Penfield Poetry & Cat's Cradle

To start off today's class, please take the next 15 minutes to read Cat's Cradle and complete the half-sheet observation form. This is participation credit.

So far in Cat's Cradle (a bit of summary):

At the opening of the book, Jonah, our narrator, is writing a book about what happened on the day the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. While researching this topic, John becomes involved with the children of Felix Hoenikker, a fictional physicist who helped develop the atomic bomb. John writes to and then interviews the Hoenikker children and others connected to the creation of the bomb.  He meets Dr. Asa Breed, who was Hoenikker's supervisor and learns of a substance called ice-nine, now secretly in the possession of his children. Ice-nine is an alternative structure of H20 that allows water to become solid at room temperature. When a crystal of ice-nine contacts liquid water, it makes the molecules of liquid water arrange themselves into the solid form (ice-nine).

John and the Hoenikker children eventually end up on the fictional Caribbean island of San Lorenzo, one of the poorest countries on Earth. The island is ruled by the fictional dictator, "Papa" Monzano, who threatens all opposition with impalement on a giant hook.

Characters include:

• John, also known as Jonah, the narrator
• Felix Hoenikker is the "Father of the Atom Bomb."
• Dr. Asa Breed is Felix Hoenikker's supervisor. He takes the narrator, John, around Illium and to the General Forge and Foundry Company where the late Felix worked.
• Newton "Newt" Hoenikker: The midget son of famed scientist Felix Hoenikker, and a painter. He is the brother of both Frank and Angela Hoenikker. His main hobby is painting minimalist abstract works. He briefly had an affair with a Russian midget dancer named Zinka, who turned out to be a KGB agent sent to steal ice-nine for the Soviet Union.
• Emily Hoenikker is Felix Hoenikker's wife, who died giving birth to Newt.
• Franklin "Frank" Hoenikker is Felix Hoenikker's son, and Major General of San Lorenzo. He is the brother of Newt and Angela Hoenikker. He is an utterly technically-minded person who is unable to make decisions except for giving technical advice. His main hobby is building models.
• Angela Hoenikker Conners is Felix Hoenikker's daughter and a clarinetist. She is the sister of Frank and Newt Hoenikker, and is married to Harrison C. Conners. In contrast to her midget brother, Angela is unusually tall for a woman.
• Bokonon co-founded San Lorenzo (along with Earl McCabe) and created the religion of Bokononism, which he asked McCabe to outlaw. If you want something to be popular, try banning it.
• Earl McCabe co-founded San Lorenzo.
• "Papa" Monzano is the dictator of San Lorenzo.
• Mona Aamons Monzano is the adopted daughter of "Papa" Monzano. She is considered "the only beautiful woman on San Lorenzo."
• Julian Castle is the multi-millionaire ex-owner of Castle Sugar Cooperation, whom John travels to San Lorenzo to interview.
• H. Lowe Crosby is a bicycle manufacturer John meets on a plane to San Lorenzo. His main goal is to move his factory to San Lorenzo, so he can run it with cheap labor.
• Hazel Crosby is the wife of H. Lowe Crosby.
• Philip Castle is the homosexual son of Julian Castle, and the operator of the hotel Casa Mona on the island on San Lorenzo.
• Horlick Minton is the new American ambassador to San Lorenzo, whom John meets on a plane. He was blacklisted as a Communist sympathizer during the McCarthy-era.
• Claire Minton is the wife of Horlick Minton.

After answering any questions you may have about the novel thus far, please use the time in the lab to complete any writing you would like to include in your portfolio this marking period, as well submit a poem to the Penfield Poetry Contest. See posts below for details.

HOMEWORK: Submit a poem to the Penfield Poetry Contest (required). Continue reading Cat's Cradle.