1. Basics about the book:
Title:
My Sister’s Keeper
Author:
Jodi Picoult
Publisher:
Hodder & Stoughton
Edition:
2004
Number of pages:
407
Title
Explanation :
Explain the title of the book.
What does it refer to?
‘My Sister’s Keeper’, the title of the book, refers to two things. It first refers to Anna, who is the ‘keeper’ (protector) of Kate, because Anna keeps Kate alive; she donates lots of stem cells and other things from her body to Kate.
It also means something else. After the accident and the death of Anna, Kate gets a kidney from Anna, what keeps Kate alive. Kate will always have something from Anna in her, so that makes Kate a keeper of Anna’s existence.
Genre:
This book belongs to the genreof:
Tragedy.
These are the characteristics of the genre:
I found it hard to decide the theme of the story. It didn’t really fit any of the themes. Maybe tragedy most, though it’s not really a tragedy.
But the characteristics are:
1. Deals with serious subjects,
2. A number of well-developed characters,
3. Has a dramatic end.
They’re all kind of true. The second one is not completely true, because Anna isn’t really well-developed, but Sara, Brian and the judges all are. Cancer is a serious object and Anna dies in the end of the book, so that is dramatic.
That’s why I choose for tragedy.
Location:
Where is the story set?
Is it important to know where it all happens in order to understand the story?
Why (not)?
The story is set in a town somewhere in Rhode Island.
It’s not really important to know where it happens. The only thing important about it, is that it has to be somewhere in this world, which has the same rules and the same lawsuit things as the state of Rhode Island. But besides that, it can be set anywhere.
Time :
When is the story set?
- Is it important to know in which period the story is set to understand what happens in the book? Why (not)?
- Is the story told in chronological order or are there flashbacks or big intervals in the story ? Explain.
The story is set not too long ago. There are mobile phones, computers, internet etc.
Also, the technologies about cancer and stem cells are pretty up to date.
Above all, it’s even more easy for me to say when the story is set.
Above the chapters of the character Sara, there’s always a year. The earliest one is 1990 and the latest one is 2010, when Kate says she hasn’t collapsed in 8 years.
Who are the main and secondary characters and explain why.
Main
characters:
The weird thing about this book is, is that there are a lot of main characters.
The book has a lot of chapters, all from the I-perspective, but with different I’s. So sometimes you have Anna, then Sara, Brian, Jesse, Julia and Campbell the lawyer.
So you get to know them all very good. They’re all main characters; you get to know their feelings and what they’re thinking etc.
Secondary characters:
Although you have a lot of main characters, there are some secondary characters.
The nurses, the doctors of oncology, dr. Chance who’s the main doctor for Kate, the secretary of Campbell, some friends of Jesse, judge DeSalvo and Julias sister Isobel.
And last but not least, is Kate. This seems weird, because Kate is the most important person in the whole story! If she wasn’t ill, the family would be a normal family and Anna wouldn’t even exist! But you don’t get to know her feelings, or her thinking. Only in the last chapter, but that’s so short, that you can’t really call her a main character.
2.
A. Describe the plot of the story in 10 -12 steps
1. Anna goes to mr. Campbell for the first time. She wants the rights to her own body. She tells him that her parents got her to save Kate.
2. Sara and Brian get the envelope, that says that they’re being sued.
3. Sara is a lawyer and will ‘compete’ with mr. Campbell. Sara thinks that Anna is sueing her because she wants attention.
4. Anna gets a guardian ad litem, Julia, who has had a relationship with mr. Campbell in the past. Brian decides that Anna will live with the firefighters for a while, because she needs some distance from her mom.
5. Anna is starting to doubt about her decision. Julia and Campbell start a relationship again. Julia finds out that Campbell broke up with her, because he has some kind of epilepsy and didn’t want her to live with that.
6. Brian finds out that Jesse started a lot of fires in the neighborhood, while Brian is a firefighter. He also finds out that Jesse uses drugs. Jesse says that he feels guilty he can’t save Kate.
7. Throughout the book, we go back in time in Saras chapters. She realizes that she spent not enough time with her other children, not giving them enough attention. Everything she did, was for Kate.
She is frustrated by all the actions of Anna, but she never hates her or stops loving her.
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