Taryn's+e-+Journal

Taryn, this is fabulous! Nice job on the e-Journal and your chart from the task assignment this past Monday. I am glad that you were intrigued by this novel. I can't wait to hear more of your thoughts. Do you think the book should be banned? Why might someone feel either way? Please share with me! Ms C :)

Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011 Thank- you so much, Ms. C ! I'm glad you like my chart, I worked really hard on it! To be truthful I really don't know why it was banned. Maybe it has something to do with the religious peice to the story, like about the Isrealis and the Palestinians or something? But I'm itching to know! Thanks, once again for taking the time to respond. Taryn :)

__**E- Journal **__

Chapters: 1 - 5 Pages: 42

Wednesday 01/26/11 My thoughts about before I started the book “The Shepherd’s Grand Daughter” were almost excited because it was not one of the books I chose but I almost liked that Ms. Carlyle twisted it. Ms. Carlyle told Courtney, Kaylie and I that it was ban in some school districts and I immediately wanted to know more! Then I started the first chapter and I was totally engaged! In the beginning the book introduces a little 6 year old girl that wants to be a shepherd but her family is against it because it is a tradition that a boy will become the shepherd. The Main Characters so far are: Amani, she is a young girl with a theory that she will not go to school like her brothers and sisters and stay in the fields with her grandfather and his flock of sheep. Seedo, is Amani’s grandfather. The Setting is set in the country of Palestine. In the first couple of chapters it talks about Amani when she is just 6 years old and she ‘works’ up on her grandfather’s peak (Seedo’s Peak) and all about the problems you would face while being a shepherd, like help giving birth to baby lambs and escaping Nasty the ram. So far I really enjoy this book and I can’t what to see what the climax is going to be.

Chapters: 5 - 8 Pages: 64

Friday 01/ 28/11 These chapters were very good, good as in interesting because Amani and her family harvest the olives from their trees. Then they take them into town to the olive press in Al Khalil. As well as take ill Seedo to the hospital. But on the way, Israeli soldiers stop them because Al Khalil has a curfew and they just happen to make it there right in the middle of it. They pointed rifles at them and threatened to kill them all if they don’t give them Omar (Amani’s brother). Then Amani’s Baba chases after him and they take him too. Then they go back in the morning and Omar and Baba escape. These chapters were scary, sad and happy all at the same time! I really felt sad when all of the family was in the back of the truck with Seedo moaning and groaning on the floor of the back of the truck and the feeling that hits you when you read the part what Amani is seeing at that moment when her dad and brother are just suddenly taken away ,and at night time too! As soon as it says " Footsteps. Soldiers appeared at the back of the truck. A blinding light made Amani squint. When her eyes adjusted, she saw rifles pointing at them." The stone that all of a sudden drops in your stomach is huge! The next chapters I bet are going to be intense! Can't wait to read on!

Chapters: 8 - 13 Pages: 96

Wednesday 02/ 02/ 11 At the beginning of chapter 8 the family finds out that Seedo has advanced leukemia, and he sadly passes away. But, before he passed he gave Amani his shepherds crook which means Amani would take over the flock. The family has had a major change in this chapter: they are depressed. The Isrealis are destroying the land around Seedo's peak and Amani is all alone on the peak protecting the flock like her Grandfather did. I wonder why her brother or dad or someone doesn't go up there with her! By now Amani is 13 but still there are Wolves surrounding the peak and mountains she has encountered many! As well as the Isrealis they have a lot of power over a 13 year old girl! This tells me that Amani is extremely brave and is very driven to what her Grandfather did. In these chapters the family is sort of falling apart: Omar is offered to go away to school and excepts, they don't have much money and the flock is shrinking by the day. These chapters I think was a large part of the rising action.
 * = __**Protagonist**__ ||= __**Antagonist**__ ||= __**Setting**__ ||= **__Climax__** ||= **__Solution__** ||= __**Foreshadowing**__ ||= **__Similes__** ||= **__Metaphor__** ||
 * = The main character. ||= Whoever is against the main character ||= A setting is where and when the story takes place. ||= The high point in a story. ||= The Solution to the problem. ||= Hints to what comes next. ||= The comparing of 2 nouns in a sentence using the words like or as. ||= An implied coparisson between to nouns. ||
 * = In this book the Proagonist is Amani. ||= I really think the Antagonists are the Isrealis and the settlers who are controled by the Isrealis. ||= The setting is placed in Palestine which is a neighbouring area or country to Isreal. It doesn't say when this stroy takes place in time. ||= In this story I think the climax really hits when the settlers and Isrealis totally destroy Amani's family's land and houses and taking it for themselves. ||= There was no true soulution in this book it just kind of ended which makes me kind of sad because it was a huge problem but with no good ending to it makes it really sad. ||= This book was really hard to foreshadow because you'd think you'd know what would happen but it would totally twisted it almost to make it worse. ||=  ||= "The Sun was a small red ember on western horizon."
 * Chapter**
 * 29** ||
 * = __**External Conflict**__ ||= **__Internal Conflct__** ||=  ||=   ||=   ||=   ||=   ||=   ||
 * When a character has a problem with an outside force, like nature or another character. || When a character has conflict within himself/ herself. ||  ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||
 * Amani's family really has to fight because they already aren't living in the best conditions but the settlers make more conflict by totally crushing their way of life. || Amani deffinatly has internal thoughts that make her want to explode. The feelings she gets make you want to help her so bad. It's to bad she is just a fictionous character. ||  ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||

Chapters: 13 - 19 Pages: 134

Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011

The beginning of chapter 13, tells that Omar (Amani's older brother) and Amani's Mama, leave to take Omar to Collage. Amani and her Baba and very few other family members just dispurse among the family's house. A lot of her family are either gone somewhere or have passed on. The family has really started to struggle, in absolutly every way. Things are getting really scary! Amani's flock of sheep has really littled down. (Not finished yet)