The Burning Towers By Sonya Freeman Loftis

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close stresses the importance of family, and when someone is taken away suddenly, how that can impact one’s views on life and one’s own morality. In addition, the novel emphasizes that people grieve in different ways and at different paces; this is shown through Oskar’s journey and his mother’s friend, Ron. Both characters use those things as ways to deal with the death of Thomas Schell, and both move at different paces. The book also looks into how deception can be an aspect of how people treat others who are grieving; both Oskar and his mother hide things from each other because they both believe it will help the other grieve more easily. Had the two characters not done this, they may not have coped with the death of Thomas the same way. The deception from the two characters when relating to the death of a family member shows how connected the themes of family, morality, and deception are in the novel Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.

Besides the intuitive black-and-white graphics, Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close displays a series of gripping texts that range from profound seriousness to adventurous lightheartedness. The story follows through the footsteps of a nine year old boy named Oscar Schell after his father passed away from the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. Oscar is left traumatized and is constantly unhappy with himself and others. Through his story, Oscar illustrates how to forgive himself from the feelings of regret, loss, and emotional strain. Furthermore, he provides an explicit example showing that even after a painful heart-rending experience, one can overcome fear and transcend grief.

Masculine-focused groups like fraternities or all-male schools are built off the idea of brotherly love. These groups exhibit certain qualities of personalities of their members that differ from the norm of social interactions and love. A possible way of explaining the differences between the love people are generally accustomed to and a love between males in the context of brotherhood groups is science. Barbara Fredrickson, author of Love 2.0: How Our Supreme Emotion Affects Everything We Feel, Think, Do and Become, describes love as a “positivity resonance”, using science to explain how it can be thought of as a connection between individuals through small, positive interactions. Susan Faludi, author of The Naked Citadel, illustrates a

There is a massive difference between wanting to keep a tradition alive and being so avid about living in sameness that it becomes dangerous. Fluidity and being open to revision is necessary in order to survive in an ever changing environment. In The Naked Citadel, Susan Faludi recounts the events that occurred during the period that Shannon Faulkner fought for acceptance to the Citadel, the military college of South Carolina. Throughout this time, the school community experienced utter chaos as a result of mixed emotions about letting a female gain the honor of becoming a cadet. In The Minds Eye, Oliver Sacks shows the necessity of change in order to survive by describing the changes that blind people made in their lives in order to become as successful as they are today. When an individual is forced to change, they are more likely to tackle the situation with an open mind as a method to make the best of that situation. In contrast, when change is not necessary, it can be much more difficult to adapt due to the presence of fear and insecurities.

The lurking impacts of 9/11 attacks establish Oskar’s emotional instability and anguish as exemplified through actions reflecting PTSD. As Oskar continues his daily life after his father’s death, he exhibits qualities of PTSD such as when he comments, “Even after a year, I still had an extremely difficult time doing certain things, like taking showers, for some reason, and getting into elevators, obviously. There was a lot of stuff that made me panicky, like suspension bridges (...) tall buildings, turbans,” (Foer, 36). The events of 9/11 not only caused Oskar to withdraw and seclude himself away from his family in mourning of his father, but to develop characteristics of PTSD. Oskar refers to 9/11 as the “Worst Day” and is anxious about possible dangers that trigger the memories of this day. Moreover, Oskar, “gave myself a bruise,” (Foer, 69) as a coping mechanism for the strong feelings

Jonathan Safran Foer says in his novel, “for reasons that need not be explained, you made a strong impression on me” (215). This quote is exactly what you will think once you finish the book. You’ll be so inspired and speechless you won’t be able to know where to start to create a summary. The novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer is a book that has been challenged in public school systems since it came out. The novel is about Oskar Schell, a nine-year-old, who lost his father in the 9/11 attacks. After looking through his father’s closet, he found a key and set out on a quest to make sense of his father’s death. The novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is a book that should be available to everyone. Even though

Escape Fire is a documentary directed and produced by Susan Froemke and Matthew Heineman that examines the rising costs and sustainability of the United States healthcare system which has been predicted to cost $4.2 trillion annually within six years (Heineman & Froemke, 2012). This documentary compares the broken U.S. healthcare system with a forest fire crew. A firefighter was in jeopardy of dying in a forest fire and saved himself by intentionally lighting a fire that burned the fuel in his surroundings. He was one of the few survivors thanks to this “escape fire” which is an example of how the answers to a crisis can be found among us.

