söndag 29 november 2009

w. 49 Big Mouth&Ugly Girl

Chapters. 1-15 Deadline 0n 6 December

You have now begun reading novel number two on the B-course Big Mouth&Ugly Girl. I hope you have taken the opportunity to listen to the author Joyce Carol Oates on your learning platform. I found a You Tube clip where she talks about how to create different characters which I found interesting.

Big Mouth&Ugly Girl is Oates's first young adult novel, published in 2002.

Analysis questions to be answered:

1)Describe the main character Matt Donaghy and what we know about him so far. What was Matt accused of having done? Was there any truth in the rumors? What did Matt himself think he was guilty of?

2) What is the difference between Ursula Riggs and Ugly Girl? Search and collect key words and expressions for each side of the same person in the chapters.

3) Describe Ursula's family picture.

4) How did Ursula react to the rumors about Matt?

5) Discuss the new information which is presented about Matt's personality in chapter five.

6) Why does the Principal Harold Parrish deny troubles at Rocky River High?

7) How did the school react to the accusations concerning Matt?

8) Describe how Matt's friends reacted?

9) Who claims: Matthew is the one who's been wronged"? What is meant by this?

10) What is so unfortunate with Matt's sophomoric sketch and the Edgar Allen Poe story in this whole new situation?

11) For Matt is seems to be important to impress people and to make them laugh. Mention a few situations where this is shown. How could this be related to the incident in the cafeteria which started this whole mess?

12) Ugly Girl: "You might be liable for suspending Matt Donaghy without probable cause and defaming his character" What is meant by this ?

13) "Suburban hysteria" - Please explain this sentence in the book.

14) Matt signed an e-mail to Mr Weinberg with Matt "Terrorist" Donaghy. Why? Consequences?

15) What is your viewpoint on the narrative technique of the novel? In every second chapter we either get some insight into the plot told by Matt or Ursula? Good or confusing, please explain?

16 kommentarer:

  1. 1: Matthew is a boy who goes to Rocky River school in Westchester Country. He has a younger brother, Alex and a mother and father. One day when he was on class two men came in to escort him away to ask him if it was true, that he had planned to do a massacre. But he didn´t, he had said something about it once in joke and that´s when the rumour began. The principal took it serious and he was suspended for couple of days. Matt was feeling guilty of that he had joked about something like that and that he never talked to Ursula before all that happened.

    2: page 12: “Ursula Riggs was a coward, fearing other people´s opinions and the future. Ugly Girl was no coward, and didn´t give a damn about the future. ” The words say everything. But was it true? I don´t think so because she helped Matt.

    3: Ursula has a younger sister, Lisa, a mother and a father. Ursula has dark blond curly hair and she´s very tall. The family is always comparing Lisa and Ursula and Ursula hates it! The grandmother does it to. Ursula love to help other.

    4: She e-mailed Matt and then went to the principal to talk to him and tell him that it wasn´t true. She also had a friend who could be a witness with her.

    5: He wants to speak with Ursula so much. He´s really grateful after all she did. And he´s not as bad he was before. He is nice to everyone in school.

    6: Deny to who? The news? Because he know it wasn´t true. And he didn´t maybe wanted to do the thing worse.

    7: They suspended him for 3 days, but then a teacher called him and said to him that it was a misunderstanding so he could come back to school.

    8: They didn´t answer his e-mail and when they did they told him that they couldn´t answer him. In school they wasn´t so much with him anymore.

    9: Eh I really don´t know…

    10: That it was all a joke to an answer for something else and then it became something big of it.

    11: Yes it is, he wanted to be funny when he wrote e-mails and when he spoke to the teachers. He jokes about everything and that’s why he was accused to have planed a massacre.

    12: That he could be suspended without being unpopular in school after it.

    13: OMG! Are you joking? I really don´t remember so much that I could explain the word in the book.

    14: Because he jokes about everything and they thought that he was planed a massacre like terrorists so he wrote in joke that he was one. The consequences can be that the e-mail can be a proof to everything, that he are a terrorist and that he are confessing everything although it´s not true.

    15: Confusing! It´s good that you can see the story from two sides.

    SvaraRadera
  2. 1.Big Mouth is Matt, a high school boy, who tends to say things without thinking first about what he's saying. Matt Donaghy is a joker, he jokes about a lot of things. He is tall and gangly, freckle- faced and pretty much a straight arrow. His "friends" were the ones who goaded him on and now they abandon him.
    His family is devastated. Rumors fly all over the school and everyone is excited and full of groundless speculation.

