Theme and Summary- Incantation

Estrella is a young girl living in the time of the Spanish Inquisition, where Spanish Jews were executed and were not tolerated at all. She has been raised in a household that practices Catholicism- at least that is what she believes. She soon finds out that she has been living a double life as a Jew and soon realized that a lot of things that went on in their household followed the jewish traditions. When her families true identity is revealed she feels betrayed and to worsen that, the public finds out. They take her grandfather and mother and kill them both, right in front of her eyes. Despite all that she continues on and realizes that her best friend had told everyone and ruined Estrella's life. Her friendship ended in ashes and her first love burned up and never was revived. She then leaves her hometown and struggles for many years to get back  on her feet.

Theme: Trust can be vanquished and betrayal had bitter consequences.

Book recommendation- The Messenger of Athens

Recently I finished  a book called The Messenger of Athens by Anne Zouroudi. Set in Greece, this murder mystery is sure to captivate all who reads its. The novel is written in such a way that will keep all of its readers on the edge of their seat because the author has done a wonderful job of putting all the pieces together and revealing bit by bit at the right moment. Zouroudi crafted each of the characters in a very complex and unique way, where none have the same qualities, yet they all are connected at the same time. Since the setting is in Greece island Thiminos, the readers are exposed to a wide varitey of Greek foods, terms, and customs. That way you are also able to learn about the little known Greek festivities. Of course, since this is a huge thriller book because the story is based off the  murder of a woman whose body was thrown off a cliff. A police officer ends up solving the mystery after a whole lot of close scrutiny and analysis.

The author did a wonderful job of adding a lot of imagery to enhance the text and making it really feel like the readers are there, watching what is happening. For example, the author uses rich vocabulary to describe the greenery, ocean, and the eerie town where the story takes place. There are many examples of figurative language to show how the characters feel and what they are going through. At first when you start reading this book, it feels like the puzzle pieces will never connect and they are the wrong ones. However, once you really get in the middle with all these different events happening you start to realize how everything is part of the domino effect. In the end, everything eventually comes together and the finished product is the completed plot of the book.

Analysis- Poem

Recently, I read a poem by Naomi Shabib Nye called "Hidden". In the poem Nye talks about a fern that can be hidden by a large stone and how it would feel like it has been swallowed by the stone. Of course, the fern and stone can stand for many things. For example the fern can stand for a person who is really shy and never really speaks their true heart out in front of people, while the stone can represent the world around them with loud, obnoxious people who are never are afraid to say what's on my mind.   Therefore the people who are loud are obviously going to overtake the shy person and conceal them. The fern and stone are clear symbols and the poem reads, "If you place a fern / under a stone / the next day it/ will be/nearly invisible/as if the stone has/ swallowed it" (1-6). 


Overall, depending on the way you approach this poem, there are multiple meanings that can come out of it. The first meaning I took out of the poem is that if you don't forgive and forget the people you love just becuase of a mistake you or the other committed, then you will always end up regretting it. The lines that show that are, "If you tuck the name of a loved one / under you tongue too long / without speaking it / it becomes blood," (7-10). The meaning I take out of it is you want to mend relationships with people quickly otherwise you will never do so. Then, you will end up regretting it and hold that feeling with you for a very long time.

The line, "no one sees / the fuel that feeds you," (15-16) can mean that no one will know what your confidence booster is or what things you are motivated by, so continue to use that motivation to go log ways. I also feel the other meaning from that line is that some memories/ secrets are what keeps you going whether it be in fear or happinees so continue on using those to keep you going considering the fact that no one knows. Certain memories that people have act like motivation for them or impact who they are now. Those memories may even further the meaning of their life and give them a reason to do what they are doing now or just a reason to live.

Link to the Poem, "Hidden"

Characters- The Kite Runner

The characters, especially the main character have a massive impact on the book itself and what the overall theme is. Decisions they face, how they overcome them, and what how they react to certain choices made by the other really drives the course of this book. It is like the domino effect where one thing that happens is immediately followed by other events. That is one way the theme gets to be created and notable by the end of the book and how the puzzle pieces fit as you continue to read this book.

