Novel+Study

Novel Study

Journal #1- Chapter 1-5 (No questions, I did not know we had to.) I am reading the book "The Thief Lord." In the storythe mainn characters, Prosper and Bo, have run away from their mean aunt and uncle. Thier mother had always told them stories of Venice and had portrayed it as a city of magic and mystery. Prosper decided to take his little brother there. Their trip looked really pointless though, and had come to a dead end. Prosper and Bo had a stoke of luck, one night they met Scipio, The Thief Lord. He brought them under his wing and gave them food and a nice place to stay. The Thief Lord and his band of child thieves quickly bonded with Prosper and Bo. Every night, when Scipio went on his "raids", he would get a few of the kids to sell the loot or stake out the building. It is soon discovered that Prosper is a good haggler and that he is the best person for the job of getting a fair price from Barbossa. Barbossa is the only person in Venice willing to do buisness with them and he offers a very low price every time. Prosper is able to get a good if not great price! Bo on the other hand, is in awe of The Thief Lord and he wants to be exactly like him. Scipio has also taken a great liking to Bo. The book has been great so far and I am very excited to read the rest!

Journal #2- chapter 5-7 (Questions 1,5 and 15) 1- I chose the book "The Thief Lord" because I have not read it before, and because of the fact that I like books about characters my age. Prosper is the main character and he is pretty much my age. I also like the Author- I have read many of Cornelia Funke's books including "Dragon Rider" and I like her writing. "The Thief Lord has a lot of action in it, so it is interesting from beginning to end, I like the type of books that have many events in them. The book is very straight forward as well, the fact that it is so easy to read but that it still has good language is perfect for me! I personally seem to like third person books so that was another reason I picked it. 5- The book is told in third person, with some omniscient being reciting the story right down to it's very roots. The narrator knows everything that the characters are feeling, their thoughts, and all the events in the story. I think this is one of the best ways to tell a story because when a story is told in third person, the omniscient narrator knows everyone's feelings/thoughts. When a story is told in first person, you can only read about the main character's/the person telling the story's feelings. In third person the story has different perspectives, in first person it has only one. For example the two characters Bo and Prosper have two different opinions on Scipio, Bo thinks he is amazing but Prosper is still a little weary of him. 15- Bo, Prosper and Scipio aren't the only characters in the book though. In the gang of thieves there is: Hornet- a girl who probably the most logical and realistic person there, Riccio- and fun loving boy put in the story to make it interesting and funny, Victor- The detective hired by Bo's Aunt and Uncle to find the two boys (prosper and Bo), and Barbossa- The cheep, conniving man who does shady business with the thieves for a huge profit. All these charcters add to the adventure of the book and give it more depth.

In the chapters I have just read, many things have happened. Including the most major event yet. One day while Barbossa was inspecting the gang's loot he offered a deal with "The Thief Lord." Because Scipio was not there Barbossa passed the job on to him via Prosper. Barbossa wanted "The Thief Lord to steal a certain item for his client. No one knows what that item is yet, but Prosper has a bad feeling about it and decides not to tell Scipio. I LOVE this book so far! It is one of the best books I have read and I am going to have a hard time controlling myself and only reading the fifth of the book that I am supposed to!  10/10  Journal #3, chapters 8-12 (Questions 3, 4 and 8)  3- Before the novel began, Prosper and Bo had been orphaned and their mean aunt and uncle recieved custody of them. However, they only want Bo. They see Prosper as a miscreant. Because Bo and Prosper love each other they do not want to be split up and so, seeing no other choice, they run away. Their Mother had always told them great stories of Venice and so that is where they decided to go. The book starts with them on their own arriving there.  4- As the story begins Prosper and Bo are on their own and they are hungry, lost and cold. They are trying to find food and shelter when a misterious figure calling himself " The Thief Lord" shows up and offers them what they were looking for. Bo instantly is in awe of him and hastily agrees. Prosper, on the other hand, is more weary and wouldn't go without alot of persuading. The Thief Lord takes them to an abandoned hotel where they meet many neww friends and have their first good night's sleep. 8- The Author holds the reader's interest by using clever literary devices such as personification and similies. She also tells the story from a whole bunch of people's perspectives and so it is very interesting how something is seen through many people's eyes. The story is aloso very fast-paced and so there are no boring bits in it. In chapters 8-12 Prosper returns from his outing, selling the loot to Barbossa, and passes Scipio the money. The Thief Lord is thrilled and throws a party in celebration. After the party, Prosper tells Scipio about the "special job" Barbossa has for him. The job is to steal an item for a friend. He has no idea what the item is or for what person but he decides to take the job. Going back to Barbossa, he finds out that the client is called the Conte. He also finds out that he is to meet the Conte in a confessional in church. Meanwhile, Victor the detective is close to finding the two children for their aunt.

