Why We Broke Up

Maggie LaFratta

Plot
Plot: A series of related events that make up a story or drama

The novel Why We Broke Up is about a couple, Min and Ed, who have recently broken up. Min tells the story of why they broke up through different items that had a special symbolism between the two. The story opens up with Min dropping the box full of items on Eds doorstep. To name a few items, The novel is a letter that Min wrote about each item on the way to Eds house, but in the middle of the book we learn she had to stop at a coffee shop to finish it. Min and Ed had problems from the beginning it seemed, just because they were so different. While Min is an artsy, quiet coffee shop type girl, Ed is the schools big basketball star with a huge ego. Even though everyone said it couldnt work, by the middle of the book Ed told Min he loved her, which were the words shed wanted to hear for a while. At he bonfire after the Hellman High School basketball game, Min comes across an ex-girlfriend of Eds, named Annette. Even though they broke up, Ed and Annette still talk. Annette is the reason Min and Ed breaks up, because he cheated on Min with Annette. They break up, and Min writes him the letter knowing she is finally over him. It is signed at the very end of the book Love Min.

Narrators Point of View

First-person point of view: The narrator (using the first-person pronoun I) is a character in the story.

I never told you that Al had not just popcorn but polenta with lamb chops and asparagus ready to broil in case I hadnt eaten, which I hadnt, and a spot, just a spot near his ear, or cream, like hed just shaved minutes before. (Page 182)

I met you in front of the Blue Rhino with the sun prickling down on me, a little late because it was hard to find, doubling back around the wrong corner, feeling parched with my limbs moving like gravel had fallen into the machinery, liquor lingering I my body like a song you hate in your head. (Page 273)

Main Character
Physical Description: No physical description is provided throughout the book of Min, the main character. Personality: Min seems like the quiet, poetry, and jazz loving artsy type. She seems like an affable person you would meet in a coffee shop and become good friends with. She is very into old movies and wants to major in filming when she goes to college. Throughout the novel at the beginning of each chapter, she always references a movie that reminds her of what is happening at that moment. She also enjoys cooking, which was mentioned in the book when she would cook with Eds brother, Joan. Film is the motivation of Min, because it is what she wants to do with life and seeing old movies makes her happy. Like or Dislike?: I like Min because she has a big heart, even though she is a little sarcastic. She is someone I would enjoy spending time with, because she is intelligent and adventurous. In the book her and Ed went on a date to an old movie, and they thought they saw the old movie star, so they followed her around. When I say she is adventurous, I mean she doesnt just seem to do the ordinary; she likes to have an imagination, which seems rare these days. I think I could be her friend if she was a real person.

Its not, isnt it catastrophic to think so, a pudgy toddler in a living room dreaming of ballerinas, a girl In bed star eyed over Never By Candlelight, a nut thinking she is loved following by a stranger in the street. (Page 338)

Five Good Sentences

But I light matches on those thinking blank nights when I crawl my route out onto the roof of the garage and the sky while my parents sleep innocent and the lonely cars move sparse on the faraway streets, when the pillow wont stay cool and the blankets bother my body no matter how I move or lie still. (Pages 41-42) I find this a good sentence because it shows feeling, and much detail of how Min is feeling on those nights. The sentence is well written, but I would probably have made it two if I were the author. Singing it down the darkened aisles of the shop, casting the shadows of strange bottles in out path, the imported shapes of oil and pickled whatnot and skyscraper square boxes of pasta, salamis swinging like bats sleeping upside down over the cash register, the green-red-white neon stripes on the clock shining on the baby photo of Al, huge and faded up on the wall. (Pages 192-193) I think this sentence is good because it has very good details that are giving you a vivid description of the area. It is as if you could close your eyes and picture the shop Min is talking about.

