The Five People You Meet in HeavenVocabulary & Notes

Reflection

•With a partner, discuss the following: ▫Where do you think authors gain the

inspiration for their novels? ▫“It’s a tale of a life on earth. It’s a tale of

life beyond it. It’s a fable about love, a warning about war, and a nod of the cap to the real people of this world, the ones who never get their name in lights.” So, what are some of the topics that Mitch

Albom might be touching upon in this novel?

Author Background: Mitch Albom•Who is Mitch Albom?

▫Best-selling author, journalist, screenwriter, playwright, radio and television broadcaster, and musician

▫In 1985, moved to Detroit and became a famous sports journalist at the Detroit Free Press.

▫Currently hosts a daily talk show on WJR radio. ▫Regularly shows up on the shows: ESPN Sports

Reporters and SportsCenter.▫Founded seven charities in the metropolitan Detroit

area.▫ Began his career as an author after reuniting with Morrie.▫Has three best seller novels that became TV movies:

The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Tuesdays with Morrie, and For One More Day

Video Introduction•http://www.cbsnews.com/news/mitch-albom-

on-life-charity-and-god/•http://mitchalbom.com/d/film/3730/five-

people-you-meet-heaven

Vocabulary (Pages 1-31)•Squat (adj.): short and thick or low and wide,

especially in a way which is not attractive

•Retrieve (verb): to find something and bring it back

•Imminent (adj.): when an event, likely unpleasant, is about to happen soon

•Solvent (n.):a substance, usually liquid, that dissolves or can dissolve another substance

Arthritis (noun): a disease that causes the joints of your body to become swollen and very painful

Shingles (noun): a disease caused by an infection of the nerve endings, which produces painful red spots

Lanky (adj.):someone who is lanky is tall and thin, and moves awkwardly

Pier (noun): a structure that is built over and into the water so that boats can stop next to it or people can walk along it

Halibut (noun): a large flat sea fish used as food

Vocabulary (Pages 1-31)

• Nimble (adj.): able to move quickly and easily with light neat movements

• Summon (verb): to order someone to come to a place

• Agony (noun): very severe pain

• Cacophony (noun): a loud unpleasant mixture of sounds

Taffy (noun): soft, chewy, sweet food

Judy Garland: (1922-69) a US film actress and singer who first appeared in films as a child. She is most famous for appearing as the character Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz.

Unravel (verb): when threads, string, rope, etc., stop being twisted together- Ex: Unraveled cable wire

Vocabulary (Pages 1-31)• Primitive (adj.): very simple, does not have modern

parts to make it better

• Pristine (adj.): extremely fresh or clean; not damaged in any way

• Limber (adj.): able to move and bend easily

• Perversion (noun): the process of changing something that is natural and good into something that is unnatural and wrong, or the result of such a change

Promenade (noun): a wide road next to the beach, where people can walk for pleasure

Kiosk (noun): a small building in the street where newspapers, sweets etc are sold

Tenement (noun): a large building divided into apartments, especially in the poorer areas of a city

Notes (Pages 1-31) • Story starts with an ending (Eddie’s death)

• Setting- sunny, at amusement park, summer

• Eddie’s death – accident involving Freddy’s Free Fall

• Eddie:▫ a workingman (a maintenance man)▫ white-haired old man, army tattoo, left knee wounded in war, ▫ job was to “maintain” the rides▫ dies on his 83rd birthday, ▫ regular customers knew him, children loved him, teenagers

did not love him

Notes (Pages 1-31)• Foreshadowing: p.2 – After all these years he could

hear trouble… • Onomatopoeia: p.4 – clack-clack-clack • Dominguez: lanky, boney-cheeked, young man,

optimistic • Eddie planned to leave the pier, but his plans never

worked out. ▫He came to the acceptance that this was his life and

being a maintenance man was all he would ever be- “got stuck,” “settled”

• Eddie gives Dominguez money for his vacation▫We can infer that they are friends, only friend Eddie has

Notes (Pages 1-31)• Onomatopeoia: p.8 zzzap zzzap • P.8 – teenagers do not respect him • Marguerite- what assumption can you make? • Theme (p.10) – connectedness (everything in

life is connected in some way) • Foreshadowing (p.11)- the missing key…how?

▫Key is also demonstrates the theme of connectedness

• Eddie leads a lonely life▫Nearly lost everyone he cared about

• Final words- “Get back”

Notes (Pages 1-31)• P. 18- example 2 of the theme – the little girl ..how?

