For your first blog post "Don't you dare read this" club needs to have read up to page 37. Choose any of the 5 writing elements to analyze for your post.
Although you may blog on any of the 5 elements, it is an advantage to speak with your group so that everyone is not commenting on the same thing. This will assist in your group meetings and allow a higher quality and variation of discussion.
Your posts should be approximatly 2 paragraphs but there is no maximum. Although you are required to respond to 1 post, you may exceed this limit as long as you wish to comment on peoples blogs.
Each blog is worth 7 marks and each response is worth 3 marks for a total 50 marks for all 5 sections combined. Blogs will be either accepted for full marks or rejected for 0 out of 7 or 0 out of 3 for that respective assesment component.
This unit concludes with a book review which is described on the main ELA Grade 7 blog and will be worth 100 marks.
To post your first blog simply press 'comment' below this post.
The book “Don’t you dare read this, Mrs. Dunphrey” starts off as somewhat of a mystery. The first 37 pages seem to reveal that Tish was in fact the mother of her brother, Matt. Tish’s actual mother was going through hard times and probably a depression. She was inattentive to them. As a consequence of this, Tish had to work at a restaurant called Burger Boy in order to afford the basics of life. Two examples of this sacrifice highlighted in this book are lunch money and birthday presents.
ReplyDeleteI genuinely feel bad for Trish. She had to forfeit most of her social life and she has lost interest in her grades at school. Tish had to work full time in order to afford the many things that kids in an average family take for granted from their parents. I think the mother is overreacting about her troubles with her ex-husband. Other problems she’s experiencing are unclear up to this point in this book. Tish was saving up for a Nintendo for her brother’s birthday, but she could not afford it. With the money that Tish earns weekly, she has to pay for her and Matt’s lunch money. So instead of the more expensive gift, she had to buy him a baseball mitt. It was appreciated never the less.
Near the end of the assigned reading section, the divorced dad comes in to the picture. Tish was quite scared of him from her past, but Tish’s mom and Matt have completely forgiven him. In my opinion, the book doesn’t make it clear what the father had done besides yell all the time.
As soon as Tish’s “father” reunited with her family, he bought Matt an expensive Nintendo that was better than the one that Tish was saving up for Matt at Christmas time. Tish’s dream was crushed by her father’s desire to bribe Matt to accept him. I don’t believe that the father did this deliberately to get Tish mad. From Tish’s point of view, however, she wanted nothing to do with this “Father.”
I agree with everything you said Josh. It started off just like a mystery novel, she had to help out her brother while her mother just laid around doing nothing, and how Trish had to pay for lunch money and for a gift for matt for christmas. But when Trish's dad reunites with them its an epic turnaround, Matt gets the nintendo and all of Trish' work went down the drain, great job
ReplyDeleteThe book “Don’t you dare read this, Mrs. Dunphrey” starts off with a teenage girl named Tish Bonner, with a brother Matt, a father who left them and a lazy mother. The first section seemed to expose that Tish was literally the mother of her brother, Matt. Tish’s actual mother was going through a huge phase of depression and all she did was lye down and watch some black and white movies. Tish therefore had to pay for herself and her brother’s lunch money and birthday presents. She got the money from working at a place called Burger Boy.
ReplyDeleteAt the very beginning of this section, we are introduced to one of Tish’s teachers, Mrs. Dunphrey. She tells her class that they will have to do a journal entry for every class, but they are allowed to right do not read this Mrs. Dunphrey, and she will not read it. Mostly every journal entry we see Tish write is marked, do not read this Mrs. Dunphrey, and she will right down everything that is on her mind. We are then introduced with some other teachers, her 3 best friends, Rochelle, Chastity and Sandy.
Tish also writes in one of her journal entries, that she is a C student but can get B’s if she studies. She lost all interest in grades. Tish has to work full time in order to afford the many things that kids in an average family take for granted from their parents. But one downfall that included her job was when the assistant manager, Robbie Richards, asks out Tish and she says no and the next day the new time table is posted and she is only given 5 hours. She tells the manager about how she got 5 hours and some other employees got 17-18 and the manager says if you don’t like the way things are then quit. She thinks about it but says can you please just look it over and walks out gracefully. The next day she gets 15 hours on the timetable. I think Tish really shows that when she puts her mind to something she can do anything.
