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Literary Circle Entry # 1:
BOOK TITLE: JO-JO by Ella Anderson
SUMMARY:
The three friends, Audrey, Esther and Paula, are full of excitement for they have been invited to spend their vacation on the Little Creek Ranch, at San Paloma, in California. To them, the very name spells adventure. At the ranch they meet Monica Evans and her Palomino horse Jo-jo. A rodeo thrills them, especially as Monica showed tricks riding with Jo-jo. Horse thieves enter the picture. And for a time the four chums are in great danger before help comes. But with unity of the four and with help from the authority, everything became fine. Living the Little Creek Ranch, the girls wish they could spend their vacation there again.
LITERARY CIRCLE ROLES:
This activity called “The Literary Circle” in our Intensive Reading subject has become an instrument for more intensive discussion and comprehension of reading materials that more often than not; students (like me) tend to take for granted.
So, last June 28, 2013 at our group mate’s house, Eddielou, in Polomolok, we discussed about the book we have chosen, Jo-Jo by Ella Anderson. Honestly at first, I wasn’t that excited to read the novel because the cover of the book didn’t excite me. I really thought it was a children’s book. But upon reading it intensively and comprehensively, I realized that the novel can also be compared to the other good contemporary novels I have already read. All of us in the group are not familiar with the book and also with the author, Ella Anderson. That’s one of the reasons why we still pursued in reading this novel so that it would be fair for all of us in the group that none of us is familiar with it. With that, the amount of knowledge is equal.
The DISCUSSION DIRECTOR of the group, Jay Lloyd Ca-as, started the discussion by asking all of us to formulate some questions regarding the book. After brainstorming and merging of ideas, Jay Lloyd ended up with five thought-provoking questions about the novel. The questions and the answers we have formulated are as follow:
What is the main problem and conflict of the story?
Basically, the story revolved around one main problem and that is Jo-jo’s loss. The conflict is Man Vs. Man because the girls used physical strength against the thieves to retrieve the stolen horses and restore the harmony in Little Creek Ranch.
What is the purpose of the story?
We believe that the main purpose of the story is to know the relevance of unity in times of circumstances. When Jo-jo was lost, the girls became stronger, more united and closer to each other. Also, the author wants to let us know the importance of any living creature not only human beings but also the animals. Before Jo-jo’s loss, the girls did not give much importance to the animals. But at the end of the book, it shows that the main characters developed interest and care for animals.
How did the characters develop?
At the beginning of the story, the girls acted childishly and were indifferent about the welfare of animals. But at the end of the story, they became more mature and stronger individuals. They already have a sense of responsibility and care for other living creature, especially the horses.
How were they able to retrieve Jo-jo and the other horses?
At first, the girls struggled at their feet to retrieve the horses but their forces weren’t that enough and so they sought help from the authority or the sheriffs in the town. After seeking help from the authorities, they first secured that the horses are already back to the ranch and made sure the thieves were punished for their deviant actions.
What are the intentions of the thieves in stealing the horses?
The thieves would sell the horses and receive a great deal of money since the horses in Little Creek Ranch are well-bred and well-trained aside from being physically strong. The stallions and mares in the ranch are already an asset for a good living. But beforehand, the girls had already seen the thieves but were not aware about their relation on the later part of the story. It was like a foreshadowing that danger is going to happen but well, they just ignored it. Audrey had the glimpse of one of them. It is evident in page 10 of the book:
“Audrey, who had turned once more to look at the riders, saw they were now alongside the train. She didn’t get much of a glimpse of the first two riders faces, but the third brought a gasps as the evil leer from the dark eyes, nearly hidden under a huge sombrero, made her shudder with fear. Hurrying through after the others, she felt a strange feeling of hunger steal over her that she couldn’t seem to shake off.”
So those were the questions we have discussed. After that, the LITERARY LUMINARY/PASSAGE PICKER of the group, Michael John Otanes, read aloud some passages in the book that kind of caught his attention. He then stated the reasons for choosing the passages (but I wasn’t able to jot down his reasons). The passages were:
”You never get to know your heavenly father well if you just take him for granted.”
"We do our best, too, but we have the fun and joy of knowing that our Heavenly Father is rejoicing with us and that we can ask Him or thank Him for things, while you just go drearily on doing your best and letting it go at that.”
”By faith we know that and faith is logical. It is not something you work into or for. It is a gift, and you can thank the same God for it. you use the faith to let God accomplish things in you, for you, and through you.”
"Once the seed is sown, all you can do is to wait and pray hard.”
