Gr.8 Group Novel Assignment

8A - Question #5

If someone told you that this story was based on true events, would you believe them? Why or why not?

Be sure to use evidence from the text to support your answer.

BE SURE TO CLEARLY IDENTIFY YOUR NOVEL IN YOUR POST.

Posted by M. Roth at 2/22/2011 10:13 AM

If someone did tell me that the events in "The Outsiders" were true. I would believe them because the novel is based in the mid 50's and 60's. I would not know much about that time period. I would also believe them because the events seem like what would happen in that time period. For example the gangs, hairstyles, clothing and the why they talk. Also I would believe that the events were true because the events in the novel seem very real to what would happen if we were living in the mid 50's and 60's. Therefore I would believe that the events in the novel were true.
Posted by: Pam at 2/22/2011 12:57 PM

If someone told me that “The Outsiders” was based on true events, I would believe it. Yes, if “The Outsiders” were based on a true story, the details would be embellished, (such as Ponyboy and Johnny’s situation etc) as always, but the main story and conflict - gangs pitted against each other - and the time frame correspond to make the story feasible if it did actually happen. I do think that this story could have been a true story because in the fifties and sixties (when the novel was set) there lots of gangs and turf related fights, which is the next big situation that will happen in “The Outsiders”. All of these reasons make the concept of “The Outsiders” possible if it were actually a true story.
Posted by: Pam at 2/22/2011 1:01 PM

I would believe someone if he/she told me the novel “We All Fall Down” is based on true events. I would believe him/her because this novel is based on 9/11. This story takes place in the 5th building in the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan. In the novel, a commercial airplane crashed into the 5th tower when Will and his father was inside the building and are trying to survive the fire.
Posted by: Pam at 2/22/2011 3:22 PM

If someone told me that the story “Soldier Boys” was based on true events I’d believe them because it keeps talking about Germany fighting the allied countries which I would know happened in world war 2. I would know this book was based on the events of world war 2 because the story line is exactly the same as what happened in world war 2. There was also a big hint in chapter 1 where a leader in Germany told his followers in which Dieter was in that group that the “allied countries were starting the war.” When it was actually Germany themselves starting the war. So yes, if I was told this book was about real events from the past, I would believe whoever told me.
Posted by: Pam at 2/22/2011 3:43 PM

If I was told "The Summoning" was based on a true story, I would laugh in their face.

First, I was told, growing up, children had the most magic, first off. Since the book says that the people get their abilities when they hit puberty, it doesn't go with what I believe.

Second, even if there wasn't magic, I wouldn't believe it was true because that type of magic doesn't exist. It came from someone's imagination.

Third, I believe in different magic. That and there is no such place as a Lyle House and I highly doubt that the school she went to was real.
Posted by: Pam at 2/22/2011 4:03 PM

Yes, if someone told me the story "The Outsiders" was based on true events, I would believe them. I would believe this because the story is set in a realistic setting and the characters are described in realistic ways. For example, "Ponyboy" (the main character) and his friends and family live in the city. They live in a rough part of town and are poor, rough people. They were raised without privileges and material possessions people such as the Socs enjoy. This type of living is believable to me because I hear about it a lot on the news and in newspapers, ect. The characters are also described with personalities that fit this setting and way of life. During Ponyboy's meeting with Cherry, she explains to him that the Socs don't always have the good life, this coming as a surprise to Ponyboy. Yet for the reader, it isn't a surprise he thinks the Socs are always privileged because that was how he was described to be raised as. The book is leaving me to believe these characters could be real because of the setting and emotions they feel.
Posted by: Pam at 2/22/2011 4:20 PM

If the book “The Breadwinner” was real I would believe them because I know this has been happening in Afghanistan. In the book it shows how tough it was to get food and water with only men or boys working. In the book I heard that a girl dressed up as a boy and got to go outside, I bet most women tried to do that because they could not stand living inside all of the time. Most men in Afghanistan agreed to the law but the Father in the book showed that men and women should be treated equally and I bet some men had gone against what was happening and how women were getting treated.
Posted by: Pam at 2/22/2011 4:24 PM

If somebody told me the novel “Fahrenheit 451” was based on a true story, I would not believe him. The biggest reason is because on the back of the book cover, it says it’s a science fiction. Science fictions are mostly made-up. Another reason is because in the society the main character lives in, fireman doesn’t put out the fire, and they put books on fire and burn them. In our society, fireman put out the fire. In the hospital in the main character’s society, they have a machine that sucks out everything in you and put new ones in again. We do not have such a machine, not I believe. If somebody ever told me that this is based on a true story, I would think he’s crazy because it so far away from reality.
Posted by: Pam at 2/22/2011 4:56 PM

