Blog post #3

Title: Island of the Blue Dolphins

Author: Scot O’Dell

Genre: Fiction 

Number of pages: 119/200

• 1st sentence: Select one cultural/social norm from your text that you like/love and wish was present in 2014. Explain why.

Persistence is a norm that is presented in my book and I like it because in Island of the Blue Dolphins my main character never gives up and always has a plan and knows how to improvise (in other words she is open minded) while today nobody knows how to 'think outside the box' and usually people give up easily if they don't get any pay off. 

• 2nd sentence: Identify one cultural/social norm from your text that your main character really likes/loves and why. (For example, a female character from the Regency Era in the UK (1811-1820) might really enjoy attending balls because it is an opportunity to find a husband and speak with friends.)

As I said in the first sentence, persistence is a norm that my protagonist likes and shows the readers that even though she lost her people, her brother, her village and has no shelter on the island that is surrounded by water, she never gives up and always thinks positively and hopes that her people will return for her. 

• 3rd sentence: Your character has been transported to present day, 2014. Describe one cultural/social norm that he/she would find extremely shocking and why. (For example, Jane Austen's character Elizabeth Bennett (Pride & Prejudice), might be shocked to discover that anyone, male or female, may inherit a house, since in her time, once her father, Mr. Bennett, dies, their family home can only be passed on to a male relative, not his female blood relatives.)

If Karana was transported to present day she would be surprised by how advanced the world is compared to hers for example the weapons that she has to make by herself (the bow and arrow)and how people in present days have big houses and have builders to build the houses for them and use advanced materials, not just mud and straw. 

• 4th sentence: What one cultural/social norm do you think your character would embrace from 2014? Why?

In Island of the Blue Dolphins there is a rule that says that women are not allowed to make weapons and Karana feels so guilty whenever she is forced to make weapons so that she can defend herself so I think that Karana would like the fact that in today's days women can also make weapons and defend themselves. 

• 5th sentence: What one cultural/social norm is present in your classic and in 2014?

One social norm that is still present today is the connection between the members of the family, for example Karana is very close with her brother and her people and when her brother is killed by the dogs she promises herself that she will one day kill all of them and also when her people leave the island without her Karana mentions them very often and I take this as some kind of a sign that tells us that Karana hopes for her people to return for her one day just as people today hope about many important things in life.