1)”The class above, seniors, draft-bait, practically soldiers, rushed ahead of us toward the war. They were caught up in accelerated courses and first-aid programs and a physical hardening regimen, which included jumping from this tree.”

This is one of my favorite quotes in the book. At first, I didn’t think this quote meant anything, but as you continue to read, you realize that this quote foreshadows the jumping from the tree, which is a major part of this novel.

2) “What was I doing up here anyway? Why did I let Finny talk me into stupid things like this? Was he getting some kind of hold over me?”

This quote is important in the novel. This quote foreshadows the coming of a rivalry between Finny and Gene. Finny was controlling Gene physically and intellectually. Gene is finally realizing that Finny is the dominate person.

3)”Phineas was a poor deceiver, having had no practice.”

For Finny to be a poor deceiver, is for him to not be himself. Finny during the summer session deceived everyone he came into contact with. He would deceive the teachers so he wouldn’t get in trouble. Finny changed after the injury. He wasn’t the normal Finny anymore.

4)”Stranded in this mill town railroad yard while the whole world was converging elsewhere, we seemed to be nothing but children playing among heroic men”

Gene realized that he wasn’t prepared for war. He knew that this was a war for brave men, and he knew he couldn’t defeat one person… Finny.

5)”Naturally I don’t believe books and I don’t believe teachers, but I do believe-it’s important for me to believe you [Gene]. Christ, I’ve got to believe you, at least. I know you better than anybody”

Finny found stability in Gene. That’s why Finny always wanted to bring Gene everywhere. Gene is Finny’s best friend, even though Gene tried to kill him.

6) “Your war memories will be with you forever, you’ll be asked about them thousands of times after the war is over.”

Gene doesn’t want to have all these war memories of shooting people, and your friends dying, but these war memories will never stay with him. The war memories that will stay with him are the memories of his war at Devon against Finny.

7) “it seemed clear that wars were not made by generations and their special stupidities, but that wars were made instead by something ignorant in the human heart”

Gene realizes that wars were actually made by the foolishness and stupidity of human beings. Gene figured out that his war with Finny was out of selfish ambition and ignorance.

8) “He [Finny] had never been jealous of me for a second. Now I knew that there never was and never could have been any rivalry between us. I was not of the same quality as he”

This quote is a great quote, because Gene realizes that Finny was never trying to be better than him. Gene knew Finny never had the intentions of out doing him, but because he thought he was, he did something he regrets.

9) “He possessed an extra vigor, a heightened confidence in himself, a serene capacity for affection which saved him. Nothing as he was growing up at home, nothing at Devon, nothing even about the war had broken his harmonious and natural unity.”

This quote reveals that Finny had a special quality about him. He had confidence and swagger, but after his injury, he didn’t have that same confidence and swagger he once had.

10)  “I lost part of myself to him then, and a soaring sense of freedom revealed that this must have been my purpose from the first: to become a part of Phineas”

Gene always wanted to beat Finny, but the one thing he didn’t want to happen is for him to become part of Finny. This quote reveals that Gene has accepted the fact that his only purpose in life is to submit to Finny.

 

 

 

In John Knowles novel, A Separate Peace, he reveals a theme of jealousy among the characters. Gene is jealous of Finny, because Gene wants to be as successful as Finny in athletics. Finny is jealous of Gene, because Finny wants to be as successful as Gene academically. Gene puts on Finny’s clothes just so he can feel like he is Finny. For example, “I decided to put on his clothes. ” Gene wants to be just like Finny in almost all ways. Gene wants to be noticed. Gene wants to be a stud athlete, while he keeps his grades up and becomes valedictorian. Finny wants to be just like Gene academically. Even though the book never specifically says Finny is jealous of Gene academically, the book does say that Finny begins to study more. For example,”The new attacks of studying were his emergency measures to save himself.” Finny knew that Gene was trying to be the valedictorian of the school, and Finny felt that as a threat to him. This theme of jealousy between Finny and Gene makes a rivalry between each other. Gene wanted to beat Finny academically, and Finny wanted to beat Gene in athletics. As this rivalry becomes more relevant, Finny starts to study, because he feels threatened by Gene. The theme of jealousy is everywhere throughout this novel. It is very relevant between Finny and Gene.

Selfishness

“You are both coldly driving ahead for yourselves alone.”

