Kyle+G+Knowles+A+Separate+Peace

= = __ A Separate Peace __ By: John Knowles  Author Biography: ** John Knowles ** (1926-2001) = =

Raised in Fairmont, West Virginia, John Knowles left home at the age of 15 to attend Phillips Exeter Academy. He graduated from the prestigious New Hampshire boarding school in 1945 and then joined the U.S. Army Air Force's Aviation Cadet Program for eight months. Knowles then went back to school at Yale University and graduated in 1949. During the early 50's, Knowles traveled Europe while working as a free-lance writer and journalist. At this time his works were primarily published short stories. Later on, Knowles became an associate editor at __ Holiday __ magazine. Yet Knowles ended up quitting this job once he finished publishing his 1957 novel, __A Separate__ __Peace__. The success of Knowles’s fiction novel allowed him to become a traveling fiction writer. As the years passed, Knowles published eight more novels including __Morning__ <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">__in Antibes__, __Double Vision: American Thoughts Abroad__, __Indian Summer__, __The Paragon__, and <span style="COLOR: #fdb735; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"> __Peace Breaks Out__, as well as a collection of stories and a travel book. He also gave lectures, mostly at colleges, and became a write-in-residence at University of North Carolina and Princeton University. After dying in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 2001, John     <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">Kowles is remembered through his many works of literature but foremost recognized today for his most famous novel __A Separate Peace__//.// All the information regarding the biography of John Knowles was found on the site below: "John Knowles." __Wikipedia__. 2008. 6 Oct. 2008. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Knowles > <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"> =<span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"> =

<span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"> Novel Synopsis: <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">During the summer session of 1942 at a New Hampshire bo<span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">arding school, best friends Gene Forrester and Finny are inseparable. Yet when one of the friends receives an unexpected injury and the pressures of World War II enlistment are at hand, will their friendship be able to survive?

<span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">Plot Summary:  <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">The novel, //__<span style="FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic">A Separate Peace __// depicts the story of a quiet and intellectual high school student named Gene Forrester. The story is a flashback narration told by Gene Forrester himself as he grows up in the early 1940's. During this time, the reader sees the events of Gene Forrester at the Devon School which is a boarding school in New Hampshire. While at the Devon School, Forrester spends the majority of his time with his best friend Phineas, who is referred to as Finny. Throughout the novel, the boys are caught in the doorway of manhood as they will most likely enlist or be drafted in the United States military to help with World War II. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">At the beginning of the novel, Gene Forrester revisits the Devon School and reflects on his days as a student at the boarding school. It has been approximately 15 years since Forrester has visited the Devon School, yet his memory of the place is still very clear. Forrester elaborates specifically on the marble staircase located in the First Building of the school as well as a tree near the Devon River, a river running along the grounds of the Devon School. As Forrester begins to recollect his time at Devon beginning in the summer session of 1942, the reader will eventually see how these locations play an important role in Forrester’s past. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">The summer session of the Devon School in 1942 was a laid back time for Gene Forrester. The teachers and administration were very easy going on the students, resulting in more free time for the summer session students who were few in number. During this summer session, Gene Forrester developed a very close friendship with his current roommate Finny. Over time Gene realizes that Finny is a very sporty, peculiar, and free-wheeling person. Throughout the summer Gene sees that Finny is very persuasive with teachers, students, and with Gene himself. Finny’s ability to persuade results in Finny never getting in trouble for the mischief he concocts. =<span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"> =

<span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">With Finny and Gene’s free time after classes and on the weekends, the two friends form a society referred to as the “Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session.” The majority of the society’s meetings of the club develop into simply jumping off a tree’s limb into the Devon River over time. Naturally Finny is very willing to makes jumps off the tree into the river no matter how dangerous, whereas Gene requires Finny’s persuasion in order to get Gene to make the jump. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">One day during the summer session, Finny convinces Gene to ditch his studying to go to the beach with Finny. Unwillingly, Gene tags along and the two friends spend the day at the beach. When they return home, Gene fails in his various exams for school. From here Gene imagines that Finny purposely convinced Gene to ditch studying in order for Gene’s grades to fall. This imagination results in Gene forming an envy of Finny’s athletic abilities that develops into a rivalry between the two friends. Gene thinks that the two friends are constantly competing to see which boy can be the best. Finny apparently dominates at all the physical “tests” and Gene apparently dominates at all the mental “tests.”

