Group+One

Book Group Template DATE: GROUP #:1 MEMBERS: brian jones, joey mazzone, Brendan greve, christina ungaro

For your reading of Montana 1948, book groups will meet four times to discuss the novel and address each aspect listed below. Take notes on your wiki for each of your meetings and save it to your group’s Wiki, noting the date and members names at the top.

This is the reading/book discussion schedule. Be sure you have completed each part prior to the book discussion day.

1) Part One, Friday, March 19th 2) Part Two, Tuesday, March 23rd 3) Part Three, Thursday, March 25th 4) Afterward/Epilogue, Friday, March 26th

Directions: Write your notes for every category below on your group’s wiki space. Be sure to discuss in your groups:

• Imagery/ Symbolism Imagery: The sense of imagery in the novel, Montana 1948 shows the noncomplex, ordinary, and rundown town in vivid context. It states in the novel, “Insects cluster around the light fixtures.” From this short sentence we can already tell that the town isn’t very sanitary. In the old town of Bentrock you can hear the sounds of breaking glass and smell the odor of rotting vegetables. Larry Watson also describes the houses of the town. For example, “In our basement laundry room we had a shower, nothing fancy-a shower head, a tin stall, and an old green rubber curtain with large white sea horses on it.” Mercer County is covered in farms and ranches, but neither of these farms are large or grow much food. In the novel is says, “The rockiest, sandiest, least arable parcel of land in the region.” Obviously this town gets dry and the land gets parched and hot during the summertime. There is a constant wind blowing which probably is very lucky considering the heat they feel all day. The author, Larry Watson has given us a very vivid and in depth visual in our heads of the town as we read Montana 1948. As for the characters, Larry Watson has defined them and their looks and personalities very well. For example the author describes Marie, “She was close to six feet tall and though she wasn’t exactly fat she had a fleshy amplitude about her that made her seem simultaneously soft and strong, as if all that body could be ready, at a moment’s notice, for sex or work.” Also not only does he describe the types of people, but also what they look like. For example, “Her cheeks now glowed so brightly they looks painful, as if they had been rubbed raw. Her eyes seemed darker than ever, all pupil, black water that swallowed light and gave nothing back. Her lips were pale-dry and chapped. Her dress had ridden up over her knees and the sight of her sturdy brown legs and bare feet was strangely shocking, a glimpse of the sensual in the sensual in the sickroom. As for the author, he is not scared to describe anything sexual as well which we find out on page 29. Larry Watson is the type of writer that wants you to have images in your head that make it seem like a movie film playing in your brain. Symbolism: The magpie bird that David had shot. If someone/something does no harm to the world, then it itself should not be harmed.

• Character Behavior or Psychology: For Part one you must focus on characterization of the main characters listed below. 1. What the character says 2. What the character does 3. What others/narrator says about the character** You must use textual evidence for each of these three elements of characterization
 * For each character, discuss all three modes of characterization:

Narrator’s Father -He was born in 1910 and grew up on a large cattle ranch outside Bentrock. His Grandfather had moved to Bentrock to be the Sheriff of Mercer county. The father is a Mercer County Sheriff. He had this passed down to him because his dad was the Sheriff. So the father set aside his fledgling law practice**.** What David says about him is that "All of which made my Father's job a relatively easy one. oh he arrested the usual weekly drunks, mediated an occasional dispute about fence lines or stray cattle, calmed a few domestic disturbances, and warned the town's teenagers about getting to rowdy in the Wood's Cafe, but by and large being sheriff of Mercer County did not require great strength or courage." ( Watson 17) The mother also has a few things to say about the father. "My mother fervently believed that my father indeed, all of us would be happier if he practiced law and if we did not live in Montana, and her reason had little to do with the potentially hazardous nature of a sheriff's work compared to an attorney's or the pay scale along which those professions positioned themselves." (Watson 19)

Narrator’s mother (Gail) - She keeps her child in line. she is very protective against sickness. An example is "if we were walking down the street and someone ahead of us coughed or sneezed, my mother slowed her pace until she thought those germs had dissipated into the air." She always wanted to leave Bentrock and move somewhere else. The narrators mother wanted her husband to be an attorney. SHe is demanding and controlling over the family.

Marie and Ronnie Tall Bear - Marie is a housekeeper from North Dakota in her early twenties. Marie is no-where near like her mother who is, thin and gaunt and terribly shy. People say that she is a very sexy lady, she is tall and has a wide face with high cheekbones and glossy, her hair is black and long straight. David Hayden has fallen in love with her ever since she stepped in. Marie takes care of the Hayden family and talks to David and gives him more attention than he is used to. Marie is nowhere near shy. Marie grows to become very sick in the beginning of the novel. - Ronnie: Ronnie is Marie’s boyfriend. Ronnie works on a ranch north of town. David worships him for his hard work. Ronnie has graduated from Bentrock High School a few years earlier, and he was one of the best athletes the region ever had. Ronnie was unable to go to college because he was Indian and he was once in the Infantry (good enough for the Army but not for college).

Uncle Frank (and Aunt Gloria) - uncle frank is the town doctor. he is also a war hero. He is the more loved child by the narrators grandfather over the narrators father. he also makes jokes about indians.

- we do not know much about aunt gloria. She is very pretty. Even prettier than the narraotors mother.

Grandfather **where is this section?

In the future, please be sure to** • Interesting Passages (at least two passages, cited in proper MLA format)

• Questions/ Predictions you have: I predict that if maria does not die then she will be extremely upset that they had a real doctor treat her. she was very upset when they even brought up the discussion of calling the doc. Another prediction i have is that something will happen to the narrators family or something will happen in the town.

