Mary experiences a rebirth/metamorphosis when she has to move from her native India to Uncle Archibald's manor in England. At first, she is a caterpillar ....sour, grumpy, hateful vixen!
Mary (protagonist) encounters Martha Sowerby who sees fit to speak to her freely ...encouraging her to dress herself and eat her breakfast! Mary used to strike her ayah when she lived in India...especially when she did not agree with her. However, she will not strike Martha nor will she cross Mrs. Medlock.
Mary, a new butterfly, reaches out tentatively to Mr. Ben Weatherstaff, the gardener. First, because he knows about soil, the robin and the secret garden.
Then she begins to explore the house which is said to have a hundred rooms...she hears a cry in corridor...she follows this sound until she comes face-to-face with her cousin, Master Colin Cravens.
Colin antagonizes Mary by proving to be stubborn as she is...they form an alliance. A secret alliance that leads to improved health for them both. Colin has been bedfast and unable to walk for quite some time. However, Mary changes his mindset by choosing to visit Dickon instead of Colin. He becomes enraged but it works to his advantage...Colin begins to think of others and not focus on himself.
I would like to compare Mary with current sixth grade class. Mary came from a foreign place...India. Our sixth graders came from all different parts of our county. Mary begins to thrive in her new surroundings...just as you are beginning to make progress here at HCMS. It is difficult for Mary to not be cantankerous because she has many expectations regarding her behavior... The current sixth grade also has high expectations concerning their academic performance ( doing quality work and completing it ON TIME)...It has not been easy for some of you to grow used to your new teachers/surroundings.
As Winston Churchill once said, "Never give up!" I would encourage you to do the same. Mary's goal was to become fitter and find the key unlocking the 'secret garden'. Your challenge is to decide that you will work HARD and improve your grammar,writing and overall reading comprehension. Just as Mary succeeded, so can you!
Monday, November 28, 2011
Book Chat: The Secret Garden
An excerpt from The Secret Garden....
"If you scream another scream," she said, "I'll scream too---and I can scream louder than you can and I'll frighten you, I'll frighten you!"
"I can't stop!" he gasped and sobbed. "I can't---I can't!"
"You can!" shouted Mary. "Half of what ails is hysterics and temper----just hysterics----hysterics----hysterics!" and she stamped each time she said it.
"I felt the lump---I felt it," choked out Colin. "I knew I should.I shall have a hunch on my back and then I shall die," and he began to writhe again and turned on his face and sobbed and wailed but he didn't scream.
"You didn't feel a lump!" contradicted Mary fiercely. "If you did it was only a hysterical lump. Hysterics make lumps. There's nothing the matter with your horrid back---nothing but hysterics! Turn over and let me look at it!"
"If you scream another scream," she said, "I'll scream too---and I can scream louder than you can and I'll frighten you, I'll frighten you!"
"I can't stop!" he gasped and sobbed. "I can't---I can't!"
"You can!" shouted Mary. "Half of what ails is hysterics and temper----just hysterics----hysterics----hysterics!" and she stamped each time she said it.
"I felt the lump---I felt it," choked out Colin. "I knew I should.I shall have a hunch on my back and then I shall die," and he began to writhe again and turned on his face and sobbed and wailed but he didn't scream.
"You didn't feel a lump!" contradicted Mary fiercely. "If you did it was only a hysterical lump. Hysterics make lumps. There's nothing the matter with your horrid back---nothing but hysterics! Turn over and let me look at it!"
Sunday, November 27, 2011
The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides
Why do we even bother choosing books? The answer is easy...it allows you to immerse yourself in a world much like a swimmer immerses him herself underwater.
Madeleine Hanna has a brilliant mind in which the wheels are constantly turning. An avid reader who enrolls in a class (Semiotics). She is about to enter the real world....her parents are hovering over her...which she detests. She is quite tight-lipped about a charismatic young man, Leonard, who is a Darwinist....a lost loner. This relationship is complicated by some disturbing facts surfacing from his childhood. Both parents are alcoholics who rarely have been there to support him. At the same time, her old "friend" Mitchell Grammaticus who's been reading Christian mysticism and generally acting strange----resurfaces, obsessed with idea that Madeleine is to be his mate.
