Death In The Long Grass – Weekly Reading Response Blog

My book Death in the Long Grass is about the dangers in Africa. The author is actually an experienced hunter, and most tales are of his many safaris and close encounters with extremely dangerous animals. The book has a series of animals throughout it lions, leopards, crocodiles, hippos, cape buffalo, snakes and more.

1.I like but also dislike how graphic the authors writing can be, it’s a little intense and it makes your stomach clench up but at the same time you don’t want to stop reading. The back of the book even says not for the squeamish and it’s not lying.

2.What I found interesting in the book was how many lions actually kill so many people every day. I enjoy watching the nature channel but most of the time it tells you that the most dangerous animals are more afraid of you then you are of them. In the book the author says if the National parks actually released how many people are dragged off never to be seen or heard of again then there would probably be no business for the parks.

7.This book reminds me of the many stories my dad has told me about when he lived in South Africa. For the most part though he is not (like the author) roaming through the jungle shooting things. Though my dad has been hunting in Africa and they have many mementos at my house and my grandfathers, things from when they went hunting like zebra skins and such.

10. I actually find it a bit confusing how the author writes; it’s a bit of an older book so some of the words he uses are unfamiliar. My dad explained that it takes a while to get used to the way the author writes and my dad is right, it is starting to get clearer

Reading Response Prompts

1. Tell what like or dislike about the book and why.

2. Tell about parts of your book that puzzled you or made you ask a question.

3. Tell what you noticed about the characters, such as what made them act as they did or how they changed.

4. Write about something in the book that surprised you or that you found interesting.

5. Write your predictions and about whether your predictions were right.

6. Ask for help in figuring out meaning of your book.

7. Tell about the connections that you made while reading the book. Tell how it reminds you of yourself, of people you know, or of something that happened in your life. It might remind you of other books, especially the characters, the events, or the setting.

8. Write about the author’s style and how it makes you feel.

9. Write about the language the author used and why you think the author wrote this way.

10. Write about the author’s craft – what was effective about the way the author wrote.

11. Write about anything else that you may think of that deals with the book.

12. Do you relate to any of the characters in the book? Explain how and why.

13. If you abanded the book, why did you?

14. Name 3 examples of signals that went off in your head while you were reading and explain them.

15. Explain what happened at the climax and explain why you think that is the climax.

16. Tell what you think could be changed in the book to make it better for readers.

Reading Response Rubric

Level 3 (B Range)
In your response you:
- have written at least one post a week
- demonstrate that you have read a variety of fiction and non-fiction materials
- reflect on the books you read effectively- relate to the books you read
- retell only the most important information in your responses
- explain your interpretation of a written work clearly, supporting it with evidence from the work and from your own knowledge and experiences clearly.
- demonstrate that you are a critical thinker that examines characters, plot, setting and literary - devices effectively

Level 4 (A Range)
In your response you:
- have written more than one post a week
- demonstrate that you have read a good variety of fiction and non-fiction materials
- reflect on the books you read very effectively
- relate to the books you read very effectively
- retell only the most important information in your responses
- explain your interpretation of a written work clearly, supporting it with evidence from the work and from your own knowledge and experiences clearly and concisely.
- demonstrate that you are a highly critical thinker that examines characters, plot, setting and literary devices effectively

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