English 485: Expedition Adolescence

This novel was a very interesting yet enlightening one because it shows so many different angles of the every day life of someone dealing with a learning disability. Throughout the book we get the view the world through Christopher's lens. He is very observant he guides us through his world through heavy description and scenes that we can see and feel. For example, on page 5, he says "And then I thought about how for a long time scientists were puzzled by the fact that the sky is dark at night, even though there are billions of stars in the universe and there must be stars in every direction you look, so that the sky should be full of starlight because there is very little in the way to stop the light from reaching earth". Christopher has a unique and creative way of expressing this phenomena in a way that we can understand but would never think about in this way. I love the way that the author constructed this novel and how well we get insight to this way of thinking...

   In Mark Haddon's, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Christopher Boone takes on the role of detective as he tries to discover who killed Mrs.Shears pet poodle, Wellington. But, C urious Incident is much more meaningful than just a story about a boy and his mission to seek out an infamous dog killer. Christopher battles with himself throughout the entire book because of his daily struggle to overcome and understand his autism. As an audience, we get to experience a glimpse of what it is like to have ASD and get to know the mind of someone who handles life on a day to day basis with this condition. I think the most interesting part of the novel was Christopher's relationship with truth and how he explained it.    The first time Christopher mentions not lying and always telling the truth, it is when he has the confrontation with the police man after Mrs. Shears call the police about her dog and Christopher. "He was quiet for a few seconds, then he a...

The Curious Incident really opened up my eyes as to what a person who has the same type of capabilities as Christopher Boone reacts to both specific and general settings; and what he and others who share the same qualities goes through on a daily basis. Even though this book is not a mold for everyone who is considered to be on the "Autistic Spectrum" it does highlight a specific person's experience through a multitude of events that anyone can endure. Prior to reading this novel, I was unable to truly grasp what people with any form of Autism had to go through (as this book is the only exposure that I have ever really had). But this book has made me more aware of people like Christopher, and it has exposed appropriate ways and inappropriate ways to learn how to interact with. The biggest take away (apart from the understanding of exceptional people) is how incredibly  honest Christopher is. Christopher immediately states that, "I cannot tell lies. Mother used t...

My initial reaction to “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” was that I wasn’t going to be interested in it. That’s due to the title along, I thought it was going to be a book about a dog missing, that’ll have this cliché ending and whatnot. Boy was I wrong, this book has so many twists and turns. Including the idea to tell the story through the eyes of a character with autism. Christopher John Francis Boone, our main character, faces some trials and tribulations. For starters, what starts off as an investigation for Christopher, turns into this personal adventure. His own personal life is affected on his own decision to jump into a simple pet murder investigation.  From discovering adultery of his neighbor, which was a response to his own Mother cheating with the neighbor\ the slain pet’s owner husband. This book was like a soap opera, if not better. The intrigue and the twist don’t stop there. His own Father is involved in some secrecy as well. Hiding letters from ...

            After some thought, I think I would like to approach this novel from a different point a view, much how Christopher has a different point of view on his mentality and thought process. Instead of focusing on the content itself, I would like to take a look at the structure of the book and how it impacts us as the reader!             When I cracked open this book for the first time and saw that ‘Chapter One’ was labelled ‘2,’ I expressed immediate concern, thinking that my copy of the novel had been damaged and the entire first chapter was stolen from me. I actually questioned this until I flipped through the book and realized that the chapters were not in the logical order that I was used to. At first, I was confused, but relieved to have all the pages. However, I now realize that this minute detail serves to be very important! Without even reading the first word of the book, I was brough...

      Reading other students post about The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time I am content to know that my negative feed back is not alone. As a future teacher that could possibly have students with ASD in my classroom it was interesting to have a story told by the point of view from a teen with ASD. I will say that although this was refreshing and positive and was really hard to keep up. I understand that what the author, Hannon , was doing with adding the detailed and dragging each of Christopher's experience he was showing the reader how he felt and it made it more authentic. The book was not long in itself, I feel that the details made it seem longer since it described every meltdown, every new experience, math problems etc... As a reader I would have like a little less and Haddon could have left it to the readers imagination.                    Like Diary, Hannon, added a lot of illustrations of what Chri...

My overall rea ction to the novel  The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time  by Mark Hadden was that it was quite interesting at first then later as I read further into the book I found myself getting frustrated with it. The structure of the novel at some points had me confused to what was taking place because I felt like thoughts were all over the place, and I found myself having to reread a scene twice to make  sure  I understood it well especially the ones that contain numbers . Later, I understood that the effect of this was for readers to really be inside  Christopher's  perception of things and how individual with this disorder deal with this only a daily basis. This novel did a good job of displaying the daily struggles for individuals that are deal with ASD, and provided readers with  perspectives  that society labels as being outside of the "norm". In the course of this novel I also feel like I would now be able to know how to ...

