We have just started a new reading unit called "Examining Author's Craft." To examine an author's craft means to look at how the author put the words and phrases and sentences together -- looking at the craft - the actual building or construction - of the writing. For examples, you may notice interesting use of sentence length or sentence structure, use of puncutation or lack of it, the decision to make one section heavy in dialogue and another void of (without) dialogue, or particularly short or long paragraphs or chapters.
This week's homework will require two (2) responses and no (0) comments. For your responses, please describe a section of your book that contains a writing craft move or decision that you notice your author has made. Ideally, you can put the section in your response the way I do in the Stargirl tests. Then, describe what the author did in her/his writing that you observed and why or how this affects the reading of the text.
PLEASE NOTE: Author's craft is not, "He made the narrator speak." In fiction writing, an author makes everything happen. I want you to talk about the writing, not the content of the story.
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in my book(Shadow Theives), i dont like it when the author is telling me about this character named Charlotte then transfering to the past and discribing about another character named Zee.I get confused.
ReplyDeleteDressed in leggings and a plain black t-shirt,with minimal makeup and her hair knotted back, she looked less daunting then she normally did, but David still felt his mouth going dry as she cocked her head to her shoulder and said "Rain, the hag just dug in and gouged. I think the authur put this example in because he wanted the reader to see how David feels about zanna's style.
ReplyDeleteDavid and Zanna, lost in their embrace, took no notice of the squeals of surprise that came winging down the hall a few seconds later. I think the author put this example in because he wanted the reader to notice the romantic feeling in this part of the text. Also how David and Zanna are really focused on eachother.
ReplyDeleteA section of my book where I observed authors craft was when Dave was talking about how his girlfriend Patsy's siblings were running around and messing up his house. The sentences were long and run-on sentences. I think the author used that to show the crazyness and excitement that was happening. I think this affects the story because it makes the reader link the events together to realize the tone of his voice. For example Dave says "One by one her family barged in, without knocking, screaming at the top of thier lungs at Patsy before turning on each other. I even found one of them gorging on anything he could find in my refrigerrator and someone else rummageing through my bureau drawers in my bedroom. Only after I kicked everyonr out but Patsy did I learn that this sort of outburst is normal for her family..." You can tell the tone is hectic and annoyed by seeing how the author joins the parts of the sentences with commas and the word "and".
ReplyDeleteIn my book shadow theives the author doesnt put dashes or a symbol telling me that hesa going into a new section of the book.
ReplyDelete"So um...you got any other moves to show me?" The author used an ellipsis (...) to show the character's hesitation. This affects the story because the character's hesitation let's you know that it's not really a comfortable conversation, and that could be foreshadowing problems about the topic.
ReplyDelete"The other day, I was doing this assignment in science, and it was for chapter ten, and I'd actually read chapter elev-" The author used lots of commas and the word 'and' instead of using periods to form a run-on sentence. This affects the story because it makes you realize that this person is hyper and talkative.
ReplyDeleteAs he stepped into the woods, a bluejay screeched a warning. So it was some time before he spotted anything to shoot at. Presently he saw a red squirrel hunched on a branch, with its tail curled up behind its ears. He lifted the rifle and sighted along the barrel, minding his father’s advice and waiting till he was dead sure. I think the author put this in because she wanted to show matt tsking great care in the advice he remembered
ReplyDeleteIf only it were not so quiet. He had been alone before. His father had often gone into the forest to hunt, for hours on end. Even when he was there, he was not much of a talker. Sometimes they had worked side by side through a whole morning without his speaking a single word. I think the author put this in the book to show that matt and his dad didnt talk much during consrtuction because they wanted it done quick without distraction.
ReplyDeleteI am reading this book called "Holes" by Louis Sachar.
ReplyDeleteA section of my book where I observed authors craft was when my character Stanley found the treasure what the Warden wanted. But Stanley's layer was protecting him and so they were saying "open it Stanley" said the Warden. "Don't open it Stanley." It went on for like a couple sentence just like in Stargirl, Leo and Susan's talk.
"Running feet, and someone hauled the man away and bent over him; then other hands lifted Lyra, a knife snicked and pulled and the net strings fell away one by one, and she tore them off, spiting, and hurled herself down to cuddle Pantalaimon." I think the author added this run-on sentence to show how many things Lyra is seeing at once and the suprise and excitment that is going on in her head.
ReplyDelete"Raymond, are you saying we should fight our way through every kind of danger to a little group of frightened children, and then say to some of then that they can come home, and to the rest they have to stay?" I think the author included this run-on question to show how John Faa feels about all the children that have been taken. I think it also shows that he isn't necesarilly excited about this as much as he is suprised that Raymond would say such a thing as to leave children behing in the cold and harshness of the north.
