Literary Analysis #2

• Topics and/or Events

1)It is late Spring of 1979 in the city of Waltham, Massachusetts. Mitch Albom just graduated Brandeis University. as he is leaving he meets up with this favorite professor, Morrie Schwarz Morrie talks with Mitch and his parents and as they say goodbye Morrie, with tears rolling down his face, asks Mitch to keep in touch. Years pass, and Mitch didn't keep in touch. On a hot August day in 1994, while Mitch was away being caught up with work. his favorite professor was being diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Scleriosis(ASL)*. On March 1995, ABC's "Nightline" decided to do a segment on Morrie and that is how Mitch became reconnected with his old professor. Mitch was so caught up with his job as an ESPN reporter that he forgot to keep in contact with his old professor. After seeing the segment on Nightline and realizing that his professor might not have much time left Mitch decides to go visit him. The first visit with Morrie went great; they reminisced and caught up on things. Visiting Morrie on Tuesdays became a regular thing; Mitch would fly seven hundred miles to Boston just to sit and have a talk with his old professor just like in his college days. With each visit Mitch realized that Morrie was doing worse, he was becoming more dependent of others and that the number of pills were increasing. Having a conversation with Morrie, who was once a great talker and an even at listening, was becoming hard because he would run out of breath fast or he would have " cough attacks" that could last hours. Soon it would be impossible to get even a few words out of him. Morrie died on a Saturday morning, a few days after Mitch's last visit.

2) I believe that Mitch decided to write about Morrie because Morrie was such an important part of his life. Mitch admires Morrie in many aspects including his free spirit and love towards life. Morrie was a wise old man and he an important person in Mitch's life. To me, Morrie seems like the type of person that many of us aspire to be like.

3) Well, originally I was going to read The Blind Side, but since I've seen the movie i didn't find the book interesting.Then i realized I had to find a book that I really wanted to read! So, i Asked my friend Tina for some help and she referred me to Mrs. Byrne. Mrs.Byrne put out a wide selection that she thought I might be interested in, Tuesdays With Morrie was one of them. As I was looking at it someone walked in and said " That is such a good book ! It made me cry!", so I took it. Once i Started reading it, it became really interesting and i just wanted to keep reading. I think what caught my attention the most was how descriptive the author was.

4) The book was realistic to me. It was a book about watching someone they love slowly and painfully die, that isn't something that you can just make up. The part that i found relate able to at the beginning was that Mitch turned to Morrie when he needed someone to talk to and we all have that one person. We all have that one person that we can trust with something, no matter what it is and for Mitch, Morrie was that person.

• People 

1) I don't feel that any of the characters in this story are fictional characters because the description of them is so realistic. In a way, that's what authors are supposed to do, even fictional writers but that amount of emotion and memories that are put into this book those are things that can't be easily made up. The tone to me seemed like it was serious and sad because someone who was such a big part of his life was slowly and painfully dying right in front of him.


2) Morrie : " He is a small man who takes small steps, as if a strong wind could, at any time, whisk him up into the clouds. . . He has sparkling blue-green eyes, thinning silver hair that spills onto his forehead, big ears, a triangular nose, and tuft of graying eyebrows. Though his teeth are crooked and his lower ones are slanted back- as if someone punched them in- when he smiles it's as if you'd told him the first joke on earth"(page 3-4) I describe Morrie as that older man who dies without many, if any, regrets. He had a family who got along well and he raised his children right. He loved and appreciated life, even when he was dying. He was grateful of everything he had, even when he was in pain and when he was dying. He found a way to love and appreciate everything and I really admire that.
Mitch:He seems like a good and caring guy. He was so caught up in being successful that he forgot about the thing that truly matter; his loved ones. He mad it for it though, he proved that he cared for Morrie by flaying to go see him even though it was hard and painful to see Morrie dying. He was caught up on the materialistic things and then he realized what really matters.

3) I think Morrie is very interesting. The fact  that he is suffering so much and in so many ways yet he has such a positive attitude, i think that's pretty amazing. He has accepted the fact that he can't do most things for himself and that he is going to die at any moment and yet he loves life ! many of us are as healthy as can be and have everything we need and are miserable. He is very free spirited, when he was healthy he would go dance in public and he didn't care what people thought. He is wise, he gives Mitch some good advice about family issues and about things that alot of people deal with. He has suffered and continues to suffer and he doesn't let that stop him from enjoying the simple things in life. He appreciates things now that he can't do much of cause of his health issues that just seemed normal and ordinary when he was healthy.

