Independent+Novel+Study


 * Joanna The Secret Garden Dec. 3, 2010 **

Pages covered in this entry? I selected this novel because i heard it's a very good book even though it's a little old. I needed to know what was it about first to get me interested in this book. In the begining of the novel it basically summarizes the middle part. So far i have read 1-25 pages, so far it's talking about a little child called Mary, she always had a sour face and everyone thinks she is very ugly and mean, she was sent to her uncle's place because were she was, almost everyone has died.

Mary is a little child, she is a very disagreeable person, and always have a sour face. Her mother and father were really busy and didn't not like her, she was taken care of by her Ayah, and to keep out of her mother's sight as much as possible. She had teachers that tought her. She was six that time and she hasn't learned anything but she didn't like the teachers and neither did they, so they quit teaching her.

One day she saw her mother talking to this young man, she couldn't hear what they were talking about, but then after this officer came running and said someone died. He died because of cholera. after that day, a lot of people died, almost everyone died because of cholera. once, her Ayah wasn't there, and this other person came, days later, she realized her Ayah was dead because of cholera too. Everyone has died, she thought. She entered the dining room but not a single person was there. There were leftovers on the table, Mary saw a cup with wine, and drank it, she idd not know how strong the wine was, then she fell asleep. She slept for a while ad she woke up, and sat there, she heard a snake slithered towards the dining-room, Mary was not scared at all because she knew it was a harmless sake, so the snake just slithered out the dining room. Later on, these people came in, she heard them talking about saying that there is a little child n here that no one has seen, then, she was found.

One day, Mary went out to the garden to play, a little boy came along, Mary hates him, he's called Basil. She hates him because he sang this song again and again, and that's how she had a nickname, called, Mistress Mary Quite Contrary. He told Mary that she was going to be moving to her uncle's place. He lives in a big manor, and he himself is hunched back, and also really disagreeable.\

One day, her uncle's housekeeper was sent to get her from London, since that 's where they decided to meet. They were on the train, it was quiet and no one was taling, suddenly, the house keeper, Mrs. Medley asked her if she knew anything about her uncle, and she said no, because her parents didn't tell her anything. The house keeper was surprised that she knew nothing. Soon after, Mary fell asleep, she had a long sleep until the house keeper woke her up and told her it's time to get off. They went on the carriage and went to the manor. 10/10

The next 2 chapters I‘ve read is 27 pages long. In this novel, there’s a narrator, and it mostly talks, not too many dialogues, and it doesn’t affect too much on what is happening in the novel but it talks about what happens then the dialogue begins. The setting of the novel is basically at the secret garden, and that is also the title of the novel. The setting is important because that’s where Mrs. Craven made the garden so it can’t be somewhere else. The author gets you more interested after a couple of chapters, like in chapter 4 and 5. Because that’s when they talk about the secret garden, and you would want to know how they find the door and the key to the secret garden. Mary woke up seeing Martha there, Mary listened to what Martha needed to say to her. It was time to get dressed and she needed Martha to do everything because her ayah did everything for her, and Martha told her that she needs to learn how to do these. Mary thought she thinks she’s going to learn a lot of things there. She was told to play in the garden so she went, on her way there she was told that a garden that is locked up for ten years after the owner’s wife died and he buried the key to the door, the garden was where his wife did the gardening of. Mary went in a garden and into another and another until there were no more doors to go in, then she came back out. There’s this robin and made friends with Mary.
 * Joanna The Secret Garden Dec. 12, 2010 **

