Sunday, December 23, 2007

Post B. Part 5. (The Slow Moon).

In the beginning of the section, Crow is acquitted and the family seems relieved although Helen (Crows mother) seems as though that was not enough. Bobby comes to the Davenports to talk to Crow, try to cheer him up, while informing him that everyone is going to the river. When Crow arrives after everyone had been waiting, they begin to discuss and exchange information on the Battle of the Bands. An argument breaks out, when Lester suggests that they all go jump off the cliff into the river like the old days. Crow gets edgy but participates anyways, for a while it all seems like everything is well again. In the view of Sophie, the trial my have been over for Crow but Sophie still had troubles of her own. “The trail was over, but nothing seemed over for Sophie. She still had sleepless nights and was afraid to close her eyes for fear that something terrible might happen in her dreams, or in her life” (Page 175). Crow and she finally talk when he runs into her as she is walking out of the local hardware store where her mother works. He offers her a ride home and she accepts. He asks her if she was angry at him for stating everything that happen between them in court, she said no that he had to say what he must. Before Crow leaves, Sophie informs him that she cannot take the pressure of everything that is happening in town right now and that she wants to go back to Montana. She asks her mother if she could go, and her mother asks her how long. She begs to stay the whole summer by herself but they compromise on only a month or two. The section ends with Crow driving past Sophie’s house, awaiting her return even though she had only been gone for a week.

Post A. Part 5. (The Slow Moon).

Vocabulary

1. Arbitrary: Adjective (page 190)
-Decided by a judge or arbiter rather than by a law or statute.
-Subject to individual will or judgment without restriction; contingent solely upon one's discretion
2. Malicious: Adjective (page 200)
-Full of, characterized by, or showing malice; malevolent; spiteful
-Vicious, wanton, or mischievous in motivation or purpose.

Emerging Theme.

Trust is one emerging theme in the book. Sophie talks to Crow and tells him that although she does not remember what happened that night at the Fairchild house that she trusts that he did not commit such a horrendous crime.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Post B. Part 4. (The Slow Moon).

Summary.

In these chapters, the book really begins to connect with the outside world. The actions that Crow and his friends take always seem to have real life outcomes. And example of this would be in chapter twenty the boys go out and build a fire near the quarry. They go there because Casey and Bobby want to share some news that has happened in their lives. While they are there, Bobby brings out a gun that he has owned for a few months. He takes it out because he just wants to show them that he has it, he had no bad intentions. While he has the gun out though, it is fired two times. Unlike most fictions books you read, the boys get concerned about their action of shooting the gun, and the police come (page 143). In the first chapter, it tells the story of Lester taking Sophie to the school’s spring dance and how she dances with Bobby, but truly only wants to dance with Crow. In the next chapter, Crow goes to Sophie’s house to apologize to her that Bobby was being such a jerk, “That was cold. I mean, it’s not like you did anything wrong.” (page 135). Crow says these words to Sophie to make her feel less guilty about dancing with him and Bobby at the dance, Sophie does not like Bobby and that makes Bobby very angry. He is angry because the one girl that he finally wants is the one girl who does not like him. In the next few chapters they talk about Crows court case. Crow is acquitted but they all still mourn for what happened to Sophie. Bobby’s mother is still very concerned about what happened and is very worried about the fact that there are still dangerous people out there.

Post b

Post A. Part 4. (The Slow Moon).

Vocabulary
1. Acquitted (page 161)-
A. (V.)-To relieve from a charge of fault or crime; declare not guilty.
B. To release or discharge from an obligation.
2. Gable (page 144)-
A. (N.)- Generally a triangular section of wall at the end of a pitched roof, occupying the space between the two slopes of the roof.
B. A triangular, usually ornamental architectural section, as one above an arched door or window.


Figurative Language.

1. (Page 143) “Darkness came down like a wing…” this is a simile; I know this because it compares two objects using the word like.

2. (Page 142) “For a moment, a cord of affection ran between them…” this is figurative language because it uses imagery. This is imagery because a cord did not actually run between the boys. It just helps put a picture in the readers mind that the boys were closely connected.

