Ripely's Believe It Or Not 2011

Reader’s Journal # 21

Dear Mrs. Zrihen,                                                                                                       01/24/12

            I just finished reading the book Ripley’s Believe It Or Not of 2010 by scholastic.  I found some disgusting pictures, cool pictures, exaggerated things and weird information.  For example, I saw a guy that was named Walter Hudson.  He weighed over 1,400 pounds before he died in 1991.  In a day he would eat two packs of sausages, a pound of bacon, 12 eggs, and one loaf of bread, four hamburgers, four cheeseburgers, eight portions of French fries, three ham steaks, two chickens, four baked potatoes, four sweet potatoes, and four heads of broccoli.  I thought the picture of this was disgusting and the information was exaggerated.  This book is about rare things that you can’t believe. 

            The genre of this book is nonfiction and the subgenre of this book is informational.  I really don’t know a good topic for this so in my opinion I think a good topic for this article would be weird!!!  The main idea of this book is some awkward things happen to people, people do the retardiest things, and some people are born differently.  Three supporting details are a guy plunged 127 feet off the Salto Belo in Brazil head first.  Also a kid was born extraordinarily flexible because he can do a spilt on roller skates, and hold his feet.  He looks like a spider with four legs and the highest part of his body from the ground is his head which reaches up to 13 inches high!!!  That’s just gross and cool!!!  And last the one that is unbelievable… is… the biggest baby ever!  The baby was born in 1936 and weighed 92 POUNDS at SIX MONTHS!!!  That’s the same as an average-sized 11-year-old!!!  I think the essential message of this book is everyone is different and don’t judge people.  An example of cause and effect is people bumped into Sara Watson’s car because she spray-painted her car so it merges perfectly with the surroundings.  An example of compare and contrast is an old woman’s unicorn on page 46 and a Chinese man’s horn on page 67.  They are the same because they are both something extra they have on their heads and they both presented it to their king.  But they are different because the old woman’s horn is 12 inches long and the guy’s is smaller.  But the one thing they have in common the most is that they are both GROSS!!!  The guy’s is worst that I wanted to vomit because it was full of bacteria; it was green, yellow brown and other things!!!  Some text features I found were photographs, pictures, captions, headings, index, and table of contents.  The photographs and pictures gave me a clue of what the caption said looked like.  The captions explained the picture.  The heading was like the topic of that section.  The index told me where everything was and the table of contents told me what page each chapter started on and the title of the chapter.  The pattern of organization of this book is facts.  The author’s purpose for writing this book is to inform us bout weird things.  The author is subjective because he doesn’t show his opinions and the author is unbiased.  The author’s point of view of this book is third person objective because the narrator can only tell what is said and done and cannot see into the minds of any of the characters.  In this book I did not find any figurative language because this book just stated facts.  This book relates to me because my nail brakes easily for no reason.  This book relates to the book Ripley’s Believe It Or Not of 2010 because it has weird things and all that.  This book relates to the world because everything in the book is real. 

            I would rate this book a ten out of ten because I really enjoyed reading this book and it was different from any other book.

            Two strategies I used before reading were skim and scan and while I skimmed and scanned, I saw were photographs, pictures, captions, headings, index, cover page, title page, publication page, title, and the table of contents.  I also asked myself what weird stuff is going to be in this book.  Two strategies I used while reading were rereading funny parts and looking at the pictures/photographs.   Two strategies I used after reading were writing a readers journal on what I read to show that I understood what I was reading and told my friends about the picture/photograph and captions I couldn’t forget which made it easier for me to write my reader’s journal because I didn’t have to look back in the book so much.

Sincerely,

 Erika Alban

Ripely's Believe It Or Not 2011

Reader’s Journal # 21

Dear Mrs. Zrihen,                                                                                                       01/24/12

            I just finished reading the book Ripley’s Believe It Or Not of 2010 by scholastic.  I found some disgusting pictures, cool pictures, exaggerated things and weird information.  For example, I saw a guy that was named Walter Hudson.  He weighed over 1,400 pounds before he died in 1991.  In a day he would eat two packs of sausages, a pound of bacon, 12 eggs, and one loaf of bread, four hamburgers, four cheeseburgers, eight portions of French fries, three ham steaks, two chickens, four baked potatoes, four sweet potatoes, and four heads of broccoli.  I thought the picture of this was disgusting and the information was exaggerated.  This book is about rare things that you can’t believe. 