Journal #4, Chapters 13-35 (Questions 13, 10 and 12) 13- The novel is aimed at an age group between about 10 and about 15. Being tough for 10-year-olds and relatively easy for people my age (14) or older. The language used does not have many words that would be considered "hard" and when there is a hard word, it is easy to understand it because of the context. This is an example of one of the tougher paragraphs: -Scipio shrugged. "If you say so." He walked slowly past the rows of red chairs, running his fingers along the red velvet and looked intently at the embroidered stars on the curtain. He walked very slowly, as if he was waiting for the others to call him back. But nobody did, not even Bo.- As you can see, this would probably be hard to read for a younger kid, and easy to read for me. It is not so easy though, that it bores me. 12- The language in the novel is pretty easy ( as seen above). The author found a way to make the writing interesting and strong worded, without using tough or hard to understand words. It is amazing how she can do that. This type of writing makes the book fun to read, it is light reading and is a great way to pass the time. Sometimes, however, it seems a bit too easy for my liking, but that is just because I usually like a challenge. The book is a bit too much of a "light read" for me. Thats just the way I am though. It could be perfect for someone else. 10- The plot this far has, mainly, easy to predict and follow. Things happen when they should happen and I usually can guess what the outcome is. One of the only plot twists I have come across though is that just as Prosper and Bo had finished their big job and had really succeeded, Bo was caught by his Aunt. I was not expecting this. At the happiest time, the worst thing happens. At this point in the story, Bo is gone and Prosper has given up on all hope. To add to the twist, the money they get from the big job turns out to be counterfeit and so all their efforts are for nothing. This is very disappointing, I felt so bad for Prosper! In these chapters Scipio takes the job for Barbossa. He meets the conte in a confessional and that is where he finally knows what the job is. He learns that the job is to steal a figurine. Scipio at first does not know why the Conte would pay so much for this figurine because the picture of it he has looks very unimportant. But to Scipio money is money so he does not question it. He successfully steals the figurine and gets the money. He learns that the money is fake though and is determined to find the Conte. Meanwhile Bo gets stolen by his aunt. A bunch of clues eventually lead Scipio to the story that the figurine goes onto a magical merry-go-round and so, being curious, he wants to know more. His search leads him to an island and then he finds that the stories were true and that the merry-go-round exists. He learns that the Conte is keeping the merry-go-round on an island that is supposedly haunted and decides to go there. After getting shot at (!!!) they finally find the merry-go-round... This is where I stopped, bad time right? I am waiting for the rest!

