May 18, 19, 22, 2009

Monday, May 18th
Title of Text: Series of Unfortunate Events-The Bad Beginning
Minutes: 45
Summary: Violet and Klaus were running out of time thinking of how they could save their baby sister Sunny while avoiding marrying Count Olaf. When they say their vows and say “I do.” Violet thinks harder then ever. Then, when she signs the marriage contract, she uses here non dominant hand, her left hand to sign. She proved that she didn't use her true hand and the marriage became invalid. Luckily for Violet and Klaus, Count Olaf told his worker to bring over the baby from the tower before she signed the contract. There was a reuniting when Sunny came and Count Olaf was steamed. Count Olaf was told that he would go to jail immediately. Then, suddenly, a man from Count Olaf's theater troupe turned off all the lights and caused everything to go haywire. As Violet struggled to find the light switch. Count Olaf came up and threatened her saying he would get the fortune soon no matter what. When Violet turned the lights back on, she found out that the theater troupe had escaped in a car. Justice Strauss said she would take care of the kids from now on but unfortunately, she wasn't allowed. In Violet's parents' will they wanted the three kids to be raised by a family member. Even though the kids wanted to stay with Justice Strauss, they had to separate. They would have to live with Mr. Poe until he found another family member. A connection I have with Klaus is how he was so worried about giving up the fortune and so anxious if Violet would do something to save them. I too would feel so worried and so desperate for someone to save me from becoming a “slave.” I would be willing to do anything! Something I saw in Violet throughout the book is how each character got involved. Sunny only popped in a couple times with silly words. Klaus was constantly thinking smart and sharing his ideas. Violet was most interesting because the more I read through the book, the more she started to get involved. I question the author by saying, why did you choose to make the characters unfortunate kids. Did you ever have a personal experience or did you just make up the characters? I would also like to compliment the author because he stuck to his title “Series of Unfortunate Events” very well by giving the kids a hard time and only giving them a few fortunate things.

Tuesday, May 19
Title of Text: Series of Unfortunate Events-The Wide Window
Minutes: 60
Summary: After receiving harsh treatment from Count Olaf, the kids move to a different relative named Aunt Josephine. She is a woman who is afraid of things like stoves burning, phones electrifying you, and other nonsense. One day, when Violet went out to shop for groceries, she bumped into a man dressed like a sailor. When she saw the shiny eyes and the uni-brow, she knew who it was- Count Olaf. He was disguised as a sailor named Captain Sham. Aunt Josephine and Count Olaf were talking and talking while Aunt Josephine had no clue. Aunt Josephine was being friendly to Captain Sham even though the kids tried to explain who it was. When they came home, the phone rang and Violet answered to show Aunt Josephine that it was not dangerous. When she answered it, she knew it was Count Olaf looking for Aunt Josephine. Violet said that he got the wrong number and quickly hung up. Violet lied to Aunt Josephine and said the caller was looking for some dance club and got the wrong number. Immediately, the phone rang again. This time Aunt Josephine answered. She then told the kids to go to their rooms because they were planning a surprise for them. The kids were starting to get suspicious about what was going. My prediction is that Count Olaf and Aunt Josephine will bring the kids to Lachrymose Lake and have a meal together. It is just that the lake is a big setting for the book, especially for Aunt Josephine, who's husband died there. I also think that while they are at the lake, Count Olaf will push Aunt Josephine overboard then force the kids to give up the fortune. A connection I have with Violet is what she did to get rid of Count Olaf. She just said that he got the wrong number then quickly hung up. I would do the same if I got an unwanted caller. Something I saw in Violet is that from the first book to this one, she seems to have gotten smarter. She is noticing things quicker and coming up with things more effectively which didn't happen much in book one. I would like to question the author and ask, why is the house right by the lake if she is so terrified. I mean, she used to like it as a friend, but no she is terrified so why doesn't she move? I would like to compliment the author on how creative he is being. He wasn't afraid of his books being cheesy and he always gave imaginative names which is cool.

