Book Analysis on Undercover

As the days grow shorter, Elisa worries that the increasingly urgent letters she sends her father wont bring him home. Like the undercover agent she feels she has become, Elisa retreats to a pond in the woods, where her talent for ice-skating gives her the confidence to come out from under cover and take centre stage. But when Lila becomes jealous of Theos friendship with Elisa, her revenge nearly destroys Elisas ice-skating dreams and her plan to reunite her family. A. Book 1. Author Beth Kephart was nominated for the National Book Award for her book A SLANT OF SUN. In 2000, she received a National Endowment for the Arts grant, and she also won Pew Fellowships in Arts grant in 2005. At the age of nine, Beth Kephart began to skate on a pond in Boston, where she taught herself the every moves Elisa teaches herself in this story. Beth won her first competitive freestyle competition at a Wilmington, Delaware, rink. Today she ballroom dances and is an avid gardener. She lives in Pennsylvania with her family. 2. Title The main character in the story fits the title under cover, the fact that the main character hides her skill of skiing to her friends and family. B. Characters Protagonist: Elisa Cantor- she is a father’s daughter and doesn’t really relate well with her mother and sister. Antagonist: Lisa- Theo’s girlfriend; known for her beauty and popularity. Supporting Characters: Tina Cantor- Elisa and Jilly’s Mother. Jilly- Elisa’s Sister, she is a very fashionable teenager like her mother. Mr. Cantor- Elisa’s Father, he understands Elisa. Theo- Elisa’s classmate in Honors English, a special friend and one of the boys who ask love notes from Elisa. Margie- Elisa’s past best friend in eighth grade and classmate in Honors English. Dr. Charmin- an Honors English teacher and believed and supports Elisa’s talent in writing. Mr. Marcoroon- a strict Math teacher. Mrs. Garland- a friend of Tina. Stuart little- a client of Mr. Cantor in San Francisco. Sarah- an Honour English student. II. Plot A. Exposition 1. Setting The story takes place in a pond in the woods where she always find herself at ease and thinking she could be herself there alone while skating. B. Complication When her father has to go away for work it makes their life complicated. To make it even more complicated, Elisa starts to fall on a boy who she is providing with poetry to woo another girl. C. Climax Lila tore the dress of Elisa before the start of the skating competition. D. Denouement Elisa never let herself be defeated by wearing the torn dress made by the antagonist, Lila, while skating gracefully. E. Resolution Yes it’s a happy ending because finally her family was once again reunited and everyone accepted the real her. III. Analysis 1. Did you admire the author for writing this book? Why? Yes. A teenager who reads this book would really understand the feelings and thinking’s of the main character of the story. Many teenagers can relate of how it feels to be a loner or to be bullied. 2. Tell something about the cover, did it spark your interest? Does it fit the story? It did spark my interest because it makes me wonder what story it will give me. Yes it does fit in the story because the covers do tell the story. 3. Who is your most favourite character? Why? My favourite character in the story is Elisa Cantor. For being brave enough to uncover her great skill to everybody even when she herself has no confidence that everyone would accept her and gain their respect. 4. Who is your least favourite character? Why? My least favourite character in the story is Lisa, because of her jealousy of Theo’s friendship with Elisa; her revenge nearly destroys Elisa’s ice-skating dreams and her plan to reunite her family. . What is your favourite part of the story? Why? My favourite part of the story is when Elisa got sick during the last days of Christmas season, which was the time that her sister and mother took care of her and after her sickness they finally become close to each other. 6. What is your least favourite part of the story? Why? My lea st favourite part of the story is when Lisa and her friends destroyed Elisa’s dress that was made by her mother and sister for the ice-skating competition. 7. Discuss your favourite quote from the story. â€Å"You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves. Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine. Meanwhile the world goes on. Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain Are moving across the landscape, Over the prairies and the deep trees, the mountains and the rivers. Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air, Are heading home again. Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, The world offers itself to your imagination, Calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting Over and over announcing your place in the family of things. † It tells about a person who doesn’t have to be perfect just to meet their expectations. Being yourself is a lot more happy and easy than pretending or trying to be someone you are not. 8. What is your realization about life after reading the novel? After reading the story I realize in life that you shouldn’t hide yourself from others, don’t be scared of letting them know your true self and don’t give up on something that you haven’t tried yet.