Post B

Dear Will,
I am very sorry to hear about Claire and her relationship with Featherstone. It must have been really painful to hear about how they are married. I was shocked when she first said it but then once she explained why they were married, it seemed to make sense.

I don't really understand Featherstone though. Did he know all along that you were the same boy that had taken all of his money by gambling before or did he just realize it? Also, why is he bringing it up now? It doesn't make sense. If he had remembered you from the very beginning then why didn't he say anything then? I'm starting to wonder if something is going to happen to Claire... At first I thought she was pregnant because of that awkward conversation you had with Featherstone but then when Claire brought up the fact that she and Featherstone were married, I got really confused.

Also, the whole dueling thing seems pointless to me. You said that it was the way people dealt with things during that time but it seems like nothing even needed to be dealt with. At one point you said, "Men fought because one gave the other a look passing in the street. And they also fought because one failed to look at the other while passing in the street" (159). Why would you even bother fighting about a thing like that? You also said that the reason men did it was for their pride but it still just seems really dumb to me. Who knows, maybe it's just the time gap...

Anyways your book (or I should say your life) is getting really interesting. I can't wait to find out what happens between you and Claire. Also, I'm excited to find out who wins the duel!

- Anna

Post A

Vocab
lanolin (151)-a fatty substance, extracted from wool, used in ointments, cosmetics, waterproof coatings, etc.
muntins (151)-A strip of wood or metal separating and holding panes of glass in a window.

Figurative Language
1) "Drops of fat stook on the browning skin like beads of sweat" (145).
2)"...Featherstone set the book winged open across his groin like a dead bird" (145).
3) "Awful husks like shed snakeskins" (147).
These are all examples of similes because they use the word like to describe things.

Quote
When Will and Claire were talking about Featherstone and his relationship with Claire, Claire says that the relationships is complicated. Then Will says, "'To me, this is complicated.;" Claire says, "'What? ... I gestured with both hands toward her..." I think this will be an important quote in the future because after he said that Claire didn't seem very willing to talk to him. In other words, I think it will mess up their relationship.

Theme
Don't forget the past.