This is our second week reading The City of Ember, the first Book of Ember, by Jeanne DuPrau. This week, read from A Message Full of Holes (Page 93) through The Way Out (Page 192).
READING TIP: On page 94 of The City of Ember, Lina discovers something terribly important. Once I noticed this message, I got a post-it note (a second bookmark), and I left it on the page. That way, I could return to the message Lina found again and again. This helped me because then I didn't have to waste time searching for the message.
Secret Message: Lina tries to decode the secret message that she finds, and she really struggles to make sense of it. Here's another secret message. Try it out! Can you decode the message? Click HERE to give it a go!
The Greenhouse: Clary has an incredibly important role in Ember as head of the greenhouse. I know you learned a lot about how plants grow when you worked with Patty this year. If you want to learn more, here are some sites you can visit. This site has a game you can play to determine the exact balance of resources a plant needs. Here's a visual from the Weather Channel that shows how greenhouses work on Earth (although perhaps not in Ember). If you want to try growing some of your own plants from materials you might have around your house, visit this site.
Questions to Ponder/Respond to:
1. Lina shares "The Instructions" with many different citizens of Ember. Study their reactions to "The Instructions" closely. What can you learn about the characters from studying their reactions? For example, how does Doon respond? The Mayor? Captain Fleery? Lizzie?
2. Lina makes a major decision on page 153. What does that decision reveal about her character? What does it help you understand about the kind of place Ember is?
3. What major symbols are you noticing that repeat again and again throughout the book?
4. What questions do YOU have for the group? Post a question in the comments, and we can respond to your question with our own ideas. Think about the smart questions you would ask your book club! For example, last week Max wondered about why the residents of Ember don't recognize where they are. When he asked that question, I thought more deeply about that idea.
Keep reading and responding to the comments other people post! Your fellow readers have some FASCINATING ideas that will really make you think. Ask them questions. Ask for their evidence. Add your own thoughts and opinions.
To answer question one, I think that you can learn many things from looking at the way people reacted to the instructions. Lizzie for example was bored, and not into it by the very beginning, acting kind of conceited, also. The mayor though, ignored it in a different way than Lizzie by doing nothing. This, we find out, is because he already had whatever he wanted. Captain Fleery had already given up on a better life, I think, because she told Lina there wasn't any place but ember.
ReplyDeleteTo answer number two, I think that when Lina decided that she wouldn't take any of the supposedly unavailable goods, and wanted Lizzie to share them, that she is a very fair person, and I bet that quality will help her if she actually finds anything.
For the third question, I'm seeing a very use what you have theme a lot. For example, Lina draws on wrappers, and doesn't have a second thought about that.
Leela
P.s. I'm writng this from India!
Leela,
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you could join us even though you are so far from home!
Use what you have, or the idea of not taking anything for granted, is an incredibly interesting theme. Lina really does use everything she has wisely. However, sometimes she surprises us, like when she went into the store and bought colored pencils. What do you think about times like that, when Lina does seem to want new things more? How do those times fit with the big theme you are thinking about?
-Katie
I think that the reason that Lina wants new things sometimes is because she knows that if she runs out of things to reuse, she won't have anything at all!
ReplyDelete-Leela
I agree with you Leela about Lina wanting new things but I think that she wants new things because her life is so bland that she would like something different.
ReplyDelete