Cynthia Lord Extension Project Sample

The Fire Within

In “Everything Will Be Okay,” by James Howe, a young boy named James finds a scruffy kitten and takes it home to keep it as a pet.  Unfortunately, his family is less enthusiastic, and his older brother eventually takes him to the vet’s office to put the kitten to sleep.  Wanting to keep the kitten isn’t the only difference James has felt between his family and him.  He constantly feels pressure to “be a man” by playing golf and hunting with his brothers and father.  In the end though, James decides a different path.

In this section, the final scene of the story, James finally decides that enough is enough.  He is sitting at the kitchen table after his kitten has died, and he is silent.  He gets up and goes to the living room where he finally realizes what he needs to do.   He thinks, “I will decide for myself what kind of boy I am, what kind of man I will become” (p. 5).  This shows that for the first time, he knows that he should take control of his life and make choices based on who he is, not who others want him to be.  In essence, he needs to let the fire within him flourish.

I represented this idea with my collage of a hand holding a torch. The hand is James’ of course, and the torch represents James’ burning desire to lead his life the way he sees fit.  It will light up the darkness around him.  The black background represents that darkness, not only the dark living room where he is when he realizes this, but also his dark past when he was letting others tell him what a man should be.

The flame comes from a bundle of sticks that represent the branch where the dead deer hung.  That deer is at the heart of the flame.  I chose to put it there because when James stared at it from the kitchen table, he still saw life in it.  It is that life that inspired his desire to stand up for himself.  Finally,  I chose to include bits of yellow around the flame to represent sparks of life that have been ignited by James’ realization.  Like sparks landing on dry ground, these sparks will flame into future events in James’s life guided by his own hopes and dreams.

This is important because in life, we often don’t ignite our fires within.  We feel pressure from family and friends to do what they expect and what they want when we know that it may go against our true selves.  So next time you’re in a situation where you feel pressure, be sure to remember James and listen to your fire within.

Character Extension Project - Freak the Mighty

Let’s face it - everyone has pressures in their lives. True, some people’s burdens are heavier than others, but it is how we deal with these pressures that matters. Dealing with these difficulties can define us and make a difference in how we see life. When we meet these stressors head on we can learn about ourselves, others, and life in general. In Freak the Mighty, by Rodman Philbrick, Kevin has several pressures in his life, but one is so extremely difficult and yet, he deals with it so eloquently that he ends up teaching those around him life lessons.

In this book Maxwell Kane, a large, slow, kind-hearted eighth grader, meets his new neighbor, Kevin Avery, an extremely intelligent physically disabled boy (nicknamed Freak), and the two become fast friends.  Max just wants to live a normal life, while Kevin is looking to make a friend and make the best of his situation. Perhaps it is their oddities, Max’s learning disabilities, and Kevin’s physical disability- that bring them together, but these two misfits set out on many grand adventures together conquering anything put in their path. It is through the obstacles and pressures that they both face that we learn what it means to be strong.

Kevin’s has many pressure that afflict him. First of all, his father skipped out on him and his mom, the Fair Gwen, right after he was born. Loretta said, “Right after you was born. He (referring to his dad) must be a magician, because as soon as he heard the words ‘birth defect,’ he disappeared.” (pg. 71)  Another pressure for Kevin is that he struggles to make friends and is often bullied by others. When Max and Kevin are walking to watch the fireworks works on the 4th of July , Tony D and his gang start bullying them. Tony says, “Hey you! Mutt and Jeff! Frankenstein and Igor! Don’t look around, I’m talking to you, bone heads. What is this, a freak show?” (pg. 29) A third pressure for Kevin is his mother constantly worrying about him. The Fair Gwen is hugging Freak and she is saying, “I told you to stay in that car, didn’t I? Didn’t I? (pg. 134).

But those pressure are not even the worst of what Kevin has to handle. Kevin’s main pressure is that he suffers from Morquio Syndrome - a rare hereditary disease that causes deformity of the bones or skeleton and dwarfing. So how does Kevin deal with all of these pressures? He lives each day to the fullest using his imagination. It all started when Max puts Kevin on his shoulder - the two become Freak the Mighty - and go on quests slaying dragons and fools and walking high above the world(pg 40). But Kevin also creates this elaborate idea that he shares with Max. “I will enter that lab and become the first bionically improved human.” (pg 51)  After Kevin dies, Dr. Spivak explains to Max Kevin’s motivation behind the idea. She said, “I think he needed something to hope for and so he invented this rather remarkable fantasy you describe. Everybody needs something to hope for. Don’t call it a lie. Kevin wasn’t a liar.” (pg 157).
When examining how Kevin deals with these pressures, he serves as a mentor for all of us.  Even though he has a life more difficult than most can imagine, he sees the glass full and lives life to its fullest. We need to learn from Kevin and see all the possibilities life has to offer. We need to use our imagination and be the best that we can be.

Kevin's Pressures: Glogster

Max's Makeover: I-Movie

Max's Turning Points: Fakebook

About the Author

As a middle schooler, Mrs. Haas remembers getting her papers returned to her marked up in red ink clearly identifying her abuses of the written language: spellings slip-ups, grammatical gaffes and punctuation booboos.  Needless to say, author was not on her career choice list. However, encouraged by her large family of teachers (father and 7 out of 11 siblings), Mrs. Haas learned that writing is really about expressing the heart and not discovering errors. In fact, her childhood school experiences, frenzied family life, and past and current students provide her with a wealth of writing inspirations.  Some day she hopes to have her book about Third Culture Kids - Home published, but for now, she is content with her students being her audience. Mrs. Haas currently lives in Singapore with her mathematical marvel husband, Jim; gymnastic genius daughter, Taylor; and sport enthusiast son, Eli.