Independent+Novel+Study

__//**War of the Worlds - By H.G Wells**//__
__//**December 3rd Pages 1- 55**//__
 * //__Entry 1__//**

__//**Plot Summary**//__ In 1898 Europe, a silver cylinder crashes to earth, this was not completely sudden, because scientists observed strange happenings on the planet Mars, explosions to be exact. In side these cylinders were martians and their vehicle, giant chrome tripods attached with heat - rays. Their intentions are unknown, but they start to lay waste to the planet earth. They burn everything that lives, humans trees animals etc. H.G Wells is in town studying the cylinder when the martians attack. He makes his way out of town, with his wife to find refuge in an old inn. There he meets a soldier who tells him about the destruction of the army and their futile attempts to destroy the beast. As the aliens get closer, Wells and his wife flee the inn with the soldier, they then meet up with another squadron of the army. This group actually takes down one of the ships with well aimed mortar fire and angers the others even more. They leave the town Wells is in for now, to look for other things to destroy.

__ Why did you select this novel? __ When I was little, about 5, I saw the 2005 recreation of War of the Worlds. It was honestly one of the scariest things I've ever seen. Now, as watch re-runs of the film on Showcase, it doesn't scare me (as much as it used to). I had known that War of the Worlds was also a celebrated novel for a while after I had watched the movie the first time, and I was curious, was the book as terrifying as the movie? Was it good enough to be made into one of the greatest movies of all time? These questions led me to the decision of picking War of the Worlds for my independent novel study. I had also been meaning to read it for a long time, so this was the perfect opportunity to give the book a shot.

//__ What information did you need to know before reading the novel? __// War of the Worlds, which is one of the best science fiction novels of all time, was surprisingly written and published over one hundred years ago, in 1898. When you think about, considering the technology in those days, it's amazing how an imagination back then could think up such a technologically advanced novel. What could have inspired it? You see, at the dawn of the 20th century, a new era was beginning, the technology revolution, people were beginning to think big and their inventions grew with it. H.G Wells was one of these people, and his mind gave a possible glimpse of the future, War of the Worlds.

//__ Who is telling the story? How does this person’s perspective effect the way the story is told? __// The narration of the story is told in first person view, we are looking at the destruction of the world through H.G Well's eyes. This view gives a more riveting and suspenseful feel because you only see what the narrator sees, so you don't know what's behind a door or what is going on behind some trees.

10/10

__//**Entry 2**//__ __//**December 10th - Pages 55- 87**//__

__//**Plot Summary**//__ After the fall of one of the martian vessels, H.G Wells escapes down a river in a rowboat, as to avoid attention from the martians by not taking the obvious route. Earlier, the heat ray had already blasted the river and caused it to heat dramatically, the steam from this boiling water caused Wells to lose consciousness and pass out in the forest after he had safely left the boat. When he wakes up, a new face is there to greet him, a priest. The conversation which follows between the two of them gives a great message about the power of god and the destruction of war. Wells informs the priest that they'll have to find a safe haven, like London, so they start to head there. The story then switches perspectives of Wells telling his brothers perspective and what is happening in London. He describes it as pure chaos, no order whatsoever. Before they continue their journey they fall behind enemy lines by hiding, and they observe a new weapon from the martians, which I will go into more detail below.

// __** What is the setting of the novel? Is the setting important or could the novel be happening anywhere? Why? **__ // The setting is in London, at the dawn of the 20th century. This setting is quite important for two reasons. First, to be held at the time the dawn of the era of technology would inspire fear of what to expect in the future. Written at that time, the book must have scared people in real life about possible outcomes of our future. Secondly, London was one of the biggest cities of the time of the writing of this book, so Wells can illustrate true fear and terror in a big way, with a population of 6 million people (approximately).

