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Introduction

Dear reader,

This blog is an analysis of the book The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. The book is a memoir of Jeannette’s life from her earliest memories as a child, to the present day adult life she lives in New York City. The story is about a journey Jeannette goes through to find who she truly is. She doesn’t become who her parents are, or who she is expected to be. She becomes the person she wants to be.

The blog is designed to describe Jeannette using the two main themes of the book, poverty and hope. The book is about a girl who grew up in a poor family that sometimes didn’t know where their next meal was coming from. The only thing that kept her going was her dreams of moving to New York City and living in a glass castle. While she later excepts that her dream of the glass castle will probably not come true, her hope that she will some day life in the greatest city in the world keeps her going. It gives her hope that she will turn her life will around for the better.

The blog utilizes several different genres in to describe either the adversity she had to overcome, or the hope that is within her. It starts with the extended hand background, a universal symbol of hope; then the dark colors throughout the blog, to rebresent the dark gloomy hard times Jeannette went through.  There is then a survey of how often people move, a poster of a small gold rush, and an obituary of her father compared to another person. These show the struggles Jeannette went through in her life. Then there are blue prints of the glass castle, and a poem written about dreams using references from the memoir. These show the hope that is instilled in Jeannette, and the dreams that keep her going.

I welcome you to brows through this blog. Learn about the amazing story of Jeannette Walls. Take the lessons she has learned, and use them in your daily life. Jeannette wrote this story to inspire people to overcome adversity and make their dreams come true. I hope you see that as you are reading.

Mis En Scene Storyboards

Found Poem

We Want Food

            If we asked about food – in a casual way, because we didn’t want to cause any trouble – she’d simply shrug and say she couldn’t make something out of nothing. We kids usually kept our hunger to ourselves, but we were always thinking of food and how to get our hands on it. During recess at school, I’d skip back into the classroom and find something in some other kid’s lunch bag that wouldn’t be missed – a package of crackers, an apple – and I’d gulp it down so quickly I would barely be able to taste it. If I was playing in a friend’s yard, I’d ask if I could use the bathroom, and if no one was in the kitchen, I’d grab something out of the refrigerator or cupboard and rake it into the bathroom and eat it there, always making a point to flush the toilet before leaving.

            Brian was scavenging too. One day I discovered him upchucking behind our house. I wanted to know how he could be spewing like that when he hadn’t eaten in days. He told me he had broken into a neighbor’s house and stolen a gallon jar of pickles. The neighbor had caught him, but instead of reporting him to the cops, he made Brian eat the entire jarful as punishment. I had to swear I wouldn’t tell Dad

            A couple of months after Dad lost his job, he came home with a bag of groceries: a can of corn, a half gallon of milk, a loaf of bread, two tins of deviled ham, a sack of sugar, and a stick of margarine. The can of corn disappeared within minutes. Somebody in the family had stolen it, and no one except the thief knew who. But Dad was too busy making deviled ham sandwiches to launch an investigation. We ate our fill that night, washing down the sandwiches with big glasses of milk. When I got back from school the next day, I found Lori in the kitchen eating something out of a cup with a spoon. I looked in the refrigerator. There was nothing inside but a half-gone stick of margarine.

We asked Mom about food

She couldn’t make something out of nothing

We were always thinking of food

And how to get our hands on it

Find something in some other kid’s lunch bag

A package of crackers

An apple

A loaf of bread

And I’d gulp it down

I’d grab something out of the refrigerator

Take it to the bathroom

And eat it there

Brian was scavenging too

Stolen a gallon jar of pickles

The neighbor

Made Brian eat the entire jarful

A half gallon of milk

Two tins of deviled ham

And a stick of margarine

The family

Bag of groceries

Disappeared within minutes

Print Media: Obituary

James Smith (1960-2004)

James Smith, age 44, of Cincinnati, OH died Friday August 3, 2004. He was born June 24, 1960 in Boston, Massachusetts.

