Literature Circle Book State of Fear

Literature Circle BookState of Fear Book by Michael Crichton By Sabryne Fattouh 1

S George Morton’s house, Los Angeles This is the house of the millionaire, philanthropist George Morton. It’s located within Holmby Hills and as described in the book, the part of Beverly Hills in which the rich people live. The street is hidden in foliage, and the security cameras are painted green to blend in. George’s house is a Mediterranean-style villa, and cream colored. The house is also large enough to accommodate a family of ten. I think this represents George Morton's house because in the book it was described as a large cream colored villa. 2

S Peter Evan’s apartment, Los Angeles Peter’s apartment is slightly messy, and a bit old. He usually doesn’t have any food in his fridge and doesn’t really care. If there is food in the apartment it’s usually junk food and coffee. It’s an apartment that Peter always means to remodel but never really gets to it. All of the furniture seems to be mismatched, and all come from completely random places. I think this represents Peter Evans apartment well because his furniture doesn’t really fit the space or match. 3

S Weddell Station, Antarctica The Weddell Station is a series of buildings, apparently smack in the middle of no where in Antarctica. The buildings are described as over sized children’s building blocks. This is most likely because they’ll be easier to see in the midst of a blizzard. I think this represents the Weddell Station because it was described as looking like children’s building blocks. 4

S On a jet or airplane One of the main settings always seems to be on an unspecified jet or airplane, but they are always high quality equipped with beds or seats that recline all the way back, showers, and stewards/ stewardess's. The planes are never public planes so they have the whole area to them selves I think this represents the several jets well because its what most jets look like. 5

C Peter Evans Peter is a 28 year old lawyer that works for the Los Angeles Hassle and Black run by George Morton. He is described as awkward, sometimes childish in bad times. His personality changes sometime in the middle of the book during one of the rising actions. He then becomes more manly, and his age. Peter is one of the four main protagonists, he is dynamic. I think this picture represents Peter well because he young, and he’s a lawyer so it would make sense that he owned a brief case. 6

C Sarah Jones Sarah is a young blond lady, that works for George Morton as an assistant. She’s friendly, and keeps guys on their feet. She is one of the main four protagonists, and static. She is an eventual love interest for Peter Evans. I think this picture represents Sarah well because she’s really sweet but can kick butt if she needs to. 7

C John Kenner John is a peculiar man that appeared from no where. He’s 39 years old, has gray hair, and wears glasses. He’s a know-it-all and gets on most peoples nerves. His main goal in the book is to stop NERF's malevolent doings. Him being mysterious and having a companion reminds me somewhat if Sherlock Holmes. He’s one of the main four protagonists, and he is static. Though John looks nothing like Robert his personality is Sherlock on every level, and it would be ridiculous to deny he may be Sherlock Holmes in disguise 8

C Sanjong Thapa Sanjong is Indian, but speaks with a British accent. He is an ex soldier. He accompanies John Kenner as an assistant and reminds me somewhat of John Watson. He is one of the main four protagonists, and he is static. Yet again, though Sanjong looks nothing like Jude their personalities correlate so well. 9

C Nicholas Drake Nicholas Drake is a thin scholarly looking man. His hair is thinning he has a pinched nose but his personality in one word is… spaz. He does a poor job of hiding his anger toward colleagues when yelling at his workers. Seemingly EVERYTHING needs to go his way. Nick is the main antagonist, and he is static. Nick is head of NERF. He is part of a global conspiracy to generate artificial weather-related disasters. The disasters are meant to scare people into believing global warming is real. I think this picture represents Nick well because the book describes him as a scholarly looking man. 10

C George Morton George is a 65 year old, millionaire philanthropist. He is a beloved character that leaves clues after his death to help along the four main characters. George Morton is a minor protagonist, and he is dynamic. I think this picture represents George wonderfully, because he’s wealthy, and just like in the game of monopoly he’s tricky. 11

