Good day, class.
Once again we dive into the crazy world of the Information Superhighway. As a start to this online activity, please write a short comment on your favourite (or least favourite) character from the novel "No and Me", and why you liked them (or did not like them at all). REMEMBER: Begin every post with your nine-digit Student ID number! Do not include your name! This will keep our posts secure yet sharable.
I moderate all comments before they are posted, so if they do not show up immediately it is because I still have to approve them. I will remind you that the deadline for your personal connection assignment is Monday, May 6, 2013, at 3:15. Otherwise, your post may turn into a pumpkin, or worse. The second component - the analysis of two other postings - will be due Friday, May 10, 2013.
Get those first responses as soon as possible!
Sicnerely,
The Indomitable Mr. Allilomis
123456789: My favourite character was Laurent because he might not be real. I have also always wanted to go to Ireland, and maybe he could show me around the island.
ReplyDeleteRelax everyone, this was just me creating a 15-second post to demonstrate this to the class. I expect everyone in class to put more effort into their posts. But, hey, this also means that you will be able to comment directly to other posts! What a world we live in today!
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ReplyDeleteIn the novel "No and Me", Lou Bertignac who is a 13-year-old gifted girl in this story is my favourite character. Lou is intelligent and sympathetic. She does not have many friends, but she has a keen sense of what's wrong in the world and she can understand it really well. Also, she tamed a homeless girl called No from street and brought No to her own home in order to give her a new life and take care of her. She can feel the painful emotion from these homeless street people and wanted to help them. So, I like this unique Lou so much.
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DeleteI agree with you, Lou is an Intelligent girl. But what about her that you like? What's "Unique" about her that you like?
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ReplyDeleteLou Bertignac, from the novel story called "No and Me" is my favorite character throughout the book. Lou has a sense of humor and she has compassion. She understands the feelings of other without asking it. Lou met No on the street and brought her to her home to make No feel what life really is, by making living in a house and not on the street. Lou is a different person, barely people would do such this things.
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DeleteI agree with you not so many people would take a homeless person into their own home and treat them like family. Most people just think about themselves and their life and they don't appreciate what they have instead they look and wish they had what they can't have. People should look at the people living in poverty instead the people living in Mansions and take time out of their lives to help someone who needs help.
320971963: I agree with you that Lou is compassionate and helpful, especially towards Nolwenn. She helps her out and asks for nothing in return which is a kind thing to do, but this may be because she's simply 13 years of age. Not that many 13-year-olds know how the real world is, since all they've done is go to school and received stuff from their parents. They don't have a job, a driver's license, they can't do anything special. It's just a simple life for them, so they could think that helping someone else out could mean a lot, and it does to both parties, but it's just about the only thing she's done that's outstanding at her age. The reason you don't see many adults helping out too many homeless people is because they have to figure out their own life first and support themselves. If everyone tried to help every homeless person out more than themselves, they wouldn't have anything left for themselves and in turn, would possibly become homeless from that.
DeleteI think that Lou is doing a good job helping out Nolwenn,
but I still think that it's not something extraordinary to help out a homeless person that much.
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DeleteHi,
I agree that Lou Bertignac is a compassionate girl. I believe that she’s done an amazing thing of bringing No, a homeless adolescent, to her home and allowing No to live there. Lou has done some amazing things for No other than putting a roof over her head, such as building a strong friendship, helping her get a job and giving her warm meals on a daily basis. I don’t quite understand what you mean by “she understands the feelings of other without asking it” and I disagree with one of your arguments because I do not agree that Lou has a sense of humor. I don’t quite understand how Lou shows that she has a sense of humor because I can’t think of any examples that show she is. I think you should be more specific and give examples of how she has a sense of humor. Regardless, I believe Lou is a different person and I do agree that barely people would do such things. There are several people who help the homeless but barely anyone offers a homeless stranger to live with them. I agree that this is a reason why Lou is a compassionate person.
