The curious incident of the dog in the night time

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo, vwo
• Leerjaar 4

How do you read a book if you can't concentrate?

It was 7 minutes after midnight. The dog was lying on the grass in the middle of the lawn in front of Mrs Shears' house. Its eyes were closed. It looked as if it was running on its side, the way dogs run when they think they are chasing a cat in a dream. But the dog was not running or asleep. The dog was dead. There was a garden fork sticking out of the dog. The points of the fork must have gone all the way through the dog and into the ground because the fork had not fallen over. I decided that the dog was probably killed with the fork because I could not see any other wounds in the dog and I do not think you would stick a garden fork into a dog after it had died for some other reason, like cancer for example, or a road accident. But I could not be certain about this.

like cancer for example, or a road accident. But I could not be certain about this.I went through Mrs Shears' gate, closing it behind me. I walked onto her lawn and knelt beside the dog. I put my hand on the muzzle of the dog. It was still warm.The dog was called Wellington. It belonged to Mrs Shears who was our friend. She lived on the opposite side of the road, two houses to the left.Wellington was a poodle. Not one of the small poodles that have hairstyles but a big poodle. It had curly black fur, but when you got close you could see that the skin underneath the fur was a very pale yellow, like chicken.I stroked Wellington and wondered who had killed him, and why.

 

Introduction of:

Christopher John Francis Boone

What does Christopher do if he can't understand the emotion of another person?

1. laugh at them
2. ask them what they mean
3. look at them
4. tear up a piece of paper

Specific points about the book

- The book has illustrations to help Christopher understand life

- Christopher likes numbers and mathematical puzzles

- Siobhan helps Christopher with his social, emotional and academic growth. She helps him with facial expressions, indicates different emotions, specific detailed instructions about behaviour and effects.

- Christopher likes dogs because they are trustworthy, easier than people to interact with, faithful, only have four moods (happy, sad, cross, concerntrating), don’t tell lies.

Christopher likes Sherlock Holmes, he is intelligent, observant and observive about interests.

Christopher goes to a special school, has behaviour problems, groans, doesn’t speak for days, doesn’t like being touched, can’t understand others (emotions).

Specific points about the book

- Christopher likes Sherlock Holmes, he is intelligent, observant and observive about interests.

- Christopher goes to a special school, has behaviour problems, groans, doesn’t speak for days, doesn’t like being touched, can’t understand others (emotions).

Summary:

The fifteen-year-old narrator of the story, Christopher John Francis Boone, discovers the slain body of his neighbour's poodle, Wellington, on the neighbour's front lawn one evening and sets out to uncover the murderer.

Summary of Christopher John Francis Boone

The narrator and protagonist of the novel. Fifteen-year-old Christopher is mathematically gifted struggles for social acceptance and understanding as a result of his apparent autism. He views the world largely in absolutes, dividing his life experience into a series of extreme likes and dislikes. He feels most comfortable with logic and order, making Wellington’s murder an irresistible puzzle for him to solve. He resides with his father and pet rat Toby at 36 Randolph Street.

Factual

Summary of Christopher John Francis Boone

The book is about an autistic, 15 year old boy, his name is Christopher. He lives in Swindon, near London. He knows every country of the world, including the capital cities and he also knows every prime number until 7507. Christopher loves facts, numbers, formulas and logic. He doesn’t like people that much, because he can’t really understand their emotions. But he loves dogs, because they only have four emotions: happy, sad, angry and concentrated.

What does this summary tell us?

What is a summary

A short statement that summarizes the main points of a piece of writing.
 

An example of an Emotional summary of a main character

In the 'Lord of the Flies' written by William Golding's 

  the 12-year-old protagonist and leader, Ralph, is introduced. The never-before-tested leader of the boys is sensible and self-confident and out to have fun.