    2.
    Ursula Riggs was captain of the basketball team dhe was a coward, fearing other people's opinion and the future.Ursula is content with minding her own business.
    Ursula has made her peace with being anything but a cute, petite charmer like her mother and her little sister. Ugly Girl is sort of a punk-type girl, She'll stand up to anyone and anything. She wasn't a coward, and didn't give a damn about the future.And as she called her self warrior-woman.

    3. Hating her parents and siblings. The family is always comparing Lisa and Ursula and Ursula hates it! Her mother and her sister was petite charmer.

    4. Ugly Girl does not like the injustice of how Matt has been treated, so she has decided to make a stand. So she writes a message to Matt and tell him that she wants to talk to him.

    5. He wanted to talk to Ursula, wanted to thank her for what she has done, and he is much nicer now than he was before.

    6. The news? He had not been handcuffled and rear from Rocky River High.
    No one had been a witness to such a spectacle.

    7. Their reaction was not very good, they wanted him to talk in a tape recorder.
    But Matt didn't want to. He said that it was just a joke! I would never think of blowing up the school.

    8.His friends were no longer with him, when he tried to talk to them,
    they said that they dont have time or just invented something.

    9.
    I do not really know, but I think he only joked about blowing up the school, someone may have thought that he had some sort of plan ore something, Maybe there was someone who didn't like him, who just betrayed everything he said.

    10. It was just a little joke, and then it became something BIG!

    11. When he talks it doesn't matter who he talks to, he always tries to be funny in every way, That little joke about blowing up the school, it seemed kind of fun. Could make people laugh, but he did not think he would be accused of that.

    12. That he could be suspended without being unpopular in school after it.

    13. I dont remember.

    14. Because he joked about everything. So he Mat ''terrorist'' Donaghy to the e-mail also.Message may be proof of everything, Everything was a little joke.

    15. It is good because you get to know two people who come from different families, and have different characteristics.

    SvaraRadera
  3. Had a little bit of trouble with to many characters, so I split it up in 2.
    Don't know how I managed, so don't ask. :G

    1)
    Matt is the guy that tends to joke a lot and not really think about the consequences. He isn't stupid however, he's a real brainiac. But the jokes really slip out of his mouth before he gives them a thought. This got him into trouble however, and he got accused for planning a massacre at Rocky River High. These rumours where of course not true. He had just been joking around as usual, and someone had freaked out and the principal overreacted. And Matt knew this.

    2)
    Well, really. Ugly girl is Ursula Riggs hardened shell. The outside which she shows the world. But she's really soft on the inside, more like her mom and sister. And thats who we call Ursula Riggs. An example is this, which explains the whole thing.
    'I could see that my teacehrs didn't know what to make of me. There was Ursula Riggs, who was an excellent student, a serious girl with an interest in biology and art, and there was Ugly Girl, who played sports like a Comanche and who had a sullen, sarcastic tongue. It was Ugly Girl who was susceptible to 'moods' - these ranged from Inky Black to Fiery Red.'

    3)
    Ursula as Ugly Girl doesn't really like her family. Her mom and sister is those girls who likes to be called petite, and dance ballet. Ugly Girl hates ballerina and doesn't find petite girls very nice.
    And then we got her dad. A working addict that doesn't have enough time for his family more than a few hours when they eat or something like that. Ugly Girl doesn't like him that much either.

    4)
    She got very upset, and shocked. She wouldn't believe it, and she didn't. She knew that he wasn't that kind of guy.

    5)
    He starts to joke a lot with the detectives, which isn't highly amusing in their oppinion. I think it's the real Matt, the slightly immatured guy from Rocky River High. The one who got into trouble.

    6)
    Because he wants his school to prosper etc. He doesn't want it to leak out that his school had a massacre threat, because then parents would probably 'overreact' just like he did. And I think he cares a bit about the student, Matt, aswell.

    7)
    Guess that depends on if the question is associating to the teachers or the students.
    But I guess the teachers didn't really believe it or like it. They really tried to help him out. The students really only spread more rumours about it, and they cut the connection to Matt to avoid trouble. No one can blame them I guess, but it's really a lame thing to do.

    SvaraRadera
  4. 8)
    They did as I said above, they almost cut the connection. However, they emailed him back after a long time and told him that they were really cornered. Their parents told them to not write to him, which is quite enough. They didn't believe it either though, about the whole Threat. Matt wasn't like that, and they god damn knew it.

    9)
    I recall Matt's mom saying this. I'm not sure however, but I can't be arsed to look it up (:D), sorry :). What it means though, is that he has been accused falsely. He is the one that has been done wrong to.

    10)
    That they are violent. At least I think so. The sketch is sophomoric, which is kind of immature selfconfidence and narcissism. It gives the detectives some information about how he might be and act. Which isn't really that cool at the moment. And as he says himself, they will probably think he's psychotic.