Eventually Finny and Gene discuss their supposed rivalry where Gene realizes that Finny never had intended in competing with Gene. With their friendship all patched up, the two go to a “Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session” meeting where a member named Leper Lepellier is going to make his first river jump. Later that evening Finny convinces Gene to make a double jump into the river. The two friends climb up the tree and stand on the limb ready to make the jump when Gene bends his legs and shakes the limb, jouncing Finny off of the limb and crashing down to the ground below. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">The story turns out that Finny’s leg is shattered and that he will never be able to do sports again. Naturally, Finny does not return to the Devon School for the remainder of the summer session as he is in recovery from the accident. Meanwhile, Gene begins to miss his roommate and is even accused by other students of causing Finny’s accident. Later that year in September, Gene goes to visit Finny at his house. The friends talk about the accusations and rumors that Gene caused Finny’s accident. Gene tells Finny that he really did cause Finny to fall off the tree limb on purpose, but when Finny does not believe Gene, Gene takes his confession back. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">When the winter session of the Devon School begins, rumors and accusations of Gene intentionally causing Finny’s accident circulate primarily by fellow classmate Brinker Hadley. Meanwhile, the boys at Devon get heavily pressured into enlisting for the military to help in World War II. Military men come to the school weekly and advertise or preach their division of the military in order to enlist new recruits from Devon. During this time, Gene goes downhill as he is denied a position on the school's rowing crew and he also begins to feel responsible for Finny’s accident as well. On top of these factors, Gene feels the pressures of enlisting into the military. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">To Gene’s benefit, Finny returns to Devon with a large cast on his injured leg, causing trouble in Finny’s mobility. Yet Finnny still has his positive attitude in convincing Gene to fulfill Finny’s athletic dreams of competing in the 1944 summer Olympics in London. Although, Finny acts strangely in that he believes that World War II is just a lie concocted by rich old men that want to keep all the power and money of the country to themselves. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">Meanwhile fellow Devon classmate Leper decides to enlist in the military but ends up receiving a section eight discharge which means he is a mental case or “physco." Ashamed of this future, Leper defects from the military and returns home where he is a broken down wreck. Gene finds this out and visits Leper at Leper’s house where Gene tries to help Leper. Yet Leper is too mentally unstable, resulting in an argument between the two. This causes Gene to storm away back to the Devon School.   <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">   <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">As the winter session proceeds, on Gene and Finny are continuing to work through their differences and Finny’s injured leg when one day fellow classmate Brinker mysteriously drags Gene and Finny to the First Building. That night a “trial” is run by Brinker and his friends where the students will decide whether or not Gene really is responsible for Finny’s injury. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">All is revealed as tragic events occur as the climax proceeds and the book comes to a close in a tear jerking and astonishing ending. Information about the plot summary was found in the book: Knowles, John. __A Separate Peace__. New York: Scribner, 2003.

<span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"> What Worked Well: <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"> The best element of John Knowles’s __A Separate Peace__ overall the rocky friendship between the two main characters, Gene Forrester and Finny, is what makes this book so great. Seeing their relationship start as roommates to best friends was easy to relate to when one develops a best friendship. Yet their friendship takes a drastic and opposite turn when Finny injures his leg. Reading about the manner in which Gene and Finny react to each other and Finny’s bum leg makes one imagine what if would be like if that situation were to happen to one's self in real life. The plot twist of whether or not Gene caused Finny’s accident makes the book sort of a mystery that causes the reader to keep reading to find out the truth of the incident. The other part of __A Separate Peace__ that worked very well was the transition throughout the sessions and seasons of school. The book puts highlight on the summer session of 1942 and the winter session that same year. What worked well is that Knowles wrote of events that took place between the sessions of school so that the reader was not confused by quick time changes. The transition of seasons also worked well because of Knowles’s descriptions of the Devon School during summer, winter, fall, and spring. These descriptions gave the reader a better sense of scenery and time of year. The seasons were also portrayed smoothly when Knowles included events such as swimming in the summer or walking on the snowy paths during the winter to sneak in a better understanding of what time of the year the story is currently in.

What Didn’t Work Well: <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">One piece of criticism for this novel would be to cut back on the description of the narrator’s, Gene Forrester’s, return to the Devon School in the opening chapter. This information only confuses the reader between what events are the older Gene Forrester and what events are the teenaged Gene Forrester. By eliminating the passages on Gene Forrester’s return to Devon, the reader can easily focus on the story at hand about Gene Forrester growing up to manhood at the Devon School. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">Another useful critique for the author would be to eliminate sections of the very last chapter such as “All of them, all except Phineas, constructed at infinite cost to themselves these Maginot Ines against this enemy they thought they saw across the frontier, this enemy who never attacked that way – if he ever attacked at all; if he was indeed the enemy” (Knowles 204). This example from the text is a poor ending to the book as it describes to the reader characters such as Quackenbush, Brinker, and Leper who are not the main focus of the entire novel.

