Independent+Novel+Study

Eehjoe Kwon

__**Three Cups of Tea**__

//-Journal Entry 1-// December 2nd pg.1 - 46 ( chapter 4)

The story starts off with the main character, Greg Mortenson, lost in the middle of a dangerous mountain called K2, the second highest mountain in the world. The reason why he is in the mountain is for his dead sister's sake, for he wants to honor her by putting her necklace on the very summit of the mountain. Unfortunately, he gets lost when he is almost at the destination and he loses everything he once had: his fellows, 90-pound bag that has every essential needs for survival, and hope. He sleeps on a huge boulder that night, surrounded by nothing but snow and wind. The next day he wakes up, he tries to get back to Askole, the base camp, but instead he finds himself in a place called Korphe. (During the transformation from the unknown snowy place to Korphe, he meets one of the porter but he becomes lost again.) The people in the village take care of him and treat him very nicely. Once he fully recovers he goes back to America, his home country, and promises his friends in Korphe that he will come back and build schools.
 * 4) What's going on as the story begins?**

The story is told by the author's perspective but the interesting things is that the author himself is the main character in the book. The author really seperates himself from the character and that makes the novel a third person point of view. Compare to other third person perspective books though, this one clearly shows the detail of the main character's emotion and thoughts which makes the novel special and different.
 * 5) Who is telling the story? How does this person’s perspective effect the way the story is told?**

The story mainly takes place in Pakistan. K2 mountain is briefly shown then the setting transfers to a small village called Korphe. The setting is very important in this novel since the story is based on a true story and the story would not be the same if the setting were different. The main character builds, or has built in reality, schools in Korphe for children who had never received any kinds of education before. Suppose he had gone to a different place like Hawaii. In the first place, the novel "Three Cups of Tea" wouldn't be existing or at least won't be as good as the original one. In addition, he wouldn't have met the people in Korphe, whom he describes the kindest and the most inspiring people he had ever met.
 * 6) What is the setting of the novel? Is the setting important or could the novel be happening anywhere? Why?**

//-Journal Entry 2-// December 9th pg. 47- 97 (chapter 8)

The very first problem the main character faces is that he gets lost in the middle of a cold, dangerous mountain. His goal is to hit the summit of K2 but instead he runs into another problem that is totally different from what he had intended to do in the beginning; He wants to build schools for children in Korphe, the saviour of his life. The main problem would be the challenge of building schools and the very first problem he faces when coming with the idea is financial problem.
 * 7) What is the initial or first problem faced by the main character?**

The most interesting fact about this book is that it is based on a true story, which attracts the readers' attention. Author's detailed descriptions on the main character's point of view are very vivid which is another reason why it holds my interest. In addition, dramatic events add up to the readers' interest since we know all the incidents had actually happened in real life. For example, while the main character is having a hard time trying to raise money, a super hero comes along and offers him the entire money he had been willing to raise. If this was a made up fantasy, readers would not be as surprised or interested in it since the fact that it is based on a true story is what really moves and the readers.
 * 8) How does the author get you to read on or hold your interest?**

The language in the novel is fairly easy. However, there are a lot of complicated descriptions which can sometimes be difficult to comprehend: //" In Pakistan's Karakoram, bristling across an area barely one hundred miles wide, more than sixty of the world's tallest mountains lord their severe alpine beauty over a witnessless high-altitude wilderness. "// Also, the story takes place in a village called Korphe which is in Pakistan so the author often uses Urdu, one of the common languages Pakistani use: //"He took a bite of warm chapatti dunked in lassi, wolfed all that he'd been served...."//
 * 12)Is the language in the novel difficult or easy? GIve examples and explain.**

//-Journal Entry 3 -// December 15 pg. 98- 173 ( chapter 13)

The very first problem the character faces is that he gets lost in the middle of nowhere ( somewhere in the K2). His goal is to hit the summit of the mountain, but fails miserably. Then a very different goal comes to his mind, which is to build a school in Korphe where kids rarely receive education. The main problem of the story starts off with him struggling to raise money. However, after all the hard work and effort he puts on, he manages to save enough money to build the school. As soon as he tells the villagers the uplifting news, he is immediately faced with another challenge; He needs to build a bridge in order to build the school. For Korphe is a remote village, there is no way to bring the school supplies unless there is a bridge to deliver them.
 * 9. What new things are added to the original problem as the novel progresses?**

