Book 3 - If I Stay by Gayle Forman - The Book Earthworms - Ryan Mark Catanio

“Sometimes you make choices in life and sometimes choices make you.” 

- Gayle Forman (if i stay)-

if i stay is a heart-achingly beautiful book about the power of love, the true meaning of family, and the choices we all make.

Our group “BOOK EARTHWORMS” was assigned in different tasks to evaluate furthermore the book in order to have an intensive comprehension of it. I was assigned to provide interesting words in the book that can hopefully expand our vocabulary, and here are my other group mates’ tasks:

Discussion Director - Hara Vessa Escabarte

1.       In reading this novel, how would you describe Mia’s situation? If this happens to you, how would you stand from it?

The group united to conclude that Mia’s situation is a tragedy, and this because to lose your family is like facing tragedy, and if this happens to us, it would be so hard to face life, it takes time in moving on.

2.       What do you think Adam's great influence to Mia? What are his capabilities in making Mia stay

My group and I answered that Adams influence to Mia is his love, his love is indeed a great motivation and a wonderful reason for making Mia to stay, and he is the only thing that Mia has.

3.       If you are Mia are you going to stay or not? If you are going to stay, how would you face life without your family?

Majority of the group has this answer:

I will stay, if God wanted me to die, maybe he would not let me in coma, that’s why I would choose to stay. The very moment that I was in coma is the very moment that God given me the chance to stay alive, it is just the matter of choosing wise and analyzing God’s purpose.

4.       For you as a reader, what is your opinion unto Mia’s situation? How would she overcome that tragedy? How would she live herself without his family?

For us as a group, telling Mia to stay will be a wise opinion, she’s still having the reason to live her life, Adam is still there for her, and playing music will help her overcome from it. Make her lost (lost of her family) as her inspiration.

5.       In life we are given the chance to choose from options whether to live or not. The question is what are the bases to conclude that her decision to stay is the right thing to do?

·         God’s purpose

·         For Adam, for their Love

·         For her career as a musician

·         For herself and family

The group stated the above bullet forms as the bases to conclude that Mia’s decision to stay is the right thing to do. She has lots of reasons to stay. 

Ronald Surilla - If I stay (Summary)

Mia was a 17 year old gifted cellist wakes up on a snowy morning, as her family are celebrating the holiday. She is planning to go to his boyfriend’s concert (Adam) but also  wants to practice cello with a pianist. Her talents in playing the cello gave her an opportunity to enroll at Julliard, a prestigious music school in the country.

Her family decided for a road trip. They intended to visit old family friends, to stop at a book shop and then to stop over and have dinner with Mia’s grandparents. Suddenly their car was involved in an accident. After few moments  Mia found herself okay and  standing near the wrecked car. She found her dad and mom dead in the collision and  she was desperately looking for her brother Teddy. She hears that someone is calling her name in the scene of the incident. Then she saw her own body in terrible condition, badly injured in the incident.

Mia was shock at seeing her own body and wonders if she was dead also. An ambulance arrives and the paramedics attended her body and was rushed inside the ambulance. Mia, in spiritual form got inside the ambulance to follow his body and heard the paramedic reports that her parents are dead. Her body was transported in the Intensive Care Unit of a hospital. While at the hospital, Mia recollected her thoughts and reminiscing her past memories with her family, Kim( her best friend) and Adam. At the end of the story Mia woke up from a coma.

- I love this book its still my favorite one on my bookshelf and I think its going to stay that way for a long time. And one more thing: I don't have the book title in capital letters because on the book cover they are in lowercase. By the way, for Ronald's work it was shortly but surely. It was short but not boring to read and it was surely, because he describe the major event as it was in the book. 

Eliaza Tero - Passage Picker

“Sometimes you make choices in life and sometimes choices make you.” (Dad to Mia)

This passage was said by Mia’s Dad, when Mia asked her about quitting the band and chose to be a Father.  

In the first phrase “sometimes you make choices in life”, for me it means that in our life we need to choose between two or more things, and when we choose, we should think for it a hundred times and in the end we should choose what it is right. The second phrase “Sometimes choices make you” , we always  make choices, there’s a possibility that when we make choices, it can change our life or it can change our personality. Just like what Mia’s Dad did, he chose to quit the band and to be a father, a good and admirable father to Mia and her brother, the time he chose to be a father, is also the time he realized that being a father is different from being a band artist, because there’s a lot of responsibilities and duties to be made. In addition, I’ve read an article about decision making (choosing between two things) it was said there that “choices are especially important, hard, or have dramatic (possibly unexpected) results.” For example you are given two choices whether to be a criminal or to go to school and study, if we choose to be a criminal, that would result us to be a bad person, but if we choose to go to school and study, maybe someday, in the future, we’ll become a good person. So it’s always our choices that make us. So make your right choices!

