A Walk to Remember
Summary
There
was a time when the world was sweeter...when the women in Beaufort,
North Carolina, wore dresses, and the men donned hats...Every April, when the wind smells of both the sea and lilacs, Landon Carter remembers 1958, his last year at Beaufort High. Landon had dated a girl or two, and even once sworn that he'd been in love. Certainly the last person he thought he'd fall for was Jamie, the shy, almost ethereal daughter of the town's Baptist minister...Jamie, who was destined to show him the depths of the human heart-and the joy and pain of living.
The inspiration for this novel came from Nicholas Sparks's sister: her life and her courage. From the internationally bestselling author Nicholas Sparks, comes his most moving story yet...
Full Glossary for "A Walk to Remember"
alma mater the college from which a person graduated.
Blackbeard the pirate a notorious pirate during the late 17th- and early 18th- centuries, who plundered ships in the waterways around the Carolinas.
Bloody Marys a drink commonly consumed at breakfast or brunch that is made with tomato juice, vodka, and spices.
blue-haired referring to elderly women.
brigadier general a high-ranking military officer; in the Salvation Army, one of the highest-ranking officers.
bun hair gathered up at the back or on top of the head.
burning bush reference to a Biblical passage from Exodus, in which an angel appears in the fires of a burning bush.
Chinese water torture an Italian practice
of torture, in which water is dropped slowly onto the victim's forehead,
eventually driving the person insane.
A Christmas Carol a play by Charles
Dickens in which a greedy, miserly, unhappy man is visited by three
ghosts, who encourage him to change his life.
Cold War tensions and hostility between
the former Soviet Union and the United States, beginning after World War
II, that never erupted into outright war but was often on the brink of
it.
communism the system of government in the
now-defunct Soviet Union, in which a single party holds all power, and
wealth and property are divided equally among the people.
confession a Catholic sacrament, in which a person formally declares his or her sins to a priest.
cow working her cud "Cud" is partly
digested food that cows bring back into their mouths after it passes
through the stomach; they chew their cud to better digest their food,
and the chewing motion tends to be an exaggerated version of how humans
chew their food.
Diner a local eatery and hangout popular in the 1950s and '60s.
Et tu, Eric a play on the famous line from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, "Et tu, Brutus?" in which Caesar responds in disbelief to the idea that his friend had just betrayed him.
Fornicator a person who engages in premarital sex.
Hoos in Hooville characters in Dr Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas; the characters all have rather long, slouchy bodies and round tummies.
hunchback of Notre Dame Victor Hugo's 1831
novel by this name featured a large, hunchbacked, misshapen man who
rings the bell in the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
hushpuppies small, round cornmeal breads that are deep fried and very popular in the South.
Ivy Leagues a group of eight prestigious
universities clustered in the Northeast: Brown; Columbia; Cornell;
Dartmouth; Harvard; Princeton; the University of Pennsylvania; and Yale.
This group is generally referred to as the Ivy League (singular), not
Ivy Leagues (plural).
Job an Old Testament man who was severely tested by God.
Lindbergh baby the baby of aviator Charles
Lindbergh and his wife, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, who was kidnapped and
murdered in 1932; the abduction was the biggest news story of the year.
Mount Sermon a fictional college that would likely be small, Baptist, and Biblically based.
National Historic Register a listing of historic sites deemed worthy of preservation by the National Park Service.
nor'easter a heavy storm that blows in from the northeast.
Paul Bunyan's bowling ball Outside the
Paul Bunyan Bowl in Baxter, Minnesota, stands a giant statue of Paul
Bunyan and his ox, Babe. In the statue, Bunyan holds an oversized
bowling ball.
penance atonement for having sinned, usually by performing a religious act (such as reciting certain prayers) or by doing a good deed.
RC Cola a soft drink developed in 1905
that become popular in the 1950s; it is still available today as an
alternative to Coke and Pepsi.
sinewy lean and strong.
theory of relativity Albert Einstein's famous theory about gravity that revealed the formula E = mc2.
the willies a deeply uncomfortable feeling that may result in a physical shudder.
Top Ten Quotes
1. “First you will smile, and then you will cry—don’t say you haven’t been warned.”
The narrator, Landon Carter, addresses the reader at the end of the prologue. He is referring to the story he is about to tell.
