Sunday, October 28, 2012

Breakdown of Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

ONE Sentence summary:
This is the classic tale of Peter Pan told from Tinkerbell's point of view as she watches Tiger Lily fall in love with Peter, starting from when the two first met, and ending shortly after Wendy's arrival.

TWO Things I would have done differently:I would have added more detail about the layout of Neverland. I also would have added more history about the pirates.

THREE Titles that if you liked...you will like this:
Beauty Sleep by Cameron Dokey (Read it, loved it)
Mermaid by Carolyn Turgeon (Read it, loved it)
Zel by Donna Jo Napoli (Read it, loved it)


FOUR Reasons to care:
1.) Reading a classic from a different point of view is always interesting.
2.) Themes of religion and sexuality come up in the story.
3.) The study of how societal expectations influence who we are is another prevalent theme.
4.) Nature vs. nuture is another great theme that is explored.


FIVE Facts about the author:
1.) She “reads like crazy.” Where I Found It
2.) Jodi Lynn Anderson takes in stray pets. Where I Found It
3.) She plays the banjo. Where I Found It
4.) She is more known for her Peaches series. Where I Found It

SIX Emotions I felt while reading:

Compassion, sad, sympathy, relief, frustration and impatience.


SEVEN Thoughts:
1.) How do sexuality and religion connect or disconnect?
2.) In what way does society influence who a person becomes?
3.) Without parental support, how do you learn right and wrong?
4.) How does abandonment affect children?
5.) Would you rather be around people you can’t stand or no people at all? How long could you last without human interaction?
6.) Do fairies exist?
7.) At what point does jealousy become destructive?


EIGHT Buzzwords:
magic, love, loneliness, abandonment, relationships, society


NINE Plot device/writing techniques/tools/tricks:
1.) Framed narrative as seemingly-omniscient-limited narrator. Tinkerbell tells us a story about all the characters from her point of view without being able to talk to them but they know she is there.
2.) Symbolism
3.) Flexible use of time.
4.) Location as vehicle to drive the plot
5.) flashbacks/memories
6.) dreams as foreshadowing
7.) Silence as communication
8.) Age unrelated to time.
9.) Weather as a measure of time.


TEN Point plot summary:
1.) Tinkerbell recalls the story about to be told, as one that needs to be told.
2.) Tinkerbell recognizes Tiger Lilly as part of the tribe that she is aware of and her curiosity is piqued because of what is going on around Tiger Lilly, so she tags along.
3.) A ship from England was spotted and a man washed up on shore. The tribe is forbidden to help the man, but Tiger Lilly helps him anyway.
4.) The tribe decides that Tiger Lilly should get married to a disgusting man because he is an influential member of the tribe’s son.
5.) Tiger Lilly accidentally meets Peter Pan and the lost boys. They start hanging out more and more often. Eventually the two fall in love. Tinkerbell falls in love with Peter too.
6.) The pirates start to track the lost boys to kill them.
7.) Tiger Lilly tells Peter she has to get married and breaks Peter’s heart after not meeting him to run away due to a personal tragedy.
8.) Wendy arrives at the island. Peter gradually gets over Tiger Lilly’s break up and falls for Wendy.
9.) Tiger Lily makes a plan with the pirates to get “caught” and trap Peter and Wendy.
10.) Peter leaves Neverland with Wendy. Tinkerbell discovered a letter from Peter that Tiger Lily had hidden under her mattress (read with tissues).

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Breakdown of Fifty Shades Darker by E. L. James

ONE Sentence summary:
The sexcapades of twenty-one-year-old Anastasia Steele and perceived-sexual deviant-billionaire Christian Grey (27 years old) continue, with more plot twists and conflicts than expected.

TWO Things I would have done differently:Having not yet read the third book, I think I would have had her condense the three books into one book. This would avoid all of the repetition.

THREE Titles that if you liked...you will like this:
Breakdown of Fifty Shades of Grey


FOUR Reasons to care:1.) It’s been the top bestseller for quite a few weeks.2.) The plot is significantly more complex than the first one.3.) It’s rare that the second in series is SO MUCH BETTER than the first.4.) The dynamics of a real relationship are explored between the characters.


FIVE Facts about the author:
Breakdown of Fifty Shades of Grey

FIVE Facts about the author:
SIX Emotions I felt while reading:Surprised, frustrated, shocked, amused, compassionate, sympathetic.


SEVEN Thoughts:1.) What makes sex ‘taboo?’2.) If you are a bad communicator, are you bad at sex?3.) Is jealousy bad?4.) Is trust explicitly important in a relationship?5.) How thin is the line between pleasure and pain?6.) What role does time play in a relationship?7.) How do Dom/Sub relationships actually function?  


