1.1. Great-grandmother was small, tight-lipped, and straight, dressed in black with a white lace collar. She looked severe, and entirely without humour. (pg.4)
1.2. Of the family Matt was the only one who resembled Great-grandmother although he was far from grim. Matt had the same straight mouth and steady grey. Matt was ten years older than Kate, tall, serious and clever. His passion was the ponds. (pg.4)
1.3. Matt is a very caring person who is very intuitive and cares about his sister Kate as seen by his actions at the pond. (pg.5)
1.4. "The Pyes were what you'd call a problem family, always had been, always would be." The Pyes lived on a farm and were the Morrisons' nearest neighbours. (pg.7)
1.5. Luke was not a scholar and he was 'the problem one' as Kate put it, and he often made his parents worry. Matt was the clever one and was intellectual like his Great-Grandmother.
1.6. Bo, at a young age, was small, round, and had a fine, fair fluff of hair that stood straight out from her head. She wasn't very placid and sweet. (pg.10)
1.7. Luke and Matt had similar facial features with long Morrison noses and grey eyes and were similar height. Luke was more broad-shouldered and heavy-boned than Matt. He was slow-moving and powerful, but Matt was agile and quick. (pg.11)
1.8. "Mr. and Mrs.Pye had three children of their own but two of them are girls, and Laurie, the boy, was only fourteen and too small for heavy work."(pg.14)
1.9. Reverend Mitchell was the Morrison's minister and his daughter Janie was Kate's best friend. Dr. Christopherson was the Morrison's doctor. (pg.17)
1.10. Simon is a very nice boy and is absurdly alike to Matt. Daniel, Kate's boyfriend, is very curious. (pg.22)
1.11. Great-grandmother was devoted to education. (pg.23) She was a remarkable women who revered knowledge and was a born scholar. She was fair-minded, kindly, and wise according to Kate's father.(pg.24)
1.12. Father Morrison was at the stop of the class in every subject. He was very smart. (pg. 25)
1.13. Kate's parents had a sense of adventure and they were serious-minded people who had honest smiles. (pg.26)
1.14. "Mr. and Mrs. McLean were small, shy, quiet people, nothing at all like their daughter." (pg.31)
1.15. Calvin Pye was the farmer Matt and Luke worked for in the summers, and he was bitter-looking. His wife, Alice, was scared looking. Marie was their oldest daughter and Rosie was the youngest; both looked pale and nervous-looking like their mother. Laurie looked a lot like Mr. Pye and had the same lean, bony face and same dark, furious eyes. Miss Carrington was Kate's Teacher and she was young, quite nice, but very strict. (pg.32)
1.16. Mrs. Stanovich was a large soft lady who looked as if she didn't have any bones. She was very religious. Mr. Stanovich was known as Gabby, because he never said a word. (pg.33)
1.17. Daniel is Professor Crane of the zoology department. In his family, there is a lot of arguing. (pg.36)
1.18. Daniel is tall and thin and was a very intelligent man who had travelled everywhere. (pg.38)
1.19. Miss Vernon seemed a hundred years old, had arthritis, and couldnt do much. Kate often helped her with her vegetable garden and Miss Vernon always had stories to tell. (pg.41)
1.20. Aunt Annie was Kate's father's eldest sister and she was many years older than him. She was short, fat, and had a big butt. She was very nice and had a cheerful attitude.(pg.43+44)
1.21. Aunt Annie was efficient and tactful and made no demands of the childrens' affections. (pg.45)
1.22. Marie Pye was the only normal member of her family, but she looked twitchy. She was big-boned and strong-looking, but pale, with a halo of fine pale hair and wide anxious eyes. (pg.49)
1.23. Matt and Kate had a good relationship together. Matt was very open with Kate about everything. (pg.54)
1.24. Aunt Annie was more ruthless than Matt. She made Kate talk and believed useful work was a good remedy for any ill. (pg.55)
1.25. Matt had a love of learning and was a scholar. He was the cleverest child Miss Carrington had taught. He had skipped grade eight. (pg.57)
1.26. Mr. Calvin Pye, who Matt works for, is insane, furious, and raging mad. He is always after Laurie and yells at him. Laurie knows he is insane. (pg.72)
1.27. Daniel Crane had a lean build, was unfit, and could handle criticism tactfully. (pg.83)
1.28. Daniel's parents were both extremely articulate and extremely opinionated and they would contradict each other constantly. (pg.85)
1.29. Daniel's mother is tall and gaunt and striking to look at. His father, which is shorter, gives an impression of power and mass and ferocious, barely containing energy. Unlike them, Daniel was peaceful and uncompetitive. (pg.86)
1.30. The McLean family was strange individually and as a family. Mr. and Mrs. McLean were small, mousy, shy and elderly, while Sally McLean, their daughter, was tall and the opposite of them. She had body language, with pelvis forward, breasts lifted, and chin up. (pg.99)
1.31. The Pye men always had a good taste in women (pg.107)
1.32. The Pye men were all handsome and they were big, husky boys. (pg.112)
1.33. Rosie Pye was "like some poor seedling accidentally sown outside somebody's back door- spindles-thin, pale and weedy, trodden on everytime she raised her hand." She was very timid and shy (pg. 119)