ReplyDeleteIn my book 1 part that show authors craft is when Dave and Patsy are arguing about money. The authors craft that was used was he used alot of dialouge. Using the dialouge shows how the conversation is going back and forth. Also there is alot of places where the author cuts off the sentence with a "--". THat shows the reader that they are cutting each other off. This effect the book by showing the relationship between the 2 characters is growing and changing.
ReplyDeleteOne part of my book where I found authors craft is where Bo talks about how his aunt is trying to dress him. He just wants to wear the clothes he's used to. The scentence was- "She wouldn't let me jump on the bed and she wanted to throw away the sweater Hornet gave me and she told me off because there was a little stain" -Bo indicated the size with his fingers- "and she kept wiping my face and she said horrible things about Prosper'. I think this is authors craft because Bo is using a run-on scentence to show how many things his aunt did that he didnt like and that he couldn't take it anymore and needed to get away from her. I think the author is trying to show how desperate Bo is.
ReplyDeleteA part of my book where I found authors craft was when Hornet left a note sitting in their home. The note was -" Someone at the door. Maybe police. Meet you at the emergency meeting point. Hornet."- I think that this is authors craft because Hornet is in trouble and this is how they showed it. I think this moment sounded very urgent and rushed. There wasn't any dialogue because it was a note for someone and it wasn't a conversation. I think this is authors craft because they wanted to make you want to read more and more.
ReplyDeleteThere were two of them, squatting on their haunches and peering down at the children with malevolent smiles, like gargoyles in business suit. This sentence is running on forever and took a while to read because you are so interested in it and you have to read it over if read to fast. Also if you skip a word you go back to the first word of the sentence.
ReplyDeleteSuprised though he was,the man still had hold of Sticky, and no doubt he would have returned to his handkerchief-attack with renewed vigor had not Reynie, at that exact moment, charged into him with outstreched arms, lowered head,and eyes squeezed tightly shut. You can tell the tone is intense because he has the hold of Sticky and wants to get out of there. So they feel like they are trapped.
ReplyDeletein my book (how to be a real person in 1 day)the author pulls the reader in with the chapter titles because all of the titles have thursday in it but the last is 3 weeks later another day
ReplyDeleteFIRST RESPONSE...In my book, Hold Me Tight, for the author's craft I found on page 62 it says,
ReplyDelete"So you were there the night your father left?" asks the policeman.
"Yes," I say.
"And you just let him walk out?"
"Yes."
"And you didn't grab his leg?"
"No."
"And stop him from leaving?"
"No."
"You do nothing?"
"Yes."
SECOND RESPONSE... The author was using short sentences and questions to make the story seem like it was a nervous part of the story.
In my book Griffin's Castle I noticed author's craft when the author told you that the lioness scared Gomer away from Dinah's house by usiong hints to make you know that and not really telling you the lioness scared Gomer away.
ReplyDeleteI am reading the book Griffin's Castle by:Jenny Nimmo. In the book the author let me know that Gomer was scared/afraid of something by using quck short sentences. The author used short sentences that made me think right away that Gomer want to leave because is afraid/scared.
ReplyDeleteIn my book "breaking Dawn" Before Alice Left she kept mentioning something about her book so when she did leave Bella knew that that was a hint so when she went to the book there where clues and directions for her.
ReplyDeleteIn my book End War ther author uses run-on sentences and 1 sentence per paragraph to point out inportant things.
ReplyDeleteHere's what I found in my book:
ReplyDeleteThe knife stood up straight in the center of the man's chest. The contents of Xion's mind emptied.
'Nobody should have suffered the travesty I witnessed today.' She turned away, sheathed her sword, and, in the process, gained the unwanted attention of a lone figure in the heavy mist. She turned, stared, and left him be.
'Never you mind, child. I am almost complete.'
I think the author was giving the paragraph a sense of mystery and becoming by using elongated sentences. This was from Diamond Keyhole by.....I don't know who it's by, really. I can't find a name.
-Formally Emily,
Fox O'Donnel
In my independent reading I am reading a book called What my Mother Doesn't Know, and in the book there are many author's Craft. One way that the author showed author's Craft was when the author made the text in poem form, it still had a lot of sentences, but it didn't have chapters, and it was more like a whole bunch of poems that had something related to each other put together in one book to show a story.But this isn't like a section in the story it's the whole book that is like this. This affected the reading because it was shorter, but even though it was shorter you really had to think, and use your shcema to figure out what the text really means, what the text is really saying, and why thier saying this.
ReplyDelete-SAMANTHA-
I let the dirty water run out of the sink, wiped my hands on the trailing end of the dish towel Sara was holding, shook my head,"Sara, why did you tell Aunt Mel that you were at the school library?" I think the author was trying to show the reader that one of the main characters (Lauren) was trying to fiqure out why the other main character (Sara) lied to the aunt.
