The Time KeeperBy: Mitch Albom

Journal Reflection- 3/10• In your journal, please respond to the following:

▫1. "We're so obsessed with time in this country... we just want to go faster and live longer," Albom pointed out. "But I don't think we're so concerned with the quality of our time.“ What is Mitch Albom trying to say?

▫2. “Try to imagine a life without timekeeping.” How do you think life would be if people did not keep

track of time?

▫3. If you could control time, what would you change?

Questions for Group Discussion•Do you live your life by daily blocks of

time? If so, what are they? (Ex: timesheets, shot clock, quarters, halves, periods, etc.)

•What would you do if time didn’t exist?

•What would you do if your life wasn’t scheduled?

Who is “Father Time?” • Usually depicted as an elderly bearded man, dressed in a robe

and carrying a scythe and an hourglass or other timekeeping device (which represents time’s constant one-way movement)

• The personification of Time and the friendlier version of the Grim Reaper.

• Father Time is married to Mother Earth; just as the Grim Reaper, the personification of Death, is married to Life.

• He symbolizes the flow of time and its effects. His old body is a reminder that time is the devourer of all things and that, like the sand in the hourglass he often carries, his life will run out, as all good things come to an end.

“Father Time”

Pages 11 Vocabulary• 1. Gravitate: to be attracted to something and therefore

move towards it or become involved with it

• 2. Humility: the quality of not being too proud about yourself - use this to show approval

• 3. Notch: to cut a V-shaped mark into something, especially as a way of showing the number of times something has been done

• 4. Beckoning: to make a signal to someone with your hand, to show that you want them to come towards you or to follow you

Pages 1-15 Notes•Father Time: banished to a cave for

eternity: ▫Punished by God▫Alone ▫Forced to listen to all people on Earth

asking for more time▫Will soon be freed to return to Earth

•Dor (will become Father Time): ▫First person to begin counting▫Different child- God is watching

Pages 1-15 Notes • Sarah:

▫Teenager▫Has a date at 8:30pm▫Needs more time to get ready- can’t decide what to

wear. ▫Fears time is running out to get ready; almost 8:30

• Victor: ▫Man in mid-eighties▫Wealthy ▫Dying of cancer▫Needs more time to live; fears his time to live is

running out

Pages 1-15 Notes•Nim:

▫Stronger than other boys▫Became fascinated with power = foreshadowing

•Alli:▫Beautiful; humble

•Dor: ▫Became a measurer of things▫Always thinking about numbers▫Used anything he could find to count (pebbles,

stones, etc.)

Pages 1-15 Notes• Man alone keeps track of time- no one else• Dor began to mark time:

▫ Used a stone, stick, an shadow from the sun▫ Time = when they all aligned

• Man comes to visit Dor: ▫ Fly turned into an old man▫ Poked Dor’s sun stick turns into wasps▫ Wasps = symbolism .. What do you think?

Create a new line of darkness Symbol of order, progress, organization, communication

• Doesn’t tell anyone about the visit- YET- Foreshadowing

Journal Reflection- 3/12•On page 11, the author writes, "As

children grow, they gravitate toward their fates." Analyze what Albom is trying to say by this line. 

Pages 1-15 Notes•Sarah:

▫Finds time in a drawer – how? ▫Watch is in the drawer▫Form of timekeeping

•Victor: ▫Finds time in a drawer – how? ▫Calendar book with itinerary – where he

needs to be and when ▫Determined to something about dying

Pages 16-32- Vocabulary•Swat: to crush, slap, hit

•Feeble: extremely weak; not very good or effective

•Dabbled: to do something or be involved in something in a way that is not very serious

Pages 16-32•Nim:

▫Became powerful king; great riches, many slaves

•Dor: ▫Experimented with every form of time

measurement that would later be discovered by science

▫Created the first sundial, clock, and calendar

Sundial Egyptian Obelisk

Greek Clepsydras (Water Clock)

Pages 16-32•Victor:

▫Calls for research about immortality…why? ▫Immortality = living forever… He is going to figure

out a way to live forever▫Thinks money can buy more time

•Weariness: very tired or bored, especially because you have been doing something for a long time

•Sarah is anxious… why? ▫Anxious about being late/time running out

•Victor is anxious… why? ▫Anxious about research results/time running out▫Doesn’t want his wife to know his plan… how do you

know? ▫“Grace enters with the soup, he hangs up.”

