Summer Work Entry Four

I choose Revovler by Marcus Sedgwick because when I was looking at the list I was finding books reading a little bit about them and then I got to Revovler. I was already curious because the setting is in the Artic Circle. I personaly love the snow, winter and the cold. I read the back of the book it was about gold in the Artic Circle and this Revolver, so I went to Amazon and got me a copy. There was some personal connections through out the book. The main character Sig is the same age as me and there was a point in the book where he remembered back when he was little and played in the snow with his sister. Sometimes I see the snow and remember my brother and I in the snow playing, so i thought that was cool we had that conncection. I would reccomend this book to mostly everybody but especialy to people who like mystery, to be shocked and the curiosity of what will happen next. This is because you just don;t know what will happen next and your always learning new things throughout the book. I really hope you will go out and read this book.

Summer Work Entry Three

There is a section in my book that has the intent of hooking to potential readers.This section is toward the begining of the book. " 'Did you know my father?' Wolff filled the room like a threat, ominous, sinister and unknowable. He was covered almost entirely by his long leather greatcoat, once stark black but now a softer, mottled thing of shadows. His face still unsettled Sig, and now he realized it was the man's eyes that had this effect on him. The lower half of Wolff's face was obscured by his beard, and as he pulled the wide-brimmed hat from his head, Sig saw again that he either was bald or had shaved his head to the scalp. 'Did?' he said. Sig spotted his mistake but saw an explanation.'In Nome. Did you know him in Nome?' 'Oh, yes,' said Wolff, and smiled. Sig wanted to be sick. Wolff seemed to be mulling something over, calculating perhaps, and then he blew Sig's game wide open. 'Is that your Pappa under the blanket,boy?'" This is a very hooking section of the book because you just met Wolff; this giant of a man. He comes into your house and says he knows your father from 10 years ago and your father died this morning. I kind of want to know what will happen because why would he be tracking him for ten years? There is a giant in your house with a gun and your father is dead and he has been looking for him for ten year. I really want to know what happens that is hooking for you.

Summer Work Entry Two

The book I am reading is Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick. Sig's wants or desire is a little foggy so far in the book. before his father's death and also did a day to day routine, but he always enjoy seeing his father. After Einar died he couldn't look at his father. he tried to dig a grave but couldn't. He just wants his father back but he knows it wont happen. Einar desires was to just see the beauty of things, he saw beauty in his guns and his children and he loved both. Anna desires are to take care of her little brother as she plays the role of a mom. Wolff desires to finish the business he had with Einar and it was probably with gold because there was a gold rush back in Nome.I think a theme early in the book is that things are beautiful on the inside. Einar shows his kids this by telling them all about how the gun works and the amazing things that make it work. My book is structured in chapters from the present and the past to learn about what happen at Nome. They switch on and off between the present and the past to help understand what is happening.

Summer Work Entry One

The book I am reading for the summer is Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick. The major characters in my book are Sig- a boy around the age of 15, Sig's father Einar- a man who loves his revolver, Sig's sister Anna- she is an older sister that acts like a mom to Sig, and Gunther Wolff- a hulk of a man. The setting of my book is in the arctic circle in the years 1899 to 1910. there are two major cites up there and they are Giron and Nome. Sig and his family live in Giron in a cabin outside the city near a frozen lake. The conflict of the story is that Wolff had some unfinished business with Einar when they used to live in Nome. Now 10 year later in Giron Wolff finds them but, a day too late because Einar has died and now Sig must finish his business. I am going to predict that Sig will attempt to shoot Wolff with his dad's lucky revolver in the store room but Wolff will probably stop him because he is a giant of a man. this prediction is similar to my thoughts in another book I have read The Good Thief where the boy also lost his father and tries to uses a gun but fails.

Review of the Melting Sea

The book the Melting Sea was an ok book in my opinion because I have read many books in the series and this one is the same old same old. They just were walking through the melting sea the whole time and the obstacle were less difficult and less life threatening and the reader is not really engage. I found it a lot boring because their was more talking then action. I can't really say what is at the end of the melting sea but that did't impress me as other ending. Overall it was a downgrade from the previous books.

Why the author wrote this

I think first of all the main reason Erin Hunter wrote this is because of her love of animals. Before the Seekers series she wrote the Warriors series. This was about cats and how they explored places and fought with other clans and there were many different adventures. It is similar in the Seekers because it's bears and they go on quests and they both have these spirits. She also likes to play out how these animals think when they see humans because who doesn't want to know what their dog is saying.In conclusion I think she wrote this for her love of animals and their adventures in the world.

Characters dealing with the conflict

Kallik made her decision to search for her brother in the melting sea which was very dangerous. They had various struggles to deal with but they were headstrong knowing they could do it. The bears deal with conflict by pushing aside anything that is thrown at them such as swimming long distances, orcas, storms and more.They finally over come this conflict by finding her brother, but there is always another conflict the book cant end yet. Kallik must decide to stay with her brother or continue to travel with her friends. Instead of headstrong I think she followed her heart not even thinking.

