Independent+Novel+Study

Journal Entry #1 =**Name**: Shelby Kutyn= Pages covered in the log entry: 1-52
 * Title**: Twilight
 * Date**: December 3rd, 2010

I selected this novel because my sister and mom read it and told me that it was one of the best books that they had read for a long time. I trusted their opinion because they read all the time and have a good taste in books, whereas rarely read. Some of my friends also read Twilight and told me several good things about it, for example, "It was amazing, I fell in love with both Edward and Jacob.", " It was full of romance and action, I love the series". After several other compliments about how interesting, romantic,ironic,and captivating the book was, I decided to select Twilight as my novel study. Bella Swan, the protagonist, is telling the story. Her opinion effects the way that the story is told because we only know what she is thinking and have no clue about what the people around her are thinking, we can only guess based on what they say out loud to her. Her opinion also effects the story because we know how she feels about people, and why she feels that way about them. The story is told differently because if she likes or doesn't like something or someone, she can either give us good or bad information about them (or even withhold information about them), making us sympathize towards her and persuade us to agree with her opinions on those things. The story takes place in present time. The story happened in Forks, Washington, United States of America. The mood of the story is suspenseful, romantic, scary, sad, and funny. The Setting is important in the story because it gives the reader the illusion that Vampires could exist because Forks is a real place and not some random madeup place. The setting is also important because in Twilight, Vampires can only live in rainy or dark places without sun because otherwise, they would be revealed to the world. Forks is the perfect setting for Twilight because it is always raining there and perfect for a family of Vampires trying to keep their cover.
 * 1) Why did you select this novel?:**
 * 2) Who is telling the story? How does this person's perspective effect the way the story is told?:**
 * 3) What is the setting of the novel? Is the setting important or could the novel be happening anywhere? Why?:**

Bella moves from Phoenix to Forks, to live with her father. She loves the sun, and hates the constant cold and wet weather of Forks. Bella meets Jessica, Mike, Eric, and Angela in her new school and becomes friends with them. She also meets a mysterious and handsome boy who has wierd mood swings when around her. Bella is told who this boy and his family are but she knows that there is something different about them.
 * 4) Plot synopsis**

Plot synopsis of these pages? 7/10

= ﻿Journal Entry #2 =

**Name**: Shelby Kutyn **Pages covered in this log entry**: 53- 109
 * Title: **Twilight
 * Date: **December 10th, 2010

Bella, a seventeen year old girl moves from Phoenix to Forks to live with her dad. She meets a mysterious boy that can't seem to stay away from her but tries to because he says he is "dangerous". Bella notices several strange things about this boy, Edward, and is strangely allured to him. She hardly knows anything about him but is determined to figure out what he is. Meanwhile, Bella was in the middle of a car crash and should have been killed, but just before the out of control car smashed into her, Edward knocked her to the ground, moved her body, and stopped the car with one hand, so that she wouldn't get hurt. Bella asks him how he got there, saying that he was nowhere near her, but he just lied and wouldn't tell her the truth. Bella now knows for sure that there is something that he is hiding, and she is going to figure out what it is and who he really is.
 * 1) What is going on as the story begins?: **

Bella is trying to find out more about Edward, but he keeps pushing her away, trying to keep his family's true identity a secret. Even though Edward tries to stay away from Bella and warn her about how dangerous he is, Edward is strangely allured to her and can't seem to stay away. Edward becomes protective of her, but something about Bella seems to trouble him. Bella notices all of his strange behaviours and abilities but can't seem to figure out why he can do the things that he does. For example, he is really strong and stopped a moving van with one hand (leaving a dent in it), is very pale (even for someone who lives in Forks), is cold to the touch, unnaturally beautiful, and able to tell what people are thinking (even though he claims people are easy to read, with the exception of Bella).
 * 2) What is the initial or first problem faced by the main character?: **

The author gets you to hold interest because an ordinary girl (Bella) moves to some small town (Forks) and has lived an ordinary life. While in Forks, she met a strange, beautiful, mysterious boy (Edward) who has an unnatural loathing of her for no reason. Later on he starts to like her and become very protective of her. She doesn't know why he is acting so strangely but knows tat there is something different about him. This hold the readers interest because they want to know more about Edward and why he acts the way he does. They also want to know how he could stop a car with one hand without being harmed, and why he is so perfect. The reader continues on with the book eager to know more about what will happen between Edward and Bella, and if Bella will figure out what Edward is.
 * 3)How does the author get you to read on or hold your interest?: **

Bella starts to spend more time with Edward, an he gives up avoiding her. She starts to realize that he is very different from everyone else and wants to know why, but he won't tell her anything. Bella was in the middle of a car crash and should have died but was saved and pushed to the ground by Edward, who was nowhere near her. He stopped the car with one hand, leaving a dent, but was unharmed. She also noticed that he was always as cold as ice to the touch and unnaturally beautiful. Bella tries to find out what Edward is keeping from her and what Edward really is. 10/10 = Journal Entry #3 =
 * Plot Synopsis:**
 * Name**: Shelby Kutyn
 * Title**: Twilight
 * Date**: December 16, 2010
 * Pages covered**: 110-179

