The Good And Bad

The Benefits of Working with a Classmate
There are as many benefits to working with a classmate as there are obstacles. You can get more work done as a team and you can do less individual work to complete the assignment and get a grade. People can comment on your lit.circle so you can fix it, if necessary, and you do more work than you would if you didn't work with someone else because you have more time to focus on your project (Lit. Circle). When you work with someone else, you collaborate more and become better at collabrating.

Challenges/Obstacles
You have people yelling at you if you don't do it, and they always send you messages saying that it is due in two days why didn't you do your passage? You also sometimes get stuck with people who you aren't fond of, and are forced to work with them, anyway. You can get annoyed with them for not doing their passage, and your graded depending how well both of you worked, so you have less control over your grade.

Did I understand the Novel Better when I worked with a Partner?
Yes, I did. My partner(s) found things to write passages about I had never even noticed that they were in the book! Also, people found small things in the book. For example, when Vicky said that at the end, it says Julie, and everyone assumed that it said Miyax (Julie and Miyax are the same person)They helped me see things and comment on things I wouldn't understand without their help.

Julia

Lit. Circles

How did the discussion help you understand the book?
The discussion helped me understand the book better because when the group explains their points of view, if they agree with me, then I am probably correct, or along the path of being correct. But, if they don't agree with me, then I get a new perspective or a new idea. What I mean is that if one person says something, then you can see what they mean. Also, you can understand what they are saying. The group says some different things, and when we discuss, I can see their point of view as well as my own, and I can compare my thoughts to their thoughts. It helps me understand things better.

My group made a lot of connections. One connection I made was the first time I wanted to put the leash on my own dog. My dog had never seen a leash, so she hid under her cage at the SPCA because she was afraid of the leash and me. It reminded me of when Miyax tried to catch Amaroq's eye, and even though Amaroq wasn't afraid of her, he probably didn't know whether to trust her, like my dog. Miyax and I both wanted something from a dog/wolf. Both gave in at the end. Thinking about it, a lot of people made a connection with that part of the book.

We made a lot of predictions about the book, too. I thought that she would stay with the wolves for a while, because they are her family, and they would provide food for her. Also, I thought that she would meet somebody who was wolf hunting but then again, there aren't many people in the Arctic. Some people thought that Julie would make it to her destination, and others, like me, thought she wouldn't.