Monday, February 23, 2009

Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer


The next book we will be reading is Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer. For this particular book, we will be answering our homework questions via our class Blog. However, there still may be other class assignments in written form.

On the tool bar in the right column, you will find links to chapter summaries based on the book. On my website, you will find additional helpful links.

The Harcourt Publishing discussion guide describes Life as We Knew It as:



Miranda’s disbelief turns to fear in a split second when a meteor knocks the moon closer to the earth. How should her family prepare for the future when worldwide tsunamis wipe out the coasts, earthquakes rock the continents, and volcanic ash blocks out the sun? As summer turns to Arctic winter, Miranda, her two brothers, and their mother retreat to the unexpected safe haven of their sunroom, where they subsist on stockpiled food and limited water in the warmth of a wood-burning stove.

Told in journal entries, this is the heart-pounding story of Miranda’s struggle to hold on to the most important resource of all—hope—in an increasingly desperate and unfamiliar world.


We will begin our reading during the Spring Season with Chapter One. After reading the chapter as a class, please answer the following questions in the chapter comments:


  1. Before the meteor hits, what were the biggest concerns in Miranda's life?

  2. How does Becky's death affect the relationship between Miranda, Megan and Sammi?

  3. Your Opinion: Miranda seems primarily concerned with the homework demands associated with the news that a meteor will be hitting the moon and not the consequences of the event for the people of Earth. When you here of a possible dangerous weather event happening in the Rochester area, what is your reaction to the news? Why?

6 comments:

  1. 1 that her famliy is split apart

    2they fight alot about boys and god

    3 im happy because there might be no school that day

    ReplyDelete
  2. 1. Her biggest concern was having to do three homework assignments.
    2. Becky's death had caused the friends to become distant.
    3. When I hear of a terrible weather report on the news I am concerned for my family and myself.

    ReplyDelete
  3. 1.The biggest concern in
    Miranda`s life is that her parents are divorced.

    2.Becky`s death affected the girls by them not hanging out a lot, Sammie going to church all the time and Megan having a lot of boyfriends also Miranda thinks she has no life.

    3.My concern would be if I heard on the news that there is a dangerous weather about to happen I would probably be scared and hop my parents get to work ok also that my sister doesn't get stuck in her house from the snow or some other storm that is coming and that if it's a snow storm I could stay home from school.I would feel this way because I wouldn't want to go to school and I don't want anything to happen to my parents and sister.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Adam, please write your answers in complete sentences with supporting details. Take your time, its not a race to see who posts first!

    Corey, thanks for contributing your opinion. You are right on track; in the future, expand on your thoughts with more supporting details.

    Juliana, nice effort!

    I think Miranda's family situation, social life, activities and school work are her primary concerns like many teenagers. Some of you and many of your peers may have similar concerns. Why might skating be so important to her?

    You are all on the money on on your analysis of question 2. Have you ever felt like you are growing apart from your peers?

    I know when I here of severe weather, my first reaction at 6 AM is to flip through the channels and check to see if Norman Howard is closed -- then when I see its closed, I flip through again and check for confirmation on another channel. Then most likely, drag my but out of bed and prepare for school. I don't necessarily think about the hazards on the road or how it may impact others, but I think we all do this. We consider how a situation effects our life in the hear and now and consider others and long term consequences later. Did Miranda or anyone else mentioned in the book (teachers, friends, family, broadcasters, etc.) seem concerned about possible negative effects of the meteor colliding with the moon or was every one pre-occupied with how "cool" the event was?

    ReplyDelete
  5. They were all basically pre-occupied how awesome the astroid was although Matt, Mirandas brother, is the only person that had a "funny feeling" about the astroid.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I just wanted to say that Juliana, are you sure you read the book? Megan was the church-a-holic and Sammi was the one with too many boys in her life. Also, Mr. Hermance, as a teacher you should know that the body part 'butt' is spelled as such, not 'but', which is used to disagree or show a different point of view on the subject. Other than that, this activity was a good idea.

    ReplyDelete