Quiz

2. What connection does Asmol make between the land covered with seawater and Pobby and Dingan? Why is that important to the story?

Ashmol's father has told him the land they are living in used to be ocean and full of sea water. However now the land is really dry. When his father told him about that he doesn't believe it. He thought " how strange this was." Then when he made up a relationship between this story with Pobby and Dingan. In the book he said" And suddenly I thought how maybe if this amazing thing was true. It was just possible Pobby and Dingan were true too." It seems like there is no relationship with this two things but it made Ashmol realize everything is possible. The thing you can not see doesn't mean they don't exist. Just like the sea water, Ashmol has never saw that before, just like he has never seen Pobby and Dingan. But the sea really existed so does Kellyanne's imaginary friends. This is a really important change for Ashmol's attitude toward Pobby and Dingan. He used doesn't believe them even hate them, now he believes them and used every thing he saw as a evidence that prove Pobby and Dingan does exist.

5. In the very end of the novel, Ashmol talks about what it’s like to “believe in something which is hard to see. Or to keep looking for something that’s totally hard to find.” Discuss the importance of imagination and dreams in this novel. Why are they so important even if they cannot be seen. Consider what dreams Rex, the father, and Annie, the mother, have in the story. Consider, also, the dream that Ashmol has. How do those "unseen" dreams connect to Kellyanne's belief in Pobby and Dingan?

Annie the mother has a dream to go back to England which is where she comes from. She followed Lex to Australia and now she doesn't believe in him and can not stand living in this place, even live with this man. So, Annie's dream used to be as same as Ashmol's father, they both wanted to find Opal. However her dream was not that strong. This shows that dreams can support a person's life. Dream is a motivation for people to follow chasing what they want. But it also shows that dream is just dream. Many dreams disappear because of reality and there are still differences between reality and ideal. Also imagination is kind of similar with dream, they are both things that are hard to see. Just like Ashmol said, people " 

keep looking for something that’s totally hard to find" For Kellyane, Pobby and Dingan are her dream. I think it is a metaphor of dream and imagination. The book teaches people to follow and embrace their dream. Some time even if the dream seems too unbelievable, just ignore what other people say and follow what you really believe in.

A day in my break

It was the last day of my spring break. I went to meet Jess who is a girl also studying abroad. We knew each other on we-chat about half year ago, we talked a lot, but we never meet each other before. So we planed to meet at mall and have lunch together.

I hate those people who are always late or cancel our date at the last moment. However most of my friends are this kind of people which I also don't know why. At first we planed to meet at the beginning of the break however in the morning that we planed to meet she told me her parents wants to take her out.  As I have said I hate this kind of people, I don't really want to see her anymore. Her parents are also the people who I don't like. I mean want kind of parents are going to insist take their child out even though they already knew their child has something to do on that day. Their whole family are untrustworthy.

So we moved our date to the last day of the break and we planed to meet at 11. You might think I will arrive on time because I don't like to be late. But I was late for an hour. I became to person that I used to hate the most. I knew I have to leave at 10 but I didn't. I thought it was fine to be late which now I don't know why I would have that kind of unbelievable thought in my mind. I arrived at 12 and we missed the movie. Although Jess didn't blame me, I felt shame of my self all day long. The date was great but I was abstract all the time. 

I have heard many people said: You will finally become the person that you hate the most. I thought this would never happened to me. I don't know since when I am used to being late even though I know this is going to make a bad impression. To solve this problem I have to get rid of this habit and become a punctual person that I truly like.

Pobby and Dingan

Pobby is a boy who has a limp in his right leg and Dingan is a girl who has a invisible opal on her bellybutton.as the book said. ”Dingan had a lovely opal in her bellybutton, only you had to be a certain kind of person to see it. And Pobby had a limp in his right leg”(p421). They are different with usual people first because only specific person can see them second they don't sleep at night. So in my picture they both don't have eyelid. “ Pobby and Dingan don’t sleep and they don’t shoot” (P508).

Kellyanne and Dingan both won Opal Princes prize ” Two Opal Princesses--- Kellyanne Williamson (age eight) and her invisible friend Dingan”(p78). So I guess Dingan is a really pretty girl from Kellyanne's view. When I was drawing, I tried to make them look unusual because they have so many difference with normal people. Pobby looks like a boy who always live in forest, actually, he is more close to a man. For Dingan, I draw a pink dress and a opal on her bellybutton which is more close to the figure of Opal Princes. She has long hair just like Kellyanne, she has big blue eyes and pail skin.She wears pink high heel and fancy royal dress which is hard for her to walk on claim. This can cause her death on claim. Pobby is not wearig the same fancy dresses as Dingan does. Innstead he wears a dirty shirt and a shorts. His wooden leg makes him can not walk really fast so he has to stay under sun for a long time when he is walking outside. Therefor I painted his skin with tan.

