Post A

Magnanimously- Courageously noble in mind and heart.

Benevolent- Characterized by or suggestive of doing good.

" 'Did I hurt you?' Alice asked. ' Not yet, kid, but keep trying. You can, Alice. And you will."
I think this is an example of foreshadowing. JD and Alice will most likely have some sort of fling in the future, and she may end up hurting him. I am sure this is also a symbol showing that JD has been hurt before.

"Through the leaves, JD's face appeared. His head was turned upward and she saw only his mouth. The thin, liver-colored lips were pulled back over the shining white teeth. He was grinning. The rest of his face emerged, tan against the green."
I think this is a wonderful example of imagery. It really painted a picture in my mind of what JD looked like at the moment Alice saw him.

"Up in the oak, the Little Studio appeared to be made by children out of Lincoln Logs."
This would be an example of a simile. Alice is comparing the university to a structure made of Lincoln Logs.

"Alice sat beside him. He put his arm around her. It hung around the back of her neck like a weight. But it felt so sturdy, also, and reassuring. She couldn't help but feel glad that such a person existed, a man who would catch her when she fell from trees, a man who wore rings with skulls and nymphs on them, a man who talked of fantastic things. He'd relinquished Alice's shoulder and had started crawling through the weeds. He picked up a shining object-the ring. But instead of letting Alice have it, he put it inside the pocket of his jeans" (133).
This quote talks more about how Alice sees JD as different than most people. She sees him as kind of a "beauty", someone different from everyone else. Magical, maybe. The thing with the ring is also very significant. JD talks about how many women have tried to pull the nymph from his finger, but no one has succeeded yet. He says the one to succeed is the one he is meant to be with. So even though the book may be leading us to believe Alice and JD are going to be together, maybe they won't be. Or maybe the ring has no significance at all, and its just there to confuse us. Hmm..

One theme I see in this book is a theme of independence. Alice is learning to live her life on her own, she is really deciding her destiny, making all her own decisions and such.