What is the protagonist's biggest flaw? How does this flaw affect the conflict, theme, mood, and/or tone of the novel?
57 Comments
Violet Detwiler
11/2/2015 03:34:37 pm
I am currently reading the book “What Janie Found” written by Caroline B Cooney. The protagonist in the novel, Janie, has a habit of letting her emotions affect her actions and thoughts which has become her biggest weakness. “’You give everything away, Janie,’ explained her brother. ‘Your face shows everything you’re thinking.’ At that moment, Janie could have given them all away: every person related to her, and every person who pretended to be” (24). Lately Janie’s emotions have been on a roller-coaster that she can’t control and through this passage you can tell that not only are others noticing her feelings, but she is also having negative thoughts based around them that could turn into terrible actions. Specifically, this is Janie’s biggest weakness because it has stopped her from thinking straight as shown in the text, and it has led her to do and say things that will be much regretted in the future.
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Noah Butzine
11/4/2015 06:07:33 pm
Violet,
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Delaney Kidd
11/8/2015 08:36:05 pm
Violet,
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Kassia lowery
11/9/2015 04:11:24 pm
Violet,
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Grace Smith
11/2/2015 08:05:27 pm
Violet,
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Tysen Trujillo
11/3/2015 06:06:16 pm
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Ella Tripoli
11/16/2015 08:59:38 pm
Tysen,
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Gaby Bowman
11/4/2015 04:56:03 pm
In my novel “Pride and the Prejudice and Zombies” written by Seth Grahame-Smith, the protagonist Elizabeth’s greatest flaw would have to be her relentless pride. It molds her as a character. It affects her choices. It affects her. It affects the people around her and the very opinions of her. That’s what flaws do. They draw conclusions and ricocheted change just as easily as an avalanche might flood a mountain.
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Autumn Detor
11/8/2015 07:32:48 am
Gaby,
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Noah Butzine
12/6/2015 04:35:00 pm
Autumn and Gaby,
Kole Arellano
11/4/2015 07:18:54 pm
The biggest flaw for my character is his feelings for one of his co-workers. This affects the mood because if two of the main characters begin to have feelings for one another the mood could be a mix of investigating and romance. “I glanced at my watch. It was just past six o’clock. Were the nineteen hostages still alive?” (Page 194) this example of what the detective has to deal with in his investigation along with the romance between him and a senior agent in the FBI. “The taste of her mouth was sweet peppermint, and it lingered with me.” “I couldn’t deny that I was attracted.” (Page 238)
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Aiga Petelo
11/8/2015 09:55:25 am
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Ethan Gdovin
11/8/2015 12:17:55 pm
Kole,
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Chloe Williams
11/8/2015 05:36:08 pm
Dear Kole,
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Tysen Trujillo
12/9/2015 03:41:26 pm
Kole,
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Brayden Kelley
12/9/2015 04:49:36 pm
Dear Kole,
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Joshua Case
12/15/2015 06:08:01 pm
Kole,
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Autumn Detor
11/6/2015 09:08:09 am
In the book I’m reading, "City of Bones" by Cassandra Clare, Clary Fray’s (the protagonist) biggest flaw is that she is stubborn. She uses this to get what she wants, even though most of the time she isn’t being an annoying sort of stubborn, but more of a faithful sort of stubborn. She doesn’t realize she being stubborn, and yet everyone else around her definitely does.
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Bella Hautzinger
11/7/2015 02:28:59 pm
Autumn,
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Haley Christianson
12/16/2015 04:52:12 pm
Dear Autumn Detor,
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Joe Williams
11/6/2015 10:15:48 am
Autumn,
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Chris Balding
11/6/2015 01:09:34 pm
I am currently reading the book "Paladin" by Sally Slater, and the main character Sam has a pretty evident flaw. The biggest flaw for Sam, is that she is a woman, disguised as a man to become a warrior to protect Thule. This flaw, is a definite mold for her character. The only person that knows, is only half human, and without his consent of keeping her secret, she won't be able to help her community stay safe.