            The genre of this book is nonfiction and the subgenre of this book is informational.  I really don’t know a good topic for this so in my opinion I think a good topic for this article would be weird!!!  The main idea of this book is some awkward things happen to people, people do the retardiest things, and some people are born differently.  Three supporting details are a guy plunged 127 feet off the Salto Belo in Brazil head first.  Also a kid was born extraordinarily flexible because he can do a spilt on roller skates, and hold his feet.  He looks like a spider with four legs and the highest part of his body from the ground is his head which reaches up to 13 inches high!!!  That’s just gross and cool!!!  And last the one that is unbelievable… is… the biggest baby ever!  The baby was born in 1936 and weighed 92 POUNDS at SIX MONTHS!!!  That’s the same as an average-sized 11-year-old!!!  I think the essential message of this book is everyone is different and don’t judge people.  An example of cause and effect is people bumped into Sara Watson’s car because she spray-painted her car so it merges perfectly with the surroundings.  An example of compare and contrast is an old woman’s unicorn on page 46 and a Chinese man’s horn on page 67.  They are the same because they are both something extra they have on their heads and they both presented it to their king.  But they are different because the old woman’s horn is 12 inches long and the guy’s is smaller.  But the one thing they have in common the most is that they are both GROSS!!!  The guy’s is worst that I wanted to vomit because it was full of bacteria; it was green, yellow brown and other things!!!  Some text features I found were photographs, pictures, captions, headings, index, and table of contents.  The photographs and pictures gave me a clue of what the caption said looked like.  The captions explained the picture.  The heading was like the topic of that section.  The index told me where everything was and the table of contents told me what page each chapter started on and the title of the chapter.  The pattern of organization of this book is facts.  The author’s purpose for writing this book is to inform us bout weird things.  The author is subjective because he doesn’t show his opinions and the author is unbiased.  The author’s point of view of this book is third person objective because the narrator can only tell what is said and done and cannot see into the minds of any of the characters.  In this book I did not find any figurative language because this book just stated facts.  This book relates to me because my nail brakes easily for no reason.  This book relates to the book Ripley’s Believe It Or Not of 2010 because it has weird things and all that.  This book relates to the world because everything in the book is real. 

            I would rate this book a ten out of ten because I really enjoyed reading this book and it was different from any other book.

            Two strategies I used before reading were skim and scan and while I skimmed and scanned, I saw were photographs, pictures, captions, headings, index, cover page, title page, publication page, title, and the table of contents.  I also asked myself what weird stuff is going to be in this book.  Two strategies I used while reading were rereading funny parts and looking at the pictures/photographs.   Two strategies I used after reading were writing a readers journal on what I read to show that I understood what I was reading and told my friends about the picture/photograph and captions I couldn’t forget which made it easier for me to write my reader’s journal because I didn’t have to look back in the book so much.

Sincerely,

 Erika Alban

The Seer of Shadows

Reader’s Journal # 20

Dear Mrs. Zrihen,                                                                                                        01/17/12

            I just finished reading the book The Seer of Shadows by Avi.  The story of this book was really good but the author had a lot of grammar errors.  For example, “Do you think her rich.”  Since the book had a lot of grammar errors, I would rate this book an 8 out of 10.

            The strategies I used before reading were skim and scan.  For example, by reading the title and looking at the cover I already knew my mood.  The summary told me what the book was about.  And the hook made me want to read this book.  I also found more things but didn’t really help me, like, the title page, publication page, and dedication page.  The second strategy I used before reading was predict what this book was about based on the cover.  Prediction: I think this book will take place in a cemetery because I see tombs.  Two strategies I used while reading were reread parts I didn’t understand.  For example, the last eight lines on page seven.  I also visualized as I read.  Visualizing made the book seem like a movie and helped me better understand.  Strategies I used after reading was summarizing what the book were about which made writing my reader’s journal easier.  Another strategy I used was writing a reader’s journal to show people I understand what I am reading and tells people things about the book.

