"I try to say one thing with my work: A book is a wonderful place to be. A book is a package, a gift package, a surprise package -- and within the wrappings is a whole new world and beyond." --Ellen Raskin
Here it is, the 8th of November already, and I haven't yet posted our discussion questions for The Westing Game!!! I hope some of you were able to read it. I know it is quite different from last month's book, but I also felt it had some similar overall themes. What did you think? Post some of your comments on this book so we can get talking about it! Below are some questions to get you thinking, like before, but just write your thoughts, what you want to write about.
1. Did you like the book overall? Why or why not? What did you like? What didn't you like?
2. Did you feel like you connected with any of the characters?
3. Were there any specific passages that stood out to you?
4. How do the themes of this story compare to The Goose Girl? Do you find any similarities?
5. In Chapter 23, each pair of heirs is given the opportunity to reveal its solutions. Although it's announced that all answers are wrong, Chris's response is profound. He says, "I think Mr. Westing is a g-good man. I think his last wish was to do g-good deeds. He gave me a p-partner who helped me. He g-gave everybody the p-perfect p-partner to m-make friends." Do you agree? What are some of the positive things that come from the partnerships?
6. Did you find any parts of the book funny? What were some of your favorite humorous details?
7. Why do you think Turtle never shares her secret of Windy Windkloppel's fourth identity?
8. Although Turtle is the only heir who won the inheritance, all the participants benefited from playing the game. Choose one of your favorite characters and describe how he or she benefited from the game.
9. Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not? To a teenager?
Ellen Raskin won the Newberry Award for this book. She has also written other young adult novels, including The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I mean Noel) and Figgs and Phantoms. She has written several children's books too!
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2 comments:
I finished reading the book a couple of weeks ago, and I already turned it back in to the library, so hopefully I can remember enough to comment on it.
I did like the book - I'll admit I had a little bit of a hard time getting into it at first, just because I couldn't piece anything together. But the last half was much better and I got more into it towards the end as I was able to figure out a little bit of what was going on, and at least have some sort of guess about it.
It seems like the pairs were put together for a reason - like the quote from Chris says, they did seem to each benefit. For example - the Chinese wife (Mrs. Hoo?) who didn't speak English was given a partner who was willing to teach her. Turtle's sister (I can't remember her name) was given someone who was basically the opposite - wanted attention but didn't get any, and she finally seemed to realize that she had an opinion and could voice it.
One similarity I see to The Goose Girl was that Turtle was someone who didn't seem to live up to her mother's expectations or her sister's legacy, and people didn't appreciate her. She had to prove her worth to herself, and in the process seemed to realize her own strengths and become successful. I don't think she ever told anyone about Windy Windkloppel's identity because it would have probably destroyed all he had tried to achieve with pairing the people for their benefit, and leaving them in harmony with each other - they were satisfied with the solution and were no longer greedily looking for the money.
Overall I thought it was a great book - entertaining, and also kept me thinking and trying to figure things out.
So yes, I read the book. As usually I'm late with my school work but it gets done eventually! So I finished the book in the first week of the month. I liked what you said Jess about the pen and paper so I wrote everything I knew about the characters as I went along. That was pretty fun but it didn't really help me to solve the mystery. It did help me stay focused though which was nice.
My brother in law said lovingly to my sister the other day that he thinks its amazing that she can talk so much but never really say anything (don't worry she laughed along with the rest of us). I guess that's how I'm feeling about this book. It didn't really evoke any deep feelings in me or help me learn anything or really entertain me. I know, I'm horrible but I came away with a plain old "eh".
Final word: I give this book one "eh".
(Jess, Despite my negative review don't be discouraged in your book picking, its really fun to read stuff I wouldn't normally..really, thanks again!)
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