Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Week 2 Discussion Question

Lily and Albert begin to get to know each other. Lily claims to not want any more friends, or to be friends with Albert, but after they find the kitten, Albert offers to feed and take care of the kitten himself. "She felt so disappointed, she could hardly finish. He didn't want to be friends. He  could have said We can feed her together, or even We can take turns." Why is Lily so upset by
Albert's actions? What does this tell us about Lily? Make sure to use details from the story to support your answer.

Please write your response in RAD format. Check your spelling, grammar, punctuation, and capitalization before you post. You should type it in your blogging doc first!

21 comments:

  1. Lily is upset by Albert’s actions because she wanted to feed that cat and take care of the cat with him. Or she wanted to do it. Lily wanted Albert to say they can take turns or she can do it. She thought over all she did save the cat so she should of been the one to work with it and help it. What this tells us about Lily is that sometimes she wants to be the one in charge and pick what she wants to do. She’s not always so nice in her mind. Like she wanted to be the one who took care of the cat but Albert said he would. In her mind she got mad at him! Lily could of stood up to him and say she wanted to but she didn't. Also I think she could of helped Albert a lot, so that might of made her mad too.
    -Eden

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    1. I agree that Lily is someone who needs to be in charge of situations. When Albert doesn't ask her to help, this gives her another reason not to become friends with him.

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    2. I think you are right Eden. Lily's actions are not consistent with her thoughts. I agree that she should have stood up to Albert and shared her thoughts. How do you think Albert would have responded if Lily had offered to help with the cat? He said to her "I will feed the cat myself. You don't have to bother. I will be very careful." I wonder if Albert may think Lily is not interested in being his friend or helping with the kitten?

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    3. I wonder how Albert perceives Lily's actions. Maybe he thinks Lily doesn't want to take care of the cat because she couldn't even look at him as he was giving the cat cream and milk. Did she ever explain how the cream grossed her out? On the other hand, she sure did know a lot about how to get the kitten to breathe again and she let Albert into Margaret's house. Aside from the kitten, Lily's actions see to say, "I don't want to be friends, I just want to spy on you."

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  2. Lily is upset by Albert’s actions because it shows that there is something strange about him and that he is not very interested in Lily. One Example, from the text is “Teach him to swim, no thanks.” Lily is throwing these emotions in because she thinks he feels the same way. Lily secretly likes Albert. All Albert can think about is Ruth. An example, from the text on how Albert’s actions are, is “He spoke to Gram not even glancing at Lily.” What we know about Lily is that she wants to be like everyone else. She does not want to be different. She does not want to show Albert what she feels. She wants to let him know she feels the same way.

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    1. Addie I totally agree with you that Lily is throwing her emotions cause she thinks Albert does not like her. And I also think Lily does sorta like Albert. Great job on the blog!

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    2. There does seem to be something strange going on with Albert. Lily is very curious about Albert and I agree that she secretly wants to be his friend. He doesn't seem to show her much interest at all and his obsession with Ruth seems to bother Lily. I think she is even more hurt now that she helped save the kitten and he did not include her in the plans to care for the kitten. He didn't acknowledge her actions at all. Do you think Albert is trying to exclude Lily and really does not want anything to do with her?

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    3. Addie, you are spot on that Albert and Lily both think that the other isn't interested in a friendship. Both of them have had hardship due to the war, and it has affected their ability to open up to those around them.

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  3. Albert’s actions upset Lily because she really wants him to like her and she wants a friend. She does claim to not want any more friends, but she is really curious about Albert and wants to figure him out. When she was sitting on the dock watching the person on the bike approach and Albert following behind she said “It was probably a fisherman who would talk and talk, and she’d never get one minute’s peace, when the person she really wanted to talk to was Albert.” Then, while waiting for Albert to return with the milk, she reads Margaret’s letter and wonders “what Margaret would think about Albert.” She then says to herself “Albert likes cats, that’s something.” This makes me think that Lily is hopeful that the kitten is something they have in common and they will become friends.

    When Albert returns with the milk and does not include Lily in the plans to take care of the kitten, she is disappointed and deeply hurt. She is lonely without her father and Margaret. She pretends to be tough about being on her own and not needing or wanting anyone, but her emotions tell us that she was hopeful for a friendship with Albert.

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    1. I agree she wants Albert to be her friend, but she does not want to make the first move.

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    2. Mrs. Shipley, I totally agree with you that Lily pretends to be tough while in truth she is hurting inside and scared that her father might not return from the war. She should share these feelings with Gram soon!

