The HostBy: Stephenie Meyer

Stephenie Meyer Born December 24, 1973 Lives in Arizona with her

three sons and husband. Has five siblings Graduated from BYU with a

degree in English literature. Has written four other

books. Never thought she would

be a writer.www.stepheniemeyer.com

CharactersWanderer/Wanda (soul)

Melanie/Mel StryderJamie Stryder

Jared HoweIan O’Shea

Kyle O’SheaJebediah/Jeb Stryder

Magnolia/Maggie StryderSharon Stryder

DocSeeker

The Host

Protagonistthe leading character, hero, or heroine of a drama or other

literary work

“See, Jeb? She never takes into account her own wants --- her own happiness, her own health, even. She’d do anything we asked her to, even if it got her killed.”

----Ian

(The Host, pg. 474)

Wanda is the Protagonist in the book.

She brings Mel back to her family.

Saves her enemy. Always does what’s best

for everyone else. Even if that means turning

herself away to better the quality of someone’s life.

Kyle O’Shea is the Antagonist.

He tries to kill Wanda/Mel. He is such a jerk that

people are constantly punching him in the face…breaking his nose.

He is arrogant. Loves anything that

benefits him.

Antagonistthe adversary of the hero or protagonist of a drama or other

literary work

“Shut the hell up, Kyle. Just keep your fat mouth shut. I’m dead serious about shooting you, you worthless maggot.”

----Jeb

(The Host, pg. 560)

Favorite Character Ian O’Shea!!!! Brother to Kyle

O’Shea Tall, dark haired, fair skinned, and vivid blue

eyes Kind spirited, and Wanda’s protector. Perceptive

Least Favorite Character

Maggie and Sharon Stryder These two are always together. Maggie is the Mom and Sharon

the daughter. Evil stares, emanate hostility,

never let go of their grudge and mistrust.

They do anything and everything to make Wanda feel unwelcome.

Their unwillingness is so irritating.

“How sad. How frightening. To be filled with so much hate that you could not even rejoice in the healing of a child…”

----Wanda’s thoughts

(The Host, pg. 469)

Plot SummaryBook Synopsis:

Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. Our world has been invaded by an unseen enemy. Humans become hosts for these invaders, their

minds taken over while their bodies remain intact and continue their lives apparently unchanged. Most of humanity has succumbed. When

Melanie, one of the few remaining “wild” humans, is captured, she is certain it is her end. Wanderer, the invading “soul” who had been

given Melanie’s body, was warned about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the glut of senses, the

too-vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn’t expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish

possession of her mind. Wanderer probes Melanie’s thought, hoping to discover the whereabouts of the remaining human resistance.

Instead, Melanie fills Wanderer’s mind with visions of the man Melanie loves---Jared, a human who still lives in hiding. Unable to

separate herself from her body’s desires, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she has been tasked with exposing. When outside forces

make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off on a dangerous and uncertain search for the man they both love.

(The Host cover)

Exposition

The story begins with the implantation of Wanderer into Melanie’s body.

Since the ‘souls’ kept everything the same, they did the implantation in a surgical room.

Every soul has a job. Since Wanderer is the most traveled

soul and has the most experience, her job was to be an honorary professor teaching the other souls all about the many planets she had been on.

Rising Action Wanda begins to have trouble with the

resistant Melanie. They find Picacho Peak, and the rest of

the humans. She is put in a cell. Men go on a raid and she joins cave life. Men come back, freak out, she get beat

up…again, Jared tries an experiment. She joins cave life again…very stressful. Walter gets sick with cancer. Kyle tries to kill her…again. Walter dies.

Jamie, Jared and others go on another raid. Jamie comes back hurt. Wanda catches Doc “experimenting”

Wanda goes into shock/ hiding for three days.

Wanda loses Melanie…Wanda finds Melanie.

Wanda goes on first raid (stabs herself and steals meds)

They save Jamie…Wanda goes on a huge raid.