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Will Smardo
11/7/2015 10:12:48 am
Chris,
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Gia Colosimo
11/9/2015 07:36:53 pm
Chris,
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Ethan Gdovin
11/7/2015 01:12:24 pm
In my book "Treasure Island" by Robert Louis Stevenson, there is a captain of a ship that goes by the name of Billy Bones. But no one calls him by his name, they always call him "Captain". Billy Bones or Captain has a major addiction to alcohol, mostly rum. Rum, if too much is consumed, can cause serious health risks. That is exactly what is happening to Billy. He passes out one day on his ship and has to go to the hospital. There is this boy named Jim Hawkins and Jim is the captain's son, and now that the captain is in the hospital Jim wants to go see him before he dies. "...and I lived on rum, I tell you. It's been meat and drink, and man and wife, to me; and if I'm not to have my rum now I'm a poor old hulk on a lee shore, my blood'll be on you, Jim, and that doctor swab." (Stevenson 26). The Captain is obsessed with rum and now that he is in the hospital and almost dying all he wants to drink is rum, rum, and more rum. Since Billy Bones has an addiction with rum this causes a minor conflict in the story because a ship without a captain is almost useless. That is almost like a man without eyes. A man without eyes has no path and no direction that is the same with a ship without a captain. "...my poor father passed away that evening.." (Stevenson 28). Now that the captain has died, the boy is without his father, so that creates another minor conflict in the story. Also the way that Billy Bones had an obsession with alcohol sets a mood in the story, sets a depressing mood. It sets a depressing mood because from peoples background knowledge about too much alcohol consumption, is that it can cause a major health risk and now that people know that they don't want the captain to die, so it makes it depressing. No one wants the captain to die because he has become a well known character in the book and in the town. The people feel sorry for the captain that he has died and also they have grown respect for the captain.
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Bella Hautzinger
11/7/2015 01:41:27 pm
In the novel "Sea of Monsters" by Rick Riordan, one of the protagonists, Annabeth Chase, has a fatal flaw that could be the end of her, as in 'fatal' flaw. Her fatal flaw is hubris.""Hubris means deadly pride, Percy. Thinking you can do things betters than anyone else... Even the gods."" Annabeth explains her fatal flaw to Percy after he saves her from the Sirens. ""My fatal flaw. That's what the Sirens showed me. My fatal flaw is hubris."" Her fatal flaw is very important to the plot as in further books she will try to do everything her way, without the help of anyone. Take the novel "Mark of Athena" also by Rick Riordan, written in the follow up series to Percy Jackson and the Olympians. "Mark of Athena" showcases when Annabeth has to go on a quest for her mother, Athena. She didn't have to go alone, but she was determined to do what her mother, a god, could never do. This book's conflict revolves around the quest and in the end of the book, because of the quest and because of Annabeth's deathly pride she and Percy were sucked into Tartarus.
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Bella Hautzinger
11/7/2015 02:12:37 pm
I realised I forgot to use page numbers so I would like to use this revised version, thank you!
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Gaby Bowman
11/29/2015 03:02:35 pm
Dear Bella,
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Aliya Wilcox
11/7/2015 03:48:07 pm
In my book, “Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer”, by Katie Alender, the protagonist, Colette, has many ups and downs, like we all do. Her biggest flaw is that she sees the world as “this for that”. She has a “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours,” (pg. 2) kind of attitude for life. This affects the mood and how I feel about Colette. People who do things simply to be nice, like helping your little sister with homework, tend to make me think more positively towards them versus those who feel they owe you something. Colette’s attitude makes me a little annoyed. I don’t like those types of people. The author, I think, feels the same way and makes a sort of underling exasperated tone. I believe this because she has the opinion “You don't do nice things for people because you want to get something from them. You just do nice things to be nice,” (pg. 3). I’m sure that the way Colette thinks will somehow affect the conflict that will happen later on in the book, though I have not gotten that far yet. If people go through life, keeping score of the good and the bad things they and others do, then they will find that it will affect their stories in life.
