Reader's Journal #14, Fleshmarket by Nicola Morgan

Dear Mrs. Zrihen,

                I just started reading Fleshmarket by Nicola Morgan.  It is a horror story that is set in 1822.  Here is a quote from the book I really liked on page 2:

                “She looked at the ceiling and grew colder.  A large spider hung briefly on it thread above her face.  Watched her watching it.  It scuttled back toward the safety of its web.  The sunlight threw flickering shadows, which danced drowsily across the dull ivory plaster.  The loud murmuring of the spectators lulled her and she could almost believe that this was not going to happen.

                No one had spoken her name since she entered the room.  Maybe she was not really there?  Where was her husband standing?  Where was her baby, her curly-haired, diamond eyed daughter?  She was glad her older child, Robbie, had not been allowed into the room.  But she must not scream, or he would hear from the outside and not understand that this was something that must be done, this cutting into his mother while she lay awake on the table.  In front of all these peering bushy-faced men.”

                I enjoyed this passage because it makes it sound very dramatic.  The significance to this passage to the book is that without this passage, you wouldn’t get an idea of how the room was.

                My two before reading strategies were to skim and scan for text features and read the synopsis.  My two during reading strategies were to understand any olden day words, since there were a lot of olden day words and understand what’s going on.  My two after reading strategies were to review what I had read and to prepare for Reader’s Journal.

                The genre of this book is horror.  The characteristics were shocking.  The characters in the book so far were just a surgeon and a woman who so far don’t have names.  Both of them are definitely static because they go from courageous to sad to proud.  The protagonist was the woman and the surgeon. There is no antagonist so far.  There is no foil so far.

                The setting of the story was not mentioned, but the place was the operating room in the infirmary.  The time was in 1822 when they had no anesthetics. 

                The exposition is when the woman needs an urgent surgery to remove a breast cancer tumor.  Five days after the surgery she dies.  The rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution I haven’t gotten to yet.  The conflict hasn’t been revealed yet.  The mood is eerie.  The theme hasn’t been revealed yet.  The moral so far is avoid breast cancer especially for the girls because you most probably will die. 

The point of view is third person.  The pattern of organization is cause and effect, because she got breast cancer and she died.  The author’s purpose is probably to scare the reader.  The author’s perspective is that he most probably doesn’t agree with this and is biased.

I would rate this book so far a nine out of ten because even though it’s pretty intense, it’s missing a certain quality.  I would recommend this book to eighth graders because younger kids would read this and freak out and have nightmares.

Sincerely, your student,

Michael Heskiel

Reader's Journal #13 The House of a Million Pets by Ann Hodgman, illustrated by Eugene Yelchinin

Dear Mrs. Zrihen,

                I am still reading the memoir, The House of a Million Pets by Ann Hodgman and illustrated by Eugene Yelchin.

                Here was a passage from the book I really enjoyed from page 68:

                “We can put him in the tank with the fish,” David said.

                It was fun to watch him there.  Crayfish – in case you’ve never seen one – look exactly like miniature lobsters.  Crayfishy was tiny, maybe an inch and a half long.  For a couple of days he zoomed energetically around the tank.  Then we came into the playroom on the third morning to find that Crayfishy had killed puffy.  He had also eaten Puffy’s eyes.”

                I picked is passage because I thought it was very funny, especially how David didn’t know how to take care of pets.  This passage is important to the book because without it, we would all think that David is a dull man who never buys pets.

               My before reading strategies for this book were to remember what I read last time and start a little bit before where I left off to remind of me of what I had read.  My two during reading strategies were to understand what I was reading and to look for the various text features.  My two after reading strategies were to understand new vocabulary words and comprehend what I had read.

                The genre of this book like I said before was memoir.  The topic is a lot of pets.  The main idea is about a woman who keeps buying and buying pets and this is implied.  If I could give this book another title, it would be Too Many Pets in the House.  Some supporting details of the main idea are one, each chapter is the name of another one of the pets she got.  Second, it says at the beginning of the book that she loves to buy pets.   My third supporting detail is the title.  The essential message of the book is that be kind to all the animals because they are all very nice, which is my conclusion.

                One example I saw of cause and effect was is that due to the fact that David put a crayfish in a fish tank, the effect was that it killed Puffy and Bulgy (these are the names of their pet fish). 

                Comparing and contrasting the text, you can see that some of the text gets down to the point but yet some of it doesn’t. 

Some text features I saw was an illustration of Puffy being waved as a flag by Crayfishy.  The front cover’s picture looks like it was drawn in crayon.  I noticed that on page 26 there is text box. 

The pattern of organization is difficult to describe, because there are flashbacks, then flashbacks within flashbacks.

The author’s purpose was to show how she loves pets.  The author’s perspective is that all people should love pets and agree with her, and this is biased.  The author’s point of view is that everyone should at least get one pet.

The tone and mood of the book is funny, definitely humorous.

