Free Choice Reading Cycle 4 Blog Post

Princess Ben, Catherine Gilbert Murdock. Cycle 4 FCR Response, 1- 62 (four chapters)

                 Brief Summary

Princess Benevolence, Ben for short, has been secluded from her stringent Queen and Aunt, for fifteen blissful years. Ben is spoiled by her father and mother as a princess, and is somewhat immature at the age of fifteen. She is what you might nicely call a chubby girl, hence her love for pastries and just food in general. Her life has been wonderful all up until one evening where everything falls awry.

 A simple head cold prevents her from accompanying her father and mother on their annual visit to her great, great, great grandfather's tomb. She awakes that night to realize that her parents are not home even though they should be.  She is shocked when she finds that the Drachensbett have killed her mother and uncle. To make things worse, they don't know what happened to her father; he has disappeared. The Drachensbett have always threatened Chateau de Montagne, which is a valley town surrounded by mountains. Only because of Chateau de Montagne's superior location and the will of the people have they evaded Drachensbett's rule. But now, with the assassination of their king, and the disappearance of their military leader her country's only choice is to go to war.

With no parents to care for her, she is basically an orphan. Ben is moved to the castle where she is put under the scornful eye of Queen Sophia. There she is taught the ways of castle politics, as she is the sole inheritor of the throne. She absolutely loathes these lessons. She goes from needlework, to penmanship, to etiquette but still doesn't know which one she hates most. To make matters worse, she does not get nearly the amount of food she is used to, and is slowly withering away. Her only comfort comes from a mysterious basket of food she finds under her bed that is routinely replenished. Though she doesn't know who leaves it for her, it helps cope with the hell her life has become.

                  Diction and Rhetorical Devices

The word choice and voice in this book is very good. Since the book is written from the perspective of Princess Ben, it has a good variety of words. This is because a princess would be well educated. The voice of the writing also is a touch medieval and proper sounding, like you would imagine as "castle language".  It is splattered with unfamiliar vocabulary but not so much that I don't enjoy it. I keep post-its on the inside of the cover so I can jot down words I don't know. I have come up with this list, which I did not realize was so long until I copied it down here:

Malaise (n): (A feeling of) vague, non-specific physical discomfort; absence of the sense of physical well-being.

             Abetted (v): To urge on, stimulate (a person to do something).

             Interment: The action of interring or burying in the earth; burial.

              Subterfuge (n): contextually: A means of escape (from censure, etc.); an excuse.

Catatonic (n): Characterized by catatonia (A form of insanity, characterized by epilepsy and catalepsy.) Hence as n., one affected by catatonia.

Stipulated (ppl. a.):  That has been specified in the conditions of a contract or undertaking.

Benevolence: Disposition to do good, desire to promote the happiness of others, kindness, generosity, charitable feeling (as a general state or disposition towards mankind at large).

Fastidious: That creates disgust; disagreeable, distasteful, unpleasant, wearisome.

Myriad: In pl. Countless numbers of people or things; legions, hosts, hordes of the persons or things specified.

Stalwart (adj.): Of persons (and animals): Strongly and stoutly built, sturdy, and robust. Of inanimate things: Firmly made or established, strong.

Variant: Of things: Exhibiting variation or change; tending to vary or alter; not remaining uniform

Trepidation: Tremulous agitation; confused hurry or alarm; confusion; flurry; perturbation.

Comportment: Personal bearing, carriage, demeanor, deportment; behavior, outward conduct, course of action. Formerly also in pl., Proceedings, conduct.

Tumult (n): Commotion of a multitude, usually with confused speech or uproar; public disturbance; disorderly or riotous proceeding.

            Ostensibly (adv.): Conspicuously, ostentatiously

            Sated (ppl. a.): Glutted, satiated; cloyed or surfeited by indulgence of appetite.

            ****All definitions taken from the Oxford English Dictionary ****

I       Creative Critical Reflection  
    Dear Diary,  

      I am famished. I haven’t felt sated since the day before my     arrival. It has been months since I tasted a real pastry, and I am slowly withering away. Though, much to my aunt Sophia's dismay, my girth hasn't lessened in the least. My only condolence is the mysterious basket of treats some kind soul leaves for me. I found it one day under my bed. The food brought back such good memories; it was almost too painful to bear. As I ate, tears spilled down my face. Sometimes I receive a pitcher of cider and a pork and egg tart; other times I find hot chocolate and buns. These presents were the only sliver of light that brightened the pitch-blackness of what my life has become. My aunt's horrible "curriculum" that rules my education in becoming a Queen is awful. But the most wretched part of the day is the formal dinners she forces me to attend in her company. She and Lady Beatrix conduct the most dry and uninteresting conversations I have ever heard. I am always scolded for not contributing. Aunt Sophia keeps on going on about how it's a very good skill for a Queen to make polite conversation, without actually saying anything. She despises me, and I hate her. We share a mutual feeling. I wish my father would return and save me.

Sincerely,

Ben