The Curious incident of the dog in the night-time Anayltical Essay

So I'm basically giving up on the 1984 essay because I know I'd fail it, but I appreciate the time you gave to help me.

Now moving onto a different topic my new book I have to write a analytical essay on The Curious incident of the dog in the night-time.

I was thinking how I could write how Christopher changed and what he learned.

What do you think?

Well, Christopher does learn about his parent's marital problems and that his mother was cheating on the father, and then the father began an affair with his neigbour. He learnt that his father hid the letters his mom sent him, and learns that his mother is not dead, but in fact alive. What he does not process however, is the reasons as to why the father did this, because Chris is emotionally stunted.
I am not sure if Chris changes that much. He still continues to digress off topic from chapter to chapter.
See what other people think in regards to the change part, it will be interesting actually...

I remember this as being an excellent novel. Unfortunately, that is about all I remember of it. Still, as I recall, a lot of the novel has to do with how inexplicable many human actions would be, driven as they are by emotion, to someone with autism who lacks the ability to imagine other people's emotional lives. So, perhaps you might look at what the book has to say about the nature of "normal" human psychology.

I'm sorry to hear that. I have more hope than you on that account. I think you perhaps became lost in the long discussions of related issues and are not able to see that it would be possible for you to write a simple essay at your own level, expressing your views about the themes of the book as you see them. The book is easily understood and, indeed, you have understood it. You have something to say about it. I'd encourage you not to give up on that one.


Let's stay with what you think this time. What did Christopher learn? How did he change over the course of the book? Tell us your ideas and we will help you organize them into an essay that expresses your views.

Ok well I'm down to the wire now and this the final stretch.

I need to do a book symposium on The Curious incident of the dog in the night-time.

You probably know the point of the symposium is to tell my classmates wow this is great book and would encourage them to read it, without telling to much of the book.

I was thinking of telling them how difficult it is having autism and how normal everyday tasks are incredibly challenging, but even still Chris is able to find out who killed Wellington.

Please tell me what you think and tell me what I should add and stuff!

Thanks

Chris only found out because his father admitted it. The father admitted it in what was described as a breakdown.
Also, the normal every day task of ours, is different to that of Chris's, so it is not an accurate comparison.
You also do not know how difficult it is to have autism, since you do not have it. Chris does not reveal any difficulties with having autism; he does not show express any emotions related to his autism, as he is emotionally stunted. Therefore, you cannot assume how difficult he found life to be with autism. Other people around him however, thought he was a difficult child to manage.

If you talk about how incredibly difficult life with autism can be, that will make it seem like the book is dreary and preachy. Instead, tell about how the book, from the very first page, takes you into the head of somebody who sees the world entirely differently from the way that most people do. Tell how this draws you into a story that is itself a gripping murder mystery.

This is my symposium so far please edit it for me and tell me what else it needs:

Character Analysis:

Christopher Boone: An autistic 15 year old boy who is the novels protagonist. He is a mathematical genius, but cannot interpret people's emotions properly. Through his eyes the world is terrifying place where jokes can cause confusion and new places can lead to extreme fear. He sometimes overcomes these fears with isolation himself or working on math.

Ed Boone: Christopher's dad who is very patient with him but his dishonesty breaks up their relationship. He works as a heating engineer and took care of Chris for 2 years since his dad told him his mom died.

Judy Boone: Christopher's mother who is very hot tempered but learns to cope with Chris's disability and really cares for him.

Siobhan: A teacher who works at Chris's school. She is Christopher's friend and mentor and teaches him how society works and how he should act accordable.

Mrs. Shears: Christopher's Neighbor who owned the now murdered dog, Wellington. Her Husband was known for having an affair with Christopher's mother.

Mr. Shears: Little is known about this character, but later on we find that he's actually a selfish man.

Wellington: A Large black poodle who was killed with a garden fork.

Mrs. Alexander: Christopher's elderly neighbor who attempts to help him.

Toby: Christopher's pet rat

Summary:

This is a very gripping murder mystery, as the writer Mark Haddon takes you inside the mind of someone who views the world entirely different than most people do. Christopher was diagnosed with autism therefore he adores puzzles and is a great character to investigate the murder of a black poodle, Wellington. His autism however creates severe problems so that if someone has physical contact with him, he would get really angry and become violent. This makes him an interesting detective since he cannot interpret people's emotions beyond what his mentors had taught him, so he must follow certain rules he learned as well as face his own fears to solve the mystery. The simplicity of Haddon's writing creates a descriptive world of what Christopher is going through. The author writes in a way that you understand how Christopher's mind works and allows the reader to understand what is going on even when Chris is oblivious. This short read will go by quickly, but the true meaning of this reading will last much longer.

I do not recall him thinking the world is a terrifying place. Can you give me an example, or examples preferably, when he thought this was the case.


^Not always. If you forgot, Ed does say 'fuck' at him quite a bit, and also has been violent with Chris.