To connect the book and the outside world, our CONNECTOR, Eddielou Asedillo, shared the connections she has found while reading the novel. This is her post:
“It is usual when we have our pets gone for some other time. When we feel that they enjoyed wandering around, have gone far and seem like they are not coming home anymore, we started to worry. This is not just only for pets but also for those people whom we think has been lost or were lost. I have a cousin who has a chihuahua stolen from the inside of their store. Maybe, too much exposure to the public lead it to its loss. Maybe some of the customers had wanted to have the dog as their own, so they planned to steal it, or by chance, when no one has attended the store to entertain, so maybe they hurriedly captured the dog. This story is not just about those lost pets, but also for the unity of the people. We can also see nowadays that some things are being the reason why other people are united, and sometimes improve their acquaintances. At the story, we can see that the characters are not that concern to JOJO, they don’t care enough, but as the story progresses, they realized that JOJO has a great importance to thier lives. It is greatly applicable to our lives that, when we see things that are present and tangible, we don’t value or we don’t even notice their presence, but when the moment they turned out of our sight, that’s the time when we hunt for them. it is damn true what others say towards others- "you only notice me when you need me, you only care for me only if you want something for me". There are more situations where we can see the insensitivity of others in terms of giving sympathy towards their like and thinking only for themselves. Why don’t we give them love too? Why don’t we show them care and concern? We are all created equally.”
I, Charlene Love Amarata was assigned as the CHARACTER CAPTAIN of the group and so I made a characterization of the main characters based on the author’s description of them in the novel:
AUDREY DEAN - She is the most optimistic gal in the group and enjoys outdoor activities. She also loves new adventures. She’s the one who was invited to go to the ranch and brought along her friends. Along the story, she showed leadership among her peers. She is the one who planned things and actions to retrieve Jo-jo and the other horses. If it weren’t for her bravery, the horses may not be retrieved before things went to late. She made the situation less dire, actually.
Esther Chapman – She is the silent type of girl and loves to read books. She is intelligent and smart. She is not that fond of outdoor activities and has been referred to as an introvert but is talkative when Audrey and Paula is around. Without her knowledge about horses, they wouldn’t be able to heal the wounds of the horses after retrieving them.
Paula Gray – Paula is more of the happy-go-lucky type of girl. She goes with the flow and is kind of indifferent about a lot of things. But when situated in a big problem or situation, she acts maturely and often times, her instincts are right. Without her instincts, they wouldn’t figure out and retrieve the horses.
Monica Evans – The girls met her at the ranch. She is the owner of Jo-jo. She is a good horse-rider and knows many tricks. She is friendly and got along with the girls easily. When the horses were stolen, she almost lost hope but the girls were able to help her get back on her knees and find Jo-jo and the other horses in the ranch.
Our ARTFUL ARTISTS, April Joy Mosquera and Ryan Patrick Elloren, made a drawing of how we imagined Jo-Jo. (The photo will be uploaded a little later)
The VOCABULARY ENRICHER of the group, Shiela Mae Estabillo, searched for some unfamiliar and puzzling words most of us found in the book. These words which aren’t that familiar to us are as follows:
Advent; page 11, Chapter 2 : Little Creek Ranch
“…but a closer look showed that most of them were sightseers who had come in to watch the advent of arrivals.”
Meaning: The coming or arrival, especially of something or someone.
Chum; page 5, Chapter 1 : California, Here we come!
“Esther Crapman, her chum, reminded her with a chuckle, as they sat facing the big windows in the observation car.
Meaning: An intimate friend or companion.
Lumberjacked; page 5, Chapter 1 : California, Here we come!
“For years the lumberjacked in Canada together…”
Meaning: A gentleman who earns his living by felling trees.
Shimmering; page 5, Chapter 1: California, Here we come!
“…gazing out of the windows at the heat waves shimmering on the passing orange graves.”
Meaning: To shine with a subdued flickering light.
Languid ; page 5, chapter 1 : California, Here we come!
“This is so languid that my eyelids weight a ton.”
Meaning: Lazy and peaceful.
REACTION:
The novel talks about how unity in friendship can destroy the enemies’ bad motives against them. If people stick together instead of leaving one another in times of trouble, things wouldn’t be too hard to handle. I love how the main characters in the book remained positive despite the circumstances. Instead of not caring for the welfare of other creatures, they forgot about their own safety and dared to fight against the people who plotted bad things against them.
REFLECTION:
During my High School days, I encountered almost similar fate with the girls in the novel when I and my own peer group had conflicts. Instead of fighting each other back and leaving one another behind, we chose to understand each and everyone’s situation and resolved our problems which caused us to become more bonded and more united. Our friendship is going strong despite all the adversities we have undergone.
EVALUATION:
We met at Eddielou’s place in Polomolok at around 9 AM. But we didn’t exactly start to discuss matters regarding the Lit Circle at that time, we took time to let each other rest (since some of us came from GenSan and had to travel 30-mins of van/bus ride). After a while, we started to talk about the novel. The discourse was fun because even if we knew that we should take the subject seriously, we still took time to laugh once in a while. Ideas abounded and the brainstorming was effective. All of my group mates participated in the discussion though sometimes, we talk about things that weren’t really related with the novel. After an hour or so of discourse, we ate lunch and went to Polomolok’s Ukay-Ukay. Because of this Lit Circle activity, me and my group mates became more bonded with each other.
