Annotated Bibliography
Cleary, Beverly. Dear Mr. Henshaw. New York: William Morrow and Company, 1983.
The writing practice that Cleary includes is formatting in a letter form. Cleary starts every letter with the date and then a proper header (“December 3 [enter and left justified] Dear Mr. Henshaw,”). Cleary ends each letter with a salutation describing what the letter was about (“Puzzled reader,” “Your good friend,” “Your friend, the author,”) and then signs the letter writers name (“Leigh Botts”). In some of the entries, Cleary includes dialogue (“‘I got your letter,’ he said.” [...] “‘Sure, Dad, I miss you,’ I told him”). Aside from letters to a person, Cleary also includes diary entries. These entries start out with the date and then goes straight into the day’s reflection (“This morning” “Today”). The book is good for showing examples of letters and diary entries.
Cleary, Beverly. Henry Huggins. New Jersey: Dell Publishing Co, 1978.
The “seeing through the Protagonist’s point of view,” writing style was found in the book Henry Huggins. Which was when the author would pause the dialogue of the book and show what the main character was participating or reading. For example towards to beginning of the book, Henry came upon a sign in a pet store window. Cleary then shows the reader what the main character, Henry saw in the window by writing the text in a poster like format. This also occurs when Henry is participating in a play, and reading off of a typewriter (“dEar mIss rrOOP? P1/2easee xcuze henry from the oppar oparrr Play/ HE Has to mucj workk todo at homec. yYourz turley. MRs, hUggins”). This provides a visual for the reader and allows for the reader to make a connection to the protagonist and the story. When Henry reads the sign in from of the pet store, Cleary shows the reader exactly what Henry would have seen on the sign (“SPECIAL OFFER 1 pair of guppies fish bowl 1 snail aquatic plant package of fish food all for $0.79). This gives the reader an opportunity to envision what the world of Henry Huggins looks like.
Cleary, Beverly. Ramona Quimby, Age 8. New York: William Morrow and Company, 1981.
Cleary uses “thoughtshots” to describe the characters’ inner thoughts (“She thought about her father’s new part time job zipping around in a warehouse on a …”). She uses onomatopoeia to describe sounds (“...she discovered her new sandals squeaked. Squeak, creak, squeak.” and “ Thump, Thump, Thump against the back of Ramona’s seat”). Snapshots are used to zoom up on a scene and provide more details (“She found herself with a handful of crumbled shell and something cool and slimy running down her face…”). Italicies in dialogue is used to show stress of words (“ Ramona, clean up your room!” and “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing!”). A list of synonyms used to make a point about something (“The terrible, horrible, dreadful, awful thing happened”). Dashes are effectively used to signal more detailed information (“Mr. Wittman must have felt the same way because he stepped—almost jumped—quickly aside” and “He was dressed as if everything he wore—a flowered shirt, striped tie, tweed coat and plaid slacks—had come from different stores…”).
The writing practice that Cleary includes is formatting in a letter form. Cleary starts every letter with the date and then a proper header (“December 3 [enter and left justified] Dear Mr. Henshaw,”). Cleary ends each letter with a salutation describing what the letter was about (“Puzzled reader,” “Your good friend,” “Your friend, the author,”) and then signs the letter writers name (“Leigh Botts”). In some of the entries, Cleary includes dialogue (“‘I got your letter,’ he said.” [...] “‘Sure, Dad, I miss you,’ I told him”). Aside from letters to a person, Cleary also includes diary entries. These entries start out with the date and then goes straight into the day’s reflection (“This morning” “Today”). The book is good for showing examples of letters and diary entries.
Cleary, Beverly. Henry Huggins. New Jersey: Dell Publishing Co, 1978.
The “seeing through the Protagonist’s point of view,” writing style was found in the book Henry Huggins. Which was when the author would pause the dialogue of the book and show what the main character was participating or reading. For example towards to beginning of the book, Henry came upon a sign in a pet store window. Cleary then shows the reader what the main character, Henry saw in the window by writing the text in a poster like format. This also occurs when Henry is participating in a play, and reading off of a typewriter (“dEar mIss rrOOP? P1/2easee xcuze henry from the oppar oparrr Play/ HE Has to mucj workk todo at homec. yYourz turley. MRs, hUggins”). This provides a visual for the reader and allows for the reader to make a connection to the protagonist and the story. When Henry reads the sign in from of the pet store, Cleary shows the reader exactly what Henry would have seen on the sign (“SPECIAL OFFER 1 pair of guppies fish bowl 1 snail aquatic plant package of fish food all for $0.79). This gives the reader an opportunity to envision what the world of Henry Huggins looks like.
Cleary, Beverly. Ramona Quimby, Age 8. New York: William Morrow and Company, 1981.
Cleary uses “thoughtshots” to describe the characters’ inner thoughts (“She thought about her father’s new part time job zipping around in a warehouse on a …”). She uses onomatopoeia to describe sounds (“...she discovered her new sandals squeaked. Squeak, creak, squeak.” and “ Thump, Thump, Thump against the back of Ramona’s seat”). Snapshots are used to zoom up on a scene and provide more details (“She found herself with a handful of crumbled shell and something cool and slimy running down her face…”). Italicies in dialogue is used to show stress of words (“ Ramona, clean up your room!” and “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing!”). A list of synonyms used to make a point about something (“The terrible, horrible, dreadful, awful thing happened”). Dashes are effectively used to signal more detailed information (“Mr. Wittman must have felt the same way because he stepped—almost jumped—quickly aside” and “He was dressed as if everything he wore—a flowered shirt, striped tie, tweed coat and plaid slacks—had come from different stores…”).