Ashley Breedlove
Lit Circle Part 1
The Reptile Room

Character Sketcher
Your job is to sketch one of the following: Uncle Monty, Violet, Klaus, Sunny, or Mr. Poe.

Discussion Director
Your job is to ask 4 questions, the answers to your questions, and the page and paragraph where the answers can be found.  Ask good questions!  Choose from the following types:

1 MCEOG
1 Cause/Effect
1 Thinking question
1 Mood question
1 Prediction question

Passage Picker
Pick 3 passages that exhibit the following:

1 on your own
1 descriptive
1 surprising
1 foreshadowing

Word Wizard
Your job is to complete your role sheet for the following words, choose 4:

inquisitive  pg. 13 par. 2
intimidating  pg. 17 par. 3
puny  pg. 19 par. 4
grimacing  pg. 20 par. 4
implored  pg. 24 par. 1

Summarizer
Your job is to summarize today’s reading.
Character Sketcher

Character Traits:
1. thoughtful pg. 11 par. 1
Uncle Monty was thoughtful enough about the children to have made them a cake for their arrival.  He seemed to have made an effort to make them feel at home right when they got there.
2. generous pg. 15 par. 2
Uncle Monty just lost his assistant and needs help.  He has asked the children to help him and travel to Peru with him in a few days on his adventure.  This is very generous of him to offer such a thing to the children so early on.
3. suspicious pg. 19 par. 4
Uncle Monty seems almost too nice to the children.  He had never met them before and yet he’s all the sudden taking them in, baking them a cake, giving them their own rooms, and taking them to Peru.  He’s got something fishy about him.

Character Goal:
 Uncle Monty seems to have the children’s best interest in mind as well as his own.  He wants them to help him out and he’s also trying to make them feel as at home as possible.

Problem:
 Uncle Monty’s snake has escaped and bitten Sunny on the chin.  He has to decide what action to take.

Solution:
 Uncle Monty could clean Sunny up and keep watch over her while she heals to make sure no harm is done to her, and next time be careful of how he locks the cage if this one can get out so easily.

Discussion Director

1. So far the children have encountered all of the following since The Bad Beginning except:

a. a terrible marriage ceremony
b. an awful living arrangement
c. their money taken from them
d. Sunny almost dropped from a tower
Answer:  C

2. Due to the fact that Uncle Monty’s assistant quit the day before, the children will be working with him on what and where will they be traveling?
Answer: The children will assist him on preparing for his expedition to Peru.  He needs the terrain mapped out so they know what way to go, the rope cut into small pieces, and the snake traps working correctly.

3. What do you believe will be in the reptile room?  Do you think something is significant about that room?  Explain.
Answer: The reptile room sounds like it will definitely have reptiles in it, but what types I’m not sure.  Snakes would be my best guest and it sounds like a laboratory room as well where Uncle Monty might do work and testing with snakes.

4. Describe how you think the children feel at this point in the story.  Pg. 24 par. 2.
Answer: Excited and relieved that they are finally with someone who cares about more than just themselves.  Uncle Monty has told them a fun way to spend their time and is more than willing to take them places and do fun activities with them.

5. Predict what you think may take place after finishing up Chapter 2.
Answer: I think a poisonous snake might have bitten Sunny, or she might just bite him back due to the fact that she is a biter.
 
 

Passage Picker

1. On Your Own
• pg. 9 par. 2
• First two words…Mr. Poe…and the last two words…be worse?
• Good example of a Mysterious passage
• This is a mysterious passage because the children really have no idea what to expect when the person on the other side opens the door.  They just came from a horrible situation and they don’t know what they will encounter next.
• ?:  Describe how you think Uncle Monty will be.  Will he be better or worse than Count Olaf?  Why or why not?
• I think the author chose to put this passage in because it builds up the suspense for who Uncle Monty will be and how he will act, and if he’ll be different than Count Olaf.  I believe it adds a sense of mystery in trying to figure out who this person is and will he be better for the Baudelaire children.  I felt this passage gave a sense of suspense and wonder.  I thought it was interesting how the author asked these questions because it made me begin to think of what Dr. Montgomery would be like and would he indeed be different from Count Olaf.

