05.08 Free Choice Blog

"The Shinning" by Stephen King
Full Section: "Closing Day"

Summary:
          Closing Day is a section of the book that tells everything that happen when Jack Torrance and his family arrive to the hotel where they would be staying all winter for Jack's job. During this section Hallorann, the chef of the hotel, takes the family through a tour through the kitchen. He gets very close to Danny, and he tell him all about his shinning, his power to predict the future and to know what people think. He tells him that he has the same shine sometimes. Then he talk to him about things that happeningn in the hotel that he may see, and that he should not be scared. When Mr. Hallorann leaves, Ulman takes them through the hotel for the last time before closing and Danny starts seeing blood and weird faces on the walls. Finally, everyone leaves the hotel except the Torrances.

Questions:
My personal reaction after reading this section of the book is fear. I actually felt like if I was watching a movie or in real life. I felt like if I was in The Overlook, walking though the very old fashioned halls, surrounded by all those rich people and expensive furniture.

The author uses mainly flashback and foreshadowing. He somehow, through Danny, is telling us that something is going to happen at the end that is not going to be good at all. Danny's fear is a clue that something horrendous is going to happen.

04.08 Free Choice Blog

"The Shinning"

Right now I am reading a new book called "The Shinning" by Stephen King. Such book is divided by sections or chapters. The last full section I read was titled "Shadowland".

Summary - "Shadowland"

• Danny is waiting for his dad to come from his job interview. In the meantime, his imaginary friend Tony, who has appeared to him before, takes him to a series of dark and magical places in his minds. Many of those places he sees he doesn't recognize them, but they do scare him. At the end, Tony takes him to a dar k room and he sees his mom's old record all scattered and broken in the floor, and he sees in a tub, a hand and a limb bleeding. Then his father arrives and he wakes up all sweaty and run to hug him.
  
  
  
  Questions:
  
  
  

  What was your personal reaction to this reading selection?
  • I haven't finished reading this book, but I love it. I love the way that the author played with my mind in this chapter. I loved the way that the author described the situations and places where Tony takes Danny. I was so detailed, that it seemed like if i was watching a scary movie.
  What do you believe the author’s intent was, and what patterns of organization did you observe?
• The author's purpose in writing this chapter was to describe to the author that Danny is somehow talented. He wants to create a mysterious mood to keep the reader hooked and scared. The author uses different types of patterns of organization in this book, especially he uses a lot of flashbacks and foreshadows.