OUTLINE FOR CRITICAL ESSAY

I. Background Information

A. Information about the novel

1. Title:
Where Rainbows End

2. Author:
Cecelia Ahern - She is an Irish Novelist who finished a degree in journalism
and media studies. Her work was first distributed in 2004. Ahern was
conceived and experienced childhood in Dublin. Her works are presently
distributed in about fifty nations and have sold more than 25 million
duplicates of her books around the world.

3. Publication Information:
It was published in the year 2004 in Ireland.

4. Statement of topic and purpose:

The purpose of this novel is to entertain and discuss how amazing true
love is. It will show how destiny makes its way of getting hearts together even
they were separated before. The novel proves that age doesn’t matter because
if it’s really meant to be, things will make their way back to where they found
their comfort place, and that place is Love.
B. Thesis Statements found in the novel: (min of 5)
 Chapter 1 to 2: The childhood partners, Rosie and Alex are rude students
and children who know nothing but to make fun of everything and do the
trips they want to do.
 Chapter 3: Alex met a girl, Bethany, who became his girlfriend that made
Rosie feels like she had been forgotten by Alex but still Rosie always
denies that she is so jealous of Bethany.
 Chapter 4 to 5: Their friendship had been challenged by destiny when
Alex has to go with his family in Boston causing him to miss events with
Rosie but the two of them insist to stay with each other, Rosie took an
entrance examination in her dream school in Boston.
 Chapter 6 to 9: Rosie and her dreams were changed by time especially
when Katie came into her life, Alex finished college, and became a
successful surgeon in Boston.
 Chapter 10 to 11: Alex met this girl named Sally whom he decided to
marry where by this time he asked Rosie to be his ‘best-woman’, tracing
the jealousy in Rosie’s eyes, she opens up here self to new people in
where she met Greg.
 Chapter 12 to 13: The year seems to be a new chapter to Rosie’s life, she
had Katie, Greg and a decent job that fits in her interest as the head
receptionist of the Two Lakes Hotel.
 Chapter 14 to 17: Rosie finally gave her precious “Yes” to Greg and
started creating a better world with her little Katie even though she seems
to be as rude as Rosie when she was on her age while Alex split up with
his wife Sally and gave all his time on work and taking care to his son,
Josh.
 Chapter 18 to 19: Katie and her best friend Toby, made a surprise
birthday party for Rosie’s 30th and invited Alex to come but before Alex
 head back to Boston, he left a letter to Rosie saying that her eyes speak out
a lot more different than what she’s actually saying, Rosie’s lying, her
heart is suffering from all the things she thought that made her happy.
 Chapter 20 to 22: Alex asked Rosie if she had read the letter he left but
Rosie didn’t have any idea about it, she spent the day looking for it and
even ask Greg if he has kept it but Greg said he didn’t but instead e-mailed
Alex telling him to stop sending e-mails to Rosie.
 Chapter 23 to 26: Rosie got job promotion of her ‘almost’ dream job but it
is far away from Dublin therefore, for the sake of Greg and Katie, she
refused to accept the job promotion and stayed in Dublin instead. Rosie
just realized that things she dreamed of before seems to be limited with
Greg, she loved him but feels an insufficiency within her heart.
 Chapter 27 to 28: Alex became more famous in the industry of Medicine
in Boston where his path crossed again with Bethany and started dating
her by that time while Rosie keeps making herself busy on taking Salsa
Dancing Classes with her best friend Ruby.
 Chapter 29 to 31: Kevin, Rosie’s brother, who’s working in a hotel
somewhere out of Dublin told Rosie that Greg just booked 2-nights with
Rosie Dunne so, the two of them assumed that it is a secret visit
unfortunately, they just discovered that Greg is cheating to Rosie. Rosie
quickly messaged Alex, then, he just canceled his date with Bethany and
told her to come quickly to Boston so she can get out of loneliness in
Dublin.
 Chapter 32 to 35: Rosie’s life sank again, she loses her job and can’t
provide for the need of Katie but Brian take a move to be a father to her
child and Rosie just accepted the fact that she must let her little girl know
her father while Alex thought Rosie and Brian were getting back again so,
he started dating Bethany.
 Chapter 36 to 37: Rosie decided to go back to Dublin for Katie to meet the
family of her father, and told Ruby all about the ‘silent’ feeling she felt the
night that she and Alex had in Boston.
 Chapter 38: Rosie started working in the office of Miss Big Nose Smelly
Breath Casey even she hated her at the first place but just worked for the
sake of earning money for Katie, and lived in a small, miserable flat since
she’s just starting a new life again by that time.
 Chapter 39 to 41: Rosie was shocked when Alex e-mailed her telling her
that he’s going to marry Bethany just for the reason that she’s pregnant.
She even gave respect to Miss Julie Casey which she’s calling Miss Big
Nose Smelly Breath Casey before while Katie keeps on hanging out with
her father instead of Rosie which made Rosie feel alone.
 Chapter 42 to 43: Rosie’s father got ill by the time Rosie is taking her
college for the hotel management unfortunately, he died the day before
Rosie’s final examination for the course so, she wasn’t able to take the
examination and failed to get the diploma.
 Chapter 44: Katie just moved out from Dublin because Brian took him to
the club where she loved being the DJ at the same time she’s earning from
it so, poor Rosie was left in Dublin alone.
 Chapter 45 to 46: Rosie got her diploma for Hotel Management and
started working as Assistant Manager in a hotel she referred to as a
miserable hotel. Rosie’s mom got sick for Rosie almost doesn’t have time
for day-offs because after work she is rushing to her mom to be the one to
take care of her.
  Chapter 47: Alex, Katie, and Toby made a surprise 40th birthday party for
exhausted Rosie. Ruby is the one who brought Rosie into the pretty
penthouse knowing that Rosie always wished to live or stay even just for a
night in a Penthouse.
 Chapter 48 to 49: Rosie’s mom died where she left some property for
Rosie. In the last day of the wake of Rosie’s mom, Greg came giving
Katie the letters he kept years ago (the letters of Alex for Rosie). Rosie
renovated their ancestral house where she opened her dream hotel.
 Chapter 50: Toby and Katie are getting back after years having the same
feeling of silence felt by Alex and Rosie before. Both Alex and Rosie told
Katie that there’s nothing wrong in falling in love with a best friend, the
same day Rosie rushed on a room reading all the emails sent by Alex one-
by-one until the sun almost shines in the next day. The bell in the lobby
rang, and Rosie came rushing for she thought that the customer has been
waiting for so long, when she’s getting down the stairs, somebody held her
hand and gently look at her eyes, and it was Alex. By this time, things will
not be complicated anymore because if there is one thing real in that day,
it was Love between Alex and Rosie from the very start.