3. (Page 149) “That night, as Tom lay in bed, stars, cold as knives…” this is a simile; I know this because it compares stars to be cold as knives. In the comparison, the author used the word as, meaning that it is a simile.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Post B. Section 3. (The Slow Moon)

In chapter thirteen, there is conversation between Bobby, his friends, and Crow. It begins with the boys saying, “They can’t pin this on Crow.” (Page 89). This quote relates because it informs the reader how all Crows friends are on his side. Later on in the chapter Bobby receives a letter from his father, of whom he had always believed to be dead, informing him that he wants to have Bobby be part of his life again. They talk about how Crow and Bobby came to be best friends, with Crow sticking up for Bobby in a difficult situation in the first grade. The book then breaks into a section called “Old Ground”. The first chapter of this section is about Sophie Chabot moving to Mulberry Street in Tennessee. They inform the reader that her father, Ben Chabot, was a forest park ranger in Montana (where they used to live). They speak of his tragic death in a forest fire and their difficult struggle to overcome the tragic loss. The next chapter talks about Sophie meeting Bobby and all his friends at their band practice. Sophie immediately thinks that Bobby is attractive when they go to his house for a dinner-which his mother invited Sophie and her mother, Rita, to. While at the band practice, Sophie meets Crow for the first time; although they never spoke, Sophie caught Crow staring at her numerous times. “Crow stared at Sophie but never approached her.” (Page 116). Over the next few chapters, they inform you of how Bobby tries to become closer to Sophie because he finds her attractive. He takes her out to ice cream, and asks to kiss her. Sophie does not feel the same way back, so the kiss was not very dramatic.

Post A. Section 3. (The Slow Moon)

1. Vocabulary

-Musculature (page 125)
1. Noun. The muscular system of the body or of its parts
2. Noun. The system or arrangement of muscles in a body or a body part.

-Assuaging (page 107)
1. Verb. To make milder or less severe; relieve; ease; mitigate
2. To appease; satisfy; allay; relieve
3. To soothe, calm, or mollify

2. An emerging theme in this book, noted through these chapters, would be trust. You notice trust when Sophie first moves to town and goes to Bobby and his friends’ band practice. She trusts him with getting her there safely, and treating her politely while they are at the practice.

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Part 2. Section 2. (The Slow Moon.)

In the beginning of this section, the first chapter talks about what happen to Sophie from her view point even though Sophie is not the one telling it. It describes how closely Crow cares about Sophie. “When someone teased him about her, he made a noise through his nose. ‘You wish!’ he said”. This quote ties in because it describes that Crow cared for Sophie even though others thought that he might not deserve her, or that they should not be together. The chapter continues by talking about what happened while Crow was away. It gets descriptive and talks about how numerous men were at the scene while he was away, they inform the reader how Sophie insisted on her attacker to stop but all they did was abuse her more. In the next chapter, there is a conversation between one of Crow’s teachers and his old little league coach. The conversation is based on all of the good times they had with Crow, and how they think he could have never committed such a horrific crime. In the chapter that follows, Louise Burden comes to the Davenport (Crow’s) household. She talks with Helen (Crow’s mother). They exchange details on the situation and they learn each other’s side of the story. Helen informs Louise that Crow cannot stop talking/thinking about Sophie, and Louise tells Helen that Sophie will not even speak of that night, not even to her parents. In the Tenth chapter of the book there is a lot of drama. Ava, Helen’s sister, comes to town. She comes only because Carl (Crow’s father) asked her to come. Earlier in the lives of these characters, Carl and Ava had a minor affair. Helen secretly knew about it, but considering everything that she put Carl through, she let it slide. Now with Ava in town, the stress level increases. Carl decided that he needs to be there for Helen and that Ava should really only be in town to help keep Helen from having a break down.

Post A. Section 2. ( The Slow Moon.)

1. 2 vocabulary words.
Gingerly (page 49) -
1. ( Adverb) with great care or caution.

2. (Adjective) cautious, careful, or wary.

Bland (page 64) –
1. ( Adjective) pleasantly smooth or agreeable.
2. soothing or balmy
3. nonirritant

2. Emerging theme in the book.
One emerging theme of the book would be loyalty. The people who were friends with Crow before the incident, stayed friends with Crow, they have not even began to doubt him. They believe strongly that he did not commit the crime.