book

In my side of the mountain the character met a teacher ho teched him haw to make clay pots and whistle. Than the main character makes a fire plays out of clay.

Salamandastron-Update

It turns out that Thrugg is not alone in his quest. His friend, the little dormouse Dumble, is coming with him, partially to avoid sickness, and partially because he and Thrugg are closen friends. Thrugg and Dumble have found a young falcon named Rocangus. Rocangus’ wing was broken by crows, who later attack the trio. Where I am right now, the crows are ready to fight, and the three are not expecting to win the battle.

Meanwhile, Ferahgo has sent Farran the Poisoner, a black fox, into Salamandastron. He was supposed to poison all the food and drink in the mountain, but he made it too strong. Someone died, and everyone else caught wind of the Poisoner’s scheme. They chased him and have him cornered. Now, Urthstripe is ready to duel him one-on-one.

Mara (a badger) and Pikkle (a hare) are two young ones who ran away from Salamandastron towards the beginning of the book. They were frustrated with all the rules there, and decided to run off with their newfound “friends” Klitch (a weasel, Ferahgo’s son) and Goffa (some random ferret from Ferahgo’s horde). It turns out that Klitch and Goffa were just tricking them, and they were captured by Ferahgo’s horde. A couple hares from Salamandastron helped them to escape, but then, they were captured by toads. They were thrown in a hole, to be eaten later. There are many shrews in the hole, members of the Guosssom – Guerrilla Union of South Stream Shrews of (did they mean in?) Mossflower. One of them is Nordo, son of Log-a-Log, their leader. Just when it looks like they’re done for, Log-a-Log and the Guosssom come and rescue them. Now, they are on a mission. You see, once, when Nordo was little, he was playing with the Blackstone – whoever holds the Blackstone is Log-a-Log by Guosssom law – and he lost it on an island in the middle of a huge lake. A white badger took it, so they’re sending Mara to get it back. However, in that lake lurks a monster known as the Deepcoiler…

Samkim the squirrel and Arula the mole are going after the sword of Martin the Warrior. It was taken earlier by two stoats, but both of them are dead now – one by Dryditch Fever, the other by decapitation. He was found by a search party from Ferahgo. He was a deserter, and Ferahgo wanted to make sure that no one escaped him. Now, a fox has the sword. Samkim and Aurula met a hedgehog, Spriggat, who is helping them track the fox and his party.

Redwall

wye I like Redwall I like animals and the book is about animals that behave like humans and talk and fight. and I like fiction and it is fiction.and I like it all.

RANGERS APPRENTICE

In Rangers Apprentice Will and Halt just found a wild bore which are very dangerous they are tracking it and they have sent someone to the baron and the battle master to get their men ready for a wild bore hunt.

dragonspell

I am reading dragonspell. It is about a girl named kale. The Authors name is Donita K. Paul. Kale is an apprentice of the hall where she will be trained for diffrent stuff. Then her journey came along when she met Dar and said to her that she can't come to the hall. along the way Kale found seven dragon eggs.

Jaws

Not much has happened in the book. They're has only been what I call " bad details". One of the only thing that's happened is the Brody family is throwing a dinner party. Also a new character named Matt Hooper has entered the book. Matt is a shark specialist, and is trying to help Brody with the shark problem. That's about it. I am on page 130.

Responding as Writers

The idea of writing for an audience may be unfamiliar for many of us; it certainly is a new consideration for me. I'm very comfortable writing for my own enjoyment or my own research. Writing to communicate my findings with another person raises frightening considerations. How do I know what my audience will connect with? What do they need from me in order to understand what I'm saying? How do I find the answers to these questions, especially if I don't know my audience personally?

Fear not! In class on Friday, after reading Paul Auster's "Why Write?" we identified some details that make writing interesting. First of all, he created context by giving details that fleshed out the story; thus we cared about the story (not just a "then I did this and then I did this" roller coaster).