            The genre of this book is historical fiction because it’s based on a real story that happened a long time ago, during the Civil War.  This book takes place in New York City, New York.  The weaher condition is foggy and the social condition is rich and poor.  The pattern of organization is cause and effect because everything happened because of something.  If the wealthy woman would have never went to Mr. Middleditch, then he wouldn’t have taken the picture,  Elenora’s ghost wouldn’t come and haunt us, and more things wouldn’t have happened.  The author’s point of view is first person because in the book there are words like I, me and etc.  The author’s purpose for writing this book is to entertain the reader with a story that really happened.  The tone of this book is suspenseful and the mood is scary. 

            The characters of this book are Mr. Middleditch (photographer, and he was a teacher), Mrs. Frederick Von Macht, Horace Carpetine (main character), Mr. Greeley, Madame D’ Arco, Harriet (Horace’s sister), Mr. Toby McClain (Harriet’s husband), John (Horace’s brother), Mrs. Von Match (wealthy woman), Elenora (Mrs. Von Match’s daughter), Pegg (Mrs. Von Match’s servent), Astors and Mr. Vanderbilt.

            The quote that stood out to me the most was “who should you believe?  The elegant, wealthy Mrs. Von Macht or an ignorant black girl?”  This quote told me that Mr. Middleditch judges people by their appearance which is not good.  The significance of this quote is that he is a vain person.

The plot structure of this book is that a wealthy woman finds Mr. Middleditch and wants him to take a picture of her and put it near her tomb.  Mrs. Von Macht lied to Mr. Middleditch because she didn’t say that she abused Elenora or that when she had a fever she wouldn’t take her to the doctor or anything.  One day Horace takes a picture and a ghost appears.  Then she realizes its Elenora and Elenora wants to punish those who abused her.  And then at the end of Horace’s “Diary” it says that she wishes she never sees a seer of shadow again. 

Sincerely,

Erika Alban

The Seer of Shadows

Reader’s Journal # 20

Dear Mrs. Zrihen,                                                                                                        01/17/12

            I just finished reading the book The Seer of Shadows by Avi.  The story of this book was really good but the author had a lot of grammar errors.  For example, “Do you think her rich.”  Since the book had a lot of grammar errors, I would rate this book an 8 out of 10.

            The strategies I used before reading were skim and scan.  For example, by reading the title and looking at the cover I already knew my mood.  The summary told me what the book was about.  And the hook made me want to read this book.  I also found more things but didn’t really help me, like, the title page, publication page, and dedication page.  The second strategy I used before reading was predict what this book was about based on the cover.  Prediction: I think this book will take place in a cemetery because I see tombs.  Two strategies I used while reading were reread parts I didn’t understand.  For example, the last eight lines on page seven.  I also visualized as I read.  Visualizing made the book seem like a movie and helped me better understand.  Strategies I used after reading was summarizing what the book were about which made writing my reader’s journal easier.  Another strategy I used was writing a reader’s journal to show people I understand what I am reading and tells people things about the book.

            The genre of this book is historical fiction because it’s based on a real story that happened a long time ago, during the Civil War.  This book takes place in New York City, New York.  The weaher condition is foggy and the social condition is rich and poor.  The pattern of organization is cause and effect because everything happened because of something.  If the wealthy woman would have never went to Mr. Middleditch, then he wouldn’t have taken the picture,  Elenora’s ghost wouldn’t come and haunt us, and more things wouldn’t have happened.  The author’s point of view is first person because in the book there are words like I, me and etc.  The author’s purpose for writing this book is to entertain the reader with a story that really happened.  The tone of this book is suspenseful and the mood is scary. 

            The characters of this book are Mr. Middleditch (photographer, and he was a teacher), Mrs. Frederick Von Macht, Horace Carpetine (main character), Mr. Greeley, Madame D’ Arco, Harriet (Horace’s sister), Mr. Toby McClain (Harriet’s husband), John (Horace’s brother), Mrs. Von Match (wealthy woman), Elenora (Mrs. Von Match’s daughter), Pegg (Mrs. Von Match’s servent), Astors and Mr. Vanderbilt.

            The quote that stood out to me the most was “who should you believe?  The elegant, wealthy Mrs. Von Macht or an ignorant black girl?”  This quote told me that Mr. Middleditch judges people by their appearance which is not good.  The significance of this quote is that he is a vain person.

