Good RDJ Examples - Sailfish English Language Arts



Good RDJ Examples

Sept. 20th, 2009

 

Dear Mrs. Thomas,

 

Right now I am continuing to comprehend Brisingr and it’s becoming really suspenseful. The genre is fantasy because there are unrealistic creatures in the story (elves, dragons, dwarves, etc ) and some of the characters posses magical powers. The author is Christopher Paolini.

The characters that are primarily focused on at this point in the story are Eragon, Saphira, Ayra, Roran, and Katrina. Eragon is the dragon rider of Saphira and he is also a wizard as well as the hero of Du Weldenvarden (it’s on the map I sent you). Saphira is Eragon’s dragon that he found as an egg and raised to an adult. Ayra is an elf that is around 100 years old (she will live a whole lot longer) and Eragon kind of has a crush on her. Roran is Eragon’s cousin and his sidekick in battle. Katrina is Roran’s soon-to-be wife and also Eragon and Roran’s friend growing up.

I think Eragon and Harry Potter are very much alike because they are both teenage male wizards who both have life-long friends. In the Harry Potter series Harry’s true friends are Ron and Hermione; in the Eragon series Eragon’s friends are Roran and Ayra.

Christopher Paolini continues to think up awesome descriptions for each new setting. One of my favorite examples is on page 309, “The host glittered like wind-whipped water under a summer sun as swords, spears, shields, helmets, and mail ringlets caught and reflected the light.” Through his descriptive powers Paolini sets the scene for the upcoming battle.

When I stopped reading last night the battle was just getting exciting. The Varden and Galbatorix’s men had just launched into battle and it was beginning to get messy as written on page 315, “A moment later a mental shout of incredible strength overwhelmed Eragon’s defenses and tore through his consciousness, filling him with agony as he heard a man say, Ah, no, help me! They won’t die! Angvard take them, they won’t die! The link between their minds vanished then, Eragon swallowed hard as he realized the man had just been killed.”  When I am reading it seems that I can never find a good place to stop except for sometimes the end.

After I’ve spent so much time thinking about the novel, there many things in the story that remind me of Harry Potter, The Warrior Heir, and Narnia, but you will have to wait until next week next week to see why!

 

Happy Reading,

X

9/19/09  

Dear Mrs. Thomas,

       

             I am reading The Terrorist by Caroline B. Cooney. The book is told in third person omniscient point-of-view. That means I can see through more than one character’s eyes. In the first chapter, it talks about Billy’s feelings.  While in the second chapter, it tells you Laura’s feelings. The main character is Laura. The author uses indirect characterization to show that she is a very popular girl. She tells you that she is popular by making the boys ask her to the dance.  She is also invited to a popular girl’s slumber party. On page 84, Jehran says that Laura really needs to be “perked up“. You know that Laura does not want to go to the slumber party. That is an example of direct characterization. It is direct because the author tells you directly. You don’t need hints or clues to figure out what happened. 

The initial conflict arises when Laura discovers her brother has been murdered. This problem drives the plot because Laura’s determined to find her brother’s murderer. The adventure heats up when she starts second guessing her friends thinking they possibly committed the ultimate crime. On page 65 she starts questioning her friends and her school. This makes me wonder who the killer really is. Will it be one of her best friends or enemies?

Cooney captures my attention as a reader by twisting the plot. Just when I think she will find out, the author switches gears. On page 67 and 68 she Cooney makes you think that a boy named Jimmy Hopkins killed her brother. Then all of a sudden a girl named Con interrupts their conversation and Laura loses hope. Sadly, she walks away.   Because this novel deals with terrorism, it reminds me of the twin towers tragedy.

                                                                                                                Sincerely,

X

                                                                                                                X

9/21/09

 

 Dear Mrs. Thomas,

 

    Here is my RDJ number 2 that I did on Charlie Bone and the Castle of Mirrors by Jenny Nimmo. This book is part of a 7 book fantasy (What elements of fantasy do you see in your book? In other words, how do you know it's fantasy?) series called "Children of the Red King" and is book 4 in the series. I hope you enjoy my journal.

 

    The setting of this book takes place in a city in present day England and most of the time occurs at a boarding school, Bloor's Academy, where the main characters attend school. I think the author chose this setting first because in the back of the book she says that she was born in England and was educated at boarding schools. Good connection! :) Also, the main characters are my age, and I tend to hang out at school with my friends. The school was also full of mean teachers, and some parts of it were said to be haunted, creating a frightening tone. Way to connect your RDJ to what we're learning in class! What was the mood? Also, the students were locked in the school from Monday morning until Friday afternoon when they were allowed home for the weekend. Making the setting in England was also integral to the story because some action happened in a nearby castle, The Castle of Mirrors, which was also a little creepy. This was convincing because there are many historical castles in England but you won't find any here in Morehead City. I didn't find the setting confusing at all. Actually, I really liked it because I love Medieval Castles. I have seen them throughout The Lord of the Rings movies.

