Thursday, August 12, 2010
Group A Connector
Post your connections to the book. These may be connections to: your own life (text to life)To happenings at school or in the neighborhood or in the newspaper (text to world)To other books or stories (text to text)To other writings on the same topic (text to text)To other writings by the same author (text to author)Please respond to each other's entries.
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Text-to-text: While I have not read it, I found another text, The Loch Ness Monster: The Evidence by Steuart Campbell. According to Amazon.com "Scottish science writer Steuart Campbell surveys the eyewitness evidence, reviews the most notorious reports, exposes the falsehoods behind each alleged sighting, and much more in this definitive work on the subject." I wonder if the vignettes used in our text would be addressed in this text by Steuart Campbell and disputed.
ReplyDeleteText to self: Just as some people in the text wonder if the Loch Ness exists, I do as well. While I am now leaning more towards the "it does exist" side, I really did not think much about it before reading this book. I thought it was possible but not probable. Now I am more curious and see it as a probability. I know that just as I have an opinion of the Loch Ness monster's existence, my students do as well. They too were split on the existence of the Loch Ness Monster.
Text to author: Jean Flitcroft has also written a Cryptid Files on Chupacabra. I know even less about this than I did the Loch Ness, but I am not intriged to find out more!
When I first read the Prologue, I thought to myself this story may be hard to have any connections with because I have never believed in any "monsters" or heard about any myths about them in my own town. But as I continued to read, there were actually more things that I connected to than I thought. The young innocence in Vanessa reminded me of myself when I was younger. No matter what other people believed or didn't believe, you fought for your dreams. Vanessa followed in her mother's stepfoots and found out what was to become.
ReplyDeleteAnother aspect of the story that I believe can be connected to our lives, is the research people have done with UFO's. Although there has been many sightings and reports from people, just like they did with Nessie, there has been no actual truth from it. Some people are believers and others are not, just like in the story.
The way I connected to the story was through Vanessa and how she felt regarding her determination to continue her research. Like her, I am often very determined to accomplish things even though many obstacles stand in the way.
ReplyDeleteI think that Vanessa is a very relatable character for young readers because she goes through normal behaviors that many other youngsters go through; spats with siblings, striving to meet one's goals, and not being too fond of dad's new girlfriend, initially.
I think that the wide range of emotions experienced by the characters lend themselves to easily make connections. We have all felt sad, angry, excited, surprised, etc at some point in our lives and I think students would be able to easily relate to characters.
ReplyDeleteThe text-to-self connection I shared with my students was regarding the author's description of Vanessa rowing the boat. I could picture myself in my blow up boat in my pool trying just as hard to propel myself and running into the same problems Vanessa did. Sadly, I did not fall into the water and find a cave with "magical" moss or Nessie.
Both Miss F. and xjennaox are posted by Jenna Ferrara. For some reason I cannot get the blog to say my name.
ReplyDeleteThis book is very easy to connect to because we all have had to deal with death and grief at some point in our lives whether it was directly or indirectly. It is also easy to connect with Vanessa because we all have something that we are passionate about, just like she was with Nessie. She had drive, strength, and will and I wish possessed those same qualities like she did.
ReplyDeleteLindsay, I had a very similar reaction to this book as you. I was also very skeptical of connecting with this book, not only because of the age goup it was written for but also because of the content. But like you, I also thought of UFO's and Aliens that people believe in without any scientific facts and evidence. And like you said Lindsay, we were all young and believed many things without facts (santa?!).
ReplyDeleteI also thought about religion when reading this story. Many people rely on faith rather than scientific evidence, which is not always a bad thing! Sometimes believing is rather than seeing!
I connected with the relationship that Vanessa had with Lee. I had a similar situation when I was younger, my parents divorced and I didn't want to see my father with another woman. I remember having similar feelings to what Vanessa was feeling. I also connected to Vanessa's strong will and determination in finding out more about Nessie. I too have a tendency to put forth significant effort into finding out information or doing something wholeheartedly when someone tells me I can't.
ReplyDeleteI think that the fact that we are all in a Master's or Sixth Year Program shows use determination and will to succeed and be the best in our profession!
ReplyDeleteLindsay - I love the connection to UFOs. I never thought about that, but now I can totally see it. The sad part about that realization is that now I am doubting Nessie's existence again. Ugh! What a back and forth feeling!
Well it is clear that we all are connecting to this book in some way, whether it is through feelings, experiences, or beliefs, which i did not think would be so easy. Like Jenna had said before, the emotions Vanessa has gone through throughout this experience, I thik we have all felt before, so we can all connect strongly to her. I also agree with kathryn that sometimes your faith can come into place when doubting or believing in something. When we were younger we all believed in santa even though there was no truth or evidence about him at all. We wanted to believe in him when we were younger so we did. I believe in Nessie because I want to, and I want to believe in all of the sightings.
ReplyDeleteAnd Jenna .... don't stop believing!!! :)
ReplyDeleteAfter completing the assigned readings in preparation for tomorrow night's class, chp. 2 and 3, I have found this book to be one of superior quality as defined in our readings.
