By Sunday Night (September 8th), at 8:00 p.m., please comment on your reaction (so far) to Look Me in the Eye. You might consider what you like/don't like about it (and why––the "why" is the most important piece here). You might comment on the author's writing style. How is it different or similar to other things you've read? What surprised you? What made you laugh? What other emotions did the writing evoke? The more specific you can be in your response, the better. Comments should be at least 300 words.
Please respond to each of the questions below. Responses should be at least one paragraph . Number your responses so that it is clear which question you are answering. 1. Military school obviously benefited author Wes Moore. What did author Wes Moore go on to do after exiting military school? Do you think there were any other paths that could have set him on the straight and narrow? 2. Prisoner Wes Moore continued to proclaim innocence, saying he wasn’t there for the robbery. Do you think the author believed him? Did you believe him? Do you think he should have been sentenced to life in prison? 3. At one point, author Wes Moore asks prisoner Wes Moore, "Do you think we are all products of our environments?" How would you answer this question? 4. Prisoner Wes Moore says that we are either products of our environments or products of our expectations. Which is it? What about you? (Are you more a product of your environment or m...
My first thought about this book was about how different it was from the other book we are reading in class because it has a similar topic. I like the book because it is very descriptive of everything, and it has many interesting stories of when he was a child. However, all of his stories are altered now that he knows he has Asperger's Syndrome. When he tells stories, he explains them from a point of view that knows about Asperger's and he can explain why he did something or felt a certain way. He doesn't focus as much on how he felt at the moment, making his stories somewhat inaccurate.
ReplyDeleteThe author jumps around in some parts, making it confusing for the reader, like when he mentions the car crash his father and stepmother were in. I can see how he got to the topic while writing about reactions to tragic events, but it was a small spoiler and confusing enough to make you have to read it again. Most of the time, the author stays on track to what he is writing, so it surprises me when he says something unrelated out of the blue.
I wish the author had elaborated more on the results of him playing tricks on everybody. He did not connect that theme to any others, like the fighting at home or his father’s drinking. While these larger themes might not have been connected at all, the tricks he played would have had to affect something, but he didn't mention it. He said he made many trips to the principal’s office, but in the book, the tricks affected nobody in the long term.
Even though there are things I don't like about the author's writing style, I like the book. I like stories that are in the first person and share random thoughts along with what the author was originally intending to write.
Katelyn Johnson
Look me in the Eye Response
ReplyDeleteI like how the book is written, the author, since they lived the story, doesn't go off on tangents like in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. At first when the parents announced the arrival of a new child and named it Cristopher I was a little confused. I was wondering if Cristopher in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time was the same kid but then I figured it wasn't when Christopher turned five, because then he would have remembered having a brother, and probably mentioned it in one of his tangents. When the author mentioned that his father was having an affair with a secretary it made me think of how in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time the mother was the one who had the affair. John Elder seems to have a pretty bad family to have grown up in. His father seemed to have influenced him a little. John Elder hurt his brother sometimes like when he played the game, “Jab a Varmint.” that seemed to me like he could have been influenced by what his father did to him, and that he might have thought that that was ok to do. The book made me feel like I could really understand where he was coming from. The writing style used in the book helped me to envision what it was like for John Elder to live with aspergers. He made me feel bad for how he had to grow up, moving so many times, and how he had a hard time making friends at a young age. Look me in the Eye seems like it would be a good book for parents who have a child with aspergers to read, it seems like it would be helpful to see how their child somewhat thinks, and to get a better understanding of their child.
Ada I really like how you compared the two books. I totally agree that "Look Me in the Eye" is more interesting than "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time". The way that the author wrote this book is just more exciting and entertaining, and the fact that he based it on his own life is kind of incredible. You were totally right when you mentioned how this writing style just makes you realize what it would feel like if you were in John's shoes. So many people underestimate others just because they have mental illnesses and disabilities. It's such a shame that John didn't know he had aspergers up until he was older, and find be able to learn how to fit into the norms of our society to do what he loves. I think many parents nowadays understand more about mental illnesses, but there are still a lot of people who think less of others due to them acting different from everyone else.
DeleteSo far I have really enjoyed Look Me in the Eye by John Elder Robison. I find the writing style really unique. I like how he tells the story as though it’s the present and other times he tells it as the past. He also sometimes includes passages that aren’t about him and his story, but about facts about people with Asperger’s. Although the story is told from multiple perspectives, it all fits together perfectly. Another thing that I like about how John Elder writes, is that when he’s telling his story, he explains why he couldn’t understand something or why he did what he did. I think it’s interesting that he can look back and realize why what happened happened.
ReplyDeleteAt times, I do get Look Me in the Eye confused with The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time because they’re about the same thing and in my opinion, somewhat similar. In both books, the father is abusive and has a drinking problem. This makes me think that drinking is the only way that both of these men can cope with having children who are “special” or “different.” Reading both books at the same time helps me understand the similarities between autism and Asperger’s. Both Christopher and John Elder have a hard time making friends because their social skills aren’t as developed as other people who don’t suffer from autism and Asperger’s are.
Something that made me laugh was when John Elder decided to name his little brother. At first he called him Snort because that’s the only sound that he made as a baby, but then John Elder decided to change his name to Varmint because he was getting bigger. It’s amusing to see how much his mom resents him giving people other names, but he keeps on doing it anyways. At one point he gives both of his parents names, and although they aren’t nice names by any means, I find it funny that the family therapist, Dr. Finch, encourages John Elder naming people what he wants.