__//What is the initial or first problem faced by the main character?//__ ** His first problem is when the martians first start attacking, he is solely trying to survive the initial attack of the martians and survive long enough for them to go away. He is trying to get out of the town where everything had happened, dodge the massive destruction of the heat ray and try to figure out what to do next. Wells does an excellent job of capturing that feeling of suspense and dread as Wells tries to escape from the futuristic terrors, this is one of my favorite starting conflicts ever. **

// __** What new things are added to the original problem as the novel progresses? **__ // ** As the novel progresses, Wells realizes that he doesn't just need to save himself, but save all the other people he can, and this is a much harder task, giving that you can't control every move of the other person the way you would like. The war between man and machine has developed greatly ever since the original destruction of one of the martian tripods, the martians are now mad, and they've changed their battle strategy. Along with the heat ray, which has the power to instantaneously destroy anything the martians see, they now have the power to snuff out whatever they can't see with this gas that descends, like a river to an ocean. Anything living that breathes this gas suddenly dies, another great obstacle for Wells and the priest. Since they are behind the front of the aliens it doesn't harm them, but they need to be careful. London is also in chaos from the impending attack from the martians, so if Wells and the priest go to London, they may face even more problems jeopardizing their lives. ** 10/10

__//** Entry 3 **//__ __//** December 24th - Pages 87-122 **//__ After escaping from the martians, the perspective switches yet again to Wells telling the accounts of his brother, and how he came into company with a noble's wife and sister. As he was escaping London, he saw a woman, the noble's wife, being robbed. He stepped in and saved her and the sister and fled with them on horseback and carriage. They headed towards the main road where you could easily exit London, but thousands of people were already fleeing on it, trying to run from the martians. They were trampling others, collapsing and crying for help in the face of terror. Wells decided to add this mostly because it shows death from a perspective that cared, instead of just saying people died. His Brother then boarded a boat on the coast to seek refuge, but as they were leaving the dock, three martian battleships appeared and started to open fire on the other boats. In this hour of despair a naval battleship appeared, //the Thunder Child//, who did not open fire until it was close, so the martians would not attack it. It took out two of the martians and dissapeared along with the third. The perspective switches back to Wells in a house in a small town with the curate. As they were in the house another cylinder crashed down on it, trapping the curate and Wells underneath. They found a small crack into which they could observe the outside world, and what they saw was the martians building another tripod. The martians are basically heads with tentacles, and from observing them Wells saw their intentions for the humman race. For food, they do not eat, but they inject the blood of still alive beings into their own systems to live, which is quite disgusting and creepy.
 * //__ Plot Summary __//**

__//How does the author get you to read on or hold your interest? //__ What really held my interest was the amount of suspense and the description of the destruction. H.G Wells will most certainly survive until the end, but in the overwhelming terror and destruction brung by the martians, I'm always worried about the secondary characters, because at any moment they could suffocate, be crushed or burst into flames. The descriptive writng is interesting too, because as well as describing setting and obious things, Wells also describes the behavioural aspects and psychological attributes of how the martians think and act, which is pretty cool.

__//What plot twists or unexpected events happen as the novel goes on? //__ I was really surprised when the cylinder crashed down on top of the house, I wasn't expecting it at all! Another twist is revealed when Wells describes their feeding habits, I then knew why the martians were on earth and why they were so Hostile.

//__To what age group is the novel aimed? Support your answer with evidence __////__. __//

I think this book is made for some teens but mainly adults. I think this because of the serious things covered inthe novel. Throughout the novel the aliens have burnt, suffocated and crushed human beings, which is quite violent, especially for children. It also covers subjects like war and survival, which kids cannot relate to well and they could be quite frigtened of both.