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  4. Lily upset by Albert’s action because Lily wanna share with Albert she thinking about feed her together or take turn. But Albert said “I will feed her and you don’t need to feed her.” Lily best friend’s moved, her father have to go war, and her mom died long ago. So Lily don’t have friends she felt sad and broken heart. She don’t wanna said “Lets be friend?” and she think Albert said “No.” Then Lily have sad day. She trying be strong and saying “Too bad being friend.” and she keeping saying. But she really wanna friends. She don’t have friend anymore and she so lonely.

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    1. Alyy, I like how you point out that Lily is lying to herself, trying to convince herself that she doesn't want a friend when it is obvious to us that she does, in fact, desperately want Albert to be her friend.

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    2. Alyy, I agree with you that Lily is lonely. I think Albert is lonely too. They are both hurting so much they can't seem to see how lonely they both are.

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  5. I think Lily is upset by Albert's actions because his words made her feel left out of an exciting adventure with a possible new friend. She says she doesn't want friends, but her reaction in this moment shows otherwise. I feel the two children are hiding their true needs. Albert probably feels like he is always intruding in other people's lives having been away from home for the last two years, so he acts like he doesn't need any help, "I will feed the cat myself, you don't have to bother". His choice of the word "bother" shows how he perceives the situation as if he is a nuisance to others. I bet it is very hard for him to be away from his sister and now from his family in Canada, too. He must feel as alone as Lily. Lily has had to say good-bye to her mother, then to her friend Margaret when she moved to Detroit and finally to her father, when he left for the war. I think she says she doesn't want friends because she doesn't want to have to lose someone again. I wish she wouldn't have stormed out of Margaret's house, but rather told Albert that she wanted to help with the cat.

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    1. Mrs. Tripp (mom)
      I agree with your thinking. I think Lily wants to be friends but she is afraid to be friends because she thinks Albert will turn her down. Also in my blog I wrote that she should of stood up for her self and you sorta wrote that too. I wish she wouldn't of stormed out, too.

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  6. Lily reacted to Albert’s actions like this because she didn't want to be friends with Albert. Taking turns is like a brother and a sister taking turns or friends taking turns and they’re not like that. What this tells us about Lily is she doesn't want more friends or she doesn't want to be close to someone else.

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    1. Peter, you have hit on something when you say Lily doesn't want to be close to someone else. It seems like she is afraid of being close to someone for fear that she might lose them, too.

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  7. Lily was not happy with Albert because he wants to take cat by himself even though she saved the cat from dying. Albert always says, I’m going to feed my
    cat. This makes Lily unhappy because she wants to take care of the cat too. The story tells us that Lily wants to be in charge most of the time.

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    1. Lily, it sure does seem like Lily wants to be in charge. I bet she feels like she doesn't have a lot of control of the events going on in her life right now: Poppy headed to war, Margaret moving, taking care of the cat with Albert. I hope things get better for her!

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  8. Week 2:
    Because Lily is upset by Albert not offering to take care of the kitten together, shows she is lonely. She has hardly spoken to Gram. “Lilly was about to shrug her (Gram’s) arm away, about to get up, but it felt so good to be sitting there in that circle she moved closer. A moment later, she was crying, and she didn’t even try to stop. (pg 36)” In this moment, I think Lily realized how much she needed Gram’s comfort and how much she missed her dad. All through chapter 9 she is searching for a letter from her father. She even convinces the mailman to give her letters first.
    This chapter reminds that when we are in pain and hurting from loss, we often forget that the people closest to us are also hurting and sometimes cannot support us the way they usually do. Gram’s son is off to war, her granddaughter won’t talk to her and is blaming her. She too is hurting They need each other and yet they are both suffering and are not there for each other.
    As Albert and Lily save the kitten together, and Lily shows Albert Margaret’s house, I think they are going to find friendship in the sense of loss. Lily, Albert and the kitten have all experienced loss. Albert is thinking of his sister, “My sister, Ruth, loves cream.” Lily is thinking of Margaret and her father and her mother. They both are desperate to be reunited with their family. I think that is why Lily told Albert she could row a boat out into the ocean and swim the last bit to Europe.
    I wonder if Albert will tell Lily more about his experience with the war. He cried when they went to the movie and told her he “was on a ship like that.” Lily stopped and thought about how Albert could have arrived in the United States. I hope her empathy and compassion continue to reveal themselves.

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