ReplyDeleteIn my book, The Brothers K, I've noticed an unusual kind of craft not often found in these kinds of books. At this time, the character Irwin has been branded with the nickname, "the Hippie Churchill." Others see him as "a zany but genuine new brand of American social reformer, and even a legend in his own time." After earning these bold titles, many girls become attracted to him and he starts to have many love affairs with them. To Irwin, his life is perfect; he thinks that nothing can go wrong. He then becomes addicted to his relations and decides to take them another step further.
ReplyDeleteThe craft I have observed goes as follows (directly following the events above):
"Except that last step was hardly a step: it was
more
like
a
cliff."
The author in this example staggered the text by writing one word per line. As the reader reads this kind of structure, he/she physically feels like they are actually descending a cliff, while the character himself begins to experience an emotional and mental decline of sorts as well.
I my book TTYL (talk to you later)the auther used all aim language. As the reader I got confused in some parts, but after reading for awhile I got the book more. So that means the hole book was dialog.
ReplyDeleteNow that Alex could see the building for himself,he could only dscribe it as... crazy. I like how the author puts a pause between as and crazy. I think He did this because he wanted to show how Alex took a while to find the right word for descibing the school.
ReplyDeleteThe book I’m reading is called Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson.
ReplyDeleteFirst Response: “That doctor’s done me,” he murmured. “My ears is singing. Lay me back.” “Jim” he said, at length, “you saw that seafaring man today?”
Second Response: The author made the character’s dialogue sound wrong to show that the time period is during the 1500’s. Also, this shows that the characters did not get a good education.
In my book, HUSH, I've noticed that the author does something in this book that I've never seen in a book before. She splits the book into four parts and then puts a couple chapters in between. I find this method of writing very creative and useful, because it lets the reader know that the time period or something very important in the story has changed.
ReplyDeleteThe man,who was about forty,had yellow hair that he wore slicked back,and a face that was rapidly sinking into middle age, with puffy cheeks and a thick fatty neck. I think the author made this sentence so long by sticking cammas into it was to really describe the man in a highly deatailed way.
ReplyDeleteAnother method of writing that I noticed my author uses in my book, HUSH, is that she seperates a part of the book to tell the reader that the setting is going to change and the topic is changing as well. The symbol that the author uses to notify the reader is mountains. The mountains symbolize Tosiah's (main charecter) love for her home state Denver.
ReplyDeleteIn my book"The Spiderwick Chronicles" it shows authors craft by putting the story in first person.It also gives strong adjectives and nouns. For example in the story it says "The cold summer breeze blew across the hill and gave Simon a chill of fear. The benefit for the reader is that the reader sees what kind of scene he is in.
ReplyDeleteA possible Elizabeth name change....Liz, Lizzy, Lizzylu, Beth, Bethie, Betherino, Elizarino, Eliza, Liza, Zabeth (I relly like that one), El Clyde, Waldo, Richie (for richardson, not for the amount of money you have).
ReplyDeleteThe author in this example did a run on sentence because the character was giving nick names for another characters name. The character was giving nickname. I think that if this character was specking in a movie that they would be talking really fast.
The whole book is a structure of letter writing back and forth to two diffrent characters. This stucture the author did gets me closer to the characters. It does this by writing letters and reading the letters while writing them and it feels as if you are writing them yourself and as if you are included in the conversation.
ReplyDeleteIn my story the "Spiderwick Chronicles" the author also shows that the author uses long sentences.For example in the story in says"Man mom why do you always have to ruin my life,I hate you and I don't want to live with you I want to live with dad."
ReplyDeleteMiracle on 49th Street
ReplyDeleteThough she had to admit that it was preety cool to sit with the other kids and there parents inside the Celtics practice gym at the Sports Authority Training Center at HealthPoint, which did not so much sound like the name of a basketball court but the answer to some kind essay question.
I think that the author used such a long sentance because it was at the begining of the first page of the book and also to show how the character felt, which I think was exited.
Miracle on 49th Street
ReplyDeleteIn the book there are a few skips in beetween paragraphs.I think that the author does this because 1. he want to get the readers attention.
2. He wants to change a conversation or move onto something else
3. Because he swithes the location of where the things are occuring
The book that I am reading, entitled Prelude to Foundation, is about the life of a fictional man named Hari Seldon. A newspaper, entitled ENCYCLOPEDIA GALACTICA, featured an article about Hari's life. I have noticed that before every chapter the author puts at least six sentences quoted from this newspaper article about upcoming events in the chapter. Each chapter is based on a section in the article. The author gives the reader a preview of a section of the article then fully explains what is happening in the chapter. I think the author did this to get the reader's head into what is about to happen. This will make the reader want to read on. I thought this technique really worked. Whenever I started a new chapter I got excited to keep reading.
ReplyDelete"Their dresses, belted tightly about the waist and reaching nearly to their ankles, fell in crisp pleats and rustled when they walked, while there brown hair coiled in thick plaits on either side of their heads." In the story Prelude to Foundation, I noticed that this extremely long sentence was different than the rest of the text. I think the author made this sentence really long to explain in great detail what these two girls were doing. He needed this sentence to stand out so that the readers could visualize this image in their brain. This authors craft worked because I could really see the two girls walking past Hari.