• Last thing Eddie felt before his death- two hands in his own

• Italicized sections represent flashbacks of Eddie’s life.

• The Journey ▫ Eddie’s journey to heaven- feels no emotion, sadness or pain;

feels calm like a child▫ Eddie’s Fifth Birthday▫ Mickey Shea- works with his father; alcoholic ▫ What can you infer about Eddie’s relationship with his

parents?

Notes (Pages 1-31)

•The Arrival:▫Woke up in a teacup; at Ruby Pier 75 years

ago ▫No pain, doesn’t need a cane, BUT can’t

speak (has no voice) ▫Hears a voice coming from the sideshow,

also known as the freak house ▫A man with blue skin tells Eddie that he as

been waiting for him.

Vocabulary (Pages 32-55)• Grotesque (adjective): unpleasant, shocking, and

offensive; extremely ugly in a strange or unnatural way (Example: The Blue Man)

• Belittle (verb): to make someone or something seem small or unimportant

• Silver nitrate (noun): A poisonous colorless crystalline compound, AgNO3, that becomes grayish black when exposed to light in the presence of organic matter and is used in manufacturing photographic film, silvering mirrors, dyeing hair, plating silver, and in medicine as a cautery (burning dead tissue) and antiseptic

Silver Nitrate

Vocabulary (Pages 32-55)

•Agitated (adjective): so nervous or upset that you are unable to keep still or think calmly

•Commodity (noun): a product that is bought or sold; a useful quality or thing

•Relent (verb): to change your attitude and become less strict or cruel towards someone

Notes (Pages 32-55) • Eddie had barely known the blue man. • Eddie’s body feels like a child’s because that is when he

knew the Blue Man . You start with the same feelings you had.

• Heaven has steps. The Blue man is in two, Eddie is in one

• You can not talk so that you can listen

• Why is Eddie in Heaven: ▫ To meet 5 people▫ Each was in his life for a reason… you may not know it at the

time, so that is what heaven is for. For understanding your life on earth

▫ How does the Blue Man say people think of heaven? - place to have your life explained to you

Notes (Pages 32-55) • The Blue Man is the first person Eddie meets: he went through five

people and waited in heaven for Eddie to tell him his story, which is a part of Eddie’s.

• Some people he knew, some he didn’t BUT they all changed his life

forever.

• Blue Man tells Eddie that he killed him. • Flashback - Eddie’s 7th birthday –

▫ Receives a new baseball as his present…ball is overthrown and Eddie and Joe chase after it

• Theme of connectedness: the baseball he received on his seventh birthday

• The Blue Man: Immigrant from Poland, had no money growing up, nervous child by nature, father worked in a sweatshop and eventually joined him, wet his pants at his father’s work and father refused to speak to him- he had shamed him… became a nervous young man

Notes (Pages 32-55)• The Blue Man went to a chemist for medicine for his nerves

-> gave him silver nitrate (later considered poison) -> mix with water and take every night

• It wasn’t working, so he took more than he was supposed to = skin was turning the color of ash and turned from gray to blue- side effect of the poison

• Got fired -> ran into carnival workers one night and agreed to join their carnival -> then later came to Ruby Pier and that became his home

• They are at Ruby Pier because that is where heaven is for the Blue Man. This is not Eddie’s heaven

Notes (Pages 32-55)•Same story- two different angles, two different

endings, one happy and one sad •Eddie’s side:

▫Playing baseball with his friends -> ball flies over Eddie’s head -> runs into the street chasing after it -> runs in front of a car

▫The car screeches and veers and just misses him.

▫Then, he goes back to his friends as if nothing happened and continues on with his friends

Notes (Pages 32-55) • Blue Man’s side:

▫ Borrows a car to practice driving, road is wet, and suddenly a baseball and a boy appear in front.

▫ Slams on the brakes -> car skids -> man regains control of the car

▫ Sees in the rearview mirror the boy has disappeared but the man’s body is still affected from almost hitting the boy.

▫ Experiences a jolt of adrenaline -> heart is pumping too fast -> feels dizzy -> drops his head, and almost collides with another car.

▫ The man veers -> slams his brakes -> and the car skids until it collides with the back of a parked truck

▫ The crash causes the man to smack into the steering wheel, and his head is bleeding -> Gets out -> sees the damage -> collapses -> has a heart attack and dies.

Notes (32-55)

•Flashback: ▫Eddie’s 8th birthday

Eddie is mad that he has to go somewhere on his birthday and doesn’t think it is fair

He knows he is supposed to be sad, but instead is mad, and counting down until it is over.