EIGHT Buzzwords:
relationships, love, passion, lust, trust, sex, pain, pleasure


NINE Plot device/writing techniques/tools/tricks:1.) Written in present tense2.) Emails/text as a way to reveal information3.) healthy descriptions4.) Repetition5.) Nicknames or monikers for other things6.) Past into present7.) Internal voices to add depth to first person8.) Color as metaphor9.) Witty dialogue as plot device


TEN Point plot summary:
1.) Their physical relationship escalates too quickly and suddenly, then Ana walks out.
2.) After five days of misery for both characters, an excuse arises for them to see each other.
3.) Ana decides to give Christian a second chance, as a boyfriend, not Dom. Ana’s boss starts to raise alarm bells.
4.) Christians ex, Leila accosts Ana as she is walking out of her job. Ana’s boss invites her to New York, under work pretenses.
5.) Christian increases security, making Ana feel suffocated.
6.) Ana accidentally bumps into a second ex, the notorious Ms. Robinson. Christian makes his feelings of hate toward her boss known.
7.) Ana and Christian actually talk through some of their issues while attending different events. Christian warns her that her boss is a bad man. 
8.) Ana’s boss touches her, blackmails her and starts to attack her. She defends herself; Christian has him fired.
9.) Christian’s helicopter goes missing. Ana and his family think the worst. (Is this a spoiler alert? There’s a third book). 
10.) He ends up coming back on his birthday. Ana answers his earlier proposition.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Breakdown of Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence

ONE Sentence summary:
Lady Chatterley, a woman from the upper class and married to a man who is numb from the waist down, has an affair with the Gamekeeper, a working class man.

TWO Things I would have done differently:
Keeping in mind the era this was written, I’m not sure what I would have done differently. Perhaps added more detail and add more flowery language?

THREE Titles that if you liked...you will like this:
Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë.

FOUR Reasons to care:
1.) It was referenced that this was the most scandalous book of its time (published in 1928).
2.) Compare this with Fifty Shades of Grey, its interesting to see how far society has come with what is accepted in print.
3.) This was not required reading in high school and I understand why, now.
4.) The sexuality of women as written by a man is fascinating.

FIVE Facts about the author:
1.) Full name: David Herbert Richards Lawrence.

2.) His opinions earned him enemies, but he kept them anyway.
3.) He has a boarding school in the UK named after him.
4.) After the war he went into a period of voluntary exile.
5.) He also wrote poems, stories, novels, plays, essays and painted.

SIX Emotions I felt while reading:
Amused, bored, frustrated, interested, happy, sad.

SEVEN Thoughts:
1.) What makes sex ‘taboo?’
2.) If you are a bad communicator, are you bad at sex?
3.) Is it ever okay to say ‘yes’ to an affair?
4.) What effect does the class system have on love?
5.) Does sneaking around make for more or less intimacy?
6.) At what point is marriage no longer a “bond?”
7.) Which is more important: Wealth or happiness?

EIGHT Buzzwords:
class, love, passion, lust, society, sex, intimacy, money

NINE Plot device/writing techniques/tools/tricks:
1.) Multiple points of view (sometimes for only a paragraph at a time)
2.) Letters as a way to reveal information/plot
3.) descriptions
4.) Repetition with a sentence to create emphasis
5.) Inner dialogue as plot
6.) Secrets and intrigue
7.) Chekov Gun Rule (affair)
8.) location and scene
9.) dialect for emphasis

TEN Point plot summary:
1.) Lady Chatterley has an affair with a man she is not in love with since her husband is wheelchair bound and numb below the waist.
2.) Lady Chatterley breaks it off with this man and continues her boring life with a man who she is married to, but also not in love with.
3.) She spends her time walking through the woods and comes across the Gamekeeper’s cottage. She becomes taken with the serene quiet of the cottage. The Gamekeeper wants nothing to with her.
4.) She continues to visit the cottage on a regular basis and eventually starts an affair with the Gamekeeper.
5.) As their relationship blossoms and they become closer, it is revealed that the Gamekeeper is married but estranged from his wife. He expresses his concerns of the gap between their statuses him being a servent and her being a Lady.
6.) Lady Chatterley wants a child, and her husband expresses that he wouldn’t mind if she had a child by another man as long as it was discreet.
7.) She becomes pregnant by the Gamekeeper and conspires a plan to go away to Venice and claim a Venice man as the father of the baby.
8.) The Gamekeeper’s wife comes back and wreaks havoc when she finds evidence of their affair.
9.) Lady Chatterley writes to her husband to get a divorce, which he refuses to give her and fires the Gamekeeper.
10.) Lady Chatterley leaves her husband anyway, but the Gamekeeper and her can’t be together until both divorces are final, now that everyone knows about the affair.