iRead Journal Prompt #1 for The Declaration

AJ Pendharkar

English III Honors

Coach Morrell

April 3, 2013

iRead Journal Prompt #1 for The Declaration

            There were many important events in the book, but the most important one was when Anna met Peter.  Peter was the gateway of happiness for Anna; he helped her meet her parents, escape from Grange Hall, and become a Legal.  When they first met, Anna hated Peter and tried to avoid him at all costs; she thought he was a trouble maker and knew if she was around him it would hurt her chances of being the best Surplus.  Anna did whatever it took to be on good terms with Mrs. Pincent.

            As Anna got closer with Peter, he told her about her parents, which upset Anna.  She believed her parents hated her and didn’t want anything to do with her, and thought that Peter was lying to upset her.  However, when Peter started calling her ‘Anna Covey’, she knew he knew something.  Nobody has used her last name in years, and she thought how Peter would know it.  On top of that, Peter knew she had a birthmark that looked like a butterfly on her stomach.  At Grange Hall, Mrs. Pincent was the only one that knew about that, and she told Anna it wasn’t a butterfly, but a dead moth.  Peter not only turned Anna’s life completely around, but also helped her grow as a person.  The second they met, Anna knew that he was different because his eyes were darting everywhere; Surpluses weren’t allowed to look everywhere, they had to stare at the ground.  After a lot of persuasion, Peter finally convinced Anna to escape with him and go to London to finally meet her parents.  Once they both got sent to solitary, they finally made their escape and within a couple of days of hiding in various locations from the Catchers, they finally made it to London.

            Peter persuaded Anna to leave Grange Hall, led her in the escape route, protected her through the rigorous journey, and safely got her to her parents.  He was probably the most important thing that happened in Anna’s life.  Without Peter, Anna would have still been at Grange Hall being forced to do chores that she didn’t want to do.  

iRead Journal Prompt #2 for The Declaration

AJ Pendharkar

English III Honors

Coach Morrell

April 3, 2013

iRead Journal Prompt #2 for The Declaration

            Anna grew greatly in confidence over multiple occasions.  One of the main ones was when she was rewarded with a journal after she completed a job at Mrs. Sharpe’s home.  Anna treasured that journal and spent the first couple days just staring at the beautiful book.  She didn’t want to write in the book just yet; although Anna knows how to read and write, she was never allowed to own a journal.  She knew the amount of trouble she would be in if Mrs. Pincent or any other teacher found the journal, so she had to keep it hidden.

            Throughout the remaining months Anna was at Grange Hall, she recorded almost everything that happened to her in that journal, and in great detail as well.  It wasn’t until she escaped with Peter that she greatly regretted ever writing in it.  Little did Anna know that the journal would cause her parents to kill themselves.  Writing in the journal helped Anna grow in confidence.  Before, she would blindly follow all the rules and orders that Mrs. Pincent would force her to do, but when she got the journal Anna could write her feelings in there and she truly understood that she didn’t deserve any of this – no one did. 

            Another occasion that caused Anna to grow in confidence was when she met Peter.  At first, she hated Peter and tried to avoid him at all costs.  However, the more she was around him, the more she began to like him.  She realized how smart he was and when Peter told her that he was sent by her parents to retrieve her, she thought he was crazy.  However, after a lot of talking, Peter convinced her that his intentions were true and they should escape immediately.  While Peter was in solitary, Anna felt alone.  She then realized how safe Peter made her feel.  Anna didn’t want to escape to find her parents at first, but when she overheard Mrs. Pincent talking with a doctor to strategize the death of Peter, she immediately got put in solitary to escape with Peter.  If she never met Peter, Anna would have stayed at Grange Hall being a Surplus for the rest of her life.

            Another huge impact on Anna’s confidence was finally meeting her parents for the first time.  Throughout her childhood, she was told that her parents hated her and wanted her to die, and Anna completely believed it.  However, when she finally met her parents, she realized how Mrs. Pincent and all the other teachers were just persuading her to think her parents were the bad guys and Grange Hall was her savior.  After meeting her parents, she realized how wrong Mrs. Pinent had been about her parents; they were the nicest people she’s ever met, and loving too (something she’s never experienced while at Grange Hall).  It’s amazing how just a couple of incidents could completely change ones life.

iRead Journal Prompt #6 for Tomorrow When the War Began

-What is the role of women in the novel?