I never told you that, even after telling you I love you, all those times that day, I never told you how beautiful it was then, like everyone was telling us not to be. (Page 201) This sentence is good because even though it has many commas and pauses, the sentence has a good composition. The sentence has an emotional feel to it as well with the simple words I love you. And then the light hit the waters, and I remembered and lifted mine from out table and took a sip and felt it chilly and fizzy in my throat and my whole body grateful and resurrected just as the girl put down her glass, knelt down low like she was adjusting her shoe and then stood up with a huge golden object in her hands and began to play a deep and lovely melody on the trombone, weird and resonant, fluttering in my ears like the water in my stomach, and I breathed for the first time since Halloween started. (Page 275) This sentence has many details, and really describes the way Min feels while the musician was playing.

Conflict
The main conflict in this story is Ed and Mins relationship. It is an external conflict, but the internal conflict could be seen as Min trying to get over Ed. The internal conflict seems to be solved throughout the whole book, because Min is showing that she is over the break up. The external conflict is solved in a way that the relationship ends, but on bad circumstances. Their differences made it hard for them to stick together, and along with everyone disagreeing with them dating could add to peer pressure. The thing that really ended it though was when Ed cheated on Min with Annette. That is what resolved the conflict, you could say.

Theme

Theme: The central idea or insight revealed by a work of literature I think the theme of my book is to realize that even though a good thing may end, sometimes it is for the best. Something better and new will always come along, weather we believe it or not. It may take weeks, months, years, or even decades, but eventually it will show up. Things always happen for a reason. Is a widely used quote that is very accurate, because things do not happen just out of the blue, and when they do it is very rare. Therefore, I believe the theme is that things happen for the best.

Essay Question
Why do you think Min even went to talk to Ed in the first place? Where did they first start talking? Min and Ed first started talking at the beginning of the book at Als, Mins best friend, 16th birthday party. I think Min had liked him previously, perhaps in a part of the book that wasnt written. She seemed so drawn to him and had a desire to follow him and talk to him right when she saw him so maybe she liked him before, but never realized it. The chemistry between the two was instant, creating the perfect high school crush story. Both of them talked quite easily, showing that they liked each other, but then when he asked for her number it was obvious. That is why I think Min went to talk to Ed. What do you think about the figures of speech in the novel? I think that the book is well composed with a variety of sentences. There are a few things I would change, like some sentences that seemed like run-on sentences. The book is filled with many adjectives creating vivid details, as if you are in the story watching secretly. He writes the story beautifully, using a lot of interjections as well and good descriptions of feelings. Emotions are not lacking in the book because you can almost

feel the way most of the characters are feeling at the same time. That is how I think the figures of speech are used.

Recommendation
This novel is the classic, clich relationship most high schoolers dream of having Except for the part where you get cheated on at the end. This novel made my emotions go up and down, from sadness, to happiness. I would recommend this book because it is very well written, and has a lot of interesting details, making it hard to put the book down. Ed and Min remind me of the movie, High School Musical, with the basketball star who has a huge ego, falling for the quiet artsy girl. Between all the cute items that symbolized a part of their relationship, but my favorite was the Pensieri that Min and her best friend Al stole from his parents store. This particular part was when Ed finally told Min he loved her, after he was extremely upset that people said they dont belong together. In the end all though they break up because of Ed, Min is content with the break up finally and is letting go. With all the ups and downs of a somewhat realistic relationship, this book is definitely a page-turner that I would recommend to people.

My name is Maggie Rae LaFratta, but everyone just calls me Maggie. I am into music and photography, and I play a lot of instruments including guitar, ukulele, base guitar, and others. I was born in Boston, moved to North Carolina, then to Germany, back to North Carolina, and now currently in Niceville. I went to a private school in the time I was in North Carolina, and played sports for my 6-8th grade years. I participated in volleyball, soccer, and basketball, and then later became a coach for a younger team there. While living here, I participate in two chorus classes, Bel Cantos, and the Niceville Singers. I have 5 members of my family which are, my brother, my mother, my father, my cat, and myself. Even though I have moved a lot it isnt as hard for me to make friends because Im outgoing and a little too social. When I graduate from high school I would like to go to FSU or UF for my undergraduate, and then to UNC Chapel Hill to get my degree in pre-medical. I love teeth so I think being a dentist would be good for me. I would also like to minor in music seeing that it has been a huge part of my life and I feel like it is something Im actually good at. I hope to go far in life and enjoy every minute of it!