1.34. Marie Pye had a soft voice and was really timid. Laurie Pye had something in his eyes that made you look away. Three generations of Pyes had run away. (pg.120)
1.35. Miss Carrington was tall, thin, her face was too long to be called pretty, but she had nice eyes. They were large and very dark brown. (pg.125)
1.36. Kate had a hard time understanding people and struggled with empathy for people. (pg.149)
1.37. Daniel was naive in some ways, he hadn't had to struggle for anything in life. and he was easygoing, undemanding, generous, fair, and tolerant. (pg.150)
1.38. Matt saw problems more clearly than Luke and was more realistic about solving them. (pg.163)
1.39. Daniel had an old-womanish dislike for getting his feet wet, and was physically lazy. (pg.193)
1.40. Kate was the assistant, invertebrate ecology. She didn't like public speaking/teaching at all. She couldn't relate to her students, but Daniel did and thought them interesting. (pg.197)
1.41. Rosie Pye was never all the way normal. "Fear must have rendered Rosie stupid. Feeling must have rendered her numb." (pg.204)
1.42. Dr. Christopherson was a very caring person for the Morrison family as he came often to check up on the family. (pg.206)
1.43. Lily Stanovich had small, weak-looking eyes and a large fleshy face. She wasn't blessed with beauty, but she had presence and raw courage. (pg.211)
1.44. Matt is very assertive and a calm person in situations such as the one he had with Marie. (pg.254)
1.45. Simon, Matt's son, was tall and lanky like his father. Terribly like his father. (pg.261)
1.46. Bo, at an older age, was tall,, blond, and beautiful as a warrior and Luke was very handsome. (pg.265)
1.47. Simon was a very nice boy who has a lot of common sense. (pg.278)
2. Camera
2.1. The pond and the description of the woods with the growth of poison ivy gives me a very good visual picture of how it is like in Crow Lake. I can very distinctly picture in my mind the beautiful nature in Crow Lake and the pond that Matt and Kate were at with all it's wildlife. (pg.4+5)
2.2. The lake and the warm sand around the lake and the description of Matt and Luke skipping stones trigger a visual picture for me in which I can see myself with them there. (pg.15)
2.3. The description of Kate's parents is very vivid and particular and gives me a very good mental picture of what they looked like. (pg.26)
2.4. I can picture the funeral service in the churchyard with Matt and the others dressed in dark clothes, people snuffling, and the yard full of emotion. The author does a good job of describing the atmosphere and mood at the funeral. (pg. 30+31)
2.5. "The big grey-painted house, the large shambling barn, bits of farm machinery scattered about, the fields lying flat and yellow under the sky." I can really imagine the mess of Jackson Pye's farm with this description full of imagery. (pg.41)
2.6. The description of the tadpoles wriggling in the pond and the sticklebacks paints a very visual beautiful picture for me of the tadpoles and fish swimming and Matt and Kate intensely examining them. (pg.47)
2.7. I can really imagine Kate's outburst of emotion to Matt on the dusty road and her complete utter confusion. I can also visualize Bo as she falls into the pond while she is watching the fish and is later soaking wet. (pg. 50)
2.8. I can visualize Kate and Bo, two figures one bigger than the other, on the warm hot sand beach by the lake, the waves crashing on the water, and the stillness of it all. I really have a mental picture of Bo from the description of her on this page. (pg.66)
2.9. The description of the trees, lakes, fields and swamps weaving through the empty landscape of Edmonton, give me a pretty clear visual of what it is like in Edmonton. (pg.93)
2.10. I can really picture the McLean family and the oddness of them. I can particularly picture Sally McLean with how she stands and talks. I picture her as a snobbish character. (pg.99)
2.11. Miss Vernon's description of the Pye farmhouse is very vivid and clear to me and I visually see it in my mind as a typical farm house with large windows and a veranda wrapped around the house. (pg. 105)
2.12. "They are leaning on their picks, their hats shoved back on their heads, grinning at the camera with mouthfuls of bad teeth. Most of them look to be on the small side, lean to the point of skinniness, their muscles corded and stringy rather than bulging out of their shirts." The description of the crew workers stimulates a very clear picture in my mind of dirty workers. (pg.123)
2.13. The description of the geese flying in a v-shape in the sky triggered a visual image of geese flying in the sky, because Canadian geese are our countries national animal. (pg.130)
2.14. I can mentally picture what it was like for Kate in the Restaurant by the descriptive words such as expensive, small, airless. (pg. 154)
2.15. "My toes curling up from the cold linoleum of the bathroom floor. Small hard grains of snow were hissing against the bathroom window; if you pressed your face against the glass it looked as if the night had a million holes in it." This stimulates my visual sense as well as my sense of feeling as it describes the bathroom. I can see the snow falling outside the window. (pg.164)
2.16. The description of Kate's laboratory and her experience with investigating all the bugs and twigs she found, makes me visually relay the whole episode. (pg.189)
