Literary+Lumminary

Week 1:

Confusing: A couple paragraphs that stuck out to me was on page 19 to page 20, and it was paragraphs 4 through 7. I got really lost while reading these paragraphs. I thought they were confusing because it keeps referring back to the word "you" and I do not know who "you" is. Here are a couple of lines from these paragraphs, "So I am tying and untying knots, and seeing if it helps me solve my problem, which is you.", "If you just wanted to know what happened that day this past winter, it would be easy. Not fun but easy." Those are some of the lines that really got my confused.

Repetitive: On pages 21-22, and in paragraphs 3-6 the author uses the phrase "The day Sal got punched" many times. A couple examples are, "The day Sal go punched, there was no ice on the ground because it was only October.", or "The day Sal got punch, the boys by the garage were hanging out, as usual." I found it very repetitive and sort of annoying because, it's not very fun to listen to the same thing over and over again.

Funny: On page 18 and in paragraph two, I thought it was sort of funny in a way, because I can just imagine a man like that and doing those crazy things. "It's crazy the things a person can pretend not to notice." I agree a lot with that sentence. I know when I am walking in public, it is sort of awkward. A sentence I thought was funny was, "And sometimes he would be hitting himself on the head with his fists." I found it funny because its kind of weird to think of a man doing that here in Ripon. (Lauren)

Comments: I agree with the first paragraph for sure the word "you" seems to be very difficult for me to put into context, the author should have used names more often. Don't you think? Lauren I also agree with your second paragraph because using the "Sal got punched" line repeatedly is kind of driving me crazy. My opinion is that the author could have used different words to represent the same thing... Agreed? Haha I very much love your third paragraph, to see a man hitting himself here in Ripon would for sure be akward and possibly a bit funny. I love reading your writing, you are an awesome literary luminary! Good job. Taylor

Good job Lauren! In your first paragraph, you said that the author was saying "you" a lot. I think it is refering to us, or the audience. I guess it is just the author trying to connect to the readers. Yes, it is a little confusing though. I completely agree with your Repetiteve paragraph. The author does use "The day Sal got punched" a lot. I'm making an inference that it must be a very important event, otherwise, the author wouldn't mention it as much as the author does. I think it is pretty funny to see a man hitting himself on the head. It would be a little sad, but funny! I agree with that sentence too! Now that I think about it, we are constantly pretending we don' notice things. It's weird how much we pretend in our day-to-day lives. Also, good response Taylor! You had a lot of details that helped me think other ways! :) (Marissa)

= WEEK 2! = **Funny** : On page 34 paragraph 3, i thought it was funny how Julia was obsessing over the color of her paper. She was in 2nd grade so it seems funny to me that she knows exactly the color of her skin and eyes. "Cafe au lait" skin and "sixty-percent-cacao-chocolate" eyes. I don't think i knew what those things meant in 2nd grade so i found that funny,

**Surprising** : I thought it was surprising on page 45 paragraph 3, that the school had a dentist. I mean it is kind of a good idea for families with not much money and i understand why they do it but i was still surprised to hear that a school actually had a dentist. I have never heard of a school dentist until now

**Descriptive** : Page 32 paragraph 3. The author described Sal's and Miranda's apartments in this paragraph. When they talked about how the floor in the bathroom had tiles that made shapes, i could definetly picture what they looked like. Even though they said you could never explain how they looked, I think i have a pretty clear picture of what it was. (Sarah)

I really agree with you, like how Julia wanted the color that match her skin color instead of just taking brown. I was surprised too how the school had a dentist for kids. On the last one i really agree that made me make a picture of the shapes of the tile.(Bella)

I completely agree with you Sarah! Your connections are amazing. I found your first paragraph funny too!!! I mean I don't even know the EXACT color of my skin and eyes either. And I'm in 7th grade. I was surprised too! I had to reread it to make sure my eyes weren't playing a trick on me. I think we think that it is odd because we don't have a dentist in our school. I think that I have a picture too! I have a picture because of how descriptive the author described it. (Marissa)

