Independent+Novel+Study



Journal Entry #1 Maddie G, City of Bones, December 2, 2011. Pages covered: 1-81

4. What's going on as the story begins?

At the beginning of the story, the author introduces the 2 main characters, Clary Fray and Simon, two best friends. They are standing outside a club in New York City, waiting to enter. While in the line-up, Clary and Simon spot someone who looks very suspicious; they are surprised that he is allowed to enter. This strange person had electric blue hair.

7.What is the initial or first problem faced by the main character?

Once inside the club, Clary notices more interesting looking people, who are dressed inappropriately for the club setting. The boy with electric blue hair was following a beautiful black haired girl into a room marked “storage”. Clary senses danger and follows them in. She notices that there are now 4 people in the room. They don’t realize that Clary has followed them in. Two boys are on the black haired girl’s side and they are trying to kill the blue haired boy. Clary realized she needed to get help. She runs out of the room to get Simon. He enters back into the storage room with her. Weirdly enough, Simon can’t see these four people and thinks Clary is going crazy. The blue haired boy is now dead and Clary is the only one who can see these people. Those were two of the problems, Clary faced. She couldn’t help the suffering blue haired boy, and then she realizes that she is the only one who can see these people, making it very strange for ordinary, or so she thought, Clary.

8.How does the author get you to read on or hold your interest?

At the end of every chapter the author, Cassandra Clare, mentions a new twist or important point that makes you want to continue reading all the way tell the next chapter. Another trick she uses is along the way is that she drops points, that make us think she is foreshadowing. Little hints as in, Clary’s mother said one day, all of a sudden that she and Clary had to move. Clary didn’t understand why and nor did the reader. I wanted to keep reading to figure out why they had to move. Sometimes the clues ended up not even being relevant to anything that happened in the rest of the pages I read. Though, they still keep me interested. I think of all different scenarios, for why the author had mentioned this, usually my theories turned out not being correct.

Journal Entry #2 Maddie G, City of Bones, December 9, 2011. Pages covered: 82-160

11. Comment on the style of the novel. Is it easy or hard to follow the events?

Most of the events in the story are quite easy to understand. The one difficult part, however is that these characters move around a lot, there are many different settings. It is a little bit difficult to understand where the characters are, in their world. They are at home then they teleport to somebody else’s house back to their headquarters and so on.

12. Is the language in the novel difficult or easy? GIve examples and explain.

The language is very straight forward. This book is based in modern time, therefore there is no old english. The characters are all, mostly teenagers, so they would never use big “intelligent” words. Their dialog is the same as ours, even a bit less advanced. For example, Alec(Isabelle’s brother) says to Jace, “you just have to shut up and not do anything stupid.” The words of a classic teenager.

15. Describe any new characters that are introduced? What is their purpose?

There are a few new characters introduced in the second part of the book. One is Jace. He ended up saving Clary’s life from a demon. I think that the purpose of introducing this character is that, he will turn out to be in love with Clary, adding romance to this great, somewhat sinister novel. Another character that is introduced is Isabelle. She lives with Jace, her parents and her brother. Isabelle’s parents took Jace under their wing, when Jace’s parents died. There is a bit of tension between Isabelle and Clary. It adds some interesting conflicts to the story. In the end though, I imagine that Isabelle will probably have to become great friends with Clary, for the sole purpose of survival.

Journal Entry #3 Maddie G, City of Bones, December 15, 2011. Pages covered: 160-210

9. What new things are added to the original problem as the novel progresses?

The main problem being that Clary’s mother has been kidnapped by somebody, comes with many more problems intact. First of all, we realize that the person that has “kidnapped” Jocelyn (Clary’s mother), is a very powerful man. He used to be the head of all the shadowhunters, and started an organization that Clary’s mom was quite involved in. In the later years, Jocelyn did not agree with the leader’s beliefs and left the commity. He has now come back to get Jocelyn and he has succeeded. Apparently, he is very strong, therefore it will be hard to find Clary’s mother, let alone this awful man named Valentine. On top of this, we figure out that Jace’s dad’s killers are involved with the kidnapping of Jocelyn. Jace's dad had been part of Valentine's organization as well, then he was killed when he decided to leave for the same purpose as Jocelyn. This adds another danger into the problem, knowing what these killers are capable of.

14. Is there a message or main theme emerging in the book? How is it shown?

As the novel progresses, I’ve been beginning to notice a theme that has been reoccurring. I think that theme is that “nothing is actually what it seems.” Many characters have been portrayed as kind, gentle characters, when in fact they are secret shadowhunters, for example Clary’s neighbor, Madame Dorothea. She seemed like a normal old lady when she was definitely not that. There are other non-living items which are not thought to be magical in some ways, for example, there was a door that turned out to be a secret portal. This door could teleport a person, wherever they wanted.

