ENG (02/20/08) Post A

The Book of Lost Things
by John Connolly

Posting A

2 vacabulary words:

1. relegation (-relegate) (p.32): –verb (used with object), -gat·ed, -gat·ing.
to send or consign to an inferior position, place, or condition: He has been relegated to a post at the fringes of the diplomatic service.
to consign or commit (a matter, task, etc.), as to a person: He relegates the less pleasant tasks to his assistant.
to assign or refer (something) to a particular class or kind.
to send into exile; banish.

2. chasm (p.33): –noun
a yawning fissure or deep cleft in the earth's surface; gorge.
a breach or wide fissure in a wall or other structure.
a marked interruption of continuity; gap: a chasm in time.
a sundering breach in relations, as a divergence of opinions, beliefs, etc., between persons or groups.

3 examples of figurative langues

1. irony: "In one story, a princess was forced to dance all night and sleep all day by the actions of a sorcerer, but instead of being rescued by the intervention of a prince or a clever servant, the princess died, only for her ghost to return and torment the sorcerer to such a degree that he threw himself into a chasm in the earth and was burned to death in its fires." (p.33)
-it is one ironic story that David introduces.

2. imagery: "The great sweeps of ivy that covered the house, front and back, had broken through the walls over the decades, so that tendrils crept from the upper corners of David's room, or bound themselves to the underside of the windowsill" (p.34)
-David describes Rose's house; it is never warm, and David never liked her and her house.

3. personification: "Dr. Moberley asked David, in the v-e-r-y s-l-o-w way that some of his books spoke, why the slates were so important." (p.19)
-David thinks that the books at Dr. Moberley's office are talking to him very slowly.

Quotation

"David didn't care much for church. He was still angry at God for what had ahppened to his mother, and for bringing Rose and Georgie into his life." (p. 29)

Explanation

David's anger and depression toward his mother's death was too serious to be taken lightly but it seems nobody actually recognizes his emotions. Without any of his feelings led out peacefully or healthfully, he starts to put himself at rage. He means hatred to hate everything; his father, Rose, the step-mother, and even himself.

Theme

If you hide your emotions, nobody recognizes, and you will eventually die out slowly. Without anyone noticing his seriousness of his emotions of rage and depression, David is starting to dying out. It is expressed that when one is deeply concentrated for one's worries, then the others might not be careful noticing his/her inside. It is impossible, however, when one is angry and that s/he is able to bring out his/her emotions.