It is hard to imagine Kellyanne has two adult imaginary friends sitting with her in a van, drinking tea, eating candies, but this can be a reason why every one said they have found Pobby and Dingan and Kelluanne said they didn’t. Because they think Pobby and Dingan are young children however they already grow up.

Vocabulary

Sorry I finished this assignment on time but I just forgot to post it on blog.

Claim

“Find anything today?” Mum asked one night when she’d got back from her job on the checkout at Khan’s and me and Dad were relaxing after a hard afternoon’s work out at the claim.

N. something that is claimed, especially a piece of public land for which formal request is made for mining or other purposes.

Wobbling

 The noise of a car drove into our ears and a four-wheel-drive police jeep came wobbling down the creamy red track that leads to our claim.

Adj. that wobbles or causes to wobble.

Startled

My dad turned around, startled.

Adj. to disturb or agitate suddenly as by surprise or alarm.

Figment

Kellyanne glared at me through tears the way she did the time I slammed the door of the ute in Dingan’s face or the time I walked over to where Pobby was supposed to be sitting and punched the air and kicked the air in the head to show Kellyanne that Pobby was a figment of her imaginings. I don’t know how many times I had sat at the dinner table saying: “Mum, why do you have to set places for Pobby and Dingan? They aren’t even real.”

N. a feigned, invented, or imagined story, theory, etc.: biographical and historical figments. 

Rummaged

He rummaged through piles of rocks.

V. to search thoroughly or actively through (a place, receptacle, etc.), especially by moving around, turning over, or looking through contents.

Ute

Kellyanne glared at me through tears the way she did the time I slammed the door of the ute

N. Informal. a utility vehicle.

Crackpot

It made you want to be sick all over the place. Lightning Ridge was full of flaming crackpots as far as I could see.

N. a person who is eccentric, unrealistic, or fanatical.

Mello Yello

“Pobby and Dingan aren’t dead,” I said, hiding my anger in a swig from my can of Mello Yello.

N. Mello Yello is a highly-caffeinated, citrus-flavored soft drink

Mates

“I still say Kellyanne could do with some real-live mates,”

N. one of a pair

Opal

My dad would come back from the opal mines covered in dust, his beard like the back end of a dog that’s shat all over its tail.

N. a mineral, an amorphous form of silica, SiO 2 with some water of hydration, found in many varieties and colors, including a form that is milky white.

Fairdinkum

“Fairdinkum?” His excitement always caught ahold of me.

Adj. genuine, honest, fair and square.

Imaginary

Now, I was as much a rockhound as the next kid, but I wasn’t crazy enough to talk to imaginary friends, I’ll tell you that for nothing

Adj. existing only in the imagination or fancy; not real; fancied:

Grub

She said they were quieter and better behaved than me and deserved the grub.

Slang. food; victuals

Fossilized

There’s rumours going that Lucky Jes has taken out a million-dollar stone and a fossilized mammoth tooth with sun-flash in it.

V. to change as if into mere lifeless remains or traces of the past.

Mammoth 

There’s rumours going that Lucky Jes has taken out a million-dollar stone and a fossilized mammoth tooth with sun-flash in it.

any large, elephantlike mammal of the extinct genus Mammuthus, from the Pleistocene Epoch, having hairy skin and ridged molar teeth.

 

In class writing

At first I don't think they are real obviously, other vise it is going to be a supernatural or science fiction novel. However many children had imaginary friends when they were young and some of their friend really related to the person who has died in their house before. So it is hard to say if they does exist or not.

Firstly,People all know that Kellyane's friends doesn't exist that is why they call Dingan: Kellyane's invisible friend. Since they can't see Digan, how do they judge how pretty Digan is? So people are all living to Kellyane just to protect her heart. Secondly Ashmol's can't see Pobby and Dingan as well. In the book when they are finding Pobby and Dingan, his dad were just sitting there and did nothing because Kellyane is the only one who can see her friends.

On the other hand, when Ashmol's dad didn't pick Pobby and Dingan up, Kellyane wouldn't find it out if they doesn't exist. 

Improvements

I made a lot of changes from my first draft to my final draft, I deleted useless sentence, summarized a more clearly summary, and the most important part, I found my thesis which is caring relationship changes people. In my first draft, I didn't have a clear statement, all I had was summary and some not strong analysis. I wasn't clear about what I am going to write on that time. However after I had extra help with Mrs. Guarino and then went to writing center, the teachers mentioned me to think more deeply. The main characters were not only changed, they grow up, they had a new view of world. Also the book is not only about a boy hiding in basement, it is more about a boy staying in his own world. Secondly, I didn't have a good ending sentence. I used to have a strong starting of each paragraph and a weak ending, I made improvement in my final draft. More over, I corrected some grammar mistakes. I learned when writing review of a book I need to use present tense.