Pendragon Book One: The Merchant of Death by D.J. MacHale

Transcription

1 Pendragon Book One: The Merchant of Death by D.J. MacHale Directions: To help you prepare for your freshman GHCHS English class, we are requiring a summer reading novel and activity. Your STA teacher will provide you with the book and the instructions for completing a fact/idea or reader response report. Please read carefully and think about your responses to the selected quotes; your responses must convince your teacher that you have read the entire book and understand the importance of the plot development. For all quotes, highlight key terms and phrases that show evidence for your responses. Your responses must be written in summary/reader-response format as indicated below. You may respond initially to the guiding questions with short answers or bullet points; use these guiding questions to help you prepare for your summary/reader-response. When selecting your own quotes, use the teacher models to provide correct MLA parenthetical citation (page #). Your STA teacher will assign and model the summary/reader-response format during your class time. Use this assignment as a way to demonstrate your best work. You will submit your completed reading response to your English teacher the first day of school, During the first week of school you will write an essay on this book for the English department diagnostic assessment Chapter 1: Denduron Journal #1 (Pages 1-11) Quoted Passage from novel I didn t know what to do. At that very minute there was a team waiting for me to help them win a county title. Not to mention a family, friends, and an almost-girlfriend who would be expecting me to trot out onto the court. But standing in front of me was a guy who was my own flesh and blood who needed my help. Uncle Press did a lot for me as I was growing up and never asked for a Guiding Questions to help you understand the chapter. Why is Bobby reluctant to follow Uncle Press? What is the reason Bobby agrees to help Uncle Press? What does this reason suggest about Bobby s family values and his own character? Should someone ignore their own needs for the needs of family? What would you have chosen in this situation and why? Your reader-response: SEE-I format State (context for the passage/main idea of the passage 1 sentence) Elaborate (expand on your main idea, discuss more fully the context, the character revelation -2-3 sentences) Exemplify (provide evidence for your response paraphrases or quotes from the passage 1 sentence) Illustrate/Interpret (how can you make these ideas visible/real to the reader? Use a simile, metaphor or analogy. OR what does this passage reveal about a theme, conflict, a character trait? What does the author or speaker mean by this statement? Why is it important? 2-3 sentences)

2 single thing in return. Until now. How could I turn him down? (9). Chapter 2: Second Earth (Pages 12-18) Quote Questions Your Response : SEE-I Then Mark watched in awe as the circular band started to grow larger. It slowly got bigger and bigger until it was about the size of a Frisbee, and in the center of the now impossibly large band was a black hole where the floor should have been. The ring had opened up a dark portal to somewhere. From deep within this portal, Mark could hear the faint sound of musical notes (17). Background: Who is Mark? Where did the ring come from? What is a portal? What do you think the purpose of the ring is given the way the chapter ends? How does the writer build excitement in this passage? Think about the words he uses, and the length of the sentences.

3 Chapter 3: Denduron (Journal #1 Continued; pages 19-33) Too late! The entire pack of dogs, or quigs, or whatever they were leaped from the shadows and charged me! Suddenly the third rail didn t seem all that dangerous. I turned and ran. There must have been a dozen of them. I could hear their teeth gnashing and their claws scratching on the metal rails as they bounded over one another to get to me and and I didn t want to think of what would happen if they did. I remember having a fleeting thought that maybe they d hit the third rail and vaporize, but that didn t happen. My only hope was finding that door (31). What type of conflict is this: external or internal? How is Bobby responding to the conflict? Does he seem like he has good judgment in moments of crisis? How does the author create excitement in this passage? (Look at word choice. What image is he creating with his description?) Chapter 4: Second Earth (Pages 34-41) Two Linden place was gone. The two stood there together, wide-eyed, looking at a vacant lot. There were no signs that a house had ever been there. Not a single piece of wood, brick, stone, or blade of grass existed in the space Everything he What do Courtney and Mark discover? What does the discovery confirm for Mark? Why does he want to share the scrolls with Courtney? What is Mark feeling at this moment? Was he being a loyal friend to Bobby when he shared the

4 had read on the pages from Bobby was true. He had more questions than he had answers So he reached for his backpack and took out the yellow parchment papers She looked down at the pages and started to read (40-41). scrolls? Now that you have read a few chapters, what do you notice about the way the chapters are organized? Chapter 5: Denduron (Journal #1 continued Pages 42-62) There are no guns in this territory, he answered, then stopped working for a moment and looked me dead in the eye. We can only use what the territory offers. That s important. Remember that. Okay? [Bobby responds,] Yeah, sure, whatever (52). Who is speaking? What does he want Bobby to understand about visiting a new territory? Do you think Bobby is taking him seriously? Why or why not? From earlier in the chapter, why can t he wear his own clothes from Second Earth? If you were visiting another world, why wouldn t it be a good idea to bring your ipods, your athletic sandals, your computers, especially if you were visiting somewhere more primitive? Chapter 6: Second Earth (Pages 63-73) I just went through the town registry, said the sergeant with force. There is no family by that name living in Stony Brook. There is no house on Two Linden Place. So the only possible explanation is that you re either pulling some kind of joke, or you re talking about a family of ghosts and no, the Stony Brook Police are not interested in tracking Where are Mark and Courtney? Who is speaking? What is a registry? What is the implied conflict in this passage? (In other words, what is the conflict that is not obviously stated?) How might Mark and Courtney be feeling as they are being told this? Would they each

5 down a family of ghosts! (71-72). respond in the same way? Chapter 7: Denduron Journal 2 (Pages ) Summarize chapter 7 overall. Consider the setting, characters and their personalities/relationships, conflicts, power struggles, manipulation, etc. Brainstorm connections to the modern world to discuss in class. Chapter 8: Second Earth (Pages ) Somehow these familiar haunts didn t seem so familiar anymore. Everything looked the same, but the last few hours had opened their eyes to the possibility that they world didn t work exactly the way they thought it did (110). What are the events that have led Mark and Courtney to this conclusion? Why are they questioning reality? How would you respond if you and a friend were in this situation?

