Last Man Down

TOPIC: What does the writer do at the beginning to draw you into the book? At the beginning of the book Paisner talks about "the 5" Which is a 5 bell ring that would be sounded over the internal bell system to signify that a firefighter had died on duty. After which a moment of silence would occur. He goes on to talk about how normal the day was up until "the 5". At that time he says what would normally be just the bells followed by silence turned into a constant hum and a day of silence across New York. Immediately following that he gives a list of all 343 firefighters that were killed that tragic day. In that list he includes their full name, rank, and their assigned unit. This defiantly step the story up even though this was very sad it gave you a on look about how all these men risked their lives to save the lives of innocent people. They could have easily been selfish and said no i have a family but instead they were selfless not selfish and because of them many people live today. This most certainly caught my attention and made me want to read the book.

Last Man Down

TOPIC: From what perspective is the book told and how does this affect you ability to relate to its content? What other perspective would you be interested to here the story told from? and why? The book is told from the perspective of a FDNY Battalion commander on duty at the time of the attack. He was on one of the squads that responded to the call. This helps me relate a lot better to the topic because he has first hand knowledge of what happened. Its not like he researched the topic then told the story for someone to document it. No this man actually live what he told Paisner. If it was possible I would love to get the story from the perspective of someone one who was aboard one of the planes because their interpretation of the hijacking would be very interesting. Also from a bystander that was watching this whole thing happen because i would like to know how watching this event changed their life and their outlook on the things around them.

Last Man Down

TOPIC: Why did I choose this book? What were my expectations? How is it living up to my expectations? I chose this book because the topic was very interesting. I saw the movie a while back which is also based on this guys story and I really liked it. So I figured the book would be just as good. My expectations for the book were pretty high because I knew Picciotto's story prior to reading it so really I was just looking to see how the authors writing held up to the visual of his story. I expected to have a array of emotions from good to bad. So far I can say the book is living up to my expectations it is a great written version of Picciotto's story the same emphasis are put on things in the book as they were in the movie. Also as I read I still get that array of emotion. But the things that set the book apart from the movie is the book is more in dept you really get a sense of you are there with you he walks you through the entire scene unlike the movie the book doesn't seemed rushed.

Last Man Down

TOPIC: What is the book about? This book is about the story of 9/11 in the eyes of a firefighter that was on duty. It is based on the accounts of a man by the name of Richard Picciotto who was a FDNY Battalion commander on duty at the time of the 9/11 terrorist attack. The story is told in sequence of events from his drive to work to when he arrived back home. The author goes into great detail about the things that happened that sad day from the sounds Picciotto heard while he was in the the towers to the sights he saw of people jumping from the burning buildings. There are defiantly parts in the book that are extremely sad and there are time when i found my self rooting for the men that were down to make it out in one piece. in this book I got to see what a true American hero looked like through this man determination in a time when most would give up and because of this many survived to see the next day and if it wasn't for him more people would have died but he pushed hard to the end that made him a HERO.

Starting Fresh

Book #4 title:
Last man down

Author:
Daniel Paisner

Date of Publication:
2002

Staying Pure

Topic: What is the authors main methods of communication? How does this affect you ability to relate to the topic? Moore mostly uses dialog, and narrative to tell the story. But there are some times when she strays away from these set methods. The mode of expression fits the topic well. All the switches in the methods keep the topic going so to me the story never dies. I get a more in dept look and feel of the topic based on her method of expression. I her choice to add some monologue and internal thoughts of the characters into the story bridged some gaps that were left in the story. These all worked together to produce a story that was not only interesting, but funny and it made u examine your own life. So they create a bubble for the story and i completely found my self in this bubble not wanting to leave. I would have to say her chosen methods defiantly affected my ability to relate to the topic, they made me get into the topic a lot more because they made me anticipate what was next.

Staying Pure

Topic: Did the book come to a satisfactory closure for you Why or Why not? the book defiantly did end greatly for me. I feel like the author did sum up all that happened in the book with a good ending. She was sure through out the book to have challenges for all the characters but by the and of the book the challenges had been over come and they had learned some type of lesson. I like how she had Payton saying prayers through out the entire book and it seemed like at the end all her prayers had been answered. I also love the happy ending. Payton got what she wanted he new boyfriend and her best friend/ ex- boyfriend back in her life and that happened to. So by the end of the book Payton got all that she wanted in her life and the ciaos that was going on through out the story in her life was over and all was good. For me a story with all those things is great and if at the end the main character is stronger because of the things they go through that's even better.

Staying Pure

Topic: What do i think the defining moment for the main character is and why? For Payton the main character I believe her defining moment is when she was at her cotillion and Star is being presented and someone from the audience screams something rude out about her. After which Star runs out crying but instead of Payton laughing at her enemy she puts all her bad feeling towards Star aside and runs out after her. When they are in the hall way she talks to Star and eventually makes her feel better. To me this is her defining moment because prior to this Payton is sort of self absorbed she mostly thinks about herself and how she feels. So for he to embarrass her mom by running out not for a friend but for someone she doesn't even like it showed a new side a more mature side of her. She was able to forget all the wrong Star had done to her in order the help some one that needed the support more than ever. Which to me would be a defining moment.

Staying Pure

Topic: Who is the intended audience and why? For me I struggled with who the intended audience was because the topic was something that many people face. Based on the title I sort of cam up with a general idea that it was for anyone in this situation. After reading a some my ideas changed slightly it wasn't just anybody it was Christians dealing with this problem. But by the end of the book my view changed again it wasn't just Christians, it was teenage female Christians. I came to his conclusion because the books main character is a teenager by the name of Payton, she is a senior in high school and the entire story revolves around her and her decisions as it pertains to this topic. The author specifically chooses her as the focal point in the story. It gives you the female perspective to the said topic. So that led me to believe that it was ment to encourage the young women that read the book that this is a way to deal with it and that they aren't alone many others have been through it to. Yet even though this story is fiction it still has a lesson.