English Arts Festival

Discussion Board: The Pigman and Me

Current Forum: The Pigman and Me Date: 28-Oct-2002 17:55:16 Author: Hayden, Kellie <khayden@loganhocking.k12.oh.us> Subject: loyalty  I find it interesting that at one point before the big fight, Paul calls Jenny, loyal. Also, his sister is loyal and saves him from a bigger foe. When you're growing up you need to know who you can count on and who will be loyal. It is obvious that his father and mother had not been stable nor for that matter loyal to him. His dad left him and his mother refers to him as a stone around her neck. He finds what he needs in two women and one old man, Nonno Frankie. How cool.

Current Forum: The Pigman and Me Date: 28-Oct-2002 18:00:52 Author: Hayden, Kellie <khayden@loganhocking.k12.oh.us> Subject: My hometown  Just like in the country song, "In My Hometown," everybody needs a hometown where everything is safe and "normal." Where there are volunteer fire departments, Fourth of July parades, and a parish hall where everyone holds baptisms, receptions, and funerals. A hometown gives you roots and a sense of who you are. Paul finally realizes this for the first time in his life in Travis. He feels safe and starts to "find himself." Where Jennifer feels trapped, Paul feels comfortable. It is all a state of mind and where you are headed. Jennifer won't sent herself free of this trap and Paul decides to use it as a normal springboard to his future.

Current Forum: The Pigman and Me Date: 28-Oct-2002 18:02:46 Author: Hayden, Kellie <khayden@loganhocking.k12.oh.us> Subject: What's my role?  Can I be the summarizer this time?

Current Forum: The Pigman and Me Date: 28-Oct-2002 19:28:27 Author: Pinkstock, Theresa <terrip@amanda.k12.oh.us> Subject: Re: What's my role?  It doesn't really matter; however, I wrote a couple of days ago to ask if anyone minded that I be the summarizer. I actually got on tonight to do my summary. Theresa Pinkstock

Current Forum: The Pigman and Me Date: 28-Oct-2002 22:02:51 Author: Carter, Jane <jcarter@west.k12.oh.us> Subject: Re: What's my role?  I wanted to be Connector....I hope that is okay. I sent an email to everyone. I hope you all got it.

Current Forum: The Pigman and Me Date: 28-Oct-2002 19:41:10 Author: Pinkstock, Theresa <terrip@amanda.k12.oh.us> Subject: Summary  The Pigman and Me is an autobiography of a year in Paul Zindel's teenage life. The story is set in a town called Travis, Straten Island, New York. Paul writes of the experiences he had with his best friend Jennifer Wolupopshe. He depicts the trials and tribulations of living with a mother which claimed would committe suicide several times. In the course of this novel, Paul Zindel gives an account of developing a special relation- ship with an elderly man known as Nonno Frankie. Later to become known as Paul's Pigman. Upon moving to their new house which Paul's mother promised would be the best house ever, Paul was showered with coachroaches, made a private get-away in a tree with his best friend, and got in a fight with a boy named John Quinn. He learned how to cope with life's unexpected situations with the help of Nonno Frankie. Nonno became a father-figure to Paul, offering advice about school, fighting, living and dieing, and surviving in his dysfunctional family.

Current Forum: The Pigman and Me Date: 29-Oct-2002 14:58:35 Author: Carter, Jane <jcarter@west.k12.oh.us> Subject: Re: Summary  Good job on your summary. You certainly summed it all up. I liked this book better than the Pigman. I felt that Zindel was able to convey well how he felt about growing up. This book would certainly catch the interest of a reluctant reader.

Current Forum: The Pigman and Me Date: 28-Oct-2002 20:05:25 Author: Pinkstock, Theresa <terrip@amanda.k12.oh.us> Subject: What do you think?  I really enjoyed this story. I think I liked it more than the Pigman. I seemed to connect more with it. Also, I feel I could probably read this story aloud to my students (leaving out a few parts because of the inappropriate content for fifth graders). I think Paul Zindel did a great job of describing situations he encountered while growing up. I could relate to the situations with his mother. Growing up with an alcoholic mother, I felt a connection to the story.

