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For next Sunday (11-23), please read Chapters 11-15 (pages 85-126). 
 
Then, in around 250 words, please write a reflection on anything you would like to talk about regarding the book. It could be an analysis of a character, object, quote, or specific scene that really caught your eye, or it could be a larger idea or observation that you have regarding the book. Why do you find it interesting? How do you think that observation or analysis impacts the rest of the book? 
 
If that's too much freedom, I have suggested a couple of questions that you could answer instead:
 
1. Do you think Holden is too individualistic and nonconformist, or do you think society is the problem? Why do you think so? 
 
2. Think about how Holden labels people around him as "phony." Do you think Holden is sometimes hypocritical and acts "phony" as well? Give specific examples to support your answer.
 
3. Talk about Holden's red hunting hat. What have you noticed about it? You may discuss its color or what you think it symbolizes. How does he act when it is to the back or to the front? Please give specific instances from the book. 
 
4. Holden is what one might call an "unreliable narrator," especially since he claims to be a liar himself. What are some things that he has told us in the book that may not be entirely true? 
 
 
Please submit this response to the forum by next Saturday (11/22) at 11 pm.
Last edited by Yiling Wang
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In chapters 11-15 the writer meanly talked about the life Holden spent in NEW YORK. It showed that Holden smoked and went to the nightclub. What’s more he even called up a prostitute to go to his room. Anyway he was still a secondary school’s student.

In chapter 10 it meanly discussed about Holden went to the hotel’s lavender room and pretended as an adult to order some drinks. He even danced with many adult women and pay for their sums. Chapter 11 is a chapter that seems like a memory chapter. It showed the memory of the time Jane and Holden was together. In chapter 12 Holden went to a nightclub. And in 13-14 the writer told the story about Holden with the bad guy and the prostitute. In chapter 15 we leant that he was going to have a date with Sally. All those things happened only on one day. That shows us the chaotic relationship between Holden and those women.

From these 5 chapters we can not only know that Holden was a guy who was lack of self-control but it also showed the bad environment that around Holden. We can learn many things from Holden. I believed the most important thing we can learn from these chapters is that the environment you are in and the friends you make can affect you a lot. As for Holden, the environment and the friends around him were really awful that probably became the most crucial factors caused him to become fallen. So, for us, what we can do is to try to avoid the ‘mistake’ that Holden made. We need to make good friends who can help us to improve not fallen.

Sorry I am a little bit late. Here is my homework

 

Holden has a red hunting hat, with one of those very long peaks. He likes swinging the old peak way around to the back, although he thought it was corny. He sometimes intentionally puts on this hat or changes the way he wears. I think these are some symbols showing his emotions and feelings. Here are some examples.

 

When Ackley was in Holden's room making himself at home, Holden started to horse around in order to show his annoy and discontent. What he did was pulling the old peak of the hunting hat around to the front and down over his eyes. Pretending he was blind, Holden was supposed to imply Ackley that he wanted Ackley to get out of his room. Unfortunately he failed. So he finally pulled the peak around to the back to show that he gave up.

 

Another time, Holden pulled the peak of the hunting hat around to the front again after he knew that Stradlater's date was Jane. He said that he was nervous, so the peak was exactly able to cover his expression on his face, in order to hide the nervous. The reason of nervous was that he liked Jane. They used to live closely and play checkers together. Although they had not met for a long time, Holden still felt excited and joyful when mentioning Jane. Obviously, Jane was unforgettable. At the same time, well knowing the quality of Stradlater, Holden quite concerned if Jane would get hurt. But such an unreliable narrator was Holden that he just said he was easy to get nervous.

 

In addition, after fighting with Stradlater, with bleeding face, the first thing for Holden to do was not washing his face but finding the hat and putting it on again. Only after wearing the hat did he go over and take a look in the mirror. In my opinion, the behavior that putting on his hat was just like a king who failed in a campaign put his falling crown on his head again. In other words, although he lost the fight with Stradlater, he picked up his esteem. The hunting hat, which he recently treasure, equate to the esteem. 

Here are my opinions. I think Hole is kinda individualistic, because in the book, when he mentioned about someone, most of the time there many bad work showed up when he describe a person, i think it’s unreliable , i think not all the people surround him were that bad or phony  as he said. He always makes fun on other, or describe a person into really bad. Here is a example.This also happened in Ernie’s. Holden founded that there were a funny-looking guy, and a funny-looking girl seat near by him, Holden always uses some word that not really polite or make people feel comfortable to describe others. And Holden also thought the conversation between them was so ridiculous, I think it was a little bit mean of him to do it, i think whatever what topic that someone you don't know just talking about, we should not comment something that subjective.

Actually, Holden acts phony sometime also, he was a really lier, for instance, in the Ernie’s, the woman called Lillian Simmons founded him, and said hi to him. We can know that obviously,Holden really don't like this woman,but actually in front of the woman, he was acting very happy to see her and spoke nicely to her or something, to make her feel that Holden really like to talk to her. When they finish their conversation, Holden was being inpatient, and want to get away from her, and told her that he need to meet a friend, from that , we can know, sometime Holden is absolutely a lier and acts phony.

Originally Posted by Zhou Jingyi:

In chapters 11-15 the writer meanly talked about the life Holden spent in NEW YORK. It showed that Holden smoked and went to the nightclub. What’s more he even called up a prostitute to go to his room. Anyway he was still a secondary school’s student.

