Reader's Journal-     Fiction

#5                                                     Reader’s Journal                                             9/26/11

Dear Mrs. Zrihen,

            For this past week, I’ve been reading the book CLOAKED by Alex Finn. Since this book has a total of three hundred and forty one pages, I haven’t finished reading it yet. The author wrote this book as a genre of fairy tale. Fairy tale is a type of subgenre, which falls in the category of folktale and is written including many magical elements such as a princess, a prince, and a bad guy/girl. This book was written as a mixture of older fairy tales, similar to the fairy tale: Princess and the Frog.

            Since I am not yet finished reading this book, the characters I have encountered so far are Victoriana, Bryan, Meg, Philip, Bruno, the witch, and Johnny. Victoriana and Johnny are both protagonists and viewed as round characters. Johnny is the main character who is seventeen years old and is poor, working in a shoe repair shop that his parents own. Bryan and Meg are his best friends, being foil characters. Philip is Victoriana’s brother and is turned into a frog by the witch, being a protagonist and a foil character. Victoriana is a princess with a French-like accent and is one of the main characters. The witch, on the other hand is a foil character and an antagonist because of her cruel behavior. Lastly, Bruno is a foil character and he is Victoriana’s bodyguard.

            There were many passages that were in my interest. Out of the many, I have chosen the passage on page 52. “How dare you touch ze princess? Says Bruno as he rips me away from Victoriana and shoves me into the balcony. Victoriana lets out and indignant cry, then recovers with a laugh. Oh Bruno, you must allow me my fun. I am a princess, am I not? He says something in French, and an angry conversation ensues. Bruno turns toward me and gestures the door. Shoo, shoe boy! Not until I say, Victoriana says. She pulls me toward her for what I figure will be another passionate kiss, a dangerous kiss, with Bruno watching. But instead of my lips, she finds my ear. She whispers, “I know you will help me find my bruzzer. Later, when I reached the lobby, I duck into the men’s room stall to count the money she gave me to find her brother. I almost hurt myself when I total it up. Ten thousand dollars.”

I chose this passage because by reading how much money the princess gave him, I can see that she’s almost willing to give anything in order for him to find her brother that has turned into a frog. Also, it showed me that the princess is very giving and actually likes the boy even though she is a princess and he is poor. This passages significance to the book is that is brought out the fact that if Johnny approves to finding her brother, the money will solve all of his family’s problems and they would end up marrying eachother!

            The setting of the book is in Florida and mostly takes place in South Beach and Key West. Also, for a few parts/chapters in the book, a fictional place called Zalkenbourg was mentioned. The social conditions are that magic is real even though no one believes in it and the weather conditions is hot and sunny climate because of the book taking place in Florida. The tone is to be concerned or worried and the mood is mysterious and suspenseful. I have not yet discovered the theme, moral, or surprisingly any figurative language! Although, I did find that the point of view is written in first person, in Johnny’s perspective. Also, I think the pattern of organization was chronological order because all the events took place in order of time. The author’s purpose was to entertain and the author’s perspective was subjective and biased on fairy tales (states on about the author page).

            The plot structure in this book was very interesting even though I have only encountered the exposition because it was about seventy pages. The exposition at the beginning of the book started off with Johnny working at the shoe shop. He later bumps into princess Victoriana at a hotel and plans on meeting her again. Victoriana plays a drunken act and broke her shoe strap so that she would be obligated to go and fix it at the shop, where Johnny works. She did this on purpose so that there would be an excuse for them to meet again so she can ask him to save her brother that has been turned into a frog by a witch. The conflict of the book so far is man vs. man because Johnny is against the witch who turned Victoriana’s brother (Philip) into a frog.

            There were many strategies I used before, during, and after reading this book. Before reading, I skim and scanned, looking and thinking about the title, and illustrations on the front covers of the book. I noticed a Hawaiian-like flower. Also, I made predictions on what the book might be about. I predicted the book would be about something involving hiding or disguised people or thing because of the meaning of the word cloaked. While reading, I wrote all the important facts on a sticky note so that I can track down all the literary elements when its time to write my readers journal. Also, I raised questions and evaluated my predictions. After reading I thought about all the story’s literary elements. Also, I critiqued the book to write my readers journal.

            All in all, this book is great so far! I’m really looking forward to finishing it and telling you all about the end of the book on my next readers journal! I rate this book a 7-10 because it kept me interested and turning the page! Also, I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in fairy tales!