2.17. Kate's encounter with Daniel in the laboratory studying pond skater triggers a visual image of her environment around her and her facial reactions when she sees Daniel. (pg.191)
2.18. "The handsome farmhouse, the well-made barn, the sheds and outbuildings, the fields carved out of the forest, the tons of rock shifted, trees uprooted, fields fenced." The imagery in the description of Jackson Pye's farm is very strong and creates a visual picture for me of a very clean piece of land, with nice buildings, and trees protruding out of the soil. (pg.225)
2.19. "The weather was good, a fine clear April day.The sprawl of Toronto gave way quite quickly to fields, and the the soil got thinner and fields gave way to meadows bounded by trees, with the rounded grey shapes of granite breaking the surface here and there like whales. And then the whales began to take over, and the meadows were merely rough patches of grass between the rocks." This paints a very good visual of the landscape surrounding Kate and Daniel on their way to Matt. (pg.234)
2.20. By the description of the atmosphere surrounding Matt and Kate, a clear visual picture is definitively painted in my mind. (pg.286)
3. I Wonder
3.1. What were the Pye family's problems/nightmare? What was the Morrison dream and how would it become entangled with the Pye nightmare? What event in the Morrison family was so catastrophic? (pg.7)
3.2. "I've gone over that mealtime many times in my mind, less because of Luke's astounding news than because it turned out to be our last family supper." This was the day Luke got accepted to teachers' college. What had happened to the family? Did someone die? (pg.9)
3.3. I wonder why Sally Mclean always comes by Crow Lake ironically at the same time Matt and Luke are there. I wonder if Sally Mclean likes Luke? (pg.15)
3.4. Why was a police car coming down the drive? Did something happen to their parent's when they went to town? Did they die? (pg.17)
3.5. Now that Kate's parents are dead, how will the Morrison family be able to function and what will happen? Will Luke still be going to college? (pg.19)
3.6. "I had my work, and I had Daniel, and between them they took up a lot of time and energy." I wonder where Kate works and how her life is now? I wonder what had happened between the years after the incident? (pg. 20)
3.7. Who had Matt married to have Simon? What other disastrous events Kate is talking about, happened the year of her parent's death? What was the tale of Great-grandmother and her book rest? (pg. 21)
3.8. "Calvin Pye, for instance. His name wouldn't be mentioned. Or Laurie Pye's, come to that." Why is it that these names cannot be mentioned? What happens to them? (pg. 22)
3.9. How long would Aunt Annie stay with the family? Would she stay long? (pg.29)
3.10. Why can't Kate tell Daniel more about herself and her family? Why is she holding back so much? (pg.37)
3.11. I wonder were Norman Pye went if he never came back? How is it that he could be so afraid of his father that he would risk freezing to death rather than facing him? (pg.42)
3.12. How would Bo be affected by the death of her parents in the future? Would she understand at her young age what had happened to her parents? (pg.46)
3.13. If they weren't able to stay in there home, where would they stay? (pg.51)
3.14. Would the plan for the Morisson Family go as Aunt Annie had planned? Would Luke still want to go to teachers' college? (pg. 52)
3.15. Why was Miss Carrington coming over to see Aunt Annie? Was it something to do with school? (pg.55)
3.16. Would Aunt Annie consider Miss Carrington's offer to allow Matt to go to university? Would Matt go to university? (pg.58)
3.17. When Luke became angry about what Matt said, where did he go in the morning? What was he thinking? Did he feel guilty about him going to college and Matt not being able to? (pg.64)
3.18. How had Kate been able to become a professor and had gotten the job Matt so wished for? (pg.82)
3.19. I wonder if Daniel had seen that the photograph of Simon was an invitation? Would he ask Kate if he could come along? (pg.84)
3.20. Would Kate let Daniel meet her family like he requested or would her relationship end with him? (pg.90)
3.21. What was Laurie Pye doing in the middle of the night wondering about!? Was it because of his abusive father, Calvin Pye? (pg.97)
3.22. What does idyllic mean in this context? Why doesn't Laurie accept Luke's offer to come in? (pg.98)
3.23. In the fight in the schoolyard, why had Laurie been fighting with Alex Kirby? Was it his why of releasing his anger for his dad, by beating someone else up? (pg.131)
3.24. I wonder what Miss Carrington would have said to Laurie after the school yard fight? Why did he walk away and were did he go? (pg. 132)
3.25. I wonder in all those letters that Kate sent to Aunt Annie, whether Aunt Annie sent any replies? (pg.135)
3.26. Why was Luke getting so defensive about Matt jokingly bringing up the topic of Sally McLean? (pg.140)
3.27. Would Sally McLean cause Luke to lose his job, because of what happened between them? (pg.145)
3.28. I wonder if Mr. and Mrs. McLean even believed Sally McLean when she told them? I wonder how Mr. McLean had fired Luke? In an angry manner? How would the family manage financially now? (pg.152)
3.29. Now that Daniel had seen the invitation from Simon, would she bring it up? If she didn't, would he break up with her? (pg.153)