Comes back and learns that her seeker finds her.

She saves the seeker and her human family

Climax This is the biggest part in the book. During

the whole thing Wanda has been struggling on how she can save Melanie. She finally decides that she’ll have to teach them how to take her out.

Melanie doesn’t want her to go, and Ian freaks out.

She ends up sneaking down to Doc in the middle of the night, so no one can stop her, and has him take her out.

They all thing she asked him was to be kind to all souls, and when she dies burry her with Walter.

Falling ActionIn the end Jared followed her down to their

hospital and stopped Doc from letting her die.

Then Jared, Melanie, and Jamie found her a new body that belonged to no one. This way

she wouldn’t feel like she was stealing someone’s life from them.

She was implanted into this new body and was able to stay with the people she loved.

Resolution After a new body was found she was able to

be with Ian forever and help with the raiding like she had before.

After a couple of weeks it was time for another raid so Wanda, Ian, Melanie, Jared, and Aaron went to stock up supplies again when they found another ‘wild’ human group.

Setting

The basic setting for this book is under ground the a network of volcanic rock, that had been hollowed out by lava many years ago. It is all

located under Picacho Peak. These mountains are located in southern California. This makes

the caves very hot and musty.

Time period & PlaceThe time period for this book

is modern time. This is important because it makes it relatable, personal.

The book in general includes the whole world, but specifically the characters live in caves under Picacho Peak.

ThemesPrejudiceViolence

CommunityFriendship

StereotypingTrust

SurvivalWar

Theft

Book Rating: 10

I believe this book definitely rates a 10! It pulls you into the story with creative

characters and non-stop action/intensity. Its always moving and is unpredictable.

What is the Social Issue?

GenocideGenerally defined as the intentional extermination of a

specific:

EthnicRacial, or

Religious group.

What is the Social Issue?

GenocideUnlike war, where the attack is general and the object is

often the control of a geographical or political region…

Genocide attacks an individual's identity, and the object is control

-- or complete elimination -- of a group of people.

What is the Social Issue?

GenocideWhat genocide are you familiar with?

Yes…

Adolf HitlerNazi Germany &

WWIIBut…

Genocide

What other genocide are you aware of?

Genocide

Genocide: Are you aware?

The history of genocide in the 20th century includes:

• 1914 – 1920 Genocide/displacement of millions of Armenians by Turks• 1932 – 1933 Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union, causes a famine starving 7

Million Ukrainians • 1937 – 1938 Japanese murder 300,000 of 600,000 people living in the capital of

China (Nanking)• 1938 – 1945 Hitler (Nazi Germany) kill 6 Million European Jews during World War II

• 1944 Lawyer Raphael Lemkin introduces the term "genocide" created from the Greek root word geno meaning "family" or "tribe" and cide meaning "to kill."

• 1972 200,000 in Hutu/Tutsis in Central Africa• 1975 – 1979 Communist government – the Khmer Rouge – kill 1.7 Million in

Cambodia• 1977 – 1978 Dictator Mariam in Ethiopia 500,000 people killed for political reasons

by• 1987 – 1989 Saddam Hussein - 2,000 villages completely destroyed killing 50,000-

100,000• 1992 – 1995 Serbs conduct “ethnic cleansing” in Kosovo by killing 200,000 Bosnian

Muslims • 1994 In a period of 100 days, 800,000 Tutsis are killed by Hutus in Rwanda • 2003 – Present Arab militia (Janjaweed) murder, rape, torture entire villages in

Darfur region of Sudan

• (Staff, ProQuest. "Genocide Timeline." SIRS 2009: 6.)

Genocide: Are you aware?

“When a tragedy claims many lives, we often care less than if a tragedy claims only a few

lives.

When there are many victims, we find it easier to look the other way.”

