Mwah!

Nancy of Bookfoolery and Babble said:

The point of the Mwah! award is "to hand some of that love and kindness back around to those who have been so very, very, very good to me in this bloggy world. My hope is that those who receive this award will pass it on to those who have been very, very, very good to them as well. It's a big kiss, of the chaste platonic kind, from me to you with the underlying 'thanks' message implied. I really do appreciate your support and your friendship and yes, your comments. ... Mwah!"

Everyone who comments on this post automatically becomes a recipient of -- Mwah! -- this indication of my gratitude that I've met so many friends online, friends like YOU.

On My Honor ~ by Marion Dane Bauer

On My Honor ~ by Marion Dane Bauer, 1986, YA fiction

How serious are you, really, when you promise something? Your honor is at stake when you promise, as Joel learned after he and his friend Tony swam in the treacherous Vermillion River. Joel's father had said:

"On your honor? ... You'll watch for traffic and you won't go anywhere except the park? You'll be careful the whole way?"

"On my honor," Joel repeated, and he crossed his heart, solemnly, then raised his right hand (p. 8).

On the way to the park, however, Tony dared Joel to swim in the river they had promised never to go near -- and Tony disappeared in the water. Joel tried to find Tony, even got help from a passing teenager. But Tony could not be found.

Joel was devastated, but he was also terrified at the thought of having to tell his parents and -- worse -- Tony's mother. So he didn't tell. And the longer he waited, the harder it was to admit what they had done. Joel tried to carry on that afternoon, rolling and delivering newspapers on his route, pretending he didn't know where Tony was, but he wanted to yell at Tony and struggled with his feelings:

Why did he feel so responsible, as though he had pushed Tony in? Why did he always have to feel responsible for everything that happened? If they had gone climbing on the bluffs and he, Joel, had fallen, Tony wouldn't have blamed himself. Would he? (p. 66)

Yet Joel was also feeling protective of his little brother, thinking he "would have to teach Bobby how to swim" (p. 67). Near the end of that awful day, Joel learned something he hadn't known when Tony's mother said,

"Tony can't swim. He's know better than to go near the river."

"He can't swim?" Joel asked... "Really?" (p. 71)

When he got home, Joel wondered:

Why hadn't Tony thought about his mother, about the way she worried, before he had decided to go for a swim? (p. 72)

But he still couldn't bring himself to tell the adults what had happened. This wasn't the first time I'd read this book. Both times through the book I was thinking like any parent:

"It's the not-knowing that's the worse" (p. 70).

"Nothing could change what had happened ... ever" (p. 82).

What Joel's father said, after everyone knew what had happened, are the words I'll remember:

"But we all made choices today, Joel. You, me, Tony. Tony's the only one who doesn't have to live with his choice" (p. 88).

I rate this Young Adult novel 10/10, a book I couldn't put down.

How to stop time

The Lorax ~ by Dr. Seuss

I've already checked out The Lorax by Dr. Seuss from the library twice, without getting this review written. The due date is fast approaching, again, so I'm just gonna get this thing done! Debi at nothing of importance chose this as the book she would be willing to reread once a year for the rest of her life. I could do that, too. But first, some details:

Title, author, date of book, and genre?
The Lorax ~ by Dr. Seuss (Theodor Suess Geisel), 1971, children's picture book

Summarize the book without giving away the ending.
Seuss takes us on a trip to the far end of town to see where the Lorax once stood. If we really want to know what the Lorax was and why it was there, we need to check with the old Once-ler, who still lives there ... because he knows. One thing you should know, though, is that you must be willing to pay! When the bucket is lowered on the end of a rope, toss in fifteen cents and a nail and the shell of a great-great-great-grandfather snail. That's when the adventure begins ... I mean, the story of the Lorax as told by the Once-ler.

What did you think of the main character?
When the Once-ler found the Truffula Trees, he built a small shop, chopped down a tree with one chop, and taking the soft tuft, knitted a Thneed. All well and good, you may say, but then out of the stump of that tree popped the Lorax to speak for the trees, those Truffula Trees. The Lorax kept speaking for the trees, the Once-ler kept chopping them down and using their tuft to knit Thneeds, which no one needs.

Were there any other especially interesting characters?
The Once-ler called in his whole family, and the Thneed business boomed. Chopping down Truffula Trees was mechanized by the Once-ler:

"So I quickly invented my Super-Axe-Hacker
which whacked off four Truffula Trees at one smacker."