• Connections to modern life or your personal life: A connection i have from the book was when David was talking about hunting. He says " I swam, I fished, I hunted (I still have,deep in a closet somewhere, my first gun from those years - single shot bolt action Winchester .22 and a single shot Montgomery Ward .410 Shotgun;) My friends and i have killed more beer cans, soda bottles, road signs, and telephone pole insulators than rabbits, squirrels, grouse, and pheasants." (Watson 23) I still go hunting with my family and friends. But like David said i am not just hunting animals. My mother is just like David's mother in the story. She likes to stay in a germ free environment. "If we were walking down the street and someone ahead of us coughed or sneezed, my mother slowed her pace until she thought those germs had dissipated in the air. " (Watson 27) That sentences everytime i hear it reminds me of my mother and how she likes to keep everyone sick free. But, it worked.

Grandfather: The narrators’ grandfather was the sheriff of Mercer County and he also owns a ranch. He loves power and loves to have control. That is why he decided to become the sheriff. The grandfather also favors the narrators’ uncle more then his father. For example, when the narrators’ uncle came back from the war there was a ceremony and the grandfather made a speech. When he made the speech, he asked for his son to come up and the narrators father didn’t even go up because he knew he was talking about the uncle.
 * Part One: in the future, just be sure to use proper MLA citations when you are using textual evidence. Overall nice job. 18/20**

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= **Part 2: imagery:** = = = In part two of the novel Imagery is still strong. As we read more I started to realize what the author likes to describe which is people and places and sometimes even smells. For example the author described Mr. Young bear like this, “A stern, censorious man. He was physically imposed-tall, barrel-chested, broad-shouldered, large-headed—and he never smiled. His lips were perpetually turned down in an expression both sad and disdainful. He seemed to find no humor in the world, and I have no memory of hearing him laugh.” Larry Watson is a genius when it comes to describing things. He will first describe a person and then go off of their appearance and then off of they’re emotions. Also his ability to describe places is exceptional. For example: “I loved Castle’s Bowling Alley, a dark, narrow (only four lanes), low-ceilinged basement establishment that smelled of cigar smoke and floor wax. The author paints a complete picture in your head as you read. The author goes far and beyond in describing things he even describes how the air smells, “But the wind has a different smell here. In North Dakota it always smelled like dirt. Even in the middle of winter with all that snow there could still be the smell of dirt in the air. As if the wind smells like the mountains. Like snow. Like stone. No matter how far away the mountains are, I still feel them out there. I can’t get used to it. I never will. I guess I’m a flatlander at heart.” Another quote from the novel that give you an idea of imagery is, “We were traveling in our new Hudson that my father bought that year, and even that big, heavy boat rocked slightly in the wind once we were out in the country.”

__The first interesting passage is when David went to his grandparents’ house. He overheard his dad and grandpa talking. The grandfather started to talk about how uncle Frank used to have a sexual addiction to Indian women. This was an interesting passage because it gives a reason why uncle Frank might want to rape Indian girls.
 * Interesting Passages**

The second interesting passage is when David goes to have blueberry pie at his neighbors’ house and he sees his neighbor Len. Len was drinking whiskey and seemed upset. It sounded like he saw something that David might have saw (uncle Frank walking into the house). This was an interesting passage because Len may have saw uncle Frank walk into the house too.

The third interesting passage is when David explains that he saw uncle Frank walk into the house when no one was home but Marie. This was an interesting scene because it tells how uncle Frank probably killed Marie.


 * • Connections to modern life or your personal life:**__

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"That was one of my fathers rules: no on was supposed to swear in front of my mother and me" (watson 40) I believe that this is a connection to modern day life. I see people all the time swear in front of there kids. I believe it puts a bad influence on the children. So after the father yelling at Uncle Frank to not swear in front of mother and dave shows that his family is a well respected family. I never swear in front of my brother so he doesn't say or repeat that word.======

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"I was afraid i would give myself away by blushing or failing to react the way i should" (Watson 54). Everyday this happens to people in modern time. They know something bad that recently happened and their friend or family member was involved. What David is going through is really hard because he doesn't know if he should say something to his parents. If i was in his situation i would have no clue what to do======

Predictions and questions:

I predict that Uncle Frank will not get charged for the murder of marie. He wont get charged because the his brother is the sheriff and he would not do that to his brother and try to believe it was not him. There will be a discussion over wether he did it and they will think it was him. I think that he killed her because she was telling people that he molested indian girls and he cannot have her telling people that or he will get in trouble. _

=Part 3= = = Imagery: The imagery in Part three of the novel gets more deep and more dark. for example, "I suddenly felt a great distance between us, as if, at that moment, each of us stood on our own little square of flooring with open space surrounding us. Too far apart to jump to anyone else's island, we could only stare at each other the way my mother stared at my father" (151). "Footsteps thudded up the stairs, dull booms that could be mistaken, if one hadn't heard the real thing so recently, for a series of tiny shotgun blasts"(149). "It felt stunned, still vibrating, the way the air feels in the silence immediately following a gunshot"(148). =Questions:= What happened to Franks Wife? - Where did she go? - How did she react to this whole mess? - Did she find out about Frank Raping Indian girls? -

=Connections to modern life:= A lot of people deal with problems in different ways. People punch wholes threw walls, pick on someone, stay quiet about it, but others think it is right to take your own life. That is exactly what happen to frank. He thought it was the right thing to kill himself. People everyday kill themselves thinking its the right thing to do. Also when david's dad found uncle frank in the basement dead they tried to cover it up. the reason for that was for him to go out with a good reputation. Lots of people today try to fake something for a good rep. It not always death, but like other things to make themselves look good or get out of trouble.