Eden West book projects Ms. Larson Eden West Plot Collage project - - PDF document

Eden West book projects

• Ms. Larson

Eden West

Plot Collage project

• Covenant. 2 Apr. 2015. Web. 6 May 2015. Digital

• Web. 11 May 2015. Digital File.

• Feb. 2012. web. 14 May 2015. Digital File.

• Covenant. 2 Apr. 2015. Web. 6 May 2015. Digital

I chose this cross because the main idea of the book is that a boy (Jacob) is part of a religious cult. Jacob doesn’t know much about “the real world” because he has been in the colony, called “Nodd” since he was 6. The book begins with Jacob praying, and this reveals some of his beliefs: “I know that the Lord will visit his wrath upon the

• world. and all that all who remain are doomed to pay a terrible price…

I know that Zerechial...will come to carry us away” (Hautman 3-4). Jacob is very faithful to the beliefs, but he gradually questions them as the book goes on. The chain link fence surrounds the compound, and it is Jacob’s job every other Tuesday (or “Landay” as the group calls it) to patrol the fence and make sure there are no

• breaches. On one occasion, he meets Lynna, a girl from the
• utside, who yells to him. Jacob is startled: “I jump from the

path and land in a crouch, ready, my rifle pointing through the fence at...nothing?” (Hautman 9). This is Jacob’s first contact with the outside world, and Lynna challenges his beliefs by calling him “Cult Boy.”

In the cult community, there is a strong separation between the men and the women. Jacob has his eye on Ruth, but they only see each

• ther and very formal mingling events. Jacob’s hopes for romance are

dashed during one of the community meetings. Father Grace says, “Brethren, I have joyful news. The Lord has...told me I am to take a new wife and she is to bear me a son...It is Sister Ruth” (Hautman 91). Jacob’s heart breaks, and he notes that Ruth will be Father’s Grace’s third wife. When new family comes to Nodd, Jacob is irritated by the wild-hearted and rebellious Tobias. Tobias gets into a fight when his personal items are taken

• away. As a punishment, Tobias is sent to the prayer pit. Jacob rebels

himself: Brother Benedict has told us that there is a point in every mortal transgression when the mind, heart, and the soul clash. I never understood that before, but now I feel the battle raging within as I kneel before the low window and peer into the darkness. ‘Tobias!’ I whisper. (Hautman 73) Visiting Tobias without permission (and giving him cigarettes) is Jacob’s first real “sin” against the community, but it leads to others.

The ATV is important because Jacob first meets Lynna when she rides up

• n her ATV. Two weeks later, he is again doing his job of walking the

fence line. He notes, “I hear the whine if an engine. The sound is coming from the other side. A moment later I see a dark-green ATV...The rider is wearing ...a bright-green helmet that does not quite contain her long blond hair” (Hautman 103). The chance encounter is the beginning of his crush

• n her, which leads to some of the key conflicts in the book.

All the way through the book, sheep are mentioned. Because it’s a religious book, I suspected this was an important symbol. After a brutal winter storm, Jacob and others are sent to retrieve the sheep. Jacob observes, “They appear as a single, frozen, steaming, bawling mass, but they have survived” (Hautman 177). Not soon afterward, however, they find a smaller flock, and the scene is alarming: “It is...a circle of blood-soaked snow and ice and torn bodies and fluffs of red-stained fleece and ropy entrails….’Coyotes,’ John says under his breath” (Hautman 177). The loss of the sheep is hard on the cult, and serves also as a symbol of weakness and dependence, just like in the Bible.

The tree of life represents the core of the cult’s beliefs. It seems to symbolize obedience, and the cult members have specific prayers to and for it. When Jacob returns from sneaking off to see Lynna, he sees everyone gathered around it. Jacob has an

• dd feeling and reflects, “Still, the tree stands alone, and it has

physical form, and I wonder if, like the Tree of Knowledge in the First Garden, it serves more than one master” (Hautman 205). This moment seems to mark another change in Jacob’s trust of Nodd and its leaders. Just like the sheep, the wolf ends up being an important symbol. Hautman seems to use it to be a contrast of evil and danger against the innocence of the sheep. After feeling threatened by the creature throughout the book, Jacob encounters it a final

• time. The moment is intense: “...the skin turns back from his

teeth...I imagine those teeth tearing out a lamb’s throat, strippin ghte flesh from its bones. He flexes his hindquarters to leap” (Hautman 280). In the next moment, Jacob shoots and kills the wolf, noting afterward how starved and week it had become.

Character Project: What’s Your Sign? Characters: Jacob and Lynna

Jacob: Taurus conservative, possessive, loyal The main character is Jacob. He is both loyal and conservative because he is very careful and observant of rules. He accepts his cult’s beliefs. When he is meditating in the first chapter, Jacob reflects, “I rest my elbows on the smooth stop of the stone wall that surrounds the Tree...In nine short months, I will have eighteen summers, and I will become a Higher Cherub like Benedict and Jerome” (Hautman 4). It seems Jacob doesn’t question the beliefs of the cult. Jacob is also possessive, as he defends the cult’s beliefs against people who question them. Tobias asks Jacob, “You really believe all that stuff about the Apocalypse and all?” Jacob replies simply, “It is the truth” (Hautman 48). It is not until later that Jacob starts to question things.

