Stephen King Born September 21, 1947 He worked at a mental institution during his younger years which gave him ideas on books. He’s written over 70 books. He’s married to Tabitha King and has three children.

Danny Torrance The Protagonist. Danny Torrance, son of Jack and Wendy, has the shining. The shining is a psychic power that allows Danny to see spirits, the past, the future and see what people feel or what they think. He has an Imaginary friend named Tony, who at first is a playmate, and then shows Danny disturbing images, and later he is back to a trust worthy friend. (In the book, Tony does NOT live in his finger.)

The Overlook Hotel The Antagonist. The Overlook Hotel has been transformed into an evil sentient entity. The Hotel is haunted by many evil spirits and ghosts. (such as Mrs. Massey (the woman in room 217), Delbert Grady (the old caretaker) Lloyd (the bar tender), Mr. Derwent and his lover Roger (also known as the Dogman)) The hotel wants Danny so they use Danny’s father Jack to get to him using Alcohol, making Jack susceptible to the hotels power.

Danny Torrance My Favorite Danny is my favorite character, he’s so young, but so understanding towards situations adults go through, just because he can read their minds. He also understands the situation between his father and mother and tries to help out, but scares them a little in the process due to the Shining he possesses. He’s just all around a cute character who makes the entire novel come alive.

Lloyd the Bartender Lloyd is my least favorite character because he hardly talks, and he gives Jack the Alcohol which makes Jack want to kill everyone. He’s not very interesting, he’s dull, and for a while he is only conjured by the hotel. Lloyd pretty much ruins it all.

Exposition Jack Torrance is Danny’s father, he was an alcoholic and he broke Danny’s arm when Danny accidentally spilled work papers all over the floor. Jack gets the job at the hotel when he gets fired for beating up a student at the university, his friend Al Shockley refers him to the hotels manager and they take him. Danny can see the murders and he see’s the past and future of the hotel.

Rising Action Tony starts to show Danny some violent images when they are getting closer to the moving day. In room 217, a dead lady, naked and rotting, is in the bath tub. Danny goes in to explore and he see’s her, he tries to run but she catches him and chokes him. Jack is outside trimming the hedge animals and they start moving, looking like they are about to attack. Jack thinks about it as a hallucination and thinks no more of it. Jack begins to get angry at everyone, his temper is not on his side, due to the hotel.

Climax The hotel conjures up alcohol for Jack, and it convinces him that his family hates him and they only way to “Give them their medicine” is to kill them. Jack tried to overthrow the hotel but the hotel didn’t let him go, so he killed himself to save his family. The broiler was left on in the basement, causing the hotel to blow up, allowing Danny and Wendy to escape.

Falling Action Danny and Wendy find a snowmobile and finally leave the hotel. The cold was about to kill them but they found some blankets and made it to the gas station 20 miles away.

Resolution Danny and Wendy go to a hotel and stay there for a while to recover from the bangs and bruises that the hotel gave them.

Setting (The book was written in 1977 and it was written to be in present day.) The book takes place in the winter, which causes them to be stuck at the hotel during the snow clears up. The Overlook Hotel was built in Colorado and the location of the hotel makes it very difficult to get out during the winter which gives the hotel more of an advantage.

Theme Horror! Eeek! The whole book is terrifying and suspenseful so it falls under the horror category.

Rating (The book has offensive language and very graphic descriptions) I think this book is a 10! It is full of fear and total intense and it doesn’t let you put it down!

What NOT to expect!

Intro to social issue The family was discussing Danny’s Shining and thought that he could be Schizophrenic. So my social issue is mental illness, mostly schizophrenia, and how mental illness is misunderstood.

What is Schizophrenia? A mental disorder consisting of hallucinations, paranoid or strange delusions, and disorganized speech and thinking. Only about 1% of the population has schizophrenia. People with Schizophrenia have trouble living a normal life because they have a hard time knowing what is reality and what they are hallucinating.

Schizophrenia Video I chose this video because it relates to my book very well. It shows the Dark Side of Schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia by Blue October

Schizophrenia Poem Maya I must overcome my fear, Regardless of the jeers, or the voices that I hear. I must focus. I must overcome. I feel I’m on a stage, they make me feel deranged. I’m naked for all to see, they peer inside of me. Everyday. I am my own enemy. My fears, they limit me. I started to disappear, I grew fatter, I fed on my fear. Still, within I seek my truth. Inside I hold the key. Self – knowledge, set me free. I must focus, I must overcome.

Stigma People think that only because people are mentally ill with a type of psychosis, then they are freaks, or crazy weird people with no life. People relate violence to mentally ill people. While there are certainly violent and murderous people who have schizophrenia and related mental illnesses, such individuals make up only a very small portion of the population of chronically mentally ill people. Violence is shown to appear more by people who abuse substances rather then mentally ill.

Schizophrenia and Violence The case of Andrea Yates, who drowned her five children in a bout of postpartum psychosis. David Berkowitz, the serial killer infamously known as the Son of Sam who claimed his dog spoke to him and urged him to kill. Mark David Chapman, the man who killed Beatle John Lennon John Hinckley, who attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan. These are some cases that were big in the media.

Citations