For example the theme of friendship is derived based on the interaction of Hassan and Amir. They show the typical friendship with ups and downs but also showcase a scenario that is more rare when talking about real life. A broken friendship that never was able to mend, leading to grief and major regret. The way they talk is implementing their relationship. Sometimes is nice and happy, while at others it is annoyed or angry.  After the break up Amir's life changes and he ends up never meeting Hassan again, which leads to one of the themes: Friendship is the key to a happy life.

You also see the way Amir interacts with his father implements a huge impact on the theme of family. When he was younger he was very distanced with his father. Even if they lived under the same roof, very little conversation was made between them. Therefore you can consider it as a very rocky relationship[. however after the kite festival, things started to thaw up again and Amir was finally able to treat his dad like a real father whom he could have shared his feelings with. That concludes the theme of family and how important family is in one's life.

Analysis- The Kite Runner

       When Amir comes back to his home town, in Kabul, the audience can notice how reminiscent he feels. Everywhere he goes in his town he is reminded of his past memories with his father, family, and most of all his friend... Hassan. Basically anything that Amir  sees, touches, eats, smells, or hears sparks memories of him in childhood doing  that same activity or something alike it. For example, a simple jungle of a bell reminded him of the Monkey Man that he and Hassan would go after when they were younger. It says, "It reminded me of the Money Man that Hassan and I used to chase down in Shar-e-Nau. The bell on the monkey's neck had made the same jingle sound"(300). That is one example of how strong his memories are from the past that even the smallest things trigger some kind of reaction. When he thinks of these things he becomes very sad and longs to go back and fix his mistakes. However he knows he can't go back and fix those mistakes because it is too late and wouldn't really be able to face those people again even if he could.

       However the audience can understand how Amir feels because everyone feels reminiscent when they go back to a place where they grew up in or the school they used to go to. So I personally believe that how Amir is feeling is completely justified  and is right for him to do so.

Theme and Summary #2- The Kite Runner

      This book is told in flashback mode, where the man Amir is telling his life story. It starts off with the description of Amir and general things like his family, friends, and the city where he lived. He talks about childhood memories with his best friend Hassan, like going on vacation to climbing the apple tree in their backyard. Amir talks about his rocky relationship with his father and why Hassan is his best friend, even if he is their servant's son. Every year their city named Kabul holds an annual kite festival where all the kids come and participate to knock each other's kites out of the sky. Amir wanted to make his father proud and was determined to win this year with the help of Hassan. As the day comes Amir is really excited and in the end wins. As he goes to show his prize to his father, Hassan disappears into a dark alley. Amir goes and tries and to find him, only to see that he is being harassed by the neighborhood bullies. Instead of the being there for him, Amir just watched the entire scene unfold in front of his eyes since he was. Amir runs back home and once Hassan comes back, their friendship starts to spiral down. The things was it that Hassan knew that  Amir has seen the entire scene and didn't help him. But it wasn't that Hassan didn't want to talk to Amir, he still stayed loyal to him. The problem was that Amir didn't want to talk to Hassan.

      A few months later, Hassan and his father come out crying and say that they are leaving the house. When asked the reason, they don't come out and state it directly. Right then and there, Amir realizes that Hassan had known all along, that he was there that night and had told his father about what happend. After they, left the story fast forwards many years, to Amir and his father moved to America, trying to start a new life. That is when Amir falls in love and decides to get married. Just a few years later Amir's father dies and he goes to Kabul to fix his mistakes with Hassan. However, when he went there, he learned that Hassan and his wife were dead and their son Sohrab was in an orphange. He also had an oppturnity to meet up with his father's old friend Rahim who told something that changed Amir's life forever. It turns out that Hassan was Amir 's illagitamate brother. Those news shocked Amir as he felt like his entire life was a lie. Then, he knew that to make up for all he had done, he needed to find Sohrab and take him back with him to America. After a lot of searching Amir finally gets a hold of Sohrab. After a few days in the hotel, Amir is finally legally allowed to take Sohrab back with him to Calirfornia where they live.

