Debby+&+Ilona

= Ello. Welcome to..... =

Book We're Reading...
It's really cool.. I hope... __ The Ear, The Eye And The Arm !!!!!!! __

﻿By: Nancy Farmer. :] <3


Indepent Reading Punctuation Prompt!!!!!! By: Debby Cheng (:
 * , => Pg #15** "If he wasn't fit for a military career, what //was// he good for?... 'You're trapped, too,' said Tendai, gently removing the bird to his table..."

Response: Tendai comes from a pretty strict family, often having to deal with the pressure that arrives with the burden of his strict, military-leader father. Tendai's dad, an extremely complicated man, has the strong "manly" vibe, always making sure that he is being strong, never listening to anyone but himself... basically leading and being the "man of the house." He, however, also expects a lot from his children-- especially from Tendai, his eldest son, expecting him to follow in his footsteps when he is older, becoming a military-leader as well. Tendai is told that he does not have "what it takes," though, to become a soldierbecause he truly feels pain for his enemy. A dreamer and thinker, Tendai has to be honost: he does //not// even want to become a soldier. However, he has always had his future chosen out for him. Now, realizing that he does not want to take the path dubbed by father in advance, he does not know what to do with the life he has in front of him. He's definitely under pressure, frightened to disappoint his father, while also horrified that he actually has the guts to finally stay true to himself.

__**Punctuation Prompt**__ By Debby!! ("I don't know how Matsika did this, but tell him thank you. His kids are outside. They can't have gone far."
 * ,** pg 183

Myanda used to be part of a gang when she was younger; before she met General Matsika (Tendai's father) and joined the Resthaven community, she had been a roaming young teen with no family. No one cared for her. She was alone in the world. However, after she was shot during a gang raid, General Matsika visited her at the hospital, though he had been the one who'd shot her. He told Myanda how she could earn a better life, thought up possible options for her future; he was like the father she never had. And obviously, though so much time had already passed, Matsika was still Myanda's hero, her role model. This really made readers think. At the start of the story, readers were given the impression that General Matsika was a strict, unhappy, sexist and perfectionist of a man. Almost everything was horrid about him. He was causing his children to suffer. However, as the novel began to progress, readers began to see the strong kindness in Matsika's soul. Readers simply began to realize that he was more that that met the naked eye.

New Independent Reading Book: ...u ready? ............. "Our mother died when I was two, so I never felt her absense."
 * __To Kill a Mockingbird__ by Harper Lee!!!!!!!!!! WOOTWOOT!! *fistpump.**
 * __Punctuation Prompt:__ By Debby!! (:<3**
 * ,** pg 7

In truth, I've never really lost anyone in my family or circle of friends, so obviously, I've never really felt like I really "missed anybody. I've always read about it in novels or watched it on movies, though. Recently, my English teacher, Ms.Spiezio, was telling my class about how writers make their readers grow a connection to, and start caring about specific characters, by describing them and giving the characters a name, allowing readers to "get to know the characters better and therefore, begin to care about them. The quote I copied (above^^^^^^) really made me stop and think. Was how Scout felt about his unknown mother somehow like how readers felt about the characters in their novel? Honostly, we can't "miss" or "care" about someone unknown. Like how Scout never knew or cared about his mother, readers don't care about the characters they don't know about. It's just how things work. However,most importantly, with this connection I made, readers really observe how and why Scout and Jem's view upon their mother completely differ.


 * //Debby, what a great way to connect to this character! I think you're right. If you never knew someone, it's hard to miss them because you don't know what to miss. But! What I do find disturbing about this is that it IS his mother! People have a different connection to their parents, I think.//**


 * //PS... By Charles, do you mean Scout?//**
 * //I agree, because you can't really miss anyone that you don't know, because you don't know what they were like. But, it is his mom. -Ilona//**

"...-- if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off." pg 16
 * __Punctuation Prompt:__ By Debby!!!! :D<3**
 * ????** => "Turtles can't feel, stupid," said Jem.... pg 18

Readers follow Jem, Dill, and Scout's interesting ideas throughout the novel, as the trio go on their summer adventures. As I read however, I begin to observe the trio's uneducated and unknowledgeable ideas, such as the ones I listed above (see abovwhat they e^^^^). I //did// consider the idea that maybe these strange thoughts were due to a young age. However, then I realized that Jem was already in the fifth grade, about eleven years of age. Besides, even the young children I know of already know that the ideas Jem stated (above) are unlogical. Children often say what they hear, based on a mixture of what they are taught in school. The setting of the novel was in Maycomb, a Southern town somewhere in the mid-1900s. So, how //intelligent// exactly were the teachers of the Maycomb schools? The society members? What were the children taught? Superstition? Through encounters from the story, the children have already proven to be intelligent and witty, so what was with these crazy ideas????

Punctuation Prompt: By Debby!! :D "This time we aren't fighting the Yankees, we're fighting our friends. But remember this, no matter how bitter things get, they're still our friends and this is still our home," said Atticus.
 * //Let's chat tomorrow about the different characters in the book! I know there are a lot! The WHO part of the summaries do help this :)//**
 * //I think your right, because normally at 11 you don't really beleive superstitions. However, I think that if you gro up with adults that beleive in superstitions you'll just get used to it. -Ilona//**
 * ! pg 101**

It seems lame to admit that I admire a fictional, storybook character. However, I must confess that I definitely look up to Atticus. Though he was taunted by his neighbors for fairly defending the Negros, he held his head up high, unflaggingly supporting what he strongly felt was right. Atticus got his education at home, never going to school, and one wouldn't infer that he was a man of much wisdom. However, over the course of the novel, Atticus has proved ot be extremely sensible and patient, giving advice that I would never picture him giving. As I, a reader, got to know Atticus better, I was extremely surprised about how wise he was. He always kept the bigger picture in mind, was generous to the less fortunate, and did well in his duty as father to Jem and Schout. I can finally see why he is so well-admired by Scout.

"I think I'm beginning to understand why Boo Radley's stayed shut up in the house all this time... it's because he //wants// to stay inside."
 * Punctuation Prompt: By Debby (the awesomest person you will ever meet. :} )**
 * , pg #304**

=> When I first began reading __To Kill a Mockingbird__ I absolutely couldn't understand why people all over considered it a "classic." All I knew at first was that the novel was about a few children who enjoyed pulling pranks on the neighborhood residents. However, now at this moment, I realize that this novel is made endearing to many because of how the readers can follow as the story's characters mature, grow, and change. Boo Radley was this strange old man that rarely left his home. Jem, Dill, and Scout would often try to pull pranks on him; they were all intrigued by the horror-stories that the neighborhood would quietly pass on to them, the stories that were rumored to be pure fact. However, at this point in the novel (pg 304), both the characters and the readers are realizing that Boo Radley has //never// been a "murderer," or anything as crazy as how he was described in the neighborhood stories. He was just a wise old man, nothing if not friendly and kind as well. He //chose// to stay home, living a reclused (<= VOCAB WORD!!! life away from the rest of Maycomb. Like how Jem, Dill, and Scout were beginning to feel, Boo Radley was disgusted at the predujices and unnecessary roming of rumors in Maycomb. The town started out a seemingly-perfect little neighborhood. However, its ugly is now finally beginning to reveal itself.