This novel is aimed towards teenage girls. The story is about a 17 year old girl's life and about love and romance. This book's audience is aimed for people around the age of 14 and higher because people younger than 14 would not get the humor in the novel, and could not relate to the emotions of being in love from the story. The audience is mostly girls because the novel is about romance, and love; which would not appeal most boys to read. Another reason that this book is for an older audience is because some of words used may be hard for people under the age of 13 to understand, for example, " //I// //nconsequentia//l- pg 3 paragraph 2, //omnipresent//- pg 3 paragraph 2, //dejectedly//- pg 9 paragraph 3, //communal//- pg 10 paragraph 4, //inexplicable//- pg 46 paragraph 4, //disconcerting//- pg 55 paragraph 1, //perceptibly//- pg 70 paragraph 7, //alabaster//- pg 170 paragraph 9".
 * 1) To what age group is the novel aimed? Support your answer with evidence. **

Bella had a theory that Edward and his family are vampires (from a story that Jacob, an old friend, told her). Bella went on a trip to Port Angeles, and was harrassed by several men, then saved by Edward who drove her away. Edward falls in love with Bella and admits that his family and him are vampires, and explained what they could do and why.
 * 2) What plot twists or unexpected events happen as the novel goes on? **

The novel is very easy to read and easy to follow the events going on in the story. The events are very straight forward and simple to understand, yet they are interesting and suspenceful; which makes the reader maintain interest and want to keep reading the story. The only nagetive thing about the novel is that some of the literature being used may be hard for some people to understand, like the use of poetry. It is hard to understand the meaning of some poems being used in the story (to help emphasize the theme) until you read further on and understand the conection between the poem and the story. For example:
 * 3) Comment on the style of the novel. Is it easy or hard to follow the events? **

//**But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,**// //**thou shalt no eat of it:**// //**for in the day that thou eatest thereof**// //**thou shalt surely die**//
 * Genesis 2:17**

The peom is used in the story because it's comparing the knowledge from the fruit to the knowledge about vampires. It means that knowledge of those kinds of things (vampires and warewolves) isn't always good because it can kill you. In the novel Bella found out about vampires and fell in love with one, which led to her nearly dying. Other than the use of poetry in the beginning of the novel, it is easy to follow and understand what is going on and easy to relate to the characters, and make conections with the the book and yourself.

Bella goes to the beach with some friends and meets an old friend named Jacob who told her stories of his tribe and of the tribe's encounter of the cullens (decades ago). In his story he talked about the Cullens being vampires and about his tribe being decendents of wolves. Bella strongly believes that Edward is a vampire and is trying to deny it. On a trip in Port Angeles, Bella is almost killed by a mob of men, and saved by Edward. She demands to know the truth about him and why he is so protective of her. He tells her that his family and him are vampires and that he can read everyone's mind except for hers. He also tells her that he loves her and wants to stay away from her for her own protection but can't because he loves her and wants to protect her. Edward explains that his family and him only drink animal blood and that they are good vampires. Bella and Edward spend more and more time together and get to know each other better.
 * Plot Synopsis**

10/10 Excellent! = Journal Entry #4 =
 * Name: Shelby**
 * Title: Twilight**
 * Date: January 7th, 2011**
 * Pages covered: 180- 432**

Three new characters were introduced to the story. The first character is a tall pale red haired woman named Victoria. The second character is Laurent, he has dark skin and black hair. The Third character introduced is James who is a hunter and likes to be challenged when hunting people. James has pale skin, blonde hair and red eyes. All three characters are vampires. These three characters met the Cullens in the middle of a meadow in the forest while the Cullens and Bella were playing Baseball. James catches the smell of Bella and is determined to hunt her. Laurent, James's follower, decides to stay out of it and warns the cullens about James. Victoria, James's mate, joins James in the hunt to kill Bella. The three new characters purpose in the book is to add a conflict to the novel because Edward's family and Bella's family is put at risk in order to try to save Bella from the savage vampires. The climax of the novel happens when three new characters are introduced; James, Laurent, and Victoria. These three characters are vampires who drink human blood. They encounter the Cullens when Bella was with them and found her scent extremely tasty. James sees how protective Edward is of Bella and wants to hunt down her and kill her ( James likes a challenge, and hunting a human under the protection of a vampire would be the best challenge he could ever play). The Cullen's have to protect Bella, her father (Charlie), kill Victoria, and kill James all at once. The climax happens when James finds Bella and has to fight to the death with Edward to see who will win the prize (Bella). There is a message emerging in the book. The message is that the knowledge of good and evil, once possessed, will lead to your death, "//But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die//". In Twilight, Bella finds out that Vampires (the evil) do exist among humans (the good). Her life becomes full of complications and near death experiences when she falls in love with a Vampire, Edward, and becomes a part of his kind's world (she discovers the truth about vampires). Once she knows all about vampires, she spends more and more time with Edward and accidentally runs into more vampires when with his family. This is related to the message because once Bella finds out the truth about evil (Vampires), it becomes a part of her life that she could never get rid of, and when she met the dangerous Vampires (James and Victoria), then she is surely to die because they are determined to kill her. If Bella didn't know about vampires (evil) then she would have never been in that situation and would have lived a normal life. Edward and Bella become boyfriend and girlfriend. He takes Bella to his house and introduces her to his family and tells her about each of his family member's pasts. Edward tells Bella all the myths and truths about vampires and asks her several questions about her personal life, as she asks him in return. Edward invites Bella to play baseball with his family (in a meadow in the forest). During the baseball game, three Vampires unexpectedly appear. One of the three, James, smells Bella's scent and is automatically determined to drink her blood. Victoria, one of his followers, will do anything that James does and will help him kill Bella. The Cullens try to protect Bella and her family but, they know that the only way to stop James is to kill him. The Cullens hide Bella and try to track James and Victoria down so that they can kill them in order to save Bella (Edward's true love).
 * 1) Describe any new characters that are introduced? What is their purpose? **
 * 2) What is the climax of the novel? **
 * 3) <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 19px; margin: 0px;">Is there a message or main theme emerging in the book? How is it shown? **
 * Plot Synopsis**

