Free Choice Reading. Post #3

NAME: Kelsey
DATE: February 3,2010
BOOK: The Lovely Bones
AUTHOR: Alice Seabold
PAGES: 214 - 328
TOTAL PAGES THIS WEEK: 328

QUESTION 1:What was one of your favorite lines (or sentences) in what you read today? Copy it down and tell why you liked it.

RESPONSE 1:
In what I read today one of my favorite sentences is "At the tips of feathers there is air and at their base : blood. I hold up bones; I wish like broken glass they could court light ...still I try to place these pieces back together, to set them firm, to make murdered girls live again."
I liked this piece from the book because this is one of the poems that Ruth wrote. This is the only poem that they show in the book and all though I don't understand the full poem I do understand some of it. I really like this poem though and I think it is very interesting. It really shows what Ruth is feeling. I think that "Ruth" in the book is a very talented writer. I think that she really channels her feelings well into this piece of work.


QUESTION 2: Explain how the author creates suspense in this book.

RESPONSE 2:
In this book there are times when there is a lot of suspense. One of these parts was when Lindsey snuck into Mr. Harvey's house. Lindsey breaks open a basement window of Mr. Harvey's house and begins too search for his bedroom. She thinks she has about 45 minutes until she has to get out. She finds Mr. Harvey's bedroom and begins to look for evidence that he committed Suzie's murder. She finds his sketchbook sitting on his beside table. During the time she finds it and walks over to it she doesn't put together the sounds of a car pulling up to the house, a squeak of the cars breaks, and a car door slamming shut, signifying that Mr. Harvey has come home. She begins looking through the sketchbook. She finds a page that can be used as evidence and tears t out of the book. Right then Mr. Harvey hears a board squeak and starts rushing up the stairs. Lindsey opens and jumps out of a window to get away, but Mr. Harvey still sees the soccer jersey with her soccer number on it and knows it is her.
This part made me very anxious and nervous. I started reading really fast at this part because I wanted to know what was going to happen next. Alice uses good descriptions of what is happening and she lengthens out certain scenes to make them more intense and suspenseful.

Free Choice Reading. Post #2

NAME: Kelsey DATE: February 2,2010
BOOK: The Lovely Bones
AUTHOR: Alice Seabold
PAGES: 84 - 214
TOTAL PAGES THIS WEEK: 328

QUESTION 1: Which character would you like to be like? In what way? Why?

RESPONSE 1:
If I could be like a character in this book I would choose to be like Lindsey. Lindsey is a very strong person both physically and mentally. I think that out of all her family members besides Buckley she handles Suzie's disappearance the best. Lindsey acts very strong. She doesn't let Suzie's death effect her as much as the others do. She pretends like it didn't happen sometimes and then others she just tells herself that everything is going to be all right.
Another character that I like in this book and would want to be like is Ruth in the sense that she is very artistic and she is a very good poet. I like this about her a lot. I think this gives her character something different that none of the other characters have. Ruth is a very important character in this book because of how she felt Suzie touch her when Suzie's spirit left the earth. I like the way Ruth takes this experience and other things that she begins to feel about it and writes them down in the form of a poem. I really like this about her.

QUESTION 2: What other character(s) beside the main character is really important to the story? How and why?

RESPONSE 2:
I think that one of the most important characters in this book besides Suzie is Franny. All though Franny isn't mentioned much she plays a big role in Suzie's heaven. Franny is the person that gives Suzie the map to the pear tree where she sees the other girls that Mr. Harvey has killed. This is a good experience for Suzie it shows her that she isn't the only one that has been killed. I like this part in the book a lot and I like Franny's character. She reminds me of a nanny or a caretaker of the girls in heaven which is basically what she is.
I also think that Ruth is a very important characters in this book. Ruth is pretty much Suzie's main connection to earth. Ruth even though she didn't really know Suzie took great interest in her death after Suzie's spirit touched Ruth when going to heaven. Ruth writes poems about Suzie's death and thinks about it a lot. She also becomes good friends with Suzie's lover Ray. I think this is important because they become really good friends and Ray begins to be able to talk about what happened to Suzie with Ruth. Ruth writes down anything she notices about places where people could have been murdered or raped, and different scenarios she sees play through her head about what happened at these places inside of a journal she has. This journal also holds the poems about Suzie.

