Works Cited

Children’s Bureau, Child Maltreatment 2004, Online, 1/16/08, http://cbexpress.acf.hhs.gov/articles.cfm?issue_id=2006-04&article_id=1127

Garner-Mitchell, Mary, Gun Violence Statistics, Online, 1/16/08, http://www.neahin.org/programs/schoolsafety/gunsafety/statistics.htm

Crutcher, Chris. Whale Talk. Broadway: HarperCollins, 2002

The 6+1 (=7???????) Traits of Writing Evaluation

Well, back to typing just what's on my mind. This time I'll be reviewing the Novel with the seve- oh right sorry the 6+1 Traits of Writing.



#1. Ideas and Content.



Whale Talk's Content (although somewhat overused and predictable in some places) did relate to issues that actually matter. Child Abuse, Racism, and Gun Violence all are major issues in the modern world.



#2. Organization



Whale Talk proceeded in a fairly organized manner. Started at the beginning, proceeded chronologically, and ended at the end, throwing in flashbacks at the right time. My only complaint is that there wasn't too much of a transition between chapters.



#3. Voice



Crutcher's individual voice is... easy to connect to. TJ thinks like most teenagers our age, so we kind of...get him. Also he has some humor that a teenager would use, like in this quote where they are all finding goals for their first meet. "I have a goal but it's for Tay Roy: for him not to get sexually assaulted on the deck by any of the female spectators from the opposing schools. Man, that guy looks like a serious hunk in a tank suit. Tay Roy says one of us will be disappointed, because his goal is opposite that."



#4. Word Choice


The word choice used in Whale Talk was decent to say the least, with words that are simple enough so that readers don't hurt themselves trying to pronounce them, but challenging enough to make you take the book seriously.

#5 Sentence Fluency


The sentences in Whale Talk flow smoothly. It's one of those books that you can start reading at ten, then look at the clock and realize that it's midnight and you need to go to bed, but don't want to stop reading.


#6 Conventions

Two words: PUBLISHED BOOK


#+1. Presentation

see #6

Research Project: Child Abuse, Racism, and Gun Violence

First on my long list of the (heavily over-exaggerated) themes expressed in “Whale Talk” by Chris Crutcher is Child Abuse (easily the most over-exaggerated). Child Abuse, although not as common as Crutcher seems to think, is still a major problem in the United States. It is estimated that 1490 children die each year due to Child Abuse. That’s about 3 children a day, or A CHILD EVERY 8 HOURS lost to Child Abuse. The sad part of it is that about 50 or 60% of these cases are not recorded as such. Well enough of that on to racism, another important “Whale Talk” issue. Racism, I feel at least was accurately represented, a few black (or African American for you politically correct people out there) guys getting picked on by a few racist families. Not to say Racism isn’t a big deal, but especially in Washington State, there shouldn’t be much more Racism than there was. But anyways on to the actual research…………Well, apparently there aren’t ANY valid sources that offered decent statistics on the internet, so I give up, all I can offer is my own personal thoughts. After that rather disappointing search, on to a more fruitful search, Gun Violence. Although the Gun Violence-ee was an adult, (TJs Dad) I did my research on Gun Violence in children. America was ranked number one by far in gun violence in children with 5285 deaths (you want an idea of how far? There was 156 in Canada, 109 in France, 57 in Germany, 19 in Great Britain, and 0 in Japan). Wow… that was intense…actually researching what I’m writing!?!?!?!?!

