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Conflict Blog #3- The Graveyard Book
Article posted June 4, 2010 at 05:45 PM GMT •
comment • Reads 1597
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“The Graveyard Book” by Neil Gaiman is about Nobody (Bod) Owens, a boy whose whole family was killed by the man Jack when he was a baby. He wandered into a graveyard near his house and was adopted by the ghosts, and raised by them. A conflict Bod faces is that he is locked in a small room by two people who are trying to take a brooch from him without giving him any money. Many more characters are involved in a similar conflict in the book “Artemis Fowl” by Eoin Colfer. Artemis Fowl, the protagonist, is trying to steal gold from the fairies (which actually is a collective term for all magical creatures), so he kidnaps the elf LEP-recon (roughly equivalent to the FBI) agent Holly Short and holds her for ransom. This is similar to the conflict in “The Graveyard Book” because both Artemis and the two men in “The Graveyard Book” by very unfair means. This is one similarity (I’d probably remember more if it hadn’t been so long since I read “Artemis Fowl”) between the conflicts in the book “Artemis Fowl” and these chapters of “The Graveyard Book” by Neil Gaiman.
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Article posted June 4, 2010 at 05:45 PM GMT •
comment • Reads 1597
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podcast #2
Article posted June 2, 2010 at 06:02 PM GMT •
comment • Reads 131
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Article posted June 2, 2010 at 06:02 PM GMT •
comment • Reads 131
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Conflict Blog #2- The Graveyard Book
Article posted May 20, 2010 at 12:35 AM GMT •
comment • Reads 192
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The book “The Graveyard Book” by Neil Gaiman is about Nobody (Bod) Owens, a boy whose whole family was killed by the man Jack when he was a baby. He wandered into a graveyard near his house and was adopted by the ghosts, and raised by them. A conflict Bod faces is that he is (willingly) taken by Ghouls and is almost turned into one. One time in my life that was somewhat similar to that was when I drank cream. I was at a lunch (I think) at my church’s Parish House, and I was sitting with some of my friends from youth group. I remember that at least three people had taken one of the little cups of cream and drank them. I thought “It’s only cream, why not?” and drank one. I didn’t like it and I feel like such an idiot looking back on it. This is a time in my life that was similar to a conflict in “The Graveyard Book” by Neil Gaiman.
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Article posted May 20, 2010 at 12:35 AM GMT •
comment • Reads 192
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Conflict Blog #1- Incident at Hawks Hill
Article posted May 5, 2010 at 12:22 AM GMT •
comment • Reads 249
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The book "Incident at Hawk's Hill" by Allan W. Eckert is about Ben MacDonald, a six year old boy who gets lost while chasing a wild animal, and gets taken in by a badger who had recently lost her pups. The conflict in this book leads to many changes. The biggest one is in Ben, who must go from a normal human life to living like a badger, and back again after he is found. He starts living in an underground den and eating raw meat the badger brings him. The conflict also brings about a change in Ben’s family, especially his father William. They all become more appreciative of Ben and more understanding of his of animals. This is how the conflict in "Incident at Hawk's Hill" by Allan W. Eckert leads to change.
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Article posted May 5, 2010 at 12:22 AM GMT •
comment • Reads 249
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Incident at Hawk's Hill-Text to Text Connection
Article posted April 1, 2010 at 12:27 AM GMT •
comment • Reads 254
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The book "Incident at Hawk's Hill" by Allan W. Eckert is about Ben MacDonald, a six year old boy who gets lost while chasing a wild animal, and gets taken in by a badger who had recently lost her pups. There are many similarities between this book and “Lost on a Mountain in Maine” by Don Fendler (as told to Joseph B. Eagan). One way (that might be able to be counted as two) they are both true stories about young boys who get lost in the wilderness and have to survive for a long amount of time before they are found (in “Lost on a Mountain in Maine”, Don Fendler gets lost on Mt. Katadin for 9 days). There are also many differences between the two books. One difference is the age of the protagonists (Ben was six, Don was twelve). Another difference is the length of time the boys were lost (Don was only lost for nine days, Ben was lost for the whole summer). A third difference is that Ben had the assistance of the badger, while Don was all alone. Those are some of the differences between “Incident at Hawk's Hill” and ”Lost on a Mountain in Maine”.