4) Direct Characterization - " Mitch, you are one of the good ones,"  -Morrie page 4
" You have a special boy here"- Morrie Page 4
Indirect- I couldn't find anything. All the descriptions in this book are pretty straight forward.
I believe direct characterization is used to give a clear thought or statement about a character. where indirect is trying to get the same point across but with a less simple form.

5) Well Mitch , the author, focuses mainly on description of the character and dialogue. He is very descriptive on how Morrie is getting worse and weaker with every visit and how ASL is taking over his life. He focuses on dialogue a lot because that's what this book is based on, their final conversations.

6) Mitch is static because at the begging of the book he talked about how Mitch was always telling him that it was okay to cry, it only makes us humans. Yet Mitch never would cry, not even if he wanted to because of his pride and the way he was raised. Yet at the end , when his favorite professor is barely breathing he cries. I imagine it must of been to much for him to handle, someone you care about so much just laying there dying and suffering. That's Terrible. " I like to think that it was a fleeting moment of satisfaction for my dear old professor: he finally made me cry." page 186

7) " Mitch, I don't allow myself any more self-pity than that. A little each morning, a few tears, and that's all". . . " its only Horrible if you see it that way," Morrie said. " It's horrible to watch my body slowly wilt away to nothing.But its's also wonderful because of all the time I get to say good-bye."
He Smiled. "not everyone is so lucky." page 57
When i read this I was shocked. Morrie is literally dying slowly and painfully, he can't do anything for himself and he is saying that he is lucky? then I thought about it and I guess in a weird twisted way he really is lucky. some people die without warning; they don't get to say goodbye to their loved ones. He may be suffering, but he is getting to make the best out of the moments that he has left with the ones that he loves most.

• Style

1) Mitch Albom was pretty straight forward with telling the story. But, he did it in a way that still kept you intrigued in the story. "His death sentence came the summer of 1994." I feel like this part let us know that Mitch was going to  die, it was obvious. But to find out how he died or too see if it was said in a literal way we had to continue reading. After I read that line I automatically knew Mitch was going to die, but i didn't know how or what the cause would be. Would he just stop breathing? Or would something happen that made him be emotionless and depressed?

2)The author focuses more on dialogue because that's mainly what this book is about, their conversations. I think that dialogue was a good choice because it gives us a better understanding of how and why Morrie was so well liked. He was just a caring and loving man. Also, some of the things he said made an impact on people. For example reading about all the suffering this man went through and yet he still had a positive thought of the world made me think twice about complaining about the little things.

3) The setting of the book was a tool that i believed help set a mood. They are in the lonely,empty,quite house of a dying man.Yet its somehow peaceful? Its a sad house because someone who is loved is dying and he can't do anything for himself. yet its peaceful because he is okay with dying. He knows it was bound to happen and he is accepting it. He doesn't stress about the things he has no control over, which is something that most of us do.

4) I think the authors attitude was to try to inspire you and think twice about life? Because Morrie was dying and he was still happy with his life and he didn't get depressed over it; he accepted it and made the best of what life he had best. Some of us cant deal with one little thing going wrong n our lives and we get upset and depressed so let this man be an example. He couldn't eat solid food, he couldn't walk, he couldn't use the restroom on his own, he couldn't shower himself and yet he found a way to make the best out of his situation.

5) Mitch mentions that Morrie was in a few episodes of "Nightline" but it didn't change my way of thinking, I still found Morrie very inspiring. I feel like I'm sounding repetitive, but I don't know any other way to put it, he was inspiring! Life gave him a reason to give up and yet he didn't

• Enduring Memory

I know this is cliché but enjoy and appreciate life because you really don't know when things will go bad like they did for Morrie. He was a happy, hard working, healthy man and then his health started going downhill. Yes, you might be going through a hard situation, and I'm sorry whatever it might be, but there is someone who has it worse . There is someone who has it better, and this is true but we need to start being thankful for what we do have and stop worrying about what we could have and what we want, especially if they are wants and not needs.