The plot structure of this book is that a wealthy woman finds Mr. Middleditch and wants him to take a picture of her and put it near her tomb.  Mrs. Von Macht lied to Mr. Middleditch because she didn’t say that she abused Elenora or that when she had a fever she wouldn’t take her to the doctor or anything.  One day Horace takes a picture and a ghost appears.  Then she realizes its Elenora and Elenora wants to punish those who abused her.  And then at the end of Horace’s “Diary” it says that she wishes she never sees a seer of shadow again. 

Sincerely,

Erika Alban

The Seer of Shadows

Reader’s Journal # 20

Dear Mrs. Zrihen,                                                                                                        01/17/12

            I just finished reading the book The Seer of Shadows by Avi.  The story of this book was really good but the author had a lot of grammar errors.  For example, “Do you think her rich.”  Since the book had a lot of grammar errors, I would rate this book an 8 out of 10.

            The strategies I used before reading were skim and scan.  For example, by reading the title and looking at the cover I already knew my mood.  The summary told me what the book was about.  And the hook made me want to read this book.  I also found more things but didn’t really help me, like, the title page, publication page, and dedication page.  The second strategy I used before reading was predict what this book was about based on the cover.  Prediction: I think this book will take place in a cemetery because I see tombs.  Two strategies I used while reading were reread parts I didn’t understand.  For example, the last eight lines on page seven.  I also visualized as I read.  Visualizing made the book seem like a movie and helped me better understand.  Strategies I used after reading was summarizing what the book were about which made writing my reader’s journal easier.  Another strategy I used was writing a reader’s journal to show people I understand what I am reading and tells people things about the book.

            The genre of this book is historical fiction because it’s based on a real story that happened a long time ago, during the Civil War.  This book takes place in New York City, New York.  The weaher condition is foggy and the social condition is rich and poor.  The pattern of organization is cause and effect because everything happened because of something.  If the wealthy woman would have never went to Mr. Middleditch, then he wouldn’t have taken the picture,  Elenora’s ghost wouldn’t come and haunt us, and more things wouldn’t have happened.  The author’s point of view is first person because in the book there are words like I, me and etc.  The author’s purpose for writing this book is to entertain the reader with a story that really happened.  The tone of this book is suspenseful and the mood is scary. 

            The characters of this book are Mr. Middleditch (photographer, and he was a teacher), Mrs. Frederick Von Macht, Horace Carpetine (main character), Mr. Greeley, Madame D’ Arco, Harriet (Horace’s sister), Mr. Toby McClain (Harriet’s husband), John (Horace’s brother), Mrs. Von Match (wealthy woman), Elenora (Mrs. Von Match’s daughter), Pegg (Mrs. Von Match’s servent), Astors and Mr. Vanderbilt.

            The quote that stood out to me the most was “who should you believe?  The elegant, wealthy Mrs. Von Macht or an ignorant black girl?”  This quote told me that Mr. Middleditch judges people by their appearance which is not good.  The significance of this quote is that he is a vain person.

The plot structure of this book is that a wealthy woman finds Mr. Middleditch and wants him to take a picture of her and put it near her tomb.  Mrs. Von Macht lied to Mr. Middleditch because she didn’t say that she abused Elenora or that when she had a fever she wouldn’t take her to the doctor or anything.  One day Horace takes a picture and a ghost appears.  Then she realizes its Elenora and Elenora wants to punish those who abused her.  And then at the end of Horace’s “Diary” it says that she wishes she never sees a seer of shadow again. 

Sincerely,

Erika Alban

Deep and Dark and Dangerous

Reader’s Journal #18

Dear Mrs. Zrihen,

        I just finished reading Deep and Dark and Dangerous by Mary Downing Hahn.  This book was a cliffhanger because I couldn’t put this book down.  The strategies I used before reading were skim and scan.  For example, by reading the title and looking at the cover I already knew my mood.  The summary told me what the book was about.  And the hook made me want to read this book.  I also found more things but didn’t really help me, like, the title page, publication page, and dedication page.  The second strategy I used before reading was predict what this book was about based on the cover.  Prediction: I think this book would be about a ghost that died when she was alive because on the front cover there is a person that looks dead and at the bottom of the front cover it says a ghost story.  Two strategies I used while reading were reread parts I didn’t understand.  For example, the last eight lines on page seven.  I also visualized as I read.  Visualizing made the book seem like a movie and helped me better understand.  Strategies I used after reading was summarizing what the book were about which made writing my reader’s journal easier.  Another strategy I used was writing a reader’s journal to show people I understand what I am reading and tells people things about the book.

