Lit Circle Review: The Book Thief

After finishing the book, I can't help but say enough good things about it. I chose to read this book because of my interest in the Holocaust, and I am very pleased in this decision. I thought the book was beautifully written, and I would like to read others by this author. I loved the point of view that the book was written in, and how even someone like Death could be made to be such a likeable character.

We chose to set up our lit circle as a movie production. On the first day of the meetings, we talked about the different roles that needed to be involved in this kind of circle. Since there were so few of us in our group, we decided on the most important roles to creating the movie, and divided ourselves up to include these roles. I was in charge of drawing up the scenes that would be used in creating a movie from the book. I thought this was a great role for me, as I feel much more comfortable with creating something through art rather than through writing. I am much more confident in my abilities when I am able to take the time to create something through drawing, or photography, etc, rather than by writing a paper, and I feel like this is one reason why this kind of lit circle would work well in schools; It creates a variety of roles that students with a variety of abilities would be able to work well with. It offers the chance for all students to do well, even if they aren't comfortable with certain roles, by giving them other roles within their comfort zones.

During the second meeting, we shared everything that we had worked on. We talked about the importance of each piece that we brought in, and why we chose to focus on the things that we did, and choose the things that we did for this particular movie production. It was good to be able to talk to everyone about it, and show the information with everyone to be able to get more ideas from each other and to help us to all be on the same page as far as what we thought should go into this kind of production.

The third meeting involved mostly our talking about how much we enjoyed the book, and how much we thought it was a great selection for the assignment. In the end, there were some differing opinions about whether or not the book should be turned into a movie. I personally believe that it would be interesting to see how it would be put together into a movie, and in many ways, could see it happening. However I, along with others in the group, worry that this is a book that is so excellent, that a movie could never do it justice, and would never be able to measure up. But I am still so interested as to how they would portray the character of Death, and who would play his character. I wonder if he would be a voice, or a passer-by in the background, or an actual character that comes into view often in the movie. I think that is what I would most like to see in this ever becoming a movie.

All in all I really thought the book was spectacular, and I can see myself reading it again, unlike many stories I've read. It is a book that almost makes me wish that I would later be working with older students so that I would be able to use it in my own classroom, if not by just having it in my classroom library for students to pick up at their own leisure. I would definitely recommend it to others, and am glad that I was introduced to it.

Literature Circle Reflection - The City of Ember

I really enjoyed our literature circle on the book “The City of Ember”. We chose to do the movie production literature circle. We set it up by splitting the book in half and having chapters 1-10 read for the first circle meeting and chapters 11-20 read for the second. We then assigned roles by writing the roles on cards and picking one. We chose to combine the role of director and manager because we felt it was the same, and it also gave us 8 roles. That was perfect for our 8 member group. We also decided to have different roles for the second meeting and drew cards again so people could move forward if needed.

Meeting #1
For the first meeting we went outside and shared our role products. We started with sharing our reactions to the first half of the book. We discussed how many of us were trying to decipher the message with Lina and Doon, how we imaged the city of Ember to look like, our reactions and feelings to Granny dying, and asked questions like where do they go to the bathroom and what is in the unknown region? We then went through the roles starting with the Critic. This girl needed to summarize each chapter. We felt this was a great place to start our discussion because it provided us with a review of what happened in the first 10 chapters. I went next. My role was the Storyboard artist. I had to summarize the book, but in pictures. So I drew pictures of the important scenes. We then went through the other roles; the Casting Director sharing her choice of actors to play the characters, the Production Manager who made a collage of pictures describing the scenery and props one would need for a movie production, the Soundtrack Designer deciding to use instrumental music to show the deep feelings the people of Ember experienced, the Dialogue Director who went through the book and picked out important dialogue one would include in the movie production, the Analyst who found the common themes in the book, and finally the Director who presented us with questions either we could answer or a teacher could present to their students.

Meeting #2
This meeting was much more open than the first one. I think this was because we were familiar with the format of the literature circle, but also because we all knew everyone had finished the book and we could finally all discuss it. This meeting started off with us discussing the ending of the book. We shared our feelings, questions, and reactions to this book. We then discussed what we thought was impossible or ridiculous asking questions like where do they get oxygen, where do they put the people who pass away, and how perfect it was that they find a hole that leads to Ember and they can drop the note they forget to leave? Next we discussed Lina, Doon, and Poppy’s entrance into the new world and how funny it was that Lina thought the new world was bright and it was just nighttime, why this underground city was built and what they were escaping, and how many of us wanted to read the next 3 books. Many of us had the first chapter to the second book in our book and we discussed how we were curious how the people of Ember were settling into the new world.

After discussing our reactions, we went through the roles in the same order as the first time. First the Critic went and summarized the second half of the book, then the Storyboard Artist sharing her summary in pictures. Next I went sharing my choice of actors for the 4 characters that reappeared in the book this time having a bigger role than in the first half of the book. Then the Soundtrack artist shared her CD of music for the second half of the book. We listened to this CD while we finished the roles. Finally, the Production Artist, Dialogue Director, Analyst, and Director went. In this circle meeting, you asked us to discuss how our format worked and to come up with some Frequently Asked Questions. We discussed how we all enjoyed doing the literature circle as a movie production and how we would do this with our future students. We talked about how we would use this book for 5th or 6th graders and split the chapters into smaller chunks. We also discussed how interesting it was to switch the roles and how we would do this with our students, as well as grouping them. We enjoyed this format of the literature circle and felt it offered other intelligences and cooperation.

Final Reflection
I really enjoyed the book “The City of Ember”. I was totally hooked and could not put this book down. I wanted to know how Lina and Doon got out of Ember and what the instructions said. I ended up finishing the book before our first literature circle. My book also had the first chapter of the second book in the end. I read it and hope to read the other three books. If I ever teach older grades, I would use this book in my curriculum.

I also really enjoyed doing the literature circle in the format of a movie production. This format made the assignment of discussing and reading a book feel less like work and more interesting. I was interested to see what the other girls had produced and what they would bring to the circle meetings. I also liked how this format was a group contribution. Everyone worked together to create a “movie production”. I would definitely use this format with my future students because it makes reading a book a little more interesting, offers children the possibilities of working through many intelligences, and gives the students something to work towards.

The strengths of a movie production literature circle are the possibilities of hitting the Multiple Intelligences, the product the students produce, the knowledge and comprehension they gain, and guideline worksheets provided that describe and guide students in their roles. Some weaknesses are this production may take a lot of effort and time with students and there were many roles. This may be overwhelming for some students. Some modifications I would do for implementing this into my classroom is grouping students into groups where they are assigned one role, switching the roles, and assigning less chapters.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and literature circle and plan to do this in my future classroom.

Lit. Circle: Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate

I loved this book! As a genre, verse novels appeal to me because poems employ language in a way that astounds me with its beauty, unique word choice, exceptional description and gorgeous figurative language. I appreciate the sensitivity to the characters which are often found in verse novels. By their very nature, verse novels seem more introspective. They require engagement by the reader in a way that prose often does not. Generally, in verse novels, the action happens within the characters’ consciousness. It is in consciousness where the character struggles, works through dilemmas, grows and triumphs. As a reader I enjoy the privilege of peeking into a character’s deepest thoughts and emotions. Home of the Brave never let me down. It is a sensitive novel about Kek, a Somali boy, who witnesses his family and many members of his village being killed in a war that is senseless to him. He and his mother escape to a refugee camp but they are not safe there, either. During one incident of violence he and his mother are separated. He is sent to Minneapolis to live with his aunt and cousin, also recent refugees. The book chronicles Kek’s first glimpse of America from when the ‘flying boat’ lands on the tarmac and traces his journey forward into a new life of public school, apartment buildings, technology, and friendships and his journey backwards into longing for his family and the familiarity and comfort of his homeland.

Our literature circle was comprised of three people. We found we were all in awe of the way the author used the language of poetry to communicate Kek’s experiences. Our conversation was natural and flowed. In fact, we started the discussion informally because we were overflowing with a need to discuss the novel and didn’t need a formal direction. After a few minutes of sharing our thoughts about the novel, we decided we needed to regroup and actually focus on the roles we had chosen. We found we were all drawn to the role of literary luminary because of the figurative language the author uses was so touching. Towards the end of the discussion we relinquished our roles again and discussed ways to use this novel in teaching school as a model of what authors do to ‘show’ and not ‘tell’. I thought the literature discussion worked well for our group. None of us felt the movie-themed discussion would have worked well for this novel because most of the action occurs within Kek’s thoughts.