For couple of days Mary went outdoors to make her stronger by fighting with the wind. One day she woke up feeling hungry at least once because she never feels hungry and doesn’t know what it’s like to be hungry so today’s porridge she finished it all and said it tasted good. She went to the garden again. She saw the robin and followed him. They stopped at a certain spot. She realized she was standing in the orchard garden now she is on the other side standing in the path outside a wall, and it was the same tree she saw before. That time she was sure it’s the garden no one can go into now, the garden without the door. She went to that garden that leads to the no door garden; she looked everywhere but still can’t find the green door. She came back when it’s supper time and ate hungrily, she ask Martha a question after supper. Why does Mr. Craven hate the garden? She asked. Mary did answer, and she said” Mr. Craven hates the garden because Mrs. Craven made the garden when Mr. and Mrs. Craven were first married, they always went there to talk and sit there, there’s a branch that’s like a chair they sit on and the roses grew over it. Once the branch broke and the next day Mrs. Craven died, the doctor thought he’d die too because he’d go out of his mind so from then on he starts hating that garden. After Martha finishes telling Mary what happened they heard noises but it was just the wind.

10/10


 * Joanna--- Dec. 16, 2010 **
 * The secret garden **

====So far, I’ve read 27 pages and Mary starts to become less contrary. There’s only one problem, and it is, Mary wants to find the door to the secret garden since she found a key and thinks it opens the door to the secret garden. The language in this book is hard to understand sometimes when they use the accent to how they say it; like, “doesn’t tha’ know, aye… and but there’s nowt to see. I know that this book is pretty old. ==== Last night a little girl was crying and Mary was pretty sure she heard it right. The next morning, it was pouring rain so she can't go out for the whole day. so, she thought, is there actually one hundred doors/ rooms in the house? So, she decided to count how many doors there were and that was her plan for the day since she can't go out to play. She walked through the hallway seeing a lot of drawings hanging there. then she decided to open one of the doors; it had embroidered hangings on the wall and inlaid furniture. She went in a lot of other rooms too. One of the room she entered, had ivory elephants in a cabinet, she opened the cabinet door and played with it for quite a while. she suddenly heard a sound and looked back, it was a mouse hole. she then went out of the room and went the wrong turn and didn't know where she was. she then heard a fretful, childish cry; it was the one she heard yesterday; now she was sure there was a cry. She accidentally put her hands on the tapestry and suddenly a door fell open; there was a door behind the tapestry. Mrs. Meldock came up madly to take her back to her room and told her to stay there or they will lock her up.

The next day was a clear day an spring was coming, they can smell how fresh it was. Mary decides to fine Ben. she found him and the bird was there too. Mary then asked Ben if he still remembers her. and she said of course he does, he remembers all the name. She was really happy hearing that the bird still remembers her. She stared at the bird while it was trying to get an earth worm out of the ground, the hole was already dug because the dog was finding moles and duff too deep in. Mary saw something shiny like a ring and was curious of what it was so she went there but it wasn't a ring; it was the key, the key to the secret garden she thought.

8/10


 * The Secret Garden**
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Jan.7, 2011 **

I have read pages, and the climax of this novel is in the begginging of the chapter, saying she found the secret garden. the conflicts are easily solved when she moved to live with her uncle, but major problem is, she wants to know where the secret garden is. T he major things that helped to resolve the plot was to mainly find out where the secret garden was.

it beings when she found the key that the bird showed her to, and now she is very curious if the key belongs to the secret garden. one day she went outside to play again, she saw the bird again and said to the bird," you helped me find the key, now you should help me find the secret garden." she didn't think the bird knew what she was talking about, but the bird flew away and Mary followed him.

They reached to this place, and the walls were filled with ivy and sang aloud, which is a sign to Mary that that is the door to the secret garden. She held on the knob; she used her other hand to reach out the key in her pocket and unlocked it. It was tough to open it, but it did turn. She opened the door, and was amazed that she entered the door to the secret garden. She was happy to be the first one to enter the garden in ten years. She felt like she had found a world al her own. She saw there were roses and was sure they were roses because she has seen a lot of them when she was in India. There were also trees and others spread through the garden. She walked through it slowly and she whispered " how still." she waited a moment to listen to the stillness because she was the first one there. She wished that the plants were all alive. She then skipped through the garden, she stopped and saw something sticking out of the flowerbeds, it had some sharp little pale green points,; she remembered that Ben told her that those are plants growing. She thinks it some kind o flower that might be daffoldils or snowdrops. She did not know about gardening, but the grass seemed so thick, so she decided to try and clear the little places around them. She dug weed and grass to make it look clean, now it looks like it could breathe.