When was she hot tempered?


*For the other people, you can develop on their characteristics if you want to. There is more to say. Also, for Shioban, your sentence needs grammar revision towards the end.

We also see that Mrs Shears is very rude and obviously depressed with life.



This is a very gripping murder mystery, as the writer Mark Haddon takes you his readers inside the mind of someone who views the world entirely different than most people do. Christopher was is diagnosed with autism therefore he adores puzzles and is a great character to investigate the murder of a black poodle, Wellington.
^Because he has autism..he adores puzzles? Autism can range from person to person, I doubt that every autistic person adores puzzles.


His autism however creates severe problems so that if someone has physical contact with him, he would get really angry and become violent.
^Can be rephrased better.


This makes him an interesting detective since he cannot interpret people's emotions beyond what his mentors had taught him, so he must follow certain rules he learned as well as face his own fears to solve the mystery. The simplicity of Haddon's writing creates a descriptive world of what Christopher is going through.
^The simple language does not necessarily describe in great detail the world and what Chris is going through. Rather, readers can see how Chris thinks and how his thought process if just a stream of logic and constant reasoning.

The author writes in a way that you understand how Christopher's mind works and allows the reader to understand what is going on even when Chris is oblivious.
^Replace 'you' with readers. I can see that this point is linked to the one I made earlier...

This short read will go by quickly, but the true meaning of this reading will last much longer.
^Well said ending lol.

Maybe it's been a while since you read the book?

Here's an example to show that Chris was fearful of the world:

"FEARtotal=FEARnewplaceXFEARnear father= constant"- one of Chris's equations to explain fear


Overall he was patient with Christopher more and only had that one outburst.


She was very hot tempered with him and would throw things around the house. Ed would tell her she was taking it to seriously and needed to calm down.

" This is a very gripping murder mystery, as the writer Mark Haddon takes his readers inside the mind of someone who views the world entirely different than most people do. Christopher is diagnosed with autism and adores puzzles therefore is a great character to investigate the murder of a black poodle, Wellington." -Better now?

Thanks

Well, rather than coming off with that tone, perhaps it is in fact possible that I read the book a while ago and not just yesterday.

And no. The father did not just have one outburst. "Maybe it's been a while since you read the book?"

Liebe

I didn't mean it in that way...sorry if it sounded like that.

The father only had one major outburst when he actually pounded him.

Other than that his mother left him with his father partly because she saw how well they got along.

Aight, kk nah probs.



Well, as I am trying to remember, perhaps you are right. I thought that the Father yelled at Chris and threw the book away, and then yelled and hit him after he found out that Chris talked to Miss Alexander.
When did the Father throw the book away? Before, or after Chris talked to Miss Alexander?

He had talked to Ms.Alexander before hand.

Ok please help me out with my thesis ;) The first question is just to introduce the syndrome bare in mind.

Mark Haddon's The Curious incident of the dog in the night-time demonstrates the effects of Asperger's syndrome and how it effects the development of the brain. Christopher's case of this syndrome affects his communication and his ability to understand ones emotions, in addition it has provided him with an excellent memory and his obsessions drive him to find out the mystery.

Does it illustrate how Asperger's syndrome affects the development of the brain? Or, does it illustrate how Asperger's syndrome affects emotion, perception, and cognition?

yes you're right thank you!

When I have an intro paragraph I will post it

"emotion, perception, and cognition" doesn't cognition and perception mean the same thing?

For my four body paragraphs I'm using Communication, ability to understand emotions, excellent memory and his obsessions which lead him to face his fears and find the killer.

how is that?

The broadest definition of cognition (mental processing) includes perception (processing sensory stimuli). But, in general usage, "cognition" refers to conscious thought while "perception" refers to the often unconscious processes involved in vision, hearing, etc.

Hows my intro looking? -please help me with my thesis I know its bad ;(


Aspergser's syndrome is a unique form of high functioning autism which affects how the brain is wired. The difference is that these individuals cannot connect information that they learned with the real world therefore many of them have difficulty in social situations. Many of them have social dyslexia where they would feel embarrassed in a social environment and feel handicapped when trying to establish emotional bonding and social relationships. For that matter people who are diagnosed with Aspergser's have extreme difficulty starting and maintaining a social life. The syndrome does come with its advantages though, as many are incredibly bright and focus on their interests and obsessions for long periods of time. It was stated that Albert Einstein had Aspergser's syndrome since he had many symptoms and was heavily involved in physics for decades. In the curious case of the dog in the night-time, Mark Haddon illustrates the how the protagonist Chris Boone lives with this type of autism and how it affected his communication as well and how he understands emotions in addition to providing him with an excellent memory and his interests drive him face his fears and figure out the mystery. This syndrome is very unique and each one who is effected has similar symptoms.

I'm assuming this is your thesis statement. Notice the tense shift in the middle of the sentence. Notice, too, that it is a run-on sentence. The problem is that you're trying to do too much in one sentence. You could say something much simpler, to the effect that Haddon demonstrates both the hurtful and helpful aspects of Asperger's syndrome.

