This book is a collection of lectures and experiences from the English classroom. This first chapter shares my experience attempting to use CheeseburgerBrown's short story "Rocket Stumps" (http://cheeseburgerbrown.com/stories/Rocket_Stumps.html) as an introduction to dystopic themes in science fiction.

CheeseburgerBrown describes his own story as "nonsensical," but I felt, as a teacher there was a subtle allegory of how existing in the United States has become nonsensical, to take a deconstructive view from the story.

I also assigned the story to students to expose them to a type of fiction where the story isn't quite literal or linear. I wanted to prepare the students for the type of reading where abstract and oblique images and references would be used frequently in their assigned novels: Fahrenheit 451, Brave New World, and Neuromancer.

I picked the best student responses to the question, "What is the meaning of the story "Rocket Stumps"? What is the meaning of Curtis' death and the way it is described?" In hindsight, I think I could have asked a better question, but I was also taking into account the student reaction to the story.
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"Rocket Stumps" are what is left of Curtis' legs. They are a show of his optimism in the face of extreme circumstances. There can be no other outcome to his situation other than death and he chooses to live the last few seconds of his life in the best way he can. It seems to be his way to be optimistic in adversity and this is just his final example. It is an attempt to show that we should try to live our lives in this manner and not let difficulties stop us from living the lives we were intended to live.

The way in which Curtis' death is depicted says much about the situation that we find ourselves in today. We live in a world where everyone is afraid of someone else. "Watch your neighbors for suspicious activity", and everyone will watch you as well. Curtis' death while meaningless and sad gives us hope that we all can find a way to triumph over the adversity of the political situation that is going on. There is a way for us all to live in peace and happiness and it is up to us to find it.

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I believe the meaning of the story Rocket Stumps is to have self-empowerment and strong will. When situations are placed before you, your true test of character is how you respond to it. Rocket Stumps were Curtis' leg after the airplane accident. Instead of wallowing in the pity of losing his legs, Curtis made a goal to reach the ocean. He realized he wouldn't make it to New York, and although he was going to die in few moments he wasn't dead yet, so he should make the most out of the time he had left.

The way Curtis' death was described when he said his "rocket stumps no longer burned,...they had exhausted their fuel," that was a figurative way of saying the blood had drained from his body. The things and pains he was experiencing became irrelevant, he'd rather reveled in the happier times that were his life. He didn't harbor on the circumstances of his brother's death, why his sister moved, or why his brother's wife chose not to attend the funeral. Curtis' life ended with a light-humored joke and a message that nothing is a bad as it seems.

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I believe that the story rocket stumps takes place in the future. Today even a bottle on contact lenses solution is considered hazardous on airplanes. In the future even peanuts, which are known as a free tasty airplane treat, will be considered lethal. One thing that will not change in the future is how Muslim people will be stereotyped when seen on an airplane. People still will live in fear that they will become a victim like those on September 11.

The character in the story Curtis gained control over the awful situation by using his imagination, mind over matter. He used his imagination to turn the burning, painful sensation in his legs into a powerful tool that would allow him to be able to fly rather than fall. Looking back on past experiences that were happy and relaxing is another way that the character was able to keep him calm. Another thing that I admired was that he realized that there are just some things that you cannot change and he was comfortable with his fate of death half way through the story. The story was compelling and although I was confused in the beginning, I really enjoyed it. I am excited to be exposed to new genres during the duration of this class.

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Rocket Stumps was clearly a very disturbing story, but it also made a lot of sense. The story speaks of a man named Curtis, he is riding a plane to New York when suddenly the plane explodes. Before he knows it he is free falling down the sky. He realizes that his legs are gone leaving him stumps. From that point he pretends that his stumps for legs has rockets coming out of them, causing him to sore threw the sky, something that you would normally see in a Japanese movie. This is where the concept of rocket stumps comes from.

While he is falling or should I say flying he feels pity for those who fear to die as they are falling. During his free fall instead of being fearful, he decides to have fun. He knew his demise so why worry about it. Curtis decided to have the most fun he could in such a short time, he wanted to go out with a bang. His death was that you should never take life for granted, enjoy every last minute of it. Always expect the unexpected.

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The story rocket stumps can be interpreted in many different ways. The story begins with the talk of death from a mere peanut allergy and ends with a fatal plane crash that ends the life of all passengers aboard a plane bound for New York. Curtis desired peanuts but decided to go with the plain potato chips so that no one would die as the woman implied when he requested them. His main concern was making it to New York so that he could discover a place that he had never been before. He was so overwhelmed with excitement that the thought of a plane crash never even entered his mind. He didn't think to pray as the other passenger did. New York would surely be his final destination.
After the crash Curtis is left with two stumps for legs hence the title "rocket stumps". Although he is in extreme pain and all the people and objects floating around him are mute, he is still strangely happy. He is happy to be alive for a few more moments than the rest. This shows Curtis' enthusiasm about his life and the things many people take for granted. Instead of mourning his soon to be death he imagines his two stumps of legs as rockets that can fly him to whereever he wants to go. Although his death was tragic and maybe untimely, Curtis chose to die a peaceful death on his own terms.

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Rocket Stump is a story about a man, who had not traveled anywhere and decided to take a plane trip to New York. On this trip he discovered that he could not have peanuts on the flight, because it might cause an allergic reaction for other passengers. He also experienced a lot of emotional changes after he went through a sudden ordeal, of witnessing a passenger praying and an explosion immediately following. While dealing with his fear of dying, he associated memories of fictional characters and skydivers to help him through his ordeal.