ReplyDeleteIn my book "Scary Stories 3" this book shows authors craft by putting most of of his scaries bone chilling stories in very discribing strong adjetives and adverbs words. i think this would show the reader that he/he is in the scene with the character and action. The theme of my book is deffinitly really scary. For an example in one of the stories it says "Her eyes looked into his- and she vanished" the point of view character in my book is the third-person because the person that is telling the story isnt even in the book.
ReplyDelete"Shoes" he said
ReplyDelete"love"
Wendell nodded in agreement
" Los Angles "
" big "
" friendship "
" long -lasting "
" love "
" rare "
" why did you move to L.A? "
" to be uncomfortable. my whole life i have been safe, boring."
the author used short and one word answers to tell the reader that Jane is nervous but she also knows what she is doing in life.
In the book, When You Reach Me, I noticed when the author chose to use shortened dialogue when the main character, Miranda, describes her apartment and how her mother feels about it. She is describing it from a future point to someone unknown. At this point in the story, you don’t know who this person is.
ReplyDelete"At this point in the story, I used to try to think of someplace she could have put her coat, if only she had thought of it.
'Why didn’t you drape it over the rod in the hall closet?' I’d ask.
'Dusty,' she’d say.
'On the windowsill in the kitchen?'
'Dusty.'
'What about over the top of the bedroom door?'
'Couldn’t reach,' she’d say, 'and dusty."
The dialogue in this part of the story is choppy and terse to describe Miranda’s mother being fed up with their apartment. It lets the reader know that Miranda is also looking on the bright side of things because she is thinking about things to make her mother feel better. In this case, it’s somewhere to put her coat.
A section of my book where I observed author’s craft was when the main character in the book When You Reach Me, Miranda, is describing an extremely important event that changes the story. Miranda’s best friend, Sal is about to be hit by a truck. She describes the entire chapter in a numbered list (which is also craft), but I couldn’t write the whole thing so I just wrote the most important part.
ReplyDelete“26. My brain boomed inside my head: ‘Sal is going to die.’
27. ‘SAL IS GOING TO DIE.’
28. SAL
IS
GOING
TO
DIE”
The author of this book, Rebecca Stead, repeated the phrase, “Sal is going to die,” over and over and changed the format of those words to show Miranda’s realization of what is happening. It makes the readers focus on each word.
In my book, The Brothers K, I noticed that the author would switch the narrator throughout the story. While reading, I observed that the character, Kinkade, was telling the story about himself and his family from his own point of view (first person). In the next chapter, a different character like Everett would explain the situation from his perspective. In another chapter, Irwin would relate the story the way he sees it. As a result of the author reapetedly switching the narrators, the reader is able to fomulate opinions based on all the varying views of the characters. This in turn allows the reader to connect and relate more deeply to the characters. He/she can agree or disagree with what the narrators are saying and become more intimately involved in the unfolding storylines.
ReplyDeleteThis is my second response, this is from Samantha Carter.
ReplyDeleteI am reading this book called what my Mother doesn’t know, and I noticed one author’s craft that really stood out to me, in this author’s craft the author put the words in a form that constructed a picture that had to do with the words that made up the picture. Below is an Example from the text:
I was making strikes like no tomorrow, everything went well,
Even the pizza there was good the night was perfect.
But the only part of the night that made
the night go wrong was what he
had to say at the end of the
the night,“ I’m moving”
and the night was
over. I had one
strike out,
“Boom.”
And as u can see the author’s craft shows a picture using the letters but also had something to do with the point of this short paragraph. Also you can see what I mean when I said in my first response how poem like my story really looks, because many poems do the same by putting pictures in their writing like as seen in the example from the text.
-SAMANTHA CARTER-
One of the thing that I saw my author using author's craft was "when Attila was still a young boy, the huns and other barbarian tribes began to challenge the two parts of the Roman Empire-the East Roman Empire and the West Roman Empire." I think that the author was trying to use something else instead of camma's. I also think that the author was trying to show that you can use other things in a sentence then a camma. The other sentence is "they made one treaty that would change Attlia's life:It called for attila to be a hostage in the West Roman Empire." I think that the author used the: in a sentence to make seem like there was to sentences but it's only one.
ReplyDeleteI have been reading my IRB more frequently than usual, and noticed a few different things that really bugged me. Here they are (In chronological order):
ReplyDeletePg 256- Xion had no place to escape to. She felt tears ambush her eyes. 'No,' Thought Raix, 'She will not die. Not yet...' his voice trailed off someplace far behind his subconscious.
Pg 290("She" is Xion)- The pain ate away at her until her stomach practically imploded. She groped silently in the darkness. She smelled blood. She gagged and coughed in her cot for at least thirty minutes. In the other tent, for the first time in many years, Raix fell into the wooden floor, and cried.