Love,

Joelle Ben-Nissan

            

            

Reader's Journal-     Fiction

#4                                                    Reader’s Journal                                                9/19/11

Dear Mrs. Zrihen,

            For this past few weeks, I’ve been reading the book ROOM by Emma Donoghue. Since this book had a total of three hundred and thirty six pages, I have recently finished reading it! The author wrote this book as a genre of realistic fiction. Realistic fiction is a type of subgenre, which falls in the category of fiction. It is written as believable fiction that is set in the present, (within the last 50 years). With your permission, you allowed me to do a third readers journal on this book and to just talk about the resolution, a quote, strategies I used, and connections I’ve made. If it’s not obvious, you can search my previous readers journal (Reader’s journal #3) for all the other literary elements on this book.

I used various strategies before, during, and after reading this book. Before reading I predicted what the resolution would end up being. Also, I set a goal and the goal was to finish reading the entire book that day. While reading, I made connections and asked myself “how does this book relate to me?” “What book does this book remind me of?” and “how can I relate this book to the world I live in?” Also, I kept up with my sticky notes just in case I noticed something has changed since my last reader’s journal. After reading, I discussed the resolution with my self in order to write this readers journal. Also, I evaluated the prediction I made when I started reading to see if it was accurate.

            The resolution of the book did not end the way I predicted it would! As I started getting closer and closer to the end of the book I was extremely surprised! They escaped! Also, the book introduced new characters, all being protagonists. The new characters that were introduced after Jack and Ma escaped were Grandma, officers, and doctors. They were all considered as foil characters except for officer Oh and grandma, who were dynamic. Basically the book ended off with Jack wishing to go back to room! He didn’t want anything else besides it, in contrast to Ma, which would never want to return. At the beginning of the book, I predicted that Jack would be amazed on seeing the outside world for his very first time and would never want to leave it! Clearly my prediction is incorrect. In my opinion, even though my prediction was inaccurate, I really don’t see another way the book could have ended!

 As the book came to an end, the author tried making Jack and Ma seem more like they know and are more familiar on the subjects of the outside world. The day that Jack and Ma escaped room, Jack had an attitude of being extremely confused! He grew up his whole life knowing nothing about the outside world so I believe why he reacted that way with no doubt.

            There were many quotes that gave me great interest while reading this book. The quote I loved was located nearly at the end of the book.

“ Don’t you like outside?” “Yeah. Not everything.” “Well, no, but mostly? You like it more in Room?” “Mostly.” I eat all the rest of my granola and the bit of Ma’s that she left in her bowl. “Can we go back sometime?” “Not to live.” I shake my head. “Just to visit for one minute.” Ma leans her mouth oh her hand. “I don’t think I can” “Yeah, you can.” I wait. “ Is it dangerous?” “No, but just the idea of it, it makes me feel like…”

In this quote, Jack and Ma are having a discussion, where they took turns talking to each other. I chose this quote because it showed me that even at the end of the book, after seeing all the wonders and the world outside of Room, Jack still wanted to go back! This quote was significant to the book because it really showed how much Jack loved Room and would never let it go.

            I made many connections while reading and after reading this book. A text-to-world connection I made was that the world has many dangers and dangerous people that can end up not only changing your life but also others. However, I wasn’t able to make a text-to-text connection. This is because I have never read a book that is anything similar to this one; it is very unique, unlike others. Also, my text-to-self connection is that I have a similar personality to Ma because she did the right thing to care and teach her child every thing while being smart and brave even after going through an extreme tragedy like this one.

            All in all, this book ended up being really good and worth reading! Thank you for recommending it to me; without your recommendation, I probably would have never picked this book to read because of the boring looks it has in its front covers… this taught me to never judge a book by its cover! I rate it an 8-10 because it always kept me interested and allowed me to turn page by page endlessly!

Love,

            Joelle Ben-Nissan

Reader's Journal-     Fiction

#3                                                     Reader’s Journal                                             9/12/11

Dear Mrs. Zrihen,

            For this past two weeks, I’ve read the book ROOM by Emma Donoghue. Since this book had a total of three hundred and thirty six pages, I currently have a very little amount left to read since I already completed a reader’s journal on this book. The author wrote this book as a genre of realistic fiction. Realistic fiction is a type of subgenre, which falls in the category of fiction. It is written as believable fiction that is set in the present, (within the last 50 years).

