Literature Analysis #2

1.       The plot of the book “For One More Day” by Mitch Albom exposition begins with a quote by Chick Benetto, “Let me guess. You want to know why I tried to kill myself.” A young sportswriter who is at Pepperville Beach to close a small house that had been in their family for years. The young sportswriter meets and old man at a baseball field and makes the mistake of tell him what they do. The old man then tells them if they want a good story to interview a man in the bleachers named, Charles “Chick” Benetto. Chick was once a baseball player who later one tries to kill himself. When he is in this process he meets his mother, whom is dead, he does not know if he is alive or dead. He spends one more day with his mother, Posy Benetto, as he wished he had. He learned the truth of his family and what happened. We also learn why he did the things he did and choose to no longer live.

 

2.       The theme of this book would have to be never assume something until you know the whole story. I think the reason why the author choose this as the theme is because teenagers like to usually assume things and they never listen to the full story. The theme of this book is also about forgiveness. Because Chick had to forgive his mom and himself for all the things he had done.

 

3.       The reason why I choose this book is because Mitch Albom also wrote one of my favorite books called “The Five People You Meet In Haven”. It was a very good book so, I wanted to read more books that he had wrote. “For One More Day” captured my attention by the first page because, this book started off differently from any other book I have read. This book started off with a quote and that this story is a ghost story. What kept me wanting to read it more is that in the first couple pages there is a sportswriter, but they do not say who it is or if it is a he or a she. It remains unknown until the end of the story, and that is where everything comes together, it also reveals a big plot twist. This book was also very interesting from begging to the end, I did not want the book to end.

 

4.       I did find this book realistic because I can relate to it and mostly anyone else can to. I did make connections with the book that helped me understand it much better. For example when he tries to do things all over again but he knows he can’t because, you can’t change the past but you can change what direction you want to lead his life. This book also taught me to forgive and not hold grudges over people.

 

5.       The authors tone in this book is sometimes innocent, for example when he talks to his mom “I took a few seconds to find my voice” (55). But sometimes the tone of his voice sounds angry when he yells, “You ruined my life” (40).

 

6.       Flashback-“I am eight years old. I have a homework assignment. I must recite to the class “What Causes an Echo?” (43)

 

Foreshadowing- “Let me guess. You want to know why I tried to kill myself.” (prologue)

 

Symbolism- “Two huge lights blinded me…” (14)

 

Imaginary-“It was cold and raining lightly  ...” (13)

 

Flashback-“It is Halloween. I am sixteen now, too old to go trick-or-treating” (97)

 

Onomatopoeia- “Is that what you”-slap!-“said?”-slap, slap...” (86)

 

Foreshadowing-“CHARLES BENETTO. OPEN YOUR EYES!” (175)

 

Imaginary-“She squeezed the corn puffs and they crumbled into floury dust” (23)

 

Onomatopoeia-“I heard the sizzling of butter and eggs” (55)

 

Symbol-“carved our names in it with steak knives” (47)

 

 

 

Characterization

1.       Direct Characterization

Posy (Chick’s mom) – “fun, perky, eccentric, headstrong” (29)

Leonard (Chick’s dad)-“thinning hair and a bulbous nose” (122)

Indirect Characterization

Chick – “for the last time I got drunk” (11)

Rose-“An elderly woman wearing a smock and holding a walker…” (79)

 

 

2.       No the authors syntax does not change he keeps everything the same as the book began till it ends. He has a steady flow even when he introduces new characters threw out the book.

 

3.       The main character in this book a dynamic character. He changes threw out the book he realizes thing that he did not realize when he was younger. He also sees things from different points of views. He also grows as a person as he gets to talk to his mom one last time. He is also a round character because he has more than one trait and the author has a good way of explaining them and really describes how he is.

 

4.        After reading this book I feel as if I have met a new person because I feel like he was talking directly at me and I understood everything he was saying. For example on page 3 I feel like he is talking to me directly as if I were a normal person.

 

ENDURING MEMORY

A idea that I learned from this book at that I will remember for the rest of my life is, to spend time with the people I love and care about because you may never know when it will be the last time you see or talk to them. For example, when Chick’s mom dies he regrets not being there for most of his childhood. He also regrets never spending time with her; he also taught me that family is import everything else can wait. Lastly never take people for granted and always forgive because holding grudges over people will just eat you up inside.