Generate Generate Questions

 3-5 Generate Questions 

Have you ever been manipulated and how did that make you feel?
How does the main character grow as a person after being manipulated?
What is manipulation really and provide an example?
Why is manipulation a good theme for this novel?
Which elements of the text are most important to the theme of manipulation?

Connecting a Theme

* Note to the readers: This post contains info about the book if you intend to read the book, take appropriate precautions.*

The book I just finish reading is Taken by Norah McClintock. First I would like to say that this book is awesome and I recommend it to anyone and everyone in the class. I believe the theme of this amazing novel is manipulation. The main character is a teenage girl who is suspected to be another victim of the serial killer in the area who has already killed two girls. We see that she is not only manipulated by her emotions throughout her adventure but also in the shocking ending by the person who really kidnapped her. The largest part where we can clearly see manipulation is in the last two or so chapters. I believe she is manipulated by her emotions because of the fact that she is constantly telling herself that something will go wrong causing more inner conflict.As for what the book says about the theme, I think the book is saying that manipulation can be both physical and emotional, and man vs. self and man vs. man.

Justice or Injustice

 

The book I'm currently reading is called The Watcher by James Howe. As with everyday life there are always cases of justice or injustice.  Because the novel is written in third person omniscient we get to get a glimpse the minds of several different characters with different opinions. In the novel, Evan say "she thinks she's better than everyone else, that's what she thinks," (Howe 117) referring to a girl he had never met or spoken with. While reading this we all know that his conclusion is not true. His accusation was based purely on observation. I understand that it is human nature to judge things at first sight or at all but I still believe that it is unjust to assume something about this girl in which he knows nothing about.  While trying not to give room much plot description away but there are several other cases where justice or injustice is obviously present. Another injustice in the story is the fact that Margaret has had her voice taken away (not literally). This frustrated me profusely because I believe everyone should have the freedom of speech. Never the less there are still lessons to be learned form these injustices. The first one is a bit more obvious and a bit cliched but yet still important in the fact that we shouldn't judge a book by its cover. In the second one we learn that everyone's voice is equally important and that no one can ever take that from you.

Identify and Sort

The novel I'm currently reading is the Watcher by James Howe.Some of the important elements of this novel include suspense, characters, setting and the plot. I believe suspense is the most important the element of this novel because it keeps the reader engaged in the book and causes them to read more of it. Suspense is when the writer creates tension from the events in the story. The reader wants to know what is going to happen. suspense can be a very powerful tool when used properly, it can allow the writer to make the reader feel more involved with the plot thus making them want to read on.An example of suspense is the stretching of a rubber band, we know the band will eventually break or snap but we don't know when, this causes suspense. Howe creates suspense in this novel by jumping between characters, first you will read about someone in a situation and then she will shift to another character which leaves you wanting to read on to get back to the last character's problem. We can see suspense obviously in this quote from the novel,"Pretty soon, he was so busy he didn't catch sight of the dog running off or little Mikey chasing after it. All he saw when he thought to check back and see how his son was doing was the motion of the empty swing. The sharp cry of a seagull jarred Chris from his thoughts." (Howe 22).This is just a small example of suspense in this novel. It leaves you wondering what happened to the boy, whether or not he died and if he did how. Howe leaves you wondering about this because we don't hear about this boy again until another chapter.