3.30. Was Laurie being hit by Mr. Pye? (pg.171)
3.31. Would Dr.Christopherson even give the Morrisons a bill for Bo if he knew they had financial troubles? (pg.175)
3.32. What happened to Matt!? What was the snapping sound? (pg.181)
3.33. Why does Kate feel like her family was irrelevant? What is she thinking/feeling?
3.34. I wonder why Kate can't bear Matt's pride for her? (pg.194)
3.35. What had turned up? (pg.205)
3.36. Was Mr.Pye about to hit Laurie with the belt in his hand? Why didn't Matt say anything about it? Would he tell Reverend Mitchell about it? (pg.216)
3.37. Where had Laurie gone? Why had the Pye family disappeared from public view for several weeks? (pg.221)
3.38. Why was Mrs. Pye so distressed? Why didn't she stand up to Mr. Pye when Laurie was being abused? Was she scared of him? Would Matt win scholarships like everyone thought? (pg.226)
3.39. What had happened to Matt's plan? Why didn't it work, and allow Luke and Bo to go to University also? What was Bo doing with her life? I wonder how Daniel feels now that Kate his revealing her whole life story? (pg. 241)
3.40. Was Luke actually gay and was actually even interested in going to teacher's college? (pg.245)
3.41. Does Miss Carrington and Luke have a relationship together or why does Miss Carrington visit often? (pg.246)
3.42. What had happened to Marie, why was she so frightened? What had Matt done? Was Marie pregnant? (pg.253)
3.43. How would the death of Mr. Pye affect Mrs. Pye? What would happen to the family? (pg. 270)
4. Voice
4.1. The death of Kate's parents in a car crash, I find very very tragic! It would be awful for me if that happened in our family. I can't imagine how hard it would be for the family and Bo who doesn't even understand what happened. This event gives me a mix of emotions. (pg. 19)
4.2. I can't imagine how Kate is feeling every time she thinks of her past. It must have been very emotionally difficult for her. (pg.20)
4.3. I find it amazing how the community all comes to give gifts at the front door after the accident. And I can't imagine what it would be like to organize my parents' funeral like Luke and Matt was doing. Also, even having to deal with Bo and Kate clinging to me, would've made me quite emotional. (pg. 28)
4.4. I find Sally McLean is very pushy with Luke and really likes him. I think she is trying to get closer to him under the circumstances and Luke doesn't want it. Luke feels he should protect Bo as he tightens his grip on her. (pg.33)
4.5. I can see how Kate may have found it discomforting and unhappy how Mrs. Stanovich said that they were rejoicing in heaven that her parents were dead. (pg.34)
4.6. I think the metaphor that Daniel would like to put Kate on a slide and examine her under his microscope is funny. I can see why he would be upset that Kate doesn't tell much about her family. (pg.36)
4.7. "No, you swallow your feelings, force them down inside yourself, where they can feed and grow and expand until you explode." Kate shouldn't or anyone in the Morrison shouldn't hide their true feelings after the accident. Sharing your feelings, makes you closer to your family and friends. (pg.36)
4.8. I really dont understand how Norman Pye could be so afraid of his father that he would rather risk freezing to death than face him. His father must've been very abusive! (pg.42)
4.9. Aunt Annie seems like a very nice person who is very kind, friendly, and gentle with the children. The Morrisons should be glad for her. (pg.44)
4.10. Matt seems like a very good brother as he always explains things to Kate and is very humorous and caring to her. (pg.47)
4.11. I do think Luke should still go to teachers' college as planned. It would be hard for the family though to be split up and it would be financially hard. (pg.52)
4.12. The effect that Bo's parents death has on her seems to be that Bo is always angry in my point of view. I think it must be difficult for Bo who doesn't understand the situation and is being put under Aunt Annie's authority. (pg.61)
4.13. I think Luke feel's guilty that he is able to go to university instead of Matt. I think Matt really does want to go to university to study. (pg.63)
4.14. Judging from the description that Matt gives Mr. Pye, I would never want to work for him or be his son. He sounds abusive. (pg.72)
4.15. I think Luke's idea for the family is very selfless and a good idea. In this way the family would stay together and Matt could go to school! (pg.74)
4.16. I find it really dumb that Kate doesn't open up to Daniel about her family and doesn't tell him much about them. She should invite him to Simon's party. I can understand how Daniel is feeling. (pg.87)
4.17. Matt and Marie seem/act like they are in love by how frequent they talk. (pg.102)
4.18. "He could've had a real good place there, if only he hadn't fought with all his boys. Farmer needs sons, you know. Girls aren't worth as much. Well, some of them's all right." I think, personally that girls can be just as good farm workers as men can be if you train them.