II. Summary of the Novel

Alex and Rosie are best of all best friends and they have a skill for getting into
inconvenience together. One day, Alex brought his dog to Rosie's seventh birthday
celebration in this way destroying the rug at her home and on Rosie's sixteenth
birthday celebration, they both skip school to celebrate and Rosie ends up in the
hospital having her stomach pumped.

Unexpected things do happen when Alex's father is offered a job in Boston which
does not have any choice but to leave Rosie in Dublin. Rosie proceeds to apply and
gets accepted in Boston College before their secondary school debs. They both
consent to go to debs together anyway Alex doesn't make it in time because of flight
interruptions. Rosie ends up going with Brian. Unexpectedly, she ends up pregnant
and withdraws her acceptance letter from Boston College.

Soon enough her child young lady, Katie is three years old and Alex the
Godfather. Alex gets engaged to Sally, a companion he meets at Harvard. Alex just
neglected the tradition and asks Rosie to be her best lady instead. Rosie accepts and
Alex just got married to Sally.

After Alex's vacation, Katie spills the beans about Rosie's new boyfriend, Greg.
With her love life taken care of, Rosie focused on her career and with a little
motivation from Alex, Rosie lands a job working for Two Lakes Hotel.

After Rosie and Katie move in with Greg, he proposes. Rosie gets engaged to
Greg and in turn, she requests that Alex be her best man. Married life does not treat
both Alex and Rosie as well. Alex parts up with Sally and Rosie gets cheated by Greg
leaving Rosie broken. Alex accepts this open door to express his long overdue
feelings to Rosie in a type of a letter that he leaves yet, unfortunately, gets found by
Greg, Rosie's cheating husband. Alex surrenders when Rosie guarantees him that she
wouldn't have given her marriage with Greg another possibility on the off chance that
she never again saw a future.
 Rosie and Greg attempt marriage counseling stressing any motivation Rosie had
left in her. Maximizing her emphasis on her job, she is granted a promotion as a
'Hotel Host' in a new hotel that requires migration Katie does not take the news great
and flees with her best friend, Toby. The same way how Rosie supposed to do when
Alex has to leave.

Rosie finds Katie and Toby at the airplane terminal holding up in line to check in.
They had initially intended to hop on a plane to go to Alex in Boston. With an end
goal to satisfy her better half and a little girl, Rosie reluctantly gives up her
promotion.

Sadly for Rosie, Greg is still cheating on her, Alex books tickets for Rosie and
Katie to go to him in Boston anyway plans changed when Brian, Katie's father
contacts Rosie trying to know his little girl.

Rosie gets some answers concerning Alex dating Bethany again when she
messages Alex about her life and new employment just to discover that the person on
the opposite end was Bethany who she enthusiastically hates.

Alex gets Bethany pregnant and hurriedly gets engaged to, conflicting with
Rosie's desires for her best friend.

Alex marries Bethany, without Rosie and Katie in attendance. Rosie attends a
university and Katie spends her sweet sixteen getting a tattoo and a tongue piercing.
During her test period, Rosie is told of her father going into a medical procedure,
Alex encourages Rosie to be there for her family.

