Literature Circles Meeting 3

Today in the literature circle we discussed chapters one through three. I made strong contributions as a discussion member by bringing up topics that spark discussion as well as helping other discussion members when they were confused about the reading.

The first question I asked was: Why does Francie follow Neely when he goes to play baseball with his three friends if she isn't wanted and she doesn't even play? Through discussion, I learned that other details in the book show that is might be because she doesn't have friends of her own to hang out with. We came to this conclusion as a group because Francie spends so much time reading and it hasn't been mentioned that she ever plays with other kids. Also, no friends of Francie's have been mentioned yet besides Maudie who is only Francie's friend sometimes.

My second confusion about the reading was: On page 29 when Frank says, "do I have to break a couple of your asses?" This confused me because up until that point, and even right after, he seems to be a peaceful guy who wouldn't want to hurt anyone. Ariel explained that he probably said this solely to get rid of the boys; he wouldn't actually harm the boys.

Lastly, i wondered why Johnny Nolan would buy paper collars, which can only be used once, instead of one reusable celluloid collar, especially if he is so poor. Andrew related this to earlier in the book when Francie likes to be able to waste coffee. Both these incidents were confusing. We came ot the conclusion that both actions make Johnny and Francie feel better about themselves. Johnny likes to look his best for work, and Francie likes the feeling of being wealthy enough to be able to waste something.

I was so glad to be further informed about the reading because of the contributions of the other discussion members, and also glad to help them better understand the novel.

Alyssa was confused about the junkyard and what exactly the pinching pennies were. I explained to her that the old man who works at the junkyard, where Francie and Neely go to get a few extra pennies, likes to pinch girls' cheeks so he give little girls extra pennies when they let him pinch their cheeks.

As a group, we inferred that Francie will be abused in some way or another during the course of the book. One clue that suggests this is her alcoholic father; Johnny Nolan could home any night extremely drunk and attack his wife and/or kids. Another unsettling man is the one who owns the penny shop that girls are accepted at, due to the fact that he is suggested to have raped a little girl. Lastly, the man from the junk yard seems slightly creepy to all of us, especially because he pays little girls to pinch their cheeks.

An inference i came to on my own is that the attraction to Johnny Nolan will not last long. Although he is a charming, young, singing man now, it doesn't seem like it will last. Firstly, already some of his fellow waiters are beginning to speak poorly of him. Also, on page 34 the books says, "His wife and children had not turned bitter against him and his children did not know that they were supposed to be ashamed of him." This implies that those two things will happen in the future.