Lowther

//**__Journal Entry Marlfox January 6, 2010__**//


 * //1. Why did you pick this novel to read? Does it meet your expectations?//**

I chose this book because for a long time I have been reading the Redwall Series and I love how Brian Jacques describes the images and how he develops the characters. There is no specific order to these books so I did not just choose this book because it was the next in the series. I just find a book that looks interesting and I try it. There has never been one of his books that disappointed me so I can really choose any one and like it. This book defiantly meets expectations because it is just like all of Brian Jacques books. He carefully describes each group of characters then later in the book shows how they all relate. I also like how he shows each side of the story by writing from the villains prospective too. I love Brian Jacques’ books and hope to read them all.

__//**Journal Entry Marlfox Jan. 7, 2010**//__


 * //1. Select a character and state their goal. Discuss their thoughts feelings and motivations in relation to their goal.//**

For my character I am not choosing one but many similar characters all travelling together. The Marlfoxs. They are a group of albino foxes that are all under the rule of the Queen Marlfox named Queen Silth. This group of foxes are special because they are very dangerous with their axes and they are extremely stealthy so they can disappear into the woods without a trace. They are trying to rob Redwall so that they can bring back all of the Abby’s beautiful things to queen Silth. She is striving to have the most beautiful kingdom in all of Mossflower. She lives on a secret island surrounded by a secret lake, which is only inhabited by the Queen and her seven Marlfox brood. They make water rats be their slaves. The Queen is only happy if she is surrounded by perfect beauty and serenity. She is willing to have any beast killed in order to take their beautiful possessions. The seven Marlfox minions are only doing her bidding because they know she will be dead soon and they will have all of the wondrous riches to themselves. These creatures are on a mission that will surly bring harm to other creatures.

__//**Journal Entry Marlfox Jan. 11, 2010**//__

9. **//What are your favorite lines/quotes? Copy them into your reading log/journal and explain why these passages caught your attention.//**

I really like some of the thing that the creatures of Redwall say. Each different animal has a different dialect so it makes the book interesting to see what kind of styles of speech each animal has. These are some example lines.

Hares: (Florain Dugglewolf Wilffachops) “Great seasons o’ sausages, you blitherin’ bangtailed buffoon! Why did y’let the bally bench drop! Wot!”

Moles: (Foremole Gubbio) “Hurr, woe be us’n’s, oi’ll wager yon creature’s gurtly ‘ungered!”

“Dibbuns” or baby creatures: (Dwopple) “Runkatippo dropped ee pebble onna ground. Tis unner ‘is footpaw!”

These different styles of talking make the characters more life like and give them personality. It makes the book easier to read because you automatically know exactly what animals are talking. It can be difficult to read styles like mole but once you get the hang of it, it is fun to read.

__//**Journal Entry Marlfox Jan. 13, 2010**//__


 * //11. Who else should read this book? Should anyone not be encouraged to read this book? Why? Would you recommend the book to a friend or fellow classmate?//**

I think that the Redwall series of books would be excellent for lots of different kinds of people. People who like animals would especially like them because it is like having a world populated entirely by animals. There is also lots of adventure and war in these books so they are very exciting to read. Redwall is also a very clean book to read. There is rarely any swearing in the book and the wars aren’t very gory. Both male and females can read this book because they are written to be interesting to both genders. Red wall is an exiting book for anyone who loves adventure, excitement, and a good humorous book.

__//**Journal Entry Marlfox Jan. 15, 2010**//__


 * //1. What emotions did the book invoke: laughter, tears, smiles, anger? Or, was the book just boring and meaningless? Record some of your reactions.//**

Redwall books are never meaningless and they always seem to invoke some kind of emotion. The way that they use the language in this book is probably what is funny about it. The way the characters talk is humorous. Once you get to know the character a bit more you feel sad when something bad happens to them and you really just want them to end up having a good normal life in the end and it makes you very happy when they do. Sometimes though the end isn’t happy and it makes you sad to see that even after the character sacrifices so much, he still doesn’t get the life he has always dreamed of. There are so many emotions that you can feel if you really get to know the characters in the book and it makes the book more interesting, not just boring and meaningless. I have reacted all of these ways before so I can easily relate to what they feel like. Strong emotions can make a book much more interesting.