I used various strategies before, during, and after reading this book. Before reading I asked myself questions about what happened in my previous reading. I also tried predicting what was going to happen and what events would take place at the end of the book, based on the beginning. During reading, I finished writing down all the literary elements I found towards the end of the book, to write my reader’s journal and better understand this book. Also, I visualized events by making mental pictures of what I was reading so that I would feel as if I were character in the book, with the help of the author’s vivid descriptions and Jacks clever use in words. After reading, I compare and contrasted the events from my first reader’s journal to what I read. Also, I critiqued and analyzed the book so that I can make a reflection and finally write my readers journal.

            There were many quotes in the book that has touched my heart. The quotes were found on the kindle (don’t know the page number). I found this passage online, made up of a bunch of different things Jack said, all bunched up into a summary-like passage. They are many different things Jack said. “ Today I’m five I was four last night going to sleep but when I woke up in bed in the dark, I changed to five! Abracadabra! Ma used to be sad and all alone and cried until she didn’t have any tears left. And now there are two of us together in Room! Old Nick lives outside and he brings groceries and clothes and disappears the trash. I see him some nights. Not all of him close up. I’m not sure if he’s real for real. Sometimes i'm still awake and I can hear him, and my chest goes dungdungdunb. He’s the only thing that makes Ma scared. She says Old Nick thinks we belong to him because room does. But ma and I belong to eachother. Everything in Room is ours. Now that i'm five, Ma says room is too small for me. She says there are things outside the walls. Like grass and ice cream and other people that are real. Those are only on TV. Room has everything. Outside isn’t real. Room is real! Room is all there is.”

 I chose this quote that I found online because even though it is not directly in the same order as said in the book, it made everything clear on what the book was all about. It made me feel scared and mysterious, being my mood towards the book. I was surprised on how brain washed Jack was towards nothing being real. The significance it has towards the book is that it summarizes what is most important about this book, without spoiling it! Also, by reading this passage, you can clearly notice it was written by a child.

            Now that I’ve read more of the book, I would like to make a correction to my past readers journal. Old Nick is very much an antagonist. Clearly, as said in the passage, Old Nick is the only thing that makes Ma scared. He also he holds them in captivity, in Room. Also, as I stated in my last reader’s journal, the other characters (Jack and Ma) are both protagonists and round. They are described very clearly, especially because it was written in Jacks perspective. While reading, I learned that Ma was kidnapped when she was nineteen and held in captivity for seven years, where she got pregnant with her son, Jack. This was why they were both kept in an 11’ by 11’ room for such a long period of time.  The tone was sad and mysterious. The setting of the book takes place in Room; Jack has grown up in the same room his whole life. The social conditions are that Jack and his Ma live in the same room together that is owned by Old Nick. The weather conditions were whatever temperatures were set inside the room.

            The plot structure throughout the book was extremely interesting! The exposition started off at a quite slow pace. The author mainly just showed how Jack and Ma were very close with each other, living in an extremely small room, where Jack believes is really the only thing in life. During the rising action, the book started getting better and better! It showed what they did in their everyday life, being trapped in a room. The climax ended up with the real truth about Old Nick! It showed how he owns the Room and that he forces them to stay inside of it, in captivity. The falling action was the moments where things were getting much better… Ma stated that Jack was getting too old to keep living in that room. She started to teach him about the outside. I haven't finished the book so i really don't know the resolution yet. I predict that Ma will plan an escape to leave the Room. But I really can’t imagine how Jack will leave and the way he’ll react. Room is everything to him. I will defiantly finish the book quickly so that i can include it in my next readers journal!

 The conflict is external, Man vs. man. Jack and mostly Ma are against Old Nick. The point of view was 1^st person because it was written by a child’s perspective; using words like I, me, we, etc. The pattern of organization was chronological order because all the events happened in order in which they occurred from first to last. The author’s purpose was to entertain the reader with a fictional story. Finally, the author is unbiased and objective because it does not include her story or opinions about the subject. One response starter I chose to answer was: I wished that the author didn’t start the book off at a slow start because after that, the book is really good and worth reading! The theme was to never stop believing and worrying about everything. Finally, the motif was the power of family. This is because Jack and his Ma were extremely close and that really allowed them to work together to accomplish what they wanted to.