2.
“With Jamie, everything was in the Lord’s plan. . . . She always
mentioned the Lord’s plan whenever you talked to her, no matter what the
subject. The baseball game’s rained out? Must be the Lord’s plan to
prevent something worse from happening. A surprise trigonometry quiz
that everyone in class fails? Must be in the Lord’s plan to give us
challenges.”
Landon
describes what he sees as Jamie Sullivan’s excessive religiosity. This
is before he gets to know her well and comes to appreciate the value of
her faith.
3. “Though I was probably the richest kid in school, I was by no means the most popular.”
Landon
offers a shrewd piece of self-analysis. His family is wealthy, but he
knows he is not an outstanding individual in any way. He is more of a
follower than a leader.
4. “You have to promise that you won’t fall in love with me.”
Jamie
speaks to Landon after she agrees to go to the dance with him. He
thinks she is making a joke and that there is no chance of something
like that happening. Of course he does falls in love with her, although
it takes a while, and he also finds out that Jamie knew he would.
5.
“‘I want to get married,” she said quietly. ‘And when I do, I want my
father to walk me down the aisle and I want everyone I know to be there.
I want the church bursting with people.’”
Jamie
answers Landon’s question about what she wants to do in the future. She
adds that it is the only thing she wants. At the time Landon does not
know she has a fatal disease. Jamie eventually gets her desire
fulfilled in exactly the way she wanted it—thanks to Landon.
6. “It just gives me a way to . . . be a part of her.”
Jamie
speaks to Landon. She is explaining why she also carries an old Bible
with her. The Bible belonged to her mother, who died giving birth to
Jamie.
7. “You’re beautiful.”
Landon
speaks in his role as Tom Thornton in the school play. He has just seen
the angel, played by Jamie. Jamie is in a long white dress with her
hair down, and she looks angelic. Landon has been having difficulty in
rehearsals saying this line in a convincing way, but he is so stunned by
Jamie’s appearance that he now speaks the line with absolute sincerity
and wonder.
8.
“. . . my breathing suddenly went still. I looked at Jamie, then up to
the ceiling and around the room, doing my best to keep my composure,
then back to Jamie again. She smiled at me and I smiled at her and all I
could do was wonder how I’d ever fallen in love with a girl like Jamie
Sullivan.”
This
moment comes toward the end of Christmas Eve. Jamie and Landon are at
the orphanage, having spent a perfect evening together. Landon at last
realizes the full extent of his feelings for her.
9. “I’m dying, Landon.”
Jamie
finally discloses her condition to Landon. She has leukemia. She has
put off confiding in anyone as long as she could, wanting to live as
normally as possible during her last months. Her words stun Landon, but
he proves faithful to her and even marries her, despite her fatal
illness.
10. “It was, I remembered thinking, the most difficult walk anyone had to make.
In every way, a walk to remember.”
Landon,
writing about Jamie’s struggle to walk down the aisle at her wedding.
It was this line that provided the book with its title.
Film Qiuz
Question
1: What is Landon's last name?
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White
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Johnson
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Green
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Carter
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Question
2: What is Jamie's last name?
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Carter
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White
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Sullivan
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Question
3: Who plays Landon's mom?
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Darryl Hannah
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Glenn Close
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Cloris Leachman
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Question
4: What profession does Jamie's father do?
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He's a engineer
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He's retired
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He's the pope
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He's a reverend
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Question
5: What song does Jamie sing in the play?
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It's Gonna Be Love
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If You Believe
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Cry
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Only Hope
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Question
6: On the soundtrack of this movie, who sings the song "If You
Believe?"
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Mariah Carey
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Mandy Moore
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Rachael Lampa
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Question
7: What is the name of the song that Shane West sings in the movie?
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Someday We'll Know
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Learning to Breathe
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No One
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So What Does It All Mean
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Question
8: Does Jamie die at the end of the movie?
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Maybe, I wasn't really
paying attention at the end!
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Yes, and it's so sad!
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No, she can't die, she's one
of the main characters!
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Question 9: Who plays Jamie?
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Jennifer Aniston
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Amber Tamblyn
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Mandy Moore
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Question 10: Who plays
Landon?
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Ben Affleck
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Johnny Depp
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Shane West
Book Quiz
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