If I said that would he penalize me of not mentioning how the syndrome effects emotions,memory, communication and intrests? Because I need to have all 4 in my thesis or he will mark me down since those 4 are the topics of my paragraphs.

Then list them in a grammatically correct sentence, as you just did.

Yes, but I do that for all my essays. I need a unique way to show all my sub topics.

Please can you help me with this?

Here are my first two body paragraphs:

With Chris's type of autism he communicates in a very unique way and can get overwhelmed when people talk to him. In his mind things need to be done a specific way and he does not like to take orders. If people start to ask him many questions his brain cannot interpret the information properly and he can have a meltdown. "He was asking too many questions and he was asking them too quickly." (Haddon 7) Shown here his brain cannot process the information and he cannot think what to say in response. Even if he's speaking with an authority figure his brain seizes up and he will start groaning and lie down to isolate himself from the situation since his communications skills are not developed, and this is his way of communicating. Christopher also will scream to communicate that he is not happy "I needed to keep my watch on because I needed to know exactly what time it was, and when they tired to take it off I screamed, so they let me keep in on. (Haddon 13). Many autistic children have unique ways of getting their message across; this could vary from screaming or becoming violent. When things don't go his way this is the only way he can express himself. Physical contact is another way to communicate with one another and people with Asperser's can be touch sensitive. Through this connection we can make deep connections with others, which they really never feel. "He held up his right hand and spread his fingers out in a fan. I held out my left hand and spread my fingers out in a fan and we made our fingers and thumbs touch each other.... I do not like hugging people so we do this instead." (Haddon, 16) . Since Chris is special his condition makes him feel threatened if someone wants to touch him, even it's in a good way. Touching for him is very uncomfortable and could result in severe reactions. This system allows Chris to show his emotions which he still doesn't understand how they work.


Christopher does understand the basics of emotions but finds most confusing and cannot interpret what there meaning is. Somebody who is diagnosed with this syndrome often cannot explain their feeling at certain moments. Others can read emotions in one's face but that individual may not be able to distinguish what they are feeling. Since people's faces moved it was a challenge for Chris to understand one's emotions. "But it was difficult to decide which of the diagrams was most like the face they were making, because their faces moved very quickly" (Haddon 3) Chris cannot figure out what people are feeling since his brain is wired differently and can get confused when trying to diagnose people's feelings. His teacher also tried to make cards with faces on them but this did not help him very much. This limits the way he can express his own emotions ultimately be social with people. His restrictions to understanding ones emotions can also lead to violence. "And you started to shout and I got cross and I threw the food across the room...And you grabbed the chopping board and threw it and it hit and broke my toes" (Haddon 108) Since Chris doesn't have the ability to express anger he resorts to violence to show this emotion. He carries a Swiss Army knife on him at all times and will use it if tempted. Violence in association with Aspersers has been well known since it's a way they express emotions. That said violence is not linked with Aspergser's but if the right individual is provoked and does not know how to deal with emotions, tragedies can occur. Though these people have emotional handicaps some of them, like in Chris's case can understand some emotions which is a start to learning about others. "I decided to leave him alone because when I am sad I want to be left alone" (Haddon 21) Notice how Chris learns from his own emotions than rather learning from others. He has to do this since he cannot read people properly unless in rare cases like these. Many people who have this high functioning autism express themselves in a very unique way such as hitting there ears when something is so loud or have physical meltdowns when they are upset. Most suffers have amazing memories and are able to live a good life including a job they love.

I guess you could try to find a scene from the book that encapsulates all three.

"In the curious case of the dog in the night-time, Mark Haddon illustrates the how the protagonist Chris Boone lives with this type of autism and how it affected his communication as well and how he understands emotions in addition to providing him with an excellent memory and his interests drive him face his fears and figure out the mystery."

A thesis statement should be debatable. This isn't, really. You might be able to turn this into a thesis statement, though, by answering one or more of the "how" questions you pose here, and tying them into Chris's actions. Possibly you could say how Chris's way of dealing with the world generates one or more themes in the novel.

Too late my friend ;)

Its my thesis ;(

I'm doing GCSEs on this book and the past question i have been given is:

What is your opinion of Christopher's father and his relationship with Christopher? Support your answers with close reference with the novel.

I was thinking, what kind of relationship does Christopher share with his dad besides an unstable one? Is it right to elicit that Christopher does not share a very close relationship with his father, as he feels that killing a dog constitutes a total betrayal of the human spirit; one that overrides everything else and which is unforgivable, inexcusable? Bearing in mind Christopher's autism and his inability to fathom emotion and listen to reason.. Should i include the statement that above all Christopher cannot be blamed due to his condition? Is this necessary to make the essay a fair one?

Thank you.

This seems like a fine topic for a new thread . . .

Yes, do start a new thread with this question.