Little does he know that he is at the Blue Man’s funeral, the man he unknowingly killed

The First Lesson• Eddie thinks he is in heaven for justice, to pay for his sin.

• Blue Man is really there to teach him something.

• Lesson 1: There are no random acts in life. We are all connected.

• Fairness is not involved in life and death.

• Eddie was at his funeral and didn’t even know it.

• The good from the Blue Man’s death is that Eddie lived.

Connecting Art & Literature

•Michelangelo’s “The Last Judgment”

Connection

•Explain how artists have been depicting heaven and hell for centuries. How does the media perceive the afterlife?

•How does Eddie perceives heaven as a place for punishment and the prevalence of this notion in today’s society.

•Are there other depictions of the afterlife in contrast to paradise vs hell?

Author’s View of HeavenPeople think of heaven as a paradise garden, a place where they can float on clouds and laze in rivers and mountains. But scenery without solace is meaningless.

"This is the greatest gift God can give you: to understand what happened in your life. To have it explained. It is the peace you have been searching for."

Eddie coughed, trying to bring up his voice. He was tired of being silent.

"I am your first person, Edward. When I died, my life was illuminated by five others, and then I came here to wait for you, to stand in your line, to tell you my story, which becomes part of yours. There will be others for you, too. Some you knew, maybe some you didn't. But they all crossed your path before they died. And they altered it forever."

Do-Now

•Explain how action and consequence are connected.

Writing Assignment

“There are no random acts. That we are allconnected. That you can no more separate

onelife from another than you can separate a

breezefrom the wind.”

▫Explain this quote in your own words.▫Then, relate this idea to your own life.

For example: How different would life be if you didn’t meet your: best friend, your sibling, or a certain role-model?

Vocabulary• Bandolier (noun): a belt that goes over someone's

shoulder and is used to carry bullets

• Oblige (verb): when someone does something because they have to and it is necessary

• Bayonet (noun): a long knife that is fixed to the end of a rifle

• Burlap (noun): a type of thick rough cloth

• Barracks (noun): a building or group of buildings in which soldiers live

• Diversion (noun): something that stops you from paying attention to what you are doing or what is happening

Bandolier

Bayonet

Burlap

Barracks

Notes (P. 56-97)•Eddie’s body is now changing

▫No longer limber- muscles are tight •Acting like a soldier•“Fear had found him, even in heaven.” •Mother’s reaction to war vs. father’s reaction

to war▫Mother cares, father is distant

•Had a goal before the war- to study engineering

•Eddie thought war would make him a man.•Mickey Shea’s advice: thinking gets you killed

Notes (P. 56-97)

•Second Person: Eddie’s Captain from the war (his commanding officer) ▫Was not expecting him

•Captain’s promise- “leave no one behind” •Eddie tells the Captain that he still does

not understand why he is in heaven.•Eddie did not keep in touch with the men

in his unit. ▫Hurt too much

Notes (P. 56-97)• Eddie and his unit were captured:

▫ Kept in a coal mine▫ All had different reactions to being captured

• 4 months in- Rabozzo gets really sick▫ Shot by captors

• Rabozzo’s death really affects Eddie▫ Stops praying and counting the days

• Thought they were going to die there.• Eddie gets himself and the unit free by creating a diversion.

▫ Pretends to sing a melody- really telling his men to be ready to attack

▫ Grabbed a rock -> threw it at Crazy Two -> killed all of the Crazies

▫ Revenge

Notes (P. 56-97)

•Eddie and his men burned down the huts, mines, and surrounding areas

•Eddie goes into a burning barn▫Thinks he sees a small child; convinced he

sees someone▫Hallucinating▫Lost his mind at this point; reached his

breaking point▫Burning in the barn-> gets shot in the knee

and dragged out of the burning barn

Notes (P. 56-97)• Eddie feels a rush of pain and anger; scars return

▫Eddie tackles the Captain, and they wrestle through the vines

• Why? ▫Eddie would have died▫Wasn’t his time ▫Only had a minute to get out ▫Captain took his leg to save his life (Sacrifice)

• Got into the transport vehicle -> reached a gate ▫Captain got out to check the path▫Signaled the men to move forward- path was clear ▫Captain stepped on a land mine and blew to pieces

Notes (P. 56-97)

THE SECOND LESSON: •Captain has been waiting at his burial

ground•Dying is not the end; Earth is only the

beginning•Heaven is to make sense of your

yesterdays •Sacrifice- Eddie made one, Captain made

BUT Eddie was angry and kept thinking of his losses

•“Sacrifice is a part of life. It’s supposed to be. It’s not something to regret. It’s something you aspire to. Little sacrifices. Big sacrifices.”