4.19. "My guess is you've got nothin but sensible ideas in that head of yours. Too many sensible ideas. Theres more to life than good grades that you know. More to life than being brainy." I don't think it was nice of Miss Vernon to say this about Kate and she should've known it would hurt her feelings. I think she was just upset/jealous that Kate was so sensible. (pg.111)
4.20. I really really cannot understand that Arthur and Calvin both had endured abuse from their father and had hated their father for it, but yet they did it to there own sons!! (pg.118)
4.21. I don't understand why Laurie Pye would beat up Alex Kirby. I though he was a nice kid and don't get why he was in the schoolyard anyway. (pg.131)
4.22. I find it great that Kate keeps in contact with Aunt Annie. It must be comforting for Aunt Annie to know that the community was taking care of the family. (pg.134)
4.23. If Mrs, Stanovich actually thinks that, that is wrong! God is never guilty of an error of judgement! (pg. 137) I think Matt has got a point that they cant live of the charity and hospitality of the community their whole lives.
4.24. I really don't like Sally McLean. She is very sneaky and tries to suck up to Luke. She's a slut. (pg.143)
4.25. I think Kate was right. Sally McLean had just been sexually attracted to Luke and his big brother attitude. If she had told her parents what had happened between her and Luke in the way Kate described, I'd be pissed. (pg.151)
4.26. Yes! Finally Kate asks Daniel if he would like to Simon's party. She must've felt relieved and he also must have felt happy about it. (pg.161)
4.27. I can understand why Matt gets so angry with Luke. Luke is too easy-going and doesn't realize the problem at hand when he should. The messy house would get me annoyed also! (pg.166)
4.28. I think Luke and Matt should tell Reverend Mitchell about Laurie. If it were me, I would. Laurie was being harmed! (pg.171)
4.29. What!? Matt quit school! Luke is not going to be happy I don't think. (pg.177)
4.30. "He said that he'd given up his goddamned future so that Matt could get a degree and if Matt threw that away now, he'd kill him." This is crazy for Luke to say this. He wants everything to swing his own way. I think that Matt and Luke don't realize the effect there fights are having on Bo and Kate. (pg.180)
4.31. That is sad that Kate felt embarrassed about her own family when they showed up to her graduation and she wasn't even able to introduce them to her friends. (pg.188)
4.32. I really admire Luke's dedication to take care of Bo. (pg. 209)
4.33. Laurie said, "I must've got it from you." I admire Laurie's courage to stand up to his father's abusive words. (pg.215)
4.34. That must've made Matt beam with pride when he got the scholarships and everyone congratulated him on it. (pg.228)
4.35. I think it was good for Kate to have her talk with Fiona who was in a similar situation as them. I think it would make Kate think more about her own situation of drawing away from her family. (pg.238)
4.36. "She managed to get herself pregnant by someone else about a year after Luke turned her down...But then she saw someone better-looking at the cattle market in New Liskeard and she went off with him."
