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With your table partner,

1. come up with TWO specific goals for your learning of HATSOS

2. for each goal, suggest specific strategies that can help you to achieve the goal.

Example:
Goal: To understand Haroun's journey as a child in this story
Strategy: Draw a table that lists Haroun's strength and weaknesses as a character in this story.

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Goal 1: to understand what kind of a person Haroun is
Strategy 1: list out the significant actions of Haroun and link them to character traits
Goal 2: to understand Haroun’s feelings
Strategy 2: list out his thoughts, speech and actions and infer what kind of feeling is causing him to have them

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Goal 1: To understand the main themes and messages of HATSOS.
Strategy: Make a list of the key characters and their main traits or motivations.
Goal 2:  To develop critical thinking skills by analyzing the story's plot and characters.
Strategy: Identify the problem or conflict that the main character faces and brainstorm possible solutions.

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1) Most probably a 3. Most of it feels familiar, like a regular storybook, not in a bad way. But I really liked how he would use contradictions like “the Dull Lake(which wasn’t dull at all)” and not many authors write like this.

2) 5. I enjoy this style of writing and think that not enough authors write like this. The second half of the excerpt feels more like something most authors would write but the contradictions in the first paragraph sort of makes the writing more interesting and fun to read.

3) I’m curious to find out whether the first thing that stands out to people was the intentional contradictory descriptions.

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Goal: To find out Haroun’s personality traits and habits
Strategy: Make a list of his personalities ad habits in the story and compile them together

Goal: Find out the cause of his actions
Strategy: Write down what he did before and what action he did after

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I think I would rate it a 2 as I am not very used to reading such stories or texts. I think the way the story is presented and told is a little hard to understand, thus I rate it a 2.
I am not familiar with such texts and I do not wrote this way. I think writing this way is confusing and hard to for the reader to understand as I had to re-read some parts to understand a little more.
I was frustrated as I could not understand what the words meant

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1) firstly, i want to be able to fully and clearly understand the message and the morals HATSOS is trying to convey. Secondly, i want to be able to understand every character fully.

2) firstly, i will read the entire book first, then make an inference on what the possible moral is.
Secondly, I will draw cartoons on each character on a piece of paper and put speech bubbles on what they would usually say based on the traits i know of them.

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I think I will scale 2. The passage is a fictional short story which I am used to reading. However, the language used is quit foreign to me. It is quite hard to understand it.
I think I will scale it 1. I am not very comfortable with reading this style of writing. It is quite difficult for me to understand.
I feel quite confused and I am frowning at the words, trying to understand them.

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Goal 1: Understand Haroun’s relationship with his father, Rashid and how it relates to the story.

Strategy: Look through parts of the book where they interact and write down details (feelings, actions, way of speaking), then see how it affects both of them on their journey.
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Goal 2: Understand the hidden message and the morals behind the story.

Strategy: Read through the whole book thoroughly and try empathising with the characters.

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1. On a scale of one to 5 in terms of familiarity with reading such a passage, I would probably say 1. I am not very familiar with reading a passage like this as I prefer reading books that are more straightforward and I don’t have the patience to put up with writings like that.
2. On a scale of one to 5 in terms of How comfortable I am to read this passage, i would say a 1. This a style of writing that admittedly, I am not used to reading as there are many other different genres that i find are much more interesting.
3. I guess I noticed that I rejected this passage a lot because of its ambiguity.

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1. to understand the relationship between Haroun and his father
strategy: analyse their interactions, like how they speak to each other, and spot a pattern which can determine the type of relationship they have

2. to understand the main message and moral of this story
strategy: read through the whole book, analyse certain parts (the more important ones), think of possible morals and support them with relevant information/excerpts from the book, come up with the most relevant and accurate moral

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1. I would rate it as a 3. I am not used to reading literary works but this passage seems quite understandable to a large extent to me. I am not as familiarised with story because the story used many words that the writer created on his own, such as “mud-men” and “Kosh-Mar”.

2. I would rate is as a 2. I am not very comfortable with reading these types of proses because i read fictions most of the times and fictions are mostly fast-paced. This excerpt seems quite slow-paced to me and I don’t really like its speed.