Did you think the characters and their problems were believable?
Oh, yes! The Lorax returned to confront the Once-ler, explaining that the Brown Bar-ba-loots who played in the shade were feeling crummies in their tummies because they no longer had Truffula Fruits to eat. It was very clear, according to the Once-ler, that

business is business!
And business must grow
regardless of crummies in tummies, you know.

From whose point of view is the story told?
It's told from the Once-ler's point of view, but he frequently quotes the Lorax. I guess he heard the words, but missed the message from the Lorax:

"Once-ler!" he cried with a cruffulous croak.
"Once-ler! You're making such smogulous smoke!
My poor Swomee-Swans ... why, they can't sing a note!
No one can sing who has smog in his throat."

The Lorax continued to complain, this time about the water:

"You're glumping the pond where the Humming-Fish hummed!
No more can they hum, for their gills are all gummed.
So I'm sending them off. Oh, their future is dreary.
They'll walk on their fins and get woefully weary
in search of some water that isn't so smeary."

But the Once-ler was determined to continue biggering and BIGGERING and BIGGERING, until the inevitable day when ... "we heard the tree fall. The very last Truffula Tree of them all!"

What about the ending?
You do remember the Once-ler is telling this story to the reader? When you tossed that fifteen cents and a nail and the shell into the Once-ler's bucket, he began telling this story. The Once-ler points out one single word left by the Lorax: "UNLESS"

UNLESS someone like you
cares a whole awful lot,
nothing is going to get better.
It's not.

It's up to you! And the Once-ler tosses out of his window a Truffula Seed, the last one of all.

"Plant a new Truffula. Treat it with care.
Give it clean water. And feed it fresh air.
Grow a forest. Protect it from axes that hack.
Then the Lorax and all of his friends may come back."

Oops! I think I just gave away the ending, but maybe that's okay ... maybe you are a tree-hugger like me.

Why was this book banned?
The Lorax was banned in parts of the United States for being an allegorical political commentary. Specifically, it was banned in the Laytonville, California School District on grounds that this book "criminalizes the forestry industry." Nothing has changed, though, and the government is still selling out the people and the land, all in the name of big business. Don't get me started! (This book review is cross-published on my Banned Books blog.)

How would you rate this book?
Rated 10/10, couldn't put it down ... couldn't resist picking it up again and again.

Eighth grade, final exam

(click to enlarge photo)
Students, please put away your books now and get ready to take your exam.
* * *
Eighth Grade, Final Exam
Grammar (Time, one hour)

1. Give nine rules for the use of Capital Letters.
2. Name the Parts of Speech and define those that have no Modifications.
3. Define Verse, Stanza, and Paragraph.
4. What are the Principal Parts of a verb? Give Principal Parts of. lie, lay, and run.
5. Define Case, Illustrate each Case.
6. What is Punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of Punctuation.
7. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.

Arithmetic (Time, 1.25 hours)

1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
2. A wagon box is 2 ft deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?
3. If a load of wheat weighs 3942 lbs., what is it worth at 50 cts/bushel, deducting 1050 lbs. for tare?
4. District No. 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?
5. Find cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.
6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.
7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $20 per meter?
8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance around which is 640 rods?
10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.

U. S. History (Time, 45 minutes)

1. Give the epochs into which U. S. History is divided.
2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus.
3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.
4. Show the territorial growth of the United States.
5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas.
6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.
7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?
8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, 1865.

Orthography (Time, one hour)

1. What is meant by the following: Alphabet, phonetic, orthography, etymology, syllabication?
2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?
3. What are the following, and give examples of each: Trigraph, sub vocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals?
4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u.'
5. Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e.' Name two exceptions under each rule.
6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.
7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: bi, dis, mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, sup.
8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last.
9. Use the following correctly in sentences: cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane, vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.
10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.

Geography (Time, one hour)

1. What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas?
3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?
4. Describe the mountains of North America.
5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa, Denver, Manitoba, Hecla, Yukon, St. Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall & Orinoco.
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S.
7. Name all the republics of Europe and give the capital of each.
8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?
9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.
10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give the inclination of the earth.

Time's up, boys and girls. Please hand in your papers now.

* * *See the students in this photo? They lived in a different town, but they passed a similar test and ... look ... now they are ready to graduate! I present to you the Class of 1895.

This is kind of humbling, isn't it? This gives the saying "I only had an eighth grade education" a whole new meaning, doesn't it? Notice that exam took five hours to complete.

