TLB: Plot Overview

Question 1

Give a brief description of what happens in Ch1/2

Answer 1

14 year old Susie tells her story from heaven, where she exists after being raped and murdered and dismembered in a frozen cornfield by her neighbour, Mr.Harvey. Three days after Susie disappears, Detective Fenerman tells Jack the police have found a body part. The police find various objects belonging to Susie that indicates she was killed in the cornfield: a copy of the novel ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’’, her biology notes, a love letter from Ray Singh, and her winter har. This convinces the Salmon’s of susie’s death. Ray Singh becomes the police’s first suspect.

Question 2

Give a brief description of what happens in Ch3/4

Answer 2

susie continues watching family and friends, and narrates both recent and past events. Throughout conversations with Franny, Susie realises her homesickness. Susie reveals herself to her father. She sees Jack smash his collection of ships in a bottle that he and susie built together .Weeks later., Jack helps harvest build a ceremonial tent in his yard. Jack feels susie’s presence and begins to wonder about Harvey.

Question 3

Give a brief description of what happens in Ch6-10

Answer 3

jack seeks out Ray and talks t his mother. when he confesses his suspicions about Harvey, Ruana tells Jack that she would kill her child’s murderer. While Jack is at the Singh’s house, Detective Fenerman drops by the Salmon’s house and Susie watches has an attraction develops between her mother and Len. Lindsey spends a moth of the summer at a gifted symposium. Samuel and Ruth also attend the camp. Ruth tells Lindsey she dreams about susie, and Lindsey admits how much she misses her sister. she also confesses she loves Samuel.

Question 4

Give a brief description of what happens in Ch11-12

Answer 4

Susie described Harvey’s house, which has an identical floor plan to that of the Salmons. jack becomes more obsessed with finding susie’s killer but Len wants him to stop accusing Harvey. One night, Jack sees a light moving towards the cornfield and goes there with a baseball bat intent on vengeance. He is beaten up by Brian and hospitalised. Abigail, unable t cope with her collapsing world, seeks out Len and their relationship becomes physical.

Question 5

Give a brief description of what happens in Ch13-16 (snapshots)

Answer 5

The first anniversary of busies death approaches. Abigail and Jack become further estranged. Jack turns to Lindsey and Buckley; Abigail tried to ins solace in her relationship with Len. Jack and Lindsey still believe Harvey murdered Susie. Lindsey breaks a basement window and enters Harvey’s house to search for evidence. While Susie sees Harvey’s other victims, Lindsey finds drawings of the murder site in the cornfield. Harvey arrives home and Linsey escapes through the window. Jack tries to reach Fenerman,an and the police talk to Mr. Harvey while Abigail meets Fenerman. Harvey picks up and leaves the area.

Question 6

Give a brief description of what happens in Ch17-20

Answer 6

Time passes. Abigail goes to California, Grandma Lynn comes to stay, Lindsey learns of Abigail and Lens relationship. Hal Hecker, using his biker connections, gets lead on Harvey, which he passes on to Fenerman. The police are finally able to prove Harvey’s guilt, but he vanishes. Ruth is in NY, her supernatural powers enabled her to see the dead everywhere. Samuel proposes to Linsey in an abandoned house. Buckley and Jack argue over Jack’s inability to move on from busies death and Jack has ` heart attack. Abigail returns to be with jack and clashes with Buckley. Jack hovers between life and death. Abigail decides to stay with her family and face up her guilt. She and jack talk about susie and cry together.

Question 7

What are the key themes in TLB?

Answer 7

Loss
Grief
The afterlife and the depiction of Busies Heaven
Family
Coming of age
Rites of passage
Crime
Love
Gender roles
Sexuality
Redemption

Question 8

What is the AO1 toolkit?

Answer 8

Homodiegetic (first person) narrative

Representation of speech/thought

Lexis (esp verb process and imagery)

Grammar (esp sentence types and functions)

Foregrounding (deviation/repetition)

Deixis (tempura, spatial and person shifts)

Modality

Storyworld

Korte’s theory of body language.