    11)
    A perfect example is the detective drama. Where he pulls out some jokes, which might sound as him being serious if you don't know him by core. The detectives doesn't really get that he is joking, and Mr. Parrish has to explain it to them and Matt is forced to stop.
    Well as I mentioned before, the words slip out of his mouth without a thought. It's the way he is, and he can't really change it. Of course this lead to the whole Cafeteria incident. But to be honest, it was the one who overreacted that did the wrong thing.

    12)
    That the person whom she said it to, the principal, will be responsible for suspending Matt and defaming him. This might bear hard on your conscience as long as you got some sympathy. It would ruin Matt's life in an instant and crush his little fortress of safety.

    13)
    Explaining words really is a bugger. But I'll try. Suburban Hysteria is when a dire situation evolves in a small town and grows into a hysteria. A Suburban Hysteria is just that, a small town hysteria. A critical thing happening in a small town.

    14)
    I think he was slightly joking about it. But to be honest, in everyone else's eyes, he was a terrorist. He could just aswell sign himself as it. Even though it was rumours, people believed in it. And if plenty enough of people believe in one thing, it actually turns out like that for everyone except for the person that it's about. Believe it or not.

    15)
    For people that doesn't enjoy reading and doesn't read a lot, I bet it's confusing. But getting the viewpoint of two characters is always better, because you are allowed to get a whole new insight in whats happening. This also makes the novel longer, which benefits the writer.

    SvaraRadera
  5. (Had to post as two posts.)

    1) Matt Donaghy is the model student at Rocky River High. He is vice president of the class, writes for the Rocky River Run newspaper, and a solid A-/B+ student. One day all of that is spoiled. Two detectives escorts him out of the classroom to interrogate him, for threatening to blow up Rocky River High. There was no truth to the charges, the only thing Matt could be accused of was being a big-mouth. He had apparently been playing around as usual in the cafeteria, and someone had misunderstood the joke.

    2) When you read about Ursula Riggs and "Ugly Girl" it may seem to you as if Ursula is schizophrenic. Most of the time when Ugly girl is mentioned it is as "she" not as I. (The same thing with Matt. It's always "him" not I, as it is with Ursula.) Anyhow, Ursula is captain of the basketball team, until she spoils a derby-game and gets mad at herself. This is the same day the rumors about Matt start spreading, but Ursula is not the one who listens to rumors.

    3) Ursula lives with her mother, father and younger sister. Her sister is much like the "American-dream" daughter, she is a ballet dancer, and all that... And Ursula quite the opposite. Her mother is actually more fond of Ursula's sister, which sound like a horrible thing to say, but I think it's the truth. Her father on the other hand doesn't seem to be as judging as her mother, but then he's not home that much either. He works too much.

    4) She knew they were false, so she went to the principal and told her side of the story, she had seen Matt joking around in the cafeteria, and described how no one with their right senses could believe that he would actually blow up the school. She also made her friend Eveann talk to the principal, even though Eveann's mother didn't approve.

    5) I really don't think you get to know much of his personality in that chapter, it would be more interesting to discuss how he becomes depressed later on. But anyhow: In chapter Five Matt is interrogated by the detectives, in Mr Parrish's office, with the school counselor and the principal. He makes some jokes about the whole scenario since he would never in a hundred years imagine to be in that position. But apparently he is, and the detectives don't approve. They seem to get more convinced he actually threatened to blow up the school with every joke he makes.

    6) To answer your question: He doesn't deny any troubles. His answer to the news is "no comment" I would certainly not take that as a denial that any trouble has occured.
    To answer why he said "no comment": Well in small suburbans and villages, things like this get out of hand pretty fast. The parents would over-react, and the rumors would spread even more. And since the investigation isn't finished with he don't want any sensitive information to get out. Nothing abnormal with that, honestly, who would say "Yeah, theres this guy who threatened to blow up the school, but we're not really sure he did it, so we will have to investigate further"? In cases like this it is of importance that things remain "secret" during the investigation.

    7) Do you mean the people in charge of the school, or the students???
    Well, the principal and the other people involved in the investigation handled it pretty good I think. They avoided unnecessary fuss and kept the media at an arms length. The students on the other hand started to spread rumors and suddenly everybody had seen Matt get escorted to the police HQ with handcuffs and his locker searched.

    8) They was advised by their attorneys not to talk to Matt, since they could get involved in the investigation if they did. Even later on, when the accusations had been proven wrong, they remained a little cautious against Matt. This whole thing bruised their relationship in a way.

