Additional assignments to ‘THE CATCHER IN THE RYE’ – J.D.SALINGER
1 > Explain why you chose the book, what you expected from the book and whether the book came up to your expectations.
I chose this book, ‘the catcher in the rye’ because the title sounded very strange to me, so I wanted to read this book because I wanted to find out what the writer meant with the title ‘The catcher in the rye’. I also did choose this book, because my teacher of my previous school recommended this book.
I did not know what I should expect from this book. Before I had read the book, I thought it would go about a farmer or something like that, because of the word ‘Rye’ in the title. I expected this book would not be very exciting, except to find out what was meant by the title, because I thought it would go about a farmer. Maybe it would be a little boring.
Well, the book came more up than my expectations. It was not boring at al. It was an very exciting book. It is about a boy who is expelled from school. I can imagine the narrator’s, Holden’s, feelings and emotions, like the impact of his brothers death. The story is unpredictable, I did not expected Mr. Antolini would make sexual advances to Holden. So it was not about a farmer at al. In the story you get to know the meaning of the title: Holden wants to be the catcher in the rye, he wants to save others from what has happened to him. He wants to protect children like Allie, Ackley and James Castle from the world. It is also the title of a song which make Holden less depressed. I think it is an very good story.
2 > Invent three alternative titles for the book and explain them.
Holden Caulfield – Because it is about Holden Caulfields life. He is the main character, you know everything of him and of his family and friends. He is all were the story is about. While reading you get to know his feelings, his emotions, his problems, his thoughts etceteras. It is about his life, it is about all the things that happen to him. That is why I chose this name as title.
Influence of problems to schoollife – Because it is about a boy, who does not his best at school, because he has other things on his mind, like many students in reality. It describes how al the bad things, that happened to him, make him concentrate less at his school and his homework. Like the death of his brother, or the suicide of one of the schoolboys, or the sexual advances of Mr. Antolini. These are all things that make it difficult for Holden to do his best at school. These are all reasons why I have chosen the title ‘Influence of problems to schoollife’.
The cruelty of life – Because the story shows how cruel the world/life is. It describes problems, that happen in reality very often. Like someone’s death, suicide, loneliness, problems with parents, problems with schoolboys, sexual abuse, learning problems, etceteras. Everybody had had in reality to do with one of these problems. So that is why I have chosen the title ‘The cruelty of life’.
3 > Draw a time line with the most important events in the book. Make sure you get the spaces in between proportionally right. Illustrate your time line plus events with pictures.
Leaving Pencey Prep:
Holden is recuperating from a mental breakdown in a Californian hospital. He tells he had been expelled from school. He has not done anything particularly bad, but just seems unable to work hard enough. He visits Mr. Spencer, this makes him depressed.
Stradlater asks Holden to write his English homework, because he has a date with Jane Gallagher.
Holden writes an essay about his brother Allie, but Stradlater is not happy with this. Holden does not want Stradlater to go out with Jane and the end up fighting and this provokes Holden’s early departure from school. Holden goes to New York and stays in a hotel.
Picture mental breakdown
Edmont Hotel:
Holden goes to a night club. He wants to call Jane, but he does not. He makes an arrangement with Maurice for a prostitute to be sent to him, but he want no sex, they demand more money. Maurice beats him up. Now he feels depressed enough to kill himself.
Picture prostitute
Faces from the past:
He wants to call Jane but he does not. Instead he calls Sally and they arrange to go out that afternoon. He meets two nuns and they discuss Romeo and Juliet. He decides to phone Jane, her mother answers and he puts the phone down. He takes Sally to the theatre and ice-skating rink. He asks her to run away with her, but she does not. He makes an arrangement with Carl Luce, but this was not really a success. He wants to phone Jane again and again he does not.
Picture phone because he wants to call Jane all the time.
He goes to buy a record, Little Shirley Beans, for his sister. He hears a boy sing ‘if a body catch a body, coming through the Rye’, this cheers him up a little. He leaves the bar and drops his sister’s record. He decides to sneak into his house to see Phoebe.
Reunited with Phoebe:
Phoebe wants to keep the broken pieces of the record, which amuses Holden. He tells her he wants to be a ‘catcher in the rye’. He leaves and goes to Mr. Antolini, he borrows his sister’s Christmas savings. Holden gives Phoebe his red hunting hat. He has a long conservation with Mr. Antolini. He feels Mr. Antolini is making sexual advances to him and he leaves. The last person Holden Turns to for advice seems to care about him for all the wrong reasons.