For our next discussion, we all switched roles. The discussion director and literary luminary were still represented but the illustrator chose to move on to the task of researcher because she was interested in finding out more about the Somali situation. Because the book is so rich in imagery and figurative language the literary luminary had to constantly pick and choose the best of the best of gorgeous phrases to share. Being a verse novel, it is rather spare in words, therefore it lends itself to performative thinking where the author hands the reader the job of moving beyond the written words to thinking more deeply about the situation presented. As discussion director for the second literature circle, I developed discussion questions that focused on higher order thinking skills; questions which would make the participant think deeply and connect with the characters or experience the book in some way. I also developed questions that focused on analysis of the text, the meaning of the symbols, and the author’s intentions in employing these devices. It was wonderful to have Logan and Kristin to bounce ideas off of and to discuss this book with. It was wonderful to have others to work with to try to discuss and figure out some of the symbolism in the book. There was one point in the book where I was stumped in trying to figure out why the author included a particular description. One of the other group members shared her ideas and helped me to understand the symbolism better. I was grateful that Kristin brought her research of the Somali culture to the group. I believe literature circles, with proper monitoring by a teacher, are rich and rewarding response devices for those who are reading beyond the third grade level.

I love discussing literature with others and thoroughly enjoyed being part of this literature circle.

Movie Lit Circle: The City of Ember

For the literature circles my group read The City of Ember, an amazing book that I think any middle school or upper elementary students would immediately become interested in. The story follows two strong characters, a boy and a girl, so I think that makes it really appealing to both genders because they have a protagonist that they can relate to. I think this book was sort of a cliff hanger, in that each chapter ended in a way that made me want to continue on and find out more. Even at the end of this book I am still left with questions about Lina and Doon and their escape from the city, so many questions that I actually just took the second book in the series out from the library today.

Our group decided to do a movie production literature circle, which I think worked really well with this text and with such a large group. I think it would be difficult to do a movie production lit circle with a smaller group, because there were so many important and interesting roles that it would be hard to eliminate any roles, although when we were talking as a group we thought it might be possible to combine some of the roles such as set designer and soundtrack producer. I really loved the enthusiasm that the members of this group brought to both of our literature circle meetings, every group member came prepared with some type of prop or insight to share with the group, which made the discussions go very smoothly and easily. I think with younger students you would have to provide a lot of modeling, teacher guidance, and examples before they could run a lit circle of this type on their own, and I think that the worksheets available online for each different role could be very helpful in that situation. I also think that once students see how their peers are handling different roles, they will be inspired to put their own spin on it. I really liked that we changed roles during this lit circle, because during the first meeting a group member would interpret their role one way, and during the next meeting someone else would interpret it completely differently.

Our discussions started with the director reading aloud their section summary, and then each group member worked their information smoothly into the discussion. The manager probed a deeper level of understanding of the text by asking important question as we discussed. I think the role of manager could be difficult for some children, so for the first few attempts at this type of lit circle the teacher might want to act as the manager, or specifically pick a student that might excel in that area. What I really love about this type of lit circle is the flexibility it provides for including multiple intelligences in the classroom. With this lit circle students can excel using linguistic, visual spatial and musical intelligences, all in one class activity.

As adults using this type of lit circle, all of the group members seemed to be excited and engaged about their observations and the products they created, and I can only imagine children having a similar if not more intense reaction. I also noticed that doing this type of lit circle really allowed me and some other group members to visualize the story and the setting a lot better. I think it was Elisabeth that pointed out that the book doesn’t mention very many colors, because the setting is really dark and dreary. This is an observation she probably would not have noticed, if she had not been imaging the text as a movie as she read.

Overall I would say that I thoroughly enjoyed both this lit circle experience and the book The City of Ember. I hope that this type of lit circle is something that I can try in my internship next year (with third graders) and if I do use this technique I think it will be very important to pick a book that can work well in this format. I would also really like to try creating a movie trailer, because I think it would just be awesome for the kids to see their movie ideas put into action.

Literature Circle Reflection: Home of the Brave

I really enjoyed doing the literature circle and I think my group will agree with me. Our book, Home of the Brave, was an amazing and happy story that made me able to really reflect on it. There are so many lines in the story that are so powerful, but short and to the point which were great to talk about in the literature circles because we could have sat there and talked about just one for hours. The way Katherine Applegate wrote the story of this boy in verse was really interesting also, because it let you connect to Kek (the boy) easier since it was really a personal narrative. Our group chose to not do the movie version of the literature circle because it really would not have worked with this style of book. It was too meaningful and personal to be made in to a movie and you wouldn’t be able to capture the magic of the book within film. Doing a traditional style lit circle worked out great! We were each able to choose certain roles that we wanted to touch on and that was wonderful. I was able to hear what each of my group members, Laura and Kristen, thought was special in the book. For our first meeting, Laura was the Literary Luminary, Kristen was the Illustrator and I took the role of Discussion Director. For our second meeting, I was the Literary Luminary; Kristen was the Researcher and Laura, the discussion director. I really liked how we split the roles up because it allowed us to all bring something to the table and show what stuck out to us in the book. Kristen’s drawing was very good and captured the scene perfectly while Laura’s questions were very well-thought out. I thought her questions allowed us really to reflect on this powerful story. Questions like “when do you think Kek becomes a man?” or “how would you feel if you were Ganwar with scars, no hand and black?” These questions brought up such good conversations within our group. I also enjoyed the fact that Kristen took the extra step as the researcher and found information about why cows are so special in Africa.
Overall, I really enjoyed this wonderful book and I thought the literature circles were great! They allowed us to discuss the details in depth with each other in this amazing story!

Book Thief Lit Circle

I liked doing the literature circles. We (The Book Thief) chose to do the movie version rather than the traditional lit. circle since we had all experienced them before. It was fun to try and think about how the movie would get turned into a book.
We did find that some tasks were a lot more involved (like the script writer) than others (the casting director). I also thought that some tasks were more school oriented and involved reading/writing while others were more fun, such as the casting.
Our group agreed that doing the literature circles as a movie is a great idea, however it would not work well with elementary school students. The movie idea would have to be done with middle or high school students and the students would need to be given specific directions. I did like the fact that the whole class could become involved with one book through the movie lit. circle. There were several different roles and many of the roles could be filled by two or three students.
Our group worked well together and it was a fun experience. I will keep this version of a literature circle in mind for future teaching.

Script: Hugo Cabret

Script: “The Flashback”

Book: Selznick, Brian. (2007). The Invention of Hugo Cabret. New York: Scholastic Press.

The script is based off of a passage from Chapter 5, “Papa Georges Made Movies”: (p. 365)

“You know, you never told me where you got the mechanical man.”
Hugo had never told anyone the whole story. It had been his secret for so long that he wasn’t sure he even had the words. But he looked at Isabelle, and it was as if he could feel all the cogs and wheels begin to engage in his mind, and the words suddenly came together. He related the whole story from his father’s discovery of the automaton up in the attic of the museum, to the fire, to the arrival and disappearance of his uncle. He told her about discovering the toys in her godfather’s booth and how he used them to fix the automaton. He told her everything.
When Hugo finished, Isabelle was quiet for a few moments then she said, “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For telling me.”


Characters:

Narrorator
Hugo Cabret
Hugo’s Father
Isabelle
Uncle Claude


Narrator: Later that day, Hugo returned to his room at the station only to be abruptly woken by a knock at the door. Hugo cautiously opened the squeaky door to find Isabelle standing there in the dark with a flashlight in her hand. They sat down and Isabelle finally asked Hugo the question she had been longing to find the answer to.

Isabelle: You know, you never told me exactly how you discovered the mechanical man and how it is you came to live in a train station.

Hugo: (NERVOUS) I don’t know if I’m ready to share my story with anyone

Isabelle: Come now, we are friends. And good friends share everything with each other.

Narrator: Hugo had never told anyone the WHOLE story before. But once he looked at Isabelle he gathered up the strength from inside him to share all that he could muster.

Hugo: All right I’ll tell you. As long as you promise that this conversation never leaves this room.

Isabelle: I promise.

FLASHBACK

Hugo’s Father: (VERY EXCITED) Captain! Wake up! I must share with you my good news.

