tuesdays with morrie book report

VII. Message/Moral

I love this book so much because almost all my questions about life are answered here. I love the line of Morrie when he says that “You’ll talk and I’ll listen”. That line really touches my heart because it is like being a friend to someone and lending your ears to listen on what they say and allowing them to give advice to your life. Also, it is true that death ends a life but not a relationship. The relationship with the people that will be left out still remains. Only the body and the presence will end. There will always be the memories and the feeling. I also believe that if we learn how to handle death then we know how to live. We all know that someday, our life will end but most of the people are afraid to let go and that’s because they didn’t make the most of their life.

In our life, there is something that makes it go on and that is love. We are here to love and be loved. We have to know how to give because in that way, we will know how to be satisfied and not want for more. Love is a great feeling so we have to do it now because someday we will die and we don’t want to regret things that we didn’t do during the years of being alive.

Everything has been figured out except how to live. People don’t know how to handle life. We sin every time we handle things and God doesn’t want that. We unexpectedly commit sin as we try to make things work out fine but not all things can be control. There are things that we have to just respect because it is hat its is. God has plans for us. We don’t have to think evil and hell is other people so why care about it.

We are here to love and an open heart will allow us to float equally between everyone. We have to trust other people and let them trust you so you can go on with your life even if it is dark or even if you’re falling.

I also learned that we have to accept what we are able to do and what we are not able to do. We have to accept the past as past without denying it or discarding it. We have to learn to forgive others and don’t assume that it’s too late to get involved.

TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE

By

Mitch Albom

A book report

By

IAH MARIE C. EVANGELISTA

In partial fulfillment of the requirements of the course

ENGLISH IV – 4th Quarter

A.Y. 2007-2008

Submitted to:

MS. JOPHYLYNE SAMOY

tuesdays with morrie summary book report

Summary

The last class of Morrie took place once a week in his home. It is every Tuesday and it required no books and no grades. There is only one student and that is Mitch. He flashes back to his graduation when he gave Morrie a gift of a suitcase. After the graduation, Mitch loses his communication with his college friends as he went to New York to work. He is chasing his music dreams but he gets nothing. He is failing. At the same time, he lose his favorite uncle that dies out of cancer. He gave up his musical dream after that and takes the work of a sports writer. Mitch saw Morrie’s interview with Koppel of the Nightline show. He was suffering from the ALS disease so after seeing it, Mitch drove his way at Morrie’s street. Mitch and Morrie reunite after years of closeness. Morrie has nurses that take care of him and there are his friends who always come to visit him. Mitch flies to London to cover Wimbledon. His workload is overwhelming as usual. Mitch realizes that Morrie doesn't bother with any of that nonsense. He devotes all his time to the things and people he loves. The first Tuesday started. Mitch arrive with foods because he knows that Morrie loves to eat and that bringing him food is something he can only do. They talk about the world. Visiting a dying man every week seems refreshing, and Mitch looks forward to the visits. The second Tuesday they talk about feeling sorry for yourself. Morrie said that it’s okay to cry but not all the time and don’t allow yourself of more self-pity. But he said to himself that there are other emotions and he deserve to experience all of it. Mitch says that he wants to remember Morrie's voice, and he brings a tape recorder on his next visit. At first, he is unsure if Schwartz is comfortable with the idea and offers to put it away. Schwartz interrupts him. He insists that he wants to tell his story while he still has a chance. He wants Mitch to be the one to hear it. on the third day, they talk about regrets but he said that as what you are now, you have to be as good as you can be. Be the best. Ted Koppel returns to Morrie for a follow up interview. They were seeing the effect of the disease to Morrie. Schwartz tells of an old friend who is deaf. He imagines that when he can no longer speak and his friend can no longer hear, they will simply sit together and hold hands. He tells Koppel that after thirty-five years of friendship, they don't need words to feel each other's love. The family lived in poverty, but after his mother's death, family members send Schwartz and his younger brother, David, to the country. They grew well in the fresh air and greenery. Suddenly, though, David is troubled with polio. When Mitch returns the next Tuesday, a portable oxygen machine has been added to Morrie's collection of medical equipment. On the fourth Tuesday they talk about death. Morrie begins the conversation about death by saying that although everyone knows they're going to die, no one really believes it. If they did believe it, they would do things differently. The next Tuesday they talk about family. Morrie looks around him at the numerous photos of his own family and tells Mitch that family is the foundation of everything. Without family, there is almost nothing to life. The Sixth Tuesday they Talk About Emotions. Charlotte tells him that Morrie can no longer chew, and he must eat only soft foods and liquids. Mitch protests that Morrie has never mentioned this, and Charlotte says that he didn't want to hurt Albom's feelings by refusing his gifts. The Seventh Tuesday they Talk About the fear of aging. He decided to ignore culture and not be ashamed. In doing so, he began to enjoy his dependency. He can now enjoy being treated, once again, like a baby, cherished and pampered and looked after by its mother. The Eighth Tuesday they Talk About Money. He said that Average people are simply overwhelmed by it all until they no longer understand what is truly important. The Ninth Tuesday they Talk About How Love Goes On. Meanwhile, Morrie's condition is rapidly deteriorating. He can't move his own head and is no longer able to use the bathroom on his own. Yet every morning he still insists on being lifted from his bed and moved to his study, where he can sit among his books and papers. His new saying is "when you're in bed, you're dead." The Tenth Tuesday they Talk About Marriage. Mitch’s wife came to visit Morrie so the three of them talk. The Eleventh Tuesday they Talk About Our Culture. Mitch is now considerably less self-conscious about the things that society says should be embarrassing. The Twelfth Tuesday they Talk About Forgiveness. The few things Morrie regrets in his life are vengeance and stubbornness, pride and vanity. The Thirteenth Tuesday they Talk About the Perfect Day. Morrie tells Mitch that he wants to be cremated. The Fourteenth Tuesday they talk about Saying Goodbye. Mitch is surprised to find him in bed. He talked peacefully to Morrie. Morrie lapses into a coma two days later. It was Saturday. Hundreds of people want to attend Morrie's funeral. Charlotte keeps it small, though, inviting only family and a few good friends. After that, Mitch looks back at the person he used to be before. He finally reaches his brother. He tells him that he respects his desire to keep his distance. All he wants is to keep in touch. He tells his brother that he loves him and doesn't want to lose him. This is the first time He has ever said such a thing to his little brother. A few days later, his brother sends him a fax.