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Article posted April 1, 2010 at 12:27 AM GMT •
comment • Reads 254
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Incident at Hawk's Hill- Prediction
Article posted March 23, 2010 at 09:25 PM GMT •
comment • Reads 186
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The book "Incident at Hawk's Hill" by Allan W. Eckert is about Ben MacDonald, a six year old boy who gets lost while chasing a wild animal, and gets taken in by a badger who had recently lost her pups. I predict that the trapper George Burton, who was given permission by Ben's father to trap on their land, will be the cause of the badger loosing her pups. I predict this because if this wasn't the case, there wouldn't be much relevance in the chapter with Burton, other than demonstrating how Ben is better with animals than with people, and even then there were other, easier ways to do that. That is my prediction for “Incident at Hawk’s Hill” and why I predict it.
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Article posted March 23, 2010 at 09:25 PM GMT •
comment • Reads 186
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Schooled- Figurative language
Article posted March 14, 2010 at 10:57 PM GMT •
comment • Reads 1533
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The book "Schooled" by Gordon Korman is about Capricorn (Cap) Anderson, a boy who was raised as a hippie by his grandmother Rain, and his struggle to fit into modern society after Rain breaks her hip. There is a lot of figurative language in this book. One example, a simile, comes from chapter 3, page 15. It was “He was as tall and skinny as a rake”, and it was said by Zach Powers. Zach was comparing Cap to a rake. On that same page, Zach also said a metaphor, “…his shoes were something out of a social studies project on the pioneer days”, comparing Cap's shoes to the ones worn by the pioneers. Another example of metaphor, spoken by Mrs. Donnelly, comes much later in the book in chapter 17, page 110. "Cult was exactly the word for it..." compared Garland Farm, where Cap lived with Rain, to a cult. Those are some of the many examples of figurative language from the book "Schooled" by Gordon Korman.
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Article posted March 14, 2010 at 10:57 PM GMT •
comment • Reads 1533
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Schooled- theme
Article posted March 12, 2010 at 01:52 AM GMT •
comment • Reads 354
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The book "Schooled" by Gordon Korman is about Capricorn (Cap) Anderson, a boy who was raised as a hippie by his grandmother Rain, and his struggle to fit into modern society after Rain breaks her hip. The theme of this book is to be yourself and not let anyone get to you. After Cap arrives at Claverage Middle School, he is nominated for eighth grade president so that everyone can play jokes on him and “break” him. However, he doesn't even realize that he's being tormented, goes along with everything, and is turned into a school-wide celebrity. People start doing tai-chi on the lawn in the morning before school, make tye-dye shirts one day in the art room, and are singing Beatles songs with him in the music room. And when he finds out that he has to plan the Halloween dance, most of the students make arrangements or help out in other ways, and Cap barely has to lift a finger.
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Article posted March 12, 2010 at 01:52 AM GMT •
comment • Reads 354
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Schooled- Point of view
Article posted March 10, 2010 at 11:15 PM GMT •
comment • Reads 348
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The book "Schooled" by Gordon Korman is about Capricorn Anderson, a boy who was raised as a hippie by his grandmother Rain, and his struggle to fit into modern society after Rain breaks her hip. The point of view is first person. I know this because there are many "I"s ("Or so I thought."), "My"s ("...held out my hand."), "Mine"s ("...her home, not mine..."), and "Me"s ("He looked at me...") outside of dialouge. The narrator varies between chapters. I know this because each narrator says and thinks things that some of the other narrators would never say or think (ex.), and the title of each chapter is "NAME:" followed by the name of the narrator (ex. "NAME: Capricorn Anderson"). I personally think I would like the book more if it was told from a third person point of view, because it took me quite a while to get used to the format, and even then I still sometimes got confused.
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Article posted March 10, 2010 at 11:15 PM GMT •
comment • Reads 348
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Last Shot Chapters 15-19- Point of view
Article posted February 2, 2010 at 09:42 PM GMT •
comment • Reads 430
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I’m writing a point of view journal on the book “Last Shot” by John Feinstein. The point of view in this book is third person. I know this because there is no “I”s, “We”s, “Mine”s, or other words that would suggest first person point of view and all of the characters are named, either by their name, a title, or sometimes a pronoun. I think the book would change a little if the book was first person, because while you can tell some of the emotions Stevie, one of the protagonists, is feeling, you can’t tell them all, and you also can’t easily tell what he’s thinking. Also, it’s you rarely get any insight into the emotions and thoughts of Susan Carol, the other protagonist, only the ones she shows through her actions and words, so the book would also change a lot if Susan Carol was more focused on then Stevie.