ReplyDeleteStyle and Language - The style and language of the book is very easy to read or to listen to in younger grades. Flitcroft clearly defined any new terms for the reader such as, cryptozoology
Character - Flitcroft's main character Vanessa is around the ages of 10-11, an age that many students in elementary grades can relate to. Even students that are older than this age, including adults, should be able to identify with Vanessa because she is very mature and wise for her age.
Plot - There were so many conflicts in the story; some more dramatic than others such as, Vanessa's loss of her mother and accepting Lee into her life, Vanessa's relationship with her siblings, and Vanessa's determination in learning more about Nessie.
Illustrations - Despite being a chapter book, this books does contain illustrations. At the beginning of each chapter there is a drawn image giving a clue of what's to come in this chapeter. A great learning activity after reading the chapter is to discuss what the image represents to each chapter.
Pacing - The story was a very quick read, (for the fluent reader). It moves at a good pace, slow enough for the reader to grasp all elements of the story, but fast enough to not drag it out.
Setting - With multiple settings such as Vanessa's home to Scotland this story contains setting changes that keep it interesting, but are important to the flow of the story as well.
Tension - Flitcroft builds tension between Lee and Vanessa right from the beginning. The reader knows that Lee is a "sore spot" for Vanessa, but towards the middle to end, Vanessa looks at her in a different light. This side plot added to the story greatly.
Design and Layout - I really enjoyed reading the factual excerpts at the beginning of each chapter about Nessie or Loch Ness. It helped me to understand the idea of Nessie much better, since prior to this I was not very interested.
Mood - One part that really stood out for me in this book was when Vanessa was n the cave and she is not sure who is speaking to her; her mother Nessie, God, her conscience, etc. The authors language helps in making the mood feel uncertain...who was talking to her?
Accuracy - Flitcroft included several facts that are based on real information. In fact, when I was researching the Loch Ness, I came across some of the same information that Flitcroft used in the book. Bottom line, facts need to be accurate in order to build trust from the reader.
Tone - I am not sure how Flitcroft feels on whether or not Nessie does exist. I would like to believe that she does believe in Nessie because she wrote this book about a little girl following in the steps of her mother's search for Nessie, but I am unsure.
Point of View - The story is mainly about Vanessa's search for Nessie as a tribute to her mom. It is told in the third person.
Theme - Several themes are present in this book, however the larger themes represented in this book, I think are, coping with death, adjustment, and the unknown
I also understand Vanessa's feelings towards Lee. My parents have been divorced for many years and I still don't think I would be ok with either of them marrying or being with someone else. She also felt a sense of betrayal when she saw that Lee was joining them on vacation and she was devastated. We all have felt that sense of betrayal at some point in our lives and understood how hurt she was.
ReplyDeleteAs for the believers and the nonbelievers of Nessie, UFO's, Big foot, etc. I think that it all comes down to the saying "I won't believe it 'til I see it." I think we can all have our own feelings on whether or not something truly exists, but it only truly exists if you have living proof!
Jennifer, I loved how you broke down the book according to what makes a book a "good" book. I also thought this book was of superior quality after reading those chapters. When I was reading this book I thought to myself that it could use more illustrations to make it more captivating for children, but I never realized (until you said it) that the little drawing at the beginning of each chapter represents what is to come. You are very perceptive!!
This is a very disconnected discussion with somewhat unconvincing connections- for the most part. some read the text others did not it seems. Jenn O'Donnel- whey did you do that listing of elements?
ReplyDeleteHello, Dr. K,
ReplyDeleteI listed the elements of what makes a book quality because on the course outline it mentions that we should try to blog about Loch Ness according to what makes a book good.
In my earlier post, dated, 9/14, I made a connection to the book and after reading the assigned chapters in preparation for tonight's class, I went back and added this part.
I was able to make a text to text connection. Flitcroft mentions that Vanessa fell into a world like Alice did in Alice in Wonderland, except Vanessa fell below the surface of the water and into a cave. There were also a common theme of magical food. Alice ate cookies and drank potions that made her shrink or grow and Vanessa ate algae that made her skin green and slimy so that she could wade through the water with ease. She was also able to hold her breath for awhile and she was now an excellent swimmer. Vanessa's skin also did not become affected by the cool temperatures of the water in the Loch. At the end of Vanessa's journey she began to feel the coolness of the water and this signifies to the reader that this magical journey of Vanessa's was coming to an end.
ReplyDeleteThere is another common theme between Alice in Wonderland and Loch Ness. Alice wanted to help the queen's people because the Queen was so nasty to them and Vanessa wanted to help Nessie get out of the Loch. Vanessa mapped out how to get out of the Loch for Nessie, but Nessie was frightened since her mother was crushed in and killed in shallow waters.
Many stories also have voices that speak to the main character just like Nessie did for Vanessa. At first, the reader is unsure of who exactly is speaking to Vanessa, but on page 126, the reader finds out for sure that the voice is Nessie's. In fact Nessie and Vanessa can hear each other's thoughts and Vanessa becomes aware of this new power as she thinks, "You're a mammal, I knew it" and Nessie answers her back.