Pages 16-32•Meager: too small and is much less than you

need

•Withdrawn: very shy and quiet, and concerned only about your own thoughts

•Swaddling: wrap a baby tightly in a blanket to restrict movement

Pages 16-32• Dor and his family are forced to live in the high plains with barely

anything• Nim:

▫ Claims to have wounded the gods ▫ People bow down to him; became a powerful king

• Dor and Alli receive vistors: ▫ Dor = proud of Alli’s kindness to take them in.▫ They did not look well; Dor fears they are diseased▫ Foreshadowing

• Nomad: a member of a tribe that travels from place to place instead of living in one place all the time

• Sustenance: food that people or animals need in order to live; when something is made to continue

• Alli ended up hugging the woman visitor…

Pages 33-41•Gouge: to make a deep hole or cut in the

surface of something

•Dor found a pattern to create the first calendar: ▫Gouged holes in clay to create months▫Assigned every stone to a full moon▫Put notches in tablets for moons in

between

•Baffle: if something baffles you, you can’t understand or explain it

•Victor’s wife wants him to spend time with her▫He is too preoccupied with his research

Pages 33-41•Dor:

▫As Alli gets sicker, Dor now wants time to STOP. (Irony)

▫Wants to find a medicine man (Asu).▫Knows “His days are numbered” – common phrase▫Wants to stop her suffering, wants to stop

everything•Dor goes to Nim’s tower

▫To make time stop•Ascent: the act of climbing something or moving •Façade: the front of a building, especially a large

and important one•“The lust for power is a combustible thing…”

Pages 33-41• Allusion:

▫Tower of Babel ▫Bible story- Book of Genesis ▫Nim’s tower is what we know as the Tower of Babel

• Symbolism:▫Red: the color of extremes; color of violence, danger,

anger; prehistoric ancestors saw red as the color of fire and blood Most of red’s symbolism today arises from its powerful

associations in the past.

Red= a magical and religious color.

Symbolized super-human heroism to the Greeks and is the color of the Christian crucifixion.

Journal Reflection- 3/18•What is the relationship like between Sarah

and her mother? Provide one line from the text to support your response? Be specific!

•What is the relationship like between Victor and his wife? Provide one line from the text to support your response? Be specific!

•What is the message about power on pages 39-40?

“Cave”- Vocabulary• Disintegrated: to break up, or make something break up, into

very small pieces

• Suffice: to be enough

• Fissure: a deep crack, especially in rock or earth

• Clacking: to make a continuous short hard sound

• Souvenir: an object that you buy or keep to remind yourself of a special occasion or a place you have visited

• Jowl: the skin that covers your lower jaw on either side of your face

• Pensive: thinking a lot about something, especially because you are worried or sad

“Cave”- Vocabulary• Mogul: a businessman or woman who has great power and

influence in a particular industry

• Mushroomed: to grow and develop very quickly

• Chafed: to feel impatient or annoyed

• Penchant: if you have a penchant for something, you like that thing very much and try to do it or have it often

• Disdain: a complete lack of respect that you show for someone or something because you think they are not important or good enough

• Karst: landscape formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks

“Cave”- Vocabulary•Incandescent: very bright

•Deregulation: to remove government rules and controls from some types of business activity

•Fret: to worry about something, especially when there is no need to

“Cave”• Dor:• Old man comes to see him:

▫ Explains he will not age in the cave.▫ Now that Dor created time, the desire for power and creation of

time will not stop. • Conflicts:

▫ Person vs. Self: Doesn’t understand why he is in the cave. Doesn’t understand why creating time was a bad thing. Begins to regret what he created.

▫ Person vs. Person: Punishment: Forced to listen to all people on earth complain about time. Dor vs. Old Man: Old man punished him; got in his way; changed his life

▫ Person vs. Time: Tried to stop time Length of his banishment.

“Cave”•Dor:

▫Lesson to be learned: Consequences of creating time (actions come

with consequences) Be happy with what you have “The length of your days does not belong to

you.” You have no control over how long you live.