      By the time they reach home, Amir's wife Soraya has made all the preparations they needed for Sohrab to permanently live there with them. Soraya and Amir decided to adopt him legally since he was Amir's nephew. However,  the first few months in America he doesn't say anything until one day he finally ends up smiling at Amir, which to him was the first step for Sohrab to finally become a part of their family.


Theme: So many topics are touched in this book like friendship, decisions, future, family, trust, loyalty, and secrets. However the overall theme would be:  keeping secrets can be one of the fundamental reasons of a broken relationship. This is shown when Amir kept something from Hassan and they never spoke again and when Amir's father didn't tell him and Hassan that they were brothers.

Reading Skills- The Kite Runner

As I read this book I have made a few predictions that involve most what will happen in the plot. For example, I think that Amir will go and search for Hassan's son since he thinks that it is the only to make up for all the things he has done in the past. Because he is an author, I feel like whatever he has experience in his trip back to his home town in Kabul, he will use to write a book to convey his message and pour out his feelings through his writing, which he may not have done otherwise.

A few questions that I might ask the author:
1) Is any part of this part based on your life?
2) What did you want the reader to get after reading this book?
3) Why did you choose the characters in this way, and shape the plot to create such surprise moments?
4) Did your environment inspire the one in this book?
5) What was your purpose of crafting the characters in a way that made all of them different, yet they were able to connect?

Text to World:  The text to world connection I can make is the war/dispute to the Afghan war in the 1970s. This book is based around the time in the 1950-1980s where there was a war going on in the Afghanistan so you can connect the events in the book to what really happened during the war. Some similarities were the trashing of towns, illegal kidnapping of small children and selling them, and killing people who tried to rebel against the government.

Text to Self: Amir was put into certain situations where he has to make a decision and similarity I can relate to that because I have made choices that impacted me in many ways especially to shape the person who I am today.

Text to Text: Because this book is based on the foundation of decisions, an autobiography written by former President George W. Bush, called Decision Points.   The book focused on the types of things he had to do in order to win the election and then prepare for his presidency. He talks about making decisions early on that let him to be in the position he was today. Therefore it can be connected to Amir because what he did early on, affected him later on.

Characters #2- The Kite Runner

The characters in this book are very real. Real, in the sense that you can literally withdraw the charcter from the book and it would shape into a real person-with imperfections, problems, talents, and of course secrets.

Amir:
        He is the main charcter of the book and goes through multiple phases in his life. He changes in many ways and the reader is able to see all those transformations because this book covers the time period from his chilhood all the way to adulthood and even farther on. My opinion of him changed many times as I was reading the novel going from good to bad. At first he is just a normal boy with some average family problems, a best friend, and caring people he lives with. As the story continues and his relationship with his best friend declines, you feel a change in his attitude. He becomes more timid and doesn't want to talk to Hassan [friend] and tries to stay away from him as much as he can. "I made sure our paths crossed as little as possible,planned my day that way'(100). That shows you how he doesn't even want to be near Hassan. The only reason he is acting like this is because was too afraid to tell Hassan the truth that he was there, and didn't do anything to help him when we was getting bullied. As the story progresses and Amir and his father move to America after their village was captured by the Afghans, you notice a change in him again. He tries to forget the past and becomes more focused on his future. He is able to speak his mind and works hard to achieve his goal. He even becomes really close to his father, which wasn't like that when he was younger (their relationship was really rocky due to the fact that his mother died at childbirth). Then again as there are plot twists he continues to evolve but at the point right now, he is very determined to find Hassan's son who was orphaned after Hassan and his wife were killed by some corrupted police officers.

