Hey y'all!
For your first blog post "Absolutely Normal Chaos" club needs to have read up to page 40. Choose any of the 5 writing elements to analyze for your post.
Although you may blog on any of the 5 elements, it is an advantage to speak with your group so that everyone is not commenting on the same thing. This will assist in your group meetings and allow a higher quality and variation of discussion.
Your posts should be approximatly 2 paragraphs but there is no maximum. Although you are required to respond to 1 post, you may exceed this limit as long as you wish to comment on peoples blogs.
Each blog is worth 7 marks and each response is worth 3 marks for a total 50 marks for all 5 sections combined. Blogs will be either accepted for full marks or rejected for 0 out of 7 or 0 out of 3 for that respective assesment component.
This unit concludes with a book review which is described on the main ELA Grade 7 blog and will be worth 100 marks.
To post your first blog simply press 'comment' below this post.
For your first blog post "Absolutely Normal Chaos" club needs to have read up to page 40. Choose any of the 5 writing elements to analyze for your post.
Although you may blog on any of the 5 elements, it is an advantage to speak with your group so that everyone is not commenting on the same thing. This will assist in your group meetings and allow a higher quality and variation of discussion.
Your posts should be approximatly 2 paragraphs but there is no maximum. Although you are required to respond to 1 post, you may exceed this limit as long as you wish to comment on peoples blogs.
Each blog is worth 7 marks and each response is worth 3 marks for a total 50 marks for all 5 sections combined. Blogs will be either accepted for full marks or rejected for 0 out of 7 or 0 out of 3 for that respective assesment component.
This unit concludes with a book review which is described on the main ELA Grade 7 blog and will be worth 100 marks.
To post your first blog simply press 'comment' below this post.
In this first reading section of 40 pages I felt that the setting and atmosphere of the whole book were laid out in front of me. It is summer vacation and the atmosphere, it seems should be laid back. However in these particular series of events the atmosphere is very uptight and taught. It is as if all the characters always have something to worry about, always something nagging them from the back of their minds. For instance Mary Lou, the main character is being constantly annoyed by their house guest, Carl Ray who is to quiet to be likable and has no manners. As a result of his ill manners, Sally( Mary Lou's mother) makes Mary Lou clean his room and make his bed. Aside from this annoyance, Mary Lou is also distracted by her feeling of jealousy (though she won't admit it) of her friend Beth Ann's date.
ReplyDeleteThe Finneys Live in a relatively normal sized house. However there are 7 people in their family plus one guest. This makes for a tight fit. There is a community pool that the characters attend fairly often. It is crowded and hot. This scene evokes a sense of stress that comes with hellish heat.
Overall, in this reading section, I think that the setting and atmosphere are well developed but not enough so to be unswayed in further chapters. The atmosphere seems almost squished and clostrophobic.
i agree with Talia that the Finneys house is a tight fit and every one gets annoyed with each other. For example Maggie ( Mary Lou's older sister) always goes into the bath room when she is on the phone because she doesn't want anyone to hear her conversation. Talia said that Mary Lou gets annoyed because she always has to clean up Carl Rays room. This must especially annoy Mary Lou because her mother told her when ever she is a guest at someone's house she has to make her own bed as soon as she wakes up.
ReplyDeleteIn this reading section we are introduced to many characters. The main character in the book is Mary Lou Finney. I think the author tried to make Mary Lou a normal kid who has secret crushes on boys annoying brothers and sisters, chores that they don't want to do and parties that they are not invited to. All these things happen to most kids.
ReplyDeleteMary Lou is a three dimensional character she has lots of feelings. For example she got jealous of her best friend beth an because she had a date. Mary Lou got upset with her mother because her mother made her clean up there cousin Carl Rays room. The author wants us to understand her as much as we can.
Carl Ray isn't a three dimensional character because the author doesn't tell us much about him. He hardly ever talks. Really we don't hardly anything about him and he doesn't seem like a real person to me at all as much as Mary Lou does.
I don't think character development has happened yet because a lot of things haven't happened yet. I think by the end of the book Mary Lou will be a much different person then she is know.
From just staring this book i think we know some characters better than other. I think we get to know Mary Lou much better as the book goes on.
