Who Killed Wellington?

            Who would kill a dog with a garden fork in the late, dark hours of the night? It is up to 15-year-old autistic Christopher to determine who is the killer, and solve this unusual mystery. Little does Christopher know that his father Mr. Boone is the one who has committed the killing of the dog, Wellington.

            Mr. Boone is very frustrated from the topic of Wellington through out the book. Many times in the book, Mr. Boone indicates and tells Christopher to not get involved with solving the murder of the dog, and tells him to quit investigating. One example where this is shown is when Mr. Boone tells Christopher "Just try and keep your nose out of other people's business." This was on page 14. Here you can see that Mr. Boone does not want Christopher investigating, which really hints to him trying to hide something. You can see Mr. Boone is trying to get Christopher to stay away from the topic of the dead dog. In this book there is a reference made to the book ‘The Hound of Baskervilles,’ which makes a connection between the two books. This book is also a mystery book involving Sherlock Holmes, and the readers are given clues from the book. On page 47, clue #2 connects to the book completely; Stapleton tells Watson to stay out of the Grimpen Mire for his own safety, but he is actually hiding something in the Grimpen Mire and does not want anyone to find it. Mr. Boone constantly tells Chris to stay out of others business and detective work because he does not want Chris to figure out that he is the killer of the dog. Another huge example and the most obvious is the entire car ride home from the police station. On page 14 Chris talks about people being punished for murdering someone, and Mr. Boone’s response to this is “it’s a bloody dog, Christopher, a bloody dog.” You can tell here that Mr. Boone does not care about the dog, because he refers to Wellington as a bloody dog. Chris then states, “I think dogs are important, too.” Mr. Boone does not care to listen to Chris and replies saying “Leave it.” The biggest hint is when Chris comments and says, “I wonder if the police will find out who killed him and punish the person.” Right after this part it is told that Mr. Boone banged the steering wheel with his fist and shouted “I said leave it, for God’s sake.” Here you can see the anger with the subject, he is frustrated by it. You can see the annoyance in his tone, when talking about the dog.

    You may wonder, why would Mr. Boone kill the dog, and what reason would he have? Chris states on page 32 that he believes that it is Mr. Shears who has killed the dog because Mrs. Shears and Mr. Shears split up a couple years ago. Chris thinks that the crime was committed for revenge or to make someone upset and so he believes that Mr. Shears killed the dog for revenge of their splitting up. Chris states that the crime is usually done by someone known and committed to make someone upset or hurt. It could be Mr. Shears because he was with Mrs. Shears and he might have still had access to tools. There is a red herring in this book and it also relates to the Hound of Baskerville because on page 47 in the second clue it states, “Selden, the Netting Hill murderer. This is a man who has escaped from a prison nearby and is being hunted down on the moors, which makes you think that he has something to do with the story, because he is a criminal, but he hasn't anything to do with the story at all.” This makes it a red herring because it pushes away the fact the Mr. Boone killed Wellington and tries to prove the Mr. Shears did. There is a similarity, which is the act of doing something bad, like the man escaping jail and him being a criminal makes it look like he did the crime, and Mr. Shears leaving Mrs. Shears shows a bitter side to the relationship and makes it looks like Mr. Shears would want to do something to hurt Mrs. Shears. Now this distracts us from the fact that Mr. Boone is the killer because Chris thinks its Mr. Shears. In the book they are now trying to solve why and how Mr. Shears killed this dog, and focus on Mr. Shears.