I think the author was trying to create a sense of desperation and things to come shortly by the differentiated sentence length.
Also, you say Xion like(See-one), and you say Raix like(Ri-kes).....Very odd pronunciations for the names in this book....
-Formally Emily,
Fox O'Donnel
In my book the author uses ellipsis to show how the character is thinking about something really carefully. Cadel, aka- Evil Genius, is trying to figure out a plan in how to get rid of his four college teachers, and while he's thinking, the author used ellipsis after each thought Cadel had but didn't like. This craft can show you that the character is thinking critically or trying to perfect something before they say or do something.
ReplyDeleteIn my book, The Secrets of my Hollywood Life, the author Jen Calonita uses a big chunk of dialog of what the character Kaitlin is saying what she wants to do and the other character her best friend has to tell her she’s babbling and she has to stop. This shows me that that’s how the author describes her excited.
ReplyDelete-Kaitlyn Berry
I sang along a little. I drove a lot.I didn't cry some more. The author's craft right here is to show me that the girl Dulcie is a little scared she didnt cry, she sang a long a little. I think this is showing she is a little scared because of the three really short sentences in a row.
ReplyDeleteThey said they'd never been out of the cottage, they hadn't seen Teresa, they didnt know why she took the canoe. Thats why they never came back here... they were scared of what they'd done.
ReplyDeleteThis shows me that the author is making the book more dramatic.
In my book, Deep and Dark and Dangerous, I realised that the author is using long sentences. for example: I raised my hand to slap her face, but she spun out of my reach, laughing.
ReplyDelete'I hated to swim. I've always hated to swim. I don't know why. I'm not very good at it.'
ReplyDeleteI think the author uses these very short sentences to show how really uncomfortable Katia is with swimming.
'The other story Sergei told me was that in the winter his parents sent him to some sort of camp where children took naps outdoors in hammocks- outdoors in winter where it must have been freezing-, but the sun was alwys so bright as it reflected off the snow that Sergei and the other children had to shut their eyes against it and then they quickly fell asleep.'
ReplyDeleteI notice that this is all one sentence. I am really quite confused about why the author wrote it in one big run-on-sentence.
Maybe it was because she wanted the reader to know the way the story went by putting it in one sentence.
"Couldnt stand still. I'd burn.
ReplyDeleteCouldn't move to the sides. I'd burn.
Couldn't retreat. I'd burn."
I think the author put this in to show that any which way darren went, he would burn.
"How bad.... Am I... Burnt?"
ReplyDelete"You look.... Like an... Overcooked sausage."
"Will... I heal?
"Yes.
I think the author put this in because he wanted to show how badly Darren was burnt and how exhausted he was.
In my book, "A Series of Unfortunant Events, The Austere Academy" I realized that the pictures in the beginning of every chapter told what the chapter would be about. On one of the chapters, the picture was of a man playing the violin, the chapter was about that man having violin concerts for 6 hours a night every night. Another example is that there was a picture of crabs on hay and dripping fungus on the ceiling. The chapter was about Violet, Klause, and Sunny living in a shack were they slept on hay, crabs crawled around on the floor, and fungus dripped from the ceiling.
ReplyDeleteIn my book "A Series of Unfortunant Events, The Austere Academy" there are many auther's crafts. One of them is that all of his notimportant characters only do one thing. For example, Ms. Bass is one of the teachers and all she does is measure, Mr. Remora is another teacher and all he does is tell stories, Uncle Monty is from the second book and he was only ubsessed with reptiles, I think that Lemony Snicket does this on purpose like the pictures of the chapter to tell what will happen. So I realized that any character that mainly does one thing will either die or won't be part of the main conflict.
ReplyDeleteRESPONSE 1:
ReplyDeleteIn my book "Switched" by R.L. Stine. Nicole Darwin switches bodies with her best friend Lucy and Nicole finds Lucy's parents dead. When Nicole (in Lucy's body) went home to Lucy's house she found her (Lucy's) parents dead on the floor with blood everywhere, on that page the author wrote: The Kramers. Lucy's parents. Murdered. Dead on the living room floor. He wrote that in there to show how really scared she was and she couldnt speak full sentences like her mind was going crazy, having so much thoughts she couldnt think straight.
RESPONSE 2:
In one part of the book after what Nicole finds she keeps repeating Lucy's name, the author wrote that to show how scared and nervous she was and that she just wanted the picture of the thing that happened out of her head.
-Nicole Pieta :]
In my book "Poison" the author uses very long compound sentences alot. Ex 1: The village was built on stilts,a multitude of interlinked wooden platforms that sprawled over a murky and weed-choked lake, dodging between enormous corkscrew trees and grassy landbars that bulked out of the browny-grey lake.