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ReplyDeleteIn the novel "No and Me", I believe that the most significant episode was when No was found passed out with empty bottles of alcohol along with an empty medicine cabinet, after the trip where Lou and her family went to her aunt's house. I find this to be important since it demonstrates that even though No had a job and was able to persevere through her alcoholism and drug use, without the help of Lou and her family, she broke down. She became lonely and the outside world was too much for her. It demonstrates how someone who's used to such a lonely life can finally get some help and with that help, feels much better about him/herself. However, when the people helping him/her leave them for a bit, they can break down. Loneliness is always there so leaving No alone for 3 or 4 days would've surely had negative effects on her. She would reminisce about her past when she was lonely with no one at her side and break down. After breaking down, she would want to get away from the pain and suffering and alcohol and drugs provide a sedative. She drank the alcohol and took the drugs from the medicine cabinet and became under the influence while getting away from her problems for a short amount of time. Afterwards, she crashed and passed out and that's when Lou and her parents discovered her body. After these events, Lou's parents deemed her irresponsible and did not want Lou to learn from No's actions and kicked her out of their house. They wanted the best for Lou as they did not want her to use drugs and alcohol until she passed out (especially since she's only 13 years of age which isn't legal even in Europe). I find this to be significant since it'll demonstrate how loneliness can affect a person and the results of it.
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DeleteHello , I agree with what you said. Yes loneliness is a serious feeling that could lead to bad results. I do not think Lou's parents should have kicked No out. I believe they should have kept her and tried to help her become better rather then kicking her out and not know what will happen next to her.By kicking No out they made her feel more lonely, like she has no one to help her or take care of her. This would have lead to more serious results from No's part. She could have stole, over drugged herself and killed herself.
Lou is very smart I do not think because of what No did she will try to do it because she understands where No comes from and what happened to her before. So I do not think Lou will ever try and escape from her pain/sadness with drugs or alcohol. She is way to smart.
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DeleteSalutations! I agree with you, since this passage in the story is one of the strongest and most important aspects in the story. We observe the loneliness and sadness that envelops and resides within No, as read when Lou gets home.
Nonetheless, despite the times No is helped, we see
intense, sad moments such as finding No passed out with
great deals of narcotics and alcohol. This leaves Lou
grabbing for reasons her parents should let her stay, but
eventually kicks No out of their home,leaving No astray to
roam the streets for somewhere to call "home".
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ReplyDeleteI disagree with Lou’s decision to not tell her teacher what is happening at her house near the beginning of the book. A normal child in her position would have their physiological growth impacted by this situation. However, Lou is in an even more dangerous position as she is not only ahead two grades, but can develop obsessions easily and has a mind no one really understands. Telling her teacher would have been the right thing to do at this point as her family would be given lots of support and help. This would be much more preferable than simply hoping her mother eventually wakes up from her dream world and her father can pull himself together. If she told her teacher then Lou would not have developed an obsession around Nolwen, and this would be for the better. Not only does Lou end up going behind her parents back to continue seeing her, but she also decides to run away with her. If No hadn’t abandoned her she likely wouldn’t have seen her parents again and lived her life on the streets. Being only 13 would also make her very vulnerable to criminals, and also completely unable to work. She would also be an illegal immigrant and therefore could be deported at any time. Her lack of citizenship, or even a basic visa/passport and no parents would mean she couldn't go to school. She very narrowly avoided ruining her life, and this wouldn't have happened if she told her teacher.
This action would have ultimately affected No for the better, as at the end of the book she is no better off than the beginning of the book. At the beginning she lives on the streets with her bags, and stays at shelters and friends’ houses. At the end of the book she is in Ireland where she has no friends, doesn't know where the shelters are. Ireland also rains a lot more, has harsher winters and winds, and she would be less likely to survive a night sleeping out in the open. She also has no idea where her old boyfriend Laurent is, and as such, will not be getting any help from him. Even if he is still around he has probably moved on and has other people he loves now. No’s return will probably make his life worse, and force him to abandon her again. This would have broken No’s heart, however, is she stayed in Paris at least she would have a dream to look forward to and some hope.