Quotation was found in the book: Knowles, John. __A Separate Peace__. New York: Scribner, 2003.

<span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"> Reviews of Others: "I think it is the best-written, best-designed and most moving novel I have read in many years. Beginning with a tiny incident among ordinary boys, it ends by being as deep and as big as evil itself." Aubrey Menen <span style="FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-style: italic">(A Separate Peace) <span style="COLOR: #4a3a2d; FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"> "John Knowles' engrossing tale of love, hate, war, and peace....Intense, mesmerizing, and compelling..." School Library Journal <span style="FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-style: italic">(A Separate Peace) <span style="COLOR: #4a3a2d; FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"> "Is he the successor to Salinger for whom we have been waiting so long? Encounter <span style="FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-FAMILY: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-style: italic">(A Separate Peace)  All quotes found on site below: "A Separate Peace." __Powell's Books__. 2008. 7 Nov 2008. < http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?isbn=0743253973 > Literary Information: __ A Separate Peace __ is a fiction novel yet is based off of events from <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"> Knowles’s life. “Knowles has stated that he modeled Finny on David Hackett from Milton Academy, whom he met when both attended a summer session at Phillips Exeter” (John Knowles). <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"> The genre of __A Separate Peace__ is classified as a “coming-of-age” story as well as a “tragedy” (Key Facts). <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"> This novel is written in first person meaning that it is told from the viewpoint of one of the characters in the novel, this being Gene Forrester. The novel is written in a flash back style meaning the majority of the novel is written in past tense as if the events were a memory of the narrator.

All quotes found in the works below: “A Separate Peace (Key Facts).” Spark Notes. 2008. 7 Nov. 2008. < http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/separate/facts.html > Knowles, John. __A Separate Peace__. New York: Scribner, 2003. Why Chosen For “Outstanding Books for the College Bound” List: This book was chosen for the “Outstanding Books for the College Bound” list foremost for its great plot. A plot about two best friends is appealing to a wide audience because the majority of the population either have a best friend or once had a best friend so they can relate to Finny and Gene’s relationship. Plus, the plot’s mysterious side about whether Gene caused Finny’s accident creates meaningful discussion between readers about their opinions. Basically the plot is interesting and complex enough to make it considerably “outstanding.” Meanwhile, the book is considered “college bound” because of its level of difficulty. The reader must first have prior knowledge about World War II to understand about half of the novel. Another reason that this book is for the college bound is that it includes deep moral issues such as honesty in Gene confessing the truth to Finny or duty to country in the Devon School boys enlisting to the United States military. These characteristics of A Separate Peace shows one exactly why this novel was placed on the “Outstanding Books for the College Bound” list. Why One Should Read __A Separate Peace__:

A reason why one should read __A Separate Peace__ is the reference of World War II. A reader with prior knowledge and interest in World War II would love reading this novel because the reader can apply that history knowledge into literature. For those who believe World War II is the most interesting and astounding war they have ever learned, the World War II enlistment pressures and factors will intrigue them. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"> Also, a modern day teenage boy considering a military career should read this book because it will inform them on teenage boys that were pressured or forced to pursue military careers. For example, the character Leper can give one an idea of what a military career could end up being. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"> Overall, one should read __A Separate Peace__ if one likes tear jerking stories that are not “mushy gushy" love stories. This novel is a piece of literature that is tragic without have being romantic. media type="youtube" key="O6gtISlR2dk" height="344" width="425"  <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">  Great Books of Similar Genre: __ Flags of Our Fathers __ by James Bradley __ Forrest Gump __ by Winston Groom __ The Crucible __ by Arthur Miller

<span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif"> Great “Wikis” to Check Out: __A Separate Peace__: <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">http://park204.wikispaces.com/Kelsey279+Knowles+A+Separate+Peace

<span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">__The Lord of the Rings__: <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">http://park204.wikispaces.com/EmilySpringer-The+Lord+of+The+Rings

<span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">__The Catcher and the Rye__: <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">http://park204.wikispaces.com/Brittany+J.D.+Salingers+The+Catcher+and+the+Rye

<span style="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, serif">__A Death in the Family__: <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">http://park204.wikispaces.com/Melissa+Agee%27s+A+Death+in+the+Family