“Cave”• Sarah:

▫ Person vs. Self: Dislikes how she looks (eyes, hair, teeth, extra weight) Lonely; spends a lot of time by herself Works up confidence to ask Ethan to hang out. Questions what to say and how to act with Ethan

▫ Person vs. Person: Sarah vs. Her mom (Lorraine)

Argue, don’t get along, don’t see eye to eye Sarah vs. Ethan

Has feelings for him and he does not feel the same way back. Ethan cancels their plans. Opposite social circles

▫ Person vs. Society: Sarah vs. High School Norms:

Not popular – too smart, not attractive enough, not in a popular social circle

“Cave”•Sarah:

▫Person vs. Time Wants time to go faster to see Ethan

▫Lesson to be learned: Appreciate her time instead of rushing it Don’t rush your time just for one person Be more confident and accept who she is

“Cave”•Victor: •Conflicts:

▫Person vs. Self: Avoids attachments Struggles with his past – death of parents, rags to riches

Cancer: attacking his body, conventional treatments not working

▫ Person vs. Person: Victor vs. Grace: Their marriage

Talk less Do less together Their life together felt like a duty He pushes her away when she keeps trying

▫ Person vs. Technology: Victor vs. Cryonics

Freezing yourself low-temperature preservation of humans who cannot be sustained by

contemporary medicine, with the hope that healing and resuscitation may be possible in the future

“Cave”•Victor:

▫Person vs. Time: Wants time to slow down

To live To do research Checked his time constantly during treatments

▫Lesson to be learned: Enjoy his moments; less work, more family Money can’t buy time Life isn’t always about money.

“Cave”- Quote Analysis•"Until slowly, gradually, Dor came to rue

the very thing that once consumed him." ▫Rue = to wish that you had not done

something Regret is a synonym

▫Analyze the meaning of this quote. What does Dor rue?

“The In-Between”

•Laconic: using only a few words to say something

•Sarah asks Ethan why he cancelled last night: ▫Knows she shouldn’t have▫Doesn’t give her much of a response

•Victor visits a cryonics facility: ▫Not telling Grace- she won’t understand

•Partition: to divide into two or more parts•Steadfast: faithful and very loyal

Cryonics Lab

Cryonics Lab

“The In-Between”•Lethargy/Lethargic: feeling as if you have

no energy and no interest in doing anything•The cave:

▫Was forming▫Dor felt broken (soul dried up, mind dulled

from inactivity)▫Created earliest math▫Started carving on the wall

Telling his story using symbols

Stalactite vs. Stalagmite: deposits of minerals that form in a cave over a long period of time.

Stalactites: are the formations that hang from the ceilings of caves like icicles

Stalagmites: look like they're emerging from the ground and stand up like a traffic cone.

“The In-Between”•Lorraine and Sarah… AND… Victor and

Grace▫Used to be closer▫Not on the same page ▫Victor is thinking about a completely

different life▫Grace is trying to enjoy the life they still

have together.

Partner Discussion•Consider the following:

▫Victor is in his study alone▫Sarah is in her bedroom alone▫“It is this time. Right Now. Our time on our

Earth. And Dor’s time to be set free.” ▫Why is it Dor’s time to be set free? ▫Why do you think this section is titled “The

In-Between”

“Falling”•Dor has been in the cave for 6,000 years. •Gape: to look at something for a long

time, especially with your mouth open, because you are very surprised or shocked▫Dor gaped in disbelief.

•An hourglass formed: ▫Dor can now control time. ▫Every moment of the universe is in the

hourglass.•Penance: something that you must do to

show that you are sorry for something you have done wrong

“Falling”•Dor needs to learn:

▫Purpose of the hourglass▫Purpose of his life at this point

•“It is never too late or too soon. It is when it is supposed to be.” – The Old Man… What does this mean?

•Dor doesn’t understand how two people can make such a difference in the world.

•Cryonics simile: Freezing = a lifeboat to the future

•http://www.alcor.org/Library/html/vitrification.html

“Falling”•Old man’s words: “Listen for their

misery.”▫Dor hears the voices of an older man and

younger woman “Another lifetime” “Make it stop” These are his clues to finding the two people.

•Wind came and Dor flew into the air▫Began “falling” to Earth.

“Falling”•Exit Slip:

▫Why is Dor going back to Earth? What is his task? (Hint- Page 79)

“Falling”- Review• 1. What will Dor learn by the end of his journey?

P. 80

• 2. “But a desperate heart will seduce the mind” p. 81 - What does this quote mean?

• 3. Prediction: What do you think Dor will use his hourglass to do?

• 4. If you could give Sarah and Victor advice at this point, what would you tell them?

“Earth”• The divorce is what changed everything for Sarah,

as well as the relationship between her and her mother.

• Tapas: small dishes of food eaten as part of the first course of a Spanish meal

• Dor lands in Spain at a December festival: ▫Hanging as a mannequin in the middle of the festival.

