For the second rhetorical essay, I read and wrote my paper about the book Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult. For my final copy of this essay, I changed my title because my original title was not as creative and not an attention get-er. I also italicized my quotes that were longer than three lines because they were not in my original version of the essay. Finally I specified certain unclear parts of my paper my rephrasing sentences and deleting unneeded words.
Who Am I?
"In nineteen minutes, you can mow the front lawn; color your hair; watch a third of a hockey game. In nineteen minutes, you can bake scones or get a tooth filled by a dentist; you can fold laundry for a family of five. In nineteen minutes, you can stop the world; or you can just jump off it." In Sterling, New Hampshire, in Nineteen Minutes, by Jodi Picoult, your whole world can change. Peter Houghton, a seventeen year old high school student, has suffered years of arduous physical and verbal abuse at the hands of his nefarious peers and brother. Josie Comier, Peter’s ex-best friend, conceded to peer-pressure and fell into the group of the popular consortium who are the instigators in the harassment. On March 6th, 2007, Peter has finally had enough of the bullying and is goaded by his peers to take action. On this day, nine children and one teacher dies while everyone else involved is changed forever. Jodi Picoult uses a variety of techniques that evokes emotions from the reader and makes the story more personal level.
One of the techniques Picoult uses is point of view. The story is told through the third person point of view where each chapter focuses on a different character’s impact in the story. Each character focused on adds different depths by allowing the reader to connect to the characters more. Some of the Characters focused on are Alex (the mother Josie and judge), Jordan (the defense attorney), Patrick (the investigator), Lacy (the mother of the shooter), and Lewis (the father of the shooter). These characters help appeal to parents because it shows a sympathetic point of view and how it feels to worry along with feel blame. The two most eye opening characters the story focuses on are Josie’s and Peter’s. Josie is one of the students involved in the shooting and ex-best friend of Peter. Peter is a bullied teenager and is the shooter. The different views the reader gets to experience allows the reader to form their own opinions of the characters and the situations. Because of this, quotes like “At that moment, Josie could not remember the pills she was hoarding in her room; she could not remember crying in the shower; she could not remember anything but what it felt like to be adored. I’m lucky she told herself,” allow the reader to see the weaknesses within characters, while making them relatable.
The structure of the book also plays a large part in conveying the novel. Throughout the book, the reader is transported through different times from present day all the way back to seventeen years prior. This allows Picoult to give information about the characters and their previous relationships and events which builds the story up at her digression. The flashbacks include Josie’s and Peter’s nostalgic memories, character interactions, friendships, the destruction of a friendship, the effects of bullying, and the development of hate and resentment. They also alter the reader’s perception of the characters along with showing why reactions and consequences take place. “Everyone would remember Peter for nineteen minutes of his life, but what about the other nine million? Lacy would be the keeper of those, because it was the only way for that part of Peter to stay alive. For every recollection of him that involved a bullet or a scream, she would have a hundred others: of a little boy splashing in a pond, or riding a bicycle for the first time, or waving from the top of a jungle gym. Of a kiss good night, or a crayoned Mother's Day card, or a voice off-key in the shower. She would string them together - the moments when her child had been just like other people's. She would wear them, precious pearls, every day of her life; because if she lost them, then the boy she had loved and raised and known would really be gone.” This shows Lacy reminiscing about the life of her son and how he acted as a child. Quotes like this help the reader get a better understanding of how Peter and other characters acted as a child and grew up.
Another technique the author uses is exposition which is used at the beginning of most of the chapters through diary entries. While Picoult does not say who made the entries it can be assumed that a mixture of Peter and Josie wrote them. These entries show a side of the characters that feels helpless and that the responsibility of the shooting doesn't belong on one sole person but instead many. "By the time you read this, I hope to be dead...I guess I should tell you, ‘Don't blame yourself; it's not your fault,’ but that would be a lie. We both know that I didn't get here by myself...will you miss me? More importantly -- will I miss you? Does either one of us really want to hear the answer to that question?" This is the first entry in the book and it is assumed that Peter wrote it because it talks about the reasoning behind the shooting and how the person reading it feels the blame for his actions. The entry shows the depression Peter is facing along with the hard truth of the shooting. While entries like this belong to Peter, entries about popularity belong to Josie. These entries help the reader understand the feelings of the characters and the depression they face which helps determine the actions they take.
Throughout Nineteen Minutes, Jodi Picoult shows the impact of bulling and peer pressure on children from a young age and throughout high school. She also shows that while it may seemingly be only one reason for actions that take place, there is instead many. Picoult took unfortunate events that happen often in society along with in high school that include bullying, peer pressure, depression, and battered women/child syndrome and tied them into a heart breaking story of what happens when people are pushed too far. By using techniques such as point of view, focusing on different characters, structure, and exposition the author has given the reader the ability to judge the characters not as pro and antagonists but instead as human beings.
