Seventh Grade

"Seventh Grade" By Gary Soto

Summary

It is the first day of middle school in the seventh grade in Fresno, California. A boy named Victor signs up to take French because a girl he likes named Teresa, is taking that class. This year Victor wants Teresa to be his girlfriend but after homeroom when Teresa speaks to him he is rude. He then feel sorry for speaking to her that way. In French class, Victor tries to impress Teresa by pretending to know French. The French teacher, Mr. Bueller, does not embarrass Victor because he does not speak French. After French class, Mr. Bueller hears Teresa telling Victor he did well for speaking French. 

Characters:

 Victor - a twelve year old, has dark skin, is a good guy, self-conscious, bad at math, and chose French as his elective. He is the main character and want to make Teresa his girl 

Micheal Torres - Victor's best friend and likes to scowl

Teresa - a nice person and good at math

Mr. Bueller - French teacher and is a nice guy because he does not call out Victor or embarrass him by telling the class he does not know French

Mr. Lucas - English teacher

Plot Elements:  

Exposition - It is the first day of school in Fresno, California and Victor is in 7^th grade.

Rising Action - Victor is talking to his friend Michael about scowling and girls. While at the same time Victor is thinking in his head about Teresa.

Climax - Victor is in French class with Teresa and the teacher asks “who knows French?” Victor want to impress Teresa so he raises his hand. The teacher ask him a question in French. He does not know French so he tries to bluff his way through it by making noises that sound like French. 

Resolution - Teresa come up to Victor at the end of class to tell him that he did well and asks if he could help her with French sometime.

Analysis:

The Seventh Grade is a short story about what basically happens the first day of school at any middle school. This show relates a lot to what happens, Victor really wants to impress Teresa so he does not stop to think that when he says he knows French he may have too something in French. Victor learns from the mistakes he makes and starts to act more like himself. When you act fake or like someone you are not, the people you meet will like the fake you. You do not  have to pretend to be someone you're not. People will like you for who you really are.

 

The Ransom of Red Chief

"The Ransom of Red Chief" By O. Henry

Summary
Bill and Sam need 2,000 dollars to pull off a scam so they decided to plan to kidnap a kid. Bill and Sam kidnap Johnny Dorset aka Red Chief. They then send the Ebenezer Dorset a ransom. Ebenezer Dorset writes back suggesting that they return his son and pay him two hundred and fifty dollars. Sam and Bill decide that the boy is too much to handle so they return Johnny and pay the money.

Character:

Johnny Dorset - he is also known as Red Chief and in this story, Johnny is a miss behaving little boy. He is so misbehaved that he is kidnapped but returned because the kidnappers were not able to handle him

Sam - one of the two kidnappers and the narrator of the story

Bill Driscoll - one of the two kidnappers but he is tormented by Red Chief aka Johnny

Ebenezer Dorset - the father of Johnny aka the Red Chief

Plot Elements:



Exposition - Bill and Sam said that they needed 2,000 dollars to pull off a fraudulent scheme in Western Illinois. So that's why they decided to kidnap the boy Johnny. Bill and Sam kidnap Johnny.


Rising Action - Bill and Sam wrote a ransom note to Ebenezer Dorset the father of Johnny.

Climax - The Ebenezer Dorset writes back telling to the kidnappers that they should return his son Johnny and pay him two hundred and fifty dollars.

Resolution - The kidnappers return Johnny, pay Ebenezer two hundred and fifty dollars, and get out of town very quickly.

Analysis:

In my opinion, Bill was scared of Johnny aka Red Chief because Red Chief treat him really badly. First when they tried to kidnap Red Chief, he threw a piece of rock at Bill. One morning, Bill woke up to Red Chief trying to scalp him, he also hit him with a rock on his ear and he fell into the fire. Overall I think that Bill was really relieved when he saw the letter from Ebenezer Dorset. I feel Bill was happy to pay the two hundred and fifty dollars and get rid of the Red Chief.  These two kidnappers where not really ready to kidnap a kid because  it honestly looks like they had never even baby-sat a kid before and definitely not a bad behaving kid. You usually wouldn't hear that a kid has been kidnapped and then return to the family by the kidnappers.
 