Curtis death and the way it was described let’s me know that people might go through different emotions, when they know they are dying. While remembering watching a skydiving program, it helped him momentarily navigate through the sky. Perhaps imagining that he was a robot with rocket stumps encouraged him at one point that he was going to survive. After realizing that nothing was helping, he no longer could breathe and his vision was becoming spotty, reality set in. He tuned into a dream that brought him pleasure, by imagining being at the circus. I believe that, his sudden crave for peanuts might have been a warning to him that something bad was going to happen, because he thought of them in the end.

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Rocket stumps is a great example of dystopian fiction. Curtis, who is the main character, has taken a plane to New York City for the first time. During his flight he becomes excited and his imagination begins to associate people and things on the plane with horrific events that are only spoken of during catastrophic news broadcasts. He then starts to obsess over small factors, such as a slighty lowered eyebrow arch on the flight attendant, which ultimately leads him to a pessimistic observance of occurances on his flight. One instance is a man of muslim faith who begins to pray in the space beside the restroom. He is bearded, holding a compass in search of East(Mecca) and a bottle of mouthwash. Curtis' initial reaction is that the liquid and metal canister are part of a devious plan to overtake the plane. What could have possibly led him to think this way?

Curtis is a fan of peanuts. In an enclosed area, such as an airplane, peanuts are not allowed due to the allergic reaction peanuts can cause. Without peanuts, Curtis starts to become a bit edgy, to say the least. He starts imagining the worst possible scenario, and becomes it. In his mind and ours, the plane explodes, leaving him to fend for himself about thirty-thousand feet above sea level. To ease the pain, he believes that he is half robotic, with rocket stumps for legs to propel him safely to the surface. Near the end of his journey, his conscious leads him to a happy place(for Curtis it is the Circus) and ultimately back to peanuts. Curtis' idea of a dystopic world is that of one with no peanuts.

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Rocket Stumps,seems to be about the sign of the times. Here they were so concerned about giving someone peanuts due to the remote chance that someone might have an allergic reaction, but yet they ignored the obvious. When the man began to pray and ignited the Listerine and GPS unit causing the explosion it doesn’t say that any action was taken to stop him. I tend to wonder if that is because we are in a society that feels we have to be ‘politically correct’. It is how things seemed to be viewed in today’s times, we seem to sweat the small stuff and overlook the really big stuff in life.

I think that Curtis’ death is described in a way that to make it seem like he tried to make good out of a bad situation. He also thought back and remembered things that had happened throughout his life, good and bad. We hear that the theory is that when you die your life flashes before your eyes and in a sense this is what seemed to happen with Curtis.

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People have their own expectations about how they wish to die, where and how. It seems that they all have one thing in common and that is that they die peacefully or experience some sort of calmness before they pass. “Rocket Stumps” is a story that encases most everyone’s thought about what happens right before we die. No matter how many horrible experiences or how bad life may be for some individuals, joy is what they wish to seek. Death puts a stop to a person’s journey to obtain joy and happiness. When somebody passes, their goal of feeling at complete peace is obtained before death for at least a little bit. The story “Rocket Stumps” relinquishes hope for those who have begun to doubt what happens before death.

Curtis is the stories protagonist. At the least he should somewhat afraid of what is happening. Surprisingly, Curtis makes sense of what is going on even though he appears to be plummeting from the sky. He controls his emotions and thinks, “There was no use living with regret, especially when one was only planned to go on living for another moment or two.” Curtis’ death is a representation of experiencing joy before death, which is most people’s fear. His life is supposed to be flashing before his eyes and yet he is lost in the moment of something he has wanted to experience his whole life. All Curtis can do is enjoy and remember the good times. He places himself in a time when he was most happy and does not second guess anything.

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“Rocket Stumps” is a story that describes the emotional experience of a man before he dies. In the story, Cutis is taking a plane ride to New York City across the Atlantic Ocean for the first time. The first two sentences of the story really give you an idea about the emotions experienced by Curtis as he dies. The author basically says that because Cutis is so optimist, as he plummets or as he dies, he is able to bring about a brighter side to his ordeal. I take the story to mean that behind every circumstance lays more than one way of looking at it or more than one way of dealing with it. I liked the layout of the story.

The death of Curtis is described in such a way that its importance is over look. Death is a major event in a person’s life. It’s usually a time of sadness, remembrance, and something taken very seriously. The average person dreads at the thought of death and is frightened of mentally being able to experience dying like in the story where death doesn’t occur suddenly. The author takes this huge thing of death and makes it very minute by masking it behind the various odd thoughts of Curtis. Thoughts by Curtis in the story like “There was no use living with regret, especially when one only planned to go on living for another moment or two.” and “I guess you can’t please all of the people all of the time” brought me to the conclusion that the meaning behind his death is just to except things that happen. As awful as some things may be, all you can do is except them when they occur.

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Curtis took a plane to go to New York. He had never been to New York so he was very exited. Suddenly, one man prayed and shouted something about Allah. Then, the plane crased. Curtis hurt his ears and lost his legs. He knew that he was going to die. However, he said, “I have Rocket Stumps.” I think the meaning of the story “Rocket Stumps” is that people’s thinking about dying is many different ways.

Most people fear to die. However, Curtis did not fear to die. While he was falling down through a sky, he thought that his good past time. He was very happy. He thought that he was a skydiver. I think many people think different things before they die. When I read this story, I thought about one wise saying. Benedict Spinoza said, “ Even if the world is over tomorrow, I would plant an apple tree today.”

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