Notes (P. 56-97)THE SECOND LESSON: • Rabozzo- sacrificed his life BUT his brother

became a great solider and a great man- inspired• Captain did not die for nothing- they all would’ve

died• Captain was waiting for Eddie’s forgiveness• Captain’s heaven:

▫Wanted to see a world without war▫War zone came to life- green grass, blue sky ▫The captain sees where he dies differently than

Eddie

Vocabulary (Pages 98-119)• Firmament (noun): the sky or heaven

• Succulent (adj): juicy and good to eat

• Gurney (noun): a long narrow table with wheels used for moving sick people in a hospital

• Solitude (noun): when you are alone, especially when this is what you enjoy

• Entrust (verb): to make someone responsible for doing something important, or for taking care of someone

• Meager (adj): when the amount of something is too small and is much less than you need

Vocabulary (Pages 98-119)• Callous (adj): not caring that other people are suffering

• Mimic (verb): to copy the way someone speaks or behaves, especially in order to make people laugh

• Unbeknownst (adverb): without that person knowing about it

• Inexplicable (adj): too unusual or strange to be explained or understood

• Covet (verb): to have a very strong desire to have something that someone else has

Vocabulary (Pages 98-119)

•Bodice (noun): the part of a woman's dress above her waist

•Parasol (noun): a type of umbrella used to provide shade from the sun

•Agitation(noun): when you are so anxious, nervous, or upset that you cannot think calmly:

Notes (Pages 98-119)•Eddie is now in the mountains with snow•Physical changes: older; body is flabbier,

looser ▫Becoming the man he was on Earth ▫Knee pain is still there

•Stumbles upon a diner▫People in there are from different decades and

everyone has been wounded▫Looks over and sees his dad▫Significance in the way his dad is sitting:

Ignoring him even in heaven

Notes (Pages 98-119)• Eddie’s 24th birthday:

▫Only his mother is singing▫His father doesn’t move to sit- just stands and

stares out the window ▫Continues to stare at his leg- disappointed in him▫Why does Eddie want to cry?

• Damage done by Eddie’s father: ▫Neglect as an infant (wouldn’t hold him) ▫Grabbed him by the arm as a child▫Left for someone to watch at the pier▫Father = discipline ▫Eddie wanted his father’s attention

Notes (Pages 98-119)• His father played cards 4 nights a week

▫ Involved drinking ▫Would smack Eddie across the face

• When his father drank, he physically and verbally abused Eddie and Joe: ▫Yelled, whipped with a belt, throw them against the

wall, throw their toys around the room▫Damage #2: Violence

• Privately adored his father = how you learn devotion• Told Eddie he had to protect his brother; be his

“keeper”

Notes (Pages 98-119)• Eddie started following his father’s footsteps in junior

high▫Ran the rides▫Began to fix things ▫Envied his brother for not having to do dirty work▫Eddie’s father thought Joe was not strong enough for his

line of work.• Damage #3: Denial of affection• The night Eddie and his father stopped speaking:

▫“Get a job” ▫FIRST time Eddie defends himself – grabs his father’s

arm▫Damage #4: Silence

Notes (Pages 98-119)•Eddie meets an old woman who tells him that

his father can’t hear him. ▫His soul is safe..part of the woman’s eternity

•Eddie still does not understand why he is heaven▫Asks the woman if he can go back to his last day▫“This place” makes no sense to him. ▫Does not feel like an angel

•You have peace when you make it with yourself•Eddie does not know this woman, but she

knows him

Notes (Pages 98-119)

•Old woman:▫Worked at Seahorse Grille▫Eddie used to eat breakfast there.▫Met Emile- earned his wealth, swore to

build a resort park just for her to capture the moment of his proposal and to stay forever young

▫Kept his promise and built a lavish amusement for her and name it “Ruby Pier.”

•Eddie’s third person = Ruby

Vocabulary (Pages 120-147)• Roustabouts (noun): a man who does work for which he needs to be strong

but not skilled, especially in a port, an oilfield, or a circus

• Fruitless (adj): failing to achieve what was wanted, especially after a lot of effort

• Recede (verb): when something gets further and further away until it disappears

• Falter (verb): to become weaker and unable to continue in an effective way • Coarse (adj): having a rough surface that feels slightly hard

• Subsequent (adj): happening or coming after something else

• Haltingly (adverb): if your speech or movements are halting, you stop for a moment between words or movements, especially because you are not confident

Notes (120-145)•A big July 4th fire destroyed the original Ruby Pier

entrance, and Ruby Pier was in flames.