Who Am I?
"In nineteen minutes, you can mow the front lawn; color your hair; watch a third of a hockey game. In nineteen minutes, you can bake scones or get a tooth filled by a dentist; you can fold laundry for a family of five. In nineteen minutes, you can stop the world; or you can just jump off it." In Sterling, New Hampshire, in Nineteen Minutes, by Jodi Picoult, your whole world can change. Peter Houghton, a seventeen year old high school student, has suffered years of arduous physical and verbal abuse at the hands of his nefarious peers and brother. Josie Comier, Peter’s ex-best friend, conceded to peer-pressure and fell into the group of the popular consortium who are the instigators in the harassment. On March 6th, 2007, Peter has finally had enough of the bullying and is goaded by his peers to take action. On this day, nine children and one teacher dies while everyone else involved is changed forever. Jodi Picoult uses a variety of techniques that evokes emotions from the reader and makes the story more personal level.
One of the techniques Picoult uses is point of view. The story is told through the third person point of view where each chapter focuses on a different character’s impact in the story. Each character focused on adds different depths by allowing the reader to connect to the characters more. Some of the Characters focused on are Alex (the mother Josie and judge), Jordan (the defense attorney), Patrick (the investigator), Lacy (the mother of the shooter), and Lewis (the father of the shooter). These characters help appeal to parents because it shows a sympathetic point of view and how it feels to worry along with feel blame. The two most eye opening characters the story focuses on are Josie’s and Peter’s. Josie is one of the students involved in the shooting and ex-best friend of Peter. Peter is a bullied teenager and is the shooter. The different views the reader gets to experience allows the reader to form their own opinions of the characters and the situations. Because of this, quotes like “At that moment, Josie could not remember the pills she was hoarding in her room; she could not remember crying in the shower; she could not remember anything but what it felt like to be adored. I’m lucky she told herself,” allow the reader to see the weaknesses within characters, while making them relatable.
The structure of the book also plays a large part in conveying the novel. Throughout the book, the reader is transported through different times from present day all the way back to seventeen years prior. This allows Picoult to give information about the characters and their previous relationships and events which builds the story up at her digression. The flashbacks include Josie’s and Peter’s nostalgic memories, character interactions, friendships, the destruction of a friendship, the effects of bullying, and the development of hate and resentment. They also alter the reader’s perception of the characters along with showing why reactions and consequences take place. “Everyone would remember Peter for nineteen minutes of his life, but what about the other nine million? Lacy would be the keeper of those, because it was the only way for that part of Peter to stay alive. For every recollection of him that involved a bullet or a scream, she would have a hundred others: of a little boy splashing in a pond, or riding a bicycle for the first time, or waving from the top of a jungle gym. Of a kiss good night, or a crayoned Mother's Day card, or a voice off-key in the shower. She would string them together - the moments when her child had been just like other people's. She would wear them, precious pearls, every day of her life; because if she lost them, then the boy she had loved and raised and known would really be gone.” This shows Lacy reminiscing about the life of her son and how he acted as a child. Quotes like this help the reader get a better understanding of how Peter and other characters acted as a child and grew up.
Another technique the author uses is exposition which is used at the beginning of most of the chapters through diary entries. While Picoult does not say who made the entries it can be assumed that a mixture of Peter and Josie wrote them. These entries show a side of the characters that feels helpless and that the responsibility of the shooting doesn't belong on one sole person but instead many. "By the time you read this, I hope to be dead...I guess I should tell you, ‘Don't blame yourself; it's not your fault,’ but that would be a lie. We both know that I didn't get here by myself...will you miss me? More importantly -- will I miss you? Does either one of us really want to hear the answer to that question?" This is the first entry in the book and it is assumed that Peter wrote it because it talks about the reasoning behind the shooting and how the person reading it feels the blame for his actions. The entry shows the depression Peter is facing along with the hard truth of the shooting. While entries like this belong to Peter, entries about popularity belong to Josie. These entries help the reader understand the feelings of the characters and the depression they face which helps determine the actions they take.
Throughout Nineteen Minutes, Jodi Picoult shows the impact of bulling and peer pressure on children from a young age and throughout high school. She also shows that while it may seemingly be only one reason for actions that take place, there is instead many. Picoult took unfortunate events that happen often in society along with in high school that include bullying, peer pressure, depression, and battered women/child syndrome and tied them into a heart breaking story of what happens when people are pushed too far. By using techniques such as point of view, focusing on different characters, structure, and exposition the author has given the reader the ability to judge the characters not as pro and antagonists but instead as human beings.