Book Recommendation #2- The Kite Runner

Book Recommendation:

Out of all the books I have read this year The Kite Runner [by: Khaled Hosseini] has been my favorite. One reason is simply because there can be a connection felt between the characters and the audience. The author includes many conflicts that can be relatable such as conflicts between friends, parents, and trying to make wise decisions in your teenage years. Things like how best friends can become complete strangers in just a few minutes, or how rocky relationships between a child and their parent can be especially after loss of their spouse. Besides the self to text connection that the reader can make, the language that the author uses is very descriptive and enables the reader to really visualize the scene. For example it says, "She was standing behind us, a slim- hipped beauty with velvety coal black hair... she had thick black eyebrows that touched in the middle like arched wings of a flying bird, and the gracefully hooked nose of a princess from old Persia..."(155). Just with the one line of example you can tell that Hosseini crafts his language using a lot of imagery to describe the characters. It really makes you think that she is standing right in front of you.

Not only does that author use literal language but also metaphors that make this book a must read. It says, "America was different. America was a river, roaring along, unmindful of the past. I could wade into this river, let my sins drown drown to the bottom, let the waters carry me someplace far"(151). The way America is compared to a roaring river really lets the audience get a sense of his emotion therefore letting us to connect with Amir [main character].

The unexpected plot twists, strange/complex characters, and rich symbolism used throughout this book really sets a high standard for it and this is one novel that I recommend everyone read.

Analysis of The Kite Runner

Analysis- The Kite Runner

Recently, I started to read The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini and so far it has proven to meet up to my expections. The story is told by a man looking back at his childhood in the 1970s. The man, named Amir is telling the story in flashback mode. It starts off with him as a boy,who just decribes what is going around him, where he lives, and members in his family, and of course, the person who really helps develop him through the text, his friend Hassan. Both boys share one common thing- they have no mothers. Either she died at childbirth or Hassan's who mother had left him at 5 days of age.  When the reader closely analyzies the relationship between the two friends you start to notice some wrinkles. Hassan is the servants son and he helps around the house all day therefore not going to school, while Amir is the owners son and does go to school like any normal other child. Immediately, the reader should question whether or not Amir acts biased against Hassan since he is illiterate and is the servant's son. However you start to overlook that in the very begiginng when they act like towo normal best friends who do everything together. Amir and his father never act different towards Hassan and his father therefore always thinking of them as family.

 That's what I thought untill I did some close reading and noticed something about their relationship. My suspicsion strengthen at the part where some bullies are teasing Amir and Hassan. He is thinking, "But he is not my friend! I almost blurted. He's my servant! Had I really though that? Of course, I hadn't. I hadn't. I treated Hassan well, just like a friend, better even, more like a brother. But if so, when Baba's [Father] friends came to visit with their kids, didn't I ever include Hassan in our games? Why did I play with Hassan only when no one else was around?"(49) Right then and there the audience can notice that Amir starts to realize that there is an issue between the two regarding their "status." Because Amir's thoughts there are uncertain you notice something is starting to happen- like a force is going to come and change their lives forever...... it does.

After that scene, the annual kite festival is coming near and for that town it is a big deal. Each year, all the participants make their kite and soar it in the sky trying to cut all the other kites with the sharp string the kite is held on. Once a person's kite is cut they are out of the contest and the last kite to keep flying win. Since, Amir wants to make his father proud he is determined to win this year and practices with Hassan who is also very good. When the day of the festival comes all the participants get ready and start flying. After a few hours, the last kite is Amirs and he is very happy. As Hassan congratulates him,  he asks if he can take the winning kite and run around the block. Amir lets him but starts to go look for Hassan when he doesn't come back in a while. He finds Hassan in an alley where is being harassed by the neighborhood bully Assef and his companions. Because Hassan never fights with anyone he doesn't do anything to defend himself. On the other hand, Amir is just standing there watching his friend get hurt and doesn't do anything. "I could step into that alley, stand up for Hassan -the way he'd stood up for me all those times in the past- and accept whatever would happen to me. Or I could run. In the end, I ran"(88). That there shows you that Amir isn't a very good friend to the person who is the most loyal to him and always has been.  He isn't loyal and and if it were me I would never be friends with that type of person. However Hassan undermines this and tries to rekindle the mistakes between them.

