Castles+-+2


 * Conner G.**-"The Talker"
 * Nick S.**- "The Questioner"
 * Scott W.-** "The Wordler"

Pittsburgh- Pittsburgh is where John lived for all of his childhood. This is where he met his girlfriend Ginny and where he dreamed of living for the rest of his life.

Sadness- This was the feeling of many of the characters through out the story. John had to get through this when leaving his girlfriend and family. There are multiple times throughout the story where John is brought down from becoming depressed.

War- This has an obvious significance to the story. Towards the beginning of the story, Pearl Harbor is bombed which starts the war and angers many. When John finally turns eighteen he signs up to go to war.

Opinions- The reason I chose opinions is because they are constantly being announced by characters. Ginny and John have different opinions on war.

Anger- Anger is showed a lot by John and people around the neighborhood after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Ginny is also angry because she does not believe in war and is angry that her own boyfriend chooses to go to war. John wants to stay home with Ginny, but is furious at Countries like Japan and Germany.

Brave- John and his friends make brave decisions by going to war. They are not forced but feel they would let down there family, friends, and country if they didn’t.

Georgia- Quickly after being accepted into the military, John’s first trip is to Georgia, he is sent here first for basic training

Family- John loves his family but notices for different reasons that they are being torn apart. With him going to war, his mother was working at a factory for the first time in her life, and his dad making weapons for the military.

Castles- This word shows significance because there were many castles in John’s memories. These memories are from his childhood. When he was young he played with toy castles that were never thrown away so when he visited his basement he was reminded of toy castles and his childhood.

Blackened- When John was shipped to the Tunisian border, he described that the area was different then where he was before. When he got to the Tunisian border he told that the people there were less friendly and the area was dark do to damage to the area

media type="custom" key="12146390" width="40" height="40" media type="custom" key="12079603" media type="custom" key="12086453" ** Discussion Questions for “__I Had Seen Castles__” **
 * Jake P-**"The Glogger"
 * Will W.**- "The Director"
 * Aj P.**-"The Glogger"
 * Nick S.-**"The Questioner"
 * How do you think Veterans, in general, feel about returning home to their families? What do you believe are some of the biggest struggles Veterans experience coming back to their community?
 * How do think Ginny feels about John going to war? What is her immediate reaction to this?
 * In the story, John feels proud to go to war but then he realizes that it’s not once he sees his comrade’s fall. Do you think he wanted to leave after he saw some of his friends die? What do you think he felt?
 * How do you think the relationship is between John’s family members? Specifically, his sister Dianne.
 * What is one word that would best describe John? Explain how this word describes him and his actions.
 * Is there a lesson that can be learned from this story? If so, what is it?
 * How do you think John feels about going home to Ginny and his family? What do you think his reaction will be when he sees them?
 * Is there any time in the story were John changes his usual disposition?
 * By the way John is described in the beginning before he was in the military, do you think he was capable of going to war? Or in other words, was he mature enough for war?
 * Overall, what did you think of the story? What would you give this story from 1-10? Would you recommend this book to anyone?


 * http://www.lookingglassreview.com/html/i_had_seen_castles.html
 * http://books.google.com/books/about/I_Had_Seen_Castles.html?id=k6_OMnm9SBcC
 * http://books.google.com/books?id=k6_OMnm9SBcC&pg=PA86&lpg=PA86&dq=i+had+seen+castles&source=bl&ots=ZFugT9Bc94&sig=vEuj-r44jTvYQVcwNqtfJ_4aAtY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=YJoQT5uqDoLy0gGs2YXEAw&sqi=2&ved=0CEcQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=i%20had%20seen%20castles&f=false
 * http://www.swans.com/library/art7/xxx056.html
 * http://fernfolio.edublogs.org/2010/07/27/i-had-seen-castles-by-cynthia-rylant/
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