sphere

Sphere by MIc [[image:455373.jpg width="151" height="234" align="left"]] hael Crichton:
Week 12/3/10

There are 7 main characters in our book.
 * A. Group Leader:** Kenya Golston
 * Norma Johnson-** Norma is the protagonist of the story and as I predict, is going to be the most important character in the story. Even though physically he is the least fit of the other main characters, he seems to be the most level headed of the bunch.
 * Harry Adams**- Harry is a young mathematician. With his intelligent abilities, comes arrogance which could possibly pose a problem with the other characters throughout the book. He seems to be unwilling to cooperate with the other characters.
 * Theodore Fielding**- Theodore seems to be good-natured but he tends to be pretentious which hinders his relationships with the 6 other characters. Maybe his personality, like Harry's, will clash with the other's throughout the book.
 * Elizabeth Halpern-** Elizabeth is a caring character and the only female scientist in the book.
 * Harold Barnes-** Harold's nickname is Hal and he is in charge of the underwater scientific investigation. He tends to conflict with the other characters because he is more of the military man than the scientific man.
 * Tina Chan-**Tina is a navy crew member and is also in the habitat. She seems to be bonding with Beth and it seems as though they may have a close relationship forming.
 * Teeny Fletcher-** Teeny is the Navy engineer in charge of maintaining the habitat. She is really friendly and physically, heavily built.


 * C. Questions: Nichole Wrobel**

- How did the scientific and 'documentary' beginning make you feel? in a collaboration of ideas we agreed on it making us feel suspenseful and almost cautious as we read on

- Do you think the way Crichton introduces the story adds to the mystery and scifi components of the main idea? group agreed that it was very difficult to comprehend because of the mystery component Crichton started off with as the book began

- If you hadn't read the summary before reading the first part of the book, would you believe the book would take a swift mysterious turn as it did? We agreed that we were all surprised because even though we did read the summary it took a sharp and swift dive into the main idea of the story introducing the spacecraft and we were taken aback making the story a bit difficult to continue on reading

- What do Johnson, Fielding, Adams, and Halper expect of the space craft? that it is alien, out of this world from the cosmos. They expect to find alien lifeforms and equipment pertaining to space however they are puzzled when they see that much of what is encased in the structure is quite familiar.

- Were you surprised when you found out the spacecraft was acknowledged as futuristic rather than alien? Yes the group was surprised, but not necessarily taken aback. The book is very complex and suspenseful so we have to expect anything that is thrown into the mix even though the story takes complete 180's

Week 2- 12.09.10


 * A. Group leader: Nichole Wrobel**

The language of the book is easy to read however the vocabulary makes it controversially deterring. As we read we understand it for a few paragraphs then it takes a turn and the vocabulary gets a bit dissolved and difficult to grasp along with the concepts of the story. Considering the grade level at which The Sphere should be placed we believe it is 11& 12 grade material. The information and scientific nature of the novel make it a harder read for anyone younger than 16


 * D. Group Summarizer: Kenya Golston**

This week was all about tone. We discussed some parts that were difficult to understand, such as some of the vocabulary that Crichton uses. Some parts that we read so far didn't make any sense to us, especially when the scientists discussed what was in the space craft. It then came to our understanding that the things in the space craft were actually aliens. Crichton hasn't failed us yet, however. Even though some parts may be confusing, this thriller is keeping us on edge about what the characters might endure in later chapters.

Week 3- 12.20.10

Questions: 1. What is the meaning behind the sphere? 2. Will all the characters survive the sketchy "manifestations " that are going on in the book right now ? 3. Would you take advantage of the super powers that the sphere gives them? Quotes: 1. " It's hard to accept," Beth was saying in her slow, patient, almost hypnotic voice. "I understand that. But if you think about it, you'll realize you wanted it to come to this. You wanted me to figure it out, Norman." 2. "And your ignorance about yourself was even greater than that. Self-awareness was the most difficult of al. Few people attained it. Or perhaps nobody attained it." 3. "Norman looked at the lines on the screen. He had a different reaction from the others-- he was surprised to find an expression of emotion. Did this alien have emotions? Probably not he suspected."
 * B&C. Quotation Finder & Questioner: Kenya Golston**


 * D. Group Summarizer: Nichole Wrobel**

The group discussed the turns the novel took in the freshly read section of the book. The psychological components that were perceptive but almost contradictory to the reality the characters in the story present. Most of the characters were strangely aroused yet felt deceived because their future world was very unknown to them. The findings expanded into new realities for each character and they started to doubt how resourceful the present they lived in actually was. We analyzed this and discussed how it would change our lives if we came across the epic changes a seemingly simple yet exquisite discovery. We had no food, and we finished our discussion quickly because the story is really coming along for each group member. So far it is a smooth read, especially because of its intrigue.

Week 4- 1.7.11


 * A. Group Leader: Kenya Golston**

Themes: At this point, we are almost finished with the book, so there are a lot of themes that became evident thus far. One theme that remains steady is the theme that not all technology is good, which ironically ties into the book that we are reading in class, Brave New World. The sphere in the story represented technology and how it could be harmful to the people of society. This also ties into the overall feeling-- mysterious and curious. As humans we have an instinct that things we aren't familiar with can be dangerous, but we have also have curiosity within us that overrides the fact that it is dangerous. This is what the characters in our book did. They let their curiosity take over, and as readers we knew this was dangerous-- this made the tone dark and mysterious.


 * B&C: questions+ quotation finder: Nichole Wrobel**

1. How did you feel at sequence of deaths that occurred, where you surprised that Beth and Norman are the last two people alive? 2. What do you think the squid signifies? 3. Do you believe Normans psychological investigation of the squid will be positively effective, and help them to find its weaknesses as they believe?

1. Beth: 'I wanted to thank you for saving my life.' Norman: "...And interesting life to save... " - almost insists intrigue and a high amount of thankfulness 2. After Jerry exclaims that he will murder Norman, Norman states, "No Jerry, don't do that" - implying lack of worry and very little care in his present dilemma of fighting for his life and after Harry, Barnes, and Ted are slaughtered by Jerry 3. Before harry dies he states: "Follow the yellow brick road." - It gives a certain awe of advice, assurance of hope, and the foreshadowing of unknown, unplanned, unexpected ventures to come.

Week 5- 1.14.11 WHy do you think Crichton wanted the aliens to remain mysterious to the reader? Why are the differences between aliens and humans hard to comprehend? What did you think about the end of the story
 * B&C. Questions & Quotes: Kenya Golston**

"Ten feet above them, a blue-siuted figure was wedged in a light-stand bracket. The body moved loosely in the current, the bright-yellow helmet banging intermittently against the wall of habitat"

"The moving tentacles and arms were clear. The outline grew larger. The squid moved laterally."

"They're intelligent animals; they have the ability to learn from experience. It probably didn't like hitting the ground before, and it remembers."

We discussed as a group how surprising the end of the book ended up as the largest turning point. We were taken aback by how the last two survivors really stuck to their stories, and refrained from exposing much of what they saw in the spacecraft. We talked about the different tactics Norman and Beth planned as escape routes, but we couldn't really grasp the concept of how it was described in the book. We all agreed that this book was not an easy read, though interesting, and therefore would not recommend it highly to others
 * D. Summerizer: Nichole**