Hugo: (STILL VERY SLEEPY): What? What is your amazing news?

Hugo’s Father: I found something wonderful tonight at the museum. Unknown to the others working in the museum, I ventured up into the attic and I found the most wonderful, complex machine I ever laid my eyes on.

Hugo: What is it?

Hugo’s Father: It is called an automaton. It is like a windup figure, like a music box or a toy but far more complex. This one has the ability to write, possibly some sort of secret note – but I cannot be too sure. It appears as though many of its pieces are missing and those pieces that are left have been rusted over for quite some time now.

Hugo: (BECOMING MORE ENERGIZED) Who do you think could have made such an enchanted device?

Hugo’s Father: Between you and me. (PAUSE) I think this automaton was created by a magician.

Hugo: A magician?!

Hugo's Father: Shhhh. Not so loud. Remember, this is our little secret.

FLASHFORWARD

Hugo: My father was a clock maker, and I believed that he was my very own personal magician. I knew that he could repair almost anything that he put his mind to.

Isabelle: (PUZZLED) So what did you do?

Hugo: I can remember pleading with my father to fix the automaton. I was captivated by the idea that a secret message could be waiting for my father and I once all of the pieces were back in place. (LOUD SIGH) Sadly, due to my own selfish need to see the automaton functioning properly my father began spending countless nights staying up late in his shop trying to solve the intricate mysterious networking within the contraption.

Isabelle: It sounds like your father truly loved you.

Hugo: (PAUSE) He most certainly did. He loved me so very much that for my next birthday he gave me a notebook filled with detailed drawings of the automaton and thorough drawings of pieces that would help me learn how to operate the device. He was the best father I could ever have asked for.

Isabelle: So that’s why you are so attached to that worn out notebook.

Hugo: (WITH A SLIGHT SMIRK ON HIS FACE) Exactly!

Isabelle: Wow. So what happened next? Was your father repair it for your birthday as well?

Hugo: (BEGINNING TO STUTTER) Well, n-n-not quite.

FLASHBACK

Narrator: It was the middle of the night and Hugo sat up in his bed anxiously waiting for his father’s return. His father had never been this late before. (PAUSE) All of a sudden there was a loud knock on Hugo’s front door.

Uncle Claude: (STUMBLING OVER HIS WORDS) HUGO…HUGO! It’s smmee. Your favorite Uncle. Uncle Claude. Does you hear me? I said, open up!

Narrator: Hugo was immediately startled to hear the voice of man that he detested. Yet he knew that Uncle Claude had always been there in the past when Hugo’s father needed him most.
Hugo: (TIMIDLY) Good evening Uncle Claude. What could possibly be happening at this hour of the night that you would need my assistance? My father has not even come home yet. Do you know where he could be – I’m worried.

Uncle Claude: Well, I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news my boy, but you see there was a terrible fire at the museum. And your father (PAUSE) – your father’s dead.

Hugo: *GASPS*

Uncle Claude: (BOASTFULLY) Well there is no time to lose. So let’s pack your things. Quickly, quickly now my boy. Seeing as I am your last living relative, you will be coming to live in the station with me. You’ll be my apprentice and take care of the clocks. Seeing as I am getting to old for this job you’ll take to it just fine. And the best part of all, no schooling required. Now how does that sound?

Hugo: (SPEAKING UNDER HIS BREATH) It’s all my fault.

FLASHFORWARD

Isabelle: Hugo – Hugo I’m so sorry. I had no idea that is how you came to live here.

Hugo: Well now you know, but please do not pity me. I have learned how to make a living on my own quite nicely.

Isabelle: All right then. (SARCASTICALLY) I’m sorry for trying to show a kind gesture towards your unfortunate situation. It won’t happen again I promise.

Hugo: Good, I’m glad.

Isabelle: (PUZZLED) So where is your uncle now?

Hugo: I wish I knew. For the first few weeks he taught me everything I needed to know about taking care of the clocks in this station. Then as time went on his drinking got worse and spent less and less time around the station until one night he too never returned.

Isabelle: That’s terrible!

Hugo: I’ve learned to accept it. I was never really fond of the man to begin with. He was blood related, but I never considered him family.

*PAUSE*

Isabelle: So what does all of this have to do with my Papa Georges' shop?

Hugo: Well, you see. I decided to go back and rummage through the remains of the museum and almost if by magic I found the automaton. I carried what remained of the damaged device and brought it back to the station.

Isabelle: So you thought that you could piece the automaton back together using parts from my godfather’s store and the clues that your father gave to you in that little notebook.

Hugo: Exactly! You are a lot smarter than I give you credit for.

Isabelle: Why thank you. (SARCASTICALLY) It’s a gift.

Narrator: Slowly the two began to realize that through honesty, trust, and a good sense of humor they were beginning to build the type of friendship that would last a lifetime.

Hugo: So you see Isabelle. Even though I knew that stealing from your godfather’s shop was wrong I had to know what secret message would be waiting for me if I could repair the automaton. I hope that you and your godfather can understand.

*LONG SILENT PAUSE*

Isabelle: Thank you

Hugo: For what?

Isabelle: For telling me.

*MY THOUGHTS: Although the size of the book seemed a bit daunting at first, I truly enjoyed reading The Invention of Hugo Cabret. I can remember seeing my little brother carrying around this book and thinking that he was reading something far too advanced for his age. However, I stand corrected and I can now see how my little brother fell in love with the courageous, rich, and witty main character. I also see how the detailed pictures truly enhance this particular chapter. The drawings particularly bring to life lots of the descriptive language Selznick uses throughout the book. He knew precisely where to place the pictures so the reader could get a visual of the automaton or the suspicious look that Isabelle was giving Hugo.

There certainly is a lot of dialogue that goes on between the main characters in the story which made it a bit more challenging to pick a specific section to turn into a radio script. However, I noticed that there was one part in Chapter 5 "Papa Georges Makes Movies" that remained vague and up for the reader's interpretation. I wanted to extend and recreate the dialogue that might have happened between Isabelle and Hugo if Selznick were to have elaborated on this chapter.

I highly recommend this chapter book to young readers that are looking for some new challenging vocabulary and love the idea of magic. I would recommend this book to advanced upper elementary students and all the way up to through the seventh grade. I think that this book can be interesting for both boys as well as girls and can present various challenges - whether it be length, vocabulary, comprehension, etc. for all types of young readers.

Movie Review - The City of Ember

For the final assignment, I chose to do a movie review. I read the book “The City of Ember” by Jeanne DuPrau, and watched the 2008 movie production “City of Ember”. The movie was very different from the book. While watching the movie, I jotted down similarities and differences, and there were many more differences than similarities. While the theme of the story was the same, the movie twisted the order of the plot in some places, gave existing characters more of a role, added new characters, props, and story lines, and the way Lina and Doon escape Ember is nothing like how they escape in the book. The movie was enjoyable, but I would say they are not similar stories except for Lina and Doon being assigned jobs, finding a box with instructions, and escaping Ember.

First the movie creates a new order of incidents in the storyline. In the book, Lina sends a message to the mayor on her first day regarding the shipment before the big 7 minute blackout. In the movie, the big 7 minute blackout happens before the message. Just this little switch makes the movie and book so different because once Lina and Doon find out the mayor is hiding resources in the movie, there is no time to be concerned or report him because the city is dying faster than in the book. Therefore, Lina and Doon never go the guards informing them about the mayor, and they are never wanted or accused of spreading vicious rumors. The way Lina is caught by the guards in the movie is because she goes to the mayor for help regarding the instructions and he wants the box for himself.

Second, the movie adds new props to the storyline and uses others less. In the movie, the instructions are the most important find and Lina, Doon, and others spend the whole book trying to decipher them. In the movie, the instructions act more as a map that Lina and Doon decipher as they discover the exit out of Ember. The instructions are not this interactive piece like they are in the book. The movie also adds new props. One added prop is a glass plate in the found box. Lina finds this glass plate in its own compartment in the box. When Lina visits the mayor to send him the message from Looper, she sees that he has one just like the one in the box and she steals it later during the blackout. They later find out that if you put the two glass plates together, it acts as a key to open doors and turn wheels. More on that later. Second, the movie introduced an answering machine tape that Lina plays for Poppy to help her sleep. On this tape is the voice of her father and a second man’s message which introduces a new storyline.