Her family would also be better off as professionals would talk to them, and help them deal with their grief and suffering. These people would not give up as they are employed by the government to help her parents to ensure Lou grows up as best as possible. The parents hadn't tried councilors before, and they were not thinking of trying them at all. They were content to hope her mother gets better, and given how long they had been waiting, it wasn't going to happen at all. These councilors being forced on them would have made them change and adapt to the new situation, instead of accepting that Chloe had died, and not live pretending everything was fine.
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ReplyDeleteIn the novel no and me, Lou Bertignac is my absoloute favorite character, Lou is my favorite character because she is very intelligent and unique. Lou counts the steps she takes and read's encyclopedias for fun, she may not fit in with the cool kids but in my opinion, the things she does makes her the coolest and most unique in her class. Lou fell in love with the idea of helping a girl who she barely knew. She loved her like a sister and never neglected her even when No pushed her away. All these qualities make Lou Bertignac my favorite character.
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ReplyDeleteIn the novel " No and Me" many important events occur. I could choose many that can relate to a situation of my own life. When I was about 8 years old I left the country to visit my grandparents, I went with my mother, my brothers and my sisters. We planned to leave for 1 month. When we left my uncle was in charge of our house. We called my uncle everyday to check up on him and to check how the house was. He answered everyday until one day when I called him and there was no response. I was worried because he always answers the first call. I let my mother know that he didn't answer and she said "don't worry everything's going to be okay." So we went on with our day. The next day we called and there was no answer everyone started to become worried. My mom moved the flight ahead so we returned 10 days early. When we arrived at the house we found my uncle passed out on the floor with empty bottles of liquor around him. This reminds me of when Lou left No home alone and when she returned she found the medicine cabinet empty and empty bottles of alcohol. These situations are very similar. No has prior drinking problems so this is more expected. My uncle is normally a controlled drinking so I never expected for him to get this out of hand.
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ReplyDeleteIn the novel ''No and Me'', No one of the main character have a mother named Suzanne who didn't treat her well.Her mother was raped when she was fifteen,it was too late for abortion when she discovered she was pregnant.She didn't want the baby.She never held No at all.Suzanne doesn't want to talk to No, sit beside her,call her daughter by her name or even see her. No was raised by her grandparents. And her mother went with a man to Paris. No's grandmother died from an accident and her grandfather can't take care of her so she went with his mom and her man.When her mom and her man fights,No tries to hug her mom,console her and ask for forgiveness.Her mom pushed No away roughly and split her eyebrow on the corner of the table.When her mom lost a job,No stopped school to help her mom get up,open the curtains and make meals. Her mother wouldn't talk to No she'd point with her hands or head to say bring me this or that,yes or no but never thank No. Suzanne is behaving this way because her life changed dramatically,she had to drop school and work early.I disagree that Suzanne behave in this manner because it is too much. And I feel bad for No because she didn't do anything and its not her fault why Suzanne's life changed. I recommend that Suzanne should treat her a little bit better just to make No feel special. For example send No to school,care for No or anything that a mother should do to her child.
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DeleteI agree with your points but the choices that Suzanne made were not wrong considering her dilemma. Suzanne getting pregnant was a big step in her life and a hard choice to make to have the baby. If No didn't stop going to school than her mom might have committed suicide from all the terrible things that were happening in her life. Suzanne was always ignoring her daughter and hitting her if she tried to bother her, so No developed a resistance to helping people. Plus at the time, No couldn't go back to school because the money was tight and she was trying to help her mother from committing suicide. I also wouldn't have been surprised if Suzanne killed No for bothering her because of the state of mind that she was in. In conclusion, i agree with what you said but taking into consideration what was happening, it wasn't completely her fault.