    SvaraRadera
  6. 9) I honestly can't find that part, even though I've tried for half an hour. Well whoever said it meant that by false accusations Matt had been wronged, and his reputation had become stained since it was known by the whole school that he had been investigated.

    10) Eadgar Allan Poe is known for his violent and often psychopathic novels, and Matt's sophomoric humor mixed with being interested in Eadgar Allan Poe's novels makes him fit the description of a psychopathic kid who would be able to blow up the school. Even though this is not the truth.

    11) He makes dumb jokes at times, like when the detectives want to search his locker and Matt says something like "That's the last place I'd hide weapons if I was to blow up the school." To him it's just a way to get attention when with the other kids at school, but to the detectives it just seems as if he is hiding something.

    12) That Matt could make a law-suit against Mr Parrish or the school board, since he is falsely accused and humiliated by this whole thing.

    13) A newspaper poses the question whether the accusations against Matt is correct, or if it's just suburban hysteria. By this they mean that there could have been an incident on the school, but it's also likely that people have exaggerated what they've heard, because things like this doesn't happen too often in suburbs.

    14) Because it's commonly known at the school that Matt was investigated, and Matt is upset by this. I think it's an attempt to make Mr Weinberg see that he is actually hurt by being accused. You could see it as a cry for help.

    15) I think it's awesome! This is writing as it should be. When we read "An (un)arranged marriage" I was complaining about how I didn't like Bali's language, and this book is quite the opposite, by posing a question in the beginning of the chapter, or a choice someone has to make, then discuss the character's feelings a while (preferably the
    whole page.) then let the character decide what to do you get to know the character very well. This thrills me. And the thing with writing as Ursula or Matt every second chapter is good too. But I get the feeling that the book is actually about Ursula, since she is the only character which is written about as "I".

    SvaraRadera
  7. 1)Matthew is a boy with good grades and goes to the Rocky River School in Wetchester Country. He writes for the Schools newspaper, the Rocky River run. He has one brother younger brother and a mom and dad. One day two detectives escorted him out of the classroom and asked him a lot of questions about some plans to do a big massacre. And no, there was no truth in the rumors. Once he had joked about it and that's why the rumors began. Matt himself wasn't feeling any guilt for the accusation, but he knowed that he had a bigmouth, that's all.

    2) Ursula Riggs is captain of the basketball team in her school. She describes herself as if she is two different people which can be confusing sometimes. Ursula is a coward who is fearing other people's opinions and Ugly girl was no shy girl. That's the different between them. Ugly girl didn't care about other people or about their opinions.

    3) Ursula is the black sheep in her family. Her mother and father always comepared Lisa (her younger sister) and Ursula which made Ursula really angry. Her sister Lisa, is a "perfect" girl with the "perfect" look. Her father doesn't compares Lisa and Ursula that much as their mother does, but he is not home so often.

    4) Ursula knew that the rumors was false so she went to the pricipal to tell him that it wasn't true. She had seen Matt joking in the cafeteria and described exactly how he was joking and that noone could even considering that he had a plan to blow up the school. Also she had her friend Eveann who followed her to the principal and talked to him about the accusation.

    5) He jokes a lot with the detectives which they didn't enjoyed very much. He also becomes a nicer person, he is being nice to every one in school and treats them well. And he want's to talk with Ursula how grateful he is of what she did.

    6) He doesn't deny any troubles? or am I having wrong now? He didn't say anything about it to the news beacuse he knew how all the people in the small town would react, or you could say over-react! And deap down he knew that it wasn't true.

    7) The school suspended him for 3 days, but then later on they sad that it had been an missunderstanding and that he could come
    back to school. The principal othervise avoided to drag in the media.

    8) They avoided him and was advised by their attorneys not to talk with him. Didn't answer his e-mail or talked to him at school.

    9) Someone obviously thought that he had a plan to blow up the school otherwise he wouldnt be accused. Maybe it was someone who didn't like him very much and wanted bad stuff happend to him?

    10) That it becamed something bigger of only a little joke.

    11) Because he always joked and laughted. He likes the attention it gives him and always tries to be as funny as possible.
    The joke about blowing up the whole school was a funny thing for him but not for other's.

    12) That he would be in charge for ruin Matt's life, he could also sue the school borad or Mr Parrish for false accusings.

    13) I'm sorry but I really don't remember that :S

    14) Like I said before, he jokes about everything all the time. This is a different kind of joke for him. The school really
    thought that he was an terrorist right? So this is a kind of revenge.

    15) A little bit of confusing beacuse you can read the story from two different sides all the time. But if you handle it like
    I think I do it's really good. You get to know the character better and it helps you to get on with the reading, especially
    when you start reading it.