            Now, one may think why would Mr. Boone kill a dog? What reason would he have? As you read the book, you will figure out that Mr. Shears and Mrs. Boone had an affair told by Mrs. Alexander; an old lady that lives in the neighborhood. They both cheated on their partners and left them 2 years ago. This changes the fact that Mr. Shears would kill the dog and points toward Mr. Boone to be the murderer. Mr. Boone has a valid motive to kill because his wife and friends husband cheated on each other. Mr. Boone would want to kill the dog because it was close to Mr. Shears and he would want to hurt him. This also proves that someone known commits the murder because Mr. Boone knew Mr. and Mrs. Shears very well, and they were all good friends. Mr. Boone is shown to drink in the book and come home late because of his job as a plumber and dealing with boiling systems. The murder happened at 12:07 am, which is quite late, but it is very likely that Mr. Boone would be awake. Chris did not know where Mr. Boone was because he was in his room almost the entire night and he is not too aware of his surroundings all the time. Mr. Boone also has a fast temper and easily gets frustrated/irritated. Now if Mr. Boone had been drinking and there was a dog barking very loudly outside, he could easily get annoyed and go and kill the dog without realizing that he has killed it. The dog was killed with a garden fork, which belonged to Mrs. Shears. How would Mr. Boone get the garden fork? It is shown that Mr. Boone and Mrs. Shears are quite good friends because she would make dinner and stay over sometimes; this clearly proves that she was a sweet lady and liked to help people. Mrs. Shears wouldn’t mind lending a garden tool if Mr. Boone asked and wouldn’t hesitate to give it to a good friend.

            The dog Wellington was murdered by no other than Chris’s father, Mr. Boone. Chris may not suspect Mr. Boone, but it is clear that he is the killer. Mr. Boone may have been frustrated and upset, which resulted in killing the dog.

**Thank you to spark notes for having a summary of The Hound of Baskerville because the connections and clues made a lot more sense and showed how they connected to the book more!!

           

           

           

            

           

           

Song Assignment - Unwritten

http://youtu.be/TtGY4G7II6s

I am unwritten 

Can't read my mind, I'm undefined
I'm just beginning
The pen's in my hand, ending unplanned

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words
That you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin

No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips

Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

I break tradition
Sometimes my tries are outside the lines
We've been conditioned
To not make mistakes, but I can't live that way, no

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words
That you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin

No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips

Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips

Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words
That you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin

No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips

Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
Feel the rain on your skin

No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips

Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

The rest is still unwritten
The rest is still unwritten

     The song I chose is Unwritten. This song is about being yourself and just living life. I personally have loved this song since a very young age and Its always been quite close to my heart. I use to litsen to this all the time when I wasn't feeling well, and I still litsen to it but not as much. This song connects to me because when I was younger I use to be really scared about being myself and I would act like others, but I realized later that I need to be myself. I always use to be scared to do things and be shy, but after litsening to this song, I wasn't shy about it myself anymore. I would always be scared to do things, almost like stage fright but in real life but as I grew up that changed. I have had so many connections with this song and it has always stayed one of my favourite songs for a long time now. I love this song as much as I did when I first heard it. This song stands out to me so much and I feel like everytime I hear it, it's made for me. I have such a strong connection to this song, especially the chorus. I always use to worry about the past and this song says to just live in today, this really connected to me. I don't think about the past as much, and this song has taught me to do that. The entire chorus has so much meaning to it and it always connects to me. I love how this song says live in today, the rest is still unwritten. This song is basically saying that in your book of life, things are being written as they go, don't worry about what has to be written. Overall this is such a great song, and I connect to this very much. 

A Parent and a Child

           Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet has various relationships within the play. There is the relationship of lovers, friends, cousins, parents and even caretakers. Romeo and Juliet is not about the lovers, it is about the parents and their relationship to their child. Teenager’s experience many relationships, but the one most important and most complicated is between a child and their parent.

            Many parents think similar to each other; most parents care for their children, and make their kids their first priority. It does not matter which era you are in; parents have alike thinking. In Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ the guardian or true parent can be Juliet’s nurse. This is a very good example of how in some households someone else can be the “true” parent. A common second parent or guardian is a grand parent. Children often have a strong connection and affection towards their grand parents. In ‘Romeo and Juliet’ quoted from the nurse she says; “Faith, I can tell her age unto an hour.” The nurse knows the child’s birth by the hour; many parents have this strong connection with their child. This shows the strong connection with the parent and also points out the care and affection many parents have for their children. Many parents care for their children and don’t appreciate when their kids get hurt. If a child does something wrong, often a parent yells at them; in most cases there is one parent or guardian who does not like the idea of yelling at a child. Another quote from the nurse is when she says, “God in heaven bless her!