Before I start writing, I first want to acknowledge that I just really loved this book! It seemed like a lot of the class had trouble enjoying or appreciating the novel because it's so different stylistically, which is understandable, but all of those unique elements helped make the novel more authentic. The main topic I want to focus on (also what I'm writing my paper on) is how a lot of postmodernist elements were used in the novel to make Christopher come to life. While obviously not every postmodern novel is about an autistic kid, I think Haddon really used a lot of these elements to his advantage and they ended up working out really well to characterize Christopher. One of the major postmodern elements which helps this book really craft an authentic portrayal of autism is the fact that it's metafictive. Basically, this means it's a "story within a story." Readers would be extremely limited just reading the parts of the novel which are meant to be C...

              The Curious Incident of the dog in the night-time was a difficult novel for me to get through. I was annoyed with how detailed it was and how certain subjects were drug on and on; however, it really broadens my horizon. All children should be exposed to certain parts of this novel. Far too often we make misconceptions about people who are "different", and create a low standard for, or of them. This novel emphasizes the daily struggles a child with autism, or ASD may deal with. It also shows different routes a parent can take, what situations cause frustration, and how the world treats an individual with a disability, or impairment.             This book as well as Diary made me realize that they are aware if their condition. I hate to even call it that, and I’m constantly switching around my words because I don’t want to use the wrong terminology. Christopher knew that he co...

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time gives readers such insight into the world of Asperger’s, and it’s truly enlightening. Christopher’s narration provides the reader with example after example of how his brain works and processes information, and I think that fact alone gives the book immeasurable value. However, I think one of the most interesting aspects of the novel is Haddon’s use of text features like diagrams, mathematical equations, and pictures, to further emphasize the inner-workings of Christopher’s mind. Sure, Christopher’s narration allows us to see that he is logical, in that he gives us a stream of consciousness explaining his every step. But the text features really hammer that point home. At one point, Christopher describes what he did after lunch. He tells us that he “painted some pictures of aliens which looked like this” and the line is immediately followed by a picture of an alien (76). I find myself questioning why Haddon felt...

      The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Hadden was filled with themes and symbolism that gives all readers the opportunity to take something away from this book. Christopher goes through a lot of difficulties as a teen, especially as a child with ASD. I believe this novel does an incredible job expressing the difficulties and thought processes of individuals who may think differently than the rest of us. The author does a great job of using symbolism to allow his readers to understand the story at an entire new level.      Christopher lost Wellington, a dog he really cared for. He also had to cope with the death of his mother (so he thought), while his father coped with her leaving. His father deals with the ending of his relationship with Mrs. Shears, and Christopher again with the loss of his pet rat at the end. All of these events are significant with the way Christopher, as an individual with ASD, handles these situations in hi...

I f I had to choose one important part of the book that combines all of the different factors that Mark Haddon brings to light about autism in Christopher's case, it is the scene where he is in the train station . It is a mixture of his internal conscious, but also the outside physical world he is buried in. The impact those two things play out in this part of the story is intense, clearly imaged, and monumental in Christopher's growth as an individual.   When he is in the kitchen about to take his dad's credit card and hears a car it made me hold my breath because I felt his nervousness when he said," I felt my skin cold under my clothes... and the pain in my head got much worse."( 135) Chris who does not like metaphors much uses one to describe the way it felt to hear a car, shows how out of character it is for him to be sneaking around getting his dad's card out. It gives the first push to a cart rolling down hill of "first (scary)  adventu...

In The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime written by Mark Haddon, Christopher, the main protagonist, struggles with being misunderstood while he trys to relate to others. Christopher is often isolated from the world as he explores the murder of Wellington, he neighbor’s dog, alone. Christopher has an unidentified form of Autism and this makes him different from the other characters in the novel. Christopher is very intelligent, but because of his condition, he thinks, speaks, and reacts to certain situations differently from others. This novel starts as Christopher’s investigation, murder mystery novel as he tries to uncover who killed Wellington but turns into a heart-wrenching novel of a young boy who wants to be understood and have trusting people in his life.                 What I took away from this book was Christopher’s development. At the start of the novel, Christopher finds Wellington dea...

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is such a different book. I felt like I was inside Christopher’s mind, sitting comfortably on a couch with a bucket of popcorn, watching through his own eyes. As I turned each page, I found out details about Christopher’s perspective, how he depicts the process of understanding and how each lever cranks in his head for decision-making. Though I have not had personal experience with someone on the autism spectrum, I’ve been able to learn a lot about them through courses and texts. I feel that this book was the most personal and dedicated way to portray the lifestyle of someone on the autism spectrum. I was personally not a fan of this book, though, I do believe it is beneficial to the classroom. It gives insight on how someone with autism thinks and reacts and could possibly solve some problems with bullying. At least at my high school, kids with all forms of autism were bullied. They obviously act and react differently, so students w...