This leads me to the next difference, creating new storylines. The movie created new storylines that were not in the book. This really changed the movie and made it not like the book. First, we find out from Clary that Lina’s father was not just a greenhouse worker, but was trying to find a way out of Ember. He thought the way out was through the river, but drowned trying to figure it out. Also, through the answering machine tape, Doon finds out that his father was working with Lina’s father in finding a way out of Ember. Doon ends up telling his father about the instructions. In the book, Lina and Doon’s fathers are not at all involved in their escape from Ember.

A second storyline is the existence of a huge alien animal. When Lina and Doon go looking for tunnel 351, they see two men walking down a tunnel with a box, then suddenly see the men throw that box into the air and run from this huge alien animal. This animal is ugly. It is a mixture between an octopus and snake. This animal creature spots Lina and Doon, and chase after them through the tunnels of the Pipeworks. Lina and Doon do escape.

Finally, the third storyline that is created or completely different is the way Lina and Doon escape from Ember. To escape Ember in the book, Lina and Doon together decipher the message and find a ladder leading to a landing in the Pipeworks. Once they descend down the ladder, they find a room full of boats and boxes full of candles and matches. Lina and Doon figure out how to exit Ember, but save the news and plan to share it with everyone at the singing. Once Lina is captured and the last blackout happens at the singing, Lina and Doon decide to escape Ember and inform the others how to escape later. They escape down the river in the boat, come to the end of the river, find a book and plaque with instructions on the wall, and climb a path for many hours until they reach the top and enter the new world.

In the movie during the blackout, Lina steals the glass piece from the mayor and escapes from the town hall. The guards are now after Lina and Doon. Lina and Doon hid out in the greenhouse, where they find a contraptions Lina’s father built. Together they ride the contraption out of the greenhouse, grab Poppy, and go into the Pipeworks. While in the Pipeworks, Lina and Doon put the two glass pieces together and it makes a symbol that Doon recognizes to be on the generator. They go to the generator and the door is locked. They again put the two pieces of glass together and it acts as the key to open the generator door. Once the door is open, Lina looks at the instructions and notices that the floor of the generator room is the exact shape as the instructions. She stands on the mapped floor and sees an arrow pointing to the lockers. Doon beats the lockers and one pops out with the word “Boat” painted on the side. They read the instructions and learn that they need to turn a wheel. Unlike the book where the characters spend many days trying to decipher the instructions, Lina and Doon decode them while escaping. They then turn the wheel and it puts the boats on a track that takes them through the generator room, down a slope, and into the river. But the problem is the boat gets crushed by the turning water wheel in the river. They again look at the instructions and learn that they need to set the water wheel gears to certain water level settings. They then enter the control panel room, opened by the glass key again, and turn the water wheel gear which lowers one water wheel and attempts to raise the water level by turning another water wheel on.

Here is where we meet a new character in the movie named Sul who is not even named in the book. A problem arises when one of the water wheels does not turn and the water level does not go up. Doon goes to his boss Sul and together they pry open the gears and higher the water level. Quickly Doon, Lina, and Poppy jump in the boat and are pushed down the river by a big wave. Here they travel down the ragging river just like in the book. Yet, the movie creates a new scene and jumps back to the City of Ember where they show the singing and water rising from the ground. The mayor, unsure of what is happening, runs to the Pipeworks and locks himself in the supply closet with all the food. Here the big alien animal shows up and eats the mayor. This was definitely not in the book.

Now Back to Lina, Doon, and Poppy where they arrive at the end of the river and now find the candles and matches. In the book, Lina and Doon find the boxes of candles, matches, and supply of boats in a room behind the falls of the river. But in the movie, Doon, Lina, and Poppy find the candles at the end of the river, climb stairs instead of a path, and enter a room full of tables and chairs. When they walk out of the room into the outside world, Lina is disappointed and says they walked into darkness. In the book, Lina feels overjoyed and happy to enter a freshly smelling new world. But then the sun rises, Lina sees a blue sky, and feels happy. All of a sudden they see a huge bird fly into a hole in the ground. They look in the hole and see it is Ember. Here, just like the book, Doon and Lina send a message wrapped around a rock down to the City of Ember. But instead of Mrs. Murdo finding it like in the book, Doon’s father finds it and the movie ends here just like the book.

After reading the book and watching the movie, I feel that the book is more enjoyable. The book creates more of a suspenseful mystery readers can interact with more than the movie. The book presents the reader with the message and offers them the opportunity to decipher it with Lina and Doon. Also the book presents readers with the shady, unknown character in tunnel 351 and allows the reader to become a detective and figure out who that character is. In the movie, the journey to find the exit out of Ember was not as suspenseful. The instructions are not as important and there was no feeling of suspense or urge to keep watching to see if they escape. The storyline and suspense does not build enough like it does in the book and the exit out of Ember happens so quickly instead of the characters working and leading up to leaving the city. I do have to say I feel that the movie did a nice job of creating the image of the City of Ember. While reading the book, I created an image of Ember in my head as this cave like city that was dirty, musty, and not so colorful. I feel that the movie captured this. The movie really created an underground city that was dirty and powered by lights. All in all, I feel that the movie does present an interesting story of an underground world, just in a very different way. I guess if you want to see a movie where the mayor get eaten by an alien animal and interesting technology and mechanisms are used to help Lina and Doon escape from Ember then the movie version is for you. I enjoyed the movie, but would recommend the book to people any day.

Movie Review: City of Ember

Analytical Movie/Book Comparison: City of Ember

The City of Ember is a story of a crumbling underground city set in a dystopian future. It follows two early teens as they enter adulthood, realize what a dangerous and horrible situation their beloved city is in, and bravely set about trying to find a solution.

This story is an excellent book for young adults around the fifth or six grades, made so by the easy writing style of the author, and also by the author’s depiction of the main characters. The book is written in simple, descriptive sentences, with little in the way of confusing figurative language. This straightforward approach can be a relief for literal or struggling readers, and the story also grabs the attention and imagination of the reader. It is the main characters of Doon and Lina, however, that I believe are especially appreciated by early young adults. Doon and Lina are both twelve years old yet are graduating from their education and entering the adult workforce, and they maintain a level of maturity usually found (in Americans) at an age much older than twelve. This increased level of responsibility is something that modern Western society reserves for an older age, so it must be especially exciting for a pre-teen to see a character near to them in age in the role of an adult.

Interestingly, the movie version of this story chose to make Doon and Lina much older than twelve. Their ages are not specifically named but they appear to be about seventeen or eighteen years old, much closer to the modern perception of Western adults. I assume this to be a deliberate choice on the part of the movie producers to provide a more comfortable viewing experience for their viewers, rather than challenge subconscious social norms. The older-seeming characters take on additional responsibility and credit for moving along the plot, and rely less on their elders for assistance or advice.
My overall impression, having read both the book and viewed the movie, was that the movie managed to stay remarkably true to the book in terms of story. Unfortunately, as this is perhaps the first movie I have seen that did stay very close to the book, the movie felt disjointed and rushed to me, as if the scriptwriters had strung together a series of important scenes with only a few sentences of connecting dialogue. There were some interesting additions that appeared in the movie version to make for a more action-packed film and a more convenient plot cycle. The added explanation for the necessity of an underground city, for example, is the world “ending” in an enigmatic event. The resultant radiation of this unseen event results in enlarged versions of everyday creatures, like moths, pincher beetles, and hungry moles. These mutated creatures are additions to the story, but serve to move the plot along in convenient places and also to wrap it up neatly in a spot or two.
Something the movie alters from the book is the addition of a malevolent conspiracy among the power figures of the community. The book has mild themes of totalitarianism, which are present in force in the film, exaggerated into political suppression, a corrupt circle of politicians, an aggressive city guard force, a loose underground resistance group, and official discouragement of curiosity, freethinking and exploration. The bucking of authority and convention is more acceptable and justified to the audience’s sensibilities when those in authority are abusing their privileges.
The movie is an excellent follow-up for a classroom reading of the book, as it renders beautifully the descriptions of the book into a vibrant, living set. It shows what the book describes: a crumbling city literally falling apart and crumbling down around its inhabitants ears, and there seem to be few willing to admit that they are in danger, or brave enough to seek out change. The threat of getting caught by those in command, the threat of an attack by the previously mentioned large creatures, or the threat of someone getting hurt when something in the city breaks for the last time, creates an additional sense of urgency throughout the movie, as if to emphasize that if something is not done soon, something terrible will happen.
As I mentioned before I feel that the movie stayed fairly true to the book, to the detriment of the movie. The movie is disjointed and feels a little rushed, but I enjoyed being able to identify nearly every one of the scenes, in order, while there were just enough differences to make me wonder what would happen next. Watching the movie in class would make an excellent end to a class reading unit of the book.

