Whiteout Chapter 1 Notes

Whiteout Chapter One

Characters

· Jonathan Aird

· Jonathan’s mother

· Jonathan’s Uncle Calvin

Plot Summary

- Jon is arguing with his mother

- He has been expelled from three schools

- He turned down an important music scholarship

- He was assigned one year of community service

- His father is dead

- He has an inheritance that he will receive at twenty with good behavior or at forty if his life choices do not improve

- His inheritance is controlled by his mother and his Uncle Calvin

- His mother is sending him to the Arctic to meet his uncle Calvin and to serve his year of community service as a music teacher

- Jon makes the decision he has to change his life

Character Sketch (pg 4)

· tall

· grey eyes

· sandy hair

· in shape

· has trouble with the law

· musician

· rebellious

· looking to reform/ to change his ways

Important Reoccurring Images/ Symbols/Themes

Symbol: The broken green stone carving of the swimming goddess. (pg 4)

Theme: He feels lonely

Dictionary items:

· Whiteout- a polar weather condition caused by a heavy cloud over the snow, in which the light coming from above is approximately equal to the light reflected from below, and which is characterized by the absence of shadow, the invisibility of the horizon, and the discernibility of only very dark objects.

Aka- clouds make it impossible to see anything that is not large and very dark.

· Trustee- a person who holds the title to property for the benefit of another.

· Ominous- evil, harmful or threatening.

Music Jon plays-

· Mozart (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)

· Ellington (Duke Ellington)

· Debussy

The variety shows his incredible talent as a musician

Chapter One Questions

1) Jonathon Aird received a letter from his mother. What was the main message contained in the letter?

• This question is asking you to describe the plot

2) What is your impression of Jon after reading chapter one?

• This question is asking you to describe his character.

3) A symbol is a person, place, or thing that represents an abstract idea or concept. On page five, what does the crumpled letter symbolize in the following sentence: “Jon sat, still slowly rocking back and forth, staring into the ominous black mouth of their apartment fireplace where the crumpled letter lay like a permanently frozen snowball”?

• · The apartment is like a prison and he feels trapped.

• · The letter is a frozen snowball- it is cold, frozen- he feel like this is his future cold, bleak and frozen.

4). What do you think is the author is trying to tell us about Jon in the following sentence: “he got up slowly and wandered aimlessly through the apartment, pausing to stare at the paintings without really seeing any of them at all”?

• · He has no direction

• · He is looking but nothing means anything

• · His life at the moment has no meaning so he cannot see meaning around him