Reflection Rough Draft

I've always been a little odd for a girl. At least, that's what the other girls said. So I guess it comes as no surprise that I preferred the company of snakes, rats, and mice over cats and dogs. At least, I did, before two bedraggled kittens stumbled into my life.

It was a cold fall that year. I was three months pregnant and looking for a dog to keep me active. Unfortunately, every time I found one, it was already adopted or I was outside of the borders the shelter adopted to. I was still living with my parents at the time, my soon-to-be husband living with his and working at McDonald's part time. He always stopped by after work to talk so I was a little surprised when he called me partway through his shift.

"Guess what I have," he said. His voice betrayed no hint of anything special so I wasn't sure what to expect.

"What do you have?" I asked, petting my rat who was perched half asleep on my shoulder.

"I have a kitten."

"Umm... Okay." I couldn't figure out why he'd call to tell me about a kitten. His family had several cats. Of course one would be sitting in his lap.

"The neighbor found it. Someone dumped two in his yard." That got me. My heart has always gone out to abandoned animals (which is why even my rats had been shelter adoptees).

"Aww. Can I see them later?"

"Yeah, I'll pick you up after work and you can see the kittens."

True to his word, when his shift ended he came over to pick me up and we went over to his house where two scared, shivering lumps of gray fur were curled up on the couch hissing at the dogs. When I came in, both dogs left the room, the two of them knowing I didn't like them about as much as they disliked me. Cooing over the little kittens I picked one up. It had the most distinctive mark on its face. A little white stripe that went right over its eye. I could feel myself falling for the pathetic little beast but I know I could hold back. At least, until one of the dogs came back over and it starting shivering in fear. I hid the kitten inside my coat to help it feel safe and it almost immediately fell asleep. Watching its feisty littermate with white raccoon mask face fend off the other dog in my husband's lap I couldn't help myself.

"Can we keep them?"

Monster in a Ryokan - Analyzing and Connecting

1. It gives the impression that the monsters, in their homeland, can easily avoid causing problems but when thrust into an environment they have not been in before, they become clumsy and unaware, often doing things they should not.

2. Yes, her comparisons are fitting for the story. They work well to describe the huge differences between American and Japanese cultures and why an American would be so terribly out of place.

3. She presents herself as a bumbling clumsy, unaware oaf. A "monster" in the Japanese world. The descriptions of tripping and stumbling and inability to really communicate draw the reader in.

4. It allows us to see that everyone makes mistakes, especially in new places that even we might go so we can learn, grow, and understand.

Summary.

Mary Roach visits japan and stays in a traditional hotel known as a Ryokan. Upon her arrival she is dropped off in the wrong place by the cab and has to try to find her way to the hotel in the rain, trying to communicate with others to get her bearings. When she finally finds the hotel, she walks in and right off does things which Americans do not think anything about that upsets the hotel staff. Throughout her entire first days stay, she continues making such mistakes, until she makes what she thinks is the greatest travesty of all and realizes things can't get any worse before she goes to sleep.

Let It Snow - Analyzing and Connecting

1. When the school closes because of the snow, the children are more exposed to their mother and her problems.

2. Looking back on it, it seems the narrator finds the concept to be amusing but at the time had thought it to be the most brilliant solution ever to be thought.

3. Written without humor would likely result in the reader becoming angry and unforgiving towards the mother and even annoyed with the siblings for being willing to sacrifice their sister for themselves, loosing the effect of a family overcoming their problems.

4. A similar situation was likely to arise but for the time being the family was in harmony again.

Summary

The children at one time lived in New York were there was always snow but then moved to North Carolina where the snow rarely stayed. When it does they are stuck in the house with their mother who becomes stressed and kicks them out of the house for a day. The children try to make the best of the situation by going to play with friends but when they return home find themselves still locked out with the mother ignoring them. As it gets colder outside, they try to think of a solution, finally settling on having the youngest sister lay in the street to be hit by a car. A neighbor catches them and tells the mother who comes to find them and takes them back home.