Now, are you ready to take the test? If you are, then please choose any ONE (or two or three) that you feel qualified to answer and either type your answer into the comments section of this post or email it to Bonnie at emerging dot paradigm at yahoo dot com. If you are feeling especially educated today, try for at least one out of each section. What, you need to look up "orthography" before you start? Oh, okay, permission granted.
__________

* The first photo is from New Hampshire, 1895.
* The second is the class of 1895 in Lombard, Illinois.
* The test is the eighth grade final exam from Salina, Kansas, USA in 1895, taken from the original document on file at the Smokey Valley Genealogical Society and Library in Salina, KS, and reprinted by the Salina Journal.

Remembering the Bones ~ by Frances Itani

Although it is not record time for me, I read about Remembering the Bones in Dewey's Book Coveting on Sunday the 13th, put it on hold at my library, picked it up in the next day, and had finished it on January 16th, that Wednesday. Yesterday Dewey wrote her review of the book, reminding me I really should quit reading and start writing reviews for the books I have finished. Like this one.

Title, author, date of book, and genre?
Remembering the Bones ~ by Frances Itani, 2007, fiction

Summarize the book without giving away the ending.
Georgina Danforth Wiley shares the birthday of Queen Elizabeth: April 21, 1926. That's important and the reason Elizabeth has invited her to London to celebrate their 80th birthday in 2006. Georgie, a Canadian, has never been to England and is very excited about meeting Elizabeth, who has been like an unseen friend, living through the same days and years as Georgie. On the way to the airport, Georgie's car crashes into a wooded ravine. She is thrown from the car and is unable to move, but she inches her way toward the car, hoping to honk the horn for help. As Georgina lies helpless, she reflects on her life as daughter, mother, sister, wife, and widow, asking herself what her life has amounted to.

From whose point of view is the story told?
Every bit of it is from Georgie's point of view, as we wonder how and when she will be rescued from the ravine.

Were there any other especially interesting characters?
Georgina married Harry, and they had two children: daughter Case and son Matt. What surprised me was how much Queen Elizabeth was a part of the life of this ordinary Canadian citizen. Georgie had not yet met Lisbet when she packed her bags and left home to fly to England, but she was always comparing their lives.

What did you like most about the book?
I kept thinking about a novel I finished weeks ago (and need to review) called I Never Saw Paris by Harry I. Freund. The protagonist in that book died before he got to Paris, and I kept wondering whether or not Georgie would make it to London.

Share a quote from the book.

"I taught Case to love language; I chanted nursery rhymes; I sang, explained words, encouraged her to walk, try, run. And there were diapers strung on the line, rompers to smock, Harry’s cuffs and collars to starch, tea towels to fold, Sunday roasts to cook, cheese biscuits to bake, layer cakes to cool on racks, school concerts to attend. Someone had to do those things" (p. 281).

Okay, I know you are reading this out of context and are probably thinking, "That sounds boring!" Oh, no no no! Don't pick up this book if you are looking for a thriller with car chases, fight scenes, and non-stop action. I've already told you there's a car wreck, but it's what Georgie thinks and does after the accident that makes up the bulk of this story. One more small quote: "Something distracting hovers at the outer edge of memory. Something I can't quite place. My thoughts are slurring" (p. 277). Itani is a good writer, one who can make me know exactly what Georgie was feeling when her thoughts started slurring.

What about the ending?
Now I can't tell you that, can I? No, of course not! Does she make it to the queen's birthday party? I'll never tell.

What do you think will be your lasting impression of this book?
I have to agree with Dewey that "it’s a book that will stick with me for a long time." Most definitely! Georgie’s life may seem pedestrian to some, but the author made the details seem so interesting. I think I could make the case that Georgie was a philosopher, too. Isn’t this a philosophical line? "I amount to my own story. I am what I am."

How would you rate this book?
Rated 9/10, an excellent book.

One in three?

First the poster (clicky):

One in three reported rapes happens
when the victim has been drinking.

I couldn't copy the poster, so you'll have to click to see the dark photo of a woman, beaten and lying in the street.

Now the excellent argument:

(1) If one in three had been drinking, then TWO in three had NOT.
(2) On the other hand, THREE in three rape victims had been in the presence of a rapist ... why isn't HE mentioned?
(3) Rape is caused by rapists, not by alcohol and not by women.

Why is the victim being blamed instead of the RAPIST?


"Male violence is to be considered a ubiquitous, inevitable force; the only way the world can combat it is to put the responsibility on women to not be victims. The flipside of women being responsible for rape prevention is that women are responsible for rape; it’s the usual expressway to victim-blaming."

Find the rest of this post here.

I got a kick out of two comments to this post:

"I’m waiting for some conservative to propose chastity belts as a solution."
"Chastity belts? How are we gonna get all the men to wear chastiy belts?/snark/"