MLA:
Cadnum,
Michael. The king's arrow. New York: Viking, 2008. Print.
Picture of the book:
Summary:
The year is 1100
A.D. The Norman invaders have conquered the English and have set up
kingdoms.
Simon foldre is an 18-year-old boy as well as a grandson. Simon is
trying very hard to try and make a name for himself and is doing well. He
especially wants to get the king to like him. After witnessing a famous poacher
being killed, his chances almost disappear. Though, with a pinch of smooth
talking, he got himself to join the Royal Hunt. Rumors are now spreading about
someone having an urge to kill the king while on the hunt. The king ignores
this rumor and goes on with the hunt. Right here is where it all starts. The
king and his men are on the Royal Hunt, and suddenly, the king dies after
passing the mist. Was this a murder? Who will take responsibility for the
king’s death? Why would Simon be running for his life is he's innocent? Read
the book to find out.
Historical Events:
1100 A.D.
1.
2nd of August: King William II dies
from hunting accident in the New Forest.
2.
5 August: Henry I becomes king of England
New Forest:
King William I for the royal hunt created New
Forest as a royal forest. It was created at the expanse of more then 20 small
hamlets and isolated farmsteads. New Forest was first called Nova Forest in
1086. The boundaries of the forest were then extended after king Williams son,
William II, introduced mutilation
for flouting the Laws. The Forestry Commission
was then made, and created responsibility for management of Crown Lands in the
New Forest around 1923. These cover 27,000 hectares, 47% of the National Park. The New Forest Heritage Area was identified and
special planning policies were made to protect it around 1985. Then around
2003-4, New forest was open for public. By 2005, The New Forest was confirmed
as a National Park.
Effect of historical setting:
Plot:
Everything was great while everyone was at the kingdom (before the royal hunt).
The setting affected the plot because the king was killed in a place that isn’t
that noticeable for killing. If they had never gone into the new forest, then
none of these acts of tragedy would have happened and the plot would have been
completely different.
Page: 164
Major Characters:
Simon foldre: Simon is a very
difficult-to-understand person. After the death of the king, he was just
emotionless and wasn’t expressing anything. But over all, I would describe him
as brave.
Roland: Roland is the
king's marshal and is very aggressive. He also has a very short temper and gets
angry very easily.
Over
all, it was a little hard to describe the characters because there wasn’t much
dialogue happening, it was really more of a descriptive book where I got
exactly the setting and how it looks, but I think that the author should have
added more dialogue just to get the characters personality more.
Point of view:
The
story is told by 1st person point of view because the story is told
by using I/we. This helps develop the main character because the readers can
get an overall detail-personality development of the character. I get to know
what the character is feeling and thinking, when he says it. That helps develop
the character through dialogue. We can get a diminutive idea of what the
character is thinking.
Author’s
characterization techniques:
The
author characterizes his characters by dialogue and actions. For example; on
page 176, it states that Simon fell to his knees after seeing the king with an
arrow in him. This shows that Simon appreciated the king and got very shocked
as well as dejected at the same time, representing actions. Also on page 164,
the author describes Simon as making gestures with his hands instead of saying
“I can’t talk about it”, also representing actions. Lastly, on page 110, it
states the way Roland speak when he is mad, and also states that he can get med
based on his tone, representing dialogue.
Theme:
I
think that the theme for The Kings Arrow is overcoming challenges. After the
king died on the royal hunt, many people were very sad. Especially Simon. He
just became emotionless! Evidence: on page 166, “The incident was too great,
and no one had witnessed the kings dead body” meaning that the incident was to
vicious and people just have to get over the fact that the kings dead.
I think another theme for The King’s Arrow
is loss because the king died and everyone was very sad, especially Simon. Evidence:
on page 164, Simon states “the king has been killed”- exact words- meaning that
there is loss within the book.
Reflection:
This
book wasn’t that great, but it also wasn’t that bad. I did enjoy some parts but
others weren’t that great. For example the beginning wasn’t really that
entertaining, I got bored really easily and just dozed off. But I was really
engaged when the king died because it’s like some action. I would have liked
there to be more dialogue going on between the characters in order to
understand their personalities more. I would rate this book a 5.5/10 because of
the reasons stated above. I would not recommend this to my friends, but I would
to other historical fiction lovers.
New Words:
Taut: stretched or pulled tight
Slack: not taut or held tightly in position like
loose
Keen: having or showing eagerness or enthusiasm
Mount: climb up
Loom: an apparatus for making fabric by weaving
yarn or thread.
No comments:
Post a Comment