3. I felt a little bit confused due to the writer’s self-created words and a bit impatient. This is because the passage was quite slow and did not provide me very vital information about the storyline. I am eager to know the storyline when i read books and thus this kind of stories cause me to be impatient and i want to move on.

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I would rate it a 4. I am quite used to reading these kinds of books as almost all the books I read are fantasy books like this. I like how these types of books allow me to see worlds from other people’s imagination. However, there are some parts I do not understand in this passage, such as why Haroun said “No more ark”, so I would rate this a 4.

I would rate it a 5. I am pretty comfortable with reading such a passage as I am quite used to this style of writing.I have read many books written in the same style and I quite like it when authors make up their own language or words as it makes the story seem more authentic and real.

As I continue to read the passage, I become more interested in the characters and is eager to find out what happens next in the book. However, there are certain parts in the passage that confuses me, so I would like to read more of the book to further understand this passage.

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I am not really familiar with reading such a passage, so i would rate it a 2. I am not very comfortable with reading such a passage, as the style of writing is not something i am used to reading, so i will rate it a 2. I felt a little annoyed as i could not understand some of the words and thus found it difficult to understand the excerpt.

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1.I would rate it a 2. I'm not used to such a writing style, as the vocablurary is quite advanced, and it's use of brackets to describe the true state of the things he sees is uncommon.
2. I would rate it a 4. Though I am unfamiliar with its writing style, I can understand what it's trying to express well. If carefully read, I can look past the way phrases are structured and understand the text completely.
3. I feel curious as to why the people in the story choose to be so ignorant towards the beauty of their land, in addition to a deep hatred for stories. Their hatred grows so strong that they've made a demonic creature to signify a story's ending.

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I would rate it a 3. Although I am quite used to reading fictional stories, this passage was particularly confusing as I did not know the context of this story. As such, the dialogues and descriptions were a little hard to understand.

I would rate it a 2. I do not find it very easy to comprehend such a passage, which causes me to not be very comfortable with reading it. I feel that with further knowledge on the context of this passage, I might be able to enjoy it better.

While reading this passage, I found myself re-reading certain parts of the passage again and again, and I was particularly frustrated at some parts as I did not understand what the writer was trying to say.

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I would rate it a 4. I am used to reading this sort of passage as I enjoy fantasy books which usually take place in a whole different kind of universe and like in this excerpt from Haroun and the Sea of Stories, have words which are invented. However, I do not understand the meaning of “ark” and “the Need for Speed” which is why I rate it a 4.

5. I am very comfortable with reading such a passage. This style is something I am used to reading because quite a few of the books I read have unknown words and I find them interesting and unique.

After reading this excerpt, I feel more curious about Haroun and the Sea of Stories and wonder more about the characters. I am excited about reading this book.

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I would rate it a 2. I am not familiar with this setting as I seldom read fantasy books. My understanding of books currently does not include much from fantasy books, thus I don’t find this type of writing or structure familiar.

I would rate it a 1.  I am not comfortable with reading this type of passage as it is fictional and if I do not understand a phrase, I can’t correlate it to reality as they are all made up, guessing the meaning would make the reading process confusing and uncertain. I don’t enjoy reading books that requires too much questioning about the information

I noticed that I had to re-read the text multiple times, sometimes even reading out the words to break down the passage. The passage itself was confusing as it was somehow written in the way we usually talk with; the frequent use of brackets to indicate thoughts was confusing and sudden.

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1) 3. I am used to reading fiction books like this that takes place in another world but the style of writing is different and unfamiliar to me.

2) How comfortable I am with this style of writing is a 2. I am not used to this unique style of writing and it is harder for me to understand this excerpt especially because I don’t know the context of this excerpt.

3) When reading this excerpt, I found myself wondering about many things like the name Mr Butt and I had to reread the front part many times to finally understand the “with its fields of gold (which really grew saffron)……”

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1. I would say a 2. I have read similar stories in the genre of magical realism. However, it was too complicated for me to understand and I was confused about the plot of the story. It felt like the story was going round and round in circles and I eventually gave up reading them.

2. I would say a 3. I think that the fact that the author used letters and imaginary names would get me confused at times and I feel that the constant conversation dialogues are also confusing. However, I would like to read the rest of the story before coming to a conclusion as it may not be as it seems.