As you can see from the quote above, both Finny and Gene were selfish towards each other. Selfishness is one truth about human nature. Naturally humans are selfish. Take a baby for example. The baby is always crying needing food, or they always want attention. I know the baby needs the mother and father to survive, but that is where selfishness slips into our heart and mind. Gene always wanted to be better than Finny. He wanted to be the valedictorian of the school. He wanted people to like him. Finny wanted to be the best athlete the school has ever seen. He didn’t let anybody get in his way of being the best. He always broke the rules and brought people down with him. Naturally, every human dead, living, and the people in the future will be selfish. Selfishness can be found in the most humble person in the world. One truth about human nature is that all humans are selfish.

Guilt

” I spent as much time as I could alone in our room, trying to empty my mind of every thought, to forget where I was, even who I was.”

Guilt is another truth about human nature. Gene feels guilty about the “accident” that happened with Finny. Although Gene really caused Finny to fall, he is trying to make himself think that it was not his fault. This is the usual reaction that a person has when they are guilty. They try to deny what has happened just to cope with life. Guilt is another thing all humans deal with. Guilt is another truth about the human nature.

Friendship

“It’s you, pal,” Finny said to me at last, “just you and me.” He and I started back across the fields, preceding the others like two seigneurs.”

Humans are meant to be in a relationship. If that is found in a guy girl relationship, or a friendship. All humans are meant to be in a relationship. Gene and Finny are good friends.  They are meant for each other. Finny brings Gene out of his comfort zone, while Gene brings Finny out of his comfort zone academically. The human nature is made to be in relationships. Friendship is another truth about human nature.

In John Knowles, A Separate Peace, the setting is set in the New Hampshire area, along the Devon and Naguamsett rivers. The main setting is set at a military prep school called Devon military prep. At the beginning of the book Gene, the narrator, goes back to a certain tree. This tree is not an ordinary tree. This tree is the main setting towards the beginning of the novel. The tree is where the boys, Gene and Finny, jumped out of the tree. The book then goes to the swimming pool where Finny decides to take a swim. When he swam, he ended up beating the schools swimming record. The novel then goes to the Butt Room. The Butt Room is very dark and nasty. This room is where the kids go to have a smoke, and talk about other peoples’ problems. Gene goes down there to defend himself from what all the other kids were proposing about what Gene did to Finny. The boys thought that Gene purposely pushed Finny off the tree, but Gene defends himself with a lie.

The genre of this novel is coming-of-age/ tragedy fiction. Although this novel is relevant to the forty’s, it is still considered fictional, because all the characters are fictional.

In John Knowles novel A Separate Peace, there are two main characters in the book. They are Gene and Finny. Gene is likable  and very dis-likable and times. Gene is very proper and intelligent, but at the same time, he is a young man with guy actions. One thing I like about Gene is that he is striving to be the valedictorian of his class. I like his determination on this goal, I just do not like his motives for accomplishing this goal. He wants to be better or equal to Finny. That’s why he wants to be valedictorian. Gene is very envious of Finny. Gene is very smart, but very envious. He does not live up to his own standards, but he tries to impress or beat people who are better than him. He wants to be accepted by society.

Finny is a risk taker. Why would you be a person who lets life pass right in front of your eyes? There is no fun in that. The reason I like Finny is because, I see myself in him, just not academically. Finny lives life to the fullest. He has fun, and he enjoys tricking people into doing stupid things. Finny is an athlete. Even at a young age, Finny was the best athlete at Devon. He is a hard worker. One thing I do not like about Finny is his academics. Finny is a poor student. He rarely puts the time in to study for exams, or even get help from the teacher or other students. I also dislike his opinion about the war. He does not face reality when reality needs to be faced. Finny lives life like a little kid. He has no worries and, he just goes with the flow.

 

Hey I am Slaton. My project is explaining how to use por and para in sentences. There are some pictures that go along with the sentences, and there is a video covering por and para. I enjoyed this project, because I had the opportunity to learn por and para while using technology.

  A Hayley le gusta tocar en la banda. A ella le gusta comer las galletas. Tambien le gusta pasar teimpo con Molly. A Hayley le gusta ir al cine los domingo. A Hayley le gusta tocar guitiarra a veces. A ella le disgusta jugar a los deportes todos las dias. A ella le disgusta comer los esparragos. A Hayley le disgusta beber los refrescos.

In this project, I wrote seven gustar sentences. I also wrote two introduction sentences, and one conclusion sentence. I enjoyed this project, because it was a grade saver.It helped me learn how to use gustar correctly. I now know where to put the pronouns, and when to use a phrase of clarification.

 

I liked some of the project and some not so much. I liked it when we had all three of our parteners, but when one left I had to pick up his slack. We learned how to write a buisness letter and how to hyperlink. The hyperlinking was cool. I liked doing everything except Michael’s part and Brett’s spreadsheet. I enjoyed the whole project because I was with friends and I learned alot.