    

    The protagonists in this story that I remember most were Charlie Bone, and his classmates Tancred, Olivia, and Billy. All of these characters were introduced at the beginning of the book when school started. The narrator told the reader what these characters were thinking and feeling. For example, on page 34, the narrator says that "As soon as he emerged in the round sunlit room at the end of the passageway, Charlie felt better." The narrator also told the reader what the characters' actions were. For example, on page 21, the narrator stated that "As Charlie walked into the shadow of the Music Tower, he found himself looking up at the steep roof of the turret." The characters were believable in some ways because they go to school like I do and they don't really like homework. However, they characters are also not believable because they all have "endowments" which are special magical powers they can use during times of danger. Charlie's endowment is that he can look into pictures and talk to the people in them. He uses this power to solve some mysteries that come up in the book. I think if we all had endowments it would be cool, but it's not really believable. The narrator lets you get into the characters' hearts and minds. For example, we know that Charlie loves his mother and grandma Maisie, but that he thinks his Grandmother Bone is mean. The only character I could really relate to was Fidelio. He was a student at the school who liked music and was the only main character without an endowment. I think he was most like me because I don't have magical powers either. He was fine with not having them because he didn't like fights and the protagonists with powers had to use them to fight antagonists who also had endowments they tried to use to take over the school. I definitely cared about the protagonists because I don't like to see bad win out over good. In the end, they were all okay and I was happy for their victory. The characters with endowments reminded me of the Harry Potter characters because they also used magic to fight for good against evil.  For example, Charlie Bone definitely compares to Harry Potter because they both are the main characters, they both go to boarding schools, they both use magical powers to fight evil, they both have wands, and they both win in the end of the books. Great connection with Harry Potter! Also, when comparing with yourself, you might consider personality, as well, rather than just physical characteristics. Are there any characters in the book who have a similar personality as you do?

 

 The Point-of-view of this book is 3rd person omniscient because the narrator knows everything and can get into the minds of all the characters. Great connection to what we're learning in class-- Thank you for taking what we're learing in class and applying it to your RDJ. That is EXACTLY what you're supposed to do! I think the author chose this point of view because having the narrator know what every character is thinking or feeling helps the reader understand more about what is going on in the story. I think one advantage of this point of view is that the reader can put himself in a character's shoes and imagine what it would be like. I also think its good when the reader knows what all the characters are thinking because you sometimes know more than the main characters know and you feel tense and full of suspense. In this book, an evil character named Manfred Bloor is plotting to steal Charlie's wand. On page 5 Manfred is talking about Charlie's wand when he says, "I have plans for that, it'll be mine soon - just you wait." This let me know that Manfred was bad, but Charlie didn't know. It made me full of concern for Charlie and it made me want to skip past everything else and get to the part where Manfred would try to steal the wand!  

 

      This book is definitely worth recommending. It has good descriptions and is just a great read. People that have recently finished the Harry Potter series would definitely like this. I myself turned to it when I finished HP. I hope you enjoyed this journal. I tried my best!

 

     

                                                                                                 Sincerely,

                                                                                                               X

 

 September 20, 2009

Dear Mrs. Thomas,                                                                                          

                I am continuing to read Breaking Dawn, the fourth book in the Twilight Saga of fantasy stories.  The author of this novel is Stephenie Meyer. She also wrote Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse (the three other books in the Twilight series).  The following examples from the book explain how it is fiction (you mentioned fantasy in the sentence before this one-- be sure you continue to describe this book as a fantasy book; not just fiction!). This example shows how unrealistically fast Renesmee (Bella and Edward’s half vampire half human baby) and Jacob (16 year old werewolf) grow:

“Twenty-seven for the man,  five for the girl.” Jacob could pull it off. And at the rate Renesmee was growing, I’d better estimate high.

This example explains Bella’s impractical vampire power:

“I tried as hard as I could to push my [mental] shield around us both [Edward and Bella]; every now and then I would get it, and then it would slip away again.”

Edward has a special vampire power like his wife, Bella. He can read minds. Renesmee also has a special power like her mother and father. She can show you what she is thinking by touching your face. Stephenie Meyer uses a flashback when Bella is in a clearing where she is remembering when she was about to be attacked by crazed newborn vampires which took place in the book Eclipse.

                The problem in this part of the story has to do with the fact that Bella is trying to save her misunderstood little girl Renesmee from the Volturi.  The Volturi is a group of bad vampires who misunderstand what Renesmee is. They think she is an out of control vampire toddler who can’t be controlled, but she is not. (Provide example from the book).

Breaking Dawn is an appropriate title for this book because the Volturi comes to the clearing to first meet Renesmee at the breaking of dawn.  Bella, her family and extended family stayed over the night before in the clearing to be ready for the Volturi’s arrival.  I would connect this book title to the other book titles in the saga. Twilight and Breaking Dawn both tell what time a significant event happens in the stories, but you don’t know it until you read it. For example, the title Twilight is telling about when Edward and Bella had their first prom dance at the time twilight.  Breaking Dawn tells about when the Volturi comes to the clearing. While these titles relate to event times, the titles of New Moon and Eclipse symbolize something meaningful that happens in those stories.  A new moon is when the dark side of the moon is completely towards us so the title New Moon is describing the darkest time of Bella’s life – when Edward left. An eclipse is when the sun is blocked by the moon so no light goes to the earth.  The title New Moon  describes how Jacob loves Bella and Bella loves both Edward and Jacob. But Bella loves Jacob more like a brother. My explanation for Stephanie’s choice for the word eclipse as a title is that  Jacob (the sun) who is blocked by Edward (the moon) who is closer to Bella (the earth). (Excellent explanation!! When discussing the problem in the paragraph previous to this one, be sure to provide examples and explanations as you did here!).

 

                                                                      Your friend,

                                                                                  X

Good Example of a Connection

I can connect Bella to author Carolyn Keene’s character Nancy Drew because they both get themselves into trouble and lots of danger. Also, they both have friends who help them along the way. I can also connect Bella to Alice from Alice in Wonderland because they both encounter things they do not see every day. Some examples of this are that Bella sees vampires and werewolves while Alice sees talking rabbits, flowers and playing cards.

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