2. Descriptive
• pg. 20-23 par. 6
• First two words…The Reptile…last two words…Reptile Room.
• Good example of a Descriptive passage
• I think this was definitely descriptive and allowed you to actually put yourself into the situation and feel like you knew where everything was and what it looked like.
• ?:
• I thought this was an awesome passage for description.  It was really cool to feel like I was actually inside the room with the children.  it explained everything in such great detail and I could imagine being there myself.  I think the author chose to add this passage so we as the reader could get a better sense of how the room was set up and what it was like so we could feel like the Baudelaire children did.
 

3. Surprising
• pg. 15 par. 2
• first two words…I will…last two words…workable pieces.
• Good example of a Surprising passage
• I think this surprised me the most because Count Olaf was so mean and treated the children with no respect and didn’t really care about them that when Uncle Monty was so willing to take them along with him and wanted them to help him I thought that was great for the children.
• ?:
• I thought that for Uncle Monty to already offer for the children to go along with him on his trip to Peru was more than surprising.  I didn’t know whether to think it odd so quickly or to think there might be an underlying reason.  I think the author added this to both show you that Uncle Monty cared, but to make sure there was a little question and suspicion placed on him because of the quick offer.
 

Word Wizard

• Inquisitive
• pg. 13 par. 2
• “Questions show an inquisitive mind.  The word inquisitive means_”
• part of speech: adjective
• I think this word means to be interested and wanting to find out more information about someone or something and one way to do so is to ask lots of questions.
• Definition: wanting to ferret out the private concerns of other people
asking a lot of questions
• I think this word describes how Klaus is as a person.  He has questions and wants them answered so he’s not afraid to speak up and ask.  I think it’s a good quality for him to have especially being in the situation the children are in.  They need to know things about who they’ll be with and what arrangements they’ll be living in.

• Intimidating
• Pg. 17 par. 3
• “I know that Dr. Montgomery might seem a bit intimidating to you, but I’m sure in time you will get used to-“
• part of speech: verb
• sort of scary…makes you feel uneasy and not good enough…like they’re better than you
• Definition: to frighten especially to influence by threats
• I think this word helps you see how Mr. Poe might feel about Uncle Monty, not the children.  Mr. Poe is supposedly trying to help out the children, but he seems real wimpy when it comes down to it.

• Puny
• Pg. 19 par. 4
• “I understand that Mr. Poe has to bring your luggage later in that puny car of his, so please make a list of anything you might need and we’ll go into town tomorrow and buy it so you don’t spend the next few days in the same underwear.”
• Part of speech: adjective
• Little, small, compact
• Definition: much below normal in development, size or strength
• I think this word sort helps the reader see that Mr. Poe himself is puny in the sense that he’s not strong physically or able to really stand up to anyone.  His car to me seems almost a representation of him.

• Grimacing
• Pg. 20 par. 4
• “Oh that’s right, Mr. Poe told me,” Uncle Monty said, grimacing as if he had just tasted something terrible.
• Part of speech: noun
• Making an awful face like you’re irritated or something rubbed you the wrong way
• Definition: a twisted expression of the face caused by slight pain or shyness, or to convey disgust, distaste, annoyance, etc
• I think the author used this word so we could visualize what an awful face Uncle Monty was making at the time.
 
 

Summarizer

The first chapter basically reviewed what happened in the first book and sort of reintroduced the characters.  The second chapter described the new place the Baudelaire children will now be living.  They were introduced to Uncle Monty who was more than generous to the children.  He baked them a cake, gave them all separate rooms, is taking them with him to Peru and allowing them to help him with his work.  This seems like a dream compared to Count Olaf.  The children are introduced to Uncle Monty’s reptile room and given the opportunity to look around.  The last cage they come to is covered and as the cover is lifted the snake unlatches the hook and slithers out of his cage.  He makes his way to Sunny and as the chapter closes Sunny is bitten on the chin by the snake.

Key Points:
• The Baudelaire children go to live with Uncle Monty
• The children are asked to help him with his work and travel to Peru with him
• The children go to see his Reptile Room
• Sunny gets bitten by the snake in the secretive cage