When Oskar’s father passes away, Oskar’s main sources of security, acceptance, and love are gone. Though his mother is still alive, because she is grieving simultaneously, she cannot initially support Oskar in the way that his father did. As a result, Oskar’s communication disorders worsen. The more consumed and obsessed Oskar becomes with his quest, the more qualities feed into his communication disorder and his autistic tendencies become increasingly possessive. As previously mentioned, Oskar is autistic and according to the film, may have developed Asperger syndrome, though the initial results were “inconclusive” (Daldry 2011). However, based on observations from the film as well as research about ASD, it is evident that Oskar displays many non-verbal, but few verbal characteristics of his communication disorder developed with ASD.

During the height of Puritan times, Anne Bradstreet writes “Upon the Burning of Our House.” Jonathan Edwards, another writer of these times, also writes the sermon ”Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” as well. With strong connecting imagery to their listeners, both these writings portray the religious views to their way of life. As she stood in front of her once burning home, Bradstreet wrote “here stood that trunk and there that chest...under the roof no guest shall sit…”

With the novel being written in the perspective of an autistic child, it causes the reader to feel insignificant and dismissed. A quote that shows how people dismiss people with autism is when Christopher was trying to find his mom and ran into a police officer, “And he said, “OK,” but he said it really slowly and squeezed his nose with his between his thumb and forefinger.” (150). This shows how people do not

Eva’s Story: A Survivor’s Tale written by Eva Schloss is an inspiring life experience of a young girl who is affected greatly by the Holocaust. Eva was a teenager that was very close to her family including; Pappy, Mutti, and Heinz. She was especially close to Heinz because he helped her through the rough times and was always their for her when she needed him. The Nazi’s started to get closer to where the Geiringer family lived, so they made the hard decision to go into hiding. Making the decision to go into hiding was hard, but when they realized that they would have a better chance of surviving if they were separated, they were completely devastated. As Mutti and Eva left Pappy and Heinz, they were worried that they might never get to see

Individuals who have Autism will often have difficulties interpreting both the verbal & non-verbal language, tone of voice & other people’s gestures. Many people on the Spectrum will also have a very literal understanding of language. They will often think what other people say, they mean. For instance, if someone says “It’s raining cats & dogs”, individuals with Autism may then look to the sky trying to see the cats & dogs falling, or if someone says “I’m so hungry I could eat a horse”, they may be disgusted that someone will eat a horse.

In the novel, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, readers follow the story of a precocious nine-year-old boy, Oskar Schell, who perseveres through the horrifying aftermath of losing his father in the terrorist attacks of September 11th. The novel uniquely abstains from chronology as it shifts between the perspectives of Oskar and his grandparents as they all endure their grief from tragedy differently.

Disabilities can be found in a variety of forms and manners. I believe people with given disabilities are often viewed upon as weak or lesser than a “regular” person, however, this is not the case as they can be fully functioning, successful individuals if the stigmas did not prevail. Asperger Syndrome is a type of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The effects of Asperger’s often include struggling in school and occupying a job later in life. Although there are limitations to the condition, people with Asperger’s show extensive knowledge for a specific interest and despite their disorder; they are still capable of major accomplishments. Christopher Boone, who suffers from Asperger’s, is the main character and narrator in the novel written

The fantasy genre, adored by many of all ages, utilizes plots that bring you to the edge of your seat. These plots are filled with a myriad of twists and turns, leaving you with your head spinning, but wanting more. Furthermore, these twists and turns that fuel the plot and keep it moving forward are otherwise known as essential episodes. A book from the fantasy genre that employs strong essential episodes is The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien, with the juncture in which the book introduces the luminary Gandalf the White. Additionally, The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima includes the intense moment filled with asperity, between Raisa and Micha, where they’re debating the importance of the Demon King. These episodes aid in exhibiting that the