top ten list

Top Ten List: The Tenth Circle

10- The tenth thing that someone should know about this book is that the main character, Trixie Stone, is only fourteen years old. Trixie gets into all sorts of trouble and habits in the beginning of the book that may hint that Trixie is about 17 or 18 years old. Trixie gets into bad habits such as smoking and gets involved with drinking and sex as well. These habits turn for the worse and she ends up getting raped.

9- The ninth thing that should be known about this book is that everybody has their own individual story. The baggage that most people don’t know about you is can reflect on how they act in the present time. David had lots of baggage that Trixie and even his wife Laura didn’t understand, but when he was in perspective, only the reader would understand.

8-The eighth thing that should be known about this book is that feelings can be easily hurt, and not just when in high school. Yes, after the rape Trixie was heavily teased and hazed at school, and it was very hard on her. When Laura had an affair with her college student, Daniel was deeply hurt as well. Their relationship took almost the whole book to repair and even still, wasn’t back to normal in the end.

7- The seventh most important thing that needs to be known about this book is that the Stone family is very dysfunctional. Understanding the lack of communication in the Stone family makes the events in the book a lot easier to understand. The affair between Laura and her college student, and Trixie getting into drinking and sex at age fourteen prove just some of the spots where the miscommunication takes place.

6-The sixth most important thing that one should know about this book is that Laura Stone tries really hard to be a good mother. In the beginning of the book Laura Stone is very distant from her family. She spends most of her time at her classroom at the college she teaches at and ended up having an affair. As the book goes on she becomes closer with her family because of what happens to Trixie. She has to protect her from all sorts of detective questions and possible time in jail for “killing” Jason Underhill, the possible rapist.

5- The fifth thing that should be known about this book is that Jason Underhill died too young. Jason was Trixie’s boyfriend who was a senior in high school. He dumped her because he thought she was too young and Trixie took it really hard because she was so young. Jason was the star of the school hockey team and an excellent student. His future looked very bright before he was accused of raping Trixie Stone. When the court case for Trixie got further along, Jason was killed. The investigation lasted throughout the book and it ended up that he was innocent.

4- The fourth thing that should be known about this book is that Trixie Stone is a lot like her father. Later in the book when Trixie is accused of killing Jason Underhill, Trixie runs away to Alaska, the place her father ran away from when he was a kid. Trixie experiences all sorts of events that make her realize she wants to be with her family. Daniel Stone finds his family as well when he runs away from Alaska.

3- The third most important thing about this book is that the theme of this book is family is the most important thing in life. The Stone family comes together when they know that one another are in trouble. They drop everything else that is going on in their life and make sure that the other person is alright. This is a very important lesson for anyone to know.

2-The second most important think in this book is that the world isn’t always sympathetic. When Trixie gets raped, the school doesn’t make an effort to help her get back on her feet. This event completely changes who Trixie is as a person. She doesn’t know who she is anymore and still the school faculty and students don’t have any sympathy towards her because she got the star of the hockey team in trouble and later on, killed.

1- The number one thing that someone should know about this book is that the main theme book of this book is forgiveness is the only virtue. When Trixie gets blamed for Jason’s death the kids at school don’t give her a chance and never forgive her. Another forgiveness lesson in this book is when Daniel has to learn to forgive Laura for the affair. He knows that he has to forgive her because of the better good of Trixie and her condition.

The Tenth Circle:6 Post B

This section starts out with Trixie running away. She is on her way to New Hampshire in a trailer full of cows. Her parents are very nervous about her because they aren't sure where she is. They hope that she's alright and can't think about anything else. Trixie's parents realize that she has run away to Alaska because it was where Daniel had run from when he was a child. They hope that she is there because they wouldn't want to travel all the way to Alaska and her not be there. Daniel asks Trixie's best friend where Trixie is. He thinks that Zephyer is lying to her and the reader finds out that she did but Daniel didn't know that. Zephyer had given Trixie all the money in the cash register where she worked and a three hour head start before Daniel had come in. Trixie also stowed away on a plane on her way to Alaska. She had to sit in cargo next to a coffin. Trixie was really scared at first but thought that it was better than not being able to go to Alaska at all.