    SvaraRadera
  8. 1) Matt Donaghy is the smart class-clown, looking for acknowledgement amongst his fellow peers. He was trying to be funny as he made some unusual gestures, which led people to them (falsely) believing that he would like to blow up their school, Rocky River High School. He was suspected of planning to do just this, and so, his friends backed away from him, which made him realize how lonely was.
    And as the friends (and almost all other students at Rocky River) continued to suspect him he grew very angry of their treatment towards him, as he was practically innocent.

    2) The difference between Ursula Riggs and Ugly Girl is that Ursula uses the ”Ugly Girl” alias to express her more angry and outspoken feelings, as Ursula herself is quite sad.
    For example, page ” There was Ursula Riggs, who was an excellent student, a serious girl with an interest in biology and art, end there was Ugly Girl, who played sports like a Comanche and who had a sullen, sarcastic tongue”.

    3) Ursula feels a bit abandoned by her family, as her father is away at work all of the time, and her mother seems to only care for her little sister Lisa (which seems to be the only one who cares for Ursula in her family, a fact that Ursula doesn´t see).

    4) When Ursula first heard of the rumors regarding Matt and what he had done, she almost violently rejected it as the truth and started to work towards freeing Matt from those false accusations.

    5) At chapter five Matt starts to revile his inner self, as he describes the event that got him into the mess. He visions himself an artist, and a cleaner self.

    6) The principal denies the bomb-threat, as the official knowledge of this would scar Rocky River High School for a long, long time.

    7) The school´s reaction to Matt´s accusation was that they tried to silence it, as it would be bad for the school´s image if they had had a terrorist going to it.

    8) Matt´s friends reacted very strange for people who calls themselves friends of Matthew, as they didn´t tell anyone of their joke that was the whole foundation of the suspicion of a bomb threat.

    To be continued when time is given to me

    SvaraRadera
  9. 1)Matt is a normal teenage boys who like to have fun. He is the funny guy i the class. He is not a dork in his class.
    Matt was accused of wanted to blow up the hole school and student. One day he was just joking like he normal doing about blow up the school, and somebody thot that he was serious aboute it. Of course Matt knows that he talks alot but at this moment he would never have opened his mouth at all

    2)Ursula is more is more her self but Ugly Girl is how Ursula think that seh is. She does not have any confidence. She think that evreyone hates her but her classmate sees ehr as Ursula not as Ugly Girl that she thinks. Ursula plays basketball and is kind of the best in her team.

    3)Ursula Riggs family is what I will call a "Good Family". Nobody understands her in no kind of way. She wants to be listen but her family but cares more about her little sister Lisa. One thing Usrula hate is to be compared with Lisa. Ursulas mom dosent talk to Ursula in that kind of way.

    4)She was shocked at first but did not thought at all on Rumors. But the most Ursula was shocked that Matt's friends believed in it as well as all other students. She was the only one who believs him.

    5)Matt became more sad and stressed about the whole situation. He was alone on this. He had nobody who believed him at all besides Ursula.
    Before Matt was funny and had fun all the time with his classmates and friends. Now he was ruined.

    6)The didint have anyone to witness aboute that situation.

    7)All student kept their mouth shut aboute it. They didint want to talk to him ore see him.

    8) Describe how Matt's friends reacted?
    Very bad His friends believed the rumor something you should not believe. They were apparently no friends Matt deserved.


    9)Someone at school had apparently cut him in the back of false rumors, but the person who accused Matt believed that Matt woulde to thats sort of thing.

    10)They say one thing to destroy it, therefore you should take it easy with it. Jokes may be something people can believe is real and sometimes bring in a lie in it. You should be careful of what you say. It may come back to you later.


    11)Matt liked the attention and liked it when people laughed at his jokes. He was a serious teenage. When he was nervous as he joked that for example when police interrogated him.



    12)He can really end up in trouble for what he has caused. But those who accused Matt really can also end up in trouble too.


    13)Im sorry dont remember hihi:)


    14)They knew that Matt jokes aboute evreything. The whole thing was enlarged.


    15) Its very cool to read aboute this sort of thing because this is what can happen in real life too.

    SvaraRadera
  10. And, finally, for the last part

    9) Eh, sorry, just can´t seem to remember, but the meaning behind it would probably be that someone accused Matt on purpose to mess with him, or just being evil.

    10) Sorry, what? You mean Matt´s little play in the cafeteria? Well, that was what triggered the whole situation, wasn´t it?

    11) Uhm, that could be related to that incident in that that he wanted to be noticed and appreciated, and while he tried to do that, he kind of let the whole situation get out of hand.

