Reading and Writing Assignments 10/1/2015 12th class

    I think Jess's family in Bridge to Terabithia is an unequal family. Jess's family is not good to him. We can learn about it in the book. When Jess done his homework after very hard working, his mom will let him sweep the floor. When he just finish it and wants to drink a cup of water or eat a piece of bread, his mother will let him go washing clothes. After spending a whole evening, Jess wants to talk about his dream about being an artist with his dad, His dad says that is no good to be an artist, that can not earn much money and he thinks the teachers in Jess's school is teaching him some bad and crazy things. Jess's sisters are not good to him, either. They often dig a pit for him. His family do not respect him. I think he is poor. But Jess's sisters are lucky. Although they do not have much money, but their parents still gave them five dollars for going shopping for school supplies. They do not have to spend much time on working. So I think Jess's family is unequal.

    Sorry, there should have"on cleaning and working" between"After spending a whole evening" and"Jess wants to talk about his dream about being an artist with his dad".

Thank you for the correction Mark. But that is a minor error. This is a spectacular piece of work.  You followed the directions exactly. But more importantly, I think you have perfectly characterized, or described, the way the family relates to Jess: He is like a beast of burden (Someone called upon to do all the work) and no one thanks him. Nor does anyone acknowledge (mention) his efforts or pay any attention to what he wants out of life. 

This is a lovely piece of work.It is the finest piece of writing you have done on the forum. I have a couple of comments about verb tense that I'll send you via e-mail. But overall, the writing here is fabulous.  

Here is Alice's reply to the assignment:

Jess has a family which is not warm, and very poor. Every year, Jess’s sisters can only get two dollars for buying the things they need in school. What’s more, Jess’s parents do not ever care about him. They neglect Jess’s talent, and even never let him watch TV! They let him do all the house work and had never let him to go out and play.

I really sympathize Jess, he is a good boy, but he doesn’t have a good family.

Hi Alice, I think you are exactly right. Jess's family is not at all warm

and loving, at least not to him. And for sure, they don't have much money.

I especially like your last sentence with its repetition of the word "good" emphasizing Jess' behavior and the coldness of his family.  I will send you a couple of comments via e-mail as well. 

I think Jess’s family is not reasonable. Jess like drawing, but they just thinking about drawing is not good for their work. Then stop about Jess’ drawing and send him to work.  They just let Jess to do many hard works, and it not fair for Jess. He just a little kid. In Jess’s family, each girl only has two dollar and fifty cents for all the school supplies. Because the family is too poor.

    I think Jess is a good boy, he has dream. But his family is too poor. He doesn’t have a good family.                       

Hi Cindy, I agree with you for exactly the reasons you name. His parents don't understand Jess's dreams, and they don't care about them. Mainly, they want Jess to do all the tasks they assign him. And I think you are right about the cause of their behavior. They are, indeed, very poor. I'm going to send you some additional comments via e-mail. LMF

Hello,Laraine

    In the book Bridge to Terabithia,Jess's family don't have many warm for Jess. They careless about Jess. Jess's dream is being a Artist,but when he tells it to his father, his father only thinks：What a stupid dream it is! And he doesn't care about what Jess wants to do. Jess's parents order Jess to do many housework, they never stop him. But they are very nice to girls. They let them watch TY, but only no Jess. Brenda and Ellie often laugh at him. He doesn't like this family very much.

Hi Enya, It's true. He doesn't seem to like his family all that much. And why would he, given that your description rings true (idiom meaning seems correct). Nice use of the colon and a very nice concluding sentence.

I will send you a couple of comments via e-mail. LMF