Current Forum: The Pigman and Me Date: 29-Oct-2002 13:19:10 Author: Wilson, Sandra <SWi3548332@aol.com> Subject: Re: What do you think?  I think that I enjoyed The Pigman and Me so much because of the relationship between it and The Pigman. His life and his novels seem to intertwine. They connect and overlap on several levels. I also could relate to his struggles with his mother. My father suffers from manic depression. As an adult, I can say that this person suffers from a disease, but as a adolescent, it is hard not to think that in some way if you are good enough you can change things.

Current Forum: The Pigman and Me Date: 29-Oct-2002 13:19:13 Author: Wilson, Sandra <SWi3548332@aol.com> Subject: Re: What do you think?  I think that I enjoyed The Pigman and Me so much because of the relationship between it and The Pigman. His life and his novels seem to intertwine. They connect and overlap on several levels. I also could relate to his struggles with his mother. My father suffers from manic depression. As an adult, I can say that this person suffers from a disease, but as a adolescent, it is hard not to think that in some way if you are good enough you can change things.

Current Forum: The Pigman and Me Date: 28-Oct-2002 21:59:37 Author: Carter, Jane <jcarter@west.k12.oh.us> Subject: Did you find yourself connecting to any particular character?  I am not a spring chicken, so I found myself while reading the book relating to several of the characters during certain phases of my life. I could relate to Paul......because I grew up with a somewhat dysfunctional family........10 kids........... I found a Pigman, in fact I had several Pigmen in my adolescent years. They helped me discover who I was and where I was going in my life. They nurtured me and taught me many things about life and above all they loved me. I could also related to Paul's mother. She was so wrapped in trying to financially support her family that she was not a good parent to her children. She was an emotional cripple, stripping her children of their childhood. Likewise, I went through some tough times raising my 3 children. I found my life was out of balance and that my children were becoming the adults in our family........that is when I woke up and gave them back their youth. I could understand where Paul's mom was coming from. I feel that I have been blessed and have been able to be a Pigman for some of the students I have taught over the last thirty years. I have been able to give part of me to some very special students and have been able to make a big difference in their lives. I found this book to hit home many times for me. I grew up in the 60's when many people didn't have much money and many people had larger families. We had the opportunities to connect to other people through some wonderful organizations, such as Big Brother, Girl Scouts, BlueBirds, Youth Corps. These organizations supplied the Pigman for many deprived youth during my childhood. I guess I am telling my age.

Current Forum: The Pigman and Me Date: 29-Oct-2002 13:25:19 Author: Pinkstock, Theresa <terrip@amanda.k12.oh.us> Subject: Re: Did you find yourself connecting to any particular character?  Great Job!!!! You did a super job connecting the story to your life. I agree with your comments. As I said before, I really connected to this story. I feel we, as teachers, do have the opportunity to be pigman to some students that needed someone in their life to help them.

Current Forum: The Pigman and Me Date: 30-Oct-2002 08:20:39 Author: Wilson, Sandra <SWi3548332@aol.com> Subject: Discussion Questions  Discussion Questions 1.How did Nonno Frankie influence Paul Zindel’s career choice? 2.What was Nonno Frankie’s philosophy of life and how did he influence Paul? 3.What is the significance of the apple tree to the story?

Current Forum: The Pigman and Me Date: 30-Oct-2002 14:54:15 Author: Hayden, Kellie <khayden@loganhocking.k12.oh.us> Subject: Re: Discussion Questions  Those discussion questions sound great. Are we supposed to write discussion questions?

Current Forum: The Pigman and Me Date: 31-Oct-2002 08:31:48 Author: Wilson, Sandra <SWi3548332@aol.com> Subject: Re: Discussion Questions  Last time someone wrote discussion questions, so I decided to do it this time.