4.37. "It seemed to me that they must think that i was flaunting him. Bringing him home deliberately in order to show off my success." Kate shouldn't think so negatively about what they were thinking that she was bringing Daniel. (pg.260)
4.38. "Calvin kept a loaded shotgun above the fireplace in the living room and he shot himself right there, in front of Mrs. Pye" Woww! That would've been so awful for Mrs. Pye. I can't imagine how she was feeling then and afterwards. Good thing, Rosie didnt see it! (pg. 270)
4.39. Kate has to change her mindset. Of course Matt would want to hear about her career; he would love it! (pg. 275)
4.40. "It makes no difference to who Matt is. Can't you see that? No difference at all. The tragedy is that you think it's so important. So important you're letting it destroy the relationship the two of you had..." I agree with what Daniel is saying %100. Daniel seems like a very insightful person. (pg.284)
5. Reminder
5.1. This reminds me of the rules set for me every Sunday. Just as it is considered a sin for Great-grandmother Morrison to work on Sabbath, my parents don't like me to work on homework on Sunday, the Sabbath. (pg.3)
5.2. Great-grandmother Morrison reminds me of my Oma who has 14 children as well; one of them being my father. My Oma often has a disapproving look like Great-grandmother Morrison. (pg.4)
5.3. The description of the pond, nature, and railroad tracks in Crow Lake reminds me of the abandoned railroad tracks, line of trees, nature, and creek behind my house. (pg.4)
5.4. Bo's incident at the table where she interrupts the prayer reminds me of what sometimes happens at our supper table. My sister Gloria often talks while we pray or does other things and my mom similarly warns her that she would go to bed. (pg.10)
5.5. Matt and Luke's constant fighting and bickering remind me of my brother's Uri and Jedi who are always fighting. Uri teases Jedi on and Jedi becomes aggressive and they always end in a fight. (pg.12)
5.6. Bo sticking the pebbles in her mouth supposing they are peas, reminds me of several occasions my little sisters stuck things in their mouths that they werent supposed to. I often tried to get it out of there mouth and it was slimey with saliva. (pg.16)
5.7. I remember King Solomon from the Bible and his wisdom which 'Great-grandmother had'. King Solomon was a very wise king who was the son of David and built the Temple for the Jews. (pg.24)
5.8. The ongoing support of the community after the community reminds me of the support our community offers so willingly to the families with sick or dying. (pg. 28)
5.9. The fact that Daniel Crane and his father and mother are all professors at the same university reminds me of the Hopper family where Mr. and Mrs. Hopper are both teachers and their children are students at Glendale. (pg. 35)
5.10. The mention of Luke changing Bo's diapers, reminds me of the numerous times I had to change my sisters' diapers that were soaked with pee or full of poop. (pg.48)
5.11. Matt reminds me off myself, because i also skipped great eight. And although my work ethic isn't that great, I also have a love of learning. (pg.57)
5.12. Luke's parents being infuriated of him not telling where he was, reminds me of myself and my parents. I often don't tell my parents where I am and they get very upset with me when I show up late at night. (pg.65)
5.13. The mention of surface tension, cohesion, and the reason behind it, reminds me and puts me back to Biology class, where we learned about surface tension and the important features of water. (pg.81)
5.14. The mention of lab reports and Kate marking them, makes me think of how Mrs.Hopper must feel when she marks our lab reports and we do poorly on them. (pg. 82)
5.15. Aunt Annie's cleaning marathon before she left, reminds me of how my mom sometimes goes through the whole house and cleans it from top to bottom when we have visitors coming. (pg.96)
5.16. Miss Vernon's and Nellie's dream of marrying Arthur and Peter Pye and living happily in the Pye house reminds me of Angus and Miles in the Drawer Boy play who wanted to live together in a house with their wives. (pg.110)
5.17. The mention of the black candy balls brings me back to childhood. I absolutely loved those hard black candy balls. (pg.152)
5.18. "the snow was piled up against the house in smooth curving drifts. In the night, the house groaned with cold." This reminds me of the long winter days I had two years ago when the snow was piled so high and i had to shovel it and when it was so cold in our house. (pg.167)
5.19. "Already the scarf was wet on the inside from my breath." This reminds me of when i sometimes have this, and i really dont like it when i have it. (pg. 169)
5.20. Luke's experience with trying to potty-train Bo reminds me of the many frustrating experiences my Mom had and even I had sometimes trying to potty-train my little sisters. Everytime they would sit a quiet corner and poop in their pants like Bo did. (pg.173)
5.21. The mention of beetles walking on water and insects, reminds me of the Jesus Lizard that is able to walk on water. (pg.198)
5.22. Parallel lines is a good metaphor for the families' lives. Parallel lines reminds me of Vectors where there is no solution to two parallel lines. (pg. 217)
5.23. Matt's regular trips to the pond on Sundays reminds me of the trips my siblings and I or my friends and I used to take to the tree fort or creek near our house. (pg.251)
5.24. The Morrison family party and Crow Lake Community party at Matt's house, reminds me of the family barbeques that I have at my Opa's house. A similar scenario is what we have with everyone talking and laughing, (pg.290)
6. Puzzle Piece