    12) Ugly Girl means that the school´s reaction to the bomb threat was very cowardly and wrong and that they shouldn´t blame Matt before they investigated it.

    13) "Suburbian hysteria" is when a small trouble or incident in a little community gets exaggerated and grows up to seem to be a serious danger to the community.

    14) He did that as he feeled as everyone at the school labeled him as a terrorist even though he didn´t do anything.

    15) The story (while thin in my opinion) is actually quite well-built, with the two protagonists´ viewpoints centered at every second chapter.

    SvaraRadera
  11. I'm at school and left the book at home, but I'll do my best to remember.

    1. Matt has got red hair and freckles. He's got a dog named Pumpkin, a brother named Alex and a mother and father. He's brainy, an entertainer but also a perfectionist. Matt's vice president of the junior class and writes for the Rocky River Run, the school newspaper.
    At the beginning of the novel Matt is accused of having threateden to blow up the school, which.. sort of is true, but he meant it as a joke, something he thought everyone listening would understand. The only thing Matt thinks he's guilty of is having a big mouth.

    2. Well, Ugly girl is the hard shell that I guess protects Ursula. This is actually mentioned later in the book. Ugly girl is a strong warrior woman, while Ursula is more of a coward.

    3. Uhm.. Ursula lives with her younger sister Lisa, her mother and her father. Her father isn't home very much, but she seems to be quite fond of him. He knows just how to tease her. She's fighting with her mother a lot, but deep down she loves her. Ursula likes to tease Lisa but she's scared for her too, she wants to protect her.

    4. Well, when she found out it was Matt they were talking about the got really mad and disgusted with herself. She said to the others that it wasn't true and then ran away. Later she e-mailed Matt telling him to call her, which he did. The next day she went to the principal and told him the truth, that it had only been a joke and she knew because she had heard it.

    5. Uhm.. like I said, don't have my book here. Seems like it's when he's being interrogated 'cause that's what everyone else is writing. Uhm.. I guess Big mouth takes over a little sometimes (when he's making stupid, but funny, jokes). So that might tell us.. that Big mouth comes out to protect Matt? Big mouth is Matt's protective shell? Idk..

    6. Because he doesn't know if there really is trouble or not and of course he doesn't want the school to get that kind of publicity.

    7. I don't know who you mean..
    The people in charge: Well, they did panic a bit.. but I guess they did OK.
    The others: Everything went out of control, there were so many rumours.. And after Matt had been cleared of all the charges they still avoided him.

    8. They stopped speaking to him, didn't answer his phone calls or e-mails.

    9. Hmm.. Havn't got the book, I might come up with a better answer when I get home. It's either Matt's mother at the station or Ursula when she's talking to the principal..?
    It means that he's the one that has suffered because he's been falsely accused..?

    I'll continue when I get home.. or maybe tomorrow.

    SvaraRadera
  12. 1) Matt Donaghy is a smart student with good grades and attends at Rocky River High School in Westchester Country. He is a very active pupil, he was voted vice president of the class and he also writes for the school newspaper. One day in school at his fifth period everything just became black in Matt’s eyes. Two detectives came to the class and escorted him out of the classroom. They took him to another room and started asking him a lot of questions about threatening to blow the school up or to do a massacre. Matt was very confused and didn’t know what they were talking about. This allegation was not true and he was free from all charges. He had once joked about it with his friends and someone made it a big deal and took it very seriously. Matthew had a big mouth and he knew that.

    2) Ursula Riggs is captain of the basketball team at Rocky River high school but she is kind of a loner and doesn’t have many friends except a few girls. Ugly girl is more of tough person who doesn’t care about what people think of her or what the say about her. You notice that they are the opposite of each other because Ursula is afraid of what people say and think of her, Ugly girl is not like that. You get very confused because she describes herself as two different individuals. She is a person but sees herself as two persons.

    3) Ursula lives with her mother, father and younger sister. Her father isn’t at home very often because of his work and her mother doesn’t support her very much, it seems like she prefers her other daughter more because she behaves more like a “normal” girl. She is very independent. Everybody is always so judgmental of her and she finds that very annoying and can get very angry sometimes.


    4) She knew that the rumors wasn’t true so she went to the principals office and told him what really happened, because she knows that Matt is innocent. She also talked to her friends mother so that she would let her daughter be a witness in this case. After her game when she first found out about the rumors she freaked out and felt like she had to do something to help him out of this. She told the principal that it was just stupid guy jokes and even a moron would figure out that it was a joke and that he never had any intentions to make people believe that he was going to blow up the school.