        The genre of this book is fantasy, fiction because it’s a ghost story.  The book takes place in Maine.  The weather condition is rainy.  I think the social conditions of this story are middle class.  The author’s point of view is first person because it has words such as I, my, etc.  The author’s purpose is to entertain.  The mood of this book is scary.  The tone is suspenseful.  Some figurative language I found is personifications, similes, metaphors, and hyperbole.  An example of personification is soon the mist swallowed her up, on page 40.  An example of simile is look at your hair-it’s almost as long as mine, on page 7.  An example of a metaphor is I’m just a bag of bones, on page 46.  And an example of a hyperbole is I’ve wanted to see it foe ages, on page 8.

        The quote I picked was said by Ali’s mom.  “The lake’s deep… and dark… and dangerous”  I picked this quote because this was Ali’s warning about the lake.  When Ali was at the lake for a while she realized her mom was right.  Ali decided to go to the lake because the thought her mom was overprotective.

        The characters in this book are Dulcie (Ali’s aunt), Clare Thornton (Ali’s mom), Ali (main character), Emma (Ali’s cousin), Staci (Ali’s best friend), Pete (Ali’s dad), Mr. Bear (Emma’s bear), Sissy (Emma’s “friend”), Erin (ice cream women), Jeanine (Erin’s mom), Chauncy (Ms. Trent’s dog), Ms. Trent (Dulcie’s friend), Teresa (girl that drowned), linda (Teresa’s older sister), Caroline Hogan (Ali’s classmate in third grade), and Edith (Sissy doll’s name).  the protagonist is Ali, the antagonist is Sissy, and I think Emma would be an antagonist and foil.  And the rest of the characters are foil.

        I would rate this book a 10 out of 10 because it was my favorite book and it was scary and I love scary books.

The plot structure is Ali looks through her grandmother’s boxes in the attic.  Ali finds a picture with her mom, aunt, and a girl torn out of the picture, and a lake in the background.  Ali asks her mom who is standing next to Dulcie and her mom said it was her.  Then Ali was more specific and asked her who is standing on the other side of you, and her mom said she doesn’t remember.  Dulcie wanted to fix the old cottage at the lake and needs Ali to babysit Emma.  Then they went to the lake.  Dulcie was painting the cottage for the first time when Emma met a girl named Sissy.  When Ali saw Sissy the first time, she knew by Sissy’s eyes and the look she gave to Ali, Sissy was a liar and was going to cause problems.  They asked her where she lived and pointed to Western Cove.  Then a few days later Emma started looking for her in Western Cove with Ali and didn’t find her.  Then a few days later, Sissy came back and the first thing Ali asked Sissy were do you live.  And this time she pointed the opposite way.  Then they started building a castle and Sissy kicked Emma’s castle down.  And Ali would scream at Sissy why she did that.  Then Sissy said why don’t you get in the lake and Sissy added on, don’t be such a scardy cat.  So she jumped in and when Emma went up to get air Sissy would push her back underwater.  Ali pulled Emma out of the water and she started crying.  Then Sissy said she was just playing around.  Sissy had a doll Emma loved.  Sissy told Emma to get in the canoe and showed her the doll and went in and Ali had to go in to because Emma would get out and wasn’t going to leave Emma with Sissy alone.  Then when they got to the place where Teresa died Sissy took the doll away and put it over the water so Emma can dive in.  Then the boat tipped over and Sissy went down and Emma started crying cause was going to drown.  Then Sissy said I can’t drown twice!!(Because Sissy is Teresa).  Then one day Sissy changed and they all became friends and Ali promised if she change she would make a funeral for her and that’s how it ended.  The conflict is man vs. supernatural and it’s external.

Sincerely,

Erika