In Looking for Alaska, the structure of how the book is layer out is worth discussing. The whole book is set up in a way that not all books are set up. There is a big event that takes place halfway through the book. This meaning "before" would be before the event. Each short chapter is labeled to indicate how many days before or after that event halfway through the book takes place. It's like the book is placed as a big countdown. So once its one day before, the next page would be one day after. As you start reading and discover that the first little chapter is taking place “one hundred thirty-six days before," but before what? Before long, Miles meets Alaska, Colonel, and Alaska's friends, Takumi and Lara.
Miles is learning a lot about life and school. He spends a lot of time hanging out with friends. He’s breaking the rules a little bit by drinking and staying up late…What could go wrong? As the number of days before the big event occurs, our anxiety increases exponentially. Why? We still our never told straight up what before and after means. The events are getting bigger. Miles and his friends are planning a big prank and he’s getting closer to Alaska, which is what he wanted all along. Here’s a graphical representation of how we’re feeling as we read:
