1. Literary Terms

2.  Hook - a hook is a snappy, quick-moving opening that gets the reader's attention early in an essay or short story.  Reread the first paragraph of the book. How does this hook draw you into the novel?

3.  Allusion - A casual reference in literature to a person, place, event, or another passage of literature, often without explicit identification. Allusions can originate in mythology, biblical references, historical events, legends, geography, or earlier literary works. Authors often use allusion to establish a tone, create an implied association, contrast two objects or people, or bring the reader into a world of experience outside the limitations of the story itself.  In Greek mythology, Narcissus was a handsome young man who was doomed because he fell in love with his own reflection.  When Byron was frozen to the car mirror, Joey said it reminded her of the story of "Nar-sissy". How does this allusion add to your understanding of Byron's character?

4.  Metaphor - A comparison or analogy stated in such a way as to imply that one object is another one.  "She (Momma) always blamed him (Dad) for bringing her all the way from Alabama to Michigan, a state she called a giant icebox."  What is Michigan being compared to? What does this metaphor reveal about Momma's feelings?

5.  Point of View - The way a story gets told and who tells it.  Many narratives appear in the first person (the narrator speaks as "I" and the narrator is a character in the story who may or may not influence events within it).  Another common type of narrative is the third-person narrative (the narrator seems to be someone standing outside the story who refers to all the characters by name or as he, she, they, and so on).  Third-person limited narrator focuses on what one character is thinking or doing but a third-person omniscient narrator focuses on what all characters are thinking and doing.  Which point of view has the author chosen for this book? What are the advantages and limitations of this point of view?

6.  Setting - The general location and time in which the action of a story occurs.  What is the setting of this novel?  How do Kenny's dinosaur wars help to establish a the time of this novel?