C Jennifer Haines • Jennifer is Kenner's niece and a lawyer working on a NERF lawsuit; her role is one part anti-Global-Warming-evidence-provider and one part possible love interest for Peter. Jennifer is quick to argue if she doesn’t like you, and to defend herself if she’s threatened. Jennifer is a minor protagonist, and she is static. I think Buttercup represents Jennifer well because she is tough, and doesn’t take attitude from anyone. 12

F Foreshadowing To indicate a warning for what is to come, usually in a story • “The woman was petite and strikingly beautiful, with dark hair and an exotic look […] the man who accompanied her couldn’t have been more different. […] He was as big as a football player.” (pg. 126) In the first chapter of the book a young physicist in Paris was murdered by these two, that play a role where the man is mean to the woman and their target intervenes. The target then gets taken by the woman and paralyzed by a venom, then is dropped in to a lake to drown, or left to die. This is foreshadowing because the man in the first chapter has an almost exact description of them. A minor character then gets targeted but this gets intervened by the targets assistant. • On page 118 the short chapter starts off with a very minor character getting killed by an odd lightning strike. This is foreshadowing because the main antagonist has created a machine that takes in the atmosphere around it and produces lighting which is then used in an attempt to kill two main characters, but fails. 13

F SimileTo compare one thing to another using the words like or as • An example of a simile is, “Evans felt like he was in a boat, crashing through choppy seas.” This is an example of a simile because it is comparing the bumpy iced road of Antarctica to a boat out in the sea. The simile says that the ride was bumpy. Pg 226 • Another example of a simile is, “Trudging toward structures that looked like over sized children’s blocks.” This is an example of a simile because it is comparing buildings, to the building blocks a child would play with. The simile says that the buildings are huge, square or rectangular, and brightly colored. Pg 220 14

F MetaphorTo compare one thing to another, not using the words likeor as • An example of a metaphor is, “She was just fishing for compliments.” The girl in this sentence did not physically go out to fish, she was manipulating a person into complimenting her. • Another example of a metaphor is, “I’m feeling blue today.” The person in this sentence doesn’t actually feel like a color, they just use that color to represent sadness. Therefore the person in this sentence is sad. 15

F AlliterationAn alliteration is using the same letter in the beginning of a word multiple times in a sentence to describe something. • An example of alliteration is, “Hannah’s hat has hearts on it.” This is alliteration because the sentence is describing the hat of Hannah, and it’s repeating the letter H. • Another example of alliteration is, “Peter’s piano played potently.” This is an alliteration because the sentence is describing the way Peter’s piano sounds, and it’s repeating the letter P. 16

F ImageryA description of an object that is so vivid it engages you senses so it’s almost as if you were there • An example of imagery is, “It was enormous, as wide as the eye could see, a foaming line of surf, a white arc spreading as it came toward the beach.” This is imagery because it’s vividly describing how the tsunami coming in looked. Pg 607 • “The jungle slid beneath them, mile after mile of dense canopy forest. In places, wisps of mist clung to the trees, particularly at the higher altitudes.” This is imagery because it shows how vast the jungle was and how high up the helicopter was so that they could see the mist coming off the top of the trees. Pg 562 • “The music was so loud it felt as if it was vibrating my body all the way down to my bones.” This is imagery because it tells you how loud the music was in a way that you could feel it. 17

F PersonificationThe process of giving human like qualities to an animal, object or thought • An example of personification would be, “The wind whispered past us.” This is personification because the wind can’t whisper, but it’s explaining how the wind went gently past them. • Another example of personification would be, “Time flew, and before we knew it, we had to go home.” This is an example of personification because time can’t jump out the window and fly, it means that the time seemed to go by quickly. 18

F Onomatopoeia To describe something that made a noise with a made up word. • An example of an onomatopoeia would be, “With a bang! the front door slammed open and the three men burst into the bedroom.” This is an onomatopoeia because “bang” is the noise the door made as it slammed open. Pg 13 • Another example of an onomatopoeia would be, “BZZZZZ, went the bee as it flew away happily from the flower.” This is an onomatopoeia because “BZZZZZ” is the noise the bee made. • Yet another example of an onomatopoeia would be, “BRIIIIING! Went the alarm clock as I struggled to turn it off.” This is an example of an onomatopoeia because “BRIIIIING” bring is the noise the alarm clock made as it rang. 19

