Would you recommend this story? In the end, both mysteries are finally solved, and Jack's nosebleeds go away. Jack is outside, watching a war movie on the television in the house through Japanese camouflage binoculars. What were some of her ideologies? Dead End in Norvelt is an autobiographical novel by the American author Jack Gantos, published by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux in 2011. According to one reviewer, the "real hero" is "his home town and its values", a "defiantly political" message. ( Log Out /  Dear April,After looking at your blog posts, I am impressed with the work you have done. Order our Dead End in Norvelt Study Guide. It won the Newbery Medal for children’s literature in 2012 and the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical … o   Anemic: a condition marked by a deficiency of red blood cells or of hemoglobin in the blood, resulting in pallor and weariness. Jack is a nosebleeder, and when he is overexcited, blood "spray[s] out of his nose holes like dragon flames." Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. It features a boy named Jack Gantos and is based in the author's hometown, Norvelt, Pennsylvania. When she leaves, Jack turns his attention back to the movie, playfully picking up an old sniper rifle which is also part of Dad's collection. It is early summer in 1962. Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. When the obit is complete, she directs Jack to copy the draft on her... Start your 48-hour free trial to unlock this Dead End in Norvelt study guide and get instant access to the following: You'll also get access to more than 30,000 additional guides and 300,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts.
Who are the most honest and trustworthy characters in the novel? Jack is grounded for the whole summer of 1962 because he fired off his dad's Japanese rifle, even though he didn't know it was loaded, and he plowed his mom's cornfield. She vowed to save enough... (read more from the Chapters 7 and 8 Summary). Which character did you enjoy reading about the most? She asked Dr. Mertz if he could cauterize the inside of Jack's nasal passages because he'd been bleeding a lot. How do they lie to themselves and to the entire community? What can students learn from these mistakes. Dead End in Norvelt follows Jack Gantos, a boy who lives in the small town of Norvelt named after Eleanor Roosevelt. Jack's been in trouble. She is engaged in the macabre task of boiling her twisted, arthritic hands in hot wax "to get them working for about fifteen minutes.". alive." Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account.

An ambulance drives up to Miss Volker's house down the way, and for a moment, Jack is afraid that the stray bullet has killed her.

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Inside the house, Miss Volker, an ancient woman with a formidable mind, greets Jack effusively. How is she trying to instill a sense of community in Jack?

Ask students what effect this gives to a novel. Why was Norvelt named after Eleanor Roosevelt. Dead End in Norvelt follows Jack Gantos, a boy who lives in the small town of Norvelt named after Eleanor Roosevelt. Readability Scores: Comical | Historic | Entertaining | Mysterious | Witty.

Discuss how he is the victim in both incidents. But Mrs. Roosevelt called it living with dignity.” What does Mrs. Roosevelt mean when she says that having these commodities means to “live with dignity”? Discuss the relationship between Mr. Spizz and Miss Volker. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Gross. We watch Jack grow and mature from the beginning of the book to its ending. After removing the ammunition clip, he trains the rifle's sights on the television screen, aiming at the "enemy." They could also use the audio to help them make predictions regarding what the text will be about. Click here for a short kid-friendly documentary-style YouTube video about Eleanor Roosevelt, the woman whom the town of Norvelt was named after. Jack lives with his Mom and Dad in Norvelt, a small town big on quirky neighbors. Jack tells his mother that his dad made him mow down the corn. While Reading: Students will be asked to answer both literal and inferential questions while reading the text, including: The text states, “Godmother Roosevelt made sure people had real houses—little New England-style houses—and they had bedrooms and a living room and a useful kitchen and a bathroom with a bathtub, and even a laundry room with a washing machine. everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of Dead End in Norvelt. Dead End in Norvelt can be used to teach more current American history, like what happened after WWII, what communism is, and why Americans were afraid of communism and the Russians. Why does he feel that squealing on his dad was a cowardly thing to do? How much of the story do students think is true, and how much is made up?
In the historic town of Norvelt, Pennsylvania, twelve-year-old Jack Gantos spends the summer of 1962 grounded for various offenses until he is assigned to help an elderly neighbor with a most unusual chore involving the newly dead, molten wax, twisted promises, Girl Scout cookies, underage driving, lessons from history, typewriting, and countless bloody noses (Gantos, Jack). He makes plenty of mistakes... eNotes.com will help you with any book or any question. This audio may be used for a pre-reading activity in which students discuss fact versus fiction and get to know the author before delving into his book. She was going to take him out for some fresh air. Jack’s parents try to convince him that they work as a team. And Jack? Then, students will listen to the audio that is provided above under technological resources.

A large needlepoint map of Norvelt as it looked at the time of its founding covers an entire wall in Miss Volker's kitchen. The novel earned many critical accolades at the time of its publication. o   Vietnam War: a war between communist North Vietnam and US-backed South Vietnam. … Jack Gantos. Vocabulary words that I would make sure to pre-teach include: o   Communist: a person who believes that all property in a society should be publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs. Jack reports to Miss Volker's house the next morning at six as directed. There, Jack, who likes history and adventure books, reads about Pizarro's conquest of the Incas in Peru. The town of Norvelt, Pennsylvania, one of 99 subsistence homestead communities created during the Depression for unemployed workers, is a character in Jack Gantos's Dead End in Norvelt.