    5) He shows everyone that he likes to be a funny person. He jokes a lot with the detectives but they don’t appreciated very much because this is a very serious thing. He starts to show everyone that he is a nice guy and tries to treat everyone with respect and kindness. He even tries to talk to Ursula and wants to thank her for being a witness.

    6) He doesn’t deny any troubles but he have chosen not to make any comments to the press because he don’t the people in this small town to get upset or afraid. And he thought it was wrong to say Matthews name in the press, because deep inside he knew that the accusations was wrong.

    7) He was suspended for three days and then he came back and the school published their apology. The strangers mistreated him a little and became unfair with him. The students and especially his friend started to avoid him. And they made new rumors about him getting arrested with handcuffs.

    8) At first they stopped talking to him and didn’t answer to his e-mails because their parents forbid that they contacted him. They answered once after it all but then a big whole grew between them and they didn’t have the relation ship they used to have.

    SvaraRadera
  13. 9) I couldn’t find it. But it shows that someone wanted to hurt him and that’s why they made up such lies about him and got him into trouble. His reputation had been destroyed and people started to have bad thoughts about him.

    10) This writer is known to have very violent and crazy novels and Matt happens to like him very much. That is what made them suspect him even more because he was a fit for this profile. But of course this is just a coincident.

    11) He makes jokes sometimes that not every people think is funny, just stupid and dumb. He likes the attention he gets when he say these jokes. Take the joke in the cafeteria for example, it sounded very funny in his head but there are people who understood it in another way.

    12) It means that Matt can sue the principal, school boar and the “two witnesses” who accused him from the beginning. They ruined many things in his life.

    13) This was a headline from a newspaper, and they mean the accusations against Matt. If they are true or false, it became a hysteria and people may have exaggerated the whole incident.

    14) Matt probably thinks that now that everyone at school thought he was a terrorist, he wants to show them that they were wrong and that they never forget that they were wrong about him. And that it is not easy to be accused of something you didn’t do.

    15) I think it is great and you understand this one more than you did with the other novel we read. And the little title in the beginning of every chapter is a good clue to what the chapter is about. I especially like that it is an American book and I understand this better.

    SvaraRadera
  14. 1. Matt is a happy out-going person. He loves to make people laugh and he is smart. He has red hair and freckles. He is very active in school, he writes for the school paper and is vice president in his class.
    Matt was accused of threatining to blow up the school. Two students had heard him saying it in the school cafeteria and that was partly true. Matt had made a pretty stupid joke with his friends that about blowing up the school and showing of so the two persons thaught that he was serious.
    Matt felt kind of stupid I think and the only thing I can think of was that he felt guilty of being a big mouth.

    2. Ursula often speak in third person. Like "Ugly Girl was no coward" or " Ugly Girl would never overdose on barbiturates". Ugly Girl is her but still not her. It's another side of Ursula Riggs, a side who is fearless and doesn't care about waht other peoples think of her. ugly Girl is a warrior woman while Ursula Riggs is a coward.

    3. Ursula lives with her two parnets and her younger sister. Her father is away alot on buisness. Her younger sister, Lisa, does the ballet and is a very pretty girl. She is very thin unlike Ursula. Their mother is very supported towards Lisa and Ursula thinks that her mother prefers Lisa.

    4. Ursula was supprised and at the same time angry that people thaught that Matt was capable of doing such a thing. She defends Matt and even goes to the principal to tell the truth, even though her parents doesn't want her to.

    5. Matt is really happy that Ursula helped him and he wants to speak with her. He's started to be more funny and more careless.

    6. He denies it mostly because they are not really sure if there has been a bomb threat or it was just a joke, and at the same time I think he is protecting Matt from even more bad publicity.

    7. He was suspended for 3 days and when he got back most of the students were sort of avoiding him like he was deadly sick or something. The teachers tried to help him but I don't think he was very interested.

    8. They avoided him, didn't answer his e-mails, didn't call or talk with him. Most of them said it was because of their parents, that they didn't want them to get involved but I think that is just a bad excuse.

    9. I don't know who said it, but I think They mean that Matt is the one who has been misstreated, the one who has been falsely accused. He is the one who has taken the hardest blow.

    10. It was only ment as a joke, but it became to be something so much bigger...

    11. When he was with the detectives he was joking, in class, in his e-mails to his frriends and when he talks to the teachers. Well, i think he does it to get attention and maybe he thinks that no one will like him when he's not funny.

    12. That he will always have what he did on his consciense. He sort of destroyed Matts life.

    13. It was in a headline in New York Times about the whole bombing insident and I think it menas that the people in Rocky River might have exaggerated about the bomb threat a bit.

    14. Well, it was another one of Matts jokes. maybe not so smart but I think he tries to show that he thinks that the whole insident was absurd and that he was still the same funny person.