Over the next year, as the members of the triangle in this amazing, spellbinding novel graduate from college and enter the real world, events force them to reevaluate everything they learned in school. Leonard and Madeleine move to a biology laboratory on Cape Cod, but can't escape the secret responsible for Leonard's seemingly inexhaustible energy and plunging moods. Mitchell, while traveling around the world, trying to get Madeleine out of his mind, find himself face-to-face with the ultimate questions about the meaning of life, the existence of God and the true nature of love.
One of my favorite quotes in this book: "The problem is, no matter how much we try to be good, we cannot be good enough.
Madeleine-protagonist who is constantly challenged by her husband, Leonard who antagonizes her with his manic depression. She is a very giving person who tries to be levelheaded but becomes incredibly frustrated by her unpredictable husband. Leonard is hospitalized several times...erratic and angry...makes it very difficult to maintain a home and feelings of goodwill.
The setting for this book is mainly in the northeastern part of the United States...New York and Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Leonard is working in cancer research but loses his position because he is unable to complete trials because of hand tremors and the fogginess of prescribed cluttering his brain.
The major problem stems from Leonard having an incurable disease where he keeps a diary of daily dosage and the side effects...his moods resemble a pendulum in a grandfather clock...some days everything is fine and other days...you must walk on eggshells....
The climax of the book comes when Leonard and Madeleine verbally challenge one another..deciding whether their relationship as a couple or better being apart.
Leonard simply states in the middle east...you say, "I divorce thee, I divorce thee, I divorce thee!" The marriage dissolves...
Madeleine Hanna has a brilliant mind in which the wheels are constantly turning. An avid reader who enrolls in a class (Semiotics). She is about to enter the real world....her parents are hovering over her...which she detests. She is quite tight-lipped about a charismatic young man, Leonard, who is a Darwinist....a lost loner. This relationship is complicated by some disturbing facts surfacing from his childhood. Both parents are alcoholics who rarely have been there to support him. At the same time, her old "friend" Mitchell Grammaticus who's been reading Christian mysticism and generally acting strange----resurfaces, obsessed with idea that Madeleine is to be his mate.
Over the next year, as the members of the triangle in this amazing, spellbinding novel graduate from college and enter the real world, events force them to reevaluate everything they learned in school. Leonard and Madeleine move to a biology laboratory on Cape Cod, but can't escape the secret responsible for Leonard's seemingly inexhaustible energy and plunging moods. Mitchell, while traveling around the world, trying to get Madeleine out of his mind, find himself face-to-face with the ultimate questions about the meaning of life, the existence of God and the true nature of love.
One of my favorite quotes in this book: "The problem is, no matter how much we try to be good, we cannot be good enough.
Madeleine-protagonist who is constantly challenged by her husband, Leonard who antagonizes her with his manic depression. She is a very giving person who tries to be levelheaded but becomes incredibly frustrated by her unpredictable husband. Leonard is hospitalized several times...erratic and angry...makes it very difficult to maintain a home and feelings of goodwill.
The setting for this book is mainly in the northeastern part of the United States...New York and Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Leonard is working in cancer research but loses his position because he is unable to complete trials because of hand tremors and the fogginess of prescribed cluttering his brain.
The major problem stems from Leonard having an incurable disease where he keeps a diary of daily dosage and the side effects...his moods resemble a pendulum in a grandfather clock...some days everything is fine and other days...you must walk on eggshells....
The climax of the book comes when Leonard and Madeleine verbally challenge one another..deciding whether their relationship as a couple or better being apart.
Leonard simply states in the middle east...you say, "I divorce thee, I divorce thee, I divorce thee!" The marriage dissolves...
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