Ujurak

Ujurak is a minor character in my book and he is a spirit. He shows up at random parts of the book and he has an impact. He always helps out when the others are in a sticky situation. As a minor character he plays a good role in the plot of the book He is sort of the life line of the plot because the bears follow his star. Yeah sounds really weird but he is also a star and that what guides them and to go solve the conflict/plot. So he guides the bear but he only shows up in the book like twice and doesn't have any traits or anything so thats what makes him a minor character.

The most important line from the chapter

The most important line from the chapter is "'But I'm worried that the ice is breaking up so soon, when burn-sky has hardly begun. I don't want to walk into starvation.' 'We have to risk it.' Kallik replied. 'I must find Taqqiq." This is the most important line in the chapter because it will put the bears at a major risk. The ice is melting because it is becoming summer and Kallik inisits to find her brother. She has not seen her brother and so long and doesnt even know if he is still alive. These is so major to go out on to the ice when her brother might not be out there. Kallik's heart is infront of her brain

Final Blogging Assessment – English 1B

I feel that people behave the same and different in the book compared to the world. An example of how they react is "Some of the no-claws were fleeing, while others poured onto to the empty snow, shrieking and waving their forelegs. Soon the bears were surrounded."(Hunter 32) Just to let you know that no-claws are humans and their forelegs are their arms.Well I see at first that people in this book act the same because they run away from the bears and I bet you and I would run too (I just got to run faster than you). But this is different about how they behave. A group of humans went after the bears. I don't understand there is a group of people skiing then they see bears running away up a mountain so they decide to surround them. I wouldn't see a group of people skiing go after them I think it would of been some massive hunter guys. I think they make humans seem more like animals and much stronger and braver. How do you think people behave in this book?

The Best thing and the worse thing about my book

The best thing about my book is (you may not agree) THE BEARS. First of all bears are one of my favorite animals. I find the very fasinating and this book adds names and emotion to the bears. I think it is supee interesting to have a different perspective than through human eyes.The bears are so much differnt - what they call things, how they eat and hunt, how they make their homes. The bears have many differnt adventures and obstacles and how these bears are gonig to overcome them in a differnt way than a human would. The bad thing about this book and about these bears is there are spirits...yeah I said spirits. In a early book one of the bears died and now that bear comes back as a spirit and helps them. I don't like this because just basiclly clears the obstacle for them and they don't have to do anything. It is very logic breaking that a spirit comes and just everything.

How do people behave

I feel that people behave the same and different in the book compared to the world. An example of how they react is "Some of the no-claws were fleeing, while others poured onto to the empty snow, shrieking and waving their forelegs. Soon the bears were surrounded."(Hunter 32) Just to let you know that no-claws are humans and their forelegs are their arms.Well I see at first that people in this book act the same because they run away from the bears and I bet you and I would run too (I just got to run faster than you). But this is different about how they behave. A group of humans went after the bears. I don't understand there is a group of people skiing then they see bears running away up a mountain so they decide to surround them. I wouldn't see a group of people skiing go after them I think it would of been some huge hunter guys. I think they make humans seem more like animals and much stronger and braver. How do you think people behave in this book?

Krista Ramsey Introduction Activity

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/opinion/columnists/krista-ramsey/2014/02/15/krista-locking-into-the-magic-of-legos/5521245/

This colum is basiclly about why legos are good for kids. They take away from violent video games and they keep kids occupied. They also help kids be creative and stick by there creative nature. I think this line is very well written. "With Legos, kids build sturdy little creations – which, in turn, build sturdy kids?" The impact of this line of text is realating what kids do with their legos can make them into good kids. I have also notice that the ending is a retorical question. She doesn't get an answer to her question, but makes you ponder your thoughts on that question. The writing style of this is very casual "Then feet will pad up the basement stairs to show parents what's been created. And they'll pad right back down to tear it apart and move on to freestyle." This shows how this is casual because it doesn't have any big or fancy words in the text. Some questions I would have for her is first did she ever play with Legos? Another question I would ask if she is a parent and have any kids that play with Legos? I would think if she is writing about this she would have personal experince on this topic if not I could not trust this. My final question would be if you have Legos how much money did you spend on them? I'm wondering because she said you could spend thousands of dollars.

Why I choose this book

I choose the melting sea for my independent reading novel because I read a book from this series back in the 5th grade and liked it. I also like that it is in a different view because you are looking into the world out of the eyes of bears. The is world is differnt because they refer to humans as "no-claws" because they have no claws (duh). Many other things are differnt too like cars are firebeasts, houses are dens. The book is written differntly than other books like this and it also switches off what character is in first person every chapter. I also like this book because I enjoy nature and there is alot of differnt conflicts through the various setting and how they use their sorrundings. I really think you should look at this book and give it a try.

