Animal Farm Review

Today our group did a review on the first chapter of the classic book, "Animal Farm" written by George Owell. The story is set in a Farm somewhere in England, in a farm owned by someone named Mr. Jones. It's a pretty ordinary farm, and you can find animals there in any other - horses, cows, dogs, cats, pigs, hens, sheep, donkeys, ducks, etc. Now there is this pig which everyone calls Major, and is respected by all the animals in the farm. One night, he holds a meeting in the barn after Mr. Jones falls asleep and starts talking about the utter cruelty of Men. It talks about how it wants to teach the next generations about their cruelty and someone will hopefully start a rebellion. The animals all agreed to this idea. Then, Major taught them a song it heard during its childhood which all came back to it the night before in a dream. The song is about animals rebelling against Men and finally obtaining absolute freedom. The chapter ends when Mr. Jones hears the commotion in the Barn (animal singing) and shoots a couple of bullets into the darkness, causing the animals to retreat to their sleeping posts.

The characters in this story are mostly animals, so it's really interesting to see human beings from an animal's point of perspective. I also like how he portrays the animals to a point where we start feeling sorry for them, and the way they think about us humans - just because a group of people (Mr. Jones and his farmers) are treating them badly, doesn't mean the whole race is as evil. This is what causes rebellions and wars in reality; the author is just trying to convey this to us through his book.

The genre of this book is fiction, but then is still thought-provoking because it makes people think of the possibility of the animal rebellion turning into reality. Actually, this was what generated the most discussion in today's literature circle. We agreed that animals have feelings and thoughts just like us human beings, so there is a chance that they might actually start a rebellion. We were tempted to read the rest of the book to see what happens next.

I would recommend this book to older people, maybe teenagers and above, due to the complicated language that is used. Also, the story has content that you have to read between the lines in order to understand completely, so it will be difficult for a young child to fully enjoy this book. The storyline is great though, and the author's style of writing is really interesting. Really thought-provoking, read this and you will definitely feel wiser when you finish!

Examination Day Review

Today our group did a review on a story called "Examination Day". It's about a Boy called 'Dick' who is celebrating his 12th Birthday when his parents suddenly tell him about this Governmental Test he has to take that day. He keeps asking them about what the Examination would be about, but all they said is that it's an IQ Test to see how smart he is. A few hours later, he is brought to a room inside a Government Building and is sat in front of a high-technology machine which gives out all the questions. Hours later, his parents were informed of his execution due to his high IQ Level. The story ends there.

"Examination Day" has a really good twist in the ending that shocks and surprises us - I bet most of us didn't see the execution coming. Due to the somewhat scary close to this short story, I think it is considered in the suspense or thrill genre.

The story is set in a town where the Government takes control of everything and rules over the place. There are a lot of countries now which are in this state in the real world, but no such things as discrimination against gifted children. Also, according to the text, the people in the town have pretty poor lifestyles and the Jordans' house is really small. This may have been caused by the Government retrieving more than enough taxes from its people, or because there are no clever people in town to think of further economic development.

From today's group discussion, we decided that the most intriguing element of the story was: why is the Government doing this? Is it because they don't want people to take over control of the town? That's the answer we came up with after a thorough discussion, but it may not be right.

I would recommend this story to people who love suspense/thrill genre books. The realistic description of the tragical event, the horrifying twist at the ending... Fits perfectly into the category. A pretty easy read, grab a copy and start reading now!

Literature Circle Reflections?

I can only find one literature circle reflection. Where are the others please?

More Bits Of An Autobiography I May Not Write Review

Today our group did a review on a story called "More Bits Of An Autobiography I May Not Write". It is basically about a father in a not-so-ordinary household who talks about his various memories of his life. In the story, we find out that whatever he does is really weird and idiotic, like when he fed his goldfish cat food or when he accidentally bought an airplane.

The characters in the story are pretty unique: the father's personality is like a child's, while his children's personalities are like adults'. The way the author wrote is really interesting as well. He kept jumping from one memory (story) to another, as if the father's mind is all jumbled up. Also, these weird but fascinating stories include a lot of laughter and humor in them - the author has succeeded in writing a comedy genre book.

From today's group discussion, we decided that the most intriguing element of this story was: why does the father behave this way? Maybe he has some kind of disease? Maybe this is just his characteristic? But whatever the reason, this craziness makes the story interesting, so our group was interested in knowing the answer.

If you love comedy or simply want to have a laugh, this story is for you! The father's daily encounters are not your ordinary ones - whatever he does turns the whole thing upside down! Hilarious content, read this and it'll brighten up your day!

The Walk of Death Review

Today my group did a review on a small part of a story called "The Walk of Death". The story is about this boy called Kevin who wants to join a gang, and the leaders of the gang, Doc and Salom, test him to see if he can qualify. They bring him to the top floor of an abandoned mansion and a bottomless chasm awaited them. They urged Kevin to cross it using only a narrow wooden beam, then they would accept him as a fully-paid up member of the gang. Just when he was choosing whether to cross or not, the part ended.

The characters in the story were very realistic, and there are people like them in the outside world. For example, Kevin, while he was going up the abandoned mansion blindfolded, he was imagining creepy things following him, the stairs crumbling in front of him, etc. The way the author describes the setting sends a chill down our spines, and obviously he has succeeded in writing a suspense story. The events which happened in the story are actually quite common in real life; a lot of people want to join gangs to get attention and become popular - as a result, they are forced to do ridiculous things and end up getting badly injured or even die!

From today's group discussion, we concluded that the last phrase that the leader of the gang, Salom, said was a really important element of the story: "welcome, to the Walk Of Death." That was the cliffhanger which makes the readers want to read the rest of the novel.

I would recommend this story to people who love thrills and excitement, because this story has a fantastic cliffhanger and makes people want to read the rest of the story; also, the plot is about the characters going to a dark, abandoned mansion and getting into a life or death situation, therefore suited for those kinds of people.

Much Ado About Nothing - Summary

KWL - Much Ado