Tish’s mother starts to overreact when she hears that her husband is back in town. Tish was saving up for a Nintendo for her brother’s birthday, but she could not afford it and instead she bought him a baseball glove because the money she does make has to go to Matt’s and her own lunch money. Matt loved the glove and said that every boy had one and he thought that he would never get one.
As soon as Tish’s dad came back with her family, Tish was standing still like a statue with Matt behind her. She said, hi dad and Matt realized it was his dad and ran and gave him a huge hug. Tish’s got Matt a Nintendo that was better than the one that Tish was saving up for Matt at Christmas time when Tish was out working. When she got back Tish saw that they were playing together on the Nintendo playing a game blasting aliens. Tish’s hard work was terminated when she saw that her dad had already bought him a Nintendo. Was this all a plan for Tish’s Dad, had he really change, these are all questions that will be answered next section.
In the first 37 pages that I read for this book, the setting and the atmosphere was half way there, but I don’t think the author gives enough details on the setting. I know most of the setting takes place in Tish Bonners School and at her house but I don’t know the season that it takes place in or any of those extra little details that help you understand better. At first when you read the first entry I would never guess that Tish has so many problems in her life until you get to the second entry. In the second entry Tish says that she has to work t Burger Boy to earn money for cloths and food for not only for her but for her little brother Matt, she has to do all of this because her mother doesn’t give them money for them to live. When she mentions that if it wasn’t for her friends that she would drop out of school, which for me just says how depressed she is and how many problems she has.
ReplyDeleteTish has some good memories and a lot of bad memories of her dad, but when he comes home everybody seems to have forgotten all of the things that he has done except for Tish. She mentions that she remembers when he had a job as a truck driver he would take her and her mother for a ride and they would eat cheetos and laugh. Like I said before I feel that the author doesn’t give enough detail on what is happening because I don’t know what he dad really did maybe he did something extremely terrible and all that I know is that he yelled a lot. As Tish and Matt go into the kitchen one morning and he is sitting there they are surprised Matt goes running while Tish stays as far away and avoids contact like “get out of here I want nothing to do with you”.-yael
I agree somewhat to what josh said, I do agree that hse is depressed and that she has lost interest in her grades but what I dont agree with is that she has no socail life anymore, it does mention does she does go to the mall with her friends and that if it weren't for them she would drop out of shcool but other than that I think it was really good!
ReplyDeleteThe Book Don't You dare read this talks about Tish Bonner and her family's struggle to become a real family. Although tish's family has a hard time to be a family, Tish and her brother, Matt get along very well. Tish has become a alternative mother towards Matt. She always has to pick up her brother because her mother can't. Even though shehas to pick him up it in a way get them to become closer.
ReplyDeleteIn the book the author reveals the fact that Tish is not very close to her parents. She only has some memories where she and her parents and fun times together. On pages 35 it says "I don't know what mom told dad-I don't want to know-but this morning when i got up and walked into the kitchen, he was sitting at the kitchen table eating eggs and toast, sort of normal like he'd never been away at all" In this sensence it explains that Tish was not happy to see her dad and that she was kinda shocked. She never liked her dad because there were hardley any memories of him not being angery. When Matt walkes into the kitchen and see's hid dad he his unbelievably happy. Not like Tish. The Bonner's dad was gratelfuly happy to see his son and daughter like nothing ever happened.
The theme about how the Bonner family did not get along is not new. There have been many different books where they have had family's that can not get along but in the end they always find a way to get become a family again. This family is negatively social. They fight and fight without having a normal conversation where a situation can come out of it.-liam
I agree with what Yael said. I also think that the setting wasn't totaly clear and that they still have to give a few more of those small but very important details. I agree that the only person who remember what happened with the dad before he left was Tish. But on the other hand they coud have remembered what happened but they wanted to forget about it and start off on a clean slat and then finally become a happy family again.
ReplyDeleteI slightly disagree with Yael, To me, the setting in this book should not be clear, the book is more focusing on the life of the family, the setting does not have to be clear, but in a way it could be. I agree with the rest of what you said Yael, Great Job.
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