You are to blame, my lord, to rate her so.” The nurse is disagreeing with Juliet’s father while he is yelling at her; this shows the care and the pain, the nurse feels, while Juliet is being yelled at. Parents learn from their own guardians; teenagers learn from their parents. Each generation learns something from each other; this is why many relationships are similar. As the generations pass on, the ideas pass on as well.

            Shakespeare is not a believer of love; he believes everyone is fake and ridiculous. If Shakespeare looked at current teenagers he would most likely be disgusted. Current teenagers thoughts are much different that of Shakespeare. Teenagers in this day and age are quite different; there is technology everywhere and our thoughts are exploding. Shakespeare would call every single teenager out there fake, not one of them would be ideally real. Shakespeare would believe that every teen plays a different role or personality in front of each person. Shakespeare would call teenagers two-faced or masked. A common idea Shakespeare has is masks on every persons face, and changing costumes. In Shakespeare’s poem “All the World’s a Stage,” he mentions the idea of masks and costumes. This idea was also told by Neuf in class. If Shakespeare looked at the teenagers in today’s world, he would say that every teenager has different masks and costumes. Most teenagers’ act differently in front of people, it depends on who the person is. In the poem “All the World’s a Stage,” he states “And one man in his time plays many parts.” This line specifically points toward acting differently in front of different audiences. It describes playing different roles in different situations. Teenagers often act differently in front of friends, teachers, parents, and almost any relationship. Looking back at Shakespeare’s attitude towards humans, he would believe teenagers are stupid through they way they act, speak, or even the actions we make. Current teenagers are crazy; they are all over the place. Current teenagers have different thoughts going through their brain every second. Shakespeare would believe that teenagers in this generation are absolutely ridiculous and fake in way too many ways.

         There are so many relationships in the world, but one of the most important and recognized is the one between a parent and a child. This relationship is most connected from each generation-to-generation. Many children all over the world learn the most from their parents. Parents learn from their parents, and every child learns from their parent or guardian. Relationships are so similar because of experiences and past memories. Many parents base their teachings off of their mistakes or experiences. A very famous quote says “Learn from your mistakes.” Many parents teach their kids not to make the same mistakes as they did. Often parents also base their kids through their own experiences. In “Romeo and Juliet,” Juliet’s mother states this line:

“Well, think of marriage now; younger than you,

Here in Verona, ladies of esteem,

Are made already mothers: by my count,

I was your mother much upon these years

That you are now a maid. Thus then in brief:

The valiant Paris seeks you for his love.”

This shows that Juliet’s mother is getting her daughter married the same way she was married. She is basing her experience and giving Juliet the same thing. In this case it seems as if she wants Juliet to know what it is like to be married so young with so many expectations.

Every person learns a lot from his or her parent or guardian and this is what adds the similarity between the relationships. As the similar tactics pass through generation to generation, the children start to create a similar relationship. The relationship with a parent and child itself is very connected and special, you cannot compare it to another. A child is with their parent from the very beginning of their journey and there is no relationship that can have more significance than that. Parents have similar feelings toward their child as well. Most parents feel affection and care towards their children; the parent makes the child their life. It does not matter from which generation the relationship is from, a parent and child will always be most connected and significant.

            The complexity and connection between a parent and a child is not comparable to that of another. There is so much to the relationship that it cannot be less significant than something else. Teenagers are most connected and have the most complications with their parents, but through every generation this relationship is the most similar.

All The World's A Stage: 

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
Then, the whining school-boy with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then, a soldier,
Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden, and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then, the justice,
In fair round belly, with a good capon lined,
With eyes severe, and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws, and modern instances,
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slippered pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything. 

This is the poem by Shakespeare.