ReplyDeleteEx 2: Sometimes these landbars were swallowed by the water when it rose up the stilts almost to the levels of the houses, and sometimes the lake oozed so low that it was possible to see the dark shapes of the things that swam there, waiting to catch up the unwary.
I think the author uses these long sentences alot because he wants the reader to get past this part of the book fast.
In my book "Poison" the author doesn't use dialogue, he uses: "he said, she said".
ReplyDeleteEx: Better than Poison, he said. What do you care? she replied.
I think the author does this to show that this happened a while ago and he is re-telling the story.
In the book I'm reading, The Pretty Committee Strikes Back, I noticed the author made this girl Carrie's dialoge with no spaces to show how fast she talks.
ReplyDeleteExample of Carrie speaking:
"MassieIloveyournecklaces."Carrie gushed.
Also in this little portion there is another use of authors craft that I just noticed. Instead of saying Carrie said the author chose to say gushed to show how the character was feeling about what she was saying.
In my book My Sister's Keeper I've noticed that the author has put different people as the narrator for each chapter.
ReplyDeleteI noticed that in a section in my book the author made the dialog short to show that it was tence in the room.
ReplyDeleteIn my book "Evil Genius," an author's craft would be how she uses run on sentences, but not when the main charater is exicted but while he is anrgy. This shows the reader that Cadel, the main character, has strong emotions.
ReplyDeleteIn the book I'm reading, The Pretty Committee Strikes Back, I noticed that the author spelled certain words wrong and added hyphans to the middle of words to emphisize how the person talking would sound like in real life.
ReplyDeleteAn example is:
"Daaa-aad" Massie groaned.
Or:
"Kuh-Laire!" Massie snapped.
This authors craft also shows the characters additude about what they are saying.
In the book "Burn" I noticed author's craft when I was looking at the back of the book it reads...
ReplyDelete"I killed someone today
The thought curls around his brain,
picks at it like a piece of flint.
His head hurts.
Hurts worse than it ever did.
I KILLED SOMEONE."
I think the author changed the font to make it dramatic to draw the reader’s attention and to make the words stick out so you have to read them, and it worked. I later learned that the words on the back were actually in the story and that told me that what the back read was the main topic of the book.
-Kim Guthrie
Another time I noticed author's craft in the book Burn was when the narrator said
ReplyDelete"She didn't just look into his eyes, she dove in. Stayed. Searched."
These two short sentences tell me that the narrator was trying to find a word to fit the look that Cameron's mother was giving Cameron and the way she searched for an answer.
-Kim Guthrie
In this section in my book, the author kept making some parts of her sentences bold. I noticed that in that sentences that had the bold lettering the author was often telling you something important or set the mood or tone of that one section.
ReplyDeleteThough there was another kind of fireworks.
The kind that explode in your chest.
And here’s why:
I MET SOMEONE.
In that one part of the book it was telling an important detail that this girl Colby met someone, and after that it went on describing who she met.
Response 1:
ReplyDeleteIn my book the authors craft I have found;
"Lame!" Massie barked.
HUH?"
"How could they do this?"
Clair rolled her eyes
"I've been violate"
"But-"
"All the more reason to claim our table"
In this section the authors craft is that they are mad. You can tell because of the short sentences and what they say.
Response 2:
"Puh-lease." Massie montioned.
"What about the welcome-back breakfast?" Dylan said.
"What about your diet?" Alicia countered.
"What about coughing up the cash to paw for the rest of those boots?" Messie giggled.
In this section the author craft is that they are fooling around. I can tell by the humor of the sentences.
In the book, Holes, I noticed that my character Stanley was very thirsty when he finally found Zero. "B-o-y.....am......I......g-lad...to...see...you."The author shows how thirsty Stanley is by breaking up one sentence into many syllables. This clearly shows that Stanley is so thirsty he couldn't finish a sentence normally. By writing like this the author lets the reader understand clearly what is happening because every reader has experience this situation before.
ReplyDelete1. In my book (Sand Dollar Summer) the author has shown that something serious has happened and wanted to explain it nicely and calmly to the children because the officer doesnt want them to be worried. The author uses seperations between the words.
ReplyDelete2. Also in my book (Sand Dollar Summer) the author also uses run on sentences to she that the mother is going to be fine and that she doesnt want them to be scared.
-TYHASIAH BELL-
" My Father?" I asked,completely bewildered. "Poseidon," said Chiron. "Earthshake, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God." The author put this example in with all the commas and quatations and all the different names to show the reader how powerful of a God Poseidon really is.
ReplyDeleteNicholas Mikelinich
Thunder rumbled across the valley. The storm clouds had now reached the edge of the beach. As far as I could see the sky and sea were boiling together. The author put this example in this book to show the strength of the two gods.The author wanted the reader to see just how strong the two different gods actually are that even the sky and the sea are affected.
