Compare/Contrast

Is your personality similar to a character in the book Out of all the characters in the book, I think my personality is the most similar to Beth. One of the similarities we have is that we both like to show our parents that were growing up and that were individual. At the beginning of the book when Beth was driving her family to the airport, she would try to act as if not going on the vacation didn't make her sad, she wanted to prove to her mom that she can handle being by herself for a long period of time. For example, when her mom said that she was sad that beth had to stay in the cold weather while the rest of the family was in the warm and beautiful Phuket, Beth answered with “I like the winter mom.” The reason she said this is because
Beth said, “ I recognized that place, that's where we stay, my heart sank.” When people receive bad news they usually describe the feeling as their heart sinking, this feeling usually comes with the initial shock. Then came the denial. Typically when people hear bad news they go into a state of denial. Thoughts like “this can't be true” “no, it can't be happening to me, not my family” were most likely rushing through her mind. The reason is that you would only hear of these stories happening on tv or maybe you read it in a book, but when it comes to your family you just go into denial. When it comes to emergencies people tend to think of the worst so Beth was probably thinking that she would never see her family again. Next, she was probably trying to think of what she should do. The problem with trying to make a solution right after getting the news is that It normally takes 5 to 10 minutes for the amygdala(the part of the brain which is responsible for decision-making and emotional reactions) to cool down so before that time any decisions that she made would’ve most likely been irrational. Which means that her decision to go to Thailand was made when her logical decision-making part of the brain wasn't working properly. I'm trying to say that maybe if she had waited a bit before making any plans she wouldn't have gone to Thailand. This is
Do you think it was a good idea to go to Phuket after the tsunami? Why or why not.

I think it was a good idea to go to Phuket because if she didn't go she wouldn't have seen her father's dead body. Although it isn't pleasant to see your deceased father seeing him dead acts like a bit of a closure, you know for certain that he is gone. She also wouldn't have found out that her dad died while saving other people, for Beth knowing that her dad died a hero’s death kind of eased her pain and sorrow. If she didn't go to Phuket she wouldn't have reunited with her little brother Sam which was a huge deal because now Beth isn't alone.

Question 8. What do you infer was happening to sam while reading from beth’s point of view?
When we ended with Sam’s point of view, he had just gotten a blow to the head that left him unconscious. I can safely say that somebody found him laying there unconscious and brought him to the hospital where he later reunited with Beth. I know this is what happened because later on Beth said, “ The doctors had told me that he was unconscious for almost a day after he was brought in.” I can safely assume that someone found him unconscious and brought him