Reading Skills of Water for Elephants

Water for Elephants

By: Sara Gruen

I have finished reading chapter one of the book water for elephants;  Jacob is in his 90s and living in a nursing home.  Jacob thinks to himself about the horrible problems of getting older. He hates being old, he wishes he was young again. Most of the other people in the home are women who sometimes annoy him. Then later in the chapter we find out he's there because he broke his hip. He gets out of his wheelchair and tries to walk down the hall with his walker to see what the fuss is about, but it takes him awhile. Once he makes it to the window, where he sees a circus tent being raised. This alarms him, everyone panics and goes to get help, even though he doesn't want it. Later, at dinner, Jacob is grossed out by the food. The nursing home doesn't serve what he considers to be real food, so he thinks about what he would really like to eat. He listens to everyone at the table talk about the circus and how cool it looks and how they want to go see it. The others at the table think about circuses in the old days. One guy who's new, Joseph McGuinty, claims that he "used to carry water for the elephants" (Gruen 140). This doesn't sit well with Jacob. He calls him a liar, and they both get really worked up. One of the nurses, Rosemary, makes Jacob go back to his room. While they're in there, Jacob briefly tells her about his past with circuses.  Rosemary takes pity on him and gives him some fruit,  real food. As Jacob eats it, he thinks about his dead wife and about the past.

 

 

I feel like after thinking about his dead wife and what people have said about the movie and book, he is going to explain to us about how him and his wife met and fell in love; about the water, past circuses, what happened to his hip, and much more. One text to self I made while reading throughout was the fact that I have tasted the food at those cafeterias and I must agree that it is not the best food in the world! Another text to text connection is that this book reminds me of the movie Dumbo with the sircus. A text wo world connection is that there are not alot of circusses left and I would love to be able to go to one but have not seen one in Mason. There is a website that lists the Mason clowns and amusement talent providers of Cincinnati.  I would like to some how be able to go.