Abby, I think your comment is great, and I had a lot of the same ideas as you did. I liked how you pointed out John Elder's writing style and how the story is told from multiple perspectives. It is cool because John Elder already has two perspectives on it, one from when he was younger, and now that he knows he has Asperger's. I thought it was very interesting when John Elder looked back on the stories and explained why something happened.
DeleteI also liked how you noticed the dads in Look Me In The Eye and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. I never thought of the dads having somewhat of the same problem with drinking. Like you pointed out, they both use it as a method of coping with their child.
It is interesting when you point out the names John Elder gave his parents and how it is humorous. I liked how you mentioned the mother not liking John's original names, but he keeps making them. That showed that he was free willed and didn't follow the social norm of calling people by their real name.
Last, it is clear that you proofread your comment as it was very clear. There was a lot of good information here and I really enjoyed you comment.
I think Look me in the eye is very interesting. I like how the author is writing about his life and past experience, but he also trails off and updates the situation in the present or more recent years. Most of the book is about the past but I also feel like I know what has happened recently to the author. Not a lot of other books that I’ve read do this. I don’t really know how I feel about the names he gives people, like Varmint, Slave and Stupid. To some degree it kind of makes sense, I give nicknames to people, but I still call them by their real name. And the names he gives people are all negative and kind of mean. I think it’s important to try and understand this part of John Elder’s personality. It was also very interesting when he was learning about college engineering and he said, “It was as though I thought in an entirely different language” (pg 62). He said this because he didn’t understand the equations. I don’t know very much about Asperger's syndrome but I feel like, whether he knew it or not, John Elder gave a very simplified explanation of one way Asperger's syndrome affects him. The book is all John’s thoughts and I can see how his mind works differently, but also he isn’t that different. I think it’s important to understand that people with Asperger's syndrome really aren’t as different as people think they are. I can also see how people who didn’t understand what Asperger's syndrome was would think less of, or even try to avoid, people with Asperger's. I haven’t even read very much of the book and I already feel like this book would help someone who doesn’t know what Asperger's is to understand a little bit about it. It has helped me get a little more of an understanding of what John thinks and feels in different situations where he could be misunderstood.
ReplyDelete"Look me in the eye" by John Elder Robison, is a very eye opening book. (literally) The author talks about his life as a boy in the 1960's with Aspergers. John has a hard life with an abusive alcoholic father, and mentally unstable mother. Ever since an early age he couldn't understand others like most would be able to, and some people thought his responses were inappropriate when he would talk to them. When John was three years old, he was playing with blocks, and when another child came over and stacked a red block on his blue blocks he got mad and hit the kid. There was a big scandal and misunderstanding, and John kept getting asked “What’s wrong with you?!” but he just couldn’t understand why. From then on, as he grew older he started saying things that first came to mind, and it made people dislike him, and not accepting him. He learned to use facial expressions as the time past, and used them in certain situations so he wouldn't just stare blankly with his emotionless face. Kids in school would bully him, but he didn’t understand why most of the time, since they weren’t as different from him, and were just ugly on the inside. Whenever his dad got drunk he would be yelled, and abused constantly, and his father would not understand that his son just thought differently, and just needed some patience. His parents didn't accept, nor understand him, so they sent him to therapy not knowing what to do. Most therapists wrote John off as a"rude, and self-centered man". Another family therapist told him he could address his parents any way he wanted so he chose "Stupid" and "Slave". Those nicknames humored him, and made his parents go off their rails. The father got told by a therapist that it was illegal to physically abuse the child, so he agreed to stop.
ReplyDeleteI find this book very interesting, and eye opening on how people treated others before the 21st century. The author's writing style makes me feel like I am in his mind, and living his early life. This book shows the growth of society, and how others judge people by looks, and actions.
I have only read a little bit of the book, and I know that people like John didn't choose to be born with their flaws, and that even though they are indifferent, people choose to separate themselves from them since they are not "normal".
ReplyDeleteFrom Porter
The book Look Me In The Eye is a very interesting take on the life lived by someone with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The book fascinated me with it's details and the book just hit levels of understanding with me that I had never seen before. This book was definitely something new for me. The main thing that really hit me about the book itself was how the author had not intended to write about it at all, but this was merely from his brother asking him to write one after all of his memories were giving a positive impact on the world. When he was in his young phase, the words and description of the memoir took me by surprise and as the book progressed, there was so much conflict it felt like a movie. The father, seemed so genuine in the day time but at night, he was a demon. The mother was in terrible shape and honestly, how their kid acted was reasonable due to his home life. He was feeling like an outcast, and that's what people saw him as. However, when his brother was born, or should we call him Snort, he started to feel again, something that was hard for him but at the same time he put his life and soul into his new little brother. From how he wanted to help him progress in life to being the brother of dreams. However, the ways he approached things at first was a concern. He handled situations as if people were not humans, if they were doing everything wrong. But seeing his newly found brother, he seemed as if his ideas settled and he was focused on improving Snort's life, step by step, literally. Another huge impact on him that I related to was moving, losing everything in a move but almost not knowing what to feel or how to react. He almost felt sad but he also really knew that his life was going to progress onwards. Thanks to this book I have ways I can improve myself as well, honestly a wonderful start, I cannot wait to continue.