RJ #24 The Boy Who Dared

                                                                                                                                                  2/13/12




Dear Mrs. Zrihen,

     I am in the middle of reading the book The Boy Who Dared by Susan Campbell Bartoletti. It is actually really interesting so far. It got me hooked. There was one passage in the book that really got me thinking. It was on page 38. ''Helmuth believes in prayer, believes in G-D, has always believed in G-D, even now doesn't believe that G-D abandoned him but has grown closer.'' The significance is that it shows how we as Jews never stop believing and having faith.
     I used 2 before reading strategies which were reading the synopsis and predicting what the front cover picture means in reference to the book. The 2 during reading strategies were reading slowly and reading lines over again to understand what's happening. My 2 after reading strategies were proving if my prediction was right or not which I don't know yet and skimming and scanning for parts I missed before.
     The genre of the book is Historical Fiction. The main characters are Helmuth, Hugo, Mutti, Gerhard, and Hans. They are all round and dynamic however some are described to a more extent than others. The setting is in Germany during World War 2. The exposition is when Helmuth learns about the Jews and does not understand why they are picked on. The inciting incident is when Helmuth is embarrassed in class when he is denied an answer to a question. That is how far I got. The conflict is World War 2 and Helmuth trying to stop it and understand it. It is man vs. man. It is external. The tone is serious and the mood is depressing. The theme is War. The moral in the story is War is very bad and if we don't do something it could destroy us all as a society.
     The author's point of view is 2nd person. The P.O.O is Cause and Effect and chronological order. The author's purpose is to inform us World War 2 and all the people who stood up for the Jews and what will happen to our society if we don't remember this tragic event. The author is biased towards Jewish beliefs. There was no figurative language mentioned in the story.
     Personally this book is one of the best that I am reading right now. I would recommend it to the whole class.
     I would rate this book a 4 out of 5 stars for it was really suspenseful.
         


                       Sincerely, Isaac Paley 702

RJ #23 Helen Keller

                                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                                                                  2/7/12                                                                                                                         2/7/12  


Dear Mrs. Zrihen,


     I am in the middle of reading the book Helen Keller by Helen Keller. So far it had me interested in the subject of being blind and deaf. There was one passage that interested me though. It was on page 29. ''Everyone in the family prepared surprises for me, but what pleased me most, Miss Sulivan and I prepared surprises for everybody else.'' The significance of that passage to the book is that it shows how Helen is not greedy and neither is her teacher.
     I used 6 reading strategies while reading this book. The 2 before were reading the synopsis and asking my mom who Helen Keller was because she probably knew. The 2 during reading strategies I used were reading slowly and reading the last line from the last time I read in order to get a feel of what is happening. The 2 after reading strategies were looking at the cover picture to now try to guess what is going on, and I read about the author on the first page.
     The genre of the book is autobiography. The topic of the book is Disabilities. The main idea is Helen Keller is born blind and deaf and is giving help by Miss Sulivan to learn basic skills. It is implied. Another title I would give this book is The biggest Adversity. Some supporting details in the story were Helen learning to read and write. Also, her ability to feel objects and tell what they are which she learned from Miss Sulivan. The essential message in the story is not to be greedy and to realize what you have and be thankful for it. A cause in the story is Helen being blind and deaf , while an effect is her receiving help from Miss Sulivan. A similarity in the story is Helen and Miss Sulivan not being greedy and a difference is Helen being blind and deaf. Some text features were an introduction and an about the friend and author page. They helped by letting the author know as much as possible about the author. The P.O.O. of the story is time order for it is an autobiography. The author's purpose is to inform us of the author's life. The author's perspective is biased towards helping others. The author's point of view is 1st person. There was no figurative language. The bibliography did not list sources rather other books written by Helen. There were no vocab words I didn't understand for as far as I got in the book.
     This book relates to me because I consider myself to not be greedy. This book relates to MLK's speech because he voted for equal rights for everyone including the blind and deaf. This book relates to the world by last year over 1,000 cases were reported of blind and deaf people.
     I really enjoyed this book and I would literally commit suicide if I was blind and deaf.
     I would rate this book a 3 out of 5 for it was good, but it could've hooked me a lot more.


           Sincerley, Isaac Paley 702