P Rising Action 1Rising action is the part of a story that leads to a suspenseful moment The story starts of in Paris, Nord when a physicist performs an oceanographic experiment to show off for a beautiful girl he just met. He becomes paralyzed from venom registered by a small octopus. He then gets dumped into a river by the girl, and is left to drown. The next scene starts off with a mysterious man buying hypersonic technology in the jungles of Malaysia. This equipment has the ability to topple mountains with sound. Next in Vancouver, Canada a business man rents a small research submarine. Peter gets summoned along with Sarah to George’s house to meet two mysterious men by the names of John, and Sanjong. A several days later Peter gets called by George Morton to go down to Culver City and see how the lawsuit he was currently working on was going. Unexpectedly he gets tested on his knowledge of global warming, is told he’s wrong and gets corrected. He confusedly leaves, and goes on a date with Jennifer. A few days later he goes down to work and gets confronted by Nick, George’s colleague. He then manipulates him into thinking that John Kenner is a bad person, and that George should not be talking to him. The next day George gets confronted by the mysterious woman in the first chapter at a coffee shop. The woman’s plans then get thwarted by the arrival of Sarah. A few days later Peter goes to a banquet about global warming that is run by Nick. When a drunken George makes a speech at the podium he makes a fool of himself. George is making a fool of himself for an unknown reason but the whole thing is later revealed as staged by George and John. George leaves after his news worthy speech and is escorted out by a puzzled Peter. He and George push through the crowd of reporters. George tells Peter a saying, “All that matters is not remote from where the Buddha sits”. He then gets into his car drives away, and crashes. A series of robberies happen between the main characters, and they get followed. The next day Peter gets called down to George’s house by Sarah. Sarah questions Peter about what happened the night of George’s death. Peter tells Sarah the saying and the Buddha statue catches Sarah’s eye. They go inspect it and find an envelope. They then get ambushed by two men that demand the envelope, who are then taken to jail by John and Sanjong who were hiding. The open the envelope and find a receipt for the statue. John inspects the room and finds papers revealing coordinates within the remotes on George’s desk. 20

P Climax 1Climax is a suspenseful moment They then leave Los Angeles and proceed to the first location which is Antarctica. They meet an imposter who claims to be Jimmy Bolden. He takes Peter, John, and Sarah out to another imposter’s scientist’s (James Brewster) camp to see what he’s up to and find a series of explosives in a line that all have a detonation time to fracture the ice, and make it appear that the ice in Antarctica is melting. John then follows the line of explosives to find the man impersonating him and Jimmy takes Peter and Sarah back to camp where he then leads them across the thin ice. Sarah and Peter’s car falls through and gets suspended between two ice walls. They then escape and try to go back to the Weddell Station but they quickly get frost bite and lose consciousness. They get saved by a NASA robot roaming the area. 21

Falling Action 1Falling action is what happens after the climax and how things changed because of it On the plane ride back to Los Angeles John gives Peter a bug to put in his phone and sends him to go do whatever he pleases. Kenner and Sarah follow the James, and Jimmy to a place where they test new planes. Kenner and Sarah go into the building and spy on two men. They watch as mechanically made lightning hits a plane engine. When they think the two men leave they go and see what it was that was producing the lightning. The men come back and trap them in the testing area and turn on the machine. John and Sarah get on the ground to try to elude the lightning strikes; they both end up living and leave as soon as the test is over. Peter walks into his apartment to find a private investigator sitting on his couch paralyzed from the octopus venom. The man can tap his fingers and he and Peter communicate awkwardly. The man brought Peter DVD’s from a hidden camera set up in Nick’s office. The man then gets taken by an ambulance and Peter gets questioned. Peter then goes to Nick’s office and tells him what John told him to say. 22

