Sejal Behl - Summative Assignment

8/9/2019 Sejal Behl - Summative Assignment

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INDEX

PAGE 1 TITLE

PAGE 2-5 WHERE THE HEART IS

PAGE 5-7 CHARACHTER SKECTH FOR

NOVALEE

PAGE 8 SUMMARY

Page 9 WORKS CITED


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SUMMATIVE ASSIGNMENT

TO MR. SCOTT KEMP

BY SEJAL BEHL

ENG3UI

DUE: 23 JULY


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WHERE THE HEART IS

The message that theauthoris trying toshowhere is Novalees transition from beingan

uneducated, poor, teenage pregnant girl toaresponsible motherandan excellent pal to many.

Novaleewasagirlwhoenjoyedhersmallconquest. Nowshehasahouse tocallherown,since

she neverhadahouse that didnt havewheels she had never lived in a place that didnt have

wheels (Letts line #26 page #7). Letts tried to portray thelifeofagirl,whohadalways been

determinedand neverlost hopeeven when shehad noshelterand no moneywhen, Shewas

Dying! Shelived in awall-mart store,aftershewasdumped byherboyfriend Willy Jack. Willy

jackwasan inhuman person,whodid not careabout hisgirlfriendorhischild,heused to make

Novaleecryand feeluseless,heused tohurt heralot she held his hand there a moment, then

he jerked it away. Novalee felt like she might cry then (Letts line #17 page #11); he just left

them on thestreet with $7.77. Hedid not thinkabout thegirl,whohas nobody but him; heknew

everything but still,heleft heron theroad.

In myopinion, this issoshockingand pitiless. Authordescribes Novalees pain, thehard timeshe

got becauseof that cruel man.Something surged in her chest, something hot and painful, her

heart raced, and the beat irregular, heavy. Her mouth felt slick and tasted of cold chilli (Letts

line# 13 page # 29). Willy Jackwassex thirsty; allheeverwantedwassex,agirl to fornicate

with. he grounded his lips against hers and force it open with his teeth, his tongue. He pushed

between her lips, his tongue ripping into her mouth, pushing, probing until he found what he was

after.(Letts line# 30 page # 44). Authoron theotherside talksabout luck in away, Willy jack


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didsomethinghorriblewith Novalee,and in allhisremaininglifetimehealwaysgot unluckyor

ratherhegot what hegave hewasgoing to Californiaandhehadleft herbehind (Lettsline #

15page # 16),andon theotherside Novaleewasagood person,herheart was neat asa new pin.

Lettshere tries toexplain What yougive iswhat u take . Novaleedid not thinkofanyones

dismal. Shewasan excellent human beingwho neverlost hopeon anything.

Authorhasshown Novaleescourage to prolong the pain forherunborn child. Even when she

had found people,whowere there forheralways,shedid not let them know that shelives in a

Wal-mart store. When Forney offered to drive her home from the library, she was tempted to

say okay, to let him find out that home was the Wal-mart... but she didnt(Letts line 3 page #

81). Shewasalmost 8.5 months pregnant then. Sheused tocarrywithher, thekit needed ifher

labourpain starts; thisshowsherproficiencyandsharpnessabout things,andloveshehad for

herunborn baby. Shedidnt want anything towrong if the timecomes togive birth,shewas

mentally prepared togivea birth to babyalone. However,shegot lucky, Forney, thelibrarian,

whoused tolove Novalee,and makeherfeelspecial,came toknowabout where Novaleelives,

andreached there just on time,andhelpedherdeliverthe babygirl. Shewanted toherbaby to

havestrong name forherchild that stayswithherforever, that wassuggested by Mr. Moses

Whitecotton,whowasoneofherhelpers. Get your baby a name that means something. A

sturdy name. Strong name. Name thats gonna withstand a lot of bad times. A lot of hurt. (Letts

line #24 page #23).Thesewordswriggled in hermind,andwith just theclickofasecond,she

knewherbabies namewill be Americus Nation that hada meaning. A strong meaning.

Novaleehas proven to beavery protectiveandaveryresponsible motherforherchild

Americus. She tookgoodcareofherwhen she born. Shewasditched byherown people, but


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shewasgiven shelterandhelp from thestrangers,shehad neverknown. Strangers,whohelped

herwhen shewasalone,helpedher,when she neededhelp withherbaby. Authorhere,has told

that its not just the family that helpsus, but sometimes its theoutsidersand thegood people

whohelp usall throughwhen youown familyorthecloseonesare nolongerwithyou tosupport

you.

Shesettled,shewasstayingwitha motherlywoman,whodied in a naturalcalamity, but left

everything forNovalee, thisshows thekindnessand theloveof thosewomen forNovalee.

Novaleealsohadaverygood friend,whosheused to talktooften andgavesuggestionsoften

about lifeandlove.

Novaleeunknowingly fell in lovewith Forney, but shewas not ready toaccept herlove toan

extent that shehurt Forney. She thought about Forney all day and dreamed of him at night,

troubling dreams in which Forney was always saying goodbye. Each time phone rang she hoped

she would hear his voice (Letts line # 11 page # 317). Authorhere tries to tellus that oncehurt;

youlose trust on everybody,even when that somebodylovesyou more than youloveyourself.

