Blog Post #4: This Reminds Me...Making Connections

     Since the start of the year, we have been examining different motifs and patterns developed in ancient stories and how these patterns are duplicated in our contemporary storytelling. These motifs and patterns help us to connect strongly to past and present stories. We have seen this week how J.K Rowling connects and synthesizes her knowledge of ancient stories and history with details from her own life to create the fictional world of Harry Potter. The 100+ million readers of the Harry Potter series have certainly shown us that this can be a powerful connection.

This week I want you to write a blog post where you discuss a part of your novel that reminds you of something else or connects in some way to a personal experience, to what is going on in the world, or to another text (media, digital or written).

What I want you to do is make a personal, textual,
and/or worldly connection to the novel you are reading.

By discussing these connections,  you will be showing how you can synthesize (= bring together unlike or like parts to make meaning) concepts and texts.

AS PROCESS:

If you are not familiar with the novel The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, watch this winning video made for the book as an entry for a contest.

Then watch this interview with Markus Zusak, author of The Book Thief. Listen carefully for insights into the connections he has made to the reality of his own life, and then presented as fiction in his award winning novel.

NOW COMPOSE YOUR POST: 

Step 1:  To begin your entry, select a brief quotation (20-30 words) from the section of your book that connects you to some other experience. Be sure that you use "quotation marks" around the direct quotation, and that you provide a proper citation following the quote using the correct format (Author's Last Name, Title Page #) .

Step 2: In the body of your entry,  make the connection you have made clear to your readers (max 100 words). Here you are to explain with specific details the type of connection you are making to your novel. 

Step 3:  Add an image, a video or a link to text that illustrates or emphasizes the connection you have just made with your novel.  

A good introduction to posting videos is to use a video from youtube.com.   Here's how you do it. 

• On the posting  tool bar, select the director's clapboard and this will take you to the necessary page.  
• Select "From YouTube", then type in your search words.  Choose a video and then press the "select button".  This action will immediately paste the video into your post.  Voilà!

To get you started, think about how you would finish this paragraph:

The (character, event, place) reminds me of (a place, a real event, another person/character, another text, a real world situation) in the following ways . . . . 
__________________________________________________

Here are two student samples, one with a video and one with a link to a newspaper article:

Student #1

"Reef takes a deep breath. 'I need you to stay away from the street kids who hang out at Safe Haven Unitarian Church on Eighth Avenue Southeast' '" (Aker, The Fifth Rule 5).
 

From this story of a teenage boy trying to improve his life after years of overcoming obstacles, I am seeing an excellent example of a significant character trait from real life.  In this section of the novel, I see how Reef the main character has done some bad things in his life, but he has changed over the last 10 years. He learns from the his past and tries to be a better person. In doing so, he develops the character traits of perseverance, and being kind and caring person to others.   This gives hope to teen readers who may be struggling with social issues like drug and alcohol abuse. 

I think the outcome of the character (Reef) will be a positive one because he has learned from his mistakes and he is trying to be a better person which will help in his future and in the story.  

As a text to another text connection, I picked the song "The Climb" because the song is about falling down, but it also says to never give up and to keep climbing until you get to the top.  Reef doesn't give up, even when he fails,  and he keeps climbing until he achieves his goal.

Student #2 

" Illegal Fireworks Suspected in Church Blaze: Pastor Injured

Wrightsville Beach, NC - A fire destroyed historic First Baptist Church on New Year's Eve, and investigators suspect illegal fireworks" (Sparks, The Last Song 3).

One of the main events that happens in this book is the fire that burns down the church. It connects many of the other events  that happen in the novel. Two teenage boys used illegal fireworks and were responsible for the fire. This reminds me of a newspaper article I read about two men in east Texas who were charged with intentionally setting fire to a church and were suspected in a string of similar blazes. The outbreak started with a fire set New Year's Day, which is also similar to the book because the fire in the novel was set New Years' Eve. This is one of the text - to - world connections I made while reading The Last Song.