Think about the "thematic idioms" explored in this class. Which thematic idiom or idioms best apply to "Catch the Moon"? In which way can you connect to this thematic idiom? You can personally connect or think about story or book you have read, or movies / TV programs you have seen.
Hint: You can look up idioms at
http:www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/a.html
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I think the idiom "barking up the wrong tree" can fit this story. The idiom means to be looking for something in the wrong place. For example, Luis was looking for ways to try to block out the sad memory of his mother passing away. His way of doing so was to get in trouble with the law and to do bad things, like dares, to make him feel more accomplished. Which, by the way, was the wrong thing to do. A lot of stories and movies follow this example. Usually the main character is affected by a traumatizing experience from their past. And many, like Luis, end up doing bad things to fufill their emotions of anger, sadness, etc.
I haven't thought of an idiom that best fits this story, but bye reading the story over again, I noticed the theme of the story, 'giving and receiving love can change a person.' I can relate to sentence by looking back at my memories and my past experiences. When I was in kindergarten, there was one person who was never active, never talked to anyone. So one day I went over to him and ask him what's with you? Then I learned that his dog died, this also can relate to the story where in the story, the main character's mom died. From that day on, we became good friends and you can just see a big difference in him. After kindergarten, he forgot about his dog and got on with his life. But we never saw each other again since then, I think he went to California and got a new dog.
The change between the two kids are the same, but their before-change actions were totally different if you know what I mean...
After reading Catch the moon by Judith Ortiz Cofer I can relate the story the idiom “back to the drawing board. The story was about a boy named luis cintron. Luis was a bit of a trouble maker but the way he acted. For example he went to juvenile hall for breaking and entering and he doesn’t listen to his father. Luis was part of a gang called the Tiburon or “shark” in English. They did things like breaking into peoples homes and having fundraisers and using the money for other things. luis had done many bad things since his mother died and made a lot of bad choices. I chose this idiom because Luis needed to start over new or “go back to the drawing board” because he needed to get his life on track and have better relationships especially with his father.
I think the thematic idiom don't judge a book by its cover would fit this book Catch The Moon the best. This idiom fits this book because towards the end of he book he becomes a very nice boy although he still has a bad reputation. This idiom relates to my life because i have a friend who has a lot of tattoos and looks very mean but he is actually a nice caring person on the inside.
Don't judge a book by its cover, in my opinion, most applies to ''Cath The Moon'' becuase Loius is a boy who has been arrested for breaking and entering, his mother died, and he formed a ''social group'', which included a bunch of guys harrasing athorities. Most people would judge him right away by saying he's a no good trouble maker, but they havent taken the time to walk in his shoes. For example, the girl Naiomi doesnt try to bother him about his problems, she simply reaches out to him by just smileing at him. I can relate this ''thematic idiom'' to one of my favorite movies, Sister Act. the main character, Delores has to hide out in a convent and pretend she is a nun. When the reverend mother of the convent came into the room where she was going to meeet Delores, she walked it, walked back out, shut the door and said she couldnt possible let her in her convent because of the way Delores was dressed. That is one connection I can make to that ''thematic idom''.
One idiom I think that relates to the story is never darken my door again. This idiom means to never visit me again. I think it's pretty important becuase this is what Luis is bascially saying to his father all the time. Luis doesn't want to talk or visit his father.
A thematic idiom that relates to “Catch the Moon” is, don’t judge a book by its cover. It shows this idiom when Luis wants to be left and Naomi knows he is not a cold and lonely guy like that. I also see this in my life when somebody might have a deformity (like dwarfism) but they are really the same as me.
"Catch the Moon" by Judith Cofer is a really good story that applies to at least one of our thematic idioms we learned in English class.
"Every rose has its thorn", this idiom basically means that no one is perfect, people always make mistakes.
This idiom best fit with the story because in the story, Luis was a troublemaker, it got to the point where he was in trouble with the law. That explains why no one is perfect.
I have a perfect example of this idiom. During summer in 2008, me, my dad and friends went to watch the movie Kill Bill 1, and 2(is there a third one?). In the movie, the main character was a serial killer, she 'hunted' people and kill them. The girl looked nice on the outside, but was evil in the inside.
Everyday, people around us make mistakes, and it's really not that hard to notice them...
A thematic idiom that best applies to “Catch the Moon.” The idiom is, “If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” This best applies because Louis was not dealing with his problems but he realized that his father works so hard to cope with the loss of his wife which was Luis’s biggest problem as well. He noticed that his father was getting old and needed help at the junkyard; he wanted it organized so things could be solved easier. For example all the hubcaps from a certain maker were together. Working together brought them closer together as well. A connection to this thematic idiom is in Bluford High Blood is Thicker. The main characters father was diagnosed with cancer so the family moved to Detroit with family members. The family dealt with the problem, they had their father rest because of his disease and he later found out the disease had left his system. All that time the son was working for his uncle. Just like Luis worked for his father. Also, this experience brought the family closer together like in “Catch the Moon.”