__**//J//**//**ournal Entry Marlfox Jan. 18, 2010**//__


 * //1. Would you like to read more books by this author? Have you already read other books by the author? Why or why not?//**

I love Brian Jacques’ books. They are always interesting and they are just on of those books that you cannot put down. Brian has a whole series of books called Redwall. They are not all using the same characters but they all take place at Redwall Abby. Rather then having one continuous story that he has to write about Brian Jacques makes a lot of different events that happen at a common place. These stories connect only through the creatures of Redwall’s history. I have read some of his books and would defiantly read more. I like how he gives you lots of stories rather then just one long one. These kind can be kind of boring. It also makes it easy to read them because there is really no specific order that they have to be read in. I really enjoy the way he writes his books so I will keep reading more books from the Redwall series.

__//**J**////**ournal Entry Marlfox Jan. 20, 2010**//__


 * //1. Write about the characters? Which one is your favorite? Is there a character you hate/detest/despise? Why? What traits could you change about the characters that would change how you think about them? Do you think that any of the characters represent real people? Does anything about a particular character seem to be related to the author's true personality--who the writer is?//**

//Marlfoxes//- Albino Foxes- (Queen Silth, Ascrod, Vannan, Gelltor, Predak, Mokkan, Lantur, Ziral)- These special albino foxes are the villains in the book. The last 7 of them are the only brood of Queen Silth. Theses foxes live on an island surrounded by a secret lake. They use the water rats as servants and to them are considered magic because of their superior stealth. The 7 brothers and sisters are out on a quest to find beautiful things for their mother, Queen Silth. She has an obsession of being surrounded by beauty, peace, and serenity. The Marlfoxes know that some of the most beautiful things in Mossflower Wood are inside Redwall Abby. They will use any means necessary to get the wonders from the Abby to their secret island.

//Song//-Squirrel- Songbreeze Swifteye is a young squirrel, who before coming to Redwall Abby was a wandering creature that lived with her father Janglur, mother Rimrose, and Grandmother Ellayo. When the marlfoxes stole the tapestry of “Martin the Warrior” (a great warrior mouse who was the founder of Redwall Abby) from the Abby, she Danflor, and Dippler, went out to bring it back.

//Danflor//- Squirrel- Danflor Reguba is a young squirrel who came to Redwall Abby with his father Rusvul Reguba when his mother died. Both Song and Dan’s parents are warriors so Dan feels very pressured about living up to his father’s expectations. He partly wants to prove to his father that he is a real Reguba (warrior) so he goes with his two friends to find the tapestry of “Martin the Warrior”.

//Dippler//- Guosim Shrew- Dippler was not a very popular Guosim Shrew because a Marlfox managed to steal the logboats while he was standing guard. The shrew’s chieftain Log a Log felt protective over him so the young shrew was never badly hurt for sleeping on duty and loosing the ever-precious boats. The Guosim Shrews traveled to Redwall with Janglur Swifteye to warn the Abby-dwellers of the Marlfoxes roaming Mossflower Wood.

//Burble//- Riverhead Vole- Burble met up with the trio while they were traveling to get the Tapestry. He is a very talkative vole and was fed up with his tribe so he helped the trio take the vole tribe’s prized boat and decided to join them on their quest.

I like the four characters who are traveling to get the tapestry they best. They are always cheerful and i am always wanting to read more about them. I don't like the Marlfoxes but the characters are very good for them. They are mysterious and violent and they fit the job well. The marlfoxes are a lot like robbers because they will do anything in their power to get what they want whether it is killing or fooling the other person. I don't really know much about the author but he seems like he really likes peace because he does a lot of his writing about how happy and peaceful the creatures of Redwall are.

__//**Journal Entry Marlfox Jan. 22, 2010**//__

I don’t like one of the scenes inside the forest when all of the characters have to hide underneath a log away from a lot of mutant frogs. When I was about 4 I went to my grandparents andI was going out to look for carrots but I got lost so I kept walking until it got dark. Unfortunately I tripped on a log and twisted my ankle and had to sit beside the rotting log. I wish they hadn’t made the characters have to sit beside the log for so long. I would have preferred that they had to hide under a rock.
 * //1. If you were the author, would you have changed the name of a character, or altered the location of a scene? What does the name mean to you? Do you have a negative connotation associated with the name (or the place)? What would you name the character instead? What would you use as a setting?//**