I also noticed how many of us had a personal response to the story, mostly because we could identify with the emotions experienced by the main character. This emotion answers the question, "How do I relate to this story?" We have all felt disappointment. I imagine we have all idolized someone or something, especially at that young age. Maybe we don't know the first thing about baseball, but we know about wanting something and not getting it.

Thirdly, the piece very clearly answers the question, "So what?" By drawing the thread from the experience with Willie Mays to the devastation felt to carrying a pencil to using that pencil, Auster creates the story that this childhood experience caused him to become a writer.

This personal essay, I think, stands as a concise model of good writing. However, I encourage you to use it to deepen your reading. Because you all are reading books you enjoy (if you are not, stop now and get one you do enjoy), you are experiencing some connection, some hook. As you read, question that connection. How do I relate to this story? Why do I care? How has the author managed to keep me invested in the lives of people very distant from me? If you are reading Jaws, what makes the book different from newspaper accounts of shark attacks that happen all the time? If you are reading Redwall or any book that uses animal characters, how is it that you can understand what the animals are feeling?

I suspect that you will start to notice what it is you like about your favorite writing, you may appreciate the books more, and you will have more tools to improve your own writing.

Salamandastron

Salamandastron is the fifth installment in the Redwall series by Brian Jacques. As I write this, I am not even halfway through the book, but I know what it’s about. In this book, Lord Urthstripe the Strong, Badger Lord of Salamandastron, must defend his mountain fortress (Salamandastron) from an army of vermin led by Ferhago the Assassin, a cruel, blue-eyed weasel who smiles quite a bit. At the same time, Redwall Abbey is struck by an epidemic of Dryditch Fever! Apparently, there is only one cure for Dryditch Fever – the Flowers of Icetor, which grow on the northern mountains. It is up to Thrugg, the brave otter, to find them in time to cure everybody in the Abbey.
The Redwall books tell at least two stories that occur at the same time. That is one of the things I enjoy about the series. In fact, there’s one main thing I don’t like about the series. Virtually all the mice, squirrels, otters, badgers, and hedgehogs are good, while virtually all the ferrets, weasels, stoats, foxes, and rats are evil. I actually like all the species listed as “vermin,” especially foxes, and I think it’s a bit unfair to have them all be bad just because they’re what they are.

Jaws

The book im reading right now is called "Jaws". Its about a huge shark that lives in a town called Amity. The people of Amity keep getting eaten by the shark which makes life very hard for the people of Amity. Jaws has now eaten 6 people in the book. I am on page 113.

RANGERS APPRENTICE

The reason for me reading RANGERS APPRENTICE was because I got bored with Harry Potter and I saw rangers apprentice on the book shelf and it looked like a good book to read.when I first read this book it was like I was in the book with the characters every page was exciting .I thought author really did good with writing rangers apprentice.I liked everything about the way he wrote.Whats happening right now is Will the rangers apprentice getting his weapons he is extremely excited to try them out.I'm having so much fun.

Eragon

I think that the book eragon is a lot of fun to read. I like the style of writing a lot. I'm only on the page 70 but it's great.

dragonspell

I am starting to read dragon spell and the main character is kale. The book is about a girl who was going to the hall to be an apprentice. I think poeple who read fantasy books should read dragon spell.

The Redwall Series

Has anyone else heard of the Redwall series by Brian Jacques? I enjoy the series. I have noticed that every book in the series I have read so far has at least two plotlines going on at once. I personally don’t have too much trouble following the multiple plotlines, but I can see that it might be confusing to other people. Often, a bunch of characters will go on a quest of some sort, while the others stay back at Redwall and something happens there. It alternates between the story of the characters who are away and the story of the characters who are at home. Then, in the resolution of the book, the plotlines meet up again when the questers return home.

cats

Have any of you ever heard of the warrior cats books? They are my favorite books.

Life of Pi!

So, was Pi hallucinating? Or was Richard Parker real? Was there really a nasty cook? OOOHHH!!!!!