6.1. "she had spun for half an hour on the Sabbath day. Back then, that counted as a major sin." This indicates that religion plays a big part in the Morrison family and how important the Sabbath was to them. "She'd been dead for decades by the time the events occurred that devastated our family put an end to our dreams, but that doesn't mean she had no influence over the final outcome." This gives insight to a great tragedy that the Morrison family will have and that Great-grandmother would have some influence in it. (pg.3)
6.2. "Hundreds of hours, we must have spent that way over the years."The pond behind Kate's house plays a big part in her life at Crow Lake as she spends a lot of time their with Matt. "I was unaware of these changes of course...Tomorrow is forever, and years pass in no time at all." For Kate, her childhood past very quickly in her perception. (pg. 5)
6.3. The Pye family's problems which were offstage from the rest of the community would become entangled with the Morrison dream. (pg.7)
6.4. "Crow Lake was linked to the outside world by one dusty road and the railroad tracks. The trains didnt stop unless you flagged them down" This shows how Crow Lake is a town that is very insignificant or out in a fairly isolated area in the country. (pg.9)
6.5. "'It's only a guess, but everywhere Luke goes, there's Sally. So im guessing she's in love with him.'" Everyone thinks Sally McLean is in love with Luke including Matt. (pg.17)
6.6. I was right. The Morrison's parents had been killed when their car was hit by a fully loaded logging truck whose brakes failed. Now it makes sense! The catastrophic event that would happen to the Morrisons was the death of their parents. (pg.19)
6.7. "Memories. I'm not in favour of them, by and large. Not that there aren't any good ones, but on the whole I'd like to put them in an airtight cupboard and close the door... I found a letter from Matt waiting for me....instantly i got the same old ache, a heavy dull pain, like mourning. In all those years it hadn't lessened a bit." This shows how much Kate doesn't like to think of her past and how much she feels hurt by it. She tries to lock her past up and never think about it, because she feels to much emotion. (pg. 20)
6.8. Education was very important for the Morrisons, because Great-grandmother Morrison had such a strong passion for education and knowledge. (pg.24)
6.9. The days after the accident were hard to remember for Kate. All she remembered was the big mess. This shows how Kate must've had days full of emotion and confusion after the accident. (pg.27)
6.10. "It was disparaging her religion that got him into trouble. Religious tolerance was a family creed and you defied it at your peril." (pg.33)
6.11. Crow Lake was nothing at all, but true wilderness. It was a town built on farming. (pg.39)
6.12. Matt felt no real happiness and tried to cover up his unhappiness in the eyes of Bo, Kate, and Luke to make them feel better. Kate was still full of fear and dread. This was all due to their parents' death. (pg.48)
6.13. "Marie. When she asked youwhat was going to happen. What did she mean?....What did she--- and then all at once I was crying standing there, straight and still with my arms at my sides." Kate was full of confusion and mixed emotions after what had happened. (pg.50)
6.14. Aunt Annie wasn't going to be able to stay with them until they grew up. She had to look after her parents, work on a farm, and was too busy. (pg.51)
6.15. The plan for the family was that Matt would work on the farm to earn money for Bo and Kate who would live with their Aunt Emily and Uncle Ian. Luke would go to teachers' college. (pg.52)
6.16. "I was so swamped by unmanageable emotions that i couldn't feel a thing. it was like being at the bottom of the sea." Here you can see that Kate was full of mixed emotions. she felt like a child who had undergone a war or faminine. (pg. 53)
6.17. The reason Robert Morrison, Kate's father, had left very little money for the family is because he was helping his other siblings with financial needs. He had felt badly for them and thought he had a good salary for his kids in the years to come. (pg.59)
6.18. "He wanted me to laugh, but that was more than I could manage. I smiled" Kate can barely show any positive happy emotion anymore. Thinking and speaking about things had become difficult for her. (pg.62)
6.19. Bo thought that Aunt Annie was responsible for everything that had gone wrong with her life, and she fought with Aunt Annie because of it. This shows how Bo was feeling. (pg.65)
6.20. When Luke had left, he had left to see Mr. Levinson, his dad's lawyer. He had wanted to sort some things out and wanted to know some things. Luke said he didn't want to go to teachers' college, but he wanted to stay living where he was, work, and help raise the family. He also wanted Matt to go to school.(pg.73)
6.21. What Matt was thinking was that he really did desperately want to go to university, but he simple couldn't because he felt he had to turn it down and take care of the family. (pg.75)
6.22. Daniel felt very uncertain about Kate as she never told him about her family. He felt like the relationship was not even important to Kate, because she never told him anything. (pg.88)
6.23. Kate was afraid that if she found she loved Daniel and needed him too much, she would lose him. She thought that people she loved had a habit of disappearing from her. She didn't like to analyze her feelings too much. This is why she didn't open up to Daniel. (pg. 89)
6.24. "Im sure the ponds themselves were. I'm sure he drew comfort from the continuity of life there...I see now that he may also have found comfort in those brief meetings with Marie." This shows how significant the ponds were and Marie was as a comfort source for Matt. (pg. 103)