Mary did it to the rest of the other flowerbeds too, time went by too fast, she couldn't believe she was doing this for 3 hours and it was time for supper but she didn't finish yet so she decided to come other days to finish it up since she can go in the garden anytime now. she went to eat her dinner and ate a lot. Mary heard that a person called Dickon buys seeds and things from the flower shop for people, so Mary decides to write to him saying she has a lot of money and would wants some flower seeds and a spade.

**Jan. 11/11**
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"> I have read Chapter 10-27, pages 94- 311 for 217 pages!! This is a fiction novel, but if you say so, it can also be believable, because it can happen it’s not fantasy or something that is not possible to happen. Someone may have a secret garden locked up for ten years! While I read through the book, what I didn’t expect was that Ben Weatherstaff has been in the secret garden in the ten years. New characters were introduces, like, Colin, and Dickon, but Dickon was mentioned a bit in the beginning of the story.

<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">One sunny day Mary decided to go out for a walk, and then she heard sounds and followed it, and ended at this park. She opened the gate to the park and saw a person sitting there with a whole bunch of animals beside him. Right there, she knew it was Dickon, the boy she wrote a letter to, to buy flower seeds and spade for her. Dickon saw her, at the gate and told her not because that way it will frighten the animals. He put everything down from his hand and stood up slowly to not frighten the animals. He walked over to her and asked if she was Miss Mary. Mary was surprised that he knew. She was nervous but dickon wasn’t and he started talking like they known each other for a long time. He gave the things Mary ordered to her and the seeds, and then dickon asked, where are you going to plant it? She struggled on this question, got very nervous but trusted him so he told him about the secret garden. She also showed him where it was but not to tell anyone about it. He was surprised when he entered it, but he was happy to help redo the garden and re grow the flowers and help out with everything needed to make the garden beautiful. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 13px;">It was dinner time and Mary was a bit late for dinner so she ran home for dinner because she was helping out in the garden with Dickon. After she finished her dinner, Mrs. Medlock said she has to get dressed and ready to go to her Uncle Mr. Craven’s room, she was called to his room for the first time and it would be the first time to see him. She was very nervous when she went in and Mr. Craven told her to come closer to him and the closer she got, the more nervous she was. They had a mini conversation but there’s this question Mr. Craven asked was, what do you want? Toys, Books, Dolls? Mary didn’t want any of those so she asked, May I have a bit of earth? Mr. Craven didn’t exactly knew what she meant but he agreed, Mary could have as much earth as she wanted, and she was allowed to take if from anywhere.