            The main character, Ellie, is one of the key leaders of the group.  She is strong willed, organized, and very determined.  Throughout the novel, Ellie is faced with immense situations that she accurately responds to.  “I was still operating on sheer panic.  I led them across the tennis court, trying desperately to think”(84).  Ellie used her panic to help gear her thinking process in helping the group out, and it successfully worked. Ellie’s role in the group was mainly to be the “thinker” of the group.  She made a lot of valuable decisions and created very important plans in helping the group survive.

            In the novel, Ellie grew in confidence and her character completely changed, for the better, after going through outrageous life changing incidents. She did most of the crucial work and was portrayed as the hard worker in the group.  Not only was she a great critical thinker, but Ellie was great at acting based off of her instincts.  Over countless occasions she helped save peoples’ lives and put her life on risk.  Although Corrie and Fi played as lesser important roles than Ellie, they were still very crucial to the group’s survival.  “Fi seemed delicate and timid, and she even claimed herself that she was, but she had a determination I hadn’t recognized before.  There was a spirit to her, a fire burning inside her somewhere”(259). 

            The role of women in Tomorrow When the War Began is portrayed as a very crucial and important role.  Each woman is depicted as strong and self motivated, who don’t require much help from others.  “I had to activate that determined voice in my brain: If you do nothing, you’ll die”(237).  Ellie was explaining how she got back to focusing on her main concern, survival, and that she had to become determined by herself or a different outcome would occur.  The women, especially Ellie, were strong because of the ways they handled situations and how they used teamwork to benefit the group.  Although in some novels, men are portrayed as the key leaders of the group and basically the important, valuable ones who take charge of groups, John Marsden did the opposite, and I believe it worked perfectly.

iRead Journal Prompt #1 for Tomorrow When the War Began

-Select a relatively important event in the book and describe why it was a turning point in the character's life? What was it that the character decided or learned to do?

            One major turning point in the book was when Ellie said “this is hopeless.  We’ll have to give up”(86).  Instead of giving up, Kevin, Corrie, and she moved a lawn mower to a drive way near Mrs. Alexander’s studio.  They had come up with a plan that involved the lawn mower to be used as an explosive.  The group only needed some matches, and had to find them quickly.  Ellie spotted Mrs. Alexander’s car and checked in her glove box for matches because she knew that Mrs. Alexander was a chain smoker, and was pleasantly surprised to find some matches.  In the mean time, Kevin grabbed a hammer and a chisel to make a hole in the side of the gas tank on the lawn mower.

            The soldiers were shouting and the group could hear footsteps of soldiers quickly approaching.  They were motivated by hearing the gun shots and noise that the soldiers were making.  They could tell that the soldiers were getting very close.  They unscrewed the cap to the lawn mower and Kevin took off his shirt, soaked it in the gas, and made a trail of gas to the wall where they were hiding. They decided to wait for the soldiers to get closer.  When the soldiers got close, Ellie tried to light a match, but her hands were trembling, so Kevin quickly motivated her “Do it”(88).  The lit match hit the gas trail and the flames quickly glided across to the lawn mower.  They could hear the lawn mower explode, and the soldiers screaming in pain.

            I thought that Ellie was surprised at her courage and Rambo-like actions.  She saved the group’s lives by blowing up the lawn mower.  Instead of giving up, she fought back with her will power.  Ellie also got her motivation from her two friends Corrie and Kevin.  They wanted to survive and were determined to make it happen at any cost.  This was probably the first time that Ellie had to resort to using violence to protect herself and the people around her, and I believe this made her stronger.  After going through a situation of ‘the strong live and the weak die’, Ellie realized how her actions could benefit the group.

            This incident built a bond through the group because of the teamwork they shared.  Ellie’s quick actions not only saved their lives, but it built up her courage and toughness.  Later on in the novel, Ellie had a much more important job of blowing up a gas tanker truck under a bridge.  The bridge was the main path for soldiers to bring their supplies to town.  I believe that if Ellie hadn’t gone through the previous experience of blowing up the lawnmower by quickly resorting to violence to benefit the group, she wouldn’t have had the courage to steal the enemy’s gas tanker truck and use it as a weapon against the soldiers.  “There was no way I was ever going to be a hero”(248).  Ellie was convinced that she wouldn’t successfully complete this mission of stealing a gas tanker and exploding it, but she had the courage to try.