[Post A Week 2]

to thrum (32): to drum of tap idly with one's fingers

percolator (64): a kind of coffeepot in which boiling water in a repeated process is forced up a hollow stem, filters down through ground coffee in a sievelike container, and returns to the pot below

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE:

"My father's face crumpled like a paper napkin." (66)
I know that this is use of figurative language because its a similie, comparing 2 things using the words like or as. Katie describes her father's face as he has an argument with her mother, Claire, because Katie's father believes that there is nothing to live for, and Claire kind of tells hiim off, that he knows darn well that his children love him, and that she loves him, and that that should be enough reason to keep living.

"He was crunching on ice. In the silence it sounded like he was chewing on glass." (28)
I know that this is use of figurative language because its a similie, comparing 2 things using the words like or as.
Katie's father is contemplating whether or not to return his son, who has "episodes" back to what the family calls "Away", which I think is essentially a home for mentally disabled. From what I have read I think that he[Esau, Katie's brother] is autistic. The father thinks that Esau is fine, and Claire, the mother, thinks that Esau needs to go back to the home. Katie just wants her brother to be home with her.

"I don't know what day it was. I know the snow had fallen, had been falling heavily for days, blanketing the fields overnight, softening and silencing the world. I know winter had come." (39)
This is very descriptive language. It is mostly likely more descriptive to me, because I can really relate to Minnesota winters. Every year when we drive to International Falls, up on the Minnesota/Canadian border, all the fields really do appear to have a blanket of snow, and the space just seems to tranquil, like the snow came in with a hush.

SIGNIFICANT QUOTE:
"I watched them. Froze them that way in my head. Stay there, I almost said aloud. Like that. But they broke apart. They always did." (39)
This is a significant quote because Katie's parents are constantly fighting. She just wants them to be happy together because with Esau having medical issues, which already put significant strain on the family, The father is also a big drinker, and Katie doesn't understand why.

PROBABLE THEME:
I think the theme is how families deal with certain crises in their individual lives, and the impact on the family as a whole.