Tuesday, November 29, 2016
Cause and Effect: Plot Analysis
Authors often use cause and effect scenarios in a text to build on an overall theme. Identify one moment of your text that has had a drastic impact on the characters or plot. How did this moment affect your reading? Why do you think that the author included this moment in the text?
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In the book the main character looks like he is getting worse almost everyday. On p(145) He says, “ I’m not well with my body, however. I’d lost nearly twenty pound of muscle mass, largely from my shoulders, back, and legs. I’d also burned up virtually all my subcutaneous fat, making me vastly more sensitive to the cold. My worst problem, though, was my chest: the dry hack I’d picked up weeks earlier in Lobuje had gotten so bad that I’d torn thoracic cartilage during an especially robust bout of coughing at Camp Three.” This makes me think that I think the main character after he gets to the top of Everest I think there’s a chance that when he comes down Everest he almost will die to his sickness. The author included this moment because he’s telling me the pain he is going through while climbing Everest and his sickness is getting worse and worse and it affecting him more and more as he is climbing.
ReplyDeleteI believe his sickness and loss in muscle mass will truly break him down to the point where he can no longer move forward. But this moment in the book was included not show that th emain character is going to die on his descend down but to show what is kind of conflict is currently going through each character. Each character is struggling with something climbing Everest and this is his conflict. I don't think he will make it down the mountain alive nor will a lot of people because from what we have read multiple people are struggling with life or death situations right now. Being the main character tho how do you think this will affect the rest of his crew? If he is going to fall short with the experience he has what will happen to someone else with less experience?
DeleteI would agree with you i thought page 145 was a very important piece to the story because it gave the reader more information on some of the injuries that they face while climbing. I also agree with you that it foreshadows what is going to come next. But do you think they will die or is there a chance they will be able to work together?
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ReplyDeleteOne of the moments that I identified from the text was when Jon was explaining his terrible health conditions. On page 72, the climbers are 3 miles above sea level and Jon is deeply affected by the altitude. He goes on to say, “The deep, rasping cough I’d developed in Lobuje worsened day by day. Sleep became elusive, a common symptom of minor altitude illness. Most nights I’d wake up three or four times times gasping for breath, feeling like I was suffocating.” This moment is a summary in time where Jon and the rest of the climbers are struggling from health-related issues. Although it’s expected to be sick or hurt during a climb, this drastically changes the plot, because it affects the climbers for the rest of the climb. It changes how they climb, when they climb, and the adjusted amount of rest that they need. This gave me a different perspective of some of the climbers, because some of them seemed very arrogant and selfish. Now, I see their determination and teamwork through communication with each other. I think the author included these details to show the realistic challenges and the mindset of the climber. It helps to emphasize the attitude that a climber must have.
I agree, the author included these details to show how realistic the challenges are that the climbers are facing day by day. It helps show how each climber is feeling while climbing up Everest and describes how bad there health are while they are continuing to climb Everest.
DeleteI think one of the big moments in the story so far is when Ngawang dies. On page 118 Krakauer says, “By mid June Ngawang would be dead, leaving behind a wife and four daughters in Rolwaling”, and later on page 131 says, The sherpas however had a different diagnosis: they believed that one of the climbers on Fischer's team had angered Everest...”. This moment shows the conflicting viewpoints from the sherpas and western climbers. The westerners believe he died because of HAPE, but the sherpas have their own religious viewpoint. This shows how the sherpas culture is being taken over by the ideas of western society, everest is becoming less and less their home. Ngawangs death also shows how hard it is to climb without getting sick, over and over we see people struggle with different things. This moment just shows that you never know what kind of things could hurt you while climbing and you never know what is coming next, which is a recurring theme.
ReplyDeleteI would agree with you on the fact that it is an important piece to the book when Ngawang dies because it shows the struggle but what about the people that died in the beginning of the book is that an important piece too or does that not matter as much? But I also agree with you on the fact that it shows death and sickness because that is what is being showed all throughout the book.
DeleteI agree, this shows that anything can happen while the climbers are climbing Everest and that they have to be ready for anything to happen even if there are any consequences. Never know what will hit you, so you also need to know what to expect too.
DeleteI agree with this statement as well, because the author puts an emphasis on the sherpa culture and how it's so much different from the climbers who journey to Everest. My biggest question from this part of the story was how are the rest of climber's mindsets changed after Ngawang's death? Because it's one thing to hear about climbers dying, but it's completely different when one actually experiences their one of their own fellow climbers dying.
