Discussion "about a boy" 22th september

The grammar difficulty varies depending on who's talking. When Will's talking or the author describes Will, the grammar is alot more difficult than when he's describing Marcus. There's alot more complex words and the senteneces are much longer compared to Marcus'. We think it's because the difference between their ages. Will is an adult and Marcus is just a little boy. So when Marcus is talking it's pretty easy words and short sentences.
Alot of "I dunno" for example.

The ammount of descriptions and dialogues is changing as the story goes along. But it's pretty much 50/50 in total. In the beginning, there's more descriptions, so we can get to know the characters. But as we start to know them, the ammount of descriptions decrease. And instead of descriptions, it goes over to more dialogues between the characters.

The vocabulary is difficult when Will's talking, and more childlike when Marcus is talking.  

We think the narrator has thought through these things before, and that's why he's using a different difficulty of the language, depending on who is described. Marcus is just a young boy, and his vocabulary isn't fully developed. But Will's vocabulary on the other end, is fully developed.

Wednesday September 15th

We think that you get loads of background info all the time in the book.

Could the book take place in another time or place?

It could have taken place in an another time (ok, not before the time, because they talk about famous people), because the things that's happening don't have so much to do with the time, but all the time the talk about things that just can be done in London.

8th of September

How has the story evolved? 
Marcus mom, Fiona, has tried to kill herself after a long time of depression. Marcus feels guilty because he is the only reason he could think of for why she tried to kill herself. 
And then Will gets an idea that he can help Marcus and his mom to make him a better person. It all works out well until Marcus finds out about Wills' imaginary son. But Marcus still wanted to see Will so he didn't tell his mother and started to stalk Will. But all the stalking makes Will angry in the beginning, but after a while Will gets used to having Marcus at his house in the afternoon. Marcus doesn't want to go home because he's afraid he will find his mom dead there, but he doesn't tell Will that.


what ways has the main character developed?
Lets start with Will, Will has started to go back to his old ways of living. He has started to realise that his "singledad-plan" has gone too far. therefore he must cancel his "dadplan" and continue to live the way he did before he met Fiona and Marcus.
Lets continue with Marcus, Marcus is still being bullied at school and because of his mothers suicidal attempt he's beginning to get depressed. But then he starts going to Will and he starts to care about his situation, his style, life and mother.


Quote of the Day
"And anyway, since when did hitting a bird with a sandwich ever kill it?"

Discussion "about a boy" 1th september

How does the author introduce the story? What type of book is this – discuss the genre.

1.       He throws us into a middle of a conversation, and after a while he explains the situation and everything else related to both Will and Marcus. Later he tells us about their families and the whole situation in genuine, and that stops us from thinking the book is confusing.  We think that the genre of the book is drama. There’s not so much violence, and the story isn’t directly a love story either. But there’s a lot of drama in it, one example is Marcus’ mum. She nearly dies due to an overdose of pills.

Who is the story told to? Who is telling the story/who is the narrator? (first/third/omniscient?)

2.       It’s mixed, the Author tells the story in both third and first person, it most third person though. The author isn´t really telling the story to anyone, he’s just telling the story in general. Not to a specific person.

What is the crucial issue? What has happened so far?

3.       Both main characters are depressing, but because of different things. Marcus is depressed because his mum is depressed, and his friends dumped him because they got bullied because of him. Will is depressed, but he doesn’t realize that he is.

Who is/are the main character/s? What do you think of the main character(s)? How do you react to him/her/them personally? Do they evoke sympathy in you?

4.       Will and Marcus. They´re like the direct opposite of each other, but still they’ve got some things in common, for example sadness and loneliness.  All three of us are sorry for Marcus, he hasn’t done anything wrong, and he’s trying to make everything good, but with no success. We don’t feel any sympathy for Will, just because he has put himself in the current situation himself. It’s his own fault that everything is like it is.

When and where does the story take place?

5.       The story takes place in London in the 1990’s.