6.25. Calvin Pye had endured the same abuse from Arthur Pye, his father, that he was now giving Laurie. Calvin had hated his father and Arthur always screamed at him. Now, Laurie endured the same abuse from his father day after day. (pg.117)
6.26. This page shows Kate's feelings of Matt and her expectations she feels she must meet. Kate tried very hard in school, but she was very afraid of disappointing Matt, or of not being as clever as he wanted her to be.(pg.128)
6.27. Now I know what happens to Aunt Annie. Aunt Annie dies of cancer. (pg.134)
6.28. Now I understand why Luke didn't like talky about Sally McLean and got so angry when Matt brought her up. He had touched her breasts when she got close to him and Sally McLean was the daughter of his employer! (pg.145)
6.29. After Luke's incident with Sally in the woods, Luke did end up getting fired from his job by Mr. McLean (pg.152)
6.30. Kate can't picture Daniel meeting her family. I can now understand her hesitation in bringing him to Simon's party. (pg.156)
6.31. Kate's letter to Aunt Katie about how christmas was and the gifts her family recieved, shows me how supportive the community of Crow Lake is to the Morissons. (pg.167)
6.32. "Luke said,'It's partly his own fault'..'Laurie's?'...'Yeah. He answers back." Luke thinks Mr. Pye hits Laurie sometimes, because he walks funny sometimes. It makes sense now that Laurie is being abused and why he is being abused so much; he talks back a lot. (pg.171)
6.33. Dr. Christopherson would never have given the Morrisons a bill! (pg.176)
6.34. Matt thinks everything that Luke was doing for the girls was never about what was best for them. It was just his ego. Matt is angry at Luke for wanting to do something important for once to make himself look good. (pg.180)
6.35. Matt had only dislocated his arm. Though they were fighting over financial needs, Luke ironically found a new job within weeks. (pg.183)
6.36. Kate realized the power of education and the ultimate good of it when she was in University. Kate was funded to recieve her Ph.D. and become a professor. At her time at university, she began to feel that her family was irrelevant. (pg.187)
6.37. "The distance between us seemed so huge that part of my life so far in the past and that part of my life so far in the past that i couldn't imagine that we had anything left in common at all." This explains why Kate feels her family feels so irrelevant. (pg.188)
6.38. "I had never expected truly to admire anyone again, yet I admired Daniel" Kate thought she couldn't have any emotional attachment to anyone after what happened. (pg.193)
6.39. "Laurie hadn't been to school since the fight with Alex Kirby in October." Things in the Pye house was deteriorating. (pg.202)
6.40. The job that had turned up for Luke was a janitor position. Mr.Tadworth had also offered another job to split wood. (pg.209)
6.41. "Matt said Mr.Pye started yelling at Laurie for not pulling his weight. He called him pathetic. Useless as a girl. He said in fifteen years Laurie hadn't learned one goddamned thing about farming. Didn't try. Didn't listen. Dumb as the goddamned Bullock." This shows Mr.Pye was indefinitely abusing Laurie. (pg.215)
6.42. Calvin Pye was about to hit Laurie and that is why Laurie ran away. (pg.217)
6.43. In the community of Crow Lake, the girls were most likely to complete grade 13 in farming families, because girls had less muscle and were less useful. (pg.219)
6.44. Great-grandmother never went to school and she had wanted to learn so badly. She thought the world was just fascinating, and she wanted to know all about it. "She was determined that when she had children , every one of them would get a proper chance to learn." (pg. 229)
6.45. Matt had a plan that when he would finish university if he did well, he would be able to get a job and earn lots of money for Bo, Kate and Luke to go. (pg.230)
6.46. Bo is twenty-one now, works in Struan, and is a cook in a restaurant. Luke is a janitor on the side now, and makes and sells furniture. (pg.244)
6.47. Mr. Pye had killed Laurie!!! Marie thought the same thing was going to happen to her if Mr.Pye heard she was pregnant. (pg.255)
6.48. "she is three years his senior and has done everything first" That makes sense! This means Bo was only three when Marie was pregnant with Simon. It also makes sense now how the Pye families' problems were intertwined with the Morrison dream. If Matt hadn't gotten Marie pregnant, he would've been able to pursue his dream of going to university. (pg.263)
6.49. Marie had been so traumatic and fearful to Matt, because she had seen Mr. Pye kill Laurie in the barn. Laurie had come back for his coat in the barn, Mr.Pye caught him, they fought, and Mr,Pye ended up killing him on accident. Mr.Pye had hit Laurie and Laurie had fallen on the blade of the plow and died. (pg.268)
6.50. After the death of Mr. Pye, Mrs. Pye was sent to a mental hospital and died within a year. Laurie's body had been found in a bag at the bottom of the pond!! :S (pg. 270)
6.51. "'Which is true. She said I think Matt's whole life is a failure, which is not true, but it is true that what happened to him is a tragedy.' " Kate closes up to Matt, because she feels guilty he was not able to pursue his dream. (pg.281)
6.52. "Great-grandmother Morrison, I accept that the fault is largely mine, but i do hold you partly to blame. It is you, with your love of learning, who set the standard against which I have judged everyone around me, all of my life." Now i understand how Great-grandmother had an influence on Kate as stated at the very beginning of the book. (pg. 289)
6.53. "Let my eyes absorb this new view of him, this new perspective on our lives." This marks a turning point for Kate and how she views Matt. She will no longer hold back her emotions about/to Matt.(pg.
