Chapters 25-26 Reflection

Cole told Edwin his idea to help Peter.  He wanted Peter to come to the island with him.  Edwin disagreed with this proposal.  He didn't think it would work.  Two weeks later, Edwin showed up with Garvey, Peter, and Mr. and Mrs. Driscal.  Edwin was going to leave and Garvey would stay with Peter and Cole.  Mr. and Mrs. Driscal would stay until they knew Peter would be safe there.  Peter was brought there because his parents thought that this was the only way to help him.  On the island, Peter was obviously very scared and didn't want to be there.  Edwin asked Cole to tell the group what had happened since he got there before the mauling.  Cole did, including why he wanted to kill the Spirit Bear, the baby sparrows that died, and every painful memory he encountered during those two days.  He continued telling and showing them that he soaked every morning, carried the ancestor rock, and did his dances.  When he got to the totem pole he had to explain why he had left the anger spot blank which was very hard for him.  That night, Cole fixed everyone his favorite meal.  Then they slept.  The next morning Cole soaked as usual.  When he returned, Mr. Driscal had a harsh talk with him.  He warned Cole not to hurt Peter when he left.  Mr. and Mrs. Driscal left that morning.  Garvey had a talk with Cole.  He said that Cole's dad had filed for custody over him.  Cole didn't like that.   Peter refused to share the cabin with Cole so he had to sleep in a leaky tent outside.  He had very cold nights.  The next morning everyone went to soak in the pond, but only Cole did.  Peter and Garvey watched.  The same happened with the ancestor rock.  Cole offered for Peter to push the ancestor rock down the hill, but he refused.  A couple weeks passed and Peter tried to soak one morning but thought it was too cold.  Also, he began pushing the rock downhill.  This was some improvement.  Three days later Peter threw a rock at Cole.  Two days after that Peter pushed Cole into the water.  I think Peter was beginning not to be so afraid of Cole.  He was standing up to Cole by doing these things.  Even though they are kind of mean, they do show progress in Peter.  One rainy night, Cole was freezing outside.  Peter warmed up to Cole and finally invited him inside to sleep and become warm.

Chapters 23-24 Reflection

Cole realized how to become invisible.  He noticed that when he saw the fish, beaver, and Spirit Bear, his mind was completely blank.  He "became invisible" and saw the Spirit Bear again.  Later, Cole finally did the anger dance.  He learned how to forgive by doing so.  Cole couldn't think of anything to put on the totem pole for anger because he knew that there was still more that he had to learn.  The winter caused Cole to give up soaking int the pond, carrying the ancestor rock, and carving the totem pole.  When Edwin came to visit, Cole was told that Peter tried to commit suicide.  Cole had an idea on how to help Peter, but Edwin wouldn't listen.  He wanted Peter to come and stay on the island with him so he could learn that life is good and worth living for.  Soon after, Cole decided to go the pond again because he couldn't stop worrying about Peter.  Cole could barely stay in the water; it was freezing.  He was interrupted when he heard the sound of Edwin's boat engine.  Edwin said that Peter had tried to commit suicide again.  Edwin asked for Cole's idea on helping Peter.

Chapters 17-18 Reflection

In Chapters 17-18, Edwin started helping Cole overcome his anger.  Edwin took Cole to a pond.  They swam in it until they were numb.  Edwin taught Cole that a stick is him, the right end is happiness and the left end is anger.  Edwin told Cole to break off the left end.  After a discussion with Edwin, Cole realized that the anger would always be there.  It would never go away.  Cole just had to control the anger.  Edwin and Cole went back to camp.  Cole started building his shelter.  It had a door and a window.  Cole prepared dinner.  He fixed one hamburger for himself.  Garvey and Edwin wouldn't accept that so they made him cook them hamburgers too.  After dinner, everyone did a whale dance because they saw whales earlier that day.  The dance showed what they learned about whales.  Cole said, "a whale migrates but it doesn't have a home."  He also said that he was like the whales.  The next morning, Edwin and Cole went to the pond again.  After the they were done at the pond, Edwin told Cole to carry a rock, which represented his ancestors, and carry it up the hill.  When they were at the top, Edwin told Cole to roll the rock down the hill like it was his anger being rolled away.  This was just another way that Edwin is helped Cole control his anger.