<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">One rainy night, it was pouring down, and that time was bed time but Mary could not sleep and she just heard a crying sound she heard before. She followed the crying sounds down the hall to where the tapestry was and the door was there. She opened the door and she couldn’t believe her eyes. She saw a little boy crying on his bed, when he realized Mary was at the door, he stared at her and she stared back for a long time. Usually he doesn’t like being stared at but for some reasons, he didn’t care this time. Mary told him to calm down, and they told each other their names, and his name was Colin. He was Mr. Craven’s son. Mary never knew that and was surprised, now was told her that Mr. Craven has a son. Mr. Craven hates him because his eyes were like Mrs. Craven’s and reminded of her, but she died. Everyone was not allowed to say anything about Colin or they could lose their job. They talked a lot, and Mary told him a lot about the outside. After, it was getting late so Mary said she had to go and Colin said to let him sleep before she goes. So, she decided to also sing a song to him for him to sleep better and fast asleep pretty fast. The next day, Mary told Martha that she knows who was the one crying, she went to look for it. Martha was extremely upset, because if Mrs. Medlock knew that Mary knows about it, then she would lose her place. Mary explained that he stared at her when she went in and they talked for a bit and when Mary said she had to leave, he told her to stay for a bit longer to talk. Martha was surprised that he would do that. Colin thinks he's a hunchback like his dad and stays in bed all the time, never got up so his back is very weak right now. All he does is tell people to do things, and he doesn't eat much. Colin also said to Mary that she is allowed to come when he tells her to come, everyone has to obey him. martha got scared because she is his nurse and has to take care of him. After another week of rain, mary could not go to the secret garden and everyday she spent hours with Colin talking to him about the gardens outside and how beautiful it is, about Dickon and the animals, they also read stories.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"> One sunny day, Mary decided to go out side to the garden and to see if Dickon was there, he was there, even earlier than she was. they worked in the <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"> garden for a few hours. and when Mary came back in the house, Martha told her that colin is mad that she didn't come all day, she went in his room and he didn't even bother to look at her, their anger became to grow. They were arguing about it and mary said she would never come again, but Colin said everyone has to obey him, so if he says you have to go then you have to go. That day, she was very tired, she woke up and early and now she was very <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"> sleepy. In the middle of the night she was awakened by a dreadful sound which made her jump out of her bed instantly. The cry and scream was horrible and right away she knew it was Colin. The nurses came running in telling her to go to his room and calm him down because they can't do anything about it. but that day was when they argued, he'll be more mad if he sees her. she went to his room anyways and shouted, You stop! He tries to calm down but he can't stop crying, and she said she will leave him if she doesn't stop. He stopped and after i guess they were back to normal, so it was time for bedtime, and colin told Mary to talk about the garden, as she talk, he fell asleep and Mary slipped out silently. The next morning, Mary went to his room to tell him he's going out for a bit and she will come back after. that morning Dr. Craven also came and told him that he was too weak. Mary went to Colin's room again and ate a meal with him. Mary told him that Dickon is going to come with his animals and the baby lamb today. after a moment Dickon and the animals were there, he looked avery happy and colin did not mind him staring at him. They decided to bring Colin to the secret garden and they did, he went in his wheel chair. He felt very warm in there when he entered and felt powerful and strong, not weak anymore. One day they were in the garden, and a person climbed up from the ladder; it was Ben Weatherstaff. They were all scared that someone knows they went in the secret garden. but he told them that he was the last person to enter this garden in the last ten years, the last time he was here was about 2 years ago. he was told everything and they have found the key, now he is part of the secret. Ben was extremely surprised that colin was there too, he thought he had a humpback and crooked legs. but then, Colin tried to stand up with a bit of Dickon's help, he stood up perfectly straight; no lumps at all. He started to walk a bit ,and from then on, he practices to walk everyday in the secret garden.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"> Colin was told that he was very heathy and he wished his dad knew that, but he told the other people not to tell him to come back incase he gets sick again. Then in Mr. Craven's vacation, he had a feeling something will happen, then he saw a letter on the table from a person he didn't really knew but it was from Yorkshire. He read it twice and he decided to come back to Misselthwaite. he thinks that he's called back because they can't control him and the think Mr. Craven would do him good and can control Colin. Then he thought, i have to find the key to the secret garden, have to find the key. he returned to the house and he asked the nurses how Colin was doing and they sad he was very good but his appetite was humongous. He asked where he was and they said he was in the garden. he repeated to himself many times, and though ti t was the secret garden. he went there, but he did not know where the key was, but it was unlocked. he entered it and walked through it slowly, the Colin came running towards him, and good thing there was enough time for Mr. Craven to catch him before he falls. He didn't recognize him at first. Mr. Craven told Colin to show him to the garden and they sat under this tree, except Colin because he wanted to tell the story that everything happened. Now, it isn't a secret anymore. They both walked home together happily, and everyone ran and saw the Maser of Misselthwaite and by his side with his eyes full of laughter and walked strongly was Master Colin!