Sara+M

=The Interesting Life of Edith Wharton = I really enjoy writing about Edith Wharton for a research paper because her life is very interesting. Also, I learned that she takes a lot of what happens in her life and puts it in to her stories which I found very interesting. I've learned a lot throughout this research paper, such as how to do citations, an annotated bibliography, and how to do a report in MLA format effectively. =Finishing Bunner Sisters = 2/15/12 =Characters = There are three main characters in this book. The two main characters are Ann Eliza and Evelina. Ann Eliza is the older sister of the two and at the beginning of the book I thought that her older sister looked up to her in a way, but it turns out that it's not like that. They treat each other equally. Ann Eliza is very mature and takes care of the house (such as dinner and dishes). Also, she is very kind and giving because in the beginning of the story she bought her sister a clock from Mr Ramy's shop for her birthday even though they didn't have that much money to spend. Evelina is the younger sister of the two. In the book, Ann Eliza comes out more in the book as the main character even though Evelina is talked about just as much. I think that Evelina is very artistic because in the book it talks about her making artificial flower and it taking a long time to do it and it came out to me that she was artistic, however, it never said it. Also, these two sisters often keep to themselves even though they are siblings and live together. Mr. Ramy is the minor character in this book, however he becomes more of a main character as the book goes on. He is very humble and looks as if he is way older than he really is. He is poor and keeps to himself. This book is about two sisters that meet a very unusual man named Mr. Ramy. They soon get to know him and become somewhat close with him until he develops an interest in one of the sisters and everything tends to change. **Rating** I would give this book a 4. I gave it a 4 because it is very detailed in explaining things but it is boring in some parts of the book. But overall it was a really good book. **WIki Reflections** I did like using the Wiki to record my reading every week because it pushed me to have a goal at the end of the week to have a certain number of pages read. Because if I didn't read then I wouldn't be able to write a blog good enough. I think it's a good idea to have a place to blog your reading.
 * Summary **

=Flowers = 2/7/12 I've read 20 page so far in my book. Since last weeks blog not a lot happened. Ann Eliza noticed that Evelina was acting different. She did this by pinning a crimson bow under her collar. After supper that evening they sat in the back room, as they always do, and Ann Eliza started up her sewing and Evelina went into her room and got a box from underneath her bed and returned to the back room. She spread an array of [|artificial flowers] onto the floor. Usually she would save this hobby for the summer but decided to pull it out for the night. Ann Eliza never commented on why her sister was acting weird that night however. As they began their usually happenings of the evening, there was a knock at the door and Evelina offered to answer it. The knock at the door was Mr Ramy. Mr Ramy stated he was there to check on the clock he sold to the women, because he always checks the merchandise he has sold. The two sisters and Mr Ramy began talking and out of nowhere Mr Ramy got up and abruptly left. However, the two sisters weren't two surprised that Mr Ramy did that. I think that this author best describes the characters feelings in this book without really coming out and saying it. I feel as if I can tell when the character is upset or how they are feeling because the author explains it so well. Also, another thing the author does is explain and pack a lot of information into a small amount of the book or chapter. It makes me be able to understand the book and the chapter easily because there's so much information in the chapter or section that I've read that explains it.

=The Old Sick Man = 1/27/12 This week I read about 5 pages in this book. In the book quite a bit happened. First, Ann Eliza bought her sister, Evelina, a [|clock] (this link shows what clocks looked like back then and a little about them) for her birthday from a little store down the street. However, it was more than that to Ann Eliza. The man that runs the shop caught her attention. In this quote it describes this man very well. "Well, I couldn't exactly tell you, he looked so sick- but I don't b'lieve he's much over forty." Ann Eliza told her sister that this man, Herman Ramy, is very sick and older looking and that she believes he probably lives out of the store he owns and runs. This quote was used in context in the book when the two sisters were discussing who this man was. The point of the picture off to the left is to show what I believed Herman Ramy would look like. In this picture this man looks older and sad looking, as Ann Eliza described in the book. Another thing that happened was that a couple days after Ann Eliza bought her sister the clock, it stopped ticking. This opportunity gave Ann Eliza the chance to go see Herman Ramy again. But before Ann Eliza had the chance to go, Evelina went and this bothered Ann Eliza very much, however, she didn't let it show.

Getting to Know the Characters 1/20/12 The book was titled Ethan Frome Summer Bunner Sisters and I didn't realize that it was three small stories combined so instead of reading Ethan Frome, I'm reading Bunner Sisters. I found Bunner Sisters to be more interesting than Ethan Frome because it's about two sisters and I thought I would be able to relate more easily. There's two main characters in this book and they're the two sisters. Ann Eliza is the older of the two sisters and the other sisters name is Evelina. I'm predicting that Ann Eliza is the more mature of the two because the way she talks to her younger sister makes it seem like she is more superior than her younger sister, Evelina. So far this story is good but I don't quite understand what the basis of the story is supposed to be yet. The picture to the left is of the is of the author,[| Edith Wharton].

= **Ethan Frome** = 1/13/12 The book I'm reading is Ethan Frome Summer Bunner Sisters.The author of this book is Edith Wharton. My predictions of this book is that it will be very good and fun to read. I don't really like books that date back before the 1940's but this book caught my attention because the cover looked interesting and Mrs. Olson suggested this book for me because it's an interesting read and she thought I would enjoy this book because it's not as old as our other book choices we had. I'm looking forward to starting this book!