FInal Blogger Assement Responses

1)      One way I demonstrate my voice in the novel is by using an allusion. The allusion I use is about a portable gaming system called a PSP. This word showcases my personality as a writer because I like to compare things in the book to real life to get a sense of how the book will turn out and when the book takes place. The next phrase I use to showcase my voice is when I stated “…no one would hear you and it’s almost like being trapped.” I feel like this shows my personality because I use a simile to explain the large size of the house which shows I like to use writers craft in my writing to intrigue the reader.

 

2)      The type of diction I use in my blog is informal. I use when I refer to their new house as a “Victorian fixer-upper”.  This helps the reader to get a better image in their head of what the house actually looks like. This phrase makes the reader think of a very large and nice house but, it is still very old and definitely needs some work done before the King family can move in. One type of syntax I used in my blog was anaphora. I present this in my blog when I use the phrase, “small, secluded” to describe the town of Pinedale. This helps to really put those words into perspective and make the reader imagine the town so it’s almost like they could compare it to something they have seen or a town they have been to in real life.

House of Dark Shadows- Relatable Characters

This book reminds me of many different movies but one stands out the most. House of Dark Shadows reminds me of the movie Super 8. One of the reasons that this book reminds me of Super 8 is how Xander loves to film movies and wants to film something suspicious in the house. This is much like in the Movie Super 8 when there group of friends are filming a movie when they find out about the aliens and begin to film them instead. Also, the ghosts in the house in the book are like the aliens in the town in the movie. This book also reminds me of the movie Haunted Mansion. In this movie, the family moves into a secluded mansion that is very old and they find out that it has spirits in it. This is just like Xander and his family moving from L.A. to the small town and house they live in now.

I wrote this on the week of 1/13/14 and it didn't upload. That is why it is out of order with the rest of my blogs.

House of Dark Shadows- Book Review

The book House of Dark Shadows by Robert Liparulo is about a boy named Xander King and his family who have just moved from down town LA to the small town of Pinedale. Xander is not very happy about moving at the beginning but he gets very interested in the strange occurrences that are going on through out his new house. If you read this book, you could find out the source of these strange occurrences and see what happens to Xander and the rest of his family. I think the type of reader that would enjoy this book is someone who likes adventure novels and fantasy novels. I would rate this book a 4 out of 5 stars. I would give it this rating because I thought the book was very interesting but lacking some things that could have made it a great book. The writing style of this book is through the eyes of a teenager. I think Robert Liparulo did a great job of conveying this style because I felt like Xander could be a kid at our school today and I also feel like I got to know him over the course of the book.

Since I just finished reading House of Dark Shadows, any good book ideas?

House of Dark Shadows- Dynamic Character

The dynamic character in the the novel House of Dark Shadows is Xander King. He is also the main character in the story and is a freshman in high school like me. Over the course of the story, Xander has changed in many different ways. One way he has changed in my opinion is that he has gotten a lot braver than what i first had expected him to be. When he first moved to his new house he was always moping around and unhappy about everything but since he became curious about the mysterious happenings going on in the house, he has been a lot more brave. He also has become more out going and adventurous. I say this because he used to not want to make new friends and just be sad all the time but now he has broken out of his shell and is making new friends at his school and has started to do things rather than sit around the house. These are the reasons in my opinion that Xander is dynamic.

Who is the dynamic character in your story?

House of Dark Shadows- Impact of Setting

In the book House of Dark Shadows, setting is everything. Without the setting, there wouldn't even be a story. For example, the beginning of the story starts with Xander getting used to a new setting in Pinedale, which is the town he moved to away from L.A. Next is the setting of the house they moved to. It is a big, scary house that is surrounded by forest and all of the kids in the King family think it is very suspicious. The imagery in the text helps to promote suspenseful moment by describing the house and how creepy it really is. "Xander looked out the window of the pitch black room and saw nothing... nothing but trees." I don't know about you but that line write their puts a good picture in my head and i would not want to be in Xander's situation right now.

Do you think setting is the main factor in most novels?

House of Dark Shadows- Authors Pupose

I think that the author, Robert Liparulo had many reasons for writing this novel. I think the first and main reason the author wrote this story is to entertain a young reader and get them to enjoy reading more. I believe this because the author writes the story as if it is a movie and if you do not like reading you would probably prefer to watch a movie. Another reason the author wrote this book is to scare the reader. This book is about a haunted house so obviously the author would want to put some sort of fear in the readers mind. The author also could have wrote this novel so people could relate to it. I think the whole part of the story of Xander and his family moving and how he misses his friends is very relatable and the author may have been in the same situation when he was younger. That is how he could give such a great description of how this felt.

House of Dark Shadows- Conversation with Xander King

If I sat down and had a conversation with the main character in the book "House of Dark Shadows" it would probably go something like this: I would first ask him about some of his interests, hobbies etc. He would probably respond with filming movies or short films, hanging out with his friends, and fighting with his brother. I would then ask him how he likes the new town he has moved into. Xander would reply by saying that it's peaceful and that he likes all the trees but he misses the city and all of the friends that he had. Next I would ask him about the house that they are thinking about buying and how he feels about it. He would say back that he thinks the house is really big and has a cool look to it. It also is kind of nice living way back in the woods with no one to disturb you. He would also mention how whenever he's in the house it feels like someone is watching him and that it really freaks him out. I would wish him good luck with his new life in Pinedale and the conversation would be over.

Would you like to live in a really big, nice house even if you felt like someone was watching you?