ReplyDeleteNicholas Mikelinich
The book I am reading King George III is a biography about King George III. Throughout the book the author uses quotes to really make you understand how people felt about him. For example “tyrant”, “unfit to be the ruler of a free people”. You really feel the emotions when you read these phrases.
ReplyDelete-Michael McKay
The law required Americans to pay for an official seal - or stamp - that would be attached to all legal documents, newspapers, almanacs, and playing cards. In the story King George III this sentence added a dramatic detail to the story about the Stamp Act.
ReplyDelete-Michael McKay
In the book Test, I don't like that the author uses really long chapters and sentences. I do like that it is very suspensful and I like the plot alot
ReplyDelete"What did it look like"? dad asked.
ReplyDelete"egg shaped and like lizards circling in the middle".
"Replico"! dad said softly as he stopped eating and turned pale.
You can tell dad is worried by the way he said "replico" and his actions after he said it.
the author used short sentences in my book to deskribe the character feelings and he result of the conflict.
ReplyDeletein my book the author uses a lot of ? marks and ! points this means that the character is demanding and curius.
In chapter 10 of my book the author Rick Riordam writes in the first person style meaning the main character (Percy) is telling the story . He is very heavy telling on description .He also tends 2-3 commas as punctuation per sentence while is paragraphs are long,chapters read very fast and short.
ReplyDeleteI noticed in another book I was reading that the author used authors craft by using symbols to show the setting or point or view of characters were changing. Usually the symbol was like three little tents that showed this change.
ReplyDeleteMichelle H.
Response 1:
ReplyDeleteMy book "Fruit Basket" is not written like your typical novel. The author chooses to write this story like a comic book. She uses picture cells and conversation balloons instead of writing it like a regular novel. The author chose this style so that it people who don't like to read books filled with lots of words, might like reading these books that are filled with pictures. It makes reading much more interesting.
Response 2:
In my book "Fruit Basket", the author also chose to start the book from the back of the book. The reader starts at the end of the book and reads to the front. The cells on each page are set up differently than an American comic books, she gives you a diagram explaining how to read her books. The author has done this to let the reader understand how things are done in her culture, Japan. In Japan they read from right to left, opposite of how we read in the US. It makes reading not boring but like a game.
Home run.
ReplyDeleteHome strech.
Home town.
Home free.
The author did this to show what the character was writing on the post card. To make it stand out more then just writing it all in one sentence, all together.
The Magician's Nephew
ReplyDelete"Where is the Magician who has called me into this world?"
" Ah-ah-Madam," gasped Uncle Andrew, " I am most honoured - highly gratified - a most unexpected pleasure - if only i had the opportunity to make preperations - I-I-. I think the author wrote it like this to show how scared Uncle Andrew was.
The Magician's Nephew
ReplyDeleteIn one section of my book after Digory, Polly, and the Witch come back to London there is a huge paragraph with no dialogue. I think the author did this to describe how Uncle Andrew felt about the Witch and to describe what was going on at London.
In my book Snapshots,the author doesnt write chapters and puts there name instead,it can get confusing but when I start reading i get it.
ReplyDeleteFor exaple,in the book Snapshots the author put Jen if Jen is The one whos talking,It affects the reading Because at times you might think someone else is talking.
ReplyDeleteIn my book, The Secrets of my Hollywood Life, the author Jen Calonita has the main character say brief and small talk. This shows me that the author is describing how mad she is at her mom.
ReplyDelete-Kaitlyn Berry
From my book " A long way gone" the author said, Above, vultures circled,preparing to descend on the body as well. I realized that the author is telling what the vultures are going to do next.
ReplyDeleteWhen the author said,There were no footprints to be seen, and the only sounds I heard were those of my breathing and my footsteps. It shows that the author is all alone with no other human beings around him. He made the sentence sound not boring by adding some details instead of saying, "I'm all alone, no one is near me or approaching me."
In the book im reading alabama Moon, Mr.Carter tells Hal to sleep outside and this is the conversation that follows.
ReplyDelete"Are you serious"
"Now"
"You can't do that"
"Says who?"
"Says...Well you just can't"
"Now"
In the conversation Mr.Carters responses are very short only one or two words. This shows me that Mr.Carter isn't going to put up with Hals whineing
In my book The Legend of Drizzt I did not think I could find the author’s craft. I was utterly wrong. There are three parts in my book that really stand out. These parts are when Drizzt is talking back to the reader about his thoughts on the part that is coming up. He’s saying what he thinks and is usually trying to prove a point. There always seems to be a meaning for the reader in it. An example of this is found on pages 119-125. Since these parts are long I am only going to re-type some of it so here it is. “He wants to go home. He wants to find a world he once knew. I know not if it is the promise of riches or of simplicity that now drives Bruenor. He wants to go and find Mithral Hall, to clear it of whatever monsters might now inhabit the place, to reclaim it for Clan Battlehammer. On the surface that desire seems a reasonable, even noble, thing. We all quest for adventure, and for those whose families have lived in noble tradition, the desire to avenge a wrong and restore family name and position cannot be underestimated. Our road to Mithral Hall will not likely be an easy one. Many dangerous, uncivilized lands lay between Icewind Dale and the region far to the east of Luskan, and certainly that road promises to become even darker if we do find the entrance to those lost dwarven mines. But I am surrounded by capable and powerful friends, and so I fear no monster- none that we can fight with sword, at least. No, my one fear concerning this journey we undertake is a fear for Bruenor Battlehammer. He wants to go home, and there are many good reasons why he should. There remains one good reason why he should not, and if that reason, nostalgia, is the source of his desire, then I fear he will be bitterly disappointed”. Like I said earlier, I think that this part is here to give a lesson to the reader and to also explain what will happen in the upcoming chapters and to express Drizzt’s ideas towards it.
