Book club starts

Chatterbox: Blab About Books

Matilda Book Club!
Book club starts...

Book club starts today!

As a reminder, the people who can post here are:

Nina

Ruby

me, Violet (yes, I'm doing this with you guys)

So I'm actually posting the first assignment tomorrow.... If you visit the rantsaurant you'll see why.

~Violet~ 

submitted by Violet, age 12, Here
(December 28, 2013 - 9:10 am)

Sorry I'm late to post this! 

Assignment #1!

Read the first 5 chapters.

After you read, what do you like/dislike about the characters:

Matilda:

Michael: 

Mr/Mrs. Wormwood:

Mrs. Phelps:

Then we will have a discussion about what's happened so far :) 

And I'm going to post my answers to my questions after you've done it...

~Violet~ 

submitted by Violet, age 12, Here
(December 30, 2013 - 10:14 pm)

Matilda: I don't like Matilda, as a rule, because the reader is supposed to like her. The author portrays her as a wonderful person caught in a set of very bad circumstances. The reader is supposed to sympathize and like her, so, because I like being contrary, I don't like her. I don't like her ability to make "good" adults fall in love with her (like Ms. Honey later in the story) and "bad" adults dislike her, because the story becomes too black and white morally. However, I like her love of reading and I find her tricks amusing.

Michael: Michael is really a very minor character, isn't he? He doesn't seem to particularly hate Matilda or treat her poorly from what I've seen. He appears to be just an average nine or ten year old boy. I like how he isn't perfect and wonderful like Matilda is.

The Wormwood Parents: I am very fond of Mr. Wormwood. I find his tricks amusing, like Matilda's. I also find his bragging very funny. I'm not so fond of Mrs. Wormwood, but I do think that her isolation of her daughter is useful to Matilda. If she didn't go off to play Bingo every day, how else could Matilda go to the library? I do wonder why Matilda's parents isolate her but foster her brother. Mrs. Wormwood doesn't really seem to care about anyone but herself, but Mr. Wormwood actually shows affection for one of his children. I believe he must be pretty anti-femininest, which would explain why he grooms his son Michael to take over the family business and become a breadwinner, while he considers Matilda a waste of time, because she's female and therefore unlikely to earn a job in his eyes. This is supported by the Wormwood's family system. Mrs. Wormwood stays at home or goes out to cultivate her own interests, but is expected to cook for the family. Mr. Wormwood is expected to earn money for the family and be the sole breadwinner.

Mrs. Phelps: She's the archtype of helpful librarian and she skips the junky teenage romance section when recommending books. What's not to like? 

submitted by Ruby M., age 14, Somewhere
(December 31, 2013 - 12:14 pm)

I remember these characters so much!

Matilda: I really like Matilda. She's so smart even though she is very young. She remains calm when her brother and her parents make fun of her. And she is just like me: she LOVES to read! 

Michael: Michael, who is Matilda's brother, is mean to Matilda, just like her parents. I really don't like Michael. 

Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood: Besides Mrs. Trunchbull, Matilda's parents are examples of the main antagonists in the book. Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood are mean to Matilda for no reason.

Mrs. Phelps: Mrs. Phelps, who I remember as the librarian, is one of the people in the book who are kind to Matilda. She helps Matilda choose the books, and when Matilda finished all of the children's books, Mrs. Phelps helped Matilda choose some of the bigger books. She was sweet and supportive to Matilda. 

 

submitted by Nina, age 11, Florida
(December 31, 2013 - 1:14 pm)