3. I noticed that I had to re-read certain parts of the text to fully understand that part and I also had to imagine the context of the story in my head and picture out the, “valleys”, “mountains” and “signs”, etc., in my head to get a clearer picture of the surroundings as it is not what I am used to reading.

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1. On the scale of 1-5, my familiarity with coming across such a passage is approximately 2. This is a very new passage, where the way the passage is written is rather unique and different from typical fictional stories.

2. On the scale of 1-5, the level of how comfortable I am when reading this passage is approximately 2 as well. This is because the style of writing of this passage is quite difficult for me to understand.

3. I realized that I was rather confused and unfamiliar with this passage because I am not to clear as to what the story is talking about.

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1. I would rate it a 3. I usually read fictional books as i find fictional books quite enjoyable to read.
2. I would rate it a 2. I am not very comfortable reading such a passage as i don’t usually read this type of books. Overall, this whole passage is quite difficult to comprehend for me.
3. I was quite confused. I am not very sure what the passage is talking about.

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1) 3. I am used to reading them, but they are not something I would choose to read. I prefer nonfiction books, or novels about realistic stories that happen in today life, instead of fantasy or fiction.

2) 4. I prefer modern styles that include slang and whatnot to make the plot more relatable and engaging, but the artistic/romantic writing style used enables readers to think about the purpose of each word(to emphasise/exaggerate etc.) For example, the use of “the Arch-Enemy of all Stories, even of Language itself. He is the Prince of Silence and the Foe of Speech…”. It is fun to try to comprehend such writing.

3) I believe the passage to be a bit boring. The passage develops at a slow pace. With no context of the actual story, this entire passage just seems irrelevant. However, such stories are written to entertain. With the main purpose of Salman Rushdie writing the book to convince readers unrealistic tales deserve to be listened to, I thought it was important to see the passage through.

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Goal 1: To understand what the author is trying to convey in his writing.
Strategy 1: Write down the characteristics of the people and what is the major issue/problem that the main character needs to solve and put this in a table to compare what it represents in real life.

Goal 2: Understand how Haround grew to be the way he is (eg. His characteristics, his love for storytelling despite the dull society he lived in, his strengths and likes etc)

Strategy 2: Write down in a table the characteristics of the people have a major/strong influence on Haroun (eg. Wife, parents, neighbours, society) and make connections to Haroun’s personality.

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Goal 1: To find out what are the personality traits of Haroun

Strategy 1:  Make a table which consists of all his actions at significant points of the story and trace out his personality. Then have another table for his habits to compare what is his habits and what displays his character traits.

Goal 2: To find out if Haroun interacts the same with all the characters in the story

Strategy 2: List down some of the instances whereby Haroun interacted with different people, then mind map out the possible reasons for his behaviour and find the differences between all his behaviours.

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Goal 1: To understand how the build up contributes to the main purpose/climax of the story.
Strategy 1: Highlight/make a note to self whenever something unique happens, in terms of writing(e.g. adding parenthesis etc) and question why it is used.

Goal 2: To understand Haroun’s father.
Strategy 2: List down particular behaviours, like Haroun’s father’s unique ways of responding to each situation compared to the other characters.

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1. I would rate it a 5. I always read fictional stories so they are easy for me to read.
2. I would rate it a 2. His style of writing is very different and it takes me a long time to process things he write.
3. It is confusing and I feel baffled when I read it.

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1. Explain difficult parts of HATSOS and understand them
strategy: read HATSOS thoroughly and analyse it
2. To understand Haroun’s ambition
strategy: analyse HATSOS thoroughly

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1. Goal 1: I would like to be able to easily understand what the book is talking about.
Goal 2: I would like to be able to empathise with the characters.
2. Strategy 1: I can get familiar with Salman Rushdie’s writing style and try to think in a more figurative manner.
Strategy 2: I can try to put myself in the character’s shoes and use the context to understand them easily.

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1. I would rate it a 3. I have seen some interesting fictional stories before, but not something like this which is different from most other books and the writing style is a little hard to read.
2. I would rate it a 2. I usually would not like reading these kind of books with different writing styles, as I would rather read something easier to understand.
3. I noticed that I had to look at a part of the passage for some time as sometimes I could not understand what it meant.