Here are some great new vocabulary words I learned:  Hoist.  Some context clues I used was that the kid was pulling and couldn’t walk, so I think that this means to pick yourself up.  There were no other vocabulary words that I noticed that I didn’t understand.

I say this reminds that I can never get a pet even though I really want one, this book makes me feel like I don’t really need one.  This text reminds me of the song “Bingo” because there are a lot of animals in it.  As text to world, it reminds me of how many animals are out there and how they are captured.

                I would rate this book ten out of ten because it is hilarious and informative.  It teaches you about animals.  I would recommend this book to anybody because it has easy vocabulary and it is funny.

Sincerely, your student,

Michael Heskiel

Reader's Journal #12 The House of a Million Pets by Ann Hodgman with illustrations by Eugene Yelchin

Dear Zrihen,
I have been reading The House of a Million Pets, a memoir by Ann Hodgman and illustrated by Eugene Yelchin. Here is a passage I really enjoyed:


“Anything gets turned into a song. If I see the UPS man, for instance, I might sing:
The UPS truck’s here now,
All covered with grime.
Doggies, do not fear, now –
He comes here all the time.


Or I might sing:


There is Johnny’s backpack,
Why won’t he take it up?
I think we might trip o’er it,
So dreadful for a pup!


I’m so used to this terribleness that I hardly notice when I start singing. One day, I had to take the dogs out to walk around the yard, and while I was putting their leashes on, I sang them a song to the tune of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” It went like this:


Doggies’ leashes are such fun,
Doggies love to run and run.
Doggies’ leashes are such fun,
Doggies love to run and run.
Doggies’ leashes are such fun,
Doggies love to run and RUN!”


I picked this passage because I though was so funny. It shows how people can get connected to their dogs. The significance of this passage is that without it, you wouldn’t understand how the author got carried away.
I used six reading strategies while reading this book. My two before reading strategies were one, to look at the cover and see if I would be interested in it. The next before reading strategy I used was to look at the author and see if it was somebody I know about. My two during reading strategies were one, to read and understand what was going on and two, to put the illustration and text together on some pages. My two after reading strategies were first to understand what I read and second, to spot text features.
The genre of this book is memoir, which is characterized by the story of a person’s life written by them. The topic of this book is the story of Ann Hodgman’s life and her pets.
The main idea of the book is of how her everyday life had pets in and how she loved pets. The main idea is stated, because in the introduction it says, “This book all about my life with my pets.” All she talks about how she gets her pets and how she likes pets. I would also call this book, No Such Thing as Too Many Pets because a whole room she had to devote to just her pets.
Here are five supporting details of the main idea. One, it tells you at the beginning that it’s going to be about pets and is factual. Two, the front cover’s text features make you think it is going to be about pets and is also factual. Next, it only has pictures of different kinds of pets they bought and is sensory. The fourth supporting detail is when you read the book the first thing it says is, “Welcome to my barnyard,” and that is factual. And the last supporting detail is it talks about pets in the synopsis, which is factual.
The essential message of this book in my own words is that we shouldn’t be greedy or mean to our pets. We should treat our pets as well as we treat humans.
A cause and effect relationship I found in the text is due to the fact that she bought a Sugar Glider, she had a lot more poop cleaning to do.
What I compare in this book is that all of it has to do with the same subject animals. What I would contrast from this story is that it talks more about the animals than it does about the human beings.
Here are five text features I noticed in the book. One, the cover has writing like it was written in crayon. Second, there are different funny pictures in different parts of the book. Third, every time an animal goes to the bathroom in the book, the words are in bold letters. On page 26, the regular text form turned into bullet note form. Last, there would be picture of a different animal in different parts.
The pattern of organization for the book is it is divided into chapters with subsections and is in chronological order.
The author’s purpose is most probably to show and encourage people to go and get themselves a pet. The author’s perspective is that everybody should have a pet to enjoy. The point of view is that pets are good.
I only learned one new vocabulary word. The word is marsupials, which are animals that carry their young in pouches on the mothers’ bellies. The context clues I used were words that talked about babies and pouches.
In relating this book to self, we should be happy with the animals. In text to text, this book is not like I have ever read before. In text to world, the world should work together to keep the animals safe and comfort them.
I would rate this book ten out of ten because it is important and funny at the same time. I would recommend this book to sixth and seventh graders because it is very description and the pictures make it more vivid.
Sincerely,