Lynna: Aquarius curious outgoing independent Lynna is an Aquarius. She is curious about Jacob and the whole community of Nodd, asking him, “What do you guys do in there all day? Just, like, pray and stuff?” (Hautman 13). Jacob is drawn to her almost immediately and loves her independent personality. Later, Jacob wants her to join the cult, because he so intensely believes she will need to in order to be saves. He tells Lynna, “Archangel Zerachiel [will] carry the Grace to the arms of the Lord while all else withers and dies” (Hautman 117). When she rejects his attempt to convert her, he starts to wonder if she might be right that the beliefs seem very odd.

Characters: Enos and Father Grace

Tobias: Sagittarius cheerful generous restless When Tobias first comes to Nodd, he is not

exactly cheerful. He’s angry to have been forced by his mother to be there. Tobias’ restlessness is shown in how he rebels and fights when his clothes are exchanged for robes. Tobias yells, “I need my stuff right

• now. Where do I find this Enos guy?” (Hautman 64). Later, Tobias gets in the fist fight that brings him to the

Prayer Pit. Tobias is also cheerful, in an odd way. Though he is critical of Nodd, he is also generous and wants the best for his family. When he comes back to retrieve her, Jacob notes, “Tobias is carrying her bag. As they get into the car, Tobias looks over at me through the open garage door and smirks. It is the exact same expression he wore when I met him the first time” (Hautman 275). They aren’t exactly friends, but it’s clear Jacob appreciates Tobias’ bold personality. Father Grace: Scorpio secretive, intense, passionate Father Grace is the leader of the cult and Jacob accepts his leadership without questioning...at first. Later, Father Grace shows intensity when he confronts Jacob about Lynna. Jacob reflects, “I feel my knees becoming liquid, my heart beating against my rib cage like a trapped bird. I can see nothing but those two eyes, so different, one dark and bright, piercing my flesh, the other milky” (258). Jacob also learns of some of the secrets of Father Grace’s past, and wonders what sort of secrets are between Father Grace and a visiting congressman. Jacob

• bserves, “One of the congressman’s aides slides the envelope off the table and slips it into his small

leather briefcase….I sense something significant has just occurred, but I am not sure what” (Hautman 148). Later, Jacob learns more about Father Grace and Nodd that make him question whether it’s all as “holy” as it seems.

Book Presentation

Eden West

book presentation

• Ms. Larson

Published 2015 310 pages

Pete Hautman said: “Faith, family, and love are among the great forces that drive us as human

• beings. Eden West is about what

might happen when those forces come into conflict.”

• Web. 12 May 2015. Digigal File.

Minnesota author National book Visited STMA Education Homes

“It’s Personal.” petehautman.com.

• 2013. Web. 11 Apr. 2013. Digital

File.

Pete Hautman

Plot/ Setting project summary

• Tree of Life
• Wolf
• Sheep

Characters

Jacob Lynna

Taurus: conservative, possessive, loyal Aquarius: curious

• utgoing independent

Theme

“Father Grace is a great prophet, but he is a

• man. You say he has forgiven you, but the

person you need first to forgive is yourself--for what you have done, and for what you must do; for who you believe yourself to be, and for who you really are” (Hautman 267).

Recommendation

“Random Reviews, Rumours, and More. rrrandm.wordpress.com. n.d. Web. 19 May 2015. Digital File.

Complete Works Cited

“A New Approach to Building the Tree of Life.” Quanta Magazine. 4 Jun. 2014. Web. 11 May 2015. Digital File. “Commercial Chain Link Fence.” Westside Fence Company. n.d. Web. 6 May 2015. Digital File. “I’m Mennonite, Not Amish: 7 Common Questions.” femonite.com. 30 Apr. 2012. Web. 6 May 2015. Digital File. “In Pictures: Snow and Ice Hit UK.” BBC. 5 Feb. 2012. Web. 14 May 2015. Digital File.“Neil Ta’s Guide to Urban Exploration.” Palladium Boots. n.d. Web. 6 May 2015. Digital File. “Eden West Giveaway.” booksnob-booksnob.blogspot.com. 14 Apr. 2105. Web. 12 May 2015. Digital File. “News Category.” ATV UTV Action. 26 Jun 2013. Web. 11 May 2015. Digital File. “It’s Personal.” petehautman.com. 2013. Web. 11 Apr. 2013. Digital File. "Saturday April 14, 1PM: Pete Hautman." Wild Rumpus Books. Apr. 2012. Web. 6 May 2013. Digital File. All images from same site. “The Meaning of the Cross.” First Baptist Church Covenant. 2 Apr. 2015. Web. 6 May 2015. Digital File. “Wolf Pac New York.” wiolf-pac,com. n.d. Web. 11 May 2015. Digital File. “Zodiac Signs and Astrology Signs Meanings and Characteristics.” Astrology-zodiac-signs.com. 2010. Web. 12 May 2015.