He wants to go away and arranges to meet Phoebe to give her back her money, but she wants to go with him. He realises this cannot happen. He takes her to the zoo. Now he feels happy.
Holden tells he will return to school and that he is recovering.
Picture reunited with Phoebe and family
10 > Supply pictures, either made by yourself or existing ones chosen by yourself (not from the book) that go well with the contents of the book. Supply each drawing with a caption. Explain why you made or chose a certain picture.
Depression
Holden feels as if he is locked, he feels lonely, he feels depressed. Sometimes he feels so depressed that he wants to kill himself. This box let me think of loneliness, depression, isolation, that is why I have chosen this picture:
The prostitute
I have chosen this picture of a prostitute, because she plays an important part in the story. She is the reason why Holden is beaten up by Maurice. She is also one of the reasons why Holden feels very depressed and wants to kill himself.
Rain and storm
The rain and storm remains me of Holden’s character. He is almost always depressed. The rain stands always for depression, loneliness and other sad things. It rains every time when Holden is upset about something. That is why I have chosen this picture.
The record
This picture of an old elpee reminds me of the title ‘the catcher in the rye’. It has to do with the explanation of the title:
Holden goes to buy a record for his sister, on his way he hears a boy singing a song with the lyrics ‘if a body catch a body, coming through the rye’, it makes him feel less depressed.
Holden goes to his sister and asks her if she knows this song. She tells him it is a poem by Robert Burns and that it is ‘meet’, not ‘catch’. He says He wants to be the catcher in the rye, he wants to save others from what has happened to him. He wants to protect children like Allie, Ackley and James Castle from the world.
The world
Holden sometimes thinks he is alone on the world. He also is confused about much of the world.
Love
Despite of his depressions he loves a lot of people. Like his sister Phoebe, his friend Sally, his ex-girlfriend Jane. He also loves his friend and his teachers.
12 > Complete at least three of the statements concerning the impact that the book had on you; use about 100 words per answer. Because of this book:
- I wish I could do something about the situation which Holden is in. I Mean, I wish I could help everybody who thinks like Holden, everybody who is as depressed as Holden. And I wish I could help everyone who wants to commit suicide. I wish that people could take more for each other, then there would be less problems in the world, and then there will also be less depressed humans in the world. If everybody would help everybody, there will be a harmonious and happy world. Everyone would feel better and happier then. I wish I could turn the world in a better place than it is now. (110 words).
- I realise that this book is very realistic. Through this book I have realised that there are many problems in the world, that there are many people with problems and that I am not the only person in the world who has troubles. This book shows the hard reality, everything could have happened in real life. This books shows all Holdens problems and it show that his little sister Phoebe cares a lot for him. So it is a problem for her too. The problem for her is that Holden has it difficult, that Holden wants to quit school and that he wants to go away. This is also the problem of his parents. ( 114 words).
- I wonder what would have happened to Holden when his sister Phoebe was not there, like she has never existed, or like she died just like her brother Allie. Probably he would have killed himself, but I do not know that for sure. He also could stay at life, but not going to school anymore. Maybe he would have committed suicide a few years or a long time ago. I do not know. If Phoebe did not existed, then he would not have bought that record, which made him less depressive. So then Holden would have never been happy in this story. Then he probable would nobody let help him. He would not recover from his mental breakdown then. But maybe he would, I just do not know that. I still wonder… (132 words).
- I am angry, because there are so many people which are evil. By that I mean that there are a lot of people that likes to harm other. Like Mr. Antolini, he made sexual advances to Holden. I hate people like him, because people like him hurt others, while the results of their hurting can be disastrous for the victims, their results can even destroy the victims, which almost happened to Holden. Because there were so many people who let him down, or who let him know they did not like him, let Holden almost commit suicide. Fortunately, there was his little sister who loved him very much, and he loved her back. (113 words).
13 > Which five intelligent relevant questions would you ask the author if you got the chance to interview him? Give the underlying motivation for each question.
à The main character of your book, Holden Caulfield is constantly feeling depressed, and sometimes feeling so depressed that he wanted to kill himself. Did you ever considered suicide yourself?