I think that the best thematic idiom for the book “Catch the Moon” is, don’t judge a book by its cover. In this short story Luis Cintron appears to be a bad kid because he does all this bad stuff and goes to jail. When really he is nice, he just does bad things to show his emotions because his mom died. In the end he does all this nice stuff, especially he goes and searches for a hubcap for this girl Naomi for hours. This proves that he can be nice and you can’t judge him. I can personally connect to this because I have this friend that when I first met him he looked really big and looked like he wanted to hurt me, but when we started talking and now he is one of my best friends. So that proves you can’t judge a book by its cover because someone can look mean or do mean things sometimes when really they are nice deep down.
I think the idiom "barking up the wrong tree" fits this story well. The idiom means to be looking for something in the wrong place. For Luis, I think he was looking for trouble to hide his true emotions for his passed mother. He would get in trouble with the law for doing dares to feel maybe manly and better about himself. I think that was the only thing to fill his emptiness, anger, and grief. I've experienced somewhat of the same thing. After my parents separated, I was devasted. The only things that would bring me happiness were materialistic objects. But that would only keep me happy for a limited amount of time. But then I learned if I shared how I truly felt with someone else, I'd have less of that emotional burden. And also that you can't buy happiness.
I believe the thematic idiom that best relates to the short story "Catch the Moon" is "don't judge a book by its cover". I can relate this thematic idiom to the story because at first, Luis doesn't understand his father. But after being released into his father's custody, Luis gets to know his father better and understands him more. I can personally connect this thematic idiom to my life because when I meet new people my parents tell me not to make judgments before I give the person a chance and get to know them.
After reading the short story Catch the Moon, I realized that the idiom “Hard as Nails”, this idiom means they are either physically tough or have little or no respect at all for other peoples feelings. I can relate to this idiom to the short story because Luis the dynamic character has no respect for anyone. He was recently sent to jail for 6 months because of an attempted break in but got out on probation. In the beginning of the story he was tough and he didn’t really care to bond with his father or anyone. He was sent to do community service at his dale auto shop where he cleaned and polished every hubcap in the yard. One day a young lady comes into the store to find a unique hubcap and Luis finally looks at his father and saw how much he changed. After a while Luis takes his fathers car and drives to the funeral home where the young lady lives. He remembers that place from his mother’s death and Naomi, the young lady was the only one who understood him. Then Luis drives back to the yard to find that hubcap no matter how long it takes. This shows Luis finally appreciates life and respects people now. I can relate this idiom to my life when I read the book Secrets of my Hollywood life, in the story Kaitlin burke has a enemy named Sky Mackenzie who hates Kaitlin in the beginning of the story and tries to make her life miserable by starting fights about who has more lines or that Kaitlin is stealing sky’s boyfriend but by the end of the story sky comes to an agreement with Kaitlin realizing her life’s not that great and becomes friends.
The thematic idiom that best applies to "Catch the Moon" is 'Change Tack'. It means to use a different method with dealing with something. For example, Luis changes at the end of how he deals with the death of his mother. Ta the begging he used anger and did bad things and got arrested. But at the end he cried and showed how he felt. He also remembered a lot of good things about his mother and what she was like, which helped him deal. A connection to this is in the movie "A Walk to Remember". The character lost his wife from cancer and instead of going back to his old life of bad things and causing trouble. He decided to remember her and think about her and let his feelings out. This is why the thematic idiom 'Change tack' best applies to the story "Catch the Moon".
The best idiom for this short story, “Catch the Moon”, I have decided that “A chain is no stronger then its weakest link.” I think this because when I read this story I had a feeling at first that things were falling apart. It kind of continued with the father and son situation. I can connect to this thematic idiom because my parents are divorced. Ever since I moved here to live with my dad we had this invisible line between us. I would say it is the same. In my way of thinking I would say that a family is like a link when one grows weak the whole chain is weakened.
My idiom for this short story is never darken my door again. I think this idiom is very important because Luis never wants to meet his father again and that's what it means. It means to never meet someone again. He absolutely doesn't want to see or be with his father. I watched a movie that was similar. Josh was a bad kid who did bad things like steal.Josh lost his mother and he didn't like talking about her and din't like talking to his father. He didn't like spending time with him either. He would never talk to him about his mom and just didn't like to talk or be with him.