= Journal Entry #5 = Title: Twilight Name: shelby Date: January 11, 2011 Pages Covered: 433-498

Twilight is very believable. One of the reasons that it is believable is because the story takes place in a place that actually exists in the world ( Forks and Phoenix). Another reason that the story is believable is because even though there are vampires in it; which are thought to be non-existent, the author makes their existence among us very believable. For example, in the novel, the myths and stereo types are proved wrong and the truth about vampires is explained. Once Bella finds out that Edward is a vampire she asked him why he can't go out in the sunlight. A vampire stereo type is that vampires burn in the daylight, but in the novel, they don't go outside in the sun because their skin will shine like diamonds and their secret identity would be shown. This makes the story believable because all of our theories about vampires are challenged making us wonder if they do actually exist secretly among us. The third thing that makes the story believable is that the main character, Bella is just an ordinary girl. This means that what happened in the novel could have happened to anyone and not just 'magic' people for example. The major conflict in the novel was James, a tracker. James (the bad vampire ) smelt Bella's delicious scent. He was determined to hunt her and started to track her down. James captured her alone and unprotected and started to torture her. Just before James could kill Bella, Edward found her, and his family killed James while Edward took care of Bella. Before the Cullens came, James had bitten Bella, poisoning her blood (and turning her into a vampire). Edward had to suck to poison out of her blood and stop drinking it before he killed her from a loss of blood. Even though it was an extreme struggle, Edward managed to stop and saved Bella's life. Bella had a couple broken bones but would heal with time. The conflicts that James had caused were then resolved and he could no longer hurt anyone. The minor conflict in the story was Edward's struggle to not drink Bella's blood. Throughout the whole story, Edward had extreme difficulty in resisting to not hurt Bella and to not drink her delicious blood. Every time that Edward was with Bella, it got a little easier for him. It was even more hard for him when he had to drink her blood and if he didn't stop, she would die. Edward used all of his will power to stop and was happy that he did, but also scared at what would have happened if he couldn't. At the end of the novel, after he drank her blood to save her, Edward found being around Bella a lot easier because it was not nearly as bad as when he drank her blood. Edward and Bella spent lots of time together after that, and Edward worked a little bit everyday on resisting Bella's scent so that he would never have to worry about hurting her.
 * 1) Is the novel believable?**
 * 2)How are the major and minor conflicts solved? **

I would highly recommend my friends to read this novel. Twilight is full of romance, action, and suspense. Edward is every girl's dream guy and every time that he appears in the novel, he just makes you drool over him. The story line is very interesting because it is about a good vampire that falls in love with an ordinary human. I enjoyed the whole story and was always interested to hear more about the mysterious handsome boy, Edward,his unordinary family, and why they were the way that they were. Anyone who read this novel would find it intriguing and fall in love with it.
 * 3) Why would you (or why wouldn't you) recommend this novel to a friend? **

James finds Bella and starts to torture her. Edward and his family arrive just before james could kill Bella and finish James off. They realize that Bella has been bitten by James; which is bad because a vampire bight will turn you into a vampire and starts working right away. Edward has to suck the poison out of her blood and stop drinking before he kills her from a loss of blood. Edward uses all of his will power and stops drinking Bella's blood; saving her. Bella is taken to the hospital with several broken bones and a coma. After she wakes up from her coma she explains to her mother and father that she was staying in a hotel and fell down 2 flights of stairs. After she healed she was taken to her prom with Edward where she danced the whole night with him and didn't have to worry about being left alone anymore because he promised to always be with her, forever.
 * Plot Synopsis **