CAPTAIN NOBODY - CHARACTERS

Main Characters
Newton Newman (Newt)
Becomes a hero after becoming Captain Nobody
Creative - creates several superhero characters in his sketchbook
Not given as much attention as his brother gets
Starts to become courageous after becoming Captain Nobody since one
Halloween Night

Chris Newman
Newt's older brother who is also an American football star and plays for Fillmore
High School
A loving brother as he teaches Newt to ice-skate
A highly determined sportsperson
He forgives Darryl for knocking his helmet during the Big Tackle
He is also playful - he like teases his brother, Newt

Cecil Butterworth (Cecil)

Newt's best friend who admires Newt's talent for sketching
He is obsessed with drum - summons Captain Nobody just to get a big bass
drum off a Dumpster
Creative - Helps JJ to transform Newt into Captain Nobody
Cecil is talkative as he always has something to talk about
Juanita Josephina Gonzalez (JJ)
Also Newt's best friend who is also the tallest and smartest
Cannot stand on grammatical mistakes - summons Captain Nobody just to ask
him to correct the cardboard signs in the Sullivan's jewelry store
Supportive as she helps Captain Nobody to get his hands on the ladder at the
water tower

Minor Characters
Mom and Dad
Newt's parents who are always busy with their works
Responsible parents as they take turns to look after Chris at the hospital
 They apologize to Newt as he is not given enough attention as compared to his
brother
Reggie Ratner
The defensive back of the Charges who is blamed for the Big Tackle incident
Stubborn - he does not listen to Captain Nobody's advice when they are on the
water tower and as a result, he lands on Captain Nobody and breaks his ankle
and ribs
Befriends Newt because they share the secret of his intention to vandalize the
water tower

Mr.Clay
The locksmith who is suffering from Alzheimer's
He gets lost and is out of medicine and is helped by Captain Nobody to find his
way back home
He cuts the special gold key with purple ribbon in a velvet box for Captain
Nobody as a token of appreciation

Mrs.Young
Newt's class teacher who is very patient at handling elementary school kids,
especially during the case Newt gets teased for asking too many questions and
wearing Captain Nobody,s outfit
Caring as she brings the issue of Captain Nobody to the Principle's office

CAPTAIN NOBODY - MORAL VALUES / LESSONS

We must not lose hope when we're facing life challenges

We must be ready to forgive and be forgiven by others
We must always help those who are in need
We must always learn from our life experiences and be better in the future
We must have self-confidence in our lives
We must not be influenced by rumours and gossips
We must respect, support and protect our beloved ones
We must not give up easily in our lives
 CAPTAIN NOBODY - THEMES

Love and friendship

Newt loved his family members although sometimes he did not get the attention he
deserved
Newt, together with Mom and Dad, would attend and give support in every game that
Chris was playing
Mom and Dad were willing waiting for Chris to wake up from his coma
Chris loved his brother as they would share jokes when they met each other
Cecil and JJ stood behind Newt no matter what happened. They helped each other,
even in the event of creating Captain Nobody's costume
Determination in one's life
Chris and his teammates showed high level of determination to win the Big Game
although their opponents were leading at crucial part of the game
Newt was determined to stop the traffic on the highways despite the dangerous
situation he was facing so that he could get Ferocious the Ferret back into its cage
Cecil was determined to get the big bass drum that was thrown away even he had to
seek the help of Captain Nobody
JJ showed her determination to correct other people's mistakes by stepping into
Sullivan's store and talked to the owners
Helping those in need
Newt would remind Mom about important events and help his mother to find her
misplaced belongings
Captain Nobody helped Mr.clay to find his way back home after getting lost at the
Dumpster
Captain Nobody talked to the Sullivan couple after JJ asked for his favour and it turn
out he saved the sore owners' lives from an armed robbery
Dealing with identity crisis
Although the creation of Captain Nobody was unintentional, Newt gained much
confidence and courage when he was in the costume
Mrs.Young , the class teacher, showed great concern for Newt and brought up the
matter to the principal, who was later joined by the school counsellor and nurse
 Newt reasoned out with his concerned Dad,who came home and talked to him, after
the school had informed Dad about Captain Nobody
When Newt was finally recognized and got the attention he deserved from the local
community including his family, he reverted to becoming Newton Newman once again
Optimism
Although he was just 10-year-old kid, Newt was full of optimism
After knowing that Chris only had 6 days to wake up, he was still confident that one
day his brother would recover from coma
Cecil felt that they going to have a joyful Halloween celebration after coming out with
the idea of creating their own costumes

WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO LULU?

Themes

Grief and love

A young family member who has run away from home

Feelings of helplessness

Confusion over family situations

No one is exempted from having problems

Parents' and siblings' feeling of loss

Moral Values / Lessons

We should not even entertain the idea of running away from home

We should be concerned a bout our parents' feelings

W e should not give parents and siblings reason to grieve

We should be observant of other family members' behaviour and show concern

We should remember that everyone,young and old, has to face problems

Every problems can be solved if we work together

Literary Devices

Imagery - 'a circle on the dusty shelf where her money-box used to be' gives an image of
Lulu's decision to disappear completely as she has taken her life savings with her

Rhetoric questions - 'Why do you tell me ... a dream and nothing more?'

Symbol - 'the curtain flapping free' is a symbol of the persons' freedom. 'nothing on her bed'
symbolize the emptiness of the room

Metaphor - The cry of anger or pain is compared to 'a gust of rain'

Repetition - The question 'What has happened to Lulu, mother? What has happened to Lulu?'
is repeated in the first and last lines to emphasise the desperation of a person

A POISON TREE

Themes

Anger, revenge and death

Insincerity and deceit

The danger of holding back one's feeling

Bad feelings like anger among friends and rivals

Keeping anger and its destructive consequences bottled up

Moral Values / Lessons

We should not allow anger to control our life

We should express our feelings in a healthy way not bottle them up

We should make peace with everyone,friend and foe

We should be sincere even with our rivals

Literary Devices
Imagery - Stanza 2 gives a good image of a tree being well taken care of

Symbol - The tree is a symbol of life and anger seems to have been given life to grow

Personification - 'the night has veiled the pole' means night has been personified as a person
putting veil or cover on the pole or light

Diction - 'my wrath did grow' , 'my foe beheld it shine' , 'into my garden stole'

Metaphor - The tree of anger like an apple tree stars bearing fruit

Irony - it is ironical that anger is a tree albeit a poison tree; that is, a negative thing growing
into something positive

Simile - 'sunned it with smiles and with soft deceitful wiles ' means the smiles and wiles are
like the sunlight

Repetition - The word 'wrath' is repeated in stanza 1 for emphasis that anger is poisonous