Journal #5, chapters 36-53 (questions 20, 21 and 22) 20-In my opinion the novel was not quite as believable as it could have been. Some parts of the story were pushing reality a bit too much for the story to be called non-fiction. One of these parts was, for instance, when Scipio rides on the merry-go-round and is spun into a man magically. I do not believe that this could happen, there is no way one could be aged 20 years in 20 seconds. This is the reason I believe "The Thief Lord" is a work of fiction. Another reason for this is that it is highly unlikeable that a group of little kids would get hired for a job as important as the Conte's and that they could have hidden in the abandoned theatre for as long as they did without getting caught. Also, it would have been hard for them to get food and their life would not have been as carefree as it seemed. This book is a great fiction book, but is not quite believable enough to pass as non-fiction. 21-I would recommend this novel to a friend for some light reading. It is a good book to pass the time and to keep you entertained. It is not, however, a very good book for someone who likes to read higher level stories or likes books that really make them think. It was a good book for me because I have little spare time. My activities keep me very busy and so it is good because "The Thief Lord" does not take much effort to read. You can read it in a short amount of time. The plot was very interesting and there was never a dull moment. I would definitely recommend this book to someone who liked action, suspense and more action! It's overall a great read! 22- The novel did meet my expectations, not only was it interesting, but it really showed how great effort can lead to great success. I was never bored with this book and I never felt like I didn't want to read it but I just had to for English. I am one of the people who likes reading, and reading any type of book so I guess I am easy to please. I usually like all books but this one was one of the books around the top of my list. I like books with action, and this one had lots of it! This was also an interesting book because the main character was a kid around my age, and it showed that kids can have independence too. I give this novel an 8.5/10. The book ended well. Scipio found the merry-go-round and took a ride on it, turning into a man. He had always wanted to have people respect him and so he finally got what he wanted. He thought that people would never respect a child and so now they would respect him as an adult. Hornet and the gang found a new "hideout"- and abandoned workhouse and lived happily ever after. Prosper and Bo were free of their aunt at last. They had adopted Barbossa. Which is kind of weird but they really liked him. Victor the detective and Scipio set off around the world as treasure hunters. It was what they had always wanted. Proper and Bo stayed with Ida, their new mother. Everyone was happy, except for Barbosssa, who was sent off to a boarding school. THE END!

Focus Assignment:
 * 1) 2- Characterization

Boniface -Boniface, Bo for short, has blond hair and happy eyes, although the author does not say what colour. His skin tone is very fair and he is much shorter than his brother Prosper. Well I guess he is actually quite short in general. Bo has a carefree smile and is so cute that people always, as Prosper says, "fall for him". -Bo is a very happy, bouncy, fun-loving boy. He quickly trusts people and they soon trust him. He is just overall very likable. In the novel, Bo is instantly in awe of Scipio and thinks he is the best person in the world. This makes Prosper jealous but, because Bo is simple and innocent in a way, he does not notice. He is not always aware of what is going on around him. -Bo thinks that how The Thief Lord steals is amazing and he wants to be just like The Thief Lord. Bo sees stealing as a fun game and not the serious, last-resort thing it is. He will do anything to impress Scipio and pretty much bends over backwards to be liked by everyone. He is a people pleaser, he thinks that if everyone likes him he will be happy, and if people like him that also makes him happy. Bo wants to think that everyone is good and always gives them a chance. In Barbossa's case, too much of a chance. -Bo acts like a cute adorable innocent child in front of everyone to become liked, but in secret he wants to be exactly like The Thief Lord, smart, shifty and a leader. At least he thinks it is in secret. Mostly everyone knows of his "secret" dream. But he is to oblivious to notice. -All the other characters in the story love Bo. He is sweet, cute and good to be around. He cheers everyone in the book up. All the members of the gang that he met are really nice to him. Prosper loves him because he is his little brother and would do anything for him. Prosper is always teaching him right from wrong and is keeping him out of trouble. -Bo is important in the novel because he is the person everyone can rely on him and trust him. Without Bo everyone would have been so depressed when they found out the money from the job was fake, they would not have carried on. Because Bo was taken, they were inspired to go on. -I would not want to be Bo because he has run away from his aunt's home after being orphaned. That is a terrible situation and I would not like to go through it. Another reason I would not want to be Bo is that he is living off the street in an abandoned theatre. That must not be very nice. Also, he has to steal for a living and I would never, ever want to do that. -Bo would make a great friend. He would support you in every way he can, always be postive, boost you up and make you laugh. Since Bo is a people-pleaser he would like to make you happy, and that is a good quality in a friend. Bo, in my opinion would be a model friend. He might be a bit simple and oblivious, but he is loving and nice. His good qualities outweigh his bad ones.

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