• What did dropping the hourglass mean for Dor?▫He can start and slow time down. ▫Changed everything.▫Felt powerful

“Earth”•What happened between Ethan and Sarah:

▫Ethan did not really commit to hanging out▫Drank alcohol▫Kissed ▫Ethan tried to take it too far; Sarah stopped

him•As a result of their night:

▫Sarah is unsure of whether or not she did the right thing.

▫Comes across as desperate in this section. ▫Now, Sarah wants to buy him a gift.

Money doesn’t buy love. Thinks she can buy his love (buying a him a gift

will make him like her).

“Earth”• Dor:

▫Slows time to meet his needs ▫Used his power of the hourglass to explore the world.

• Perplexed: confused and worried by something that you do not understand

• Adept: good at something that needs care and skill

• Leery: careful in the way that you deal with something or someone because you do not trust them

• Bequeath: to pass knowledge, customs etc to people who come after you or live after you

“Earth”•Victor wants to change the rules of

cryonics…How? ▫Bribing Jed with his money▫Victor wants Jed to begin the cryonics

process when he is almost dead, instead of the moment he dies.

▫Then- Victor wants Jed to lie and say Victor was dead when he really wasn’t yet.

▫Victor thinks his chances of cryonics working will improve if done this way.

“Earth”• Immerse: to become completely involved in an

activity• Elongate: to become longer, or make

something longer than normal: • Dor immersed himself in the modern world:

▫Got a haircut▫Wears modern clothes▫Goes to the library to learn (spelling, reads

literature, reads history, studies maps)• In Germany, Dor hears the two voices again:

▫Swam the Atlantic Ocean ▫Landed in New York City ▫NYC= a metropolis (a very large city that is the

most important city in a country or area)

Pendulum Clock

“City”• One of the world’s most common question:

▫“What time is it?”

• Dor decides to take a job in a clock shop.▫Why? ▫What he knows best. ▫Will wait here for Sarah and Victor

• Victor: ▫Wants a timepiece- symbolic for him▫Stop it the moment he freezes; start it back up

when brought back to life.▫Enters the clock shop – encounters Dor – Dor

realizes who the man is.

“City”•Sarah:

▫P. 112“Sometimes when you are not getting the love you want, giving makes you think you will.” What does this mean? How does it apply to Sarah? What prediction can you make at this point?

•Victor: ▫Bought a pocket watch = another thing he

WON’T tell Grace about.

•Brimming: to have a lot of a particular thing, quality, or emotion

“City”•Victor:

▫Planning to be dead by New Year’s Eve.▫Getting his affairs in order… his money ▫Sees a man across the street just sitting on

the ledge and cradling something in his arms. Foreshadowing?

•“Some lunatic with a death wish,” Victor said. ▫What is ironic about this statement?

•Sarah enters the clock shop...encounters Dor and he realizes who she is

“City”• Dor:

▫ Would sit at the top of skyscrapers at night▫ Silence the city and think▫ At this point- he still doesn’t understand why Victor and Sarah

are the two souls he must help. ▫ “But a man who can take anything will find most things

unsatisfying. And a man without memories is just a shell.” – p. 122 What does this mean?

• Victor: ▫ Skin graft: created in your arm or leg to allow your blood to flow

from your body through the dialysis machine to be cleaned and back into your body.

▫ Dor becomes a shadow in Victor’s hospital room. ▫ Notices he is impatient

Why? Just wants to “die” and let the freezing process begin

“City”•Sarah:

▫Thinks they have a relationship they really don’t.

▫Chasing after Ethan Keeps texting him, no response Waits for him at school

“City”• Dor:

▫Victor asks him how he knows so much about time▫Dor says: “It was once an interest of mine.”

Understatement ▫Heard Victor as a child asking for time.

• Sarah: ▫Changing for Ethan: cuts classes now.▫Decides to inscribe a message on Ethan’s watch▫“Time flies with you.”

What does the expression “time flies” mean? ▫“I think he’s like the one for me. But I don’t want

to overdo it.” Dramatic irony- We, as the audience, know she is

overdoing it. She has no clue.

“City”•Victor:

▫Asked for time to go backward when he was a child after his father’s death… “Please make it yesterday.”

▫“We all yearn for what we have lost. But sometimes, we forget what we have.” What does this mean? How does it apply in this book so far?

•Sarah plans to meet Ethan Christmas night at Dunkin Donuts to give him his Christmas gift. ▫Prediction?

“City”•Journal Assignment:

▫How are Victor and Sarah letting time pass them by?

▫How are Sarah and Victor both continuing to stray from reality?

▫What is your interpretation of the last page of the section (Chapter 54)? What is happening? What do you predict is going to happen?