DeleteIn the book Into Thin Air a character Beck Weathers faces a cause and effect situation that puts his and other lives at risk. This moment is when Weathers decides he can go no more because of his loss of vision due to the eye surgery he had prior to climbing Everest. At this moment weathers is forced to retreat and wait for the next team to descend back down the mountain. Weathers is losing his sight fast and now almost everything's a blur. “My vision had gotten so bad that I couldn't see more than a few feet. So I just tucked right behind John Taske and when he’d lift a foot I’d place my foot in his bootprint” (197). At this moment you can realize what kind of struggle people are going through on Everest and how this will affect people in the future of this story. This makes you read every moment wondering what's going to happen next or how are they going to solve this problem. The author included this moment to give the reader a idea on what is happening. He needed to show how hard it truly was for people to reach the top of Everest. This was shown through what Beck Weathers was encountering on his journey to the top.
ReplyDeleteI think that this shows how every climber goes through a unique challenge. Along with showing the challenge of the climb this moment really shows the disappointment people feel when they are forced to turn around and fall short of their goal. Another thing I thought of was the mental challenge of turning around vs the physical challenge to keep climbing.
DeleteThis quote is a great example for a theme statement. A statement that could be derived from Beck Wethers' situation is that even though many people strive to achieve the goals that they set, life sometimes alters people's goals for a better outcome. Even though Wethers had to turn back he still got to experience part of another Everest climb. He also gets to start on a new chapter in his life.
DeleteI agree with Eric when I read this quote I read it with a sense of disappointment and sadness. I also agree with Jordan though that life sometimes alters are goals for the better, because if she did not turn back she could've been one of those who died.
DeleteI think that the main theme that has been portrayed since the beginning of the book is death and uncertainty. The book started of early with problems and to me as the reader is a sign or death
ReplyDeleteand problems that are going to occur later on in the book. On p(145) the author says “ The coughing had continued unabated, and each hack felt like a stiff kick between the ribs. Most of the other climbers in Base Camp were in similarly battered shape- it was simply a fact of life on Everest.” When I read this part of the text I immediately have predictions of death and foreshadow bad things to come. The author adds this to the text I think to get the point across that Mt. Everest is not an easy mountain to climb in fact it’s one of the hardest to climb. The author wants to bring out what people go through and the struggles that they face when attempting to climb this mountain. I also think that this theme of death has been constantly portrayed throughout the book. It started early in the book on p(8) when the author says “ Weeks of violent coughing had left me with two separated ribs that made ordinary breathing an excruciating trial.”
I can see how death is a recurring theme, but I think there is more too it then just death. I think the author is trying to tell us that death can come when we least expect it because in the book we see so many different deaths and no two are really the same. I think death will continue to come up throughout the book and show us the challenge of climbing Everest.
DeleteI agree that death is an important part of the story, but I also agree with Eric that there is something more to it. I think it may be that mother nature rules all, no matter what feats of engineering man has created. She will always win and can end you when she chooses. I think we will continue to see more death as the story continues too.
DeleteThe sentence that sums up the plot is said by Krakauer on page 110 “Everybody has something different propelling them up the mountain, money alone is not enough.” This changed the way I was reading the book because all the climbers are described as amature within Krakauer's group. Even though they are inexperienced they all persevere though altitude sickness, muscle dystrophy, and a variety of other injuries. Beck keeps climbing because “she wants to be the first women to summit the tallest peak on every continent”(78). Hassen keeps going, despite his infected larnax, because he came up 200 meters short the first time and won’t be stopped again. Jon is propelled up by the thought of fulfilling his childhood dream. Jon’s quote shows that each character will need that extra bit of hope and drive to get them out of a sketchy scenario and possibly save their lives when the time comes.
ReplyDeleteI agree, When Jon introduces the aspects as to why everyone is climbing, he brings a different tone to the story and it, gives the reader more in depth perspective to why these things are happening the way they are.
DeleteI agree with the text evidence that you feel sums up the whole plot. Understanding that these people are all doing the same thing, but for so many different reasons is important to understand while reading. If you understand why, you will not understand how and who the character really is.