No, I wouldn’t believe them. It’s because this story in “Fahrenheit 451” is too unlikely to be true. I can’t imagine a world without books or the fact that firemen burn books instead of put out fire. I can’t believe that the definition of having a happy life would mean not questioning about anything. I can’t picture a society with robot-like people in real life. People getting murdered just because they want to know the “why” behind the way things work doesn’t happen in the past or in the modern world. That’s why I wouldn’t believe it if someone told me the story was written based on a true story.
Posted by: Pam at 2/22/2011 5:33 PM

If someone told me that “The Summoning” was based on true events I would think they were lying. The main character “Chloe” can see ghosts and it was right after “Chloe” hit puberty. That, I think would never happen in the real world so, I don’t think “The Summoning” could based on a true story. Also, the “Chloe” going to a group home with other kids and eating pills for conditions that the teenagers are being labeled for. That I think won’t happen in real life so, I don’t think that “The Summoning” could be based on a true story. Lastly, all the kids at the group home are teenagers that are supernatural, I don’t think teenagers are the only ones that are supernatural and are stuck in a group home called the Lyle House where there are alarms so you can’t run away ,there are nurses that look at you all the time , and you can’t wear jewellery , I think that doesn’t happen in real life. For those reasons I think that “The Summoning” could not be based on a true story.
Posted by: Pam at 2/22/2011 5:37 PM

“The Summoning,” is about Chloe, a girl sent to The Lyle House, after seeing a creepy janitor that no one else could see, at school. Chloe hears voices, and sees things. Although a small part of me believes in the paranormal and an afterlife, I highly doubt I would believe someone if they told me this book was based on true events. I wouldn’t believe them because even though there are many stories about seeing things (ghosts, spirits, etc), there are just as many logical reasons to explain that. Chloe was told she has schizophrenia ( defined as: severe psychiatric disorder with symptoms of emotional instability, detachment from reality, and withdrawal into the self) which is a good reason of why she is seeing and hearing things. When Chloe hears the voices whispering to her in Lyle House, she believes it is a ghost. It simply could be explained as Chloe’s schizophrenia causing her to mind to make her think there is, indeed, a ghost/ spirit. Hearing things/ seeing things could be due to paranoia and being delusional think whether or not I’d believe that “The Summoning,” was based on true events depends on the person. If a peer told me I wouldn’t believe them because how would they know? They are not the author, they have no proof. If the author said it, however, I might find it a tad more believable (though I would ask that she sees a therapist once a week for the sheer craziness of that idea) Therefore, unless Kelley Armstrong (the author) told me herself that this was based on true events (and she’d have to have amazing proof to convince me that that is the case), I would not believe that “The Summoning” is based on true, real life, events.
Posted by: Pam at 2/22/2011 6:23 PM

If someone were to tell me that “the Summoning” were based on true events, I would not believe them. “The Summoning” is a book about a girl with supernatural powers, according to most recent studies, supernatural powers do not exist. If I believed that this novel was real, it would mean that out there somewhere there is a group of teenagers with astounding supernatural powers. So, seriously, don’t believe everything you read.
Posted by: Pam at 2/22/2011 6:34 PM

If someone told me that “The Breadwinner” was based on true events I would believe them. The book is about events that are ,was or could potentially occur in the middle east. In the book we found that women were prohibited from going outside without wearing a veil , this is common with many religions and countries. We also found that in the book children (Parvana) are made to support their families financially and act as adults such as it is in the real world.
Posted by: Pam at 2/22/2011 7:37 PM

In the novel “The Outsiders” if someone told me that the events that have happened were true I would believe them. I would believe them because the story takes place in New York City and around the 1960’s or 70’s, in this time in New York City there were a lot of gangs and murders like what has happened in this novel. In my novel the character Johnny and Ponyboy almost get jumped but then Johnny murders one of the Socials gang members. They run away to a church and hide. If someone in this time were to kill someone, I think that they would run from the police and hide anywhere they could.
Posted by: Pam at 2/22/2011 7:39 PM

If somebody had told me, “The Summoning” was based on true events, I would not believe them. Perhaps if they told me certain settings existed in reality, such as the Lyle House or the art school, then I would believe them. “The Summoning” is modern fantasy, and therefore, the settings could be very well true. Lyle House is a group home for perceived mad teenagers, and we see many group homes in our own world. The art school, which the protagonist is in, is composed of realistic elements of a typical school today: students, projects, various clubs, etc. However, if somebody told me the events were real or based on a true story, I would not believe them. Chloe, the main character, is diagnosed what the doctors believe is schizophrenia because she sees ghosts. Because we know this is a fantasy novel, the readers are sure that she sees ghosts and is not crazy. If somebody told me that this was real, that a girl in our world did have the ability to see spirits and that everything else was true, I would highly doubt them. This is a supernatural ability, and we know such things in our world do not exist, or are not reported. However, if somebody said that the author based her story on a group home but twisted the events to make it more interesting then I would believe them.
Posted by: Pam at 2/22/2011 7:50 PM

