"Special Topics" Post 7b

In this section of the book, I was a little confused. Special Topics In Calamity Physics had been so logical, and even at its most exciting one could follow Blue's path of thinking. She seemed like an entirely reasonable character, so the "feeling" that she had that Hannah's death had not been suicide seemed unlike her, if all the evidence was pointing to this conclusion. Then, her theory as to the Nightwatchmen being involved seemed out of the blue. Although Blue had referenced them throughout the novel, I'm not sure if she built up to this conclusion quite enough. She connected so many pieces of information in one instance; it had the same problem as Ocean's 12: way too many things being revealed at one time for one to comprehend all of the processes and logical paths. I just felt it was way to random; a tag on by the author to wrap up the novel. Obviously, I was not expecting the next surprise of Blue's father disappearing. However, this one I felt was a necessary step in the novel for Blue to break from the past and start anew as her own person at Harvard. Perhaps in a way this year in which she became involved with the Bluebloods was simply preparing her to cope without her father. This investigation was another step of independence as she worked at something that her father did not believe in in the least. I'm not sure about the ending; once again, the reference back to Zach seemed too random, too obscure. However, I'm glad at the surprise of Blue's father departing for whatever Grecian island she supposed. There were only two things which I felt weren't really explained fully: why Hannah had to be killed and whatever happened to Blue's dreams. Regarding the first, Hannah may have become the cause of suspicion but that doesn't seem to be a reason for the Nightwatchmen to kill her: perhaps they could have taken her away much as Blue supposes they did to her father, rescue her and take her to Greece perhaps? It just seems so radical to hang her on a mountain while she is taking her kids on a camping trip. Secondly, in the beginning of the novel Blue talks about how she has started to see visions of Hannah and realizes she is a rather morose person. This is never concluded. Perhaps the author simply meant to explain her reason for writing the book, but at the end of her senior year Blue seems if not happy at least content, at peace. I hope she continues this at Harvard for she seems like a character to truly change the world.

"Special Topics" Post 7a

Vocabulary
Irish tweed (437): a sturdy woolen fabric of light warp and dark filling, made in Ireland and used in suits and coats
wino (438): a person who is addicted to wine, esp. a derelict

Figurative Language
Metaphor: "Dad's voice was a pack of ice on a sprain" (438). Blue tells us how her father's voice or presence has a calming and pain relieving quality for her, as talking to him on the phone calms her down. The ice may also relate to how it cools her and makes her think more logically about the situation regarding Hannah's death.
Simile: "Dad always purchased five copies of any Federal Forum issue in which he was featured, not unlike a paparazzi-hungry starlet when her picture graces 'Around Town' in Celebrastory Weekly" (438). Not only does Blue wittingly depict part of her father's vanity with this simile, she also shows her understanding of her father as not one of the main stars of the academic world but one on the fringes, which complements her sometimes obsessive praise and defense of him. She has a lot of respect for him, but she definitely doesn't idolize him quite as much as she used to, nearer to the beginning of the novel.
Metaphor: "My heart thumping excitement was not simply because I knew so much about The Nightwatchmen I felt oddly confident I could deliver a Dadified lecture on them, my voice a tidal wave, rising up, up over the shabbily combed heads of his students..." (439). I enjoyed this sentence not only because of the metaphor comparing Blue's hypothetical lecture voice and a tidal wave, swamping and with immense power, but the use of the adjective "Dadified" as a high standard, the standard. It was nice to see Blue still holds her father at a high level.

Quote
"My heart-thumping excitement...and not because, incredibly, Ada Harvey's information had held up heroically upon further examination like hte British blockade against the Germans... My exhilaration wasn't even because Hannah Schneider- all that she'd done, her strange behaviors, her lies- had suddenly come crashing open at my feet like the outer stone sarcophagus of Pharaoh Heteraah-mes..(For the first time, I could crouch down, take my oil lantern directly to Hannah's bone-smooth face, see, in startling detail, its every angle and plane.)" (439). This quote was funny because Blue's use of figurative language increases exponentially when she is excited. Although most would be reduced to shorter words, Blue combines five allegories/metaphors into a short paragraph describing her exhilaration over discovering the cause of Hannah's death.

Theme
Sometimes irrational thinking can lead to the answer.