10/10
After watching the martians for many days, Wells and the priest are running low on food. Dehydrated and just plain terrified, the priest goes crazy. He starts to yell and make lots of noise, leaving Wells frightened for the Martians may hear. Wells has no choice but to knock the priest unconscious, but he makes a lot of the noise in the process. Wells hides immediately after hearing sounds from outside, just in time before the martians burst inside to investigate. They take the priest for food and search around a bit, but Wells escapes this encounter unscathed. After a few more days, the martians leave the cylinder, allowing Wells to escape from the house and continue his trek to London. Along the way Wells takes careful observation of the new transformation of Earth. The red weed has spread to all that Wells can see, but he notes that there was a virus killing some of the red weed because it was not native to the planet. As he walks through a forest, he runs into another human. The human that he meets is none other than the Artilleryman, who has survived the battle with the martians. The Artilleryman tells Wells that he is getting ready to go underground, and when the time is right, spring up and kill the aliens. He also tells Wells of what he thinks will come of the future, the martians will have to keep the humans as pets or for conservation, breed them and then eat them. After spending aa couple nights with the Artilleryman, Wells realizes that he cannot hide. he has to get to London where he is meeting his wife, who may very well be dead. So he leaves the Artilleryman and continues with his journey. When he finally arrives in London, the town is deserted. Dead bodies, burnt, crushed or covered in black powder line the streets, the buildings are burnt and destroyed. Wells hears a strange noise, like a loud siren, coming from not far away, so he hides in a cab. With nothing to lose, his friends gone crazy and believing his wife is dead, Wells goes out to meet the martians and accept his death. To his surprise however, he finds a lone martian tripod, making the sound from earlier, the other tripods lay at his feet. it then collapses and wells believes it is finally over. He returns to the streets and amazingly finds his wife, and she collapses into his arms, still alive. Wells then tells us that what killed the martians were the tiny diseases and bacteria that we humans have grown immune to. They took over the bodies of the martians and killed them from the inside.
 * __//Entry 4//__**
 * __//January 7th 2010 -//__** **__//Pages 122- End//__**
 * __//Plot Summary//__**

__//** What is the climax of the novel? **//__ After all that he has went through, seeing the destruction and death of so many people, his friends going insane, and believing his wife is dead, and coming all the way to London, Wells accepts that the martians have won the war. He goes out to embrace death from the martians and finally end it. To his surprise, the martians are all dead, so Wells lives again.

__//** Is the novel believable? **//__ It is hard to say if the novel would actually surpass in our world, because we don't know. For instance, because the universe is millions of billions of miles long, and even more planets and galaxies exist in the universe, who's to say that aliens don't exist in the universe? Showing the little proof that we have. They don't need to be from mars necessarily, and who's to say they wouldn't be hostile? Water exists on mars, so there could've been aliens living there a long time ago. However, you cannot say that aliens exist, because there isn't enough proof, we haven't discovered any other planets with life on them, and we may never will. The aliens could also be friendly too.

__//** What were the major things that helped to resolve the plot? **//__ The major things that helped resolved the plot were, first off, Wells knocking the priest unconscious, this saved Wells life and eventually helped him escape, since the aliens thought they got all that was in the house. Second, was the artilleryman explaining what was going to happen. This resolved any questions I had of what the aliens intentions were and what they were going to do with the human race. The rant about fighting the martians made Wells leave because he doesn't want to be killed, he wants to find his wife, and this is what brought him to his senses. Finally in London, where the bacteria killed all the martians, this resolved the plot by being part of the conclusion and finally eliminated any fear of death. Wells also met his wife and this resolved the question of if he was going to find his wife or not.


 * //__ Entry 5 __//**
 * //__January 11th 2010__// **


 * //__ What message did you get from the novel? How was this message conveyed? __//**
 * There are many strong messages in this novel. First off, the novel gives a strong message of war and death, which is brought swiftly and surely by the martians. It shows how war can change the lives of so many so quickly, like many other wars have done before. Survival is also important, shown through the toils of H.G Wells. He shows what people will do to survive, whether it is hiding to knocking someone out. There is also a message of being human, as shown through Wells becoming inhumane and then realizing his mistakes, then finding his wife. **


 * //__ Why would you (or why wouldn't you) recommend this novel to a friend? __// **
 * In my opinion, it all depends who the friend is. Judging by my delightful read of this book, I would definitely recommend it, because i found it a great, suspenseful read that kept me on my toes. However, if the friend was, say, not mature enough to grasp these concepts of the book, death and impending doom and such, i would not recommend it. I would say this about other mature books like this one, it just depends if the reader is ready or not. **


