Entry #1

NAME: Aubrey DATE: February 2, 2010
BOOK: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
AUTHOR: J. K. Rowling PAGES: 1-285
TOTAL PAGES THIS WEEK: 285

QUESTION 1: 5. What was one of your favorite lines (or sentences) in what you read today? Copy it down and tell why you liked it. (It can be more than a sentence if you like, but not too long—you still need to write words of your own!)

RESPONSE 1: "There was a large bed with a carved wooden headboard, a tall window obscured by long velvet curtains, and a chandelier thickly coated in dust with candle stubs still resting in its sockets, solid wax hanging in frostlike drips. A fine film of dust covered the pictures on the chandelier and the top of the large wooden wardrobe..."

I thought that this paragraph was very descriptive. I felt like I could really see the room. One of my favorite parts was how they described the candles. I could see a clear image in my head of a dusty candle holder with wax dripping down the sides. Another part I liked was how the author described the dust over the room. The author wrote that there was a fine film of dust over everything instead of saying it was just dusty. Overall, I thought that this paragraph was very detailed and gave the reader a picture of what the room looked like.


QUESTION 2: 6. Explain how the author creates suspense in this book.

RESPONSE 2: “And then he saw the door of number twelve, Grimmauld Place, with its serpent door knocker, but before he could draw breath, there was a scream and a flash of purple light; Hermione's hand was suddenly vicelike upon his and everything went dark again.”

I think the main thing J. K. Rowling creates suspense is by creating cliff hangers at the end of chapters. For instance, the quote above was the end of a suspenseful chapter. Harry, Hermione, and Ron had just broken into the Ministry of Magic. There was a big scene at the end of the chapter and they had almost gotten caught. Then the author ends the chapter by having everything go dark. I felt like after reading about the battle and then I just ending there wanted me to read more. I think that having such a sudden ending really makes the readers want to see what happens in the next chapter.