Setting of The Melting Sea

I Have chosen the book the melting sea by Erin Hunter for my independent reading novel for English 1B. The Setting in this book is very well descripted but always changing because the characters (Which are bears) are traveling so the setting is changing.We do know that stays constant that it is taking place in modern time and the location are in Canada because there is a map in the front of the book, An example of setting in this book is when they go trough a fog "The air was full of tiny ice crystals that stung her eyes and settled on her pelt, striking deep into her fur like frozen thorns." There is good imagery where u can see the tiny ice crystal in the air and see them sticking deep into Lusa's fur. I image its like a mist from a mister but all icy like sleet just floating there. How do you picture the frozen fog?                           

Blog Evaluation

http://benmsreadingblog.blogspot.com/2014/01/setting-of-way-of-shadows.html

This blogpost meets the excpations of setttting because there are alot of descriptions in this blog post such as "It is like an underground block of concret and it is not nessacry the cleanest place in the world. It is coverned in trash, waste and rats every where." This is just one of the examples of setting. Later in the blogpost it goes about explaining a difffernt setting that is right next to the first setting, but they are totaly different. The blog shows how the first setting is all gross and poor. It then shows the the second as a rich palace. I think this setting of the book will cause conflict because one half is poor the other is rich. There are alot of theives in the poor region and the rich region is right next to them, so there is bond to be conflict.

One struggle I had through blogging was reading. I would only read once per week. I over came this struggle by putting my book on my bed before I went to sleep, so when I was going to bed I would see the book and read some pages before I went to bed. I was reading more often and it also helped with the blog posts to know what to write about. One stregth I had through blogging was probably the quality of my work. My work wasn't very long, but it started getting longer which help show off the quality of my work.

Theme of the way of the shadows

The theme of the way of the shadows is it is wise to be determined. I think this is the theme because Azoth is very determined to kill Rat because it will help himself and his friends. The guy who went to find the duke was determined because first he got pass the guard being presausive. Then the man found the duke's son that is now the duke because he went to battle. The new duke said the only way to talk to him is to duel him, but not to kill. The duke had armor and sword and the man had nothing and under 5 seconds he fliped the duke to the ground and pinned him. I think that is determenation.

Will Azoth kill Rat

I think Azoth will kill Rat because well let's go back to the beginning. First in the beginning of the book I would think that Azoth couldn't kill Rat because Azoth was shy always in the backround. He would always pay his dues because he was afraid of Rat but now after Blint gave him the assignment to kill Rat and if he succeeded he would be his apprentice. If Azoth would fail his life would be over this gives him a chance to step up from the shadows and do something. What do you think?

Chacteraztion of the of the shadows

Azoth the main character of the way of the shadows is a 10 year old boy. In the being of the book he all ways did what he was told. He got the dues he need and paid them. His friend never paid his dues and got wiped every day for not paying them. One day he told Azoth that he was rich he pulled out all this money. He told Azoth that we could get out of here if we paid to be apprentice by a assassin. Now that Azoth had the courge to become a assassin he stood up to Rat and tried with all of his might to become an assassin. Rat is the guild vice leader who is basically in charge he is a fat 13 year old boy who is mean to everybody cause he has power.

Conflict of the way of the shadows

The intial conflict in the way of the shadows is Azoth stops paying his dues to Rat. Azoth  gets wiped because he xant pay his dues. Rat is also torturing a little mute girl that is friends with Azoth. Azoth is trying to stop this so he tries to get to be an apprentice for an assasian. Blint who is the best around shuts him down, but later seeeing Azoth in alley all sad he comfronts and says "you can be my apprentice if you can do this." he threw his shiv right into a rat and Azoth knew excatly what he meant.

Setting of the way of the shadows

      This book takes place in medevil times and the warrrens is located in the slums in the city. The warrens are like the guilds home. It is like an underground block of concret and it is not nessacry the cleanest place in the world. It is coverned in trash, waste and rats every where. The places around the warrens is not clean as well. The bar has under the floor boards a place where all the water, beer, and mud go from above.

      On the other hand about a ten minute horse ride away, where the duke lives. Is a beautfil palace, with grass unlike the slums. There are trees and shrubs everywhere. The palance is made out of marble and having hugh walls that guards it. The guards are nicley dressed and there is training room that is fit for a king. I like the differnces in the settings even when they are ten minutes away. I think it shows how poor the innner part of the city and why there is so much crime.

The way of the shadows chapters 7-9

The book is a little confusing because it keeps switching off from different characters. I am starting to see how they connect because when Solon meets with Lord Gyre and we know before that Duke Gyre went off to battle. When Solon meets him he total beats him up in a duel by yanking off his helment and put a knife to his neck.