A fire fighter or the Cincinnati Fire Department, a 1978 graduate of Lowell High in Lowell, Massachusetts where he was the first team all-city champion in 1977 and player of the year in his conference. He played baseball for the University of Massachusetts and in the minor leagues. He coached little league in Cincinnati after his career.

As a fire fighter, James saved over 22 lives running into burning buildings, and received awards for his persistence and determination. He died saving his 22 live, evacuating Jason Ellis from a fire caught house before he could escape himself.

He preceded the death of his father Alan Smith, grandfather William Smith, and grandmother Alexandra Smith.

He is survived by his wife, Amy D. Smith, and his four sons Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John all of Cincinnati, Ohio. His mother Rose Smith and two sisters Kelly and Emma.

Funeral will be 11:00am Wednesday August 8, 2004 at parkway Baptist Church of Lowell, Massachusetts.

Rex Walls (1941-2000)

Rex Walls, age 59, died Monday May 14, 2000. He was born March 30, 1941. Died of a Heart attack.

He is survived by is wife Rose Mary Walls and his five children Lorie, Jeannette, Brian, and Maureen Walls.

Funeral will be 9:30am Friday May 18, 2000 at Saint Christ Church of New York City, New York.

Visual with Words: Poster

Jeannette's dad failed time and time again to find gold in the desert. he drove his family into a life of poverty trying to make it big here.

Get Rich Quick

There’s Gold In The Desert

One of the last remaining gold sediments in the world is not in South America, it’s in Arizona. Pounds of gold remain scattered in the sand particles. Sitting there for anyone to swoop in and take them.

The price of gold has been raising non-stop for decades. With the market currently at $1,700 dollars and ounce and growing, a strike here could mean the end of your financial troubles.

Arizona Gold

Visual Display: blueprints of the glass castle

Jeannette dreamed of one day living in a glass castle like this. These blue prints were sometimes the only thing that kept her going.

Informational: Survay

How many times do children normally move

According to the 2007-08 Survey of Income and Housing, of people aged 15 years and over, over one-quarter (27%) had been living in their current home for 15 years or more, 30% had been there for 5-14 years, and 43% had moved in the last five years (recent movers).

Some groups of people are more mobile than others. In 2007-08, among recent movers aged 15 years and over, almost half (46%) had moved once, 19% had moved twice, 17% three times, 8% four times, and 11% had moved five times or more.

Jeannette Walls tried to count how many times she moved when she was only four years old. She lost count at 11.

Creative Writing: What Dreams Are Made Of

A dream is an idea that grows in your head

It’s an idea that is planted in you as a child

A dream will starts small

A dream will seem meaningless

But as it grows and evolves

It becomes who you are and what you live for

That’s what dreams are made of

A dream is something that cannot be killed

A dream can be caught on fire

Burned so bad that it is scared for life

But it doesn’t fear

It will fight through the fear of fire

It will fight through the days with no food

It will fight through the days of changing your life

And even if it doesn’t become true

It will remain

Always striving to live on

That’s what dreams are made of

A dream is something that cannot be forgotten

It may get pushed around

It may get overlooked

It may get whipped a couple times

It may never even come true

But it will always be there

Pushing you

Giving you a purpose to strive for

That’s what dreams are made of

Conclusion

The Glass Castle is the story of Jeannette Walls, a girl who grew up in poverty with a dream of moving to New York City and living in a big glass castle built by her dad. She overcame a life of poverty with ungrateful parents that never wanted to grow up. With hope and her dream leading her, she overcame the adversities of her life. She when on a journey where she became somebody nobody thought she could ever be. She was not the spitting image of Jeanette's parents, she was Jeannette.

Work Cited

"Australian Bureau of StatisticsCelebrating the International Year of Statistics 2013."Moving House. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 May 2013.
"Obituaries." The Cincinnati Enquirer. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 May 2013.
"Atlantic Cape Community College." The Glass Castle Pathfinders. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 May 2013.
Walls, Jeannette. The Glass Castle: A Memoir. New York: Scribner, 2005. Print.