Reader's Journal #24- Touched by Fire by Gwyneth Atlee

 #24                                             Readers Journal                                   2/13/12

Dear Mrs. Zrihen,

            This week I started the book Touched by Fire by Gwyneth Atlee.

            A sentence that stood out to me was:

            “The hardest part was stealing the fresh blood.”

           

            I chose this sentence because it made me hooked onto the book instantly.

This is significant to the story because it starts off the book and it helps readers predict if they will enjoy the book or not.

Before, during, and after reading I used many strategies. Before reading, I read some to make sure I would enjoy this book. Then, I read the synopsis and first paragraph to also make sure I would enjoy the book. The synopsis sounded interesting and all the reviews were positive. While reading, I took notes on my Kindle about any figurative language or literary elements. I also looked up the definitions of new words I didn’t know the meaning of. After reading, I read all my notes and highlight I took on my Kindle to write my reader’s journal. I also reflected to the book by doing my ISN.

The genre of this book is historical fiction because it has realistic characters and is based on a true event from the past. The protagonist is Hannah Lee Shelton. She is round because she is well described; however, she hasn’t gone through any type of characterization yet. There are no antagonists and so far the only foil characters are John, Daniel, and Amelia Aldman and Lucinda Pangburn.

The setting takes place, “…in 1871, among the towering woods of northeastern Wisconsin…” The weather conditions vary throughout the book. One social condition is that Hannah has faked her own murder.                                   

The plot is really good. There isn’t really an exposition because there isn’t really an introduction of the characters or what’s going on; it just jumps into the rising action. I am still on the rising action and I think I am almost at the climax.

So far, the conflict is man vs. self because Hannah is going through difficult times and has to make hard decisions with herself. One tone of this book is mysterious and one mood is curious. There is no theme, moral, or motif yet. The point-of-view is third-person-limited because the narrator speaks about what he can only see and hear, but knows what one character, Hannah, thinks and feels. The author’s purpose is to entertain readers with a historical mystery/romance.

I found the following figurative language while reading:

-      “But here, with all the deathly dryness, she felt like a woman made from kindling.” is a simile.

-       “One careless spark, and she’d ignite.” This is an idiom.   

-       “A former friend.” This is alliteration.

-       “The walk to the house took ages…” This is a hyperbole.

The tone/mood is also figurative language.

            So far I enjoy the book. I rate it a 9/10 stars and recommend it to anyone who likes historical fiction or romances.

Your Student,

                                                                        Bailey Levy 802

Reader's Journal #23- The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin

#23                                        Reader’s Journal                                           2/06/12

Dear Mrs. Zrihen,

          
           This week I read the book, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin.

            
          The passage I chose was:

“First, the good parts about this book :

* written in a very conversational style

* does a good job of enlisting his virtues, many of which are relevant even today

* has several interesting anecdotes

Now, the not so good parts about the book :

* desultory commentary, and is jumpy between incidents (and thus, one has to try really hard to make sense of what all was happening)

* at least half of the book has too many details, which digress from the point and thus, the reader can get lost in the details

* written in old english, which made it even more difficult to understand the gaps in the narrative.”

            I chose this passage because it is one of the reviews I read before reading. Since I finished the book I used this to compare my thoughts and other peoples thoughts and they were the same. It is significant to the book because it gives a review and recommendation about it.

            I used many strategies before, during, and after reading. Before reading, I read some reviews to see if I would enjoy reading. I also created a purpose for reading. My purpose for reading this autobiography was for my reader’s journal. While reading, I took notes on any text features or other important details I found. I also reread parts I didn’t understand. After reading, I made connections from this book to myself, to other books I’ve read, and to the world. Then, I looked through all my notes and highlights to help me write my reader’s journal.

            The genre of this book is nonfiction and the subgenre is autobiography because it is a book about someone’s life written by that person. The topic is Benjamin Franklin. The main idea is stated in the title: The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. If I had to rename this book, I would probably call “My Life” because it is about Benjamin Franklin’s life.  Some sentences that support the main idea are, “Benjamin Franklin was born in Milk Street, Boston, on January 6, 1706” is factual. “His father, Josiah Franklin, was a tallow chandler who married twice, and of his seventeen children Benjamin was the youngest son” is a factual supporting detail. And the last factual supporting detail is, “His schooling ended at ten, and at twelve he was bound apprentice to his brother James, a printer, who published the ‘New England Courant.’”

            There really isn’t an essential message in this book. One cause and effect in this book is that Benjamin Franklin’s family could not afford schooling; therefore, Benjamin left school at an early age. I can compare and contrast Benjamin Franklin and his father, Josiah. They are similar because they are both family and have the same last name. They are different because Benjamin was born in Boston and Josiah was born in England.

            I didn’t identify many text features in this book. I found a title, a picture, and headings. The title helps by giving the readers a little hint on what the article is about. The pictures help by giving the readers a visual of what or whom the article is talking about. The headings help by explaining to the readers what each section will be about.

            The pattern of organization is chronological/time order because the author classifies the information the order of which they occurred. The author’s purpose for writing this book is share a personal story. The author’s perspective is biased or subjective because he states his personal opinions and beliefs. The point of view is first person because the author uses words like I, me, my, etc.

            I wasn’t able to identify any figurative language because it was extremely difficult for me to differentiate the type of writing used in the 1700’s and figurative language. I was very confused.

I checked three different sources to check the validity and accuracy. I skimmed my history textbook for any information on Benjamin Franklin. I also check the websites www.ushistory.org/franklin/info/index.htm and www.fi.edu/franklin/.

After checking the sources I was able to conclude that the information in the book was valid and accurate.

There were many new vocabulary words I encountered while reading the book; however, most of them were just Old English. Some words I didn’t know were octavo, conventicles, nonconformity, popery, and pious. I used context clue #5 (making inferences) to figure out what octavo was. I know that the prefix “oct” means eight so I inferred that octavo meant something folded into eight pieces. I honestly couldn’t use context clues to figure out the next words so I looked them up in the dictionary. Conventicles means a secret or lawful religious meeting. Nonconformity means failure or refusal to conform to a prevailing rule or practice. Popery means the doctrines, practices, and ceremonies associated with the pope or the papal system. Pious means devoutly religious, making a hypocritical display of virtue.

I made many connections while reading this book:

-A text-to-self connection I made with the book is that I am learning about people like Benjamin Franklin in social studies now.

-A text-to-text connection I made was with my social studies textbook.

-A text-to-world connection I made was that Benjamin Franklin contributed a lot to the world and I don’t think it would be the same without him.

(#26) I wish that the author would have used modern English, although, I know he couldn’t have because that was the language back then.

Overall, I didn’t really enjoy reading this book. It was hard to understand and pretty boring. I rate it a 5/10 stars. I recommend this book to anyone interested in history.

                                    Love,

                                    Bailey Levy