à The main character of your book is very depressed. Have you ever been as depressed as Holden and what happened to you to become so depressed/ to write about such a depressed person?
à The main character loves his little sister, Phoebe, very much. It is obviously he cares a lot for her. She made Holden change his mind to stay and to go to school again. Did you have a sister or a sister figure who had such a great influence on you like Phoebe on Holden?
à Holden, the main character had been expelled from school. Have you ever been expelled from school? Or have you ever been failed at school?
à I think the title ‘the catcher in the rye’ is extraordinary. How did you invent this title? The story tells it is the title of a poem by Robert Burns, why did you choose this title too? Is it really also a song and did you like this song?
à Do you have a negative look at the world, because almost the whole book is about depression, loneliness, problems, confusion of the world?
1 > Explain why you chose the book, what you expected from the book and whether the book came up to your expectations.
I chose this book, ‘the catcher in the rye’ because the title sounded very strange to me, so I wanted to read this book because I wanted to find out what the writer meant with the title ‘The catcher in the rye’. I also did choose this book, because my teacher of my previous school recommended this book.
I did not know what I should expect from this book. Before I had read the book, I thought it would go about a farmer or something like that, because of the word ‘Rye’ in the title. I expected this book would not be very exciting, except to find out what was meant by the title, because I thought it would go about a farmer. Maybe it would be a little boring.
2 > Invent three alternative titles for the book and explain them.
Holden Caulfield – Because it is about Holden Caulfields life. He is the main character, you know everything of him and of his family and friends. He is all were the story is about. While reading you get to know his feelings, his emotions, his problems, his thoughts etceteras. It is about his life, it is about all the things that happen to him. That is why I chose this name as title.
Influence of problems to schoollife – Because it is about a boy, who does not his best at school, because he has other things on his mind, like many students in reality. It describes how al the bad things, that happened to him, make him concentrate less at his school and his homework. Like the death of his brother, or the suicide of one of the schoolboys, or the sexual advances of Mr. Antolini. These are all things that make it difficult for Holden to do his best at school. These are all reasons why I have chosen the title ‘Influence of problems to schoollife’.
The cruelty of life – Because the story shows how cruel the world/life is. It describes problems, that happen in reality very often. Like someone’s death, suicide, loneliness, problems with parents, problems with schoolboys, sexual abuse, learning problems, etceteras. Everybody had had in reality to do with one of these problems. So that is why I have chosen the title ‘The cruelty of life’.
3 > Draw a time line with the most important events in the book. Make sure you get the spaces in between proportionally right. Illustrate your time line plus events with pictures.
Leaving Pencey Prep:
Holden is recuperating from a mental breakdown in a Californian hospital. He tells he had been expelled from school. He has not done anything particularly bad, but just seems unable to work hard enough. He visits Mr. Spencer, this makes him depressed.
Stradlater asks Holden to write his English homework, because he has a date with Jane Gallagher.
Holden writes an essay about his brother Allie, but Stradlater is not happy with this. Holden does not want Stradlater to go out with Jane and the end up fighting and this provokes Holden’s early departure from school. Holden goes to New York and stays in a hotel.
Picture mental breakdown
Holden goes to a night club. He wants to call Jane, but he does not. He makes an arrangement with Maurice for a prostitute to be sent to him, but he want no sex, they demand more money. Maurice beats him up. Now he feels depressed enough to kill himself.
Picture prostitute
Faces from the past:
He wants to call Jane but he does not. Instead he calls Sally and they arrange to go out that afternoon. He meets two nuns and they discuss Romeo and Juliet. He decides to phone Jane, her mother answers and he puts the phone down. He takes Sally to the theatre and ice-skating rink. He asks her to run away with her, but she does not. He makes an arrangement with Carl Luce, but this was not really a success. He wants to phone Jane again and again he does not.
Picture phone because he wants to call Jane all the time.
He goes to buy a record, Little Shirley Beans, for his sister. He hears a boy sing ‘if a body catch a body, coming through the Rye’, this cheers him up a little. He leaves the bar and drops his sister’s record. He decides to sneak into his house to see Phoebe.