After this incident things really go haywire in their relationship because they don't talk as much and things feel very awkward around them. Whenever Hassan tries rekindle things between them, Amir waves him off. By now the audience can really tell that there is a problem but the real question is why Amir is so reluctant to fix their issue. Why won't he tell Hassan the truth that he was at the alley but didn't do anything? Maybe if the truth was told there wouldn't be such a big tension being created in the story. It feels as if Amir has changed to the point where he hates being near Hassan. It says, "Because when he was around, the oxygen  seeped  out of the room. My chest tightened and I couldn't draw enough air; I'd stand there, gasping in my own little airless bubble of atmosphere"(100). It feels as if they don't like each other and are better off not being friends.


As of right now, this is what I made of them as per the direct and implied ext.
As I continue to read on farther in the book, I am sure to encounter more mysteries about the relationship between Hassan and Amir. I hope to find out whether everything is mended or broken forever.

Reading Skills #1: Climbing the Stairs

Now that I have finished reading this book, I look back and fully understand both literal and figural meaning of the title "Climbing the Stairs." The literal meaning that the reading draws from the text is the scene where Vidya has just discovered the library and in order to do so she had to go up the stairs. If you think about it  the connection behind climbing the stairs and her character and all of human nature is there, you just don't understand until the very end of the book. I think that climbing the stairs refers to the progress Vidya made as a person. She started off being a very tom boyish girl (the very first step of the stairs) and as she progressed to becoming a strong- willed, hardworking girl she climbed the stairs to the very last step. In that sense that can apply to anyone in real life as well. Whether you are  just starting a new sport or in the process of learning something, you start at the very bottom step, and once you are good at it, you end up the very first step. Not only does this concept deal with learning something, "climbing the stairs" can refer to a person changing through experiences they have encountered.

This book finished on the fact that Vidya is writing to Raman telling him how things are going there and that one day they will meet. If this book was extended I predict the author would do something in a way that would allow Vidya to go herself and visit Raman in America because the book ends by
saying, "A nation I will one day visit to join you..."(243). Or I predict that a turn of events happen and fate would never bring them together because you start to notice a pattern of plot twists in this novel starting with when a\her father was hurt.

I wonder if the author's own experiences ever contributed to any of the events in this book? Partially because she really complexes some of the scenes. I would also like to know if any of the characters were meant to portray types of people in society or maybe even in her own family.

Text to Self Connection: Vidya is an Indian girl who lives in a typical indian household and I relate to that as well since I am also Indian. Many of the festivals mentioned in this book are also celebrated by my family and the reason why some don't match is because different parts of India celebrate and believe different ideas. In the novel the women don't eat until the men are finished, and during large family gatherings at my house, most of the time, the kids eat first, then the men, and finally the women. However on a daily basis this doesn't happen.

Text to Text: This book can be connected to Whirligig because both Brent and Vidya had their lives changes phases ever so quickly and were forced to cope with circumstances they never wanted to. Brent had to travel around the U.S to make four whirligigs as a result of killing an innocent girl and Vidya was forced into her grandfather's house.

Text to World: Since the setting of this novel is during the time of WWII, you can connect it to the events during that times such as the evacuations and the air- raid drills.

Characters #1- Climbing the Stairs

Vidya- Being the main character of this book, she is a very rounded  person who undergoes many changes throughout as she experiences various things. In the beginning she is a very stubborn and headstrong girl who is very tomboyish and likes to do things out of the ordinary. For example it says, "Ever since I had turned fifteeen and started wearing a half- sari, she had been hoping that I would become more womanly, not climb any more trees, run no more races across the beach sands and stop playing volleyball..."(2) This shows you that Vidya isn't like one of those typical girls that worries only about how she looks but she also wants to be treated as an equal to everyone out there- especially boys. The quality of hers causes her a lot of problems at her grandfathers house especially when she does things that she isn't allowed to do.