Wednesday, May 20
Title of Text: Series of Unfortunate Events-The Wide Window
Minutes: 65
Summary: While the three kids were thinking of Aunt Josephine talking to Captain Sham, they heard a loud shattering noise. They checked her library and found a note pinned to the door. It was a suicide note saying she jumped through the window and killed herself because she was just too sad. They started to worry and entered the library and there it was in front of them, the window was shattered and only a few pieces remained attached. They were devastated. After that event, they started to study it. Klaus studied it the most. He worked very hard until he finally got onto something. He knew that Aunt Josephine was a fan of grammar and that any grammatical mistake would upset her. Klaus found all of the mistakes and he put together all of the letters she should have put in certain words. When he combined them, it spelled CURDLED CAVE. The kids thought it was a cave in Lachrymose Lake and they decided to look through Aunt Josephine's books to try and locate Curdled Cave. They thought she made those mistakes so the kids would follow her to Curdled Cave. Right when they found the location of Curdled Cave, they saw the wind picking up and thunderstorms raging. They checked out the window and noticed that one of the stilts that kept the house from falling in the lake was collapsing from the storm. They had little time to escape and survive. They had no choice but to leave and find Aunt Josephine. A connection I have with Klaus is how hard he checked to make sure the letter was some clue. If I saw a suicide letter, I would try to make sure that it was not serious or if it was a clue of some sort. It isn't funny to fake something serious like suicide. A prediction I have is that they will try to locate Curdled Cave because they want to save Aunt Josephine so they don't live with Captain Sham. Something I saw in Klaus is that in the two times I have spent reading the book, Klaus became more and more participative. He was quiet in the beginning but now, he has been acting smarter and he has given more of his ideas. A question I have for the author is why does Count Olaf want the fortune so bad? I want to know what he will do with the fortune if he gets it. Will he do something evil or will he think of it as money from the lottery? I would also like to compliment the author because he was very creative and clever to make the letter some sort of clue to the next location.

Friday, May 22
Title of Text: Series of Unfortunate Events-The Wide Window
Minutes: 30
Summary: The kids just managed to escape from the house which fell piece by piece into the lake. They decided to go to Captain Sham's sailboat place to borrow one and rescue Aunt Josephine. The kids felt so confident until they saw who was at the desk- one of the members in Count Olaf's theater troupe. It looked like neither a man or a woman. It was holding the keys to the gate which was locked. Their plan was basically blown. Then they suddenly noticed that Sunny had disappeared. They saw her inside the office approaching the thing with the keys. She got it and brought it back to her two happy siblings. When the kids started walking down to the gate, Violet sneezed and the thing woke up. Unfortunately, Sunny left some crawling marks leading to the door and the thing angrily followed the kids. It picked the kids up and started to bring them to the office when he suddenly tripped on the atlas the kids had dropped. The kids beat the thing to their feet and they picked up the atlas running for the open gate Klaus opened. They quickly jumped into a boat and looked back at an angry man/woman. The kids finally made it to the shore of Curdled Cave which looked like the open mouth of a beast. They heard a moaning from inside the cave and they entered cautiously. There, crying her heart out was Aunt Josephine. She was very happy to see the kids. She said they were going to live in the cave away from Captain Sham who was actually Count Olaf. The kids were shocked because they had no food. They decided to sail back. They were sailing when they noticed a bunch of little shapes underwater surrounding them; the Lachrymose Leeches. They wondered if anyone ate anything because the leeches only attack at anything with food on or in it. Aunt Josephine admitted she ate a banana and that's when they knew they were in for a tough trip home. A connection I have with the three Baudelaire kids was the fact that they were SO shocked that they were going to live there. I would be so mad if I went to rescue someone and end up living in that place with no food. Luckily, they got Aunt Josephine to sail back! Something I saw in Sunny is how she has always been just a small little character but now, she became a true hero. I never thought it would happen. A compliment I would like to give to the author is how he made Count Olaf a character who came up again and again and not just in one book. It was a very good idea that could not only make you think of many plots, but also make the books more exciting and exciting.