User:Patriciarwalsh/sandbox

E.D. Applewhite “‘My name is not Edie. Its E.D. E period, D period.’” (1). “He tried to imagine his social worker back in Rhode Island calling him a radiant light being. She had never called him anything, he thought. Not even his name. Mostly whenever she had to deal with him she just sighed a lot and shook her head” (23).

Jake Semple “No one in living memory had been thrown out of Traybridge Middle School, but Jake Semple had managed to accomplish that feat in three weeks flat” (2). “That was why Jake had a social worker – because his parents were in jail for growing marijuana in their basement and offering some off-duty sheriff’s deputy” (3). “He hated adults making decisions for him and expecting him to just go along with whatever they said” (7).

Aunt Lucile Aunt Lucile convinces everyone that, even though Jake Semple is a troubled child, taking him in is “a noble and socially responsible thing to do” (3). What does it mean to be noble and social responsible? How are these ideas relevant throughout the book? “E.D. didn’t know how long they were going to be in jail, but at least a year. She figured criminal tendencies ran in families. The kid had burned down his schools just after his parents were arrested” (3).

“Nobody could ever tell Jake Semple words didn’t have power” (6)

“The Applewhites were determined to find the good kid under the bad exterior. It didn’t seem to occur to them that the kid might be bad all the way through” (16). ‘“Real science demands creativity and individuality… without creativity and individuality, there would be no scientific discovery’” (17). “… the Applewhites didn’t believe in telling the children what to study and when. The Creative Academy wasn’t so much a home school as an unschool. Its students were supposed to follow their own interests and create their own educational plans. Separately. Individually. Creatively” (19). Does The Creative Academy sound like an unschool to you? How is it different from the school you attend? Would you like to be a student at The Creative Academy? “‘Don’t think that just because there isn’t a teacher standing over you every minute, we don’t take education seriously. The most important thing you’re going to learn while you’re here is who you are and what you’re made of’” (35). Lucille to Jake Motif – flowers •	Cordelia likes to make bouquets •	Dried lavender in Jake’s room •	Flowers on Cordelia’s dress that the dog tears •	Flowers outside of house when Lucille first brings Jake there •	“At the kitchen table behing another vase of dying flowers sat Sybil Jameson, wearing a tattered robe and jotting notes on a yellow pad with a thoroughly chewed pencil” (28). •	“‘Why don’t you show Jake your curriculum notebook?’ Lucille said. ‘He can see what interests him most and get started. I’m going to get rid of these poor bouquets. They’re pulling down the energy of the whole room’” (37). •	“Jake didn’t say anything. He just struck at the tall grass as if the net were a scythe – one way, then the other – scattering seed heads and blossoms of Queen Anne’s lace” (41). Motif – butterflies •	Butterfly Project – important to E.D. – explained in the beginning of ch. 5 •	E.D. does not see “a single butterfly, much less a fritillary” while she is walking around with Lucille showing Jake the land (37).