P Rising Action 2 Rockets are being used to create bigger rain clouds at a state park in Los Angeles during a children’s school event. This will flood the waterfall and kill hundreds of people. John, Peter, Sanjong, and Sarah all go to stop it. Peter and Sarah are in one car and they get boxed in by a truck and a car. The truck has the device used to generate lightning. They soon learn from John that their radios are bugged, so that the lightning is being generated towards them. Kenner and Sanjong get rid of their radios. John, Sanjong, Peter and Sarah now have no way of communicating. 23

P Climax 2 One of Peters tires go flat while they were trying to escape the car and truck that were boxing them in so they go into the forest. Peter and Sarah still have the radio and Sarah gets struck by lightning a few times and passes out. Peter has to take her back for medical attention and one third of the rockets that they were supposed to stop from going of get fired into the sky. Kenner gets to his location and faces lots of armed men, and his rockets go off but he escapes. Sanjong crashes his car in attempt to get away from men shooting at him. He gets into a truck and goes back to the part of the park by the water fall. Sarah, and Peters car gets carried away by water and they gets caught in branches. They get out of the car and climb up the tree. They all are safe but the flood raced on. 24

Falling Action 2 Peter now acts more manly now according to Sarah, and seems less of a wimp. Peter says that he feels different as if the exposure to fighting and killing, and trying to be killed made him different. He knew that fighting happened everywhere, but he didn’t know to what extent it happened, and to see it with his own eyes changed him. 25

P Rising Action 3 Several days later Peter gets a call from Janis who demands she come over despite the fact Peter doesn’t want her too. Peter goes to take a shower when he gets hit with something. He looks around to see men hired by Nick to kill him using the small octopus. They promptly leave, and Peter slowly climbs on to a chair. When Janis arrives he is completely paralyzed. Janis doesn’t have her cell phone and Peter’s landlines have been smashed. Sarah arrives and sees Peter, then calls and calls an ambulance. Peter gets taken to the hospital and recovers quickly. When he wakes up he sees that John, Sarah, and Sanjong are there and explained to him what happened. Only five hour later Peter and Sarah have to go to another banquet being held by Nick about the dangers of global warming. Nick hires an actor Ted Bradley and wife of a lawyer Ann Garner to not leave Peter or Sarah’s side. A man named Norman Hoffman who was invited by George wasn’t being allowed in so Peter went to go talk to him. Norman went on a giant theoretical journey and never stopped talking about the state of fear and how humans are constantly in it. How the media has made us believe that things are getting worse when really things have been the same but they’re just romanticizing it. Then Ted comes by and says that Sarah needs him. They drive down to the airport and Ann, Ted, Sanjong, John, Peter, Sarah, and Jennifer all go down to Honolulu, Hawaii. An outbreak of cannibalistic rebels have spread out over the entire area of Gareda, and they need to stop a tsunami from the small explosives under water, and the hypersonic cavitation generators. This tsunami would travel to the coast of Los Angeles. The cannibals are too much for Ann so she gets back on the plane and goes to Los Angeles. The rest of them get on a helicopter and travel down to Resolution Bay. 26

Climax 3 All but Sanjong (who is nowhere to be found) get caught by the rebels and get tied up. Ted Bradley gets taken first beaten to almost unconsciousness and watches as he gets eaten alive. The rest of them escape with the help of a thin, bearded George Morton. They walk down to Resolution Bay with little ammunition. A huge fight between the rebels and the rest of the characters goes on. Peter manages to stop the cavitation generator from going off so the only tsunami produce is at Resolution Bay. Sanjong copes with climbing up a steep hill, while everybody else drives most of the way up to safety from the waves. They all get back on the helicopter and go back to Honolulu. 27

Falling action 3 Sanjong copes with climbing up a steep hill, while everybody else drives most of the way up to safety from the waves. They wait for the last waves to pass and go look for the helicopter. They all get on the helicopter and travel back to Honolulu. 28

C Conflict • Protagonists vs. Everybody who believes in global warming, Group vs. Society • Jennifer vs. Sarah in a fight for Peter, Man vs. Man • Ted vs. Protagonists, Man vs. Group • Protagonist vs. Rebels, Group vs. Group • Peter vs. Peter in deciding on Jennifer or Sarah Man vs. Self 29

