In their first literature circle discussion, Melanie summarizes the story so far, Josh finds an interesting simile (”It’s as if I’m caught in a tunnel and a GI is blasting his flamethrower right down the chute” [83]), Jenny connects Randy to a character in the book Handcuffs, Chelsea wonders why Sharon stays with Randy, Carson finds the Hardin High website (http://www.hardin.k12.mt.us/district%207.html), and Natalie illustrates a key game (check out the players on the bench):
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In their second literature circle discussion, Mack’s investigation discovers that Hansberry, like Bennie, was interested in Africa; the advice of Natalie’s seventh grade teacher to “write what you know” suggests to her that Bennie IS Hansberry; Alyssa finds an interesting metaphor when Walter’s eyes are described as “pure glass sheets” (78); Elizabeth connects Walter’s inheritence (and loss of the money) to the protagonist in the book Son of the Mob; Emma wonders about the argument about what real learning is; Livia illustrates a key moment between Travis and Mama:
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In their second literature circle discussion, Chelsie wonders how Ender plans to “defeat . . . the teachers” (171), Josh finds a great example of alliteration with “She had never seen him speak with such sincerity” (132), Tina shows how “competent” she is with her vocabulary, Jacob wonders if Mazer actually lost the battle with the buggers, and Alex illustrates Bean in the midst of a practice battle:
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In their second literature circle discussion, Carleigh wonders what to infer about Dick’s “baby names” for Perry, Elise discusses how the mood goes from depressing to angry, Lauren is our “liason” between the circle and the dictionary, Erica thinks Dick is as arrogant as Odysseus from The Odyssey, and Josh notices how the book goes from making you hate the killers to having pity for them.
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In their second literature circle discussion, Alex finds a simile on page 126 (”veined with a delicate tracery of pipes for the cooling fluid, they looked like the wings of some vast dragonfly”), Chris compares Bowman of A Space Odyssey to the Bow-Man of The Odyssey, Trenton investigates Saturn with the help of www.nineplanets.org/saturn.html, Dustin wonders why Hal started to malfunction (or as Nathan points out, is he actually malfunctioning?), Brady begins to visualize the vastness of space, and Holly illustrates the plight of the astronauts (and shows the symbolism of fortune cookies!):
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