1. Why did you select this novel?

I chose this novel because I had always wanted to read it. I also asked my friends if they had read the book and they all were raving about it. I read the back and it looked really interesting. I was excited that it was one of the choices of books that we could read.

Journal Entry #4 Maddie G, City of Bones, January 6, 2012. Pages Covered: 210-389

10. What plot twists or unexpected events happen as the novel goes on?

As the novel progresses, many unexpected things happen. Many of the characters are portrayed as nice, kind and loving characters, when it turns out that they are actually working for the most evil person in the book. One example was Madame Dorothea. She was Clary’s neighbor and was very helpful to Clary, giving her advice about her mother who had disappeared. It turned out that there was a demon living inside her body. This demon even tried to kill Clary at one point. One more example would be Luke. Luke lived with Clary and her mom, all her life, since Clary’s father had died when she was very young. At one point it seemed as if he had shunned Clary and didn’t care what happened to her mother after the disappearance, but then he comes back near the end, to save Clary’s life. Luke then tells Clary that he’s a werewolf, making this story more unexpected than ever.

13. To what age group is the novel aimed? Support your answer with evidence.

This novel is meant to be read by teens. There are a few references to drugs and alcohol, but nothing major. For example at the start of the book they mention "packets of powder".Children probably would not have much interest in this novel since it can be a bit confusing at parts, is dark, and there aren't any "happy" parts.

21. Why would you (or why wouldn't you) recommend this novel to a friend?

I would definitely recommend this novel, seeing as my “friends” would be the same age as me. It’s mainly based on fantasy and romance with many references to demons, angels, vampires and werewolves. While reading this book, I could not put it down. It’s hard to find amazing books that are as interesting as “City of Bones”. I believe that any teen/ young adult would be very interested while reading this, and would not be able to stop.

Journal Entry #5 Maddie G, City of Bones, January 13, 2012. Pages Covered: 390-467

22. Why did (or didn't) the novel meet your expectations?

The novel definitely exceeded my expectations. I thought that this story would just be another normal fantasy story like Twilight but it was much more. I could not put this book down. I really enjoy novels, where the characters are relatable and just like us.

17. How are the major and minor conflicts solved?

Clary, along with the help of Luke and his wolf pack go to find Valentine, in the hopes that it isn’t too late to reach Clary’s mom and Jace. When they get to Valentine’s hide-out, they are attacked by demons. The pack loses a few members after the battle, but no main characters. They race to find Jocelyn lying in a bed, chained to the ground. Clary tries to wake her, but they realize that a spell has been cast on her, so it’s no use. Then enters two of Valentine’s helpers, Luke kills them both, meaning that Valentine won’t have much backup anymore. Clary then finds Jace and Valentine. She learns that she is supposedly Jace’s brother, therefore his father is also Valentine. They begin to fight but Luke races in. Valentine was almost killed by Jace and Luke but then he escapes through a secret portal, which breaks, making it un-enterable ever again. Unfortunately the story ends there, leaving many questions unanswered. What happened to Jocelyn? What happened to Jace, Clary and Luke? Most importantly, where did Valentine go? Most of the conflicts were never solved, except that we now know that Jocelyn is still alive and Valentine hasn’t killed her yet.

20. Is the novel believable?

There are too many mythical creatures in this novel to make it believable. For example, demons, “shadowhunters”, werewolves and vampires. If none of that existed, yes it would be believable. Many people in real life are kidnapped and there family is left no trace of where they have gone. Many people in real life have to be brave at some point and many people in real life fall in love.

=== Clary Fray, the protagonist in the story, “City of Bones”, is a very believable character that teenagers my age could relate to. Clary is an independent, strong, compassionate girl but also has her imperfections. She searched for days to find her kidnapped mother, and showed incredible bravery when she battled many demons. Clary has red hair, green eyes and is approximately five feet tall. Apparently, Clary looks like her mother, Jocelyn Fray, a beautiful woman. Clary also demonstrates a lack of confidence, which many young girls struggle with. She doesn’t believe that she looks like her mother and thinks that rather than reddish golden hair, she has carrot coloured hair. Also, rather than being a tall beautiful woman like her mother, Clary believes that she is short and scrawny. ===

=== Jace, whom Clary found annoying at the beginning, calls Clary “delicate”. Jace had negative feelings towards Clary as well but then they slowly fell in love with each other only to find out in the end that they were siblings. She has not lived a perfect fairytale life. For example, her mother was kidnapped, and Clary had her thoughts of being a “shadowhunter” erased by Magnus, a warlock, as a child. Clary was told that her father died before she was born, when in fact, her father was the most powerful and evil “shadowhunter” in the world. She was told she was an only child, when it turned out that she had a secret brother. She was told she was a human. Clary has learned many things about her past life that have confused her and caused her much pain and grief. Her life has been full of lies; now she doesn’t know who to trust. However she knows she can always trust herself and her inner strength and “shadowhunter” abilities will help her survive and succeed. ===

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