Free Choice Reading. Post #1

NAME: Kelsey DATE: February 2,2010
BOOK: The Lovely Bones
AUTHOR: Alice Seabold
PAGES: 1 - 84
TOTAL PAGES THIS WEEK: 328

QUESTION 1: What does this book make you wonder about? Why?

RESPONSE 1:
There are a lot of things this book makes me wonder about. One of the main things this book has made me wonder about is our world and how things like rape and murder can happen to anyone. This book has really come o make me realize that things like this do happen everyday. Young girls are being beaten, hurt, and that's sad to know. This book has made me wonder how many people might have had happen to them what happened to Suzie. As the family of a victim of that, that would be very hard to cope with.
Another thing this book has made me wonder about is the police and investigations. Through out this portion of the book the police are starting to begin their investigation and search for answers on what might have happened to Suzie. They don't find any evidence that could pinpoint to one person saying that they murdered Suzie. This makes me wonder about our own police force. Are there cases left hanging like this? Can the police and detectives sometimes not find anything? This portion of the book is just starting the investigation. When I read this portion I remember wanting to know what the police were going to find if they found anything, and how the case would end up.


QUESTION 2: What do you think about a particular character's actions? Was he/she right or wrong to do that?

RESPONSE 2:
At the very beginning of this book, in the first chapter it describes Suzie's rape and murder. The murderer and rapist is Mr.Harvey. Obviously I along with any other that will or have read this book think this is very wrong. Mr. Harvey was wrong to do this but without this beginning there would be no story. In this first chapter it talks about how Mr. Harvey gets Suzie into the hole in the cornfield with him. I think that Mr. Harvey planned this very well for the benefit of himself. I'm not saying that I think what he did was right but that I do think he planned the way he was going to rape and murder her well. He definitely had a good plan that worked. I think that because the police don't find anything but Suzie's elbow, hat, and book shows that he did a good job covering up his tracks. I think his actions were good for himself but from the readers point of view what he did was horrible and I hate how Suzie is killed in the end of the chapter.

Final blog entry for LOTF

Lord of the Flies
Chapter 12
"Cry of the Hunters"
Perspective: Ralph

Dear diary,
Jack and his tribe created a cordon to look for me all over the island. After they found me they were going to kill me. I hid inside the thicket at the bottom of the cliff near castle rock. I visited Samneric on top of castle rock. They gave me some meat from the feast with Jack. Samneric had to join Jacks tribe. I'm guessing that they were threatened and that they figured they would get beat if they didn't join his tribe.
Roger created a stick sharpened on both ends for me. I didn't understand what that meant at first. They tried to catch me first by pushing boulders onto the thicket from above. When that didn't work they tried to find where I was by poking their spears into the thicket. Last they lit the thicket on fire I had to get out so I sprung from the bush and stabbed at the boy in my way who could have turned me in to Jack.
I fled to the beach where I saw a man that had epauletts and white drill on him. He was a naval officer. He was just standing there on the beach. He looked as if this were a diddle. Jack and his boys were chasing me with a loud ululation so then we all ended up on the beach with the naval officer. The naval officer asked who the leader was and I said it was me. The naval officer was disappointed though. He was disappointed that we were so disorganized and he was disappointed that a pack of British boys couldn't keep it together. He was disappointed that we couldn't put on a good show. I tried to explain but I don't know if he really got it. He asked a few more questions then we went home with him.