•A column collapsed onto Emile when he insisted on going to the fire and throwing water on the entrance because it was Ruby.▫Lives changed in one night ▫Minimal insurance- lost his fortune and the pier▫Park was reopened but wasn’t theirs anymore▫Took Emile 3 years to walk on his own ▫They moved away, lived modestly, Ruby tended to

Emile▫Ruby’s wish: That Emile had never built the pier

Notes (120-145)• Emile was sickly…Ruby widowed at 50• Never wanted to see Ruby Pier again

▫Ruby’s idea of heaven (p.123): far away from the ocean and back in that diner when days were simple

• We go through places that would not be if not for those that came before us: ▫No Emile, then no husband. If no marriage, no pier. If

no pier, Eddie would not have worked there. • Ruby is here to tell Eddie why his father died. • Phone call from Eddie’s mother

▫Father collapsed, raging fever▫A few days earlier- his father came home soaking wet,

developed a bad cough that got much worse (pneumonia)

Notes (120-145)• Eddie was mad that his mother was blaming

herself…his father’s drunken fault • His condition worsened from fair to serious. • Eddie helped out at the pier to protect his

father’s job.▫Wanted to avoid the pier his whole life▫Ends up doing his father’s work

• Eddie just holds up his grease-stained fingertips when he visits his father at the hospital. ▫Why?▫Make him proud- that is what he wanted for Eddie

Notes (120-145)• Eddie felt empty anger when he father died.

▫ Nothing heroic about his death

• Eddie’s mother was in a daze▫ Cooked for two▫ Talked to him like he was still there▫ Yelled for him to turn down the radio▫ Fluffed pillows on both sides of the bed

• Caused Eddie to quit driving a cab▫ Moved into the building he grew up in ▫ Accepted a job as a maintenance man at Ruby Pier to keep an

eye on his mother▫ Cursed his father for trapping him in this life and dying

Notes (120-145)

•Why is Eddie dark on his birthdays? •Foreshadowing:

▫“Eddie thinks about Marguerite. He always thinks about Marguerite when Noel mentions the race track” (p.131).

•Eddie got stuck▫Got used to his work at the pier- just never

left •Ruby knows something Eddie does not.

Notes (120-145)• Mickey, in a drunken state, began to take sexual

advantage over Eddie’s mother▫ Grabbing her, touching her, pushing her against the wall ▫ Eddie’s father comes home, sees this, and chases after

Mickey out of the apartment and into the rain.

• Mickey jumps into the ocean and Eddie’s father jumps in after him▫ Fighting in the ocean▫ Ends up saving Mickey from drowning▫ Goes into the ocean to fight Mickey, possibly kill BUT in the

end he couldn’t… he knew who Mickey was ▫ Mickey got his father a job, lent money when Eddie was

born= took old friendships seriously

Notes (120-145)

•“Things are not always what they seem.” ▫Mickey got fired that day.▫He got really drunk… came looking for help▫Not an evil person- acted out of loneliness

and desperation ▫Eddie’s father acted on impulse – first to

kill, then to save▫This is how Eddie’s father got sick… laying

on the beach for hours, too weak to move ▫Died because of loyalty

Notes (120-145)

•Eddie’s father never spoke of that night again. ▫He was ashamed. ▫Stopped speaking entirely in the hospital▫Silence was his escape BUT thoughts still

haunted him•In the hospital

▫Fell into a coma▫One night, nurses found him hanging half

way out of the window calling for his family

Vocabulary (p. 147-end)• Deformed: something that is deformed has the wrong shape, especially

because it has grown or developed wrongly

• Ambushed: a sudden attack on someone by people who have been hiding and waiting for them, or the place where this happens

• Relentless: strict, cruel, or determined, without ever stopping

• Embankment: a wide wall of earth or stones built to stop water from flooding an area, or to support a road or railway

• Embroidered: to decorate cloth by sewing a pattern, picture, or words on it with colored threads

• Charred: something that is burned until black

• Engulf: to completely surround or cover something; feel something completely

Notes (p.147-end)

•Eddie has aged by the fourth person▫Coming close to the end of his five people

•Approaches all different wedding receptions with different culture▫Celebrating love in various ways

•Eddie hates weddings▫Embarrassed ▫Can’t do anything at them▫Would avoid them