Reflections

The person who spoke first in our group was Sameer. He read around 90 pages. The plot didnt
change that much from the last time. His book is called The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen
Crane. The setting stayed the same and it was set during the American Civil war. His attitude
towards the novel was mixed. He finds the plot interesting because it is interesting and the book
is fast moving. He doesnt like the main character because he is indecisive because he has mixed
feelings. Overall Sameer was loud and clear. He answered all of our questions. I dont find the
novel that interesting because this book is not my kind of a genre and also I felt the climax of the
novel is predictable.

The second person who spoke in our group was Kai-Xin. His book is called Memoirs of Geisha
written by Arthur Golden. He read 317 pages. A lot of things happen in this book. The main
character tries to run away from the Geisha house but she gets caught by the family and she was
punished. Several years pass by, one day she sees a stranger and she admires him and she plans
to become a geisha. The main conflict is person versus person. I found many things interesting
about the book. The introduction of the book is really engaging. The main character is a nineyear-old girl whose name is Chiyo. She and her sister came from a poor family. They are both
sold to a Geisha house and she is in her worst position. Kai-Xin was confident when he spoke
about the novel and he likes the book because the book is easy to read. This novel sounds
interesting to me because the plot sounds realistic and also it has a lot of twists. I am curious to
find out what will happen next.

The third person in my group who spoke was Daniel and his book is called Heart of Darkness
written by Joseph Conrad. I found the main characters profession most interesting. The books
that Ive mostly read are about slaves and war heroes. Sailor seemed to be something different.
He read 57 pages. Many things happened in this book such as the settings of the book is
different, before it was set in Belgium but the main character had to move to Congo. The main
characters name is Marlow and he got the job as a Sailor. Congo is a dirty place and people are
dying, so now he has to talk to the chief of the headquarters in Congo and they moved him to
another station. Now he has to start all over again but Marlow is brave and hardworking. Another
thing that is interesting is the title because sounds different and meaningful. He sounded
confident and his attitude to the novel was great. He said he liked the novel and he thinks he
knows what will happen at the end of the book. I find this book interesting because the main
character sounds like an adventurous person.

The last person who spoke in our group was Adriel. His book is called He Drown She in the Sea
and it is written by Shani Mootoo. I found the plot, the characters and the setting interesting. The
main conflict is that the main character Henry, moves to Vancouver in his 20s and he has
feelings for his friend and her name is Rose. This novel has two settings, the first setting is in
Trinidad and the other one is in Vancouver. So Rose has a daughter and is married to another
person but she has feelings for Henry. Henry is also with another girl. Adriels attitude towards
the novel was good. He likes the novel and he thinks he can predict the ending. In my opinion I
think this book is interesting because this book is similar to my book and I like how the love
story is complicated making the plot more interesting.

In my group, I went second. I listened to all my group members carefully and jotted down the
important details. I asked questions to understand more about each persons book. After the first
group meeting I felt I could improve on my speaking skills because I felt that I was not very
clear in explaining the plot. When the second time we met, everyone had a lot to say about their
book. This time I was loud and clear, I answered their questions and listened to each person
carefully. I improved my speaking skills by clearly explaining the plot in detail and that requires
to be confident. Next time, I can improve on finding the themes and the similarities of all of our
books. All of our books are very different and has different genres, settings and themes.