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October Country - Basics, Analysis and Connections

1. The basics - Just the facts, please

Where does this story take place?

New York

How many generations do we hear about in the stories?5

Where do these people work?

Don was in the military and was a cop. Desi works in a bar

Is anyone in prison or has a criminal history?

Yeah that wanna be cholo wit the rocawear! Chris Desis dad is in jail for mulestation

Where do they go to school?

Highschool for Desi Daneal dropped out

Did they go to college?

Nope

Have they traveled to other places?

No, spent their whole lives there

What do they do for fun?

Smoke cigarrette and slap each other, chris steals, Desi plays video games

Do they seem physically healthy?

No look like Meth/addicts hillbillies

Do they seem emotionally/mentally healthy?

No, The sister is a witch

Where is Ruby at the end of the movie?

Ruby was given to the dad

2. A little deeper - Here you will analyze and speculate

Why does Don find it difficult to express his love?Going to war in Vietnam and Iraq has dramatically changed his life

Is Don troubled by his relationship with his sister Denise? How do you know?

Yes, because he keeps saying that shes a witch

Why do you think that Denise lives alone? Do you think that she is happy?

Shes wierd, and no because she has to be possessed

Why does Daneal choose one abusive man after another?

She always find them in bars

Why does Chris steal?

(Adrenaline) -.- kid is just something else i cant curse

Do you think that Chris is bothered by the problems in his current foster home?

He just has issues

Do you think that Desi gets good grades?

She tries but I doubt it

Do you think she has graduated from high school by now? How about college?

3. Connections to our lives -

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a. Is Daneal haunted by memories/stories from her past? What might those ghosts be? How

might they affect her in the future?

Yes, because her whole life shes has been known as the that girl and I thiink it reflects

on her behavior

Will Desi be haunted by memories/stories from her past? What might those ghosts be? Howmight they affect her in the future?

Yes, it will remind her that her mom and sister messed up and that they deserve to be in

a better situation

Will Ruby be haunted by memories/stories from her past? What might those ghosts be? How

might they affect her in the future?

Yes, because her she will be the other girl that was an accident, her parents are abusive

and it will mold her thinking just like her mother

b. Do you know anyone who lives in an abusive relationship? Are there kids in the house? Are

the parents college-educated? Do you know whether they grew up in an abusive household?

No

c. Do you know anyone who has been or is being raised by someone other than their two

original parents? Is that person haunted by memories of dad or mom or their original family?

No

4. You analyzed your poems to find themes about your life. Repetitive playing out of a theme

can become a pattern. Desi and her grandmother talk about negative cycles and patterns in

their family.Are there any of those in your family? Do you think that you will be able to break them?

My parents both say that my family didnt go to school and that they want me to come

out from that

5. In separate Google Doc (3 Leslie Lipton Oct Comparison), write a paragraph in which you

compare and contrast the patterns in this family to patterns or themes in your own family. Be

specific about similarities and differences. TIEA, approximately 125 words. (10 points)

Use at least three of these words: pattern; theme; repetition; haunt; ghost

Share it with me in Google Docs.

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