Week 3 Interesting- Page 89 paragraph 3. I thought it was interesting how Annemarie sat in her seat as if she was frozen for a while because Julia was there with a carton of milk in her hand and then how Julia was all nice to Miranda.(Bella

Funny- Page 88 paragraph 1. I thought is was funny how a naked man was running around Broadway for the second time and how Colin said " Kind of cold to be running around in your birthday suit." (Bella) Descriptive- page 65 last paragraph. I found that it was very decriptive because it said how she notied for the first time that big flakes of paint was hanging form the ceiling and how a black spot next to the radiator where dripping water had stained the wood. It made a picture in my mind of those things.(Bella)

Great passages! I thought that your "Interesting" paragraph was right. I mean if my friend was acting all weird like that I would be panicking. I found it interesting that Miranda was just sitting there, and not doing anything. Although what could she do to help? I found the "Funny" paragraph super funny too! If I were Literary Luminary this week, the funny passage would be the one I would choose too!! Haha I really get a picture in my mind when I read that too! It was a good imagery use by the author. (Marissa)

Good paragraph selection Bella, I agree with both of you, the intersting passage was for sure interseting. Marissa you had a good point about how you can get a good picture while reading that part of the author's writing. Bella, great job picking accurate paragraphs to meet the topic word. Great comments Marissa! You both did awesome :) (Taylor)

WEEK 5-

"Everthing started to spin. I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the cold metal of the mailbox. When I opened my eyes, I was staring at four words scratched into the blue mailbox paint. They were stacked on top of another:" Book Bag Pocket Shoe I found it interesting how Miranda wasn't looking for Sal or Marcus. She just kinda sat there. If I were in her position I would be panicking!! I also found this descriptive. I got a great picture in my mind. I chose this passage because it was **powerful, interesting, and it gave me a picture of what was going on.**

"When I walked by him a minute later, the laughing man was shaking his fist at the sky and kicking his legs out into the traffic rushing up Amsterdam Avenure. A few cars honked at him. When he saw me, he pointed and yelled, "Smart kid! Smart kid!"

**I found this passage funny!** I mean, he stole the money and stuff, but if some homeless guy was yelling "Smart kid! Smart kid!" to you, wouldn't you find it funny? I would.

"Ten days of silence had grown into a question that my brain shouted inside my head" "Is Annemarie even your friend anymore?" I chose this passage because I think we can all relate to it. We have all got in fights with our friends, and we have all questioned ourselves if they are even your friend anymore. I think this passage was also very sad because Miranda is alone with these notes she is getting, and now she hasn't seen her best friend in ten days. It's gotta be hard on her. (Marissa) Week 6:

Page 187, top paragraph: "Mom is jumping up and down, and I hear the sound of hundreds of people cheering and clapping, lifting me like a wave and carrying me." This passage, I found scary because imagine if you were just sitting and all of a sudden you are lifted up and away among many cheering strangers, wouldn't you be a little scared. I would be.

Page 183, top 2 paragraphs: When Mira, Richard and Mira's mom go to Sal's door and his mom is all jumpy and excited, and then Sal said that she had been like that all morning. Wouldn't it be pretty funny if your mom was just jumping around and being really hyper. Personally I think that would be pretty funny.

Page 193, when Mira says that Marcus watched his own death it is surprising to think of that situation in that way. That was surprising to me. If I watcvhed my own death I would be terrified... actually I wouldn't know what to, it would be possibly a good thing because you could prepare and prevent your death in the future if you recieved that chance tot do so :) (Taylor)

Comments:

Great job choosing paragraphs, I can totally agree with all of them. You did an amazing job. You truly showed your understanding for this job this week. :) (Lauren)

Wow! Great job. I agree with everything you've said but one really stands out to me. Your last one. If I saw my own death I would do everything to avoid dying,. The only thing is, Marcus doesn't know that the laughing man is him in the future. Right?! (Marissa)