Chapter+Questions

Part I.

Chapters 1-4

1. Who is Holden Caulfield? Write down at least three characteristics of Holden and note the page number of each.

1) He like to joke and fool around a lot.(pg. 21) 2) He is extremely lazy, one of the reasons why he failed in Pencey and other schools.(pg 10) 3) He is by far one of the best liars ever.(pg. 16)

2. Where is Holden as he narrates the story? He is in a care institution near his brother who is in Hollywood.

Holden is at Pencey while he is narrating the story.

3. Why wasn't Holden at the big football game? Holden wasn’t at the big football game because Mr. Spencer asked for him to stop by since he was leaving Pencey after winter break. 4. Why wouldn't Holden be back to Pencey after Christmas vacation?

Holden can't come back to Pencey after winter break because he got kicked out of the school for failing four out of five subjects.

5a. What "dirty trick" did Mr. Spencer pull on Holden?

The “dirty trick” that Mr. Spencer pulled on Holden was that he read him his last paper on the Ancient Egyptians and the note that Holden wrote to Mr. Spencer.

5b.On page 8 Mr. Spencer explains to Holden that life is a game. Do you agree with Holden's reaction to Mr. Spencer?

"'Life is a game, boy. Life is a game that one plays according to the rules.' 'Yes, sir. I know it is. I know it.'  Game, my ass. Some game. If you get on the side where all the hot-shots are, then it’s a game, all right—I’ll admit that. But if you get on the other side, where there aren’t any hot-shots, then what’s a game about it? Nothing. No game."

Yes I do partially agree with Holdem as life is no game. I say this because there is nothing to win or lose, however if you were to say that life is a game I believe that those who are leading a happy life would be “winning”.

5c. If life is a game, who is on the winning and losing side among Holden, Ackley, and Stradlater?

<span style="color: #000066; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">According to Holden, Stradlater is winning because he is richer.

6. Compare and contrast Robert Ackley and Ward Stradlater by listing at least two characteristics for each character. Note down the page number of each.

<span style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #000066; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Both Ackley and Stradlater are slobs(27) <span style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #000066; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Ackley is extremely annoying(22) <span style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #000066; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Stradlater is a nice guy however he can get on your nerves. (27)  8. Who is Jane Gallagher?

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">//<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Jane Gallagher is Holdens friend from childhood. //

9. Why doesn't Holden go down to see Jane when he has the chance to? Do you believe him when he says, "I'm not in the mood right now." (10)

Holden was shy to meet Jane, thats why he didn't go when he had the chance. No, i do not believe him because he just didn't know wether she would want to meet him as much as he wanted to meet her.

10. Count the number of times Holden's red hunting hat is mentioned in chapter's 1-4. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">//red hunting hat was mentioned twice in chapter’s 3-4//

11. What do you think the following quotation on p. 22 tells us about what the Holden's red hunting hat means to Holden? What does it tell us about how he sees the world?

**Ackley** took another look at my hat. . . "Up home we wear a hat like that to shoot deer in, for Chrissake,” he said. “That’s a deer shooting hat.” “Like hell it is.” I took it off and looked at it. I sort of closed one eye, like I was taking aim at it. “This is a people shooting hat,” I said. “I shoot people in this hat.”

<span style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">What Holden meant about him shooting people was plainly because he was being sarcastic. Holden jokes around, he fools around a lot. He thinks of the world as one big “phony”.

12. According to Holden, what is a phony? Do you agree with him that there are many phony people in the world?

<span style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Holden’s definition of phony is fake. I agree with Holden that there are many people in the world that are “phony” because of the way their way of lying to impress then releasing their true self. Part II.

1. Count the number of words in the lead sentence. How does the length of the lead sentence contribute to its meaning.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">There are 63 words in the lead sentence. The length of the lead sentence contributes to its meaning by showing us what the book will be about, and the length means that the author is descriptive about it.

2. Describe the tone of the opening page and explain how the word choice creates the tone.

//Catcher in the Rye// p. 1

If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. In the first place, that stuff bores me, and in the second place, my parents would have two hemorages apiece if I told anything pretty personal about them. They're quite touchy about anything like that, especially my father. They're nice and all--I'm not saying that--but they're also touchy as hell. Besides I'm not going to tell you my whole goddam autobiography or anything.(1). <span style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">The tone of the opening page is that Holden was straight forward. He said exactly what was on his mind, I felt like he was speaking right to me. The word choice shows the personality. He told us exactly what he felt about the person he was talking about, his parents for example, which shows us that he is a pretty straight forward person.

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