- On my opinion, this passage is the most powerful passage in the story. Yet, it is obsolete, because I have already use this passage in my introduction to this blog. By the way, this passage talks about decision that we make and that decision make the whole of us. Elai expound this idea into something bigger, as if something "outside-of-the-box". Her work is great, so let's make the right choice, as what she said.

Jermaine Dela Cruz - Connector

"Say Something"

Say something, I'm giving up on you
I'll be the one, if you want me to
Anywhere I would've followed you
Say something, I'm giving up on you

And I am feeling so small
It was over my head
I know nothing at all

And I will stumble and fall
I'm still learning to love
Just starting to crawl

Say something, I'm giving up on you
I'm sorry that I couldn't get to you
Anywhere I would've followed you
Say something, I'm giving up on you

And I will swallow my pride
You're the one that I love
And I'm saying goodbye

Say something, I'm giving up on you
And I'm sorry that I couldn't get to you
And anywhere I would've followed you (Oh-oh-oh-oh)
Say something, I'm giving up on you

Say something, I'm giving up on you
Say something...

I have chosen to connect A Great Big World’s song to If I Stay because the song is perfect to Mia’s situation.

I think of this song meaning in two different ways.

·        The first one could be a friend/family member who is about to pass away. You've done everything you can to keep them here, with you, and it's just gotten worse. You've lost all hope. It's been so long and such a hard battle, your starting to "give up" on them. You're to the point where you are begging them to "say something", to give them a sign that they are still here, and with you... even though you know they aren't.

In the hospital scene, Adam has talked to the unconscious Mia saying:

“If you stay, I'll do whatever you want. I'll quit the band, go with you to New York. But if you need me to go away, I'll do that, too. I was talking to Liz and she said maybe coming back to your old life would be too painful, that maybe it'd be easier for you to erase us. And that would suck, but I'd do it. I can lose you like that if I don't lose you today. I'll let you go. If you stay.”- Adam

·        Another way, could be about love. You are trying harder than you should in a relationship, and you aren't sure if you even want this. You don't have a sign whether you should actually try or just give up. You want them to "say something" to know if it will work out or not. You feel obligated to stay because you've tried so long and hard to fit their needs, and they just aren't satisfied (I'm sorry I couldn't get to you)".

“I'm not sure this is a world I belong in anymore. I'm not sure that I want to wake up.” -Mia

- The song was used as the main soundtrack in the movie of this novel. Jermaine perfectly connected the song to the story. As the song suggested that If you love someone, then stay with that someone. The song and the story plus Jermaine's work, of course, is a total PERFECT COMBO!

John Demdam - Character Captain

Mia Hall - is the narrator of the book and she is the main character. Mia has brown eyes and brunette hair which is unlike to her father and mother. She is just a simple girl, she's not very outgoing. She is quiet and serious most of the time. Her parents love different kinds of music like rock, which is unlike to her as she loves classic music. She is a cellist. One day, her family had an accident where her mother and father died, including her younger brother, Teddy. Mia was in comatose and had a 50-50. She was spirtiually alive and she have to decide wether she wants to give up or fight.

Adam Wilde - is Mia's boyfriend. Adam is also musically inclined specifically rock like Mia's parents. Adam appreciates music in many ways. He is a main vocalist of a rock band where he also plays guitar and drums. He is skinny and tall where he wears skinny jeans and a messy hair do, he really looks like a typical "Rock Star". Adam is one of the most important person in Mia's life, because he supports her and he is the one who gives her strength and encourages her in a lots of ways, especially in music.

Kim Schein - is Mia's bestfriend who also plays an important role in Mia's life. Kim is like Mia, she s serious most of the time. She has a lot of common personalities with Mia, that is why they were close to each other and became best friends. Kim is a Jewish and as dark long hair. She was raised in a strict family. Inspite of it, Kim was still outspoken and straight forward as she expressed herself and gave her opinions to other. She was so helpful especially when Mia has a lot of problems with Mia's insecureness and when the time that Mia was uncertain to continue to play cello.

Well, I just want to say something about Mia's dilemma wether to live or die. Ofcourse she got her spirit back to her body because of Adam who put the earphones to Mia with a cello music, and that is the power of love. But I will not focus on what love Adam have for Mia.

