The Curious Case of the Dog in the Night-time

Mason Conine
English 8-2
3/11/10
Setting

The time of this book is in the 1900 in and around London, England. It isn't in any particular season but it has to be cold most of the time because they are in England. Christopher usually stays in his house, at his special school, or around the corner to buy a candy bar. When he is investigating the murder of Wellington (a dog he loves) he dose start to get risky and wonder around the neighborhood to ask people questions. He lives in a very tight neighborhood and he frequently mentions that there are people who live next to him that use drugs a lot. Besides this his setting is very nice and I would like to live here if it was not so cold. If this setting was in a warmer place I would definitely go there. The setting dose change in the middle of the book when he makes a big travel to London from his home town. This makes it very difficult for him because London is such a confusing city. "I didn't knock on the door of number 38,which is the house next to ours house, because the people there take drugs and Father says that i should never talk to them, so I don't. And they play loud music at night and they make me scared sometimes when I see them in the street. And it not really their house." (38). This is talking about his neighborhood at his dad's house where we start off the book. It is also talking about the drug users and how they frighten him. Over all he lives in a very nice place that would be even better if the people living around him where not so strange.

The Curious Case of the Dog in the Night-time

Mason Conine

English 8-2

3/11/10

Character Sketch



The first impression of Christopher John Francis Boone is that he is a dumb child with learning disabilities. Well I am here to tell you that this is absolutely wrong! He is so smart he, "..know[s] all the countries of the world and their capitols and every prime numbers up to 7,057... knew that it meant 'happy' like when I'm reading about the Apollo space missions..." (2). I would like to know if one of you is smarter than that! He also is almost in love with mathematics. He dreams of some day being a famous mathematician and going to collage for it. But, he has many behavioral problems such as: not talking to people for a long time (once for 5 weeks), not eating or drinking for a long time, doesn't like being touched (he hits people for it), screaming when he is confused or angry, claustrophobia, smashing when he is angry or confused, groaning, not liking yellow or brown things (??), refusing to use his toothbrush if someone touched it, not eating food if other foods are touching (I do this), not knowing when people are angry with me, and not smiling. O.k. those are just a few so you will have to read the book if you want to know more. So, I think we can all learn from him how to be curious even if things are hard, not to trust strangers, and to preserver even if you are afraid.

Nineteen Minutes

I Am Peter Houghton

I am an unexpected murderer.
I wonder how my life would have been if I was born someone popular like Matt Royston instead of someone who gets beat up, made fun of everyday that everyone hates and pays no attention to.
I hear the screams of the victims and feel nothing.
I see Josie's face in my mind, and even though she didn't want to be my friend anymore, could never kill.
I want people to not make fun of me and to see me as who I am instead of a nerd with thick glasses.
I am an unexpected murder

I pretend my life is someone else's and I am just simply invisible.
I feel every moment I've had in Sterling has been absolute torture since day one
I touch my gun and feel instant power.
I worry that my mom and dad will never to talk to me again even though they haven't paid a speck of attention to my my whole life.
I cry because I need help and I feel that there is no one I can trust. I can't believe what I just did.
I am an unexpected murderer.

I understand that what I did to get back at everyone for bullying me all those years wasn't the best resort but I had to somehow get revenge.
I say that people should give me a chance and listen to me so they can hear my side of the story and why I murdered and injured all the people.
I dream that my actions will be forgotten and will fade away like fog.
I try to think of the happy times in my life but there I always draw a blank.
I hope that people can stop comparing me to my perfect straight-A- student brother Joey who is dead anyway.
I am I am an unexpected murderer.

Nineteen Minutes- Acrostic

Judge Cromier (Alex Cromier) is Josie’s mom. At first she liked the idea of her mom being a judge but then once she became one, Josie drifted farther and farther apart from her mom. Alex has a dilemma of being a judge and a mother and this strongly affects Josie and Alex’s relationship.

One gunshot, that was all it took for her to shoot her boyfriend, Matt Royston and kill him. They were “ideal couple” she was smart and pretty and he was a jock and popular, they were high-school sweethearts. But she unexpectedly killed him it was as if she had loved Matt so much that she hated him.

Sterling high school, a perfectly normal high school where nothing has ever gone wrong and everyone has the same routine. But on March 6, 2007 everything changed. Peter Houghton decided to walk in to Sterling High and kill 10 people. This was the day that scarred Josie and everyone else at Sterling High’s life forever. This was the day that changed Sterling, New Hampshire forever. Sterling High would never be the same again.

“If you listen carefully, in a hospital, you can hear the truth” (100). Josie isn’t able to re-cap what happened after the shooting because she is so shocked. In the hospital she listens around and discovers the truth, 10 people had been killed and she had one of the injured. But she can’t seem to remember ever being there. Also, doesn’t want to believe what had happened and all of her friends had been killed. Later, she begs her mom not to have her testify in court because she is scared to remember what happened.

Ex best friend of Peter Houghton. In the past, Peter and Josie were best friends. Whenever he was bullied, she would always stick up for him. Then, she ditches him when she becomes popular in middle school because she can’t be seen with a “loser” like Peter. She never meant to deliberately ditch him, it just happened that way. Once Josie became popular, she became obsessed with social status and looks, someone she never wanted to become.

Secret Life of Bee's Literary Techniques

“People who think dying is the worst thing don’t know a thing about life"(2). Lily says this in the beginning of the novel during the exposition. This is an important quote because Lily’s life has been profoundly affected by her mother's death. This statement suggests that living with someone else’s death can be more painful that dying. Not only does Lily have to live with the fact of her accidently shooting her mother when she was an infant, she also has to deal with May. May is the sister of August Boatwright. May also had a twin sister named April who was depressed and committed suicide at a very young age. May and April had so much in common. When one of them got sick the other got sick. They were best friends. Throughout May's childhood she had nervous breakdowns and was emotionally insane. The way May expressed her feeling was by writing her emotions and thoughts on a peace of paper and placing them in the "wailing wall."This was the way to calm May down. One day May ends up killing by drowning herself in a river. She left a note saying that she would finally be reunited with her mother and of course her twin, April. This quote may seem irrelevant. Dying is the worst thing in life, but in the eyes of Lily it is not. Lily has experienced a lot of sorrow and sadness in her life. She has come to realize that when someone dies, everyone else becomes closer. In my opinion, this seems like a strange remark but she is wright in a way. You should lament in death but move on and focus on those who still surround you.

Sherlock Holmes

"Looking back we saw the figure moving slowly away over the broad moor, and behind him that one black smudge on the silvered slope which showed where the man was lying who come so horribly to his end." In this book it is not like many other there is not one big murder and then the detectives examine that one murder. in this book there is more than one murder and many close calls. Holmes and Watson are kept one their toes always trying to catch up with the murder. Even with the last murder Sir Arthur Conan Doyle squeezes even bit of mystery while he can by changing who Holmes and Watson think was the victim. After this murder Holmes and Watson make their final decision of the murder and plan their trap, which adds even more suspicion to the book.

Sherlock Holmes

"Very stealthily we heard it pass along until it died away in the distance. then the baronet gently opened his door and we set out in pursuit." Sir Arthur Conan Doyle really does a good job of getting and keeping the readers attenion with his contant action and suspicion. He keeps Sherlocka and Watson always in danger and with the murder suspect always changing mostly each chapter.