The Egypt Game
Develop and adapt active reading skills and strategies
1)
The main strategy I used throughout the book was prediction. I tried to predict for example what was going to happen to April when she was getting attacked by the murderer. I thought that April was going to get away unharmed because the story would have been less interesting without her. The only person with April was Marshall, so I new Marshall would do something to help April. It made me understand that little Marshall grow out of being a little child because he had to be really brave to help April.
In class we used prediction when the teacher asked us what would happen in the next chapter. Reading about different characters in a book is like getting to know them well enough to have an idea about what they are going do next.
The longer I read the book the easier it became for me to use prediction, because I under- stood the characters better and better. The adjustment I made to my strategy was to use other reading skills, like asking myself questions about the characters.
In the next book that we read I would like to use more visualization because I would like to draw more pictures in my mind.
Understand and respond to ideas, viewpoints, themes and purposes in texts
2)
For my character viewpoint I choose to write about April, as she is the person most impacted by the events of the story.
April was send by her mother to stay with her grandmother. When April arrived she wasn’t very friendly to her grandmother. When her grandma asked April to call her grandma she said that she would call her by her first name. It shows that April wanted to keep her distance from her grand mother. She also went to a fashion shop before her grandmother would find out that her mum gave her money, which shows that she did not trust her grandma. When she first met Melanie she did not even say hello and acted impolite. She tried to impress Melanie by telling her that her mum was a famous singer and actress and she acted like a Hollywood star herself.
April started to become more open and friendly after playing with Melanie. She is very happy to play with someone instead of being alone or with adults. When she lived with her mum she never had anybody to play with, she lived only with adults. April opens to Melanie, because she says nice things to April, makes her feel good, and they share an interest in Egypt and like to make up stories and play them. Melanie understands that April is not arrogant but lonely. Slowly April stops putting on her Hollywood act. With friends like Melanie and her grandmother always there for her she starts calling her grandma “granny” and starts talking and sharing her feelings with her. In the end when her mum invites her to come and meet her in a letter, April writes a letter back saying that she would prefer to stay with granny and shows it to her grandma. It shows that April has come to love her grandmother and trusts her more that her mother.
Assessment Part 3:
Analyze how writers’ use of linguistic and literary features shapes and influences meaning.
Simile:
Smoke curled upwards like a dancing snake (p 150) To me it means that the smoke looks like it is alive because it is being compared to a dancing snake. A snake is also a symbol of danger.
Personification:
The flashlight beam made trash bins crouch and garbage pails lurks. (p181)To me it means that the author wants to create a picture of danger or fear. Crouching can mean trying to hide away, so the trash bins appear to be scared. The garbage pails lurked means that they were lying hidden ready to attack. This both means that something bad is going to happen.
Metaphor: The rain was coming down in a great wet roar (160) To me a roar means the sound similar to a giant wave crashing down. It means that there is lots of rain coming down noisily.
The similes, metaphors and the personifications where really enjoyable and made the book more exiting for me.
- Essential Questions
4.1) The elements that build a strong friendship are shared interests, spending time together and caring for each other.
We can see this in the book when April and Melanie work together to begin the game in the professor’s backyard. The Egypt game would not have begun if April and Melanie had not had the same interests. They shared an interest in ancient history, especially in Egyptian history.
Another element that builds strong friendship is seeing each other frequently and spending time together. April and Melanie developed a strong friendship because they saw each other at home, at school and they played a lot together.
Caring for each other and respecting the other person is also very important. For example when April was going to go to school on her first day wearing the fake eye lashes, Melanie did not want to hurt April’s feelings by telling her directly to her face that she looked ridicules with them. So she hid the eyelashes without April even noticing and put them back after a week of school. It shows that Melanie really cares about April, who would have made a fool of herself.
4.2) The impact that family has during different stages of our life changes. During the baby years you get taught the basic skills like walking, talking and eating. But the most important thing to a toddler is to feel loved and secure. The only reason that toddlers explore their environment is because they feel safe.
When you grow up your family helps you to become more independent and teaches you how to interact with others, like being friendly and polite to other people. More important is that they love and encourage you so you feel good about yourself. April misses her mother, but her mother does not miss her much and puts her with her grandmother. April does not like her grandmother at first, maybe because she was not asked if she wanted to stay with her grandma. But in the end she feels loved and protected by her and starts to love her back.