"Special Topics" Post 6b

The death of Hannah was a completely surprising event. You could see something was mentally imbalanced with her, but she has really been the focus of the book. Even though Blue has been speaking about her death since the beginning, it was hard to imagine her truly being gone. Blue doesn’t seem to have a lot of remorse for her death, but more puzzlement, anger, surprise, and confusion. I’m not sure if the rest of the book will focus on her recovery and her relationship with her father, which seems to be fraying, or her examination of the circumstances regarding Hannah’s death. Based on the events so far, which consist of her downplaying her role and focusing solely on the plight of her friends, I think it will be the latter. Also interesting was her extreme desire not to arise any sympathy from anyone. Instead of feeling lucky to have been rescued but worried for her friends, she wants to be back up on the mountain with them. This seems to be taking it a little far; her anger at her father is another thing that one hasn’t seen before and this obsession regarding the outcome of her friends appears to have sparked it. I’m not sure if she wants them to be rescued truly; it almost seems as if she is worried about it, that they will be angry with her that she was rescued first. One can imagine that a drama queen such as Jade would wish the spotlight on her. However, perhaps this is Blue’s bid for her spotlight time, as if she does not want to be the one who took the easy route but struggled through traumatic events and survived; as if she feels the need to be interesting, unique, like the stories that Hannah fed her regarding the backgrounds of her friends.

"Special Topics" Post 6a

Vocabulary
bogie (346): an unidentified aircraft or missile, especially one as a blip on radar
Trevor Rees-Jones (347): (also known as Trevor Rees; born 1968) is the former bodyguard for Dodi Al-Fayed. He was badly injured in the car accident that killed Diana, Princess of Wales, Dodi Al-Fayed and the driver Henri Paul. Because he suffered a head injury in the crash, Rees-Jones does not recall particulars of the accident. Blue references him as a miraculous survivor; she does not wish to become like him, confined to that role.
sangfroid (347): coolness of mind, calmness, composure [literally "cold blood" in French]

Three Literary Devices
Allusion: "I had no desire to be the Otto Frank, the Anastasia, the Curly, the Trevor Rees-Jones" (347). Here, Blue expresses her feelings about her rescue by alluding to other famous rescuees. She does not wish to be in this situation, feeling like the lucky one, as many may assume. She wishes to suffer with the others, because she doesn't want to raise herself above them. In the Bluebloods, especially with Hannah gone, this is a dangerous thing for Blue. It's interesting that she uses the article "the" in front of each of the people, as if they are not unique but part of a class, a defined role in which she does not want to become captive.
Simile: "It read, 'A Stich In Time Saves Nine' and sat there like an unpopped blister" (347). This lovely quote shows Blue's definite personality, as well as gives the reader a feeling of the sickness that Blue feels in regard to her treatment. She doesn't want to be the lucky one. She wants to be the martyr, the one who did something to help the others instead of the one who simply got rescued. Even though her father is trying to make her feel better, all of his antics are simply making her feel closed in, nauseous, sick.
Metaphor: "By the following morning, Sunday, my fly-by-night infatuation had congealed into obsession" (349). By using the word congealed, one can see how this habit is extremely unhealthy for Blue, how it "glues" her to the television and sticks her happiness to the rescue of the others.

Quote
"Norvel's sole distinguishing characteristic was his male pattern baldness, which mimicked the stiching of a baseball" (348). I enjoyed this quote simply because of the wit and sarcasm imbued in it; I can imagine Blue saying this with a matter-of-factness that would make it hilarious.

Theme
Don't confine your happiness on the expectations of others.
Good intentions can go seriously awry.

"Special Topics" Post 5b

This section makes one seriously question Hannah’s effect on these young adults to whom she has become a mentor. From the time she has entered the group, Blue hasn’t really questioned the role of Hannah as their leader, their queen bee. However, this woman is a teacher, an adult. Doesn’t it seem strange that she would choose to spend her time several nights a week having a select few students come over to her house instead of having friends her own age? Her role is complicated for several reasons: firstly, she is a teacher, so if any of her Bluebloods ever had her class, her ability to teach and grade would be compromised. Secondly, she is an adult and they are all children, which casts her as an odd member in this group of friends. Hannah commands respect, from her experience, age, and knowledge, yet in some ways attempts to be accepted as one of them. Blue describes her loyally, but admits that Hannah sometimes causes the affect to “fill me with fear, a fear that I couldn’t put my hands on because as soon as I noticed it, it slipped through my fingers like steam, evaporated” (286). What would cause Blue to continue to be part of Hannah’s retinue if she felt like this at “unanticipated moments” (286)? The idea of spending part Blue’s spring break up on a desolated mountain far away from civilization with only Hannah and her group must fill Blue with some premonition of what’s to come. I wish she would be able to recognize her misgivings.

