Blog #3--Conflict and Resolution

Blog #3--Conflict and Resolution

Final Blog!

Your last post focuses on the ending of your novel. Authors of YA fiction attempt to make their stories exciting by incorporating twists and conflicts in the plot in order to keep the interest of their readers until the very end.  At  the same time the stories need to be realistic and believable.

Conflict is the central struggle or problem of a narrative, which moves the plot forward and motivates the protagonist (main character). Conflict is an important element of fiction because the readers can learn from the successes and failures of the main character and apply the lessons learned to their own life.

Now that you have finished reading your novel, you should  understand how the main character dealt with his/her problems. Conflict can be between two or more characters, it can situational, and sometimes the decision the character makes to solve (deal with, or get out of) one problem leads to another problem.

Think about the major problems that occurred in your novel.  Explain what the major issue was and how it was resolved by the end of the novel. 


Don't forget to write a question at the end of your blog for your classmates to respond to! 

Blog #2~Character

Blog #2~Character

Character~Your blog this week centres around the characters in your novel.

Authors of YA fiction need to make their characters realistic and believable in order to make the story captivating for a teenage audience.

Describe the main character, focusing on their personality and character traits. The characters in YA fiction often have difficult decisions to make, and sometimes they make the wrong choices.

By not always making the right choice, the person shows a weakness or a flaw in their character. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, because it shows that they are just like any other teen.

Describe the weakness or flaw that you see exists in the main character[s] in your novel.

Make sure you pose a question at the end of your blog for your classmates to respond to.

I thought I'd give a little blog about my book. First of all, the author, Lisa Genova is a doctor and her books always deal with a serious medical condition affecting a person and their family.  In this book the disease is Huntington's Disease which is genetic.  It causes total loss of muscle control, so your ability to keep still, swallow, blink etc is affected.  The symptoms also involve violent mood swings.  So the main character, Joe O'Brien,  is a happily married Boston police officer, Irish Catholic, father of four adult children who is diagnosed with HD in his early 50's.  The novel begins with a background of his daily life as a cop and father in "old Boston." Genova also describes the very different lives of the four children; each of them has a 50% chance of getting the disease. Their dilemma is whether or not they should be tested to find out if they have it.  I believe that knowledge is power and I would definitely find out.  What would you do?

Blog #1 ~ Initial Reaction

Authors of Young Adult Fiction need to draw their readers into the story right away.  As you begin reading the first section of your novel, describe what is going on.  You don't need to give every detail, but more of an overview for your classmates.  Describe the initial or first problem faced by the main character.

At the end of your blog, you need to pose a question that relates to your novel for your classmates.  You need to consider the fact that they haven’t read the book, so come up with a question that is simple enough yet at the same time, a question that they could possibly relate their novel, another story (fiction or non-fiction), or even their own lives to.

Welcome Everyone!
 Once you have created your blog, and have found Ms. Nogalo's blog, you need to follow the blogs of everyone in the class. Your first day will be to set up the design/template of your blog, and then add the addresses of everyone else in the class so that you can get updates. Remember that you need to be respectful when you respond to people....you will be graded not only on your own posts, but on how you respond to other people. Happy Blogging!