I think that tou were right, lexie. Carl Ray is a flat character he dosen't have any known feelings. Whenever he talks it is just mumbling and saying one word answers to all questions. I think though as the book matures and the story becomes more complex, I think that Mary Lou might discover some more interesting facts about Carl Ray's Personel life.
ReplyDeleteI also think that Beth Annes character seems very misterius and has lots of mood swings. Good book rteview lexie!!
I agree with lexie about May lou being a three dementional character. She has a different way of looking at different thing. When her friend tells her that she has a date you can tell from the way she desribes it,she is very jelous. Also when she is with her family or going to the beach, she is usally very kind and understanding and getting where there emotions come from.
ReplyDeleteI also can see Carl Ray character being only one demention. I wonder if later on in this book he becomes more of a two or three demention person.
Some major themes that are disccused in this book are just about living in a family where you are one of the middle childs and you just are trying to figure things out. Carl Ray is moving in and Mary Lou doesn't really know anything about him and wants to know more, but he isn't a big talker. Since its summer the vibe of this family is more relazed untill Carl Ray comes in to there lives, so once he comes they are more self consious. So Carl Ray is one of the biggest themes in the book i think so far.
ReplyDeleteI think when Carl Ray comes and doesn't really talk or say much about his life is when the biggest theme starts to come in. When Mary lou starts to question about him is when the theme of knowing things about her family comes in. Another theme is how she has an atraction to Alex so that will probally go somewhere.
This theme is more then less tradtional because the main character has a crush and then a big suprise,(not always good), happens and will probally change there family in a big way or make there family relise somthing.
I think the theme is more entertaining but yet has a point. The point is that expected the unexpected.
How do you know that there is going to be a big suprise??? Can you read the future or did you just read ahead?
ReplyDeleteI also think that Alex is a big theme and I definatly think that it is going somewhere. After all he made the first move. First, at the pool, Then, at the pary (Even though Mary-Lou wasn't there). If they both like each other( which they do)I think they will definatly become an item. However there may be some speed bumps along the way. I wonder if Alex's lips taste like chicken LOL.
Nice Review alexis!!!
I agree with Talia when she said that Carl rae was a flat character. I'm not quite sure what hes going to do with his life. He doesnt talk clearly enough that the family wants to talk to him, and he doesnt want to make conversation with them either. I think Mary Lou doesnt want anything to do with him and is quite upset that he chose her house to live in. She for sure doesnt want to be his house keeper (make his bed). I think something is going to happen at his job. And i definatly think Mary Lou and Alex have something going on (if you know what I mean)!
ReplyDeleteI think the authour is handeling the suspenece and whatnot quite well actually, she know when its time to make it interesting and fun to read and she makes it all at one point. Right now, Mary Lou and her family just found out that Carl Rae got a job. That was the suspence in that area. They finally got him to talk, yay!
There are two plots here, the main plot is that Carl Rae is there and she has to balance her life with herself and Carl Rae. The sub plot is that she might have a crush on Alex, so she has to find a way to balance her time with Carl Rae, her family, her friends, and Alex.
I think the most suspenceful part of the book so far was when she was at the table with her family getting Carl Rae to talk, she was obviously very agravated and I wanted to know what was going to happen. Did he get a job? Where? When?
The author shows us that Mary Lou is a caring person because when Bath Ann was so excited to be going on her date, Mary Lou pretended she actually cared. She sat there, listened to the phone while her friend pick out her date outfit. I will write more later, time for class!
I don't think it was suspenceful when Mary Lou and her family were at the table with carl ray. It sure didn't have me bitting my fingernails. It was tense for them but that tenseness doden't necaserily carry through to the reader. Also, is a caring person really someone who pretends to care???
ReplyDeleteOther than that, good review Sami!!!
I mean: I agree with Talia for agreeing with Lexie, so I agree with both...
ReplyDeleteAnd this quetion is mainly for AlexisFern but any of you can answer...: What do you think with be the big suprise? Will alex ask out Mary Lou? Will she ask him? Will a different girl ask him? Will a different guy ask HER?
ReplyDeleteThanks for that well thought out comment Talia. I dont agree with you when you said that Caring doesnt mean that you pretend to care, It does sometimes because your making them feel good and not like no body is listening or cares about you. She made Beth Anne feel really important. But I see what you were trying to say. Nice work.
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