Wuthering Heights - Character Post

So far, Mr. Heathcliff has been the most-described character in the book. Currently, he is a static character. A static character is one who does not change much throughout the book or does not learn from his/her experiences. Mr. Heathcliff has been grouchy and rude since the first chapter, and he refuses to show compassion to others no matter what difficult situations arise.

Wuthering Heights - Setting

Wuthering Heights begins in 1801 when the narrator begins to lodge at Thrushcross Grange. Thrushcross Grange is located someone on the moors of England; I'm not sure of the precise location. The physical setting seems very dreary and ominous.

So far, I am intrigued by the book. I must admit that this is not my first reading of the novel; I read it as a senior in high school. The vocabulary is still somewhat difficult, even now, but I know the book only gets better from here, so I will stick with it. :)

Reading Year-in-Review

It has been quite a while since we've updated our "Book-in-Progress" pages in class. So, I have decided to write a catch-up post that includes all of the books I've read since I last posted. :)

I finished ALL of the Harry Potter books. I loved every minute. Just last month I went back and read books 6 and 7 again.

After my Harry Potter extravaganza, I assigned my Honors students an independent reading assignment. This meant that I read several books simultaneously in the hopes that I would read every book on their list before their final projects were due. (I came close.)

I managed to read the following books in about six weeks: The Bean Trees, The Secret Life of Bees, Beloved, and I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings.

Since then, we read Of Mice and Men and A Raisin in The Sun in class, and I read Financial Peace on my own. I am currently reading three books: The Things They Carried, A Long Way Gone, and Miss Julia Strikes Back.

So there you have it. I can't wait until summer...there are lots more books on my reading list! :)

Book Update

Well, after I finished The Great Gatsby and made time for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, I finished the Harry Potter book very quickly. I'm totally addicted! As a matter of fact, I finished book two AND book three, Harry Potter and the Prisoner from Azkaban. The books are easy to read even though they keep getting larger. I just checked out book four, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, today, and it looks like it ate the first three books. It's at least twice the size of book three. Many of my students are asking how I can read the books so quickly. It's simple: I schedule time to read since it helps me relax. I read at school any time my students have independent reading time, I read before bed, and I usually put off grading papers in favor of reading, too. Sorry, students! :)

Anyway, tonight I'm getting some work done since I accidentally left the fourth book at school.

See you back here soon!

Ms. Watkins

Progress so far...

Well, I haven't read as much of this as I had wanted to, but I've gotten to chapter eight. Now that my honors classes are finished with The Great Gatsby, I can devote more time to Harry Potter. :)
So far, Harry has just gotten back to Hogwarts for his second year, but he and Ron have already gotten into trouble. They arrived to school late and crashed Ron's father's flying car into a tree. It wasn't a very good way to start the school year. Malfoy is being annoying as usual, and I'm sure he's up to no good. He is bound to cause trouble before the book is finished. I'll keep you posted.

Book Introduction

I'm reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling. It is the second book in the series. I know I am WAY behind with the whole Harry Potter craze, so I'm trying to catch up. I read the first book this summer, and I hope to finish the rest of the books by the end of next summer. I've barely read the first couple of pages since I checked it out on Friday, so I will have to post about the actual content of the book another day.

~Ms. Watkins