you come to Marmora, you won't be able to leave, and I think now since I am here, I just may not be able to bring myself to leave this place. Another thing in the story that I was defineatly able to relate myself to was when Sonny tried to tell his father about his decision to build a rocket and his father obviously ignored him and didn't even recognize that he was being spoken to. That is how it is sometimes in my house, I will have to say things more than once just for him to comprehend the fact that he is being spoken to. In regards to Sonny's family, my family is very similar, I don't always get along with my brothers and sisters and I like to believe that I get along better with my mother than I do with my father. Also, my siblings are a major pain, and I can rarely get along with more than one of them at the same time. Unlike in the story where Sonny's father has a extreme devotion to his job, my father doesn't have a devotion at all towards anything other than my family. Sometimes I think that the role of the parents in accordance with their jobs, may be the exact opposite of the characters in the novel. My father could be Elsie, as for his devotion is towards my family, and my mother could be Homer, for she has a devotion towards her job, but in a less of a degree. My parents could relate to Homer and Elsie, but not in the way of how they treat Sonny. One other thing that I found quite funny was that Sonny's mother's name is Elsie, and that is also my grandmother's name and I know that my grandmother favours me over any of her grandchildren. The last thing that I am able to relate almost exactly, was how Homer went to the door and was arguing with Mr. Dubonnet. Well, my father was always the one that would go to the door to argue with other people, but unlike Homer he never did it calmly. My father wouldn't argue over work, but it was usually over something that me or my brother did outside to someone, like beat them up or pick on them to the extent that they would end up going home crying. There are many things that I am able to relate to in this novel, and some may not be so good. This story is so far been quite a good one, I may not be able to relate to anything that has to do with rockets or with coal, but I was able to relate to other things that have happened to the characters in the story. The story is developing in a unique way that leaves the reader curious as to what has happened after that. The book may not be a thriller or an adventure, but it is very realisitc, maybe for the fact that it is based on a true story. I hope that Sonny ends up being able to get his family to see how much that he can really do. I cannot wait to continue the novel and fulfill the curiousity within me and to see how the plot may thicken from this point on.