The Promise Plot Essays - The Promise, Reuben, American Literature

The Promise: Plot Title of Book: The Promise Author of Book: Chaim Potok 1.In 10-12 sentences, write a brief outline of the plot of the novel. Be sure to make clear the major conflict of the story. 1.In the beginning of the novel, the main character, Reuben, is spending some time with his father at their cottage. His friend, Rachel is also vacationing nearby. Reuben finds out that Rachel's 14 year old cousin, Michael, is mentally ill, and Reuben seems to be the only person Michael will talk to. Near the end of the summer, Reuben's best friend Danny comes to visit Reuben and the Gordons (Rachel's family) invite Danny over to discuss Michael because Danny is a genius, and he is studying psychology. At the summer's end, Michael is put into the treatment centre at which Danny is working. Reuben becomes friends with Michael's father, Abraham Gordon, a very respected scholar. Unfortunately, his ideas are not approved by Reuben's professor, Rav Kalman. Rav Kalman tells Reuben that if he continues to see Abraham and Michael Gordon, he will not be given his smicha, the degree which he has been working to get for so long. Also, Michael does not respond well to the treatment centre, and bec omes violent. Danny decides to use an experimental treatment on Michael, which involves not letting him talk to anyone or interact with anything except his therapist. The major conflict is when Michael becomes catatonic, and it seems as if Reuben will not get his smicha and Michael will never be cured. Danny decides to have a long conversation with Rav Kalman, and convinces him to at least give Reuben the smicha examination. During the examination, Reuben uses a method called test emendation, which is strictly forbidden by his school. Reuben backs up his arguments so well, that Rav Kalman does give him smicha, and when Reuben tells this to Michael (although Michael is in a comatose state) Michael awakes and tells Reuben, Danny and his parents that he hates his father because when his father writes a book, all the people who disagree with his ideas write hateful articles, and excommunicate the Gordon family. 2.What is the setting of the novel? 2.The novel is set in Willamsburg, Brooklyn, in the 1950's. 3.In one sentence, state the climax of the novel. Explain how it solves the conflict. 3.The climax of this novel is when Reuben receives his smicha because it solves the problem of Reuben not getting his smicha, and when Reuben tells Michael that he received smicha, Michael wakes up and tells Reuben and Danny everything. 4.Name 2 important character traits of a major character in the novel. Then give 2 examples from the story demonstrating each trait. 4.The character I am examining is Danny Saunders. The first character trait is that Danny was very trustworthy. Example 1: " `I trust him....I needed someone I could trust....someone I could trust absolutely and without the slightest reservation. I trust Daniel Saunders.' " pg. 244 Example 2: My second example is that Dr. Altman, Danny's supervisor at the treatment centre, trusted Danny enough to let him go ahead with the experiment on Michael. The second character trait is intensity. Example 1: " He was unshaven and his eyes blinked repeatedly and he looked as though he had not slept in a long time...`Went back?' I stared at him. `You weren't home for Shabbat?'...`I've been at the treatment centre since three in the morning.'" pg.256 Example 2: " Danny was playing volleyball the way he had once played baseball, with an intense, hungry eagerness to win." pg.380 5.Circle one of the following categories below to describe how you would rate the book. Making reference to the novel's subject matter, language, character development and other elements, explain why you rated the book as you did. 5.I would rate the book as very interesting. I would rate it in this way becuase, first, I could indentify with the subject. I knew most of the Hebrew or Yiddish terms before the author translated them, and although it did not apply directly to me, I could see paralels between the novel and my own life. The language in the novel was well choosen, at an in-between level, not too hard to understand, but very well written. Some of the metaphores used in the book were so brilliant, I would have rather done a full novel study of this book, because I know I must have missed so much of the depth of the novel.