Rosie's dad dies in his sleep and burial is held. Encouraged by her father's last
message, Rosie stays still to complete school. She graduates and begins her temporary
job as an assistant manager at the Grand Tower Hotel. The inn is shut down because
of security reasons.

She also got the letter Alex kept in touch with her 10 years back, however does
nothing about.

Many things happened, Rosie's mother passes away leaving her their property in
Connemara, Rosie satisfies her dreams further and renovated the house into a B&B.
Alex separates from Bethany upon their child, Theo going to college.

Katie reveals to her mother, Rosie, about a silence she felt with her childhood best
friend, Toby. What's more, not at all like Rosie, Katie and Toby take the jump from
being best friends to something more. She additionally shares this with Alex giving
him the bump he constantly required as he discovers that Rosie felt a similar quiet.
Alex, at last, pronounces his emotions to Rosie and this time Rosie answers and
they're at long last together.

III. Interpretation and Evaluation

A. The Author’s purpose:

To entertain
The Author’s purpose is to entertain readers. It will surely make readers
laugh, and cry, the author created a smooth flow seems, and the transitions were
nice so readers are able to visualize every event well. Every line denotes emotions
 and some are definitely cool like how Rosie and Katie talk to each other as if
there’s an existing cool mom like Rosie to talk to her daughter like they were just
friends in serious talks. The messages given by Rosie as well as Alex in their
weds are so heart-breaking that almost feels like having anger to them for refusing
to tell each others’ feelings.

B. Effectiveness:
The story was clearly narrated, and the flow runs smoothly all throughout the
story. The lines given fits the mood of the events, gives emphasis to the situation, and
makes the readers know the personality of the characters. Rosie as one of the main
character of the story is very consistent in the flow of events, her traits especially
being rude, and bold was shown even when she became a mother to Katie up to the
end. Alex is the one who gave a twist in the story because he keeps on thrilling the
readers of when he will tell his feelings to Rosie, and that was a good strategy of the
author because the readers will be more interested to read the following events of the
story. It is also effective that there is the story within the story in which Katie and
Toby didn’t make the same mistake that Rosie and Alex did.

C. Discussion of the topic’s themes:

‘Where Rainbows End’ is a romantic novel that focuses the story of two
young best friends who was separated when one of them have to leave Dublin for his
family. Their journey to eternity love wasn’t easy, many people came into their lives,
and many feelings had been thrown out for each one’s happiness. In the end, it seems
to be destiny that crossed the path of two hearts that loves truly from the very start.
“Some things are destined to be -- it just takes us a couple of tries
to get there.”
– J.R. Ward, Lover Mine

D. Strengths and Weaknesses:

Strengths
 The novel has good chapter transitions.
 The lines are heavy giving proper emotions for the situations.
 Rosie’s character is consistent with teenage to motherhood life.
 The story runs altogether through written discourse between the main
characters. The conclusive occasions in the book are described in regular
conversation inside letters and messages, with the sending and getting of
postcards and birthday cards used to demonstrate the passing of time. It is
a style that is reviving and entirely coherent.
 The author gets to dig deep into the main character's emotions and
feelings.
 The story just made readers know the characters’ attitude well
Weaknesses
 Stephanie’s role in the novel is just some sort of ‘ads’ in the story, she
better gave Rosie more substantial opinions whenever Rosie opens up
something to her.
 It sort of skipped main events and didn't get the chance to discover much
about them.
  Sometimes the characters just aged too fast making the story somehow
vague to the readers.

E. The Overall value of the passage:

 “The reality of life gets in the way and you’re hit by the realization that you
can’t be all you wanted to be”
This line just made things clear to me that I can’t get anything I want
because something better was designed for me. Everything that may happen to
our lives is well-planned. All we can do to make our paths better is to nurture the
opportunities given to us and make a positive response even it is not the thing that
we wanted for us.
 “Fairy tales are such evil little stories for young children.”
A line from Rosie that I believed to be true because life in fairy tales
seems to be the perfect one like there are no downs in life, and everything can just
be instantly fixed in one swipe of a hand which is the great opposite of real life.
Life was never easy and never magical as fairy tales are. It spoils little minds of
young children because they will think that life is just a piece of cake instead of
learning how to be a better decision maker when a huge wave came into their
lives, and destroy them.

 “xxx at the end of the day a missed opportunity is a missed opportunity. But
don't worry; I think there's a lesson to be learned in all this.”

Things happened just happened, we cannot turn back the time to clean up
all the mess we have done in life, all we can do is to be responsible for its
consequences and never commit the same mistake again.

 The story is quite inspiring to the point that it made me realize that there’s no age
to make things right because there is a time where things will just be perfect on its
own unexpected ways. Just like in the story, who thought that a man who had
been married twice will not have the true love, and will find it to the third woman
who’s beside him all throughout his life for almost 50 years. Things are on its
process to perfection, we don’t have to give up if we just failed on our first try but
insist to reach it the second time around. Always remember that the world will
just agree on the things we wished before and will give us more than what we
expected.
Balmes, Pauline Grace L.
Stem 2