Reader's Journal-Fiction

#19                                                     Reader’s Journal                                           1/10/12

Dear Mrs. Zrihen,

            I am currently reading the book Time Cursor by John David Krygelski. The genre of this book is science fiction. Science fiction is fiction that deals with science or technology and can potentially take place in the future. Even though I’m not such a fan of science fiction, I still gave this book a chance and its actually turning out great!

            There were many strategies I used before, during, and after reading this book. Before reading, I read reviews that other readers wrote to decided if the book was worth reading; because it was mostly rated as five out of five stars, I decided to give it a chance.  Also, I made predictions on what I thought the book was going to be about. From the cover and title, I was able to predict the book was going to be about traveling to the future. While reading I kept track of all literary elements I identified on a sticky note, so that it would be easier to keep track and write my readers journal at the end. Also, I created mental images in my head during some events so that I would be able to visualize the future. After reading, I asked myself questions, so that I would target the answers next time I read. Also, I critiqued and discussed the book with myself so that I can reflect on the book and write my readers journal.

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

“Dwelling on the misery of his life, as it had played out for the past thirty years, was a constant for him that the thought of having the opportunity to be proactive… to actually be given the gift of a second chance… made him feel an emotion he had long ago lost, the ability to conjure… to hope.”

I chose this quote because even though it sounded like he would have to travel to his past instead of his future, I was really amazed to how willing this man was to have his second chance, even though traveling through the machine was going to be extremely risky! This quote has significance to the book because it is what starts it off and where John’s commitment of a decision was made. This decision is what makes up the plot structure and the entire book.

            So far, the main character and protagonist of this book is John Augur. Even though he is round and dynamic, I have not come to know him and his characterization so well. John travels through a time machine to stop his own wedding in the future but ends up doing what he was told not to do. Because the plot structure and exposition was not so introducing, the only other characters mentioned was Cal, and Kert (Johns best friends). Cal and Kert are foil characters that we don’t know much about, except that Cal has built the time machine.

The setting of this story varies and does not have a specific place where events happen but is mostly taken place at the wedding. The time frame is clearly set in the future. The social conditions are that John meets his future self after passing through a time machine and has to stop his own wedding. Unfortunately, the weather conditions weren’t mentioned at all in the entire plot structure yet.

The author’s purpose is to entertain the reader with a fictional story and the author’s perspective is objective (unbiased) because the author does not show her feelings and opinions in his writing. The point of view of the book is third person limited because the narrator is only limited to John’s thoughts and feelings. Since I haven’t finished reading the book, I don’t know the theme, motif, or moral yet. The pattern of organization time order because after each event, or day, it would mention the day and exact time of the event at the top of the page. The tone of this book is to feel a sense of suspense and the mood I felt was to be surprised and have a feeling of action.

            Even though I didn’t finish the book yet, the plot structure was good but so fast acting that it was confusing. The exposition wasn’t the usual. Instead, it started the book off immediately to the point where John enters through a time machine that takes him to the future. In the rising action, John meets his future self the night before his wedding. I don’t know any further parts of the plot structure but hope to read the rest of it in my next day of reading.  The conflict of the book is kind of Man. Vs. Self because he is the same person, just in the future.

There were many figurative language sentences located in this book.

·      “John nodded, listening to the admonition like a mantra.” this is an example of a simile because it compares john to a mantra, using like.

·      “At rest on its specifically designed platform stood the polished silver orb, its hatch swung into the open position, consciously waiting to receive its next passenger.” This sentence is a form of personification because it gives the time machine human features, like waiting.

·      “Trying hard to fight off the ever-present malaise that had become permanently embedded into his psyche, john tried to grin.” Is an example of a hyperbole.

·      “We’ve gone over it a thousand times” is another hyperbole because it is exaggerating.

·      “A small bit of tortilla chip flew across the room.” Is an example of another personification.

All in all, this book was great! I recommend this book to older adults, because the vocabulary and the plot structure were very complex and even had me looking up the definitions of many words.  Since I’m not done reading the book yet, I rate it a six out of ten because it impressed me with its wide imagination of the future and kept me hooked but was very hard to understand. Clearly, the book was good but confusing and I definitely think higher level readers would give it a chance!

Love,

 Joelle Ben-Nissan