DeleteOne event that from the story that turned out to have drastic impact on the climbers was the inability of Rob Hall to decide on a cement turnaround time. Krakauer states, “Hall had contemplated two possible turnaround times--either 1:00 PM or 2:00 PM. He never decided which of these times we were to abide by however-- which was curious, considering how much he’d talked about the importance of designating a hard deadline and sticking to it”(Krakauer, 185). I think that when Jon wrote this book, his main reason for doing so was to try and discern in his mind why the things that had happened had happened. I wonder if the reason Krakauer focused on this detail is because he thought it might’ve been part of the reason that all of those people died. I think Krakauer recognized the pressure both Fischer and Hall were under to get as many people to the summit as possible, and he thinks this may be the reason they decided to disregard the deadline and so many people died. I’ve found and I’m sure we all have, that when things go wrong in our lives, usually our first instinct is to look around for a reason why things went bad. I think that in the future Jon will look for other reasons that things might’ve gone wrong, and also try to overcome the guilt that he puts on himself. Do you guys think that Jon will struggle with his own guilt after the expedition is over? Would you feel guilty if you were him?
ReplyDeleteresponding to your question regarding if jon will struggle with his guilt, I think he will struggle with his own guilt but his pride in completing t;he expedition will overcome the guilt factor. I would partially feel guilty but would remain neutral after the pride in completing a goal kicks in. I agree with your thinking about how one might recall a past event and think it may be their fault.
DeleteOne Moment was when he was climbing down from the summit, he had to stop and rest because people from another group where climbing up the path he wanted to take down. WHile he was sitting there he had a climber from his group turn off his Oxygen while they were just sitting but the climber turned the gas all the way on instead of all the way off on accident. This created a drastic impact on the character, as well as the plot. This complicates things for jon because now he is out of oxygen and still has a distant before he can get oxygen again. He is also disoriented and losing control of his body due to the lack of oxygen. This is really important because there is no point in making it to the top of Everest unless you make it down alive. This creates tension and stress in the reading.
ReplyDeleteText Evidence "and ten minutes later my oxygen was all gone... my cognitive functions which had een marginal before, instantly went into a nose dive. i felt like id been slipped an overdose of a powerful sedative" (Krakauer 194)
DeleteI understand the cause an effect but your lacking several of the other pieces needed (question, personal experience, prediction) This however was definitely a cause and effect relationship also showing how important the people you work with are. If your teammate screws up it could end up ending your life as well.
DeleteI agree with your point of not going to the top unless you can make it down safely but question how much of an impact it had on Jon during the course of the expedition, there was an immediate effect, but was there a long term effect as well?
DeleteJon writes about himself saying “I’d lost nearly twenty pounds of muscle mass, largely on my shoulders, back, and legs . . . my worst problem, though, was my chest: the dry hack i’d picked up weeks earlier in Lobuje had gotten so bad that I’d torn some thoracic cartilage” (Krakauer 145). Although readers have already learned and should have their own background knowledge telling them that this journey is not easy, Jon adds this to show cause and effect in multiple ways. By inserting this quote we are shown the effect that the climate and journey has taken on his body, the cause being climbing of course. And another cause and effect is through the quote to the audience. The quote makes readers feel uneasy and they begin to question how his physical and mental state will progress through the rest of the journey. In my case, this text evidence makes me feel that Jon will never be the same when he completes his climb. The effects are too damaging and will take determination and a lot of help to get back to his previous self. Every time I begin reading I wonder what hardships will have to be faced and why Jon makes the decisions that he does? I can relate to Jon’s struggles through my own experiences when playing football. Day by day I push my body to the limit and can end up in severe pain, but only my determination and passion for what I do keeps me going. If I did not love the game with all my heart, there is no way that I would be willing to throw my body in front of someone to try to get a football into an end zone.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Krakauer uses this text to show the physical toll the mountain has on you. It kind of makes you wonder how why climbing that mountain is worth it to him. All of us have our own passion that drives us and we would give ourselves up for it. He really has faced a lot of deterioration of his body and mind over the course of the journey.
DeleteIn the book a possible cause and effect scenario is the turn around time that was not enforced. Jon states “At base camp before our summit bid, hall had contemplated two possible turn around times- either 1:00 or 2:00 p.m. He never declared which of these times we were to abide by, (Krakauer 185). This is a cause and effect from Rob hall, The cause was not enforcing a turnaround time and the effect led to the death of many climbers. This affected my reading because I was shocked to see he did not implement the time slot and was somewhat frustrated with his actions. This altered my perspective towards Rob a little. I think Jon added this part to the text to really show how some people may rely on someone else without showing it and realizing it.
ReplyDeleteI was also very confused by Rob's inability to set a cement turnaround time. He always seemed to be a responsible leader and this was a rule he was very dedicated to. I think he got caught up in trying to get people to the summit(primarily Doug) instead of focusing on their safety first and it cost him and others their lives.
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