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Article posted February 2, 2010 at 09:42 PM GMT •
comment • Reads 430
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Among the Imposters chapters 30-38
Article posted December 9, 2009 at 12:41 AM GMT •
comment • Reads 439
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I’m doing a summary of chapters 30-38 of “Among the Imposters” by Margaret Peterson Haddix. The protagonist Luke Garner is a shadow child, a third child in a society where only two children are allowed per family. Luke, having recently found out that his former friend Jason was a traitor and was working for the Population Police turning in shadow children, decides to call Mr. Talbot, who works for the Population Police but is on the side of the shadow children, in an attempt to save the shadow children Jason was planning to turn in. He broke into the school office and called Mr. Talbot, but seemingly gets nowhere. He tries to warn the other shadow children, but he’s caught by a teacher before he can get to any of them. The next day at breakfast he tries again to tell the shadows, but none of them listen to him. Then the Population Police came in. Then Mr. Talbot came forward, followed by Jason in handcuffs and leg-irons. Jason starts to point out the shadow children, but they give new, different names that are backed up by the school records. Later that day, Mr. Dirk takes a very confused Luke to meet Josiah Hendricks who explains to Luke that the school was built to help shadow children adjust to life out of hiding. Mr. Hendricks also told Luke that he was ready to leave the school, but he decided to stay so he could help other shadow children. That’s what happened in chapters 30-38 of “Among the Imposters” by Margaret Peterson Haddix.
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Article posted December 9, 2009 at 12:41 AM GMT •
comment • Reads 439
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Among the Imposters chapters 14-29
Article posted December 7, 2009 at 10:31 PM GMT •
comment • Reads 1145
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I’m doing a summary of chapters 14-29 of “Among the Imposters” by Margaret Peterson Haddix. The protagonist Luke Garner is a shadow child, a third child in a society where only two children are allowed per family. One day he finds that a group of people went into the woods and destroyed his garden in the woods. Incredibly upset, he goes back to the school at 2:00, and ends up going outside instead of the evening lecture. He hears voices in the woods and decides to investigate. After listening to the conversation a group was having, he realizes that jackal boy is in the group and seems to think he’s the leader. He also realizes that one of the girls in the group, Nina, is a shadow child. He decides to break into the conversation. He accuses them of destroying his garden and shows it to them. After finding out that Luke had been sneaking out of school to make a garden, they called him a lecker, an insult meaning someone from the country. During this trip jackal boy reveals that he and the other members of the group are all shadow children and that his real name is Jason. Luke says something about his old friend Jen, who died at a rally to make shadow children legal. After learning of their friendship, Jason accepts Luke into the group. They all go out to the woods after some time and though they say that they’re going to plan some sort of Government resistance, but don’t actually get anything done. Luke gets his class schedule from Jason so he finally starts going to the right classes, and he becomes very determined to get good grades on all his tests. He stays up late one night to study, and when he goes back to bed he notices that Jason isn’t there. He goes looking for him and finds Jason talking to someone on a portable phone. He gives the real and fake names of some of the boys at the school and reveals that he’s working for the Population Police. Luke walked toward Jason, took the phone and stepped on it. Jason started to walk toward him, and he hit Jason over the head with a book. While Luke was trying to figure out what to do next the phone started ringing again. Luke, pretending to be Jason, talked to the person on the other end and convinced them to give Jason another day to turn in the shadow children. Then Luke dragged Jason to the nurse’s office. When he remembered that the book and phone were still on the other floor, he went back up. He found the book, but the phone was nowhere in sight. That’s what happened in chapters 14-29 of “Among the Imposters” by Margaret Peterson Haddix.
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Article posted December 7, 2009 at 10:31 PM GMT •
comment • Reads 1145
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Among the Imposters chapters 1-13
Article posted December 7, 2009 at 09:17 PM GMT •
comment • Reads 661
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I’m doing a summary of chapters 1-13 of “Among the Imposters” by Margaret Peterson Haddix. The protagonist Luke Garner, a third child in a society where only two children are allowed per family, is attending Hendricks School for Boys using the identity of a Baron (rich person), Lee Grant, who died in a skiing accident. He doesn’t get a schedule, Mr. Talbot, a man who works for the government and got Luke his fake I.D., didn’t tell him what grade he was supposed to be in, no one tells him the school rules or what demitris are, the teachers don’t take roll… needless to say, there are better schools out there. At the end of the day he goes to his room and meets jackal boy, who makes him repeat very mean things. One morning, Luke notices a door and goes outside to read a note Mr. Talbot gave him when he was dropped off at Hendricks. He quickly hides in the forest and reads the note, hoping it contained some sort of valuable information like a schedule. However, it only contained two words: “Blend in”. Luke, crushed, considers multiple options, but in the end decides to go back to the school. He ended up not going back to the woods for a week, during the time finding out that none of the rooms in the school have windows. When he does go back to the woods, he makes a garden. That’s what happened in chapters 1-13 of “Among the Imposters” by Margaret Peterson Haddix.