"Special Topics" Post 5a

Vocabulary
masochism (279): gratification gained from inflicting pain upon oneself; turning one's destructive tendencies inwards
schmaltzy (295): marked by excessive sentimentality

Figurative Language
Simile: "(haircut poised boldly atop her head like an atrocious hat worn to church)" (280). This simile gives the reader an understanding of Blue's view of Hannah's haircut, how she doesn't really feel as if it is even attached to Hannah's head, as well as the awkwardness of the situation as none of the Bluebloods feel able to comment on it negatively, just as one would not criticize a respected elder's hat in church.
Metaphor: "Her eyes bumper-stickered to my head" (292). This line demonstrates how Blue feels stuck with her respect yet fear for Hannah, and how in a way Hannah is coming to rely on Blue, as well as the rest of the group, on her ability to stick to them, to provide them their meaning.
Simile: "His voice was as stiff as new shoes. My heart, rather unexpectedly, began to jump-rope" (294). With this simile, Blue reaffirms the school oriented connection that she holds with Zach as well as showing the awkwardness of their conversation.

Quote
"... and instantly i would feel like I was dying inside, as if my heart, lungs, and stomach were all punching their time card, closing up shop and heading home, because there was no point of beating, breathing, day in, day out, if life was this sore" (294). This quote is very dramatic for Blue, especially for something so "insignificant" as her feelings for Milton. I'm not sure if it really shows how much she cares for him; it more seems to show her shift in view: now it is not only her and her father in her list of important people, but also Hannah, Milton, and most of the Bluebloods.

Theme
If one has the ability to recognize the signs, one has the duty to act accordingly to correct anything at fault, even if they must betray a trust while doing it.

"Special Topics" Post 4b

Marissa Pessl, in this section of the novel, does an excellent job of two things: conveying Blue’s voice accurately and adding clues to support her conclusions in the end of the novel that are subtle enough only to be picked up upon the second reading. Firstly, as to Blue’s voice, I imagine Blue as a girl with two conflicting voices: a more academic, stylized voice which tends to reference things endlessly and add figurative language like no other “Cleopatras on the brick wall now, their wide faces sweaty and rainbowed like oil puddles in the parking lots” (164). Even in formal phrases like these, Pessl includes the more modern side of Blue “Or perhaps, due to a certain relationship she had with the incandescence, her face exerted a gravitational pull on 50 percent of all the light in the room” (160). Her wit is definitely evident “I wanted to slap the smile off his face” (162), “as if there was always an unmistakable, thin black line drawn around her, or a YOU ARE HERE arrow discreetly floated in her reading, SHE IS HERE” (160). I really enjoy this part of the book. Additionally, Pessl drops some pretty significant clues in this section: lines like “She held his left hand as if it were expensive, something she couldn’t afford to lose” (160) and “She smiled, somewhat shyly, and then… she squeezed, tightly, Smoke’s bicep” (162). Although these lines seem nothing out of the ordinary, these along with sections about her extreme disapproval over the Bluebloods arrival all figure in to support Blue’s theory in the end.

"Special Topics" Post 4a

Vocabulary:
macumbaed (161): not in the dictionary, but inferred as searched or flowed
catatonic (164): a syndrome seen most frequently in schizophrenia, characterized by muscular rigidity and mental stupor, sometimes alternating with great excitement and confusion

Figurative language:
Simile: "Maybe because I was a little drunk and my thoughts moved slowly like blobs in a lava lamp.." (163). This simile helps the reader visualize how Blue must feel her thoughts are moving, as well as get a sense of how disoriented she must be, from the difference to her usual quick and observant nature.
Personification: "so many shrieks and laughs, the moon, a sickle stabbing the pine trees off to the right-it all fused together into a strange suffocating violence" (163). This personification shows the oddly violent mood that Blue is in, both in her comparison of the moon to a sickle and the image of it stabbing the trees.
Metaphor: "Laugh lines parenthesized his mouth" (162). Like all of the other literary devices mentioned here, this figurative language helps the reader better picture the situation described; one can visualized Smoke's face more than if the author had stated "laugh lines were in the corners of his mouth".

Quote:
"There was the skid of her eyes, a brief suspension of smile, a catch, a soft sweater snagging a tree branch. All Nigel and I could do now was stand with lousy smiles safety-pinned to our faces like HELLO MY NAME IS name tags" (161). I think that this passage really shows the skill of Pessl's writing: the way in which she is able to add so much figurative language (the whole book is filled with it, and references) yet not make it feel weighed down. She accurately conveys Blue's voice in this manner, by combining this more formal style with true wit by Blue.

Theme
Don't let your conscience haunt you; move on from the past.