All Summer in a Day

"All Summer in a Day" By Ray Bradbury

Summary

 People on Earth now live on Venus. There is a child named Margot that remembers the sun and the other children do not believe her. It is getting close to the day once every seven years where the sun comes out. William and the other children do not like Margot so they decided to lock her in the closet before the teacher comes. While Margot is in the closet William and the other children see the sun. After the sun is gone the children let Margot out of the closet.

 Characters:

Margot - is a girl who loves the sun, unlike the other kids she did not like the rain, and in the shower she screams she is close to her breaking point

William - is a bully to Margot and locks her in the closet

The other children - do not like Margot because she says she remembers the sun

The teacher - is the teacher of the children

Plot Elements:

Exposition - Children from Earth now live on Venus where the sun only shines once every seven years.

Rising Action - It is getting close to the day the sun comes out. One child named Margot remembers the sun and is excited to see it.

Climax - Margot get locked in the closet by William and the other children before the teacher got to class. William and the other children get to see the sun. William and the other kids enjoy the sun for only about one hour.

Resolution -While Margot is in the closet the sun comes and goes. William and the other children let Margot out of the closet.

Analysis:

The short story All Summer in a Day is a story that shows what it means for someone to take something away from someone else, that the person really loves, and that can never be made up. The jealous and mean children took the one thing that Margot was most looking forward to away from her and they can never make it up to her. I liked how the author compared the children when they are playing in the sun to wild animals escaping from their caves. Personally I do not know how people can live in a place where the sun only shine once every seven for only about one hour. However I think I would be pretty cool to live on another planet. Do you think it would be pretty cool?

Rikki-Tikki-Tavi

"Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" By Rudyard Kipling

Summary 

A mongoose named Rikki is adopted by a family after a flood. Rikki protects Teddy, the father, the mother, and the other animals in the garden from snakes by killing them. Rikki first saves Teddy from a snake named Karait. Rikki-Tikki also saves Teddy’s father from Nag the cobra when he tries to kill him in his bathroom and Rikki-Tikki ends up killing Nag. Rikki-Tikki saves Teddy from Nagaina Nag's wife when she tries to get revenge on Rikki-Tikki for killing her husband Nag. Lastly Rikki-Tikki kills Nagaina and all of her eggs, saving all the garden animals from that family of cobras in the future.

Characters:

 Rikki-Tikki-Tavi - a mongoose he is the main character and he fights off snakes to defend the family that took him in

Teddy - a young boy who live in India and finds himself in life threatening situations with snakes that live in the surrounding of his house

Teddy's mother - cares for Rikki-Tikki.

Teddy's father - helps Rikki-Tikki in a dangerous situation

Chuchundra - a frightened muskrat who lives in the gardens

Darzee - a tailor bird and a friend of Rikki-Tikki Darzee sometimes annoys Rikki-Tikki, but helps him in the battle against Nagaina and her nest of eggs

Darzee's wife - a tailor bird and a friend of Rikki-Tikki in the fight against Nag she warns Rikki-Tikki

Karait - a small but deadly snake that Rikki-Tikki kills in the story

Nag -  a cobra who tries to kill Rikki-Tikki and the family that took Rikki-Tikki in. 

Nagaina - a cobra and Nag's wife she has a battle with Rikki-Tikki while trying to get revenge

Plot Elements:

Exposition - Rikki-Tikki the mongoose is found by a family of humans after a flood and decided to adopt him.

  

Rising Action -Rikki-Tikki kills Karait the snake saving Teddy’s life and earning the family’s praise.

Climax - Rikki-Tikki kills Nag and come up with a plan to get rid of all the cobras.

  

Resolution - Rikki-Tikki kills Nagaina and her eggs, saving all the other animals in the garden and his adopted family.

Analysis: 

Rikki-Tikki-Tavi is a very enjoyable story where courage, honor, and curiosity takes place. Rikki-Tikki is very brave because he took on some really dangerous snakes to protect the family that took him in.  Rikki-Tikki feels loyalty to the family because they took him in. The family and other animals in the garden feel loyalty to Rikki-Tikki for saving them from the killer snakes.