The novel is written in modern language so it is fairly easy to comprehend. However, the flow of the story is not very fluent since it uses a lot of descriptions which take the readers' minds of from the acutal story. The most literary device the author uses is allusion where he keeps reminding of the past stories and this also stops the flow of the story.
 * 11. Comment on the style of the novel. Is it easy or hard to follow the events?**

The range of the age group the novel aimed for is pretty wide. In my opinion, "Three Cups of Tea" is written for young adults and up. The book contains a deep message that adults would be impressed. In addition, the book has numerous of interesting events that can attract the young adults. However, it would be challenging for small kids to read it since it contains high quality of vocabularies and meanings.
 * 13. To what age group is the novel aimed? Support your answer with evidence.**

//-Journal Entry 4-// January 6th pg.174- 240 (chapter 18)

There are bits and pieces of problems the main character faces in this section. One of the major conflicts was getting the school done before Jean Horeni, the donator of the school, passes away. Hardly, but successfully him and his crew finish the school and the photograph of the school proudly gets hung on the wall of Jean's hospital room. The CAI's effort and determination are what solve the problem in this case. Another major conflict would be "fatwa" asserting against CAI from building schools. "fatwa" is a religious ruling that has an extreme amount power in its hand. Eventually CAI gets a permission to continue the business from the "fatwa" system. The problem could be solved because the head of the system saw how desperate and serious Mortenson wanted it.
 * 17. How are the major and minor conflicts solved? **

"Three cups of tea" is more of a documentary than a story. It describes series of events that had happened to the main character's life and each event contains a different message. However, there is a broad message that is shown overally in the novel; Do not give up. Believe in yourself and once that happens everything is possible. This main theme is shown from using the main character as an example. He started the project with several dollars, that was just enough the keep him alive. He was at the very bottom and often was attempted to give up. Howev er, he didn't. He kept pushing himself and finally, he did it. He reached his goal that everyone thought was impossible.
 * 14. Is there a message or main theme emerging in the book? How is it shown? **

I would highly recommend this novel to a friend. It is a book that can give hope to many people. Also, compare to other documentaries, this novel contains interesting and adventurous stories. Furthermore, the book contains a lot of information which is good for academic. Vivid descriptions and phrases will also develop one's writing skill.
 * 21.Why would you (or why wouldn't you) recommend this novel to a friend? **

//-Journal Entry 5-// January 13th pg.241- (chapter 23)

The novel is full of important messages that the author is trying to get across the readers' minds. The main message is //"to not give up".// Additional messages would be //"determination and passion can make anything to happen", "even starting for the very bottom, one can do anything if he believes in himself."// ... etc. Greg Mortenson, the main character of the book, sets himself as an example for these messages; Despite of his lack of power and money, he builds a school in Korphe which gives hope to a lot of people.
 * 19. What message did you get from the novel? How was this message conveyed?**

The novel is extremely believable and realistic because it had actually happened in real life. Though, if I read the novel without knowing that it is based on a true story, I probably would have thought that the author was just trying to create a plausible hero that could be real. What Greg Mortenson had done is extreme and I almost think it is impossible to do it. However, Mortenson made the impossible possible and he is still continuing on his work. The fact that there is someone so great like Mortenson in the world makes me happy and proud.
 * 20. Is the novel believable?**

The novel did not really meet my expectations. When I first heard of it, I thought it was a very interesting story, and it made to want to read the novel. Even after I finished reading the book, I still think it is full of interesting episodes. In addition, the novel taught me valuable lessons that could help me later in future. However, the book itself was not very good for I had a hard time to trying to follow the flow of the story. Not even that, the novel bored me and it took me a long time to finish it. If I didn't had to use the novel as my english project, I probably would have stopped reading the book in the middle
 * 22. Why did (or didn't) the novel meet your expectations?**

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