 * //__To what age group is the novel aimed? Support your answer with evidence.__// **
 * This is definitely not a book written for a younger age group, but more for a mature audience that can handle the concepts covered in the book. I think this because about one chapter in, the first people die, engulfed in flames by the heat ray, which is a bit scary. Then, the black smoke sought out and suffocated human beings. Then the it was discovered that the martians were using our blood as food, which is gross and a bit terrifying. There are too many concepts to be understood as well, from death to survival to being human. I don't think a young mind would be able to handle such an intense book like this, so I definitely believe this book was made for ages 13 and up. **

 **// By: Ryley Woodland  //**  War of the Worlds War of the Worlds, a novel by H.G Wells, is a great book full of suspense and surprises which I really enjoyed. War of the Worlds can refer to the aliens versus the human race or the internal conflict inside Wells as he debates what to do as the plot goes along. The setting is in the outskirts of England at the start of the 1900s, the story is told by Wells in first person view, which I think is an excellent choice for this kind of story, because Wells can really describe what is happening in a scary and suspenseful way. The main conflict is man versus man, the man being the aliens in the story. There is a bit of other conflicts in the story but they are not as important. I really enjoyed the plot because it kept me guessing and introduced a couple interesting characters, like the curate and the artilleryman. The story begins with Wells describing the events that had happened, a huge metallic cylinder crashing to earth, in past tense, and how he was on his way to investigate the crash site. There, he finds many other people peering into the pit where the cylinder has indented in the earth. After supposing that there are aliens inside, a group of people approach the cylinder. Almost instantaneously, a bright light sets them on fire, this would be come to known as the heat ray, and a giant, metallic tripod wielding this weapon emerges from the pit, shooting the heat ray in all directions, plants and people alike. Wells barely escapes this attack and makes his way home to his wife, who tells her they must go to Leatherhead, fearing their safety. They make their way to Leatherhead and stay in an inn. At night more cylinders fall and the sound and sight of gunfire echoes. After a while the gunfire stops, and shortly after the tripods come to Leatherhead, as Wells and his wife leave the inn they encounter an artilleryman from the army trying to escape, he explains how the army was defeated and how he fled, and then he joins them on their journey. Fearing his wife’s safety, for he wants to help the artilleryman, Wells tells his wife that they will meet in London. As Wells journeys with the artilleryman he realizes it is a mistake when the aliens attack, the army is capable of knocking down one tripod, but this sends the others into a fit of rage, destroying the rest of the army. Wells use a boat on a river to escape and because of the steam set off by the heat ray heated river, Wells passes out in a forest. When he wakes up, a priest shares some of his food and continues with Wells on his quest. They fall behind the tripods advance and witness a weapon that sprays black smoke, which is heavy and moves downward like a stream. If breathed, the inhaler dies. They hide inside a house to search for food, but as they hide a cylinder crashes down on the house trapping them inside. They are trapped for many days, and observe the aliens through a hole in a wall. The aliens inject the blood of humans into their own for food, which is gruesome. The curate then goes insane on the tenth day of their imprisonment and starts yelling, attracting the attention of the aliens. Wells is forced to knock the curate out and hide. The aliens take the body of the curate and leave, but not before nearly finding Wells. They then leave the house a few days later leaving Wells to escape. Wells then observes the landscape, which has been nearly overrun with a red weed, but as Wells noted a virus has been infecting and killing it. When travelling through a forest, Wells meets the artilleryman again and he takes him to the house where he is staying. He explains his plans of how they will attack the Martians when the time is right. Wells doesn’t agree with him, needing to find his wife, so he sets off to London. Finally arriving in London, Wells finds the town completely ruined, no living beings to be seen. He then hears a sound in the distance so he hides. The climax is when Wells gives up. After all that he has went through, seeing the destruction and death of so many people, his friends going insane, and believing his wife is dead, and coming all the way to London, Wells accepts that the martians have won the war. He goes out to embrace death from the martians and finally end it. To his surprise, the martians are all dead, from the tiny diseases and bacteria that we humans have grown immune to, and so Wells lives. This resolves the conflict because Wells now knows that it is finally over, the aliens have all died. Wells then returns to the streets of London to find his wife, and she collapses into his arms.