In chapter 10 it meanly discussed about Holden went to the hotel’s lavender room and pretended as an adult to order some drinks. He even danced with many adult women and pay for their sums. Chapter 11 is a chapter that seems like a memory chapter. It showed the memory of the time Jane and Holden was together. In chapter 12 Holden went to a nightclub. And in 13-14 the writer told the story about Holden with the bad guy and the prostitute. In chapter 15 we leant that he was going to have a date with Sally. All those things happened only on one day. That shows us the chaotic relationship between Holden and those women.

From these 5 chapters we can not only know that Holden was a guy who was lack of self-control but it also showed the bad environment that around Holden. We can learn many things from Holden. I believed the most important thing we can learn from these chapters is that the environment you are in and the friends you make can affect you a lot. As for Holden, the environment and the friends around him were really awful that probably became the most crucial factors caused him to become fallen. So, for us, what we can do is to try to avoid the ‘mistake’ that Holden made. We need to make good friends who can help us to improve not fallen.

Jingyi, you have written a very insightful response about the way that Holden's environment has shaped him. You cite specific examples of Holden's interaction with the "adult world," which, as you point out, is often unpleasant and cruel. As we continue reading, think about whether or not Holden's 'mistake' or his depression could have been prevented if he had found a better support system or real friends that could have helped him. Or do you think Holden's nature or personality is what led to his downward spiral? 

 

Excellent work! I have attached a document with grammar corrections. Please let me know if you have questions on them! 

Attachments

Originally Posted by Fiona Xu:

Sorry I am a little bit late. Here is my homework

 

Holden has a red hunting hat, with one of those very long peaks. He likes swinging the old peak way around to the back, although he thought it was corny. He sometimes intentionally puts on this hat or changes the way he wears. I think these are some symbols showing his emotions and feelings. Here are some examples.

 

When Ackley was in Holden's room making himself at home, Holden started to horse around in order to show his annoy and discontent. What he did was pulling the old peak of the hunting hat around to the front and down over his eyes. Pretending he was blind, Holden was supposed to imply Ackley that he wanted Ackley to get out of his room. Unfortunately he failed. So he finally pulled the peak around to the back to show that he gave up.

 

Another time, Holden pulled the peak of the hunting hat around to the front again after he knew that Stradlater's date was Jane. He said that he was nervous, so the peak was exactly able to cover his expression on his face, in order to hide the nervous. The reason of nervous was that he liked Jane. They used to live closely and play checkers together. Although they had not met for a long time, Holden still felt excited and joyful when mentioning Jane. Obviously, Jane was unforgettable. At the same time, well knowing the quality of Stradlater, Holden quite concerned if Jane would get hurt. But such an unreliable narrator was Holden that he just said he was easy to get nervous.

 

In addition, after fighting with Stradlater, with bleeding face, the first thing for Holden to do was not washing his face but finding the hat and putting it on again. Only after wearing the hat did he go over and take a look in the mirror. In my opinion, the behavior that putting on his hat was just like a king who failed in a campaign put his falling crown on his head again. In other words, although he lost the fight with Stradlater, he picked up his esteem. The hunting hat, which he recently treasure, equate to the esteem. 

Fiona, really great analysis of separate scenes pertaining to Holden's red hunting hat! I like how you closely examined specific scenes, using the red hunting hat to illuminate aspects of Holden's character and his behavior. The red hunting hat will pop up again towards the end of the novel. It could be useful to continue thinking about what it symbolizes for Holden. Excellent job! 

 

I've attached a document with grammatical revisions. Let me know if you have any questions about my comments!

Attachments

Originally Posted by Jason Ye:

Here are my opinions. I think Hole is kinda individualistic, because in the book, when he mentioned about someone, most of the time there many bad work showed up when he describe a person, i think it’s unreliable , i think not all the people surround him were that bad or phony  as he said. He always makes fun on other, or describe a person into really bad. Here is a example.This also happened in Ernie’s. Holden founded that there were a funny-looking guy, and a funny-looking girl seat near by him, Holden always uses some word that not really polite or make people feel comfortable to describe others. And Holden also thought the conversation between them was so ridiculous, I think it was a little bit mean of him to do it, i think whatever what topic that someone you don't know just talking about, we should not comment something that subjective.

Actually, Holden acts phony sometime also, he was a really lier, for instance, in the Ernie’s, the woman called Lillian Simmons founded him, and said hi to him. We can know that obviously,Holden really don't like this woman,but actually in front of the woman, he was acting very happy to see her and spoke nicely to her or something, to make her feel that Holden really like to talk to her. When they finish their conversation, Holden was being inpatient, and want to get away from her, and told her that he need to meet a friend, from that , we can know, sometime Holden is absolutely a lier and acts phony.

Jason, great work highlighting Holden's critical view of the people in the world around him. You cite some great examples of his negativity. It's quite interesting to see how Holden sometimes acts just as phony and hypocritical as the very people he's criticizing. Holden admits to being a "most terrific liar" (Chapter 3, p. 19), but do you think he realizes that he acts phony as well? Overall, great job! 

 

I've attached your reflection with grammatical revisions. Let me know if you have any questions!

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