Michael Heskiel

Current event Journal #2

Date:11/13/11
Name:Michael Heskiel
Current Events Journal
Title: A legacy of service: Three generations of Pines family have served in military
Author: PERRY STE
Source:the Miami herald
The topic of the article is A legacy of service: Three generations of Pines family have served in military
The main idea of the article is: about the veterans fighting hard for our freedom and remembering veterans day  (implied/stated) implied
The author’s purpose for writing this article is to show everyone how are veterans worked hard to give us our freedom
The author’s perspective in this article is objective/subjective subjective (biased) because
The pattern of organization of the article is chronological order
The reason the author chose this pattern for the article is because it gives it a feeling of an emotion
The text features included in the article are: Illustration
helps by to give a visual of who the person is.
caption helps by to know whats in the illustration
picture, and helps by to show how it was in war
This article is about (a summary in your own words) a portorecin family that served in the army and what they did to help in the war
The significance (importance) of this article is to show how veterans day is an important day
What I learned from this article is people in the army also have to diffuse mines
What I liked about this article is that the details a very vivid
What I did not like about it is that some parts are very gruesome
Who should read this article and why all Americans to remind them of ho gave them their freedom
This article reminds me of (text-to-self) How i can understand who gave me the freedom
(text-to-text)of a quote
(text-to-world) We all should follow in the steps of those people
New vocabulary I learned
Word Context Clues Meaning
1. Legacy- Law. a gift of property

Reader's Journal # 11, Spaceships and Spells, edited by Jane Yolen, Martin H. Greenberg, & Charles Waugh

Dear Mrs. Zrihen,

                I have read another story in the book, Spaceships & Spells edited by Jane Yolen, Martin H. Greenberg, & Charles G. Waugh.  the story is “The Fable of the Three Princes”, by IsaacAsimov.  In the story I really liked this passage,

                “She Made a mystic pass with her hands (for she was a very well educated princess indeed), and there was a bright flash of light.  The courtiers had covered their eyes, for they knew what to expect; but Prince Secundus and Prince Tertius were not prepared, and they were blinded for a moment by the flash.

                When they recovered, they saw a statue being loaded into a cart so that it might be transported to the avenue in the garden along which the princess took her morning walk.

                The statue was that of Prince Primus, arms folded, expression handsome and proud.”

                This passage is important to the story because it shows that the princess isn’t easy to please.

                The reading strategies I used when reading the story were first to skim and scan the story, then I tried to understand hard vocabulary words.  Next, I prepared for Reader’s Journal.

                The genre of the short story is fantasy.  It is characterized by events that involve magic and cannot happen in real life.

Most of the characters in the story don’t have names.  The characters in the story are the Emperor, the princess, Prince Primus, Prince Secundus, and prince Tertius.  Everyone in the story was a protagonist and there really wasn’t really an antagonist.  The setting is in a kingdom and the arena.

The exposition and rising action was when the three princes to go get money for the kingdom and the one who came back with the most would be king.  The climax was when prince Tertius marries the princess.  The falling action and resolution happen when the debt problems are fixed and the kingdom is back to normal.

The conflict is character vs. character because the three princes are opposing the princess in order to see who would marry her.  The tone of the story is competitive.  The moral of the story is never to judge a book by its cover.  The point of view is in the third person.  The pattern of organization is cause and effect.  The author’s purpose is to entertain.  I can’t tell what the author’s perspective is.

I did not see any figurative language in the story.  I would recommend this story to the girls in my class, but not the boys because this type of fantasy is the type that girls would read more than boys.  I would rate this story four out of five stars because even though it was more for girls, it was very suspenseful at points and I was eager to know what happened next.

Sincerely, your student,

Michael Heskiel

Reader's Journal #10, Spaceships and Spells, edited by Jane Yolen, Martin H. Greenberg, & Charles G. Waugh

Dear Mrs. Zrihen,

                I read the book Spaceships and Spells edited by Jane Yolen, Martin H. Greenberg, & Charles G. Waugh.  It is a collection of short stories.  Here is a passage from one of the stories, “Watch Out” by Bruce Coville.

                “As he turned to his wife, he pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket.  “look at these directions,” he said.  “Read the last paragraph to me.”

                It was his wife’s turn to sigh.  “I don’t have to read it,” she said.  I know it by heart:  ‘Once and object is placed in the Cave of the Gnome, it can never be returned.  So please be sure to use only objects that have no real value.”

                This passage is important to the story because it shocks the reader, for up to this point, we thought this magic trick wasn’t real magic.

                My reading strategies for before, middle and after are to read the synopsis and understand the book.  Two, understand meanings of words I did not know.  And three, to comprehend reading so that I could write a Reader’s Journal.

                The genre of this book is short fantasy fiction.  There are many characters in the stories of the book.  The settings were from everyday places to castles and dragons’ dens.   Due to the fact that there are a lot of stories, the plot structure is short fiction.  The exposition, rising and falling action all vary from story to story.  There are many conflicts in the stories.  For instance, the conflict in “Watch Out” is character vs. the supernatural.

                The tone and mood of the stories I have read is mostly mysterious.  Each story has a different moral.  As an example, in “Watch Out,” the moral is always read the instructions.

                Each story has a different author’s point of view and perspective.  In the stories I have read, I have only read literal language and have not seen any examples of figurative language.

                I would rate this book so far two out of five stars because it is really not my cup of tea, but has good parts here and there.  I would recommend this book to people who like a lot of fantasy and science fiction in short stories.

Sincerely,

Michael Heskiel