6 Chapter 9:Denduron (journal 2; Pages ) After I caught my breath, I sat up on my elbows and looked at Loor. She lay flat on her back, still breathing hard. I have to admit, now that we were safe, I was feeling pretty good about myself. Not only did I save the big, bad warrior girl from one of Kagan s nights, I also saved her life a dozen times over on the river. I couldn t wait for her to admit that I wasn t the lame wad she thought I was (130). What is ironic about this passage given how the chapter ends? Why is there so much tension between Bobby and Loor? Chapter 10: Denduron (Journal #2; Pages ) a moment that will forever haunt me Osa stood in the middle of the clearing, unprotected. Loor was about to run to her, but Osa yelled out, Hide him! This made Loor stop. It must have taken every bit of willpower to go against her instincts and obey her mother, but that s what In chapter 10, why does Osa show Bobby the mine? In the passage, why does Bobby say will forever haunt me? What is Loor s internal conflict? What can you

7 she did. She backed off, grabbed my hand, and that s when it started [we left behind] her mortally wounded mother ( ). infer about Loor s character from this passage from the way she responds to the conflict? What is Bobby s internal struggle throughout the book so far? Chapter 11: Second Earth (Pages ) Quote Select your own significant quote from the chapter. Provide MLA page citation. Your Response: SEE-I Provide your own critical analysis that provides insight on character, conflict, and theme; use the SEE-I format Chapter 12: Denduron (Journal #3) Pages How does Bobby see himself as a traveler? Select a quote from the chapter that supports your response and provide MLA page citation. Provide your own critical analysis that provides insight on character, conflict, and theme. Use SEE-I format

8 Chapter 13: Denduron (Journal #3) Pages In this chapter, how does Bobby violate Uncle Press s command to never use devices from other territories? Although Bobby s intentions are good, what could be the consequences of his decision to use electronic equipment to try to rescue Uncle Press? Paraphrase evidence from the chapter to support your interpretations. Reader-response: SEE-I format Chapter 14: Denduron (Journal #3 continued) Pages I have no idea how old she was. She could have been eighteen or thirty or any age in between. The fat stretched her skin so much that it gave her a smooth, baby look. Of course, she wasn t a baby; she was a monstrous evil queen with fat toes. Everything about her was big. Her hands, her feet, her head, even her eyes. Oddly enough, with all of the size she had going on, her mouth was tiny. Such a little hole didn t belong on this immense, doughy face. She had long hair too She was some kind of bizarro cartoon sumo wrestler woman (226). Who is this a description of? What could be symbolic about her size and her tiny mouth? In other words, explain why the author would have described her that way. How does her physical description give insight into what she values? Chapter15: Denduron (Journal 3 continued) Pages For a moment I felt a surge of guilt. Not about the two knights who were being devoured, but for the poor Milago miner who had died in the ring earlier. I had been so stunned by the quickly unfolding events What is Bobby s internal conflict? What happened in the ring that made him feel this way? How does he comfort himself? Do you agree with him that all things happen for a reason? What is your

9 that I hadn t thought to use my whistle. Could I have saved him? I don t know for sure. I ll never know maybe all things happen for a reason (251). justification for your belief? Is Bobby maturing and becoming more of a traveler? How do you know? Chapter 17: Denduron (Journal 4) (Pages ) Summarize chapter 17 overall. Focus on Bobby s internal conflict. Reflect on how responsible he is for his actions. Finally, discuss the concept of Halla and why it is important. Brainstorm connections to the modern world to discuss in class. Use SEE-I format Chapter 18: Denduron Journal #4 continued (Pages ) I hesitated a moment because, well, I was scared. But I also had to think about what Uncle Press just said. Sure, if I had gone to that basketball game I wouldn t be lying here facing certain death. But that s not where my head went. This is going to be hard to explain because I m not really sure I understand it myself, but as dire as the situation was, it somehow felt right. Believe me, it s not like I was having fun or anything. Far from it. But when I took a few seconds to do a gut check, I got the strange feeling that is was the right place, no, the only place for me to be (302). What do you think happened to Bobby to change his perspective on being a traveler? How has his attitude changed from the beginning of the text? What has Uncle Press taught Bobby about human nature? Why won t the entire suffering end if the Milago succeed in conquering the Bedoowan? Chapter 19: Denduron (Journal #4 continued) (Pages ) Summarize chapter 19 overall. Consider character, conflict, and theme in your response. Use SEE-I format

10 Chapter 20: Denduron Journal 4 (Pages ) How has Bobby changed since the beginning of the book? Select a quote from the chapter that supports your response and provide MLA page citation. Provide your own critical analysis that provides insight on character, conflict, and theme. Use SEE-I format Chapter 21: Denduron Journal 4 (Pages ) Then I saw something that made me stop and stare. An injured miner was sitting near the stump of a fallen tree. His head was bleeding and he had to lean against the stump for support. A woman knelt beside him, tending to his wounds. She had a bucket of water and some rags Her actions looked like a mother taking care of her child the woman taking care of the Milago miner was a Bedoowan. I do not understand said Loor. They are enemies. Maybe they found a common enemy, was my reply (353). How have the roles reversed between Loor and Bobby in this chapter? What do you think the common enemy is? Is this a hopeful image for humanity? How so?