(Vedantam, Shankar. "Mass Suffering and Why We Look the Other Way." SIRS 5 Jan 2009: 4.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gcu4M4xF6k

This drawing was done by a child survivor as part of post-genocide trauma therapy.(Chris McMorran, Norman Schultz. "Genocide." Aug 2003. Beyond Intractability.org. 21 Feb 2010 )

Sand stung my eyes as I looked up,heard screams. My motherrunning, tears staining her face,told us to go, told me to take my brotherand run. I stood still, not believing this could happen again. Soldiers shooting women, childrenjust like me. Those who stood stillwere falling like leaves, like rain from the heavens.I did not want to fall.  I ran.  My younger brother could not keep up...my mother, saving us, could not keep up. Later, when the soldiers leftand I was alonechoking on the smoke of thoseI knew..I looked for angels,for understandingor a god who would explain. I saw only the sun, shining throughquiet ashes. - Donna Read 

Genocide: Are you aware?

"The tale of what happened during those dark days in Rwanda must be told again and again and again, not out of a morbid desire for gruesome tales, but out of a concern that the innocent dead should continuously sear the memories of the living. Only then can 'never again' cease to be an empty cry."

-- Dr. Richard Sezibera, Rwandan Ambassador to the United States

Genocide: Are you aware?

“How fortunate for government that the people they administer don’t think…”

(- Adolf Hitler, Think Exist.com)

WE MUST THINK!!!

Genocide: Are you aware?

WE MUST THINK!!!

(SIRS)

“Hiding the truth is a common trick of governments who commit murder against their own population.” (Seybolt, Taylor B. "We Can Stop Genocide." SIRS 28 Dec 2008: 4.)

 “Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it.” ( - Adolf Hitler, Thinkexist.com)

“Genocide and mass atrocities are complex problems with no simple remedy, but they are not the mysterious result of "ancient hatreds." They are calculated political strategies that require planning and organization. This means they can be prevented or, if prevention fails, disrupted and stopped using diplomatic, legal, and sometimes military means.” So….? (Seybolt, Taylor B. "We Can Stop Genocide." SIRS 28 Dec 2008: 4.)

So What Can We Do?

So What Can We Do? “From the President on down, preventing genocide and mass atrocities

must be a national priority. Historically, high-level attention has been hard to mobilize and maintain. This time might be different.”

Facebook, Twitter, My Space, Blogs…. We can raise levels of attention!!!

(Seybolt, Taylor B. "We Can Stop Genocide." SIRS 28 Dec 2008: 4.)

A Call to Action! Stay informed Learn more Tell others Donate money Travel and help Join groups

"Never Again…” Now, let’s do our part!

A Call to Action!

THANK YOU!

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dchpJ7bhCBA&feature=PlayList&p1D8032B10558251C&index=1)

Works Cited• Chris McMorran, Norman Schultz. "Genocide." Aug 2003. Beyond

Intractability.org. 21 Feb 2010 <http://www.beyondintractability.com/essay/war_crimes_genocide/>.

• Gustafson, Marc. "'Genocide' in Darfur Isn't What It Seems." SIRS 19 Aug 2009: 3.

• O'Connor, Lisa. "Genocide, the stench of death and eating lunch in a gas chamber.." findarticle.com 16 Mar 2008: 4.

• Romney, Lee. "Retracing a Grim Past." SIRS 19 Sept. 2004: 4.• Seybolt, Taylor B. "We Can Stop Genocide." SIRS 28 Dec 2008: 4.• staff, ProQuest. "Genocide Timeline." SIRS 2009: 6.• Staff, USHMM. "What Is Genocide?" 4 May 2009. United States Holocaust

Memorial Museum. 19 Feb 2010 <http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&Moduleld=10007043&print=y>.

• Unknown. "A Polocy for Preventing Genocide." SIRS 16 Dec 2008: 1.• Vedantam, Shankar. "Mass Suffering and Why We Look the Other Way." SIRS

5 Jan 2009: 4.• Google images• (http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dchpJ7bhCBA&feature=PlayList&p1D8032B10558251C&index=1)

• (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gcu4M4xF6k)