__**Journal Entry Marlfox Jan. 25, 2010**__

Sometimes I wonder why some characters have certain fears. For example, a major part of my book is that the Marlfoxes are going out into Mossflower Wood in order to fid beautiful things. The Queen Silth loves and needs to be surrounded by beautiful things and is striving to make the secret island of the Marlfoxes the most beautiful place of all. She is also very disturbed by loud sounds and needs to constantly be surrounded by peace and tranquility. Even things like thunderstorms she cannot tolerate, so she has her water rat servants sing to her so the sound of the storm will be over-run. I sometimes wonder what it was that made her so sensitive to these sorts of things. She couldn’t have just been born that way. One of her daughters Lantur decided that she wanted to kill the Queen Silth so she could take over rule of the island. She used a sheet covered in fish scales that shimmered in the moonlight who she called the white ghost. Apparently the white ghost was supposed to be a albino badger lord who was possessed by blood-wrath (this word is pretty self explanatory). Something in the queens past made her deathly afraid of this image. This is one of the mysteries in the book that I hope to find out by reading more.
 * //1. Is there an idea in the book that makes you stop and think, or prompts questions? Identify the idea and explain your responses.//**

__//**Journal Entry Marlfoxes Jan. 27, 2010**//__

//**1. Would you like to be one of the characters (acquire a personality trait)? Which of the characters would you become, if you could? Why? If there's something about the character that you'd want to change, what is it?**//

If I could choose a character to be it would be Cregga badger mum. She was one a badger lord of Salamandastron, commanding hundreds of the Long Patrol Hares. Her name then was Cregga Rose-eyes for the blood wrath that possessed her. This means she will do anything in her power to kill the Vermin who roamed the forests. Once she had overcome her blood wrath, she wanted a life of peace so she went to Redwall Abby. Although she was blinded in battle she was still very capable of living happily in the Abby. Cregga became a very caring, loving creature that the dibbuns adored. I like her personality a lot because she has lots of courage and skill with decisions and war but she is very gentle and loving. The dibbuns always look up to her and respect her but she has authority over them and can always make them behave. I really like the mixture between strength and courage and loving compassion.

__//**Journal Entry Marlfox Feb.4, 2010**//__


 * //1. Sometimes books touch you, reminding you of your own life, as part of the larger human experience. Are there connections between the book and your own life? Or, does the book remind you of an event (or events) that happened to someone you know? Does the book remind you of what happened in another book you've read?//**

My cousin in California told me once about a time when her class was fighting about who would get elected for Student council. Three different people wanted to be elected but only one could be chosen. The class voted and a boy was chosen but the other two students were not very happy. They got into a big fight for the power. This is kind of like what happened in my book just not as violent. The Marlfoxes were trying to kill each other for the power of ruling the island. It also reminders me of the book Martian the warrior when Badrang and Tranum Clogg are fighting to become rulers of Marshank.

__//**Current Events Feb.5**//__

//**3 Truck Crash Killed 2 near Revelstoke, BC**//

A three tractor trailer crash killed 2 Calgary men at 2:00 PM Wednesday when the vehicles crashed directly into each other.Thrans Canada was shut downafter the crash but was re-opened again at 11:00 AM. The two Calgary men were driving erratically directly before the crash. The victims were a 29 year old and a 39 year old. The residents say they need a better highway system. The road has not been upgraded since the 1960 and is said to be in serious need of an upgrade. The people say that this accident could have been avoided if the road was more modern.

Reflect: If this had happened to someone I knew I would want the roads re-done for the safety of others. I also would probably be quite mad at the government for not noticing the age of the road. If the accident could have been avoided if the road was better taken care of I would have partly blamed the government for the death of my friend.

__//**The Giver Feb. 9, 2010**//__ __//**Page 1**//__

//**1) After analyzing the book's appearance, what clues does it give you? 2) The tone of the book after listening to the first page? 3) What do you think this book is about? Predict!**//

I personally think that this book is about a boy named Jonas, who lives in a town that is being cut off from the rest of civilization for some reason. They are being kept away from emotions like fear and pain. I think there is a man who knows the truth about the world around them but cannot tell the town. Jonas might have to learn the secrets that the old man know so that he can take his job when the man dies. The first page kind of makes you feel scared with the people because they are seeing a plane fly over their town for the first time. It also makes you feel interested like the people probably were about why the plane was there. The old man on the cover of this book look very worried about something that is probably going to happen. There is also a piece on the cover that looks like burning trees so it could be inferring that there is destruction of the community in the future.