Apolgies!

My apologies that I haven't updated this blog for awhile. What with moving back to campus, breaking my foot, and RA training I haven't exactly had a free moment to do much of anything but sleep! (Crutches really wear you out...)

A reminder for freshmen: the book discussion will be the 8th of September, so you've got just a little more than a week to have it read. Please be prepared for this. The more of you that participate, the better it will be and the more satisfying it will be.

Until again, read on!

Do it yourself: Blog

Any visitors to this blog that are Seton Hill University students are eligible to own their own blogs.

Seton Hill's "blogosphere" has been active for almost two whole years (starting in September of 2003), and has bloggers from all classes--senior, junior, sophomore, and freshman. Some students receive a blog as they enter a course (particularly a course taken with Dr. Jerz) and some ask for one on their own. Some students maintain their blog for purely scholastic activity while others, like me, make their blogs more personal.

To get a closer look at the blogosphere, visit the New Media Journalism blog. This page, which is currently being redesigned by a student, has been a center of activity since its creation--notice "Recent Posts" and "Recent Comments" on the navigation bar. Feel free to visit!

Become part of the blogging community at SHU by emailing Dr. Jerz, using the link on the sidebar under "Contact."

The Infinite Mind

A visitor to Dust Jacket provided a link to a special report on Asperger's syndrome through NPR called The Infinite Mind.

I don't often have the opportunity to listen to the radio (#1 reason: the speakers in my car don't work), but I just may have to find the time to sit and listen in sometime soon. Other topics covered in this show include writer's block, dyslexia, depression, and multitasking. (Fascinating information on each of these topics; I especially appreciated the section on dyslexia, as I have dealt with that on a personal level.)

Special thanks to Joanna, who is a Professor of English at Montgomery College in Maryland. Evidently, Joanna isn't the only one that's noticed our Dust Jacket, as we've been cited on the Community College English blog as well.

Taking the Tips

Given that this book has been out for about two years, there's a great amount of feedback in the form of reviews and critiques. I've been sent a few tips to some personal reviews by bloggers.

Livre d'Or (which is French for "Golden Book" or, litereally, "Book of Gold") gives an account of the reader's reasons for reading and liking the book. This blogger says she was skeptical of the idea of Christopher's role as an autistic teen, but that she was brought around due to the book's "clear-eyed view of disability." (Sidenote: I was surprised to see that this is a LiveJournal, as they are generally listed as personal "teen" blogs with no content. Here we see a post marking an exception to that rule.)

Dr. Jerz sent me this link as I began this project, and I was waiting for the proper moment to include it here on Dust Jacket. Interestingly enough, Livre d'Or also linked to this blog citing it as knowledgeable. (I assume that the two bloggers are friends and have linked to each other's work to gain readership.)

The blogger has experience working with autistic children, specifically boys.

I was hugely impressed with the way in which Mark Haddon accurately captures the misunderstandings, novel interpretations and unconventional outlook that are so characteristic of people with Asperger syndrome. The narrative, told from Christopher’s perspective, is utterly brilliant, very funny, and will strongly resonate with anyone who has spent time with anyone with AS. --Hanna, join-the-dots

I also came across a mention of the book on a site called "Enpsychlopedia," through Psych Central. The site uses the same information found on the Wikipedia site for the book. (Be warned that this link contains some spoilers.)

Found through the BBC "Ouch!" weblog for the disabled, I found this "glowing" review through Guardian Unlimited Books.

And finally, although entirely redundant and childish, this listing of the book caught my eye because of the international response it has garnered. The site it geared towards a youinger audience, but I never mind hearing what children have to say about books I have read/am reading--frequently their perspectives can be more general, but unmarred by closed thinking we adults tend to develop.

Survival Guide for Asperger's patients

Survival Guide: Asperger's Syndrome

This is a link to a book written by a man named Marc Segar. Segar has Asperger's Syndrome, and wrote this book as a guide to all the "unwritten rules" of society.

Many of these rules would apply to Christopher in various instances throughout the book. For example, the section on body language would probably help Christopher understand a bit more about why he cannot seem to process people's facial reactions. He complains that they move too quickly, but also says that he has a photographic memory. In hindsight he may know what they were expressing, but not at the moment when he could react to the expressions.

Peruse this source and think about Christopher--would reading this source change Christopher's interactions with the rest of the world? How?

"Silver Blaze"

"Is there any point to which you would wish to draw my attention?"

"To the curious incident of the dog in the nighttime."

"The dog did nothing in the nighttime."

"That was the curious incident," remarked Sherlock Holmes.

...

"...a dog was kept in the stables, and yet, though some one had been in and had fetched out a horse, he had not barked enough to arouse the two lads in the loft. Obviously the midnight visitor was some one whom the dog knew well."

The title of this book, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, actually references a story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle titled "Silver Blaze."

Christopher references this short story because of his interest in Sherlock Holmes and the logic used in his mysteries. Why Christopher--who sees nothing but the logical in his life--would choose Holmes as a "hero"? Why is the reference to the story important?

A Little Latin Goes a Long Way

In beginning of my Googling for more about this book, I came across a bit of information that may help in a holistic approach to themes within the book and perhaps even a rationalization of actions of the protagonist.

Occum's Razor: Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem.
(translation: No more things should be presumed to exist than are absolutely necessary. Literally, however, it means "Entities should not be multiplied beyond necessity.")

Occum's Razor is also referred to as the the principle of parsimony. Someone who is parsimonious is frugal, stingy, economical, tight with the moneybags. A scientist following the principle of parsimony practices economy of explanations, i.e., s/he goes with the simplest of explanations to understand a particular observation.

Found by Googling "Haddon + Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime," source @ www.thesis.mekerr.com.

More information on Occum's* Razor