Kristen M. Hogan

1 Problem/Solution

1 Characterization

1 Effect/Cause

1 Main Idea

1 Theme/Moral

1 Surprising

1 Descriptive

1 Informative

1 Sad

1 Funny

Kidnapped: pg. 9 par. 1

Strangers: pg. 9 par. 1

Ancient: pg. 10 par. 2

Headmaster: pg. 13 par. 3

Chalet: pg. 19 par. Top of page

Pg. 16 par. 4: "All around us…clues."

Pg. 17 par. 8: "A small…window."

Pg. 23 par. 5: "We followed…doors."

Pg. 28 par. 2: "This seemed weird…scene."

Page: 13; Paragraph 3

Page: 16; Paragraph 3

He brought Dinnie in and cared for her by buying her clothes, food, etc. He has also moved to a new country to become headmaster, which will take a lot of his time.

~ He is a very polite man.

Page: 18; Paragraph 2

He always does the manly things and is very polite to his wife and to Dinnie. He has never raised his voice or threatened them in anyway.

~ He is a leader.

Page: 13; Paragraph 3

They are traveling to Switzerland because Uncle Max is going to become the new headmaster at a school there. It takes a leader to run a school and run it well.

Answer:

Dinnie’s father’s problem is that he doesn’t trust his wife’s parents or her brother and sisters. He believes that they have "airs" and would talk his wife into moving back to New York, where she is from if they had a chance to talk to her. He feels like her parents look down on him.

The way her father is solving this problem is by moving all across America and not settling in one place for very long, so that her parents will not be able to locate them.

If I had this problem, I would first think about how I was hurting my children by moving so much, and think about how important it is to have a place in which you call home. Then I would have a talk with her parents and let them know exactly how I felt and how they are making me feel, because they may not realize how they are making him feel.

Answer:

I think that Dinnie’s mom saw how moving around all the time and never having a home was affecting the family and ruining the children’s lives. She had seen how her oldest children had turned out and didn’t want the same thing to happen the Dinnie so he asked her sister to take Dinnie to live with them so that she could have a good life and make something out of herself.

Answer:

I believe that Dinnie will start getting very homesick, but will eventually come to enjoy and like living with her aunt and uncle. She will have to get adjusted to living in a different country and learning their language but I think she will enjoy it. However, I believe that eventually Dinnie’s father will come after her and try to take her away from them.

Answer:

The main idea in this section is the fact that the father is moving the family around all the time and only thinking about himself and not thinking about how this is affecting the rest of the family including his children. He is not being very considerate of others.

Answer:

A lesson that could be learned from this section is to be considerate of others feelings and to not only think of your self.

"You’re sure?" Uncle Max said. He was very tall, with black curly hair and didn’t look at all like my father. He looked like someone in an advertisement, clean and neat, even after our long flight.

~This paragraph is descriptive because it is describing what Uncle Max looks like and what he doesn’t look like. It gives us a mental image of him.

Page 25; Paragraph 1-3

It was Aunt Sandy and Uncle Max’s house now, and they called it their casa. "Not a chalet?" I’d asked. "Well it is a chalet. That’s the style," Aunt Sandy said. "But the Italian word for house is casa, so this is our casa."

~This passage is informative because it is explaining what a casa is, and why they call a house a casa.

Page 24; Paragraph 6

"Later I would be able to look at this view and see it and appreciate it, and it would affect me profoundly. But on that first day, I could only see what wasn’t there: my family."

~This passage is sad because Dinnie is thinking about her family and missing them very much. She feels as though everything would be ok if her family was there. She would be able to enjoy and appreciate the beautiful scenery.

Page 31; Paragraph 2-3

That night I looked up kidnapped in my new dictionary. There were several choices, and I chose portare via a foraze and made a new sign. Aunt Sandy said, "I think that what you’ve written means take by force, like a command, as if you are asking someone to come into this house and kidnap you. Is that what you wanted to say?" No, I did not. But neither of us could figure out how to change take by force to taken by force.

Next I tired Help! but there were so many choices for that one word that I finally just aimed my pencil and stabbed at one. SERVITEVI! I wrote. When Uncle Max came in to say good night, he looked at my sign and said, "I think that what you’ve written means Help yourself! You know, as if you are inviting the burglars in to take all our belongings. Is that what you meant?"

~This passage is funny because Dinnie is trying to send a message out telling everyone that she as been kidnapped, but phrase she tries back fires on her and she ends up asking them to do the same thing to her again

1. Pg. 9; Par. 1

2. "My mother…complete strangers."

3. I think that the word kidnapped is a verb, and I think it means to take someone by force.

4. Dictionary: The word kidnapped is a transitive verb; it means to capture and hold (someone) hostage until specified demands, such as money, are met.

5. The word kidnapped adds meaning to the story because it is describing what Dinnie’s Aunt and Uncle is doing to her.

1. Page 10; Paragraph 2

2. " I read…I’m ancient."

3. I think that the word ancient is an adjective, and I think that it means to be very old.

4. Dictionary: The word ancient is a adjective; it means to be extremely old; existing for many years.

5. The word ancient adds meaning to the story because it is telling just how old she thinks she is.

1. Page 13; Paragraph 3

2. "Uncle Max…in Lugano,"

3. I believe that the word headmaster is a noun, and it means to be over a school.

4. Dictionary: The word headmaster is a noun; it is a man who is a principal of an elementary or secondary school.

5. This word adds meaning to the story because it is giving the students a new word that means pretty much the same thing as principal.

1. Page 9; Paragraph 1

2. "The strangers…twice before."

3. I believe that the word strangers is a noun, and it means a person of whom you have never met before.

4. Dictionary: The word strangers is a noun; and it is a person with whom one is unacquainted.

5. This word adds meaning to the story because it is telling how Dinnie viewed her Aunt and Uncle.

1. Page 19; top of page

2. "Aunt Sandy…houses chalets."

3. I believe that this word is a noun, and that it means a form of a house.

4. Dictionary: The word chalet is a noun; it is a house common in the Swiss Alps, having balconies, and wide eaves.

5. This word adds meaning in the story because it is telling exactly what kind of house they were living in.

I know a guy who went to Paris and Italy, and he couldn’t speak or understand their language either. He felt so lost and out of place. Then one day he heard a word that sounded familiar to him, it was a word that he had learned while taking French in High School. At that point he began to connect and started looking for "clues" of other words he might recognize.

Describe the setting

Page: 4

Page: 9-13