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