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Article posted December 7, 2009 at 09:17 PM GMT •
comment • Reads 661
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Tangerine part 2
Article posted December 4, 2009 at 05:36 PM GMT •
comment • Reads 215
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I’m doing a character trait journal for part 2 of "Tangerine" by Edward Bloor. One character trait Paul Fisher, the protagonist, has is determination. When he convinces his parents to let him go to Tangerine Middle School, he says that his mother ruined his life at his old school, Lake Windsor Middle, and now she could “un-ruin it”, and he says to his father “I don’t care if you don’t pay any attention to me for the rest of my life” because Paul felt that his father paid more attention to his brother Erik then to him. Once he switched to Tangerine Middle and joined the soccer team he played in about 10 games and his team won them all. This is one character trait Paul Fisher, the protagonist of "Tangerine" by Edward Bloor.
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Article posted December 4, 2009 at 05:36 PM GMT •
comment • Reads 215
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Tangerine Part 1
Article posted November 18, 2009 at 09:05 PM GMT •
comment • Reads 185
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I'm reading the book "Tangerine" by Edward Bloor. I have a prediction. I predict that the protagonist, Paul, will find out why he is legally blind. I predict this because, according to his older brother Erik, Paul stared at a solar eclipse too long. However, Paul has no memory of this event. I don't think that becoming legally blind because of staring at a solar eclipse is something you would completely forget unless you were a baby and I'm pretty sure Paul was at least 2. Also, the second to last sentence on the back cover is "And he also gains the courage to face up to some secrets his family has been keeping from him for far too long".
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Article posted November 18, 2009 at 09:05 PM GMT •
comment • Reads 185
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Among the Hidden chapters 1-14
Article posted October 29, 2009 at 02:23 PM GMT •
comment • Reads 282
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I’m doing a point of view journal on “Among the Hidden” by Margret Peterson Haddix, chapters 1-14. The point of view is third person. I know this because there are no “I”s,”We”s,”Ours”, or”Mine”s, and all of the characters are “named” (we don’t know the actual names of Luke’s parents, the other families in the neighborhood, or the shadow girl from chapter 14 (who I suspect is the Jen talked about on the back cover.)) I think the story, so far anyway, wouldn’t change much if Luke was the story teller we can tell pretty well from his actions and words how he feels. However, if it was from Jen’s point of view, the story would change quite a bit. We’d get to hear the story of her move to Luke’s neighborhood from wherever she lived before, why she had to move, how she felt about hiding, and a whole bunch of other stuff about her. Of course, the same thing would happen if she was the main character instead of Luke…
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Article posted October 29, 2009 at 02:23 PM GMT •
comment • Reads 282
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Book recommendation
Article posted September 23, 2009 at 02:59 PM GMT •
comment • Reads 199
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A very good historical fiction book I recently read is The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Spear. The main character Matt is left alone in unsettled Maine when his father left to get the rest of the family, who stayed behind during the move from Massachusetts. After surviving on his own for a while he meets Saknis, an Indian chief, and his grandson Attean, and Matt accidentally ends up teaching Attean how to read. Most days Attean also teaches Matt something about hunting, nature, or Indian culture, and the two become good friends. Then toward the end of Fall… no wait, I’m not supposed to give away the end of the book.
I would recommend The Sign of the Beaver to anyone who likes historical fiction set in the time when America was first being founded. If you like historical fiction set in a different time period, then you may still like The Sign of the Beaver, but if you don’t like historical fiction, then you may want to stay away from this book.
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Article posted September 23, 2009 at 02:59 PM GMT •
comment • Reads 199
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If I was a color
Article posted September 22, 2009 at 03:06 PM GMT •
comment (1) • Reads 177
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If I was a color, I think I would be green. Green reminds me of how the flowers bloom and the trees all get their leaves back in the spring. The long, boring winter ends, and I can finally go outside without being really cold. Green is also one of the colors of Christmas, the only day in Winter I like. I like Christmas because I get presents and my church puts on a Christmas pagent.
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Article posted September 22, 2009 at 03:06 PM GMT •
comment (1) • Reads 177
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7 random things
Article posted September 15, 2009 at 05:45 PM GMT •
comment (1) • Reads 156
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1. I can memorize songs very quickly.
2. I am incredibly sensitive to pain.
3. I have been in my church's Christmas pageant for the past 3 years.
4. I hate my name.
5. I get incredibly painful headaches very often.
6. I like peanut butter & jelly sandwiches with the jelly on one slice of bread and the peanut butter on the other one.
7. I get incredibly annoyed when people rush me.
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Article posted September 15, 2009 at 05:45 PM GMT •
comment (1) • Reads 156
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