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DeleteHi,
I agree that Suzanne has a terrible behavior towards her daughter. I understand that it must have been hard being raped and having a child at a young age but she did not have to behave in such rude manner towards her own innocent daughter. Her daughter No, has done absolutely nothing wrong and she’s being treated like a dog. What I don’t understand is why Suzanne decided to keep No after her grandparents couldn't take care of her anymore. If she didn't want No to live with her she could have at least put No up for adoption. Since Suzanne decided to keep her daughter, that means she still cares about her daughter deep down. I do agree that if she wanted to keep her daughter, she could have sent No to school, make her food and at least provide her with the stuff she needs instead of getting trunk and letting No take care of her instead of it being the other way around. I believe Suzanne is completely irresponsible. I understand that Suzanne may not have wanted to have a daughter but she could have at least put her daughter up for adoption as soon as she gave birth, instead of pretending she is not a mother. I agree with your opinion but I feel as though you just retold the story and then wrote a 4 sentence reflection. I feel as though you should expand your reflection, be more specific and add in why you think she is behaving this way.
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ReplyDeleteLou is so clever, yet so innocently ignorant. She was so old for her age, so mature, but was just so naive when it came to things such as boys. Lou liked to watch people, to figure them out, invent lives for them, a habit I admittedly have myself. (I like to look at people on the street and wonder what's going on in their life's right now. She asked so many questions that made me wonder also, answered just as many and amazed me with her random little facts and experiments. She was just amazing, inspirational. She was so brave, loyal, trusting and sweet, Which is why she is my favorite character in the novel.
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DeleteI don't find the ignorant side of her attractive, I found it really off-putting, the way she made herself seem smarter than everyone and her thought process was a little annoying to me but at the same time it was an interesting point of view and for the most part, relevant.
On a separate note I don't like the situation between Lou and her mom because Lou is very smart and thinks a lot but not once did she think up a way to try and make things easier for her mom, to engage her in conversation, activities, outings.. I find that bizarre. She basically noticed her mom being depressed and wondered why they don't connect; she just complained and almost made us feel really sad for her when Lou could have done more.
I don't think I like Lou very much.
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ReplyDeleteIn the critically acclaimed novel "No and Me" by Delphine de Vigan, an exceptional piece of literature, tackling the issue of homelessness. It's about an intelligent 13 year old girl named Lou Bertignac who befriends a 17 year old homeless girl, named No (Nolwenn) and takes her in, giving her the opportunity to rebuild her life and be apart of something she never had before: a family. Although a touching and well written story, I disagree with No's actions, values and behaviour. You would assume that being offered a lovely home, a new family, necessities and privileges that she never would have had on the streets, that No would be more thankful for all that Lou had done for her. Instead, No's attitude is the opposite and never really shows gratitude towards the Bertignac family. In the end, No left the house and Lou without saying goodbye, leaving a letter or explaining how she really felt and why she acts the way she acts. I understand that No had been raised on the streets and without a stable family for most of her life, that she would not value family as others would but the attempt would have been beneficial to No and Lou as well. After all the struggle, No would have created a permanent bond, someone to always help support her but say 10 years after No left without a word, Lou probably wouldn't want anything to do with her. An alternate course of action could have been that No responsibly and maturely spoke to the Bertignac family about her feelings and what she wanted to do/ where she wanted to go. In conclusion, I disagree with the way No took everything for granted. I believe she could have been more responsible and polite towards Lou after all she had done for her.
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Deletei agree with what your point here. No had plenty of opertunities to be successful even before meeting Lou though. she ran away from her foster home because her boyfriend did. her foster family would have given her a home, helped paid for he education and taken care of her, but she chose to throw it away on the small change she would eventually find her boyfriend in Ireland. she knew the chances of finding him would be low, but did it anyway as she thought the universe owed her for what happened with her mother, and the universe does not work that way.
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ReplyDeleteIn the story" No and Me", a thirteen-year-old girl, Lou Bertignac is my favourite character. This is because even though No is homeless and dirty, Lou still accepts her for who she is and allows No to live with her family. Lou is nonjudgmental and sympathetic to people around her, therefore she is my most liked character.