Shedid not confess to Forney that sheloveshim even when heasksherout.What I want,

Novalee ... what I want, is to be with you. To be with you and Americus I love you. I love you

more than anything in this world, when I had you in my arms (Letts line #20 page 325).

NovaleesaysForney, maybe we made a mistake; I dont know how it happened or why it

happened when it did. But maybe it wasnt right for us. Maybe we... (Letts line # page #325).

However, Novaleedid not want toget hurt anymore,shedid not trust herfeelingsanymore,she

did not want to fall in loveagain, but shewas now in love. Shehurt herself,herheart was

bleeding forForney, but stillshedid not confessherloveuntilshewasgoing mad,andwhen she


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receivedletters forAmericus by Forney,shegaveup andsheconfessedherlove to Forney,and

was not regretful becauseshelovedandgot it in return.

Novaleewasaseventeen yearsold teenagewhowasdumped byhersocalledlove Willy Jack,a

girlwhowasgoing toa mother,whowashomelessand jobless is nowa 25 yearoldresponsible

motherandan adoredlover,who nowhasaloverandahousewitha family. Authorhasshown a

transition in a periodofseven years. Shewas transformed from beingastupid teenage pregnant

girl toresponsibleand independent women


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Character sketch for Novalee

Novalee Nation, in the beginningof the novel isa poor,uneducated teenagegirl,whowas

abandoned byherown motherat averyyoungage.Shehad to move from one fosterhome to

another. Forherseven numberbrought badluck, Novaleewasawareof this fact,andalways

tried toremain clearof this number, but assaid byherYou neversee it coming. Shewas

heading to Californiawithherboyfriend Willy Jack,whowasgoing there towork.

Novaleewasadreamer,whodreamt about living in houseswithout wheels, but unfortunately

sheendedup living in houseswithwheels,andshe neverreallyhadahouse that shecouldsay

washerown. Sheused todream about luxuriousapartmentsand thewayshewoulddecorate it if

shehadownedone. Shealwaysdreamt ofherbaby,andwantedherbaby toget agood quality

lifeunlikeher. Novaleewasagirl,whowantedherdreams tocome true,despiteof the problems

shecameacross. Shewasastrongheartedandadeterminedgirl.

Herboyfrienddumpedherwithout lettingherknowing that hewasgoing toleaveheralone,he

dumpedherat a Wal-mart storewith $7.77. He had left her behind...left her with her magazine

dreams of old quilts and blue china and family pictures in gold frames (Letts line#15 page

no#16), Novaleestilldid not leavehope,shesat there,shedid not knowwhere togo, but she

knewonlyone thing; that shewas pregnant,andshehad tokeep herselfhealthy in ordertokeep


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herbabywell. By two oclock she was hungry. She ate popcorns and drank Cokes from tall

plastic cups. She had two paydays and went to the bathroom twice. (Letts #15 page no 17)

Novalee met exceptionally nice people, peoplewhowerestrangers toher; peoplewhowere

willing tohelp her,whodidhelp her. Novaleewasreally blessed to meet such people. People

like SisterHusband,whowaslikea mothertoher,whogave Novaleeshelter, Mr. Moses

Whitecotton,who taught herphotographyaswellasgaveheradvices forherunborn baby. She

met Forneywho tookcareofherandlovedhermore than shelovedherself,she met Lexie,who

wasagreat friend toher,anddiscussedwithherthe most touchyand important thingsof life.

Novaleeseemed to bearemarkably maternalandresponsible in herteenagerole. she had been

sure she wouldnt be accepted, certain she couldnt be enrolled as a student because she hadnt

even finished her grade tenth.(Letts line# 3 pages # 293).Sheenrolledherin acollege tolearn

about photography, photographyhadalways interest her. It washerpassion.

Novalee fell in lovewith Forney, but couldnt accept herself that shewas in lovewith Forney; or

ratherdid not want accept that shewas in love,even when Forneyhadlovedhermore than she

lovedherself. But in theend,shecouldnt resist herfeelingsandshe finally told Forneyabout

herfeelings. What , I personally thinkthat shewas not expressingherfeelingswas that shewas

scared that shewill beditchedagain,she thought herself to bea pickoflitter, but in myopinion

shewasagem ofa person,whochangedherlife in a periodofseven years,sheachieved

whatevershehaddreamt of.

Shewasasuccessful motherandahuman being


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SUMMARY

Novaleewhowasa pooranda pregnant teenagerwhohad just been dumped byherboyfriend,at

a Wal-mart store,whohadalot ofhurdles in herlife,hadcomeacrosswithdown-to-earth

peoplewhowere therewithherin allherproblems that touchedher. She finally finds the true

loveofherlife,andsheandherlove trulylovesherdaughterAmericusalot.

Thisstory isabout the transition that tookplace in Novaleesunsatisfiedlife that wassatisfied

aftermany problems that tookplace.

Authorof this book, Billy Lettshas beautifullyexplained Novaleeslife,and madeus feel the

pain. I, beinga teenagercouldconnect this to mylife,and I cant even understandherpain and

the problemsshehashaddealingwithherlife. But, in theend, I am glad that shegot theloveof

herlifeandagoodlife toenjoy.


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WORK CITED

WHERE THE HEART IS BY BILLY LETTS 1995(WARNE BOOK COMPANY)

Documents

Sejal Behl - Summative Assignment