30 Matching Annotations
  1. Last 7 days
    1. A proper person would look at the chaos andthink of burglars, and telephone the police. It seemed per-fectly obvious, as obvious as one plus one equalling two.But it hadn’t been obvious yesterday, when I was filling myuncles’ kitchen sink with green cordial

      Here we see that Sonya is self-aware about the problem. Part of the reason she is deflecting is because she doesn't just feel embarrassed about the mistake - she feels stupid, and childish. She doesn't want people to look at her as if she was a dumb stupid kid.

    2. But if people discovered the truth, they wouldbe angry at me, and I could not bear being in trouble. Ihugged my knees and sucked my tooth and blinked awaytears. I felt furious with Samuel, whose crying had ledme to this. I was furious with my uncles and my mumand my grandparents and the motel manager and thepolice for not seeing that it was a prank and it was funny.

      More deflection

    3. Nobody was watching us. Our un-cles had left their apartment key under the doormat. Ifished it out, and we slipped through the door like mice.Nobody saw.

      Because everyone was busy and grumpy because of Samuel - AND because the uncles were staying on the other side of the model - they were able to sneakily break into their apartment.

    4. So even though it was me whothought up the idea, what happened that day can, if youlook at it the right way, be blamed on Samuel

      Do you think the protagonist is being 100% honest?

      Do you think the protagonist is being 100% serious? Or is she being a little tongue in cheek?

      Idiom: Tongue in cheek means "meant to be understood as a joke, although it might appear to be serious" (Cambridge dictionary)

      It refers to the sort of cheeky expression you might make when saying something as a joke, but trying to appear serious BUT also trying to signal subtly that you are actually joking (so you kind of put your tongue in your cheek and smirk a little bit)

    5. If Samuel hadn’t been crying, we could have watchedTV. If Mum hadn’t been stuck with the baby, she mighthave played table tennis with us. If Samuel’s shriekinghadn’t given my grandparents the irrits, they might havetaken us to the Splash ‘n’ Ride. But because His LittleHorrible Highness was sick, Toby and I couldn’t go any-where or do anything

      Now we see how Samuel links in. Of course, the baby can't ACTUALLY do anything. But this is WHY Toby and Sonya had the opportunity to get into mischief

    6. Everything was gooduntil the afternoon, when Bernie and Kelvin announcedthey were going into town and wouldn’t be home un-til late. No children were invited on this outing – andwhen they said children, they meant Toby and me. Wewatched, grief-stricken, as our uncles walked away

      We're beginning to learn what the problem might be... or might be caused by...

  2. Aug 2022
  3. Nov 2021
  4. Aug 2021
  5. Jul 2021
  6. May 2021
    1. Unfortunately, the beholding will have to wait. We have barely exchanged greetings over Zoom when his voice breaks up, the screen freezes and the room falls silent. A quiet place, indeed.

      Note that the intro adds a 'complication' early on, which helps to hook the reader further and provide more colour.

  7. Oct 2020
  8. Aug 2020
  9. Jul 2020
  10. Jun 2020
  11. May 2020
  12. Apr 2020
  13. Jun 2019
    1. Mrs.Hall,afterachildbedconnnement,hadaseverentofsicknessinconsequenceofanimposthumatedbreast.Shehasnowsofarrecoveredastoenjoycomfortablehealth,thoughshehasnotfullyregainedherstrength

      Mrs. Hall was bed-ridden after a birth complication of an "imposthumated breast". She had a "severe fit of sickness" because of it, but returned to comfortable health, although not strength.

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