I have started reading a book called "this lullaby" by Sarah Dessen. This book is about a girl named Remy who has well had a boyfriend. He broke up with her and she was full out crying. Remy's mother is working on boyfriend number 5. This one is an actual marriage. There was a wedding reception that Remy had to go to against her will. She went outside to get some fresh air and saw someone she thought she liked. She was about to come show herself to him and then another girl that Remy hates butted in. That was her problem.

Response to Literature-The Bronze Bow

Daniel ran away from the village towards the end of Chapter Four, because no one there cared about fighting for freedom. He didn’t want to be stuck in the village taking care of his grandmother and sister, because this could hold him back from accomplishing his goal of defeating the Romans. He hoped that one day he could give them a better life after he defeated the Romans. He wanted to make it up to them for running away. The mountain was his home, which is why he felt homesick by the end of Chapter Three. Running away from problems does not solve them, because they eventually catch up with you. However, Daniel did plan on returning, not soon, but one day, and making it up to them, redeeming his actions somewhat.

Game at school

Would somebody tell me about the game that the twins were talking about? I am confused.

Visualization

What have you visualized lately in the book you are reading?

The Ideal Text

What are the features of the ideal text, how do we achieve a text (serious high school level text) that is fun, and engaging, AND educational?

This thread was started in a different topic, relevant posts were copied here...

We started with reading strategies, drifted into purposes for reading, morphed into purposes for writing and finally writing style for purpose!

From Orion: I think that the only difference is in the format of the information. The reason that a text book is written is to educate, whereas the purpose of a storybook is to entertain. Hence, the differing styles. If, for example, a math text were written in a story style, it would be more conducive to "inactive" reading. The dry format makes it difficult to read for fun, making need for more than just what one was doing for distraction. However, if a story were written in a dry textbook style it would be vary ineffective as a distraction. This would be because the format and style could detract from the plot and the characters. I think that a history textbook, written as a story would be ideal, of course the course would also have to include a text book for a fuller knowledge. I know that this was a little of topic, however I think that it is important to think about what the book is designed for, not just how one reads it.

From Amanda: Of course, now we have to ask, "is it possible to write a math or science text book that is fun and engaging and all those other things?" I think the name hiSTORY certainly takes it in that direction all ready. The Oak Meadow Ancient Civs book combines the two well, (for the level it's written at), and we have a couple of others that work that way. Could you write a Biology text that would read more story like?

From Alex: I think that one could write certain aspects of a biology book in an engaging story manner, but other parts would be neigh on imposable to convey in that manner. Has anyone watched "What the Bleep do we Know"? This movie tries to do something like that. I think that to be able to truly connect which a story there must be characters for us to empathize with and know, even if these characters are not human they are anthropomorphized and caused to be human with human feelings that we can empathize with, thereby allowing us to connect with them. I think this would be difficult to do in a biology or math textbook. How would it be done?

From Amanda: So, now I'm picturing little math symbols chatting with each other about what happens when they are mixed up with numbers and other symbols. It's starting to look like a soap opera in my head... EEK!!!!!

From Orion: If a text (say Chemistry for example) was written in a style conducive to Evaluation and Connection (again examples), would this make it also easer to do all the other "active" things too? It would certainly be much more fun to read.

I think that the fun of all studying is connecting it all together, like a puzzle. So if a, perhaps, series of text of, say, all the core classes were built to take information from one another, this would necessitate reading "actively" to some extent, and would not stumble upon the problem of forced anthropomorphism. I think that this would be a way to write a text in an engaging manner. The connection between the topics more than in the the reader and the character would be the intriguing part. This interconnection of the information may not be interesting to others, but I think that this would be great. Also this is not strictly the form of connection that is used in "active" reading, but I thought that this was pertinent none the less. This has already been done to some extent with the Oak Meadow books and other books I have not used, if others know about some such books I would enjoy reading them at some point.