Thursday, May 15, 2014

Messages for the Reader in How to Steal a Dog by Barbara O'Connor

Barbara O'Connor teaches the reader many messages in How to Steal a Dog. We wrote about these messages today in our "silent discussion".

Think of another message in How to Steal a Dog that was meaningful to you. Explain how the author shows that message is important.

Use details from the story in your answer.

30 comments:

  1. I think the main message in How To Steal a Dog is when Mookie said his motto to Georgina ''sometimes the path you leave behind is more important than the path ahead of you''. I think that was the main message because there is alot if things that can discribe what that means and it really helps Georgina to do the right thing. That's why I think that is the main message in How To Steal A Dog.

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    1. Yes, the author placed many examples we call patterns of behavior that show the trail Georgina began leaving behind. It was really cool how the author symbolized the trail in the footsteps she was leaving behind after she did the right thing and told Carmela she stole the dog.

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    2. yes,you are right because










































      yes,you are right because georgina left a bad trail and she was trying to fix her problems behind


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    3. I also agree with you Shayma, because Mookie was put in the book to assist Georgina in her problem,but in a good way. That is why Mookie made this quote: ‟Sometimes the trail you leave behind is more important than the path ahead of you".

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  2. kyleigh is awsomeMay 15, 2014 at 4:16 PM

    i think that the main message is that just because that you are poor you dont do crazy stuff like steel a dog for money or talk to stangers

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  3. i think georgina is poor because she lives in a car and she has no home

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  4. Georgina was trying to help her family by stealing a dog. Helping your family is a good thing. You should help your family. But, you shouldn't lie to your mom. You shouldn't steal.

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  5. A message in How to Steal a Dog that was meaningful to me was that when you try to make yourself happy, there is a possibility that you could make someone else sad. For example, Georgina stole from Carmella to make herself happy but at the same time, she made Carmella upset. The author shows the message is important because the main message is about stealing.

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    1. I agree Kameron because if that does happen that might keep on happening and many people would be sad.

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  6. kameron your right but I'm thinking the main message is when mookie said the more you stir the more it stinks. For example Mookie had found the weirdest thing that got lost that will had gone lost. Georgina was carrying out and than Mookie said hey the more you stir the worse it stinks.

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  7. I think that the main message is what Mookie said about how the trail you leave behind is more important then the path ahead of you. And about how the more you stir it the worse it stinks. Mookie did the right thing to tell Georgina that motto. Georgina has been lying ALOT.

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    1. I agree because after Mookie told Georgina the more you stir it the worse it stinks and then Georgina kept feeling more and more guilty about stealing Willy

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  8. the message that ment the most to me was the more you stir it the worse it stinks.because Georgina kept lying to every body:Mookie Carmella her mom and Toby.And she was sitring it more and it was stinking.That was because she told one lie and then she told another lie and the other lie got up to her and she told more lies and she got into a mess of lies.

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  9. A message in How to steal a dog is just because you are poor does not mean that you can baisicly steal money from someone else or like Georgina did steal something that means alot to someone like Willy to Carmela and only give it back for money.

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  10. In this story Georgina thought that Mookie was dumb and crazy just because he was a bum, but Mookie was actually very smart. In some way taught Georgina a lesson. In the story Georgia kept on saying how she wishes that Mookie won't be next to the old house that Willy is tied up when she goes to go visit Willy. But Mookie actually was motivating Georgina to return the dog.

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  11. Georgina knew that she shouldn't have stolen a dog. the messages is just because you 're willing to do something to get something else doesn't mean that it doesn't have to do with any one else.

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  12. One message the author put in How To Steal a Dog is listen to your conscience. For example, Georgina always knew that stealing Willy was the wrong thing but she blocked it out. Toby was her conscience and was coming up with things that she had blocked out about how to steal Willy like food and water. If she had listened to her conscience(not to steal Willy) then she would not have to lie to Mookie, Carmella, her mother or Mr. White and she would not have to feel guilty and like a criminal.

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  13. One message that meant the most is when Mookie said the trail that you leave behind is more important that the trail ahead of you this meant the most because at the end when Georgina was leaving Carmella's house she saw footprints and thought of what Mookie had and realized that she did right thing by walking away once she would return Willy but instead she went to Carmella and told her the truth and I think the motto that Mookie said helped Georgina to do the right thing.

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  14. A message in how to steal a dog is: sometimes when you are going through a bad time you do bad things. For
    example: Georgina was poor and she stole a dog.
    Another example is: the mom kept yelling and cursing, but she is a really nice mom.

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  15. I think the main message in hoe to steal a dog is when carmella said when bad things happen you do bad things.One example is Georgina was poor her dad had left her and those are all bad things and then she stole a dog becase she made herself do that bad thing.Another example is Georgina kept telling mr.White that she gave the letters to her mom but she didn't and she kept getting those letters back and then mr.White threatned that he would tell the pricipal and that is so so bad.My last example is goergina lied to Mookie and said that willy was hers but the lanlord doesn't allow dogs so she was keeping him there for a while but eventully mookie found out that Georgina stole Willy and was just hiding willy there

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  16. I think the message is “the more you stir it the worse it stinks.”
    For example, ever sense Mookie told Georgina, “the more you stir it the worse it stinks”, Georgina keeps thinking about Mookie’s words each time she lies to Carmella and she starts to feel more and more guilty.
    Another example is, Georgina steals Willie then tells Carmella she doesn’t know where Willie is at. She also tells Mookie Willie is her dog. Then a blanket of guilt comes over her and keeps getting worse. It gets so bad she can’t go to sleep and she has a stomach ache.

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  17. The main characters in this story are Toby and Georgina. Georgina steals a dog named Willy from Whitmore road. . Her plan was to steal the dog named Willy. Georgina wrote down her plan one step at time. Toby and Georgina are brother and sister. Though Toby didn't want to steal the dog. While Georgina was looking for the perfect dog to steal. He tired to tell her about cats instead. Yet Georgina still goes ahead and takes the dog. She gets away with taking the dog but still tells the truth at the end of the story.

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  18. Another message in How to Steal a Dog that was meaningful to me was Mookie's motto "The more you stir it, the worse it gets". And that means the more you lie the worse it is going to be. Mookie knew that Georgina was lying because she was hesitating a lot and she said that the landlord said you can't have a dog in the house. And Mookie is really smart and he knows when someone is lying. He makes mottos to tell you that you are doing something wrong. Also he knows that Georgina did not have a house but lived in a car, and he knew that because he said that he travels lot and he saw Georgina and her mom's car and he saw clothing there and he knew right away that Georgina did not have a house.

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  19. An important message was how Carmella forgave Georgina. Because Carmella knows what it feels like to be homeless living in a car and having your dad leave the family and getting kicked out of your apartment.

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  20. An important message is Mookie's mooto: The path you leave behind is more important than the path ahead if you. Georgina was thinking about what would happen later instead of what happened before. She got in to a big mess because of her thinking.

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  21. One message from How to Steal a Dog that is meaningful was when Mookie said sometimes the trail you leave behind is more important than the path ahead of you. I think the author said that because she wants to say that things in your past affect your future.

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  22. A message in How to Steal a Dog I think is important is to never steal something that is very important to another person, because if you do, they will want to know where it is, so they will probably ask you and you will have to lie and that will build up a lot of guilt. Also, if someone finds out, they won't just tell you to return it, they will try to show you you did a bad thing.

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  23. The message that stuck to me is when Georgina stole Willy it was a wrong thing to do. I know this message is important because in the story they kept bringing it up.

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