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Brayden Kelley
11/8/2015 03:42:16 pm
In a book that I have recently read entitled Mazerunner by James Dashner, the protagonist named Thomas has many great qualities, but like everyone, he does have many flaws. Some of his flaws include, not being teachable, being over adventurous, and having a temper.
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Noah Butzine
11/29/2015 04:45:08 pm
Brayden,
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Cora Perkins
11/8/2015 06:33:22 pm
In my novel “Animal Farm” by George Orwell the beginning protagonist (I say beginning due to the point in this book I don’t know who will save the farm, but he starts the revolution so he essentially saves the animals from the humans) is a pig named Snowball. Snowball is “vivacious pig… quic[k] in speech and [] inventive,” (15).
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Aiga Petelo
12/8/2015 04:18:57 pm
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Delaney Kidd
11/8/2015 07:00:38 pm
The contrast between likeable and dislikeable characteristics in a protagonist is what keeps the reader interested in the novel. In “The Chocolate War” by Robert Cormier I for one find that Jerry, the protagonist, flaws are what give the reader a reason to like him and a reason for the antagonist to not like him. The first flaw that comes to mind for Jerry is that he isolates himself from other people.
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Gia Colosimo
11/8/2015 08:33:03 pm
In my book “Metamorphosis” written by Franz Kafka the protagonist is Gregor Samsa. He has one flaw that gets in his way, he I a cockroach. “He found himself transformed in his bed into a horrible vermin.” “he could see his brown belly, slightly domed and divided by arches into stiff sections.” “His many legs” “waved about helplessly as he looked” (Kafka 1).
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Joshua Case
11/8/2015 09:20:02 pm
The protagonist in the book "Going Bovine" by Libba Bray is Cameron smith a pothead, that is a jerk almost constantly to everyone around him. He has major flaws like not even caring about other people's lives to just being a complete jerk. He loves to pick on his sister Jenna who is the typical high school girl. These flaws alter the story significantly. These flaws put the mood of the book from a hopeful story to a dark comedy.Going Bovine’s most important theme is that life is not about staying alive physically. Author Libba Bray suggests that life is about challenging oneself, taking risks, and even accepting the fact of death. These conflicts lead eventually to the diagnosis of this new disease. Then this flips the book right on it's back from a hopeful story to maybe our protagonist is going to die.
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Tysen Trujillo
11/9/2015 07:07:26 pm
Josh,
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Kassia lowery
11/9/2015 03:48:36 pm
In my book "Before I fall" by Lauren Oliver, the protagonist is Samantha Kingston. Her biggest flaw is being self conceded. She is the popular person in the school of Thomas Jefferson high school and is always picked first for everything and has a "perfect" life. She always picks on people such as Juliet Sykes. She always bully's her and even goes as far as to make killing motions towards her. As Sam arrived to a party with her two friend she sees Juliet there, not expecting her to be there also. Sam mocks her and they pour alcohol on her head until she runs always. Juliet does that same night which the girls where relieved but disturbed. Sam dies on the night of the party and finds herself falling through darkness. She wakes up again and realizes that she is re-living that same day again. On the fifth day of re-living the same day knows as "cupids day" and Thomas Jefferson high, she where provocative clothing, talks bad to her friends, and cheats on her test. She smokes pot and does everything bad that day which will cause her reputation to go down. Sams flaw of bullying brings a negative mood to this book but hooks the reader especially when I comes to the end of the book when she seems as if to switch into a completely different person. This affects the theme because it sets the whole story of Juliet killing herself which links off of Sam turning into a completely different person. At the end of this books Sam turns into a completely new person and complements everyone one on her last day of living (seventh day) and she tells her parents she loves them for the last time and try's her best on her test. As she is walking out to go to a party she sees Juliet about to run into oncoming traffic. Sam jumps to save Juliet. Juliet lives but Sam has seen her last day of living as she feels a sensation of flying instead of falling and sees the light.
