This is our last Blog of this year, and our short story reading class will begin again on January 13, 2016. Last week's reading, The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell was by far the most popular story we have read since August. There are four characters: Ivan, a Cossack, and General Zaroff's assistant. Whitney, a friend of Sanger Rainsford who feels anxious as they sail next to the mysterious Ship-Trap Island. General Zaroff, a Cossack who is an elegant speaker, and a eager hunter that enjoys creating a hunting game with people whose boats sink in front of his island. Sanger Rainsford, a renowned hunter who is intelligent and has years of hunting experience. The story consisted of Rainsford falling off the boat, swimming to the Ship-Trap Island, and meeting General Zaroff. From there, General Zaroff tells Rainsford about how his hunting has become less than he wants, so he purposely leads boats to sink outside his island and has the crews land on the shore of his island. It is then he has a new group to train, to strengthen, and then let's them go and he hunt for them. Sanger Rainsford feels General Zaroff is absurd, and then later becomes one for General Zaroff hunt for. In the end of the story, Sanger Rainsford beats General Zaroff in the three day hunt and kills him and sleeps in General Zaroff's bed. It is excellent story that I highly recommend you read. After reviewing The Most Dangerous Game, we went over what we have read since August and chose the top six stories. Here are the ones we chose in no particular order.
Last Friday, we went over Hunter in the Snow by Tobias Wolff, which is a story based on friendships. This is a unique story since we learn all about the characters through their talking to each other and their actions in the group or when they are alone. In fact, Tobias Wolff does not share the characters' personalities in paragraphs, so a reader learns them throughout the story. The three characters, Tub, Kenny, and Frank are married and have completely different personalities. Kenny is the loud one, one who is also rough and insensitive. However, just as Eckels was in A Sound of Thunder, who lost his strong, egotistical personality after he saw the dinosaur, Kenny lost his overbearing personality when Tub shot him. Frank was a subtle man who was in the middle, between Tub and Kenny. Frank also had a very calm mind, and seemed at peace with the two when they were arguing. Interestingly though, we learn later that he was in love with his children's babysitter who was only sixteen years old. And Tub was overweight and had a hard time keeping up with Kenny and Frank in the woods and had an eating disorder which he kept inside himself. Later, Tub opens himself to Frank, and Frank encourages him to be himself and eat an enormous plate of pancakes that were covered with syrup. While we were reading, we went over the list of all the stories on What We Have Read So Far... and connected the ones that were similar and different to Hunter in the Snow. This turned out to be a wonderful activity to do since we got to see how unique all the stories are. Lastly, we read In This Group, a poem written by Fae Burgener. Her poem describes our reading group and each person in it. Fae is a fantastic writer and how she describe each one of us is perfect. I highly suggest you take some time to read her poem. Next week's reading is The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell and we will go over it on Wednesday. I have heard from a dear friend, who is an librarian, that this is an awesome story.
A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury is an exciting story that shows how sometimes a simple, small thing can effect the future in ways we could never predict. In A Sound of Thunder, four men head back in time, 60, 022, 005 years, to kill a dinosaur. The year is 2055, and the crew is run by Mr. Davis, and the main character is Eckels. The goal is for the team to head back in time, kill a dinosaur that is already predicted to die naturally only a few minutes before they shoot it twice, one in each brain. Eckels is eager to hunt a dinosaur since he has hunted all over the world and he feels he needs more of a hunting challenge. The important information Eckels receives from Mr. Davis is that there must never be a mistake what so ever since one small change that happen from killing anything as small as an ant, will have a greater impact on their future that they cannot predicted. Nevertheless, when it came time to kill the dinosaur, Eckels falls apart emotionally, steps off their narrow track, and kills a small butterfly which leads to a subtle change they discover when they get home. Mr. Davis, completely enraged, finally kills Eckels and he lays down helplessly in a chair in the Time Safari Inc. office. It is an outstanding short story. Two simple quotes I really like are, "Time was a film run backwards. Suns fled and ten million moons fled after them.", and "The sun stopped in the sky." Both of the these were written when they are on their 60, 002, 005 year trip to hunt the dinosaur.The video, A Sound of Thunder, is good to watch after reading the short story. Next week's reading is Hunters in The Snow by Tobias Wolff. Everyone remember: There is no class on Wednesday since there it's a holiday. See you next Friday!
This is our last Blog of this year, and our short story reading class will begin again on January 13, 2016. Last week's reading, The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell was by far the most popular story we have read since August. There are four characters: Ivan, a Cossack, and General Zaroff's assistant. Whitney, a friend of Sanger Rainsford who feels anxious as they sail next to the mysterious Ship-Trap Island. General Zaroff, a Cossack who is an elegant speaker, and a eager hunter that enjoys creating a hunting game with people whose boats sink in front of his island. Sanger Rainsford, a renowned hunter who is intelligent and has years of hunting experience. The story consisted of Rainsford falling off the boat, swimming to the Ship-Trap Island, and meeting General Zaroff. From there, General Zaroff tells Rainsford about how his hunting has become less than he wants, so he purposely leads boats to sink outside his island and has the crews land on the shore of his island. It is then he has a new group to train, to strengthen, and then let's them go and he hunt for them. Sanger Rainsford feels General Zaroff is absurd, and then later becomes one for General Zaroff hunt for. In the end of the story, Sanger Rainsford beats General Zaroff in the three day hunt and kills him and sleeps in General Zaroff's bed. It is excellent story that I highly recommend you read. After reviewing The Most Dangerous Game, we went over what we have read since August and chose the top six stories. Here are the ones we chose in no particular order. 