Film Crew Reflection: City of Ember

First session of the film crew:
I feel that everyone contributed very well to the discussion today. For trying a new version of literature circles, everyone seemed very comfortable in performing their roles and trying to make everyone’s jobs connect together. While there were specific tasks assigned, everyone in the group felt very comfortable collaborating or sharing additions and opinions with one another as we each shared what we had done. Several of us had mentioned that we were so connected to the story the first time reading through that we forgot about our jobs (the sign of a good book!) and had to go back through for a second read. Grant stated in class that this is a form of socio-dramatic play, I think we all got quite into it!

Second session of the film crew:
Today went even more smoothly than the first session. I liked how we switched the jobs up from the first time of meeting and were able to try on new roles. I especially enjoyed how people interpreted their new roles differently than the previous person had. We discussed in our group today about how the film crew is a terrific outlet for kids who are more visual, and also a great way to focus on multiple intelligences. We were able to come up with several suggestions about the way this form of literature circles would go smoothly in a classroom. Some of the things we thought of were to be very specific about breaking the book up into smaller chunks for kids to read. We also thought it would be good to continue to switch the roles throughout the book for the students to try on different roles and prevent boredom. The questions we felt were most effective to ask students were those that were transparent and put them into the story. Also, while we were listening to some of the themes that had emerged throughout the book, we talked about the analytical thinking that would be required by students.

Final Reflection:
Overall, I think this is a phenomenal (and FUN!)way to get students to look at reading a book in a different light. With so much emphasis on visual things in their worlds, (video games, TV, graphic novels, etc.) it puts a different spin on literature and allows them to incorporate things they might be interested in, such as film, art, or music. As far as assessment, I think the most effective form of assessment at least initially would be to have the students fill out the crew role sheets with the work they shared with their groups. Along with this, I think having the students self-assess and write a reflection on how they felt their groups went would hold them accountable to their group members as well as themselves. I love the idea of creating movie trailers as a way to allow students to still use the film crew idea but conserve on valuable classroom time.

Book Review: The Little Mermaid

The Little Mermaid has always been my favorite movie. When I was little I had everything Little Mermaid, and people still buy me Little Mermaid things! However, while they have the same basic (very basic) plot, the original Hans Christian Andersen version is very different than the Disney movie version of The Little Mermaid.

Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid is a much darker and depressing story than Disney's movie version. The story begins with telling the reader that the Sea King's mother keeps house for him, for he has been a widower for many years. The Little Mermaid was not aloud to go to the top of the ocean and see land until her 15th birthday but she desperately wanted to go. She was very interested in the human world and loved human treasures. Being the youngest The Little Mermaid had to wait until all her sisters (five of them) had been to the top. Each would come back and tell the others what she had seen. At last it is the youngest mermaid's birthday and she is allowed to go to the surface. She first saw a ship with a young prince on board. A storm came up and the prince was knocked overboard and the Little Mermaid saved the young prince and brought him to the surface, however she saw back out in the sea before any humans saw her. The Little Mermaid then asks her grandmother is humans live forever, and the grandmother tells her that they too will die and that they live shorter lives than mermaids. However, when mermaids die they become foam in the sea, they do not have eternal souls as humans do. The Little Mermaid wants an immortal soul and her grandmother tells her the only way she can get one is if a man loves her more than his mother and father. The grandmother then tells her that this will never happen because her fish tail is thought to be ugly. The Little Mermaid then goes to the sea witch and asks for legs. The sea witch warns the Little Mermaid that every step she takes will feel like she is walking on broken glass. The Little Mermaid will never be able to return to the sea again. Her legs will remain, and if the prince marries an other women the Little Mermaid will die and turn into sea foam. In return for the legs the sea witch asks for the Little Mermaid's voice, which she takes by cutting off her tongue. The Prince finds the Little Mermaid when she has come ashore with legs and they live happily for awhile, until one day the prince says he must visit a princess nearby-on his parents orders. The prince falls for the princess and the Little Mermaid knows that she will soon be dead, for the prince is to marry another woman. On the wedding night the Little Mermaid's sisters appear and tell her that they have given the sea witch all their hair in order to save their little sister. The sisters give the Little Mermaid a knife which she is to plunge into the heart of the prince. However she did not kill the prince and she went into the sea to be turned into foam. Then she felt herself rising out of the foam and the "daughters of the air" told her that they commit good deeds for 300 years in order to obtain an immortal soul and that is what the Little Mermaid will do.



Disney's movie version of The Little Mermaid is quite different. The movie begins will the Little Mermaid, who is named Ariel, missing a concert she is supposed to be singing in because she is swimming up to the surface. Unlike the original story, the Little Mermaid swims to the surface often, she does not have to wait until she is 15 although her father forbids her to swim to the top for it is dangerous. Ariel also does not have a grandmother that lives with them in the movie version. The Disney movie version also has two main characters that are not present in the story which are Flounder (the fish) and Sebastian (the crab). The Disney movie focuses on Ariel and says little about her older sisters unlike in the book. Ariel comes to see the prince in the same way in the book and the movie. However, she comes by legs in a slightly different way in the movie. In the movie she does not get her tongue cut off by the evil sea witch (who is named Ursula in the movie). The sea witch simple captures Ariel's voice and uses it as her own. The sea witch gives Ariel three days to get the prince to kiss her until her legs (which are not painful) turn back into a fin and she is Ursula's slave forever. On the third day the prince is about to kiss Ariel when two eels (who belong to Ursula) tip over the boat that Ariel and the prince are in. In the movie the prince does not go to meet a princess but is tricked by Ursula (with Ariel's voice) into thinking that she is the one who saved him from the ship wreck. They are to be married on the third day and it looks like Ariel will be Ursual's slave. Right before they say the wedding vows Ariel's sea and bird friends interrupt the wedding and knock the necklace off of the sea witch's neck which contain Ariel's voice. The voice goes back to Ariel and the prince realizes the trick that has been played. Ursula takes Ariel and goes back into the sea since the sun has already set on the third day. However, Ariel's father and the prince fight off the sea witch and Ariel is given permanent legs and Ariel and the prince get married and live happily ever after.



The Disney movie version is much better for kids than Hans Christian Andersen's original version. I also personally like the Disney version better. The movie follows the same very basic story line but changes several of the gruesome details to make the story more appropriate for children. The ending is also changed because Disney movies all have a happy ending where people live happily ever after and in the story the Little Mermaid does not get to marry the prince and have a happy life. The story does not give much description in the way of what the mermaids looked like-hair color etc. so I think that it is interesting that Disney chose such bright, vibrate colors. They make the movie seem much happier than the story sounds.
The original story was written in 1836 and the movie was not produced until 1989. Due to the large time gap I think that several of the changes that were made in the movie were necessary in order to make the movie a Disney movie for children. In the movie they did leave out the sisters to a large degree, and the grandmother completely, which they could have incorporated more in order to make the plot more true to the original book, although I like the Disney version just fine!

Historical Fiction - Forgotten Fire

Forgotten Fire written by Adam Bagdasarian is a historical fiction novel based on a genocide many have either forgotten or never knew exisited. In the early 1900's the world was preparing for the first world war, but did not know it. In Turkey there was a rising distain for the Armanians living amongst them as business men, neighbors and friends. As the Great War erupted so had the hatred for the Armenian people. The Turkish Army first sought out the influencial and educated Armenian men, then the young boys and along the way destroyed women and babies. They set out to eliminate a whole people. It seemed as though, years later, Hitler was unoriginal and simply took cues from the history around him.

I tell my students every year that it is our job to learn from history or else we will be condemmed to repeat it. Even now the phrase seems rather bleak, but after having read this book I find the Holocaust, Sarajevo, Rwanda, Darfur even more disgusting. I would love to have my students read this book and draw comparisons to the Holocaust. Students across our nation study in detail the Holocaust in all it's horror and tragidy. Typically however, that's all we study in schools. How then could I be so bold as to tell each new wave of students that they are bound by the history already lived? I believe that drawing comparisons and showing students the underlying causes in each case are the answer.