    15. Well, I think it's good. You can see the whole thing from two diffrent directions. You see it from the accused ones side and from a spectators side.

    SvaraRadera
  15. Yeah.. I didn't continue when I came home from school that day, or the next day.. or the next day.. and so on. Sorry. :3

    10. It would make him look sort of psychotic to the police, which isn't very good.

    11. He's been using his talent for making people laugh ever since he was a kid. He just wants people to like him and like haning out with him. That's what happened in the cafeteria, he just wanted to make his friends laugh and it got out of hand..

    12. If it turns out that Matt is innocent there will be no reason for Mr Parrish to have him suspended, a suspension that is making Matt very unpopular, and that may make Matt's family want to sue the school.

    13. The whole headline is:
    "VIOLENCE NARROWLY AVERTED -
    OR "SUBURBAN HYSTERIA"?
    What is meant by this is that the reported isn't sure if the threat is real or if everything has just been exhaggerated.

    14. It might have been ment as a joke or maybe it was a cry for help.. maybe he wanted attention, trigger a respons.. 'cause let's face it, being ignored is SUCH A BORE!
    Consequences: It will cause more panic? The police might read it and think he's guilty?

    15. I love it! When you only get one side of the story you always have to figure out what the other characters are really thinking and feeling. Is he crushing on her too or does he hate her guts? (That's why I got all excited about the second version of Twilight, 'cause you'd be reading Edwards version of the story. But that was before the whole Twilight and Edward-hysteria.. and now I hate 'em all. ^___^)

    SvaraRadera
  16. 1. Matt Donaghy is a boy who loves to talk and make jokes. He lives in a house with his younger brother and two great parents. He has a few friends that he hangs out with in school and they all know that he is a big mouth. But one day two detectives escort him out of class for questioning. He's been accused of blowing the school up. Of course Matt knows it's not true and it was just a joke that was mistaken. He feels guilty of what he said, but it was not true.

    2. Ursula Riggs describes herself in two different persons. Ursula is very good at sports, especially basketball and she is the captain in the school team. She explains herself as a coward, fearing other people´s opinions and the future. But as Ugly girl she says she was no coward, and didn´t give a damn about the future.

    3. Ursula has a mother, father and a younger sister (Lisa). They live in a big house and her father owns a big company and is the boss of many kids parents in the same school as Ursula.
    Her mom has always compared Lisa and Ursula. Ursula is like the black sheep, Lisa has the perfect look and body and is an aspiring ballerina. Ursula is getting tired of being compared and the atmosphere isn't very good all the time in the house.

    4. She knew it wasn't true, she knew Matt wasn't that kind of person. She also heard him joking about it. So she decided to send an e-mail to Matt to say that she could be a witness. And then she went to principal Parrish and explained the whole situation.

    5. He's joking with the detectives which is not very smart, because is is a very serious thing. But I think that is just how he is and shows that he's not guilty. He's becoming a nicer person and he really wants to talk with Ursula and thank her, but she is avoiding him but Matt doesen't give up.

    6. I think that he doesn't want the school to have a bad reputation, and everybody would probably freak out if they knew.

    7. He was suspended for three days. The teachers didn't really believe it because they also knew Matt. But the students at school spread more rumers about it and the kind of avoided him to keep out from trouble.

    8. I think they wanted to help him and they did what they could, but then they were kind of avoiding him, maybe because their parents had told them to, or they just didn't want to get involved.

    9. I'm not sure but I guess it was Ursula who said it to principal Parrish. Someone has probably wanted him to get into trouble, maybe wanting him to have a bad reputation.

    10. It was a joke which became bigger and bigger. Edgar Allen Poe writes crazy and violent novels so it is pretty comically that this all happen at the same time.

    11. He wants to be seen as a funny person and make jokes everytime he's talking to someone. One example is when he is talking to he detectives, even though it is a serious thing he still have to put some jokes in the conversation. But sometimes you can go too far like he did in the cafeteria, either the person who accused him hated his jokes or he believed that Matt would blow up the school.

    12. She meant that if Matt is innocent (as he is) Mr. Parrish could get into trouble for suspending him. Matt could make a law-suit against the school board because it is all false and could have been effecting his future.

    13. The New York Times writes in their magasin "violence narrowly averted- or suburban hysteria?" I don't know what it means though.

    14. Mr. Weinberg knows Matt is innocent and as said before he likes to joke, and I think he wrote so just because the whole thing was so stupid and ironic. Some people actually thought he was a terrorist at one moment.

    15. I think it is good, makes the book more fun to read, it is not confusing at all because you know after just a few lines which person it is about.

    SvaraRadera