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Reading Assignment: Finish reading Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary

 

Writing Assignment:  Write a paragraph or two pointing out one or two key ways in which  Leigh and Shirley are different. To support what you say, cite incidents (events) and quotations from the book. Each character should get, at a minimum, two examples and  at least one quotation from the book, for example.

 

"Shirley is an enormously confident little girl. She shows that confidence on her first day in the States. When her dad runs out of cigarettes, she tells him she can get them. It doesn't matter that she doesn't know the neighborhood. Shirley just believes she can do it. (44)* Her confidence does not diminish when she goes to school. (Notice  how that sentence makes a transition to the next point.)  When her teacher doesn't tell her to recite a poem, Shirley volunteers (offers to do it anyway), thinking that she will be a huge success. When she is ready to recite, it doesn't even occur to her that she might fail, ""Sliding to the edge of her seat, she waited, so sure of her success, she was not even nervous." (57)"

 

Two Things to Consider:

 

1. When you move from the description of one character to the next, try to create a smooth transition (verbal bridge). Don't just finish talking about Shirley and then say  "Leigh Botts has very little confidence." Instead say something like "While Shirley sometimes has more confidence than ability, Leigh Botts is just the opposite."

 

 2. Consider how you will introduce the two characters to your reader.   Mark came up with a good opening sentence, which I, unfortunately,did not save from the white board. But it went something like this:

 

"In the novel In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson Shirley Temple Wong is a very confident young girl, but Leigh Botts, the main character in Dear Mr. Henshaw, is not nearly so confident. 

 

This opening sentence sets the stage for you to describe incidents from the book that illustrate Shirley's confidence and Leigh's lack of confidence. It gives you, the writer, a focus. But it also helps the reader keep in touch with what you are thinking as you write.

 

 * Page number is made up. 

Last edited by Laraine
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    In the novel In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson Shirley Temple Wong is a very confident young girl, but Leigh Botts, the main character in Dear Mr. Henshaw, is not nearly so confident.

    Shirley is an enormously confident little girl, she is confident even when she isn't able to do it. She showed that all the time. At the first day she is in America, she went by cigarettes for his father alone (although she lost her way at last). When she goes to school, she is confident, too. But Leigh, the main character in Dear Mr. Henshaw is diffirent.

    Leigh is an boy who is not really confident, he is unhappy most of times, too. In his letters he told Mr. Henshaw that lots of things bother him, like somebody steal the good stuff from his lunch bag or his father didn't phone him on time.

Nice work Mark. You used events from the book to show Leigh's unhappiness. I hope the next time, though, that you will include some quotations.

 

 The incident about the cigarettes does show Shirley's confidence.I would have liked, though, to have an incident different from the example I gave. If you get a chance, could you revise to include a different incident showing her confidence.

 

I have a couple of other comments that I will send you via e-mail.  Laraine

In the novel In the year of the boar and Jackie Robinson, the main character Shirley Temple Wong is a confident girl. But Leigh Botts, the main character in the Dear Mr. Henshaw, is quite different with Shirley. He is an introverted boy. Leigh, he is so introverted (the entire book). He is always new, so he didn’t have any friends, he only can write letters to Mr. Henshaw. He put everything in his littler heart and just ‘lock’ it(you know what I mean). But Shirley isn’t, she can just go out with herself when she first arrive American.(P44) she just believe herself, she think she can do it. But Leigh isn’t. Because he is always moving, always new, he doesn’t know how to make friends with others. He is always unhappy, like in the lunch bag story (P48-51).

Wow Cindy, Your vocabulary never ceases to amaze me (in a good way). You are absolutely right. He is a very "introverted" boy.  And I agree with your reasoning. He is that way because he is always moving and always the "new" boy.  I do know what you mean about putting everything in his little heart and locking it up. What a perfect way to express his character, really lovely. The only thing missing is at least one quotation.  Still, this is an excellent piece of writing. You get better and better.

 

I'll send you an e-mail as soon as I finish the previous assignment's comments.

 

See you on Thursday. Laraine

 

 

 

 

 

Hello,Laraine

   In the novel In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson Shirley Temple Wong is a optimistic young girl, but Leigh Botts, the main character in Dear Mr. Henshaw, is not nearly so optimistic.When Shirley came to America,she go to buy the cigarettes by herself.She thinks she can do it,even she isn't an American.But leigh doesn't optimistic.He is pessimistic.He always mad with his great food lost.He thinks his father doesn't love him.If Shirley is him,she would only think:Whatever,I am my father's godd girl,he would never forget loves.

@Enya. That's my girl! Thank you for using optimistic and pessimistic, two of our new words, and you used them exactly right. I couldn't agree more. Shirley is what we call the eternal (forever) optimist and Leigh is the eternal pessimist. I particularly like your ending, which emphasizes the contrast between the two. You are spot on (exactly right) with Shirley's reaction. And I am impressed that you know the common expression "whatever" meaning, who cares; it doesn't matter.   Nice work. I will send you some additional comments via e-mail. Just be patient, I will get them to you. I know I am slow these days. 

 

Laraine

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