In seventh grade the students currently read, Alicia, My Story. This is a memoire of a young girl who survived the Holocaust. Recently another novel has been added to diversify the classrooms and offers an alternative vantage point to readers. I believe the Holocaust unit could be more powerful if we study the reasons for and effects of genocide through the ages. People want to believe that because it is 2009 or because it's not happening in their town that it is not our problem. Time after time we see however that in every case, the Armenians, Jews, and Tutsis found themselves in as difficult a place because "it's not our problem" was muttered until evidence was on their neighbor's lawns.

I found this book to shed light on a time in history few American's know about. I appreciated the first hand account, point of view, of the text. The tragic events that unfolded into Vahan's, the main character's, life add to the readers desire to watch Vahan live. I liked that the main character is a teenage boy and that he is a realistic character a person of any age or gender could relate to. He does not pretend to be brave like the actor in a movie, Vahan is real. He makes the reader feel the weight of this tragedy in history.

There are sites which are designed to assist teachers in discussing this genocide with students and there are sites which are simply there which serve as an account of the horror. The novel opens with a quote from Adolf Hitler, "Who does now remember the Armenians?" He used this line as clout for his extermination plans. I think that it would be extremely powerful for students to watch how an evil man chose to learn from history in a different way than how I challenge them. Throughout the novel readers learn about real places from a real time in history. Students are put into a historical timeline as events of World War I are carefully woven into the story.

I enjoyed reading this story and look forward to rereading it as well as researching the Armenian genocide. I would encourage others to read this novel and to have an understanding of how World War I began, to know who was fighting for who will amaze those who read this as well. To know the greatest of all wars was simultaniously occurring with this massacre simply makes Vahan's survival more miraculous and adds to the readers relief. I believe this story to be historically accurate, based on my current knowledge, but still have more research to do on the topic. I look forward to proposing this novel be added to the curriculum in my school, but at the very least am prepared to purchase a few copies to keep in my classroom for those who choose to read about it.

Works Cited


Armenian National Institute, "Armenian National Institute." Armenian National Institute. 2005. Armenian National Institute. 24 Jul 2009 http://www.armenian-genocide.org/index.htm.

Bagdasarian, Adam. Forgotten Fire. New York, NY: Dell Laurel-Leaf, 2000. Print.

Kojian, Raffi. "Armenian Genocide." Armeniapedia The Armenia Encyclopedia. 23 Oct 2008. 27 Jul 2009 http://www.armeniapedia.org/index.php?title=Armenian_Genocide.

Movie Review: The Indian in the Cupboard

For my movie review, I decided to compare the book to movie of The Indian in the Cupboard. I remembered reading the book in school when I was younger, and thinking it was one of the most marvelous stories. Growing up, every child has at least one toy that they play with that sets their imagination running wild. I had my Grand Champion horses that I used to play with, and it soon only took a minute before the horses seemed to come to life. I became a part of their world, and them mine. We used to go on some of the greatest adventures together. But in this story, imagination becomes reality, and as a kid, we dream that someday this could happen to us.

Overall, I thought that the producers did a wonderful job at recreating the movie from the book. While there were certainly small things that I noticed were missing from the movie, and other things that were changed altogether, I felt that they were able to capture the most important pieces, and make even some parts better. The first difference I noticed between book and movie was in the cupboard itself. In the book, the cupboard was white and metal, and in the movie, it was still white, however made of wood this time. The book took place in England, while the movie took place in the middle of New York City. A part of the book that I thought was fun and exciting to read about was during Little Bear's first time outside. Before going outside, Omri allows Little Bear to select a horse to keep out of the collection of plastic ones. Omri then changes the horse to real life, and carries the two of them out for an adventure. Here, the two ride down the path, and through the grass and over the stones as if in an overgrown wilderness. During the trip back inside, carried in the box that Omri used to carry them outside, Little Bear is hurt by his horse kicking him in fright. This is when they first meet Tommy Atkins, a medical soldier who, after being magically changed to a real man through the cupboard, patches up Little Bear's leg. However, in the video, Little Bear never gets his own horse, and he is instead hurt by a bird pecking at the box he is being carried in. This was a scene that I would have loved to have seen put into the movie, because it seemed like it would be very exciting to actually see instead of just reading about. I also found it less plausable that he would have been injured by the bird unless the bird had actually gotten into the box, which it hadn't.

Something I enjoyed that was changed about the movie from the book was the urgency to not say anything to anybody about anything regarding the magical events that had happened at Omri's house. Throughout the book, the narrator talks about how difficult it was for Omri to keep his secret a secret. He wants so badly to be able to share his secret with everyone, and wants to be able to take pride in his cupboard's abilities. For a kid his age, that is completely realistic that it would be very difficult, and the chances of him actually being able to do it are pretty slim. While there was still a sense of urgency to make sure nobody really found out about it in the movie, I liked how the producers allowed Omri the ability to write about his adventures in his school journal to share with his class. It was set up in a way so that it had some historical facts that he was sharing with the class, but was creating (what the rest of the class believed to be) a fictional story behind the facts. I believe that this created the release that Omri really needed in order to keep his secret safe, and Little Bear as well.

There was something else that I noticed about the story/movie that I never thought about as a child, however, it is something that more recently has become important to think about, especially in schools. The story really isn't being politically correct in calling Little Bear an "indian", and in many ways is demeaning the character. Little Bear was actually a Native American, and because of this use in language, I wonder about whether it is a story that is still used in schools. I remember how much I loved sitting during silent reading and discovering the adventures within the pages, but I wonder now if it is a story that children are still able to enjoy, or if many even know about it anymore. I would love to say that I would use the book/movie with my own students, but I'm not so sure it's appropriate anymore, unless there is a discussion accompanied with it to talk about what is politically correct to say about the Native Americans, and talk about when the story came to be in relation to this.

It was certainly a wonderful experience to be able to reread this story, and to watch the movie again, as I haven't done either in years. Both pieces were beautifully done, and I am sure that I will find myself reading the story again in the future, and will definitely be watching the movie again. When I have spoken with others about this particular project, and mention the story that I chose for it, everybody I've spoken to have lit up with excitement, and begun to remenise about reading the story themselves when they too were younger. Every reaction I've received has been positive about both book and movie, and I believe that to be a sign of a truly good story.

Getting Lost with Alice in Her Adventures in Wonderland...