ReplyDeleteLater on in my book I also found Author’s Craft. In this part of the story Alustriel is telling Drizzt, Bruenor, Wulfgar and Regis what she knows of Mithral Hall. She tells that she has read a little bit about it in the Vault of Sages (a giant library). She tells them of the general area because it doesn’t say exactly where the mines are, but this makes Bruenor really happy anyway. The next paragraph is then made of one sentence. It is Bruenor mumbling on about how happy he is to go home. Since there were no periods it made the reader know that Bruenor was as excited as a little kid getting a lollipop or going to the park.
ReplyDeleteI've read another book called the 39 clues and when somelady steals Amys necklace they run after her. This is a description of there au pair running.
ReplyDeleteNellie passed him easily, even with saladin's cat carry swinging back and forth in one hand, her over stuffed backpack, and their duffel slamming against her hip with every step.
This is a long sentence showing that Nellie is very athletic and strong.
in my book the author uses big words to describe one word sadness fireheart is feeling misery and isolated because he is a what you call kittypet a non clanborn cat who is alienated because he was not clanborn
ReplyDeleteKerry Nash
one chapter in my book chapter chapter 30 was really long to explain a battle and firehearts clans past and how its coming back to destroy them and that was im guessing the author trying to tell me or other readers something
ReplyDeleteKerry Nash
In the book "my sisters keeper" Jodi Picult uses craft by having a different charater narate each chapter. I think she does this so the reader can get many different opinions and point of views a very contriversial topic. For example, when Anna narates she complains on never having choice on going through countless surgeries to help her sister Kate who has lukimia. However when you read Sara's point of view (Anna and Kate's mother) you will see of how hard it is having a daughter with lukimia, and how she would do any thing for her daughter to be healthy.
ReplyDeleteIn the book my sister's keeper, I notice that the author decides to use alot of flashbacks on things that have happened to them in the past. Sometimes they will have nothing to do with the topic at hand. I think Jodi Picoult uses these flash backs in order for the reader to get to know the character or what emotions they have experienced through different events.
ReplyDeleteFor Example:
In my mind, I can still remember those lights-red and blue and yellow blinking over on a tree overdressed as an Eskimo in Bali. So christmas morning, my parents came to my neighbors to collect me. They look like hell, the both of them, but when they bring me home there are presents under the tree. I'm all excited and I find one with my name on it. It ends up to be a little wind up car that would have been great for a three year old but not me. I also knew it was on sale at the hospital gift shop. As was every single other gift. Go figures. They never even said any thing about the tree.
This flashback shows me that Jesse feels that his parents are too stressed out about Kate and barely even notice him. In this case they didn't even notice that Jesse set up a christmas tree to try to bring spirit into their home. This flashback makes me have alot of empathy for Jesse's situation.
I was reading My story when Griffin would ask Olivia questions and she would give one worded answers. It showed me the author wanted to make Olivia look uncomfortable and uninterested in the conversation.
ReplyDeleteWhen Olivia calls Griffin my lord or nothing at all it shows me that She doesn't wan't there to be any kind of a relationship between them. She wants distance and to be distant she has to be formal.The way the author showed that was by the way Olivia called Griffin.
ReplyDeleteMy keen retailer's eye found the chocolate loafers, size 13, I slid the ladder to the Nikes, grabbed two boxes of easy walkers (white and beige) size 4 1/2 narrow, pushed again to women's saddles, found the waxhides, size 7, rode the ladder to the door one-handed.
ReplyDeleteI think the was trying to show how excited the character was when they saw the new pair of shoes.
(RESPONSE 1)
ReplyDelete"You havethat look."
"The one where i just got up and im eating my breakfast?" Hutch said. "That look?"
"the look where somethings bothering you."
"Nope."
"if there is. . ."
"youll be the first to know."
"Right," she said smiling again.
the author shows how someone is feeling by talking about there expresions.
(RESPONSE 2)
Single.
Double!
Triple!!
HOMERUN!!!
The game had only started about five minutes ago, and hutch realized that they were already up by one.
the authour shows hutch's emotions by using endmarks.