1. How did you experience the book? It's not always helpful to talk about whether or not you liked the book, but rather how you felt as you were reading it? Were you pulled effortlessly into the book...or did you have difficulty getting into it? Why?
I felt good reading the book I just flew through it. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes diving. This is what all divers dream about, to find a submarine. It was a big mystery to find out what number the U-boat was. This researchers took seven years to find out. After some hard times, death of divers and the captain they find the truth. This book was hard to put down, it just gets better as you read.
2. Were you happy about your book choice? Why or why not?
I was happy about my book choice. I wanted a book that was about the ocean and that is what I got. My book told me about a German U-Boat that was sunk. It was very interesting learning about how the divers look for wrecks. When the submarine was found, the book told how life was on them and told about the men on board.
3. Which place discussed in the book did you find the most intriguing? Why do you think that was the case?
When they were talking about the Ocean and how the U-Boat was thought to be off of the coast of Africa by Gibralter, but then the men found out it was off the coast of New Jersey. This was amazing to me that all of the relatives thought that the crew had died off of the Coast of Africa fifty years ago. What a shock it was for them to learn that was not the case.
4. What central ideas might the author be exploring-the novel's themes? Consider ideas about the nature of love, the requirements of goodness, the meaning of justice, the burden of the past...basic human issues that are at stake in the book.
The author made the book personable, he talked about the divers, the U-boat members and the information he gathered about their lives and families. He and the divers did a lot of research about U-boats and their crew. John Chatterton traveled to Germany and Washington D.C to do research on the U-boat numbers and crew. The divers risked their lives to find this U-boat number and several died. It was tragic to think how easily these young lives were lost at sea but comforting to know that the divers tried to be respectful of their final resting place.
5. What do you feel you learned from this project? Please consider the book, the technology involved with producing the project, or any other aspect regarding the project.
Well I would have to say the book explained well how the shadow divers look for shipwrecks. These divers went through a lot of research to find the history surrounding the wrecks. In this book, you see how small subs were, only fitting less than 60 people on them. The conditions on the submarines were tough. They had no showers on them and very little space and comfort. They had to wear the same underwear for a month.
6. What was the most enjoyable part of the project? Please explain why you felt this way.
The blog was very fun. I was able to put my artistic ability in a project. Working on the blog I was able to find a good looking background, insert videos, pictures and text and have a creative social studies project. It makes things enjoyable. I had a good time over Thanksgiving showing my friends and family. It is great to tell people you have a blog.
7. What was the most difficult part of the project? Please explain why you felt this way.
The hardest part was doing the blog up to spec. To lay out the book into smaller sections, organize and to put in your blog. I wanted to make it fun and interactive but not complicated. I wanted people to add to each blog additional information and ideas. To see all it done at the end is really great.