One of the idioms that connects to the short story “Catch the Moon” is hard as nails. This idiom connects to Luis in many ways. One way it connects to him is he is physically tough in the beginning of the story. Luis is physically tough be cause he punched a hole in his bed room wall because he was angry. His mom had recently died. Another way that this idiom connects to the story is he has no respect for other peoples’ feelings. Luis started a gang called the Tiburones which meant shark in Spanish. Luis and his gang broke into peoples houses and harassed the authorities. Luis could also be called a bad apple because he got into trouble a lot in the beginning of the story. He had gone to jail many times. I can also connect this idiom to the “The One Who Watches”. I can connect to this because Yolanda is also a bad apple. She is a bad apple because she stole a pocket book from a store. Also Yolanda snuck in to a dressing room at a modeling place and stole the dress that she had tried on. She had probably stole the dress because she was poor and couldn’t afford anything nice like that
In the story "catch the Moon", there are a few thematic idioms to be found. One important one is Don't judge a book by its cover. This is shown were many people think that Luis is just a bad kid, and that they shouldn't be friends with him because of that. But, Naomi befriends him because she knows that Luis just had a bad past. One way that i can connect to this is when i made a friend in elementary school who was getting ito trouble because his parents had just gotten a divorce. When we bacme friends, and he realized that people cared about him, he stoppeed doing bad things. That is also like what happened with Luis and Naomi.
One good thematic idiom that relates to Catch The Moon is, you don’t know what you've got till it’s gone. This applies to Luis’s life because of when his mom died 3 years ago he was devastated but didn’t show it. He didn’t appreciate his mom as much as he should have but when she died he really realized how much she meant to him. He didn’t cry or talk much about it but deep down he really missed her. This applies to my life a couple ways. One way was when my grandma died this year. I really loved her when she was alive but I didn’t realize how much I loved her until she died. Me and Luis have a similarity in our lives.
I think that “One mans junk is another mans treasure” fits “Catch the Moon” well because in the beginning of the book Luis thinks that his dads junk yard is a waste of time and everything in it is useless. When he goes to the funeral home and see’s Naomi he goes back to the junk yard and searches hours for the hubcap, then he realizes that his dad is right and that it’s not junk and it can help other people like Naomi.
This thematic idiom relates to my own life because sometimes I go to junkyards and I will see something that someone has thrown out that I can use, or fix. Although the people who throw it out thought it was junk, I think of it as treasure.
I think that the thematic idiom that best relates to this story is don't judge a book by it's cover. I think this thematic idiom best relates to this story because at the beginning of the story, Louis dosent really understand his father but later on gets to know him better. This relates to my life because now that I'm new to this school, there are many kids that I do not know, and I'm learning that they seem to be different than what I expected them to be, once I get to know them.
A thematic idiom that relates to "Catch The Moon" Is Don't Judge a book by its cover because if u look at Luis and his record u don’t really see why he does bad stuff at the beginning but as you learn more about him you find out he did bad stuff and got in trouble with the law because he still felt pain from his mother passing. I had a similar experience once, I met this kid and the one time I saw him he was doing some illegal stuff with a bunch of his friends but I give him a chance and he was actually a pretty nice guy and really didn’t want to do bad things he did because his “friends” thought it was cool. Things like this happen every day.
In catch the moon Luis was the dynamic main character. He was a boy who didn’t seem to care about anything like school, his family or even his future in general. He just seemed to notice how people thought of him like the members of his gang. Just to fit in or just to seem cool Luis broke into an old woman’s home and was arrested and sent to juvenile hall for six months then released into his father’s custody. His father seemed like he didn’t know what to do with his rebellious son. the story reminds me of the idiom don’t judge a book by its cover because the characters in the story other than Naomi seems to have judged Luis by his actions rather than really getting to know him and seeing he really was just very sad on the inside about his life and his mother and needed some one to help him out. I can relate this to a book skinny about a girl who came off as a really smart girl with a wonderful life but really she was depressed and very sick with anorexia and nobody noticed until she was overwhelmed by her health and her feelings she kept inside.
REVISED***
I think the idiom "barking up the wrong tree" can fit this story. The idiom means to be looking for something in the wrong place. This reminds me of Luis. For example, he was looking for ways to try to block out the sad memory of his mother passing away. His way of doing so was to get in trouble with the law and to do bad things, like dares, to make him feel more accomplished. "...After six months in juvenile hall--for breaking and entering"(pg 6). Which, by the way, was the wrong thing to do. The death of his mother was a burden because he didn't want to show his true emotions and that caused him more pain. "Suddenly a flood of tears that had been building up for almost three years started pouring from his eyes."(pg 10). A lot of stories, movies, and bullies follow this example. Usually the main character is affected by a traumatizing experience from their past. And many, like Luis, end up doing bad things to fufill their emotions of anger, sadness, etc. I haven't been through the pain that Luis has been through, with a parent dying, but I have had some experiences that were hard to deal with. I was sad and angry, but instead of doing bad things to make myself feel better, I was motivated to do better and show those people off that had hurt me. But everyone is different and are affected differently. Luis was the type that felt the need to cause trouble, but in the end finds that he doesn't have to.
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