Reading Response #1

Theme:
1. One theme in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is 'life with autism.' This is developed through out the novel in many ways. Christopher(main character with autism) becomes more comfortable with himself. Then his father Ed, has different feelings of security with his son. (Example, when Christopher is angry he would feel scared for both their safety. But, if Christopher was happy then Ed would feel safe.) Lastly, the society becomes more aware of Christopher and develops and understand of why he does what he does.

Character:
Christopher John Francis Boone.
Christopher is a 15 year old boy with Autisum (Asperger's Syndrome to be exact). Throughout the book he develops into a young man. He builds up the courage to go outside and take the train by himself. Before he was not able to do that himself. He also can have a conversation with people without being "out of it" or violent. Before, his mind would race and not be able to focus then loose control of himself (because of his autism). In the end of the book he now can blend in more with the society.

Mood/Atmosphere:
This book is different then all of the others. It is through the eyes of Christopher (austic person). With that, the atmosphere of this book is very confusing and fuzzy. It is done like this to help the reader understand what Christopher is going through and how his day to day life is. Also, the mood would be somewhat depressing. I think this because right at the begining there is gore/death. All of the lies that we're told to Christopher made the book all the more upsetting.

Conflict:
The conflict of this book is Christopher trying to solve the murder of the neighbour's dog named Wellington. This conflict is developed to something more serious because Christopher found out his own father did it and also discovers that his mother is alive. (For many years his father lead Christopher to believe she was dead.)

Settings:
Swidon England: Christopher lives on Randolph St. This is where Wellington was killed. Also, where Christopher's Mother found her new lover and ran off with each other.
London England: This is where Christopher's Mother's new house is. Christopher takes the train down here all by himself without permission to get away from his Dad.

Works Cited

I would like to thank the following sites:

1. The Photo of the cover of the novel.
http://www.illiterarty.com/files/www.illiterarty.com/img/262/the_curious_incident.jpg
- By Bridget

2. For the First Novel Response.
Mescallado, Ray. Pinkmonkey.com. TheBestNotes.com, 2006. Web. 05 Nov. 2009. http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/monkeynote/pmCuriousIncidentDogNightTimeSample.pdf

Overview of "The Curious Incident of the dog in the Night-time"

Book: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Author: Mark Haddon

I chose to read this book for my ISU for three reasons.
1. The cover looked interesting. (Yes, I know i judged a book by its cover... how awful!)
2. I wanted to read a book that had a different perspective. (This book was from the view of a teenager with autism.)
3. Lastly, When I was quickly browsing through the pages, I immediately felt a connection with Christopher. (The main character who has autism.)

What interested me in this book?
For me, I could not put the book down. It was like I was inside the book and watching the characters live their lives. I really liked how Mark Haddon wrote the book just like a person with autism feels and lives their lives. After reading this book, I believe whoever reads this book will develop more of a "soft spot" for people with disabilities just like I did. I strongly believe that they are just like everyone else but just have a different way of thinking and communicating.