As I sat reading Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, it was hard not to get lost in Alice’s adventures along with her. No, to many of your disappointments, the Disney movie of “Alice in Wonderland” was not the original story! Lewis Carroll first wrote Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in 1865 and following with the sequel, Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There in 1871. The story was later adapted into many plays, movies and books with the shorter title, Alice in Wonderland. Many of the adaptations use pieces or characters from both the original and the sequel so it would confuse someone who just read the first story, for example the characters of “Tweedle-Dum and Tweedle-Dee” were only in the sequel, but are for the majority, in the movies of “Alice in Wonderland.”
Lewis Carroll was able to take a little girl’s dreams and imaginations to a new level when he wrote the story, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, which is truly about a curious little girl looking for an adventure one afternoon until she discovers a whole new world filled with many adventures that she cannot wait to be a part of.
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is about a little girl named “Alice who is bored with sitting on the riverbank with her sister, who is reading a book. Suddenly she sees a white rabbit, wearing a coat and carrying a watch, run past, lamenting running late. She follows it down a rabbit hole and falls very slowly down a tunnel lined with curious objects. She lands in a long hallway lined with locked doors. She finds a little key sitting on a glass table. Behind a curtain on the wall she finds a tiny door that opens with the key and leads into a beautiful garden. The door however is too small for Alice to fit through. Looking back at the table she sees a bottle labeled "DRINK ME" that was not there before. She drinks and it causes her to shrink to a size small enough to fit through the door. Unfortunately Alice has left the key high above on the table. She finds a box under the table in which there is a cake with the words "EAT ME" on it. She eats it, thinking that if it makes her smaller she can creep under the door and if it makes her larger she can get the key.
The cake makes Alice grow so tall that her head hits the ceiling. Getting frustrated and not to mention confused, she cries. Her tears flood the hallway. The White Rabbit runs by and is so frightened by Alice that he drops the gloves and fan he is holding. She fans herself with the fan and starts to wonder if she is still the same person that she was before. The fan causes her to shrink again. Alice swims through her own tears and meets a mouse, who is swimming as well. She tries to make small talk with him but all she can think of talking about is her cat, which offends the mouse. The pool becomes crowded with other animals and birds that have been swept away. They all swim to shore.
The first question is how to get dry again. The mouse gives them a very dry lecture on William the Conqueror. A dodo decides that the best thing to dry them off would be a Caucus-Race. The Dodo marks out a race course in a sort of circle and the racers begin running whenever they feel like it, and everyone wins. Alice reaches into her pocket and finds a box of comfits which she distributes among the winners. The animals then beg the mouse to tell them something more and he recites a tale about a mouse and a dog. Alice mistakes his tale for his tail. This insults him and he leaves. She starts talking about her cat again, which frightens the rest of the animals away.
The White Rabbit appears again and orders Alice to go back to his house and fetch him his gloves and fan. Inside, she finds another bottle and drinks from it. Alice grows so large that she has to stick one arm out the window and her foot up the chimney. The horrified Rabbit orders his gardener, a lizard named Bill, to climb on the roof and go down the chimney. As Bill slides down the chimney Alice kicks him out with her foot, shooting him up into the sky. Outside, Alice hears the voices of animals that have gathered to gawk at her giant arm. The crowd hurls pebbles at her, which turn into little cakes that shrink Alice down again. She runs into the woods, where she decides that she must get back to her right size and she must find the lovely garden. Suddenly Alice is confronted by a giant puppy. She picks up a stick and teases him with it until he is tired and she can run away. She comes upon a mushroom and sitting on it is a caterpillar smoking a hookah.
The Caterpillar questions Alice and she admits to her current identity crisis. He asks her to recite "You Are Old, Father William." She does so, but it comes out with many errors. She insults him by saying that three inches is a wretched height to be (he himself is three inches tall). The Caterpillar crawls away into the grass, telling Alice that one side of the mushroom will make her taller and the other side will make her shorter. She breaks off two pieces from the mushroom. One side makes her shrink smaller than ever, while another causes her neck to grow high into the trees, where a pigeon mistakes her for a serpent. With some effort, Alice brings herself back to her usual height. She stumbles upon a small estate and uses the mushroom to reach a more appropriate height.
A Fish-Footman has an invitation for the Duchess of the house, which he delivers to a Frog-Footman. Alice observes this transaction and, after a perplexing conversation with the frog, welcomes herself into the house. The Duchess' Cook is throwing dishes and making a soup which has too much pepper, which causes Alice, the Duchess and her baby sneeze violently. The Duchess tosses her baby up and down while reciting the poem "Speak roughly to your little boy." The Duchess gives Alice the baby while she leaves to go play croquet with the Queen. To Alice's surprise, the baby later turns into a pig, so she sets it free in the woods. The Cheshire Cat appears in a tree, directing her to the March Hare's house. He disappears but his grin remains behind to float on its own in the air prompting Alice to remark that she has often seen a cat without a grin but never a grin without a cat.
Alice becomes a guest at a mad tea party, along with the Hatter (now more commonly known as the Mad Hatter), the March Hare, and the Dormouse. In the course of the party, Alice reveals that the date is May 4 (which happens to be the birthday of her presumed real-life counterpart, Alice Pleasance Liddell). The other characters give Alice many riddles and stories, until she becomes so insulted that she leaves, claiming that it was the stupidest tea party that she had ever been to. Alice comes upon a door in a tree, and enters it, and finds herself back in the long hallway from the first chapter. She opens the door, eats part of her mushroom, and shrinks so she can get into the beautiful garden.
Now in the beautiful garden, she comes upon three living playing cards painting the white roses on a rose tree red because the Queen of Hearts hates white roses. A procession of more cards, kings and queens and even the White Rabbit enters the garden. Alice meets the violent Queen and pacifying King of Hearts. The Queen orders "Off with their heads!" when she sees the work of the gardeners. A game of croquet begins, with flamingos as the mallets and hedgehogs as the balls. The Queen condemns more people to death, and Alice once again meets the Cheshire Cat. The Queen of Hearts then debates chopping off the Cat's head, even though that is all there is of him. Alice suggests talking to the Duchess, so the Queen orders the Duchess out of prison.
The Duchess is brought to the croquet ground. She is now less angry and is always trying to find morals in things. The Queen of Hearts dismisses her on the threat of execution and introduces Alice to the Gryphon, who takes her to the Mock Turtle. The Mock Turtle is very sad, even though he has no sorrow. He tries to tell his story about how he used to be a real turtle in school, which The Gryphon interrupts so they can play a game.
The Mock Turtle and the Gryphon dance to the Lobster Quadrille, while Alice recites (rather incorrectly) "Tis the Voice of the Lobster." The Mock Turtle sings them "Beautiful Soup" during which the Gryphon drags Alice away for an impending trial.
At the trial, the Knave of Hearts is accused of stealing the tarts. The jury box is made up of twelve animals, including Bill the Lizard. The judge is the King of Hearts. The first witness is the Mad Hatter, who doesn't help the case at all, followed by the Duchess' Cook. During the proceedings, Alice finds that she is steadily growing larger when she is suddenly called as a witness herself.
Alice accidentally knocks over the jury box as she stands in alarm. She argues with the King and Queen of Hearts over the ridiculous proceedings, eventually refusing to hold her tongue. The Queen shouts her familiar "Off with her head!" but Alice is unafraid, calling them out as just a pack of cards. Alice's sister wakes her up for tea, brushing what turns out to be some leaves and not a shower of playing cards from Alice's face. Alice leaves her sister on the bank to imagine all the curious happenings for herself” (Wikipedia).


Now I can take the first line of my blog and change it so it has a whole new meaning for the movie… As I sat watching Alice in Wonderland, it was hard not to get lost in Alice’s adventures along with her. The key word there is “lost,” which I was throughout the whole Disney movie. Walt Disney recreated this bizarre story in 1951 and adapted it for a film, which as I sat and watched it; I was just as lost as Alice was in Wonderland. Pretty much take the concept of Alice, her “wonderland,” some of the same characters, cue the corny Disney songs, put a blue dress and white apron on Alice, and you have the Disney version of “Alice in Wonderland.” Other than those similarities, the two works of art are very different. Disney was able to take a very complicated story and turn it into a mixed-up (and trippy in some parts), children’s movie.
Even though the movie confused me in many parts, I thought that Disney was very creative in what he did. He took Alice’s first line in the story ““and what is the use of a book,” thought Alice, “without pictures or conversations?”” So Disney gave her a whole world filled with “pictures and conversations,” though these “pictures and conversations” were beyond words crazy, but fun at the same time—it is a world full of “nonsense.”
I found it very interesting to sit and watch a children’s movie as an adult. I felt that I read into things that a child would never understand—many of them are probably misconceptions, but I just sat there and thought that there is probably a meaning behind each aspect of this film. For example, the famous “tea-party” scene. As I read about it in the story, you find it bizarre the things that are going on, but as I watched this scene come to life in the movie (which is different), I couldn’t help but think that the attendees (March Hare, Dormouse, and Mad Hatter) of the party were drunk! Personally, I do not think it was “tea” that they were drinking. They were discussing things like an “unbirthday” (which I am still confused about!) and they did not seem to explain anything, they kind of just rolled over or touched on subjects that they explained more in the book. I was a little surprised that Disney put that part in the movie intended for children and also the Caterpillar smoking the hookah along with the “beheading” by the Queen. I found it weird to sit there and watch these things and I found myself thinking whether children would understand these concepts or not.
As I watched the movie, I felt that Disney wanted to make it more magical, by adding the rocking-horsefly, the singing flowers and of course the most well-known line “I’m late, I’m late for a very important date. No time to say hello-goodbye. I’m late, I’m late, I’m late,” which was made famous by the White Rabbit in the movie, but that exact line was never actually in the book. They changed many little details in the movie that I thought were interesting. In the movie, Alice meets the Cheshire Cat out of nowhere; it just randomly appears, while in the book she first encounters it at the Duchess’s house. But in both versions, it does its job by telling Alice about the Mad Hatter. Many of the chapters in the story were left out completely or it was changed so much that it was barely recognizable in the movie: “Pig and Pepper,” “The Lobster Quadrille,” “Who Stole the Tarts?” and “A Caucus Race and a Long Tale.” Not even the reason why Alice goes to court in the end is the same. In the book her dream ends when she is called up to the witness stand to testify about who stole the Queen’s tarts, while in the movie she is there because she made the Queen mad while they were playing croquet. I guess it was a way to cut the movie down to 75 minutes instead of a 119 page book!