T Theme I believe the theme is don’t believe everything you hear. I think this book tells the reader that the media does over romanticize things to a certain extent, and that it’s okay to be a skeptic. An example to support this statement is on page 293. “He saw two co-anchors, a man and a woman. The man was explaining that even more dramatic was a study that showed that the Greenland ice cap was going to melt entirely away. That would cause sea levels to rise twenty feet. ‘So, I guess good-bye Malibu!’ the anchor said cheerfully. ‘Of course it wouldn’t happen for a few years yet. But it’s coming unless we change our ways.’” Another example is when Peter was questioning Jennifer about how the media was just showing you recent studies and how they made the scale of the graph very small so the incline seemed tremendous though the rise of temperature was only .5 degrees in 100 years, and so on with the rest of the graphs. 30

R Resolution Resolution is what occurs after the final falling action. This usually part of the book usually explains what happens to the dynamic characters and how they’ve changed. The resolution doesn’t necessarily mean that the problem is solved, (though it may be) it just means that the plot line is different than it was before and the problem has changed. 31

Citations • http://earthdata.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2009_antarctica_landscape.jpgThis is the picture of the landscape of Antarctica • http://stylecrave.frsucrave.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/chalon-road-house11.jpgThis is the picture of George Morton’s house • http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FncofyIza-Q/TlFpn1ByS0I/AAAAAAAABOs/Cn7oYr2XgTQ/s1600/lightning2.jpgThis is the picture of the lightning • http://s3.media.squarespace.com/production/409985/4587079/two_wishes/images/2007/12/13/288_emptybig.jpgThis is the backgrounds of Peter Evans apartment • http://the20somethingsociety.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/rug.jpgThis is the rug in Peter Evans apartment • http://beingamillionaire.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/dk_brown_sofa_1159917538.jpgThis is the couch in Peter Evans apartment • http://www.knoll.com/db_alt_media/7000/6814_pp.jpgThis is the picture of the chair is Peter Evans apartment • http://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2009/03/slow_white_table_plain.jpgThis is the picture of the table in Peter Evans apartment • http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_TAHGGCx1oeg/TSEO6PMLIcI/AAAAAAAAADQ/jgXk255jJ58/s1600/download-25.jpgThis is the picture of the jet • http://www.how-to-draw-funny-cartoons.com/image-files/cartoon-lawyer-008.jpgThis is the picture of Peter Evans • http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120203232618/powerpuff/images/e/e4/Bubbles_kicking.jpgThis is a picture of Bubbles • http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/7/78686/2129588-sherlock_holmes_2.jpgThis is a picture of RDJ as Sherlock Holmes • http://www.comingsoon.net/nextraimages/holmesposter2.jpgThis is a picture of Jude as John • http://rlv.zcache.com/cartoon_male_teacher_character_flyers-p244519334904461553b2pv5_400.jpgThis is a picture of Nick Drake • http://venturevillage.eu/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/rich-monopoly-man1.jpegThis is a picture of George Morton • http://images.wikia.com/powerpuff/images/3/32/Buttercup-is-on-top-powerpuff-girls-24270693-299-320.jpgThis is a picture of Buttercup • http://images.clipartof.com/thumbnails/1047518-Royalty-Free-RF-Clip-Art-Illustration-Of-A-Cartoon-Man-Frozen-In-The-Spotlight-At-A-Podium.jpgThis is the picture of the man on the stage • http://us.cdn2.123rf.com/168nwm/malchev/malchev1110/malchev111000001/10826592-set-of-3-cartoon-rockets-in-2-versions--no-transparency-used-basic-linear-gradients.jpg This is the picture of the rockets • http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ho6lFE7Fsfk/TJaoa_BqGXI/AAAAAAAAAQY/Yoi7PM2B2xI/s1600/cartoon_man_in_jungle.jpg This is the picture of the man walking in the jungle 32

Literature Circle Book State of Fear