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Ella Dillon
11/9/2015 04:50:14 pm
Joshua,
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Michael Winward
11/9/2015 06:26:45 pm
In the book I just finished, "The False Prince" by Jennifer A. Nielsen, Sage, the protagonist's main character flaw is his rebelliousness. When given a rule he deliberately goes out of his way to break it. In the first scene of the book, Sage is seen stealing a roast and then getting caught. The man who catches him than brings him to the orphanage where he lives, and asks if he is for sale. However the woman running the orphanage says that he'll "…be better off with a rabid badger than [Sage]" (6). However, the man persists, and he is purchased and leaves with the man. The most important part of this lengthy explanation is the conversation below, which reveals Sage's biggest character flaw. "'What are you wanting me for, Conner?' 'You'll address me as Sir or Master Conner.' 'What are you wanting me for Sir Master Conner?'"(8)
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Raleigh Carlton
12/3/2015 07:23:29 pm
Michael,
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Noah Butzine
12/5/2015 05:27:30 pm
Michael,
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Will Smardo
11/9/2015 07:14:58 pm
In “Gregor the Overlander” by Suzanne Collins, Gregor lives with his two sisters, his mother, and his delusional grandmother. When he chases his younger sister, Boots, into a gateway to the Underland, his whole world begins to change. Gregor is largely affected by his painstaking past and this leads to Gregor’s true fatal flaw. Gregor lost his father when he was young and many of the responsibilities fell on him, now Gregor can only think of his father’s return when he thinks of the future. This leads to Gregor’s fatal flaw, Gregor is unable to imagine the future without his father and it saddens him “The rule was that he couldn’t think about things that would happen after his dad got back. And since his dad could be back at any moment, Gregor didn’t allow himself to think about the future at all”, so he makes himself unable to imagine the future at all (10).
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Gia Colosimo
12/9/2015 06:45:35 pm
Will,
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Gia Colosimo
12/9/2015 06:46:27 pm
Will,
Chris Balding
11/12/2015 05:16:21 pm
I would like to use this revised draft please.
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Ella Tripoli
11/15/2015 12:18:01 pm
In my book “The Face on the Milk Carton” the protagonist is Janie Johnson. Janie’s biggest flaw would have to be than she is lactose and tolerant. Because of this flaw she demanded at the lunch table to have some of her friend milk not knowing what would be on the back. When she found what was on the back she became very confused. The milk company puts kidnapped children’s faces on the back in hope to find them, and surely enough Janie was this week’s face on the milk carton. This contributed to the theme of the novel when "She remembered that dress...how the collar itched...remembered the fabric; it was summer fabric; the wind blew through it...remembered how those braids swung like red silk against her cheeks." (Cooney 11) This contributes because this made Janie stat her suspicion of whether or not it was truly her, which it was.
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Haley Christianson
11/29/2015 09:58:04 pm
In my book “One of those Hideous Books where the Mother Dies” by Sonya Sones, The protagonist Ruby is a very special and happy girl but when her mother dies she becomes very sad. Ruby's biggest flaw becomes the death of her mother. Every time someone brings up or says something about my mom she becomes very sad. And example of this can be found on page 31 when she says
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Aliya Wilcox
12/6/2015 06:51:13 pm
Haley,
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Sydni Stoffel
12/2/2015 06:56:18 pm
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Sydni Stoffel
12/2/2015 06:57:32 pm
I would like to use this revised copy please :)
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Raleigh Carlton
12/3/2015 06:29:54 pm
I am currently reading The Martian by Andy Weir, the main character Mark Watney gets stranded on mars, he must stay alive until the next food drop sent from earth comes. His crew of a chemist, engineer, and a geologist got caught in sandstorm and they assumed he was dead when ho got hit by an antenna. Without a chemist or a professional engineer to help him all Mark has is his insane botany skills. Mark Watney runs into lots of problems that would need a skilled chemist or engineer but Mark Watney decides to do them anyway. An example is when he attempted to create water form hydrogen and oxygen, he ended up almost blowing up his living space. Another example is when he needed to build more insulation for a spacesuit so he ripped it out of a rover with a hammer and simply ducked taped it to himself. Obviously his lack of skills makes the conflict more apparent, he is always having problems that are very hard to fix. The main conflict in this book is character vs nature, mark has to deal with the vacuum of space, the insane sandstorms on mars and the extreme temperatures he must endue. But being "The best botanist on this planet and on earth"(Weir 145) Mark has basically colonized mars by growing potatoes that will keep him alive for another year.
