The Lucky One

By Nicholas

Sparks

Nicholas Sparks

Was born Dec. 31, 1965

Graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1988

After he got his first check from The Notebook he bought his wife a new wedding ring

Author of 5 best selling books

Protagonist:

Logan Thibault A U.S. Marine

who finds a picture on his third tour in Iraq and later goes in search for the girl in the picture.

Antagonist

Keith ClaytonA very ignorant man who just so happens to be a police officer and whose family runs all of town.

Favorite Character

VictorVictor is Logan’s best friend and is one of the most sincere friends one could ever ask for. Victor is the reason Logan begins to search for the girl in the picture.

Least Favorite Character

Keith ClaytonHe’s rude and tries to control everything even his ex-wife, Elizabeth. He also treats his son awful and doesn’t treat others with respect.

Exposition

The story starts out in a abandoned lake just off a college campus in North Carolina. A police officer, Keith Clayton discovers some girls skinny dipping and decides to take some pictures before confronting them. He later finds that a man, Logan Thibault, and his dog, Zeus, saw him take the pictures and stole the camera as well.

Rising Action

Logan Thibault goes searching for the woman in the picture, with his dog Zeus, after Victor tells her to go find her.

He goes searching for her and later finds her, Elizabeth, and her son, Ben, but decides to keep the picture a secret.

Gets a job at the kennel her grandma owns and Ben becomes very close with Zeus and Logan.

Logan and Elizabeth begin dating and Keith becomes very jealous and tries to break them up.

Logan ends up telling her about the picture.She explains that it belonged to her brother and he had

passed away after he had lost the picture.

Climax

Keith can no longer take that Logan and Elizabeth are together and begins to lash out on Elizabeth

Ben over hears them and becomes angry so he runs to his tree house that is over a river

Keith and Elizabeth go looking for Ben.They soon find Ben with the tree house collapsed

and him just barely hanging on against the river.Keith dives in just to be carried away by the river

as Logan and Zeus show up.Logan also dives in and tries to save Keith as Zeus

pulls Ben out of the water.

Falling Action

The falling action begins with Elizabeth, Ben and Zeus going to a cemetery to visit the brave person who dived in to the river.

She talks highly of him but you don’t figure out who it is till the last page.

Resolution

Ben keeps Zeus and ends up with the picture of his mom.

Elizabeth is happy.

Setting

Time period : Present- This is important because in the story the fact

that Logan walked half way across the country is weird. If it was taken place in a time where walking everywhere was the norm it wouldn’t be weird and have the same effect.

Place : North Carolina, U.S.A.- This place has everything a good love story

could need. A small town, a lake, and the atmosphere where two people can fall in love.

Theme

Love- The love of a father to a son. In this book Keith and

Ben don’t have the best relationship but in the end Keith risked his life for his son.

Suspicion- The suspicion that Victor has of Logan’s picture is

what this story is all about. It’s what fuels Logan to give the picture to Ben in the end also.

Jealousy- The jealousy felt in this book in immense. Keith can

not stand Logan. He took everything he wanted back, his wife, his son, his life and Keith reacted in the worst way possible.

Rating

I give The Lucky One a eight. This book had a good plot and had many stories inside the story. It made you think about what really is important and not to take things for granted.

The Effect of Divorce on Children

Divorce is something that not only effects the man and the woman getting the divorce but the children involved also.

http://www.youtube.com/watch#playnext=1&playnext_from=TL&videos=HH-3fuQ_6Xc&v=EBrbB-KrF64

Statistics

41% of first marriages end in divorce (Divorce Rate)

The highest divorce rates for both men and women are the ages between 20-24 (Divorce Rate)

As of 2000, 24,835,505 of married people divorce with children under the age of 18 (Divorce Rate)

34% of people that get a divorce have children (Divorce Rate)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ld9TNx3ig1w

On the Upside

According to discovery channel, couples with children have a slightly lower rate of divorce than childless couples. (Discovery Channel)

Sociologists believe that childlessness is also a common cause of divorce. The absence of children leads to loneliness and weariness.(About Divorce)

Although it’s a better chance to not get a divorce if you have a child, you should never have a child to stop a divorce.

Short after DivorceA study in 1980 found that

less than 10% of children had support from adults other than relatives during the acute phase of the divorce. (About Divorce)

With no support they develop a sense of vulnerability, grief, intense anger, and strong feelings of powerlessness. (About Divorce)

Parents often end up leaning on the children for support and comfort. (About Divorce)

Long- term Effects

The children of divorced parents are prone to divorcing 4 times more than the children of couples who are not divorced. (Child Advocate)

66% of women in a survey whose parents were divorced within ten years from then had a resurgence of anxiety, fear, guilt, and anger when they started thinking about marriage. (Child Advocate)

Feelings of loneliness, abandonment, and guilt could be a long lasting problem if not addressed early. (Child Advocate)

In Closing

Not all divorce has to effect children for the rest of their lives.

Long term studies suggest that a person’s overall social adjustment will be determined on their relationship with both of their parents after the divorce. If both parents continue to be involved and have a healthy relationship with the child, the child is more likely to be well- adjusted. (Labor of Love)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAtKBwJJmlQ

Websites

http://www.foxnews.com/search-results/tiger-woods-divorce.htm

http://www.divorcerate.org/http://www.aboutdivorce.org/us_divorce_rates

.html 

http://www.childadvocate.net/divorce_effects_on_children.htm

http://www.thelaboroflove.com/articles/long-term-effects-of-divorce-on-children/