 All throughout her life she is disgusted by the fact of marriage at a young age which is exactly what was believed in India at that time. She had made up her mind that she would wait to get married after she went to college. "Would my parents let me go to college after I fin shied with form? I wondered that for the umpteenth time. Amma was so happy being a housewife that she was convinced I needed to get "settled"and married off to a "nice" boy from a "good" family sooner rather than later. I couldn't think how to explain to her that I wanted more"(4). Again this thought of hers causes people to think low of her since they lived in a orthodox frame of mind.

Overall, Vidya is a "thinking" girl who is well aware of what is going on in her life and others. She knows what is happening in the news and is able to figure out what is going and tries to help even if she doesn't get why it is happening. Once her family moves to Madras, she experiences things unlike ever before. Even though these qualities of these stay the same she does change by being more mature and girl-like in the sense that she does more sensible deeds. She does something hard to imagine a girl like her doing- falling in love. She falls in love with the boy (Raman) that treats her as an equal and acknowledges her feelings and capabilities. "It was then that I realized I truly loved him, even if it would be years before I could bring myself to say those words that he wanted to hear"(234). Overall Vidya is a girl endowed with qualities I feel that every girl should have, even if she has to do things a little out of the ordinary.

Summary and Theme #1- Climbing the Stairs

Recently I just finished reading a book called Climbing the Stairs by Padma Venkatraman. It was an intriguing novel set during of the time of World War II in India where many political and social tensions were arising between the British and the Indians, mostly including discrimination. The main character of this book is 15 year old Vidya who's main goal and dream in life is to go study at college, which was highly unlikely at that time period since women had to quit school after high school. On evening as Vidya, her father and her older brother are talking, her father makes a surprising comment- that he is part of a freedom struggle. This shocks Vidya who still was happy that her father was taking a stand. However in the next couple of days her life takes a drastic turn when her father and Vidya are out and suddenly find themselves in the midst of a violent protest march. As her father goes and helps their fellow neighbors who got hurt, a British officer hits him in the head with a big wooden stick causing her dad to become unconscious. After regaining consciousness, the doctors concluded that their father could hear everything but could not move or talk- just process the information said to him. 

Thats when Vidya's grandfather comes and tells their family that should come and stay with them and her three aunts, uncles, and cousins. As they pack up and move to Madras leaving their old life behind they have to conform to the rules of a house under the rule of her strict orthodox grandfather, difficult to follow customs and traditions. In that house of hers her mother and her are treated differently and are separated from the men of the house unless its a festival or meal time. Soon enough Vidya discovers a place that is the center of her happiness, and a place no women has ever dared to step foot in- the library upstairs. Once she asks her grandfathers permission she goes there everday after being teased at school because of her father's condition (which was told to everyone by her cousin)  and finishing her chores. It was also the place where she meets her uncle's friend's son who she starts to fall in love with. The boy, whose name is Raman, start talking everyday and become very close friends who she tells all of her secrets, and problems to. She finds Raman intriguing because of his sensitive yet confident personality which makes her "melt."

After her cousins wedding, Vidya's brother shocks the family by telling everyone he wants to enlist in the army and leaves the following day, leaving the entire family unhappy with his decision especially Vidya who trusted him the most to stay back and take care of her parents.  Vidya goes and tries to stop him but his mind was already made so she wishes him the best of luck and tells him that she loves him. Seeing that without her brother Vidya is lonely Raman proposes to her in front of the family after asking permission of her grandfather. Even though she loves him and he loves her back, she wasn't ready to take on the responsibility of being a wife as well as fulfilling her dream of going to college which she was now allowed to do. So instead she asks that she gets her degree and so does Raman, who will have to go to America to do so,  and until then they would be close friends who would get married afterwards. Everyone agrees to that and the book ends with Vidya writing a long letter to Raman about how in some time they would be united as one but right now they must finish what they both were meant to do.

This book addresses many themes such as politics, war, peace, Hinduism, power of women(feminism), and prejudice. However, the most common one I found was about the sense of equality. It would be: Equality is not only important between two different people of different backgrounds, but also in one's family. There shouldn't be a difference in how a man or a woman is raised because both have the potential to do so much and rise to great heights. Equality is something that Vidya fights for throughout the novel because she doesn't want to conform to the traditions that hold a woman to achieve her potential. The first way she tries to achieve equaltiy is by asking her grandfather if she is allowed to go to college.