tuesdays with morrie book report

Organization

The novel starts with the setting description. It starts on the class of the old professor, Morrie, and his student, Mitch. The story used flashbacks in every chapter. It recalls the past in every lesson that Mitch learned. He recalls the time when he was an high school student and his coach now is his sociology teacher. There are many changes that had happened. It all happened to Mitch as he applied all the lessons in his everyday life. When he and Morrie talk about something, he will start to apply it on his own life because he know that Morrie has been on what he is now. At the end of the novel, there had been changes in the surroundings as Morrie said goodbye. Mitch had a lot of changes after learning from his coach. Now he is independent. The people that love Morrie so much also experiences changes but Morrie don’t want them to suffer from loneliness as he believe that there are many emotions there. We can be lonely sometimes but we don’t have to let it remain. We deserve to experience many kinds of emotion.

V. Characterization

Mitch Albom is Morrie's former student at Brandeis University, and the narrator of the book. He is player of the coach. Each Tuesday, he learns from Morrie, his that he needs to review his life, and to value love over money, and happiness over success. Morrie Schwartz is Mitch's favorite professor from Brandeis University, and the focus of the book, Morrie now suffers from ALS, a debilitating, incurable disease which ravages his body, but, cruelly, leaves him intellectually lucid. He had taught sociology at Brandeis, and continues to teach it to Mitch, instructing him on "The Meaning of Life," and how to accept death and aging. Mitch portrays him as a man of ultimate wisdom. Charlotte is Morrie's wife, who, at his insistence, keeps her job as a professor at M.I.T. as Morrie wants her to continue working. Ted Koppel is One of the most famous living television interviewers, Koppel conducts three interviews with Morrie for the news show "Nightline. There is also Janine, Mitch wife that is a great singer during their time. There is Peter, Mitch’s brother who lives in Spain as he was seeking for the treatment of his pancreatic cancer. Connie is Morrie's home health aide who is always there to assist Morrie in going to the bathroom, getting into his chair, and eating his meals. Rob and Jon are Morrie's two adult sons. David is Morrie's younger brother who, after their mother's death, is sent with Morrie to a small hotel in the woods of Connecticut. There, he develops polio. There is also Maurie Stein and Norman, Morrie’s friends then Tony, Morrie’s care worker.

tuesdays with morrie book report

Title

The title refers to the principal character and the setting or the period of the story. The title of the story is made by Mitch Albom and that was approved by Morrie. This book is their last thesis together. Tuesdays is the days when Mitch would take the plane to visit his coach or old professor, Morrie. Tuesday is the day when Morrie and Mitch talk peacefully about topics of life and how to face death. Morrie loves giving Mitch lessons. He was the coach and Mitch is the player. The teaching goes on every week. It is the last class of the old professor and Mitch is the student. It is all about the Meaning of life.

III. Theme

The novel is based on the human experiences and the problems in life that we always encounter. It is all about life and how to approach the trials every now and then. This book is full of advices on many kinds of life topics but the main idea of this book is how to manage death and how to deal with it. This book is saying the immoral approach of the people towards the trials of God and the situations that are unexpected. The basic conflict or the struggle around the story is the wrong approach of the people towards death and their approaches on topics like fear, aging, greed, marriage, family, society, forgiveness and a meaningful life. Like people don’t know that the most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love and to let it come in. Or like people don’t know how to trust other people but they want them to trust him/her. Or like not knowing that we should forgive our self first then forgive others. Or like wanting more than what we have that results to envy. Or giving so much importance to money that is not really needed after our death. Or the wicked marriage of the young ones that results to non harmonious situations. Or not knowing that death ends a life but not a relationship. The conflict of Morrie and Mitch is both internal and external and so as the conflicts of the people as they handle life.