If someone told me that the novel "We All Fall Down" is based on a true story I would believe them. This is because the author chose a topic that is based on a true story in 2001. Also, because even if Will might not have been a real person that was in the 9/11 incident, I would still believe them because the author has made the story very believable. Finally, because I can believe that when the plane crashed there was a big puff of smoke and paper went flying everywhere.
Posted by: Pam at 2/22/2011 8:24 PM

If I was told that "The Outsiders" was based on true events (which it is), I would believe them because the book is about rival gangs in the late 1970's that fought with switchblades and actually existed. Also, I can tell by the way the characters talk and act, such as they have a comb in their back pocket and they hold up convience stores. The characters talk with slang such as "that is tuff" meaning that is cool and "he got picked up by the fuzz" meaning he got arrested by the police.
Posted by: Pam at 2/22/2011 8:49 PM

I would not believe someone if they told me 'Fahrenheit 451' was based on true events. A main reason why I would not believe them is because Montag's job as a fireman is to burn books, unlike their role in the past which was to take out fires. This could not be based on a true event because firemen do not make fires, but put them out. If that's what the firemen did in the past of 'Fahrenheit 451', that person would be suggesting that the story was based on true events in the future. The novel used to have firemen that took out fires, but the real world still does. This novel could not have been based on a true story if the events have not occurred yet. The fact that firemen create fires in the book is significant because the main conflicts in the story revolves around Montag, the protagonist, and his job as a fireman. It is obivous that this story was not based on true events from the work the firemen do.
Posted by: Pam at 2/22/2011 9:17 PM

The novel, "The Breadwinner", is a book that doesn't have anything that would seem fiction.I'd believe that this story is based on true events. I'd believe that because so far from what "The Breadwinner" group has read, we haven't hit or read anything that is unbelievable. For example, Parvana changes into a boy, even-though she's actually a girl, and she did it to help her family. This action is an action that anybody would doing if they loved their family and were in the same situation Parvana and her family have been in. Another example is when Parvana and her friend, Shauzia, had earned a great load of money by selling bones from the graveyard to a person. They only had done that because it was an easier and quicker way to earn a load of money. Therefore, I'd believe that "The Breadwinner" was based on true events if someone had told me that it was.
Posted by: Pam at 2/22/2011 10:02 PM

I would believe someone if they told me that the novel "Soldier Boys" was a true story because it is about the Second World War and there was many soldier's storys that people haven't heared of and it might be one.
Posted by: Pam at 2/24/2011 9:07 AM

Yes I would. This is because I know the novel is partly based on true events. I know this from the back of my book. S.E. Hinton’s characters in the book were inspired by real life friends that were very dear to her. In “The Outsiders” there are two gangs , Greasers and the Socs. These are both real gangs. The Socs refer to the Socials or upper class people. In the first chapter of the book Ponyboy gets jumped while walking home from the movie house. S.E. Hinton said that this was based on when she had gotten jumped while walking home from school with her friend. Also in the book Ponyboy says that while he walks down the streets people yell “Greaser” at him this was also a true event that happed to S.E. Hinton. So yes I would believe that this is a true story.
Posted by: Pam at 2/24/2011 12:54 PM

If I was told by someone that the novel "We All Fall Down" was a true story I would believe them. The reason why I would believe them is because the novel is based on the terrorist attack on 9/11 2001. In the story, a commercial plane hit the South tower where Will's father's office is in. They then had to go 85 floors down and carrying small Chinese women for about 85% of those floors due to some parts of the ceiling falling on her hand and a file cabinet on her legs, disabling her to walk properly.
Posted by: Pam at 2/24/2011 5:12 PM

If someone told me the story Fahrenheit 451 was based on true events I would not believe them. It takes place after 1990 and it was said that there had been two nuclear wars since 1990 and that has certainly not happened. Also, books are illegal and that isn't true either. In addition, firemen start fires instead of putting them out in this time since the houses are fireproof and have no front porches. Another thing is they have machines in this time to suck out all of the bad things or the things that aren't working properly in your body and replace them with new ones. That cannot happen in today's world. So, no I would not believe someone if the told me the novel Fahrenheit 451 was based on true events
Posted by: Pam at 2/25/2011 7:33 AM

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8A - Question #5

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