"Tell me, as you don't want to marry yet, what would you do if you were given more time?"

"Go to college."

"What would you do in college?" he asked.

"Study. Acquire knowledge"(224).

Another example of Vidya searching for equality is when she must ask permission by her grandfather in front of all the men, to go upstairs and use the library.

"May I use the library upstairs?" I couldn't hide the slight tremor in my voice. It was unusually high-pitched."

"What?" Thatha looked up, his hand halfway to his mouth."

"I want to go to the library every evening after school," I said clearly.

"Somehow every man who was still sitting at his plate had just heard what I'd said." (110-111)

The conversation continued by everyone making a big fuss about how she couldn't go there, but after a lot of pleading her grandfather finally agreed to let her do so. These were just two examples of how Vidya fought for some equality for herself but she demonstrated many great qualities every girl should be equipped with to win her battle.

Book Recomendation #1- The Creation of Eve

by: Lynn Cullen

This book is great if you like to read novels with plot twists. As you start reading this book, you learn all the secrets about the characters that they have hidden. As their secrets are revealed, the audience finds out how closely connected each of the characters especially in what they do. Sofonisba's ( the main character) life takes a turn as she goes from learning art under Michelangelo to teaching the queen of Spain how to paint. At that moment in her life, the plot twist take turn as she finds about the royal families' secrets regarding the King's brother. If you like to read romance then this book even includes a little bit of it with powerful question that arises- Can you truly know what goes on in a person's mind, no matter how close you are with them? 

The author creates an good balance between the royal and romantic intrigue, 16th century politics, and rivalry. Even though this book is in the genre of historical fiction Cullen does a good job of adding tension moments that grab the reader into the book, as well as vivid descriptions of the various settings. Cullen also creates very complex characters that are clearly described and developed as the story continues. The author takes a very simple period of history and creates a novel that expands those moments in great detail to tell the story of a women artist. Overall, this book uses many different elements that the author uses well such as suspense to engage the audience the entire time. 

New Plot Stucture for "The Interlopers" 

  

We changed the plot stucture in a way so that it creates a flashback moment for the characters. So we  started with part 2 so that the readers are already engaged in the story because of all the tension brewing in the scene. 

 Our order was 2, 1, 6, 3, 4, 5, 7. We changed the parts like this so it gives suspense as it goes back from the present to the past. We also did this because it lets the reader go through a journey of the chracacters when they were complete enimes to the point when they were friends. They last reason why we did this is because it engages the reader more as he or she wants to find how they became friends and what the shadowy figures were. Overall we changed the plot in a way so that the readers want to ask questions about what's going on and to keep them engaged all through the story. 

Links and Displays

The Creation of Eve 
by: Lynn Cullen 

Links and Displays- 

Article on Sofonisba Anguissola

The novel that I am reading is a historical fiction book based about a women who was very little known in the 16th century. Her name was Sofonisba and she was allowed to do a job that was considered outrageous and unladylike at her time- paint. After many obstacles her father let her go and learn as an apprentice at the young age of fourteen. In real life, Sofonisba had to face many hardships just to do what she loved because society would not let girls paint and have any artistic freedom. However in the end, she grew up to be very successful in art and was given the honor to teach the queen of Spain how to paint (in the sense that she was kept as her tutor). As people learned about her abilities, they accepted her more and some even allowed the fact of letting women have more artistic freedom than before. This link shows you the history of Sofonisba's life,and her accomplishments. This link also shows pictures of the paintings that she made and even the reason behind doing so. 
 

Summer Reading Assignment

Book: Girl in Translation

Rank: 8

Summary: This book is about a girl who moves from Hong Kong with her mother and speaks very little English. She has to face hardships like her family's poverty, bullying at school, and working to support her mom and her. She deals with all of her problems and ends up being very successful like she had wanted to the day she set foot in America. In the end she learns that certain decisions made can make a really big impact in ones life.