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Kassia lowery
12/6/2015 05:30:44 pm
In my book "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson, Melinda Sordino begins her freshman year at Merryweather High School in Syracuse, New York, with a heavy secret weighing on her. Over the summer, she and her friends went to a party and Melinda ended up calling the police, causing her friends and everyone at the party to socially reject her. "It is easier not to say anything. Shut your trap, button your lip, can it. All that crap you hear on TV about communication and expressing feelings is a lie. Nobody really wants to hear what you have to say"(30). You can tell that Melinda is hurt, she feels like if she didn't call the cops that night she would still have friends and people will socially accept her into things. I don't think that was the right answer and that is another one of Melindas flaws, she believes that is she got raped and didn't say anything it would help the situation, but if that happened, Andy may have rapped her again and would have gotten away with it a second time. Melinda is scared to speak her mind and say what she wants because she believes people will judge her for what she says, this is a flaw because is she would have never called the police that one night she would still have her "friends" and be popular but Andy may have gotten after her and maybe this time he would have killed her. "I just want to sleep. The whole point of not talking about it, of silencing the memory, is to make it go away. It won't. I'll need brain surgery to cut it out of my head" (81-82). This horrific memory of the night at the partty won't leave Melindas head and this gives you a good idea of how much this affected her life, she is in high school, not even college. She thinks about it every night as you can tell and it will never be erased from her memory no matter how hard she tries, think about if she would have never called the cops, to know that Andy could rape her any time he wants. "Hawthorne wanted snow to symbolize cold, that's what I think. Cold and silence. Nothing quieter than snow. The sky screams to deliver it, a hundred banshees flying on the edge of the blizzard. But once the snow covers the ground, it hushes as still as my heart" (130). This is Melinda's response to Hairwoman's continued discussions of symbolism in Nathanial Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. It serves two purposes. First, Melinda connects herself with the novel by saying, "it hushes as still as my heart." This shows recognition of her similarity to Hester Prynne, the protagonist of The Scarlet Letter. Melinda too feels isolated and alone because of the consequences of a sexual act, though for her Melinda it was forced. Secondly, this quote is representative of Melinda's seasonal mood changes. During the winter, she is at her most alone and depressed. She is as quiet as the snow.
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Aiga Petelo
12/7/2015 05:07:14 pm
One of the protagonist’s biggest flaw in the book “All Fall Down” by Ally Carter is that Grace won't accept who she is and it bothers her. One reason this is one of Grace's biggest flaws is because of people's body language towards her, and how they don't really accept her. “Her mouth ticks up in something that isn't quite a smirk but definitely isn’t a smile. I can tell she doesn’t believe me – but I also know that she would like to.”(2) This quote shows how people act when Grace is around which causes her to doubt herself. “Everyone wants me to be different than advertised. Grace the new-and-improved edition. What Ms. Chancellor can’t realize is how nobody wants that more than me.”(2)
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Kassia lowery
12/8/2015 05:04:22 pm
Aiga,
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Kassia lowery
12/14/2015 02:24:45 pm
Revised copy.
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Joshua Case
12/15/2015 05:53:20 pm
In my book "The Count Of Monte Cristo" by Alexandre Dumas the protagonist is Edward Dante's he is becoming the captain of a ship, is well-liked, and he is marrying a beautiful girl. But all is too good for him in the middle of his wedding he is locked away in a prison for fourteen years. My characters biggest flaw is his ignorance he chooses that it is his wrong doing that put him in jail not his rivals. So for fourteen years he sits unaware of the people that have betrayed him to see his downfall. The man's name is Danglers he was the to-be captain of Edwards ship but Edward was more liked and got the place instead. Then there is Fernando who loves Edwards to-be wife and is jealous of his luckiness. So both men tell a lie and Edward is locked away. So you see that thanks to Edwards ignorance he was locked away for fourteen years, his girl was stolen from him, and both men became rich.
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