Let's go back to the question: "to live or die?". Definitely, it would be an opportunity and a blessing to live life. Wether who you are and whatever circumstances you are in at this very moment, to die is definitely not a choice. This life was given to us, is for our own benefit as well. The thing in the minds of the people is that, we could actually see more those bad things that happens in our life, because if we just count all the blessings we are experiencing up to this very moment that we are breathing, it is obviously uncountable. That is what we should think of. Let's take those instances, problems and trials as a God's plan, a plan that makes us be a better person who have now a better perspective and outlook in life and not a plan that God made for us to suffer. So I just wanted to point out here, that life is a precious gift that we should handle and take care of. It is where we will experience the ups and downs where give us the excitement that keeps us going on. So, choose LIFE and LIVE IT WELL.

- Well, great job. John described each character with their actual description. But John only characterized the direct characterization, he should somehow characterized those indirect characterization of each character. But still, it was a good work, well done.


Arjun Dango - Artistic Adventurer

- Arjun did not explain what is his work for. And for me, he used passage again, he should pick something new.

Me, Ryan Mark L. Catanio - Vocabulary Enricher

Vocabulary:

·         All definition below is based on Merriam-Webster Dictionary Online.

·         http://www.merriam-webster.com/

1. Sartorial (adjective)

Definition: of or relating to a tailor or tailored clothes; broadly:  of or relating to clothes.

Synonyms: stylistic, elegant, sharp, flashy

Line: "He started smoking one recently as part of this whole 1950s, Father Knows Best retro kick he is on. He also wears bow ties. I am never quite clear on weather all this is sartorial or sardonic." Page 4

Author’s purpose: In my opinion, the author used the word “sartorial” to described Mia’s father, as old fashioned, yet stylized and elegance characteristic.

2. Sardonic (adjective)

Definition: grimly mocking or cynical.

Synonyms: satirical, sarcastic, ironic

Line: "He started smoking one recently as part of this whole 1950s, Father Knows Best retro kick he is on. He also wears bow ties. I am never quite clear on weather all this is sartorial or sardonic." Page 4

Author’s purpose: It’s 2009 (the year of the first publication) and Mia is living in modern generation. It might be that the author used the word “sardonic” (mocking the old fashion) to the idea that contradicts to the word “sartorial” (stylized old fashion); to describe Mia’s contradicting ideas, toward her father’s wear. Mia thinks that her father is fashionable to his 1950’s lifestyle or too old for that, because its 2009 already.

·         The two words “sartorial” and “sardonic” are both remarkable. It is because, both words initially started with “sar-” and both are used in the right situation.

3. Cajoled (verb)

Definition: to persuade someone to do something or to give you something by making promises or saying nice things

Synonyms: blandish, blarney, coax, palaver, soft-soap, sweet-talk

Line: “He’d stubbornly refused to get a license for years, insisting on riding his bike everywhere… …She’d pestered, cajoled, and sometimes yelled at Dad to get a license, but he’d insisted that he preferred pedal power.” Page 12

Author’s purpose: The author want to emphasized Mia’s father’s “stubbornly refused to get a license for years”. Based on what I have understand, the word cajoled/cajole is used in an important event, when someone is not doing the things that he/she must have done a long time before  the actual event (Mia’s father is driving without a license).

·         What gives me an attention to notice this word is the diphthong /ou/ in “-joule”, plus, the fact that I did not know what it is. :D

4. Avowed (adjective)

Definition: that has been deeply acknowledged; declared.

Synonyms: declared, open, admitted, acknowledged, confessed, professed, self-proclaimed

Line: “Kerry the avowed left-winger who decided to protest the Iraq war by getting a bunch of guys to dress up in drag and go down to the local army recruiting office to enlist.” Page 173

Author’s purpose: The “avowed” word was used rather than “acknowledge” to precisely described Kerry’s fame from being “left-winger”. Left-winger are those politics are political positions or activities that accept or support social equality. Avowed is rather used to put a remark on Kerry the achievement.

5. Visceral (adjective)

Definition: coming from strong emotions and not from logic or reason medical: relating to deep inward feelings rather than to the intellect: of or relating to the viscera.

·         viscera – a plural form of viscus; an internal organ.

Synonyms: instinctive, instinctual, gut, deep-down, deep-seated, deep-rooted, inward

Line: “But sometimes the memories feel so real, so visceral, so personal, that I confuse them with my own.” Page 222

Author’s purpose: Based on my assumption, the author used the metaphorical word “visceral” to inflict a great emotion to the whole plot of the story, where at the end; she did not know whether that memories are real or not. The word is metaphorical, because it describes Mia’s emotions toward her lost memory when she became a celestial being. The author wants the readers the feel that deep inside of Mia, that memories are instinctively real.

·         For me, this word is my “favorite” throughout the whole story, because I can feel the same drama that Mia is feeling in this particular line.  As if, I am Mia.