Grace

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Book Group Test
House of Dies Drear Book Group Test- April 2010 By Grace Pellerin 1. I don’t think that __The House of Dies Drear__ is such a good title. In the book, they don’t say too much about Dies Drear and his house. __The House of Dies Drear__ would be a good title only if they had described and associated more of the book with the house. The legend of Dies Drear was that he was black and he hid two slaves in his house which was an underground railroad. The house had tunnels and passageways that made the house creepy to the Smalls, especially Thomas. The title was also good because the book was supposed to be based on Dies Drear and his house. It was an appropriate title for this book because also it was about Pluto being someone who had found the caves. It must have been hard to tie in something that had happened a while ago to what is happening in the book. I might have chosen that title, but I might have chosen a different one. I would have chosen it only if I had talked more about Dies Drear. If I didn’t choose it, I would have chosen __Pluto and the Creepy Caves__ or something like that. I would have chosen that alternate title because they described Pluto more and the caves and tunnels. Overall I loved the book because it was packed with detail and had good cliffhangers at the end of the chapters.

Comment From Shirley: You have written a clear and interesting response to this question.I enjoyed reading your ideas and you have included some well chosen facts to support your reasoning. I like your alternative title and also the reasons you gave for keeping the title. Well done!

​ Comment from Thalia: I think that you have written a descriptive answer to this question and that you have really though about this. The only thing I think you should edit is that in my opinion you should have put more commas in and not as many periods. Great job!

Comment from Amelia: I like how you wrote about the book title not actually being as relevant to what was happening in the book. Good Job!

comment from emily: I think you did a good job and I agree with what you said about the original title. I like your idea for a new title and I like the way it rymes.

3. Pluto is a weird character because the author had described him like that so it makes you think things that isn’t true and it lets you imagine what is is going to happen next with Pluto. I think that at the beginning of the book, Pluto hid a lot of valuable things and wasn’t really open to anybody. Then, at the end of the book, it introduces almost a new Pluto. The new Pluto always talked to Pesty and the Smalls. He was open to almost everyone he knew, except for the Darrow’s. Pluto was a secretive and strange guy because he hid a lot of information from the Small’s at the beginning. I don’t think that Pluto handled the situation that well. He could have told the Smalls all that he knew about the house and everything that had something to do with the house. He could have told where the passageways were, why there were triangles on each door and why the captain’s chair sticks to the floor. At the end of the book, he told the answer to almost everything except the captain’s chair and where the passageways led to. Pluto was an old man with a long flowing beard and a ghostlike appearance. Pluto’s last name is Skinner and he doesn’t like hospitals or going to them. Everyone was scared of Pluto or just stayed away from him because he was weird and old. Pluto lives in an old cavern full of old glassware and very valuable items like rugs and valuable pieces of art. Pluto found the cave when he was a small boy who liked to play around in the cave leading to the cavern. He patrolled the cavern so no naughty people like the Darrow’s could steal his valuable items.

Comment From Shirley: You obviously know a lot about Pluto and have described him with accurate and clear details. I have a vivid picture of him from reading your response. The author did do a good job of making you think differently about Pluto and you stated that well. Nice Work!

Comment from Amelia: I like how you write about how Virginia Hamilton wanted Pluto to be a weird character. It is a really good response. Great Job!

 __**Week 6 Book Group Questions** Schuyler:

1. What do you think about the end of the book? Do you think that it should have been different? Explain in details with examples.__

I think that the ending was good and perfect for this particular book. The ending was happy and since the book was mysterious, the ending gave the book a good and happy ending. I don't think it should be changed that much but I have a few ideas. Maybe they should have talked more about the Darrow boys and if they stayed away. What happened to the captains chair? Is the chair a passageway or something? Maybe they should have said more about these ideas and described them more.

Emily: __2. Do you think the plan for scaring the Darrows worked? What surprised you about it?__ I do think that it worked perfect because most of them were really scared but after the scare I think that one Darrow boy knew what was going on or at least knew that someone was trying to trick them. The other Darrow boys were definantly scared because one of them dropped and broke the flashlight and ran to get away from the "scary people" who actually were Mayhew, Mr.Small, Thomas, and Pluto. I was surprised that the Darrow boys wouldnt have been scared because the author made me think that they were burly, strong boys and not boys who would be scared easy.


 * Amelia: Grace, In your first question you write about if the ending was good and if it was good for that particular book. You almost compare the ending in two settings. Great Job!

Emily Brown: you did a great job and I thought that the plan worked good two.**

Week 3 Questions
__I am going to answer question 2. 2. Describe Mayhew's plan and tell what you think the results will be.__ One of Mayhew's plans was to scare off Mr. Small and Thomas, but mostly the boys that made fun of Pluto. The result of that one was Thomas was crying (because he was scared and because he had been thrown off of Mayhew's back and he was hurt) and Mr. Small was on the ground and Mayhew was kind of sorry. He also had a plan of making the Darrow boys think that Pluto is so sick that Pluto has to go to the hospital. Then Darrow will then try to steal Pluto's treasures and valuables. Then when Darrow is waling out of Pluto's cave, Mayhew will attack Darrow. They will call an ambulance so it looks real to Darrow and then when Darrow steals stuff, they will call the police. I think that Darrow isn't going to steal from Pluto because he seems like a nice guy but if I think about it, he didn't help when Thomas fell into the hole.


 * Amelia: Your answer is detailed and informative. You've really made a nice description of Mayhew's plan. BRAVA!**

Shirley: Great response Grace! I enjoyed reading your thoughts and opinions. You included lots of detaials in a clear way.