Questions for the Week of Monday, May 3, 2009
- Zinny's contact with nature and the peace, space, and quiet she finds outdoors helps her sort out her buried feelings of grief. In what ways does the natural world help Zinny sort out her feelings?
- What does clearing the trail represent for Zinny in her life?
- What do you think the future holds for Zinnia Taylor?
- What was your reaction to this novel?
My reaction to this novel was very interesting. I Thought Uncle Nate would die and Zinny wouldn't be able to finish the trail because she would be griving over the loss of Uncle Nate. I liked it in a way it was exciting in a lot of ways.
ReplyDeleteDear who ever is reading this-
ReplyDeleteI think that her contact with nature has helped her sort out her feelings, because while she was alone on the trail, she had a lot of time to herself to think about her feelings.
Dear fellow chasing red bird readers,
ReplyDeleteZinnys peace space
The out doors helps Zinny sort out her feelings by allowing her to think to herself without being interupted.
greetings,
ReplyDeleteclearing the trail was so important to Zinny because it was the only thing that she had to herself that she didn't have to share with any of her siblings. It made her feel good about herself because she accomplished something big all by herself.
I think in the future for Zinny she will be more outgoing for example: talking to more people like when she talked to the Sheriff for how long and he said I thought you were the quiet one.
ReplyDeleteZinny's contact with nature helps her find the buried feelings by having time being with herself and reflecting her feelings and when she misses her family she thinks more about how she is mean to some of them and makes her feel guilty so she wants to be nicer to her family.
ReplyDeleteHi-
ReplyDeleteI think that in the future, Zinny will eventually marry Jake and they will live on a farm. I think that they might uncover another trail and maybe she could become an explorer with Jake. I think that she will also receive a giant check for a lot of money for re-discovering the trail.
Yo,
ReplyDeletethe meaning of the trail to Zinny is chasing aunt jessie.and it helps her un wind on the trail and think to her self.
My reaction to this novel was
ReplyDeleteTHIS IS SO STRANGE (That is suppose to be underlined)
I mean they see dead people walking around. They kill snakes and things that resemble a snake. They have a house that has things of dead people. She collects rocks and bottle caps.
These are the sum up of my deep down true blue feelings.
I think clearing the trail in Zinny's life represents clearing paths in her life like not blamming herself for Rose and Jessie's death.
ReplyDeleteI thought that it showed me that I can do anything if I set my mind to it. It showed me that I should care for my family, and that family comes first.
ReplyDeletep.s. what a great book! :)
I think that clearing the trail represented the family and friends in Zinny's life. I think this because the cabin represented Nate, Jessie, and Rose. Also, the trail helped Zinny realize how much she really needs her family and that they really do love and care about her. The trail representing her family, for me, isn't because the book is about her family, but because Zinny needed to find her family. In the beginning of the book, when Zinny finds the trail, Nate and Jessie said that the trail leads nowhere, but it does. It kind of leads her to understanding. To her heart.
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I think that the future holds many things for Zinny. I think that it holds prosperity. More emotional rather than property prosperity, but prosperity none the less. I think this because I think that Zinny will continue to grow closer to her family and other people. I think that she will be able to realize a lot of things that she feels and believes in the future. I also think that Zinny won't be as shy as she once was. I think that she "come out of her turtle shell" if you want to call it that. Another thing I think will happen to Zinny in the future is that she will gain confidence. I think that the fact that Jake likes her, not May, has already boosted her confidence some, but the more she discovers that people really do like and care about her, the more confidence she'll have. These are just a few things that I think that future holds for Zinnia Taylor, but I also think that there will be a lot of other things as well.
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The natural world helped Zinny sort out her feelings because she had so much time to think. She was able to digest how she felt and to understand it. I think that clearing that trail was a very important stepping stone for her.
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My reaction to this novel was very mixed. In the beginning I thought that it was strange, but as I kept reading, it grew on me. Now, I think it was pretty awesome that she was able to complete the trail. How she made self, family, and world discoveries. I don't know if I liked the book, but it definitely had an effect on me.
ReplyDeleteWhatever I want to do-I can do.
Whatever I dream-can become reality.
Whatever I set my mind to-can be completed.
But sometimes things I think, can be wrong.
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the way she sorts out her feelings are. by going and using her time to clear her trail and spend her time in the cabin and cleaning the shelves and cleaning the house and keeping it in good condition. And at times even helping the many people that are on the new trail and keeping it clean is her new job.
ReplyDeleteMs. Steffen-
ReplyDeleteDo we have to comment on someone else's entry this week as well?
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Clearing the trail for Zinny represented her in her life is that she did something that she thought was actually hers. So people can see that she was the first person to clear the trail so that people who are going on the trail now that it's more realized because she cleared it she now gets to be a guide for the trail. Also more people like her just because of that.
ReplyDeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteZinny's connections with nature, helps her sort out felling because when she is all by her self in out in the nature, she can think about her feelings without any distractions and think about whatever she wants. Clearing the trail for Zinny represents her life because because she never gets anything for her self and she finally has something all to her self, and it is a really is a big deal for her!!! I think her and Jake with get together and date, and May will get really mad. I think she will also be love and got more attention and things to herself. I was very surprised , it thought Uncle Nate was going to die, and I didn't think that reporters would come and interview Zinny.
What I think the future holds for Zinny is that she will become a very clever and rich woman. I think she will be rich because maybe since she works on the trail she will make a lot of money and get a better job in Chocton. I think she's clever because she's says she is a detective and detectives need to be clever. Also when she was trying to find out if Uncle Nate was seeing someone else.
ReplyDeleteI think the natural world helps sort out of Zinny's grief because it makes her realize what happened to her and her cousin and aunt. How it is not her fault that this happened in a way that she thought it was her fault. In the end no one blamed her for what happened to Jessie and Rose.
ReplyDeletedear kk,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that she will become rich for discovering that trail. I also agree with you that she may get a job as a detective or an explorer. Keep up the great work
Dear everyone
ReplyDeleteI think that the future of Zinny is that she will find hope, become Known, and even stop blaming her self for other people dying and getting hurt.
clearing the trail is sort of like a privlage to her. She can be alone and think about anything in peace and quiet. She doesn't have to hide her feelings when she is on the trail too.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you AM she can sort out her feelings when she is on the trail
ReplyDeletedear anyone who cares to read what I wrote.
ReplyDeleteMy reaction to the book was a shock, I thought for sure Uncle Nate was going to die
Right now I am compairing Zinny to natatila in my novel and in my independent book. Zinny and natatila are similar because. they are both kind of out casts because they don't have very many friends and natatilas friends are three boys named harley max and ernest. And zinny has her family and jake but jake not really a friend. But they are also different in what they do. like one chases redbirds and clears trails and the other chases werewolfes.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think the future holds for Zinnia Taylor?
ReplyDeleteThat is a very good question and no matter what the answer is I can never get it wrong. So here goes nothing...
I think that Zinny will end up with Jake. They will have 5 childeren, a dog, and a horse. They make a house in Sleepy Bear Ridge next to the trail. Once a week they go down and visite Zinny's family and Uncle Nate(he is 87 years old).
Zinny is a stay at home mother. She teaches people who walk on the trail all about it. She also has the job of cleaning the cabin for her uncle. Jake works at the train station. Every
night Zinny sits out on the swing at their house and listen to the train at 6:00 and stays there till Jake comes home at 7:00.
All of Zinny's siblings with the exception of Ben move far away. Ben ends up living with his parents and looking after the farm.
Uncle Nate dies at the age of 90 but Zinny is happy that he is with wife and child. She puts all of his stuff in the cabin. Zinny puts his stick next to the hook with her aunts coat and the hook with the medallions on it.
And she lives happily ever after.
Clearing the trail is Zinnys way of having a clean slate. She feels guilty and so to get rid of the guilt she cleans the trail.
ReplyDeleteThe trail its self represents something. It represents her life. There is a beginning and end to every life, to every story, and to this trail(Bybanks to Chocton). There are happy times in your life as there are happy parts of the trail (Madin's Walk and the Meadow). There are those parts that calm (Crow Hollow). Yet the sad is always around the corner (Baby Toe Ridge). A suprise that might be scary or exciting (Cabin). The break between one thing and another no matter how long (Bear Ally Creek). The scary parts of life (Spook Hollow). Sad parts are always there (Shady Death Ridge). But still there are many ups and downs left in life (Donut Hole and Hogback Hill).
Zinny's life would have been much different if there was no trail.
The natural world helped Zinny sort out her feelings because it is quiet enough to hear herself think. To remember everything that happened. The way the bear acted made the feelings of how her mom must of felt about her aunt taking care of her and other things like that. She learned how her kfeelings changed since before and after Rose died.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteLS-
ReplyDeleteDo you realize that KK will probably never revisit this and read your response to him? And, did you see how much you wrote!?
-ck
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteLS-
ReplyDeleteI realize that some people still visit this site, but honestly, how many people do you really think will revisit this site from our class? Other than you and I. Well, I guess, maybe in like twenty-years someone will be like, "OMG! In school, twenty-years ago, I blogged. I'm going to go back to that site and read what we wrote!" and while they say that, they snap their fingers.
LS, I know that I write a lot. It's probably equally distributed between us. I think.
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ReplyDeleteLS and CK,
ReplyDeleteYou both make me smile : ) I am glad that you still like visiting our blog (and yes, I do still come back and check out what you're saying, even if I don't post all of the time)!! If you'd like, maybe I can set up a blog for over the summer where we can share what we are reading and talk about the novels!! Your enthusiasm for literature is why I love teaching!!!
Ms. Steffen
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