Chapters 15-16 Reflection

Chapters 15-16 started like this.  Cole was at Circle Justice.  Everyone got a chance to talk.  Cole noticed that everybody was in favor that he go to jail.  Garvey, unlike everybody else, spoke in Cole's defense.  He didn't want Cole to go to jail.  Edwin wanted to help too.  Edwin demonstrated how he could help Cole.  There were two ways.  One was to gradually help him.  The other one was a single traumatic experience.  Cole already experienced a traumatic event, so Edwin was going to help him with slow persistent pressure.  Back in the dentition center Cole was visited frequently by his mom, Edwin, and Garvey.  Once when Edwin and Garvey were visiting Cole they told him that they convinced the Circle Justice members to let him go back to the island.  So a month later Cole, Garvey and Edwin went to the Alaskan island.  Edwin and Garvey would stay for a couple of days.  Cole would have to do everything.  He had to build a shelter and cook for everyone.  This was part of the rehabilitation.  When they all ate, Garvey explained to Cole how the whole world was a hot dog.  Garvey ate his hot dog and shared it with Edwin and Cole.  Garvey treated this like a party.  Garvey told Cole, "I suggest you make your time here on the island a celebration."  When Cole ate the hot dog he made, it did what he told it to do, feed him.  Whaen Garvey ate and shared the hot dog he made, it did what he asked it to.  It was to make this time feel like a celebration.

Chapters 13-14 Reflection

In chapters 13-14 Cole woke up in a hotel.  The owner was Rosey.  Rosey and Garvey helped tend to Cole's wounds.  Cole had a dream that everyone was helping.  Suddenly everyone turned into monsters and put him down.  When Cole woke up Garvey explained why he was helping him.  Cole and Garvey were flown to a hospital in Minnesota.  Cole told himself that he would tell the truth from then on.  Six months later Cole had to go back to jail and Circle Justice.  Cole's mom came and visited him everyday.  She explained to Cole that they could start a new life once Cole was out of jail.  Cole really appreciated this.  He now has to do physical therapy and he will never have full use of his right arm again.

Chapters 11-12 Reflection

Summary

Chapters 11-12 were about Cole's last day in the wilderness and how he was rushed to the hospital.  Before all of this excitement occurred, Cole was busy finding more things to eat.  He ate a mouse.  He also ate fish from his own vomit.  He was desperate to drink some water.  While it was raining, Cole scooped a hole in the mud and waited for the rain to fill up the hole.  He eventually drank the murky water.  Then Cole spotted the Spirit Bear about 20 feet away from him.  He was terrified.  He tried spitting at it, but missed.  The bear licked the saliva from the ground and then left.  Cole went to sleep and dreamt that he was a baby bird.  When he woke up, the Spirit Bear was standing right over him.  Cole  touched the bear; he trusted the bear and the bear trusted him.  It left and swam away.  He had almost given up hope when Edwin found him and contacted Garvey.  They got a boat and rushed Cole to the hospital.

A time when I was angry

One time when I was angry was when my sister, Sarah, and I were fighting.  Usually when we fight we try to outdo what the other said.  I don't like this and my parents don't either.  Even though I continue to fight with her I don't enjoy it.  Sarah and I aren't normally yelling at each other unless we're extremely upset.  We usually fight at night when we are tired and need some sleep.  We are irritable then.  Sarah and I don't stand up over top of each other, we don't even look at one another.  I don't like being angry.

Agree or Disagree

I disagree with people never change, it's not important what others think, and "anger is a memory never forgotten."  I agree with kids whose parents mistreat them will probably, in turn, mistreat their own kids and actions speak louder than words.
 I disagree with "anger is a memory never forgotten," because I had a hard time remembering a specific event when I was angry.  I think people tend to remember the positive events in their lives.  I know that's what I do.  It would be a bad thing if everyone only remembered the negative points.  Earth would be a disaster.  Citizens would remember bad things about a certain country; they would want a war.  Wars would end the earth.

Chapters 9-10 Reflection

Chapters 9-10 in Touching Spirit Bear were about Cole's survival in the wilderness after he was mauled by a bear.  The bear ripped him apart and left him helpless in the woods.  Cole was almost dead.  To make matters worse, it was raining.  Cole thiought the "rain fully intended to kill [him]."  This showed a conflict of character vs. nature.   In this example, nature wanted to punish Cole.  In Touching Spirit Bear, Cole was forced to live in Alaska for a year even though he had no wilderness survival skills.  Cole was so conceited that he thought  he could conquer any beast in the wild.  He was wrong. 

This book also says that "he couldn't fight his own body any longer."  This highlights the conflict of character vs. self.  After Cole was mauled, he was barely alive but he needed to go to the bathroom. He didn't even have the strength to fight this urge.  As a result, he relieved himself while he was laying on the ground.  This is only one example of character vs. self.  Throughout the book, Cole lied to himself repeatedly.  He always blamed other people for his problems. 

In chapters 9-10, Cole finally grasped what he had to do to survive.  In his physical state, he couldn't get up and search for food.  But during the thunderstorm, a tree fell, which housed a family of sparrows and he saw that all of the baby birds died.  Cole pictured a baby bird, mouth wide open, waiting for his mother to bring him a nice juicy worm to eat.  He realized that this was the only way for the bird to survive; asking for help.  Because Cole was alone in the wilderness, he couldn't do this, so he resorted to eating strange things.  like grass and insects to survive.  This was the only way for him to stay alive.