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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This 5 page paper discusses the book “Rocket Boys” (also called “October Sky”) and why Homer Hickham wrote it. Bibliography lists 2 sources.
Page Count:
5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: KV32_HVrktbys.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
book, and then examines Hickhams life to see how his background is reflected in the novel. Discussion Rocket Boys is the story of Hickham and his friends who were growing
up in the town of Coalwood, West Virginia; the name of the town is indicative of the main industry: its a mining town (Hickham, 2000). The story takes place in
1957 when the U.S. was first experimenting with rocketry and when it was humiliated by the Soviet Unions launch of Sputnik long before any American rocket was ready to go
(Hickham, 2000). Hickham and his friends were fascinated by rockets, which were a dramatic contrast to the bleak and dirty lives of the coal miners; Werner Von Braun, the German
scientist who had made rockets for Hitler, was now working in the United States and became something of a hero to the boys (Hickham, 2000). The book opens with
a moving description of Coalwood and Hickhams life. He says "Until I began to build and launch rockets, I didnt know my hometown was at war with itself over its
children and that my parents were locked in a kind of bloodless combat over how my brother and I would live our lives" (Hickham, 2000, p. 1). That one simple
opening sentence tells readers what kind of conflicts the book explores: there is the conflict between the coal mines and the idea that children should achieve more than their parents;
and there is the conflict in the family. Hickhams mother and father have a troubled marriage because he loves the coal mine (hes the superintendent) but she loathes it (Hickham,
2000). She also wants Homer Jr. (whom she calls "Sonny") to find a way out of the mines, and she sees his interest in rockets as that opportunity (Hickham, 2000).
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