Reader's Journal-Fiction

#16                                                     Reader’s Journal                                           12/13/11

Dear Mrs. Zrihen,

            I have just read the book Chosen (The Chosen #1) by Denise Grover Swank. The genre of this book is Fantasy. Fantasy is highly imaginative fiction that uses strange or unusual characters, setting, and plot; it also will never happen in real life.

            There were many strategies I used before, during, and after reading this book. Before reading, I read my readers journal to remember what was happening in the book where I last left off. Also, I wrote down questions I was looking forward in finding later on in the book; like who the “Bad Men” were and why they wanted to threaten Emma and Jake. While reading, I discussed the book with friends that I knew read or are reading this book so that we would be able to learn things from each other and analyze what have changed since the beginning of the book to the very end. Also, I added more literary elements on a sticky note, which I have not read about before. I did this so that it would be proven that I am giving the reader correctly updated information about the book on my reader journal. After reading, I gave the book a final rating based on my likings and disliking. Also, I thought about the book as a whole and reflected on it by writing my readers journal.

A quote from the book that sparked my interest was located on the kindle (don’t know page number.)

“His head turned and he studied her in the mirror. “You don’t like him?” he asked. “No’ doesn’t even begin to cover it.” He stared with unblinking eyes. “You don’t need to like him. You just need to let him help us.” Emma’s anger erupted anew. She spun around and thrust her head between the front seats. “Why do we need him? We’ve done just fine on our own. We’ve never needed anyone before.” “Things have changed.” His face implied wisdom older than his years.”

I chose this quote because it really amazed me to see how a five-year-old boy told his mother how to make decisions and big choices they needed to follow in order to save their own lives. Also, it made me realize how much impact Will had towards Jake. By this quote, you can identify that Jake had a really good feeling about Will and I really wanted to find out why. This quote has significance to the book because it shows Emma’s characterization in the beginning, towards Will. It also shows a social condition Between Emma and Jake.

            There really weren’t so many characters introduced in the book. The main protagonists are Emma Thompson, Jake Thompson, and Will Davenport. They are all round, protagonists because they are described in detail throughout the book. Even though “The Bad Men” seem to act as antagonists because they are going against the protagonists, the book doesn’t mention their characterization so they are really considered to be flat and static characters. There were also no foil characters.  Emma has been trying to protect her five-year-old son, Jake from “The Bad Men”, who have been chasing them for an unknown reason. This incident has been happening for three years, but thanks to Jakes “special power” to tell the future, they have been safe. Will volunteered to protect Emma and Jake so that they would be able to defeat and run away from “The Bad Men”. Emma’s Characterization changed towards Will because of her five year old son, who reassures that Will can help them. At the beginning, Emma does not trust Will and doesn’t want him to help them but then she learns to accept him because of Jakes “vision”.

            The setting of this story varies but it mostly takes place in a cheap, roach-infested hotel in South Dakota, and then they drive to an unclear destination, mentioned as Austin, Texas. The weather conditions were the usual, hot and humid climate in South Dakota. Also, the time mentioned was in the months of present-day July. The social conditions are that Emma and Jake are extremely unfortunate, and they are always running away from “The Bad Men” when they chase them. Also, Jake, Emma’s son can see things before they actually happen and he believes Will can help his mom, and himself survive through the antagonists.

The author’s purpose is to entertain the reader with a highly imaginative, fictional story and the author’s perspective is objective because he does not include any of his opinions or feelings in the text. The point of view of the book is third person limited because the author is a narrator that only mentions one characters internal feelings, being what he thinks, feels, says, etc. Even though I practically finished reading the book, there is no theme, motif, or moral. The pattern of organization is climatic order because the author states what exactly happens from the beginning to the end of the book in order of events.

The tone of this book is to feel serious because the plot focuses on a very “straight face” scene. The mood I felt was to be disgusted in the beginning when the author vividly described the roach-infested hotel they lived in and the conditions they were in. also, my mood changed to curious throughout the rest of the book because I really didn’t understand what was happening at first and I wanted to know what situation the characters were facing.

            The plot structure was really straight up, to the point. In the exposition, not only did the author introduce all the characters, and settings, but she also drops the reader into a scene where Jake and Emma get ready to run away, from “The Bad Men” as usual. It didn’t take long for the book to begin the rising action. While reading the rising action, Emma, Jake, and Will go on an extreme drive to disappear in sight of “The Bad Men” that were chasing them. In this driving scene, I felt as if I really were in the middle of their situation even though I couldn’t really tell the real reason why they were being chased by “The Bad Men.” In my opinion, the climax, and falling action didn’t differ from each other in any way. It was hard to understand what part of the plot structure I was reading because almost every part of the book seemed like it was the climax. The same routine that went over and over was for Jake to announce that the Bad Men were coming and then for them to run away. Even though I only had two-three chapters left in the book, the resolution was not identified. The conflict of the book is man vs. supernatural, external because I came towards finding out that the “Bad Men”, the men who threatened them, where really some supernatural/ mystical characters.

The book didn’t contain so many figurative language sentences, but I was able to search a few.

·      “She felt vulnerable and trapped, like a noose tightened slowly around her neck” this is an example of a simile because it is comparing the way she felt trapped, while using the word like.

·      “We are not waiting outside like targets” is also a simile because Emma is comparing herself to a target, using the word like.

·      “He scrutinized her with his ice blue eyes.” Is a metaphor because the author uses ice to compare and describe Jakes eyes.

·      “The only response was the country music drifting from the propped-open back door of the bar and cicadas singing in the trees. This is an example of personification because the author gives the animal human features.

·      “Her fingernails dug into her palms” is another example of personification because her fingernails are doing human features.

All in all, this book was great! I recommend this book to teens, in particular because the scenes require a serious and focused attitude. Also, some vocabulary and the plot structure might be challenging and hard to understand for younger readers.  I rate the book an eight out of ten because I was hooked to the book since the first few sentences I’ve read and even though I don’t really like reading fantasy books, this book impressed me with interest. Clearly, the book was great and I really think anyone should give it a chance!

Love,

 Joelle Ben-Nissan