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I would rate it a 2 as although i usually enjoy reading fictional stories, this specific excerpt is a little unfamiliar to me and i am not sure the full context of the story, thus maybe if i had known the parts before this, i may have been more open and familiar with this.
Honestly when i read this i found it a little hard to understand due to the complexity of the words thus i would rate it a 1. Perhaps this is because i dont read books that often and i am quite unfamiliar to most words. So maybe i should read more to enhance my vocabulary?

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1. Read through the following excerpt from Haroun and the Sea of Stories.

2. Answer the following questions:

On a scale of 1 to 5, how familiar are you with reading such a passage? Is this passage something that you are used to reading? Why / Why not?

On a scale of 1 to 5, how comfortable are you with reading such a passage? Is the style of writing something that you are used to reading? Why / Why not?

Reflect on how you have reacted to this passage. What do you notice about your feelings, your thoughts and your behaviour?

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1. I would rate it a 4. I usually read magical-realism books like HATSOS so I would find it quite enjoyable to read.
2. I would rate it a 4. I am quite comfortable with reading such a passage as it gets me to think deeper on a topic and is something I am used to.
3. I would rate it a 4. The writing style of the author is interesting and makes me feel connected to the characters, so I feel that it is very readable and enjoyable

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1. I want to be able to understand the author’s literary intent better and with more depth
2. I can carefully analyse every paragraph of HATSOS and find the literary devices used in them, as well as the specific intent of certain words, then write it down in a notebook.

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1. I would probably rate it a 3. I like reading storybooks fictional books because the plot twists are sometimes very unexpected and interesting.
2. However, I am not really familiar with the style of writing, because I usually read books that are written by the same writers. Therefore, I would rate it a 3.
3. I had to re-read several times to understand a bit of what it meant. But I am curious and want to find out what will happen later on in the story.

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Goal 1: See the thoughts and emotions Salman Rushdie put behind the words in HATSOS, and what he was trying to communicate to his son.
Strategy 1: Anaylse the text and draw connections between the
story and what happened to Salman Rushdie in real life.

Goal 2: Understand how people of a younger age demographic might view the story in comparison to those older and more mature.
Strategy 2: Think from different perspectives as I read the story.

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Goal 1: understand Haroun’s personality
Strategy: list out Haroun’s actions and the rationale behind them

Goal 2: find out the relationship between Haroun’s and his “Sea of Stories”
Strategy: find out Haroun’s aspiration and his interaction with the “Sea of Stories” as well as the rationale behind those actions

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Goal 1: Understand how Salman Rushdie expressed what he was going through for his son.
Strategy 1: Take note of the different situations in the book and link it to what he has went through in his own life and how he has expressed a real-life experience as a story in the book so that it will be easier for his son to understand.

Goal 2: Read the book entirely and learn something from it.
Strategy 2: Pace myself and try to put myself in the situation so that I will not be so confused. Reflect on the plot of the book and come up with the moral of the story.

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1. I want to know the backstory of Rashid.
I will do this by looking out for information about his childhood and environment he was brought up in.
2. I want to get to know more about Haroun’s thought processes.
I will look out for the kinds of decisions he made and how he came to make that decision.

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1) I would say a 3. I am not really used to reading this kind of passage. Normally, I would read novels that have greater word sizes and this genre is not the kind of genre I read. I would usually read stories about relationships. So, I’m not really interested in this genre which is why I am not used to reading this passage.

2) I would say a 4. I have read books written in this kind of style, so I’m used to reading this kind of passages, which is why I’m comfortable with it. However, the books I read do not contain much terms so it is easier to understand, meaning that I will not be confused when a term appeared in a passage. In this passage, it contained terms like “Khatami-Shad”, “Kosh-Mar”, and many other terms that are probably not part of the English dictionary.

3) I noticed that was not reacting much to this passage as nothing that sparks me is happening. I am confused about certain terms and is questioning whether those terms were related to the story and why the writer wrote this passage this way.

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Goal 1: I would like to understand what Salman Rushdie is trying to express in this book. I can do this by trying my best to annotate and read between the lines. Also, I can ask for other’s opinions about this book to guess the message the author wants to convey

Goal 2: I would like to understand what Haroun thinks about telling stories in a perspective of a child. I can do this by marking out Haroun’s thoughts and feeling in the book as I am reading it.