Cornell Notes

Topic/Objective: Catcher in the Rye

Name: Ms. Ryan

Chapter 3

Class/Period: English 11
Date: July 6, 2016

Essential Question: How does Holden interact with peers?

How does Holden act around other students?
Questions:

Notes:
Plot Summary
Holden gets back to his room and is trying to read a book. Ackley, another student, barges in
and annoys Holden by not taking the hint to leave. In response, Holden annoys Ackley by
pretending to be blind. Ackley criticizes Holden for losing the fencing gear. Stradlater,
Holdens roommate, comes in and asks to borrow a jacket for the evening.

Setting
Time
o Saturday
Geographic Place
o Agerstown, Pennsylvania
Pencey Prep
Holdens room

Holden seems different in

Characters
this chapter. He seems less
against the world and more Holden
o Is a liar
normally annoyed with
Im the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life. Its awful. (p. 19)
Ackley, a character that
o Judgmental
would probably annoy most
Mean about Ackleys physical appearance teeth, skin (p. 23)
reasonable people.
Gives unflattering description of older mens appearances. (p. 10)
Am I imagining this?
Does it have anything to do
o Sarcastic
with the age/status of the
This sentence Im reading is terrific (p. 25)
people around him?
o Cynical
Revealed in the discussion about Ossenburger (19-21)
I can just see the big phony bastard shifting into first gear and asking
Jesus to bring him a few more stiffs (p. 20)
o Immature
He thinks Marsalla farting in Ossenburgers presentation is the funniest
thing ever. (p. 20)
When Holden pretends to be blind, Ackley says, For Chrissake, grow
up (p. 25)
Enjoys annoying Ackley, He always brought out the old sadist in me (p.
26)
What is Salingers purpose
o
Likes
to
read
with the Ackley character?
Im quite illiterate, but I read a lot. (p. 28)
Why is he in the book?
What is he supposed to
Ackley
represent?
o Unusual student
He hardly went anywhere. He was a very peculiar guy (p. 22)

Are Stradlater and Ackleys

roles in this chapter to
serve as foils for Holdens
character representing
two extremes that Holden
doesnt fit into?
The conflict is not as
intense in this chapter. I
wonder how this relates to
themes?
Holdens comment about
the hat is disturbing. Im not
sure how the hat fits in with
the character that has been
presented to us so far.
I guess the Atlantic is
supposed to show that Mr.
Spencer is a smart,
conventional, middle of the
road kind of character?
Holdens taste in books
seems to align with his selfimage. He sees himself as
an outsider and is critical of
society. He also seems to
be searching for a
purpose/point/something in
his life.
Summary: Im not sure how Chapter 3 fits in with the text as a whole. This doesnt seem like exposition, but at the
same time, nothing happens, so it doesnt fit the requirements of the rising action section of the plot. Much of what
the reader knows about Holdens character is reinforced in the chapter. Conflicts are less apparent and two new
characters are introduced. I wonder how important these characters will be in further chapters.