Although I found everything, I really didn’t come across a lot other figurative language! I figured that because it was written from the point of view of a five year old, the author didn’t include many! The only figurative language i found was when Jack says "my heart dungdungdunb when he came in the room. This statement was an onomatopoeia. Obviously, the other figurative language lines were announced in my previous readers journal.

All in all, I rate this book an 8.5-10 because it was really a page turner! It is really a book worth reading! I really recommend it to everyone because I feel that they would really be interested in this subject! If you decide to read it, I learned that even though the beginning has a slow start, you really have to continue reading because the book gets a lot better! Hope you will give this book a chance!

Love,

Joelle Ben-Nissan 802

Reader's Journal-     Fiction

#2                                                         Reader’s Journal                                           9/6/11

Dear Mrs. Zrihen,

            This week I decided to read the book ROOM by Emma Donoghue. The author wrote this book as a choice of realistic fiction. Realistic fiction is a type of subgenre, which falls in the category of fiction. It is written as believable fiction that is set in the present, (within the last 50 years). Since this book has a total of three hundred and thirty six pages, I am just getting started! I defiantly will continue to read in order to complete my next reader’s journal, including all literary elements.

There were many before, during, and after reading strategies that I have encountered today while reading this book. Before reading I skim and scanned the book for text features. As I did this, I came across the title, and noticed the font writing looks like it was written in a child-like way. Another thing I noticed was that the table of contents included no page numbers, and instead, zeros. The chapter’s titles left me with a mysterious mood as I read them each; DYING, AFTER, LIVING some were called. Also, I made predictions on what the book might be about and predicted that the bookis written from the point of view of a child. During reading, I wrote down some literary elements I found, in order to write my readers journal. Also, I tried to read with a fast pace because I realized that the book starts off at a very slow pace. After reading, I summarized everything I learned about the book so that I can contain all the important events that happened throughout the book. Also, I predicted what might happen next in my next day of reading.

A quote that really sparked my interest was actually the synopsis! The synopsis is located on the back cover of the book. It was the first thing I’ve read, and yet the best to the book, so far. “To five-year-old Jack, Room is the entire world. It is where he was born and grew up; it's where he lives with his Ma as they learn and read and eat and sleep and play. At night, his Ma shuts him safely in the wardrobe, where he is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits. 

Room is home to Jack, but to Ma, it is the prison where Old Nick has held her captive for seven years. Through determination, ingenuity, and fierce motherly love, Ma has created a life for Jack. But she knows it's not enough...not for her or for him. She devises a bold escape plan, one that relies on her young son's bravery and a lot of luck. What she does not realize is just how unprepared she is for the plan to actually work. 

Told entirely in the language of the energetic, pragmatic five-year-old Jack, Room is a celebration of resilience and the limitless bond between parent and child, a brilliantly executed novel about what it means to journey from one world to another.” I chose this quote because it is what first hooked me to start reading this book. It has much significance to the book because I think it really gave and explained what the whole book is about to me. Also, it explains how important and valuable the room is to Jack in just a brief, small paragraph.

So far, the characters I have encountered throughout the text were Ma, Jack, and Nick. They were all clearly described as protagonists and round characters. This is because they are all fully made up and I can tell a lot about them by just reading the text. The setting of the book takes place in the room. Jack has grown up in the same room his whole life. The social conditions are that his Ma and Old Nick bring him food and occasionally treats once a week. There are no weather conditions that I was able to identify. Also, I have not yet reached a level to configure many literary elements, such as the plot structure, conflict, theme, author’s perspective, moral, and the pattern of organization, but I really hope to identify them in my next reader’s journal.

Although I am a few chapters in the book, I was able to see that during the exposition, the reader sees the world through the eyes of a five year old and his mother, where they are better introduced. Also, the tone and mood is scary, mysterious, and sad. The point of view is written from Jacks point of view; In first person, using the words I, me, we and my. The author’s purpose is to entertain the reader with a fiction story.

Even though I have only read a small portion of the book, I was able to identify a few signs of figurative language. “The room is a celebration of resistance” this quote is a metaphor because it compares two complete different things. Also, “ I can skateboard on rocker without holding I her.” This quote is personification because it gives the rocker skateboard human features and is called a “her”.

 So far I rate this book a 5-10. This is because the book starts off really slowly and takes a long time to read. Also, I have not yet “got into the zone” because the text has been written in a confusing and flat way. In contrast to all the cons, I still think it has a good story line and I really think I should give it a chance!

Love always,

Joelle Ben-Nissan 802