Blog 3-Minor Characters

It's time for what you've all been waiting for; Blog number three is here (insert varius sorts of applause) ! For my third and final Blog I will be discussing the different secondary characters in Chris Crutcher's "Whale Talk". The extensive band of secondary characters prestented in "Whale Talk" is interesting to say the least. While each has his own unique story, many of them are very similar, and repeating patterns are very easy to discover when you stop and think about it. The theme of child abuse appears in at least half of the characters' strories. For instance Chris Coughlin, Carly Hudson, Heidi, Barbour, Rich Marshall, and even TJ himself has a shade of it himself (I mean, he's adopted, something must of happened). So the whole "I was abused as a child and am only doing to show my dad I'm worth more than crap" story starts getting pretty old about fifty pages in. Not to say Child Abuse isn't a major issue, but is nowhere near as common as it is in this book, I mean, I don't know anyone personnally who's been abused as a child, but in this world I could have a "who has the most scars from where their father beat them" contest. Well, This blog is supposed to be about minor characters, and over half of my blog so far has been a rant about how screwed up this book world is, so I'll start describing a few of the many secondary characters. First is Chris Coughlin, a kid who was abused as a child (see previous blogs for details) and now has brain damage. He also has a dead brother who was the biggest and most popular sports god around, and now gets yelled at almost daily by Barbour, Rich Marshall, and the football coach for wearing his brother's letter jacket.
Another interesting character is Icko. Icko's real name is Oliver Van Zandt, but they call him Icko because TJ abriviated his title of Interim Coach Oliver to I.C.O., but Chris thought that they were spelling something he couldn't understand and sounded it out to "Icko", and the name stuck. Regardless, he literally lives at All-Night Fitness (sleeps in the sauna, showers, shave, etc. in locker room) andone day saw the Mermen training and becam their Coach. Well that about wraps up my final blog. Those are all of my thoughts on "Whale Talk" by Chris Crutcher.

Blog 2-Main Character/Themes

I'm back again with more thoughts about Chris Crutcher's "Whale Talk". This time it's the main that I'm here to discuss. First and foremost his name TJ Jones, standind for The Tao Jones . I think that TJ is a very unique individual, racially, mentally,and backround.....ally. Racially, he is African-Japanese-American, which makes him a victim of much racism, but he doesn't seem to care too much about it anymore. He knows that racisms gonna come either way, and it's their problem, not his. His mentality is also unique. In Cutter High, people with letter jackets are seen as some sort of demi-god to most, but unlike the others who don't have one, instead of just bowing down to all the jocks with them, he sets out on a mission to show that anyone can get them. Backroundally (as I so profoundly put it) he has many stories about his past, ranging from his dad running over a baby to a fellow classmate shooting a deer out from under his arms to his past dating experiences. All in all I think The Tao Jones is a very unique character. Being as how I'm completly out of ideas about the main character, I'm moving on to Themes expressed in the novel. Firstly, racism is a prevailing theme in this book, whether its The Tao getting made fun of by peers, or him playing "the bad dad" at his former therapists therapy sessions and being forced to scream racial slurs containing words that (being how I'm making this blog for school) I must resign from using. Another prevailing theme is child abuse, ranging from a child (see previous sentence) trying to scrup the black off of her skin because of how she is abused for having it, to TJ's girlfriend being taken home and abused for performing a slightly vulgar end to a cheerleading routine, to the story of Chris's brain damging by his mother's ex-boyfriend. These are some prevailing themes in Whale Talk.

Blog 1-Overview

I think "Whale Talk" by Chris Crutcher is a very, very interesting book. Its about a guy who is asked to form a swim team for cutter high, a high school where jocks are plentiful and letter jackets are revered beyond all else and it is practically illegal to wear one that you havent earned. Anywway, TJ Jones (the J is redundant) which is short for his full name, The Tao Jones, makes it his personnal mission to only include those who have not yet been in sports to kind of show off to all the jocks that their letter jackets arent as valubal as they seemed to think they were. His team consists of seven people, including TJ Jones himself, the rest are Chris Coughlin, a boy who was givin permanent brain damage by his mother's ex-boyfriend, Dan Hole a nerdy kid who's kind of a comic relief character who has to do things like push-ups, etc for every time he uses words the coach doesn't know, Simon DeLong, a fat kid, Jackie Craig, a kid who could spontaniously combust, and no one would notice, Tay-Roy Kibble, a guy who bodybuilds and is like the buffest kid ever (except for Alvin Thisisafakelastname of course), and Andy Mott, a person who was origannaly thought to be a psychopath, which was inaccurate, he is a one-legged psychophat. Together with Chris, Dan, Simon, Jackie,Tay-Roy,and Andy, TJ is determined to win the Swim Team all letter jackets to show the jocks that anyone can win one.
Will TJ and his rabble of Swimmers that make up the Cutter All-Night Mermen be able to take first in state or will they crash and burn. Reading over this it now seems more like a movie trailer for Whale Talk than a blog entry, but, oh well those are my thoughts for now on Whale Talk, by Chris Crutcher.