The Tenth Circle:6 Post A

>pertinacious:Holding or adhering obstinately to any opinion, purpose, or design (287)
amicable:haracterized by friendliness and good will; friendly; peaceable (289)

>Don't trust anyone. This is a theme that is emerging from the book

The Tenth Circle:5 Post B

In the beginning of this section, Jason Underhill's Ghost visits Trixie. Trixie wasn't really surprised that he was there. As for Bartholomew's case, he was trying to figure out what exactly happened on the night of Jason Underhill's death. He concluded that someone had pushed him over a bridge leaving him to die on the ice below. Bartholomew also realized that on Jason's bone structure around his face was some bruising, that the reader knows is from the fight with Trixie's father, and thinks that it is because of the death. Bartholomew comes to Trixie's home to ask some questions. He first talks to Daniel and asks him about the night that they got into a fight. Daniel denys everything and Bartholomew knows that he is lying. Bartholomew knows he needs to talk to Trixie but Daniel will not let him. Trixie sees Bartholomew walking out to his car and helps him over the ice. Bartholomew finally got his chance to talk to her and ends up tricking her. "Something happened that night between your father and Jason, didn't it." "No." The detective sighed." Trixie, we already know about the fight." (241) They actually never actually talked about the fight but Bartholomew had to know what she would say. Trixie did end up telling him about the fight thinking that her father told him too. Bartholomew finds out that Daniel Stone was not the suspect because of DNA results and now knows that the suspect is Trixie Stone. Jason's ghost comes back to Trixie's room and tells her that she needs to go to his funeral. Trixie ends up going with her Dad even though she knows people will be looking and staring at her. Bartholomew comes by again looking for Trixie and finally after a big hesitation Daniel goes upstairs to get her only to find her window open and Trixie gone.

The Tenth Circle:5 Post A

> *perorate: To conclude or sum up a long discourse (237)
*efficacious: Possessing the quality of being effective; producing, or capable of producing, the effect intended; as, an efficacious law. (245)

>One of the emerging themes from the book is "Don't go looking for something that is right in front of you." I chose this theme to represent this section because it describes many different events that happened in this section. A lot of this section was about the rape case diseasing because of Jason Underhill's death. Because of his death people were looking for how it happened and concluded that someone had pushed him. They accuse almost everyone until they realize that the suspect was right there before them, Trixie.

The Tenth Circle: 4 Post B

Daniel kidnaps Jason and brings him far away from town. Daniel strips him of all his clothes and ties him to the tree. Jason already considers this as torture because of the freezing temperature outside. Daniel threatens to kill him with his knife but doesn't end up doing it. Instead he drives away and leaves Jason behind in the cold. Laura and Daniel's marriage and relationship is pretty much back to normal and they are doing really well. They pick Trixie up from the hospital from the hospital and bring her home. Trixie is now supposed to go to a shrink twice a week from now on. Zephyr comes over and apologizes for everything she had done to Trixie. Trixie feels very cautious and doesn't open up very easily like she used to with Zephyr. When the family meets with Bartholemew they get tests back and Trixie tests positive for date rape drugs. We now know that Jason is starting to develop depression too. He has lost his scholarship for hockey and knows that he is being tried as an adult because of the use of date rape drugs. We also find out that Seth, the college student that Laura was having an affair with, has sold drugs to the kid that had used the date rape drugs on Trixie. When Daniel forces Trixie to come in the car with him to go to the store, Trixie restrains but ends up going. She is really scared and doesn't want to go because she's afraid what people might say if they saw her so she just stays in the car. When Daniel goes into the store and leaves Trixie in the car, Trixie gets really scared when she realizes that she's alone. When she can't take it anymore she run to the store and slips on some ice. She sees Jason coming towards her and helps her up. He tries to get Trixie to listen to him because he says no one believes him. Trixie is shocked because she thinks no one believes her. Daniel comes out of the store right when this is happening and starts beating him up. Daniel has never been more furious in his life. "Lucid thought gave way to utter feeling. His body started to burn; his own anger buzzed in his ears. He saw through a crimson haze and tasted his own blood." (211) This is describing what Daniel is feeling when he sees Jason close to Trixie. Daniel can't control himself and goes and starts beating up Jason. Trixie runs off and Daniel doesn't even notice because he is so angry. When he realized Trixie was gone he and Laura go looking for her and they end up finding her. The next morning they find out that Jason had committed suicide the night before.

The Tenth Circle: 4 post A

> *Siege:the act or process of surrounding and attacking a fortified place in such a way as to isolate it from help and supplies, for the purpose of lessening the resistance of the defenders and thereby making capture possible.(176)
* Quarantined: a strict isolation imposed to prevent the spread of disease. (188)

>*"'What?' He could hear the bright blue edge of panic in Laura's voice." (213) I knew this was personification because the author gave the character, Laura's, eyes, which are inanimate objects an action.
*"She'd held the word adolescent on her tongue, enjoying the way it fizzed like a bath bomb." (217) This is a metaphor because it says that a word fizzed on her tongue like a bath bomb. This is giving a something a literal stance.
*"Seeing Trixie, her eyes wide, her face as white as chalk." (218) I chose this quote to represent a simile. It compares Trixie's face to chalk using the word "like".