Reunited with Phoebe:
Phoebe wants to keep the broken pieces of the record, which amuses Holden. He tells her he wants to be a ‘catcher in the rye’. He leaves and goes to Mr. Antolini, he borrows his sister’s Christmas savings. Holden gives Phoebe his red hunting hat. He has a long conservation with Mr. Antolini. He feels Mr. Antolini is making sexual advances to him and he leaves. The last person Holden Turns to for advice seems to care about him for all the wrong reasons.
He wants to go away and arranges to meet Phoebe to give her back her money, but she wants to go with him. He realises this cannot happen. He takes her to the zoo. Now he feels happy.
Picture reunited with Phoebe and family
10 > Supply pictures, either made by yourself or existing ones chosen by yourself (not from the book) that go well with the contents of the book. Supply each drawing with a caption. Explain why you made or chose a certain picture.
Depression
Holden feels as if he is locked, he feels lonely, he feels depressed. Sometimes he feels so depressed that he wants to kill himself. This box let me think of loneliness, depression, isolation, that is why I have chosen this picture:
The prostitute
I have chosen this picture of a prostitute, because she plays an important part in the story. She is the reason why Holden is beaten up by Maurice. She is also one of the reasons why Holden feels very depressed and wants to kill himself.
Rain and storm
The rain and storm remains me of Holden’s character. He is almost always depressed. The rain stands always for depression, loneliness and other sad things. It rains every time when Holden is upset about something. That is why I have chosen this picture.
The record
This picture of an old elpee reminds me of the title ‘the catcher in the rye’. It has to do with the explanation of the title:
Holden goes to buy a record for his sister, on his way he hears a boy singing a song with the lyrics ‘if a body catch a body, coming through the rye’, it makes him feel less depressed.
The world
Holden sometimes thinks he is alone on the world. He also is confused about much of the world.
Love
Despite of his depressions he loves a lot of people. Like his sister Phoebe, his friend Sally, his ex-girlfriend Jane. He also loves his friend and his teachers.
12 > Complete at least three of the statements concerning the impact that the book had on you; use about 100 words per answer. Because of this book:
- I wish I could do something about the situation which Holden is in. I Mean, I wish I could help everybody who thinks like Holden, everybody who is as depressed as Holden. And I wish I could help everyone who wants to commit suicide. I wish that people could take more for each other, then there would be less problems in the world, and then there will also be less depressed humans in the world. If everybody would help everybody, there will be a harmonious and happy world. Everyone would feel better and happier then. I wish I could turn the world in a better place than it is now. (110 words).
- I realise that this book is very realistic. Through this book I have realised that there are many problems in the world, that there are many people with problems and that I am not the only person in the world who has troubles. This book shows the hard reality, everything could have happened in real life. This books shows all Holdens problems and it show that his little sister Phoebe cares a lot for him. So it is a problem for her too. The problem for her is that Holden has it difficult, that Holden wants to quit school and that he wants to go away. This is also the problem of his parents. ( 114 words).
- I wonder what would have happened to Holden when his sister Phoebe was not there, like she has never existed, or like she died just like her brother Allie. Probably he would have killed himself, but I do not know that for sure. He also could stay at life, but not going to school anymore. Maybe he would have committed suicide a few years or a long time ago. I do not know. If Phoebe did not existed, then he would not have bought that record, which made him less depressive. So then Holden would have never been happy in this story. Then he probable would nobody let help him. He would not recover from his mental breakdown then. But maybe he would, I just do not know that. I still wonder… (132 words).
13 > Which five intelligent relevant questions would you ask the author if you got the chance to interview him? Give the underlying motivation for each question.
à The main character of your book, Holden Caulfield is constantly feeling depressed, and sometimes feeling so depressed that he wanted to kill himself. Did you ever considered suicide yourself?
à The main character of your book is very depressed. Have you ever been as depressed as Holden and what happened to you to become so depressed/ to write about such a depressed person?
à The main character loves his little sister, Phoebe, very much. It is obviously he cares a lot for her. She made Holden change his mind to stay and to go to school again. Did you have a sister or a sister figure who had such a great influence on you like Phoebe on Holden?
à Holden, the main character had been expelled from school. Have you ever been expelled from school? Or have you ever been failed at school?
à I think the title ‘the catcher in the rye’ is extraordinary. How did you invent this title? The story tells it is the title of a poem by Robert Burns, why did you choose this title too? Is it really also a song and did you like this song?
à Do you have a negative look at the world, because almost the whole book is about depression, loneliness, problems, confusion of the world?
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