All in all, between the broom-dog; umbrella vultures; bird glasses and drunken “tea” party attendants, I didn’t know what planet I was on while watching the Disney version of Alice in Wonderland. As Alice liked to say in the movie “it would be so nice if something would make sense for a change.” I agree with Alice.
For all of you that have not seen or read Alice in Wonderland, I suggest reading Lewis Carroll’s story before you see the movie. I have to say that part of the reason that I chose this story and movie is because I wanted to be able to compare the two to Tim Burton’s new version of the movie that is coming out in 2010. The trailer looks amazing and hopefully I won’t get as lost in the “Wonderland” as I did in the Disney one!



Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice%27s_Adventures_in_Wonderland
Lewis, Carroll,. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. New York, N.Y: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1985.
Walt Disney's Alice in Wonderland. Dir. Walt Disney. 1951. Videocassette.

Movie Review: Horton Hears a Who!

The picture book version of Horton Hears a Who! By Dr. Seuss is the story of Horton the elephant and the people of a very small town called “Whoville”. On the 15th of May Horton is splashing around in a pool when he hears a “yelp for help” coming from a small speck of dust. Horton soon realizes that there are a whole bunch of small people called “Whos” living on this speck of dust. Horton moves the speck of dust onto a clover, and decides to protect these small people. A kangaroo and her baby come over and make fun of Horton, because they can’t hear the “Whos” so they think that Horton is crazy. Horton tells the kangaroos that, “A persons a person, no matter how small” (Seuss) so he is going to keep protecting these people. The Wickersham Brothers, a couple of jungle monkeys, also make fun of Horton for protecting the “Whos” and they climb up Horton’s trunk, steal the clover, and give it to a black-bottomed eagle named Vlad Vlad-i-koff who flies off with the clover throughout the night at Horton chases after him. The next morning Vlad Vlad-i-koff drops the clover with the “Whos” on it into a huge field of clovers, and tells Horton that he will never find the “Whos” now. Horton searches and searches through three million clovers until he finally finds the “Whos” again. Horton checks with the Mayor of Whoville and everyone is fine, but a bit shaken up from their long bouncy journey.

As Horton is checking on the Mayor and the people of Whoville, the kangaroo and her baby come along with the Wickersham Brothers and dozens of their relatives, and tell Horton that they are going to tie him up and put him in a cage and boil his clover in Beezle-Nut oil, because they think he is crazy for talking to people that “aren’t real”. Horton decides that he must prove to everyone that the “Whos” are real, so he asks the Mayor to get all the “Whos” in “Whoville” the scream and shout, so that the other animals can hear them. The people of “Whoville” scream, and Horton can hear them loud and clear with his big elephant ears, but the other animals cannot. Horton encourages the people of “Whoville” to keep trying, and they do. They jump and scream and yell, they play banjos, drums, and bang on tin pans, but still they cannot be heard. Horton tells the Mayor to check the whole town, and make sure that everyone is making some sound. The Mayor searches “Whoville” and finds one very little boy, Jo-Jo, in apartment 12-J that isn’t making any noise at all. The Mayor runs with Jo-Jo to the top of the Eiffelberg Tower, and Jo-Jo yells out “YOPP!!”, and with that one extra voice the kangaroo, her baby, the Wickersham Brothers, and all of their relatives hear the people of “Whoville” and believe that they are real. After the people of “Whoville” are heard, Horton AND Kangaroo promise to protect them from now on and Kangaroo says, “From sun in the summer. From rain when it’s fall-ish, I’m going to protect them. No matter how small-ish!” (Dr. Seuss).


The 2008 production of “Horton Hears a Who!” directed by Jimmy Hayward and Steve Martino has a runtime of 86 minutes, leaving a lot of time for artistic interpretation or deviation from the 72 page story. In general the basic plot of the movie is the same as the book, Horton hears a noise that he thinks could be a person coming from a speck of dust, Horton makes contact with the people of “Whoville” living on that speck of dust, and then Horton makes it his mission to protect the people of “Whoville” from whatever dangers they might encounter in the jungle. The main characters are the same, Horton is the hero, Kangaroo is the leader of the antagonism against Horton, and the Mayor of “Whoville” is the person that makes contact with Horton. In addition to these main characters Hayward and Martino have taken the liberty of adding a few new faces to the story, as well as changing information about some of the other secondary characters in the book. Some of the new characters shown in the movie version of this classic tale are a mole-rat called Morton, Horton’s best friend and partner in crime, and also is Horton’s more rationale counterpart. During the film Morton argues with Horton to try and make him give up on “Whoville” to avoid persecution from Mrs. Kangaroo. Other new characters in the movie version include the Mayor’s wife, the Mayor’s 96 daughters, Dr. LaRue, the town’s local scientist and professor, and the Town of “Whoville’s” city council, who make it their mission to boss around and belittle the Mayor.

Some alterations to the characters that occurred in the movie were that Mrs. Kangaroo’s baby actually has a name, Ruddy, and is more rebellious in the movie as opposed to in the book where he is very obedient to his mothers commands. Mrs. Kangaroo is also portrayed like an overbearing PTA mom, who “pouch-schools” her baby, because she just cannot stand Horton and his silly antics. In the movie there is also a lot more character development with Horton, we find out that he is a teacher in the Jungle who everyone, especially Mrs. Kangaroo, thinks is silly and foolish. We also find out that Horton is very lonely, and that he’s excited to have the people on the speck as his new friends. The Wickersham brothers have a much smaller role in the movie than the book, in the movie they are portrayed as a bunch of party animals and they do not help steal the clover from Horton like they do in the book. In the movie JoJo, the hero at the end of the story, is actually the Mayor’s gothic, quiet, and reclusive son. JoJo is the heir to the Mayor’s seat and doesn’t want to follow in his father’s footsteps, so he spends his time alone in an observatory in the sky full of musical instruments, and doesn’t talk to anybody. It says in the movie that JoJo doesn’t speak to his father because he is afraid that if he tells him the truth about what he actually wants to do with his future, he will let him down or disappoint him.

A few interesting and humorous scenes were added to the movie, probably to make it longer, that don’t occur in the book. In one scene the Mayor is at the dentist while Horton is carrying the clover across a thin rope bridge to reach the Mountain of Nool. As Horton is walking across the unstable bridge it is swaying back and forth and pieces are breaking beneath his weight, and as he wiggles around the city of Whoville experiences a small earthquake, and the Mayor gets a shot of Novocain right in the arm instead of the mouth. These scenes didn’t add much to the storyline or the plot, but they were humorous to watch and would make children think about the kinds of things that could happen while living on a small speck. There is also a scene where the Mayor is putting his 96 daughters to bed, and one of them asks for a glass of water. After that all 95 other daughters ask for a glass of water too, so the Mayor has to carry 96 glasses of water up a windy staircase to the girls’ bedroom. This was another scene that didn’t add much to the plot of the story, but would be funny for kids to think about.

The narration for this movie contains some of the key phrases and passages from the book, and continues in the same rhyming style of Dr. Seuss, but obviously 86 minutes worth of film requires some deviation from the exact text of the book. Some of the more interesting quotes from the movie from Horton are, “I meant what I said, and I said what I meant, an Elephant’s faithful, one hundred percent,” and from Mrs. Kangaroo (talking about Horton) “the Jungle is no place to act like an animal,” and (talking about the Whos) “If you can’t see, hear, or feel something it doesn’t exist.”

Overall I thought that the movie version of “Horton Hears a Who!” was cute and humorous, although it did stray a great deal from the original text. What I liked about the movie was that there was a lot of character development, so you really understood why JoJo was so quiet, or why nobody in Nool really trusted Horton’s judgment. That amount of detail wasn’t available in the book, but the producers of the movie took a lot of artistic liberties and added that detail in on their own. That being said I think that a long time fan of the book might not enjoy the movie, since with the text the reader is really given the opportunity to form their own impressions of what the characters might be like, and in the movie you are denied that flexibility. I watched this movie with the little boy I babysit, and even though he’s only four he thought it was absolutely hilarious, so it is definitely something I would recommend for kids, but I don’t think I would use it in the classroom because there is so much more room for using your own imagination with the text, and the narration in the movie just cannot compare to the classic style of Dr. Seuss.