Capter 11 Castle rock Q's

Lord of the Flies
Chapter 11
"Castle Rock"

1. At the beginning of this chapter Piggy tells Ralph to blow the conch and call an assembly. He also says that Ralph should give him the conch so that he can go talk to Jack with it.He thought it could be used as a talisman.
2. Piggy said he was going to tell Jack that he needs his glasses to see. He know that Jacks stronger and smarter then him but whats right is right and he needs his glasses back.
3. Ralph says their appearance should be clean like they were before. He said they ought to comb their hair and wash themselves.He didn't want to look truculently like Jacks tribe.
4. Roger challenged the boys when they first got to castle rock.
5. Jack had been out hunting before he appeared.
6. Ralph calls Jack a thief and this is what starts the fight between them.
7. After the fight Samneric are tied up by Jack tribe.
8. Roger had been throwing stones and leaning on the lever at the time during Piggy's plea for cessation of their savage behavior.
9. I believe that Roger is responsible for Piggy's death. Roger was the one who pushed the lever and made the rock fall on Piggy. He was not ordered by Jack at that moment to push the rock on to Piggy. He had only been ordered before to use the rocks to protect the fort from trespassers. It says in the text of the book that "Roger, with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all his weight on the lever." This clearly shows that it was Roger who is responsible for Piggy's death.

Simons view

Lord of the Flies
Journal
Simon's Ghost

Dear diary,

I have been watching the boys after my death. Ralph and Piggy were talking about my death. At least Ralph recognises good and bad. He new that this was murder. Piggy said it was just an accident, and that it was somewhat my fault for crawling out of the forest. They said they were outside of the circle. Ralph saw what happened to me but Piggy said he only got an eye in here and there. They were on the outside of the circle. I'm disappointed that they had even been a part of all this. I am not happy that they killed me. It was murder. Why did it have to be me? I don't know what else to say about my death. It was sudden and no one could have predicted that it was going to happen. Things happen for a reason.

Jack has become a monster. He is tying his own tribe members up. He is going to beat poor Wilfred. But no one else in his tribe knows why. Jack wont tell anyone. I just know that he was mad and had him tied up. They talked about killing me. Jack and his hunters said that I supposedly was the beast in disguise. But I am not the only beast, the beast is in all of us. Jack takes Roger and Maurice hunting with him. They talk about stealing Ralph's fire. They also talk about meeting the beast again. I wish that I could have warned Ralph about this. If I had maybe Piggy wouldn't be dead.

I'm not surprised that Jack had his tribe attack Ralph's tribe. Jack never liked Ralph. Jack is a violent and evil person. He wanted fire so he attacked them and took Piggy's glasses. He could have just asked for fire, Ralph would have given it to him, but he didn't. Jack doesn't seem like the kind of person to ask for help or some thing like that. Jack always has to be the most powerful.

Sincerely,
Simon

Chapter 8 and 9 blog

Lord of the Flies
Chapter 8
"A Gift for the Darkness"

In this chapter I think that the scene in which Jack and his new tribe kill the pig and make the Lord of the Flies is the most terrifying scene. In this scene Jack and his hunters capture and kill a pig. They run after a nursing sow. They first were only able to get a few spears into her flank but after that it was easy to follow her because of the blood that left a path. When they caught up to the sow Jack jumped on top of her. He stabbed her over and over while Roger took his spear stuck it in her and pushed down with all his weight. Jack in the end killed the sow by cutting its throat. They then create an offering for the beast by cutting the pigs head off, and sticking it on a stake in the ground. Jack believes that this is a was they might be able to make friends with the beast, so that it wont bother them. I believe this is the most terrifying scene because of what Jack and his hunters are doing. They cut the pigs head off, stick that on a stake, and they also take out all the pigs guts and place those on the rock near the head. I believe this is very gory and terrifying.

Chapter 9
"View to a Death"

I believe that Jack and the Hunters were the cause of Simon's death. Jack says "Do our dance! Come on! Dance!" This is what starts all the hunters into their "dance." All the hunters use there spears to kill the "beastie." This is when Simon is killed. This is also how Simon was killed. So I believe that if Jack hadn't started the "dance in the first place this would've never happened. But also if the bays hadn't stabbed at some random thing they believed was the beastie Simon would still be alive. I do think that it is mostly Jacks fault for starting the dance in the first place. But it also was an accident. The hunters attacked out of fear that Simon was really the beastie.