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23 comments:
Anonymous
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Anne Patchett’s work is enjoyable if you like novels about all different relationships. Her novels are easily relatable and very heartfelt. Her books are not very challenging to read and are not very long in length. They varied from 200-450 pages. I read Truth and Beauty, Bel Canto, and Taft. Her books mostly revolve around relationships and modern day events. I enjoyed reading her books because her writing is very up to date. Her storylines and characters are very modern and are all contemporary. For the most part her books move quickly without a lot of description. She writes in a modern form and uses many experiences from her own life. Truth and Beauty is based on her true friendship. I would definitely recommend reading Patchett.
I really enjoyed reading Ann Patchett for my author thesis because her books are very easy enjoyable reads, and her characters are relatable. They are very reasonable in length, so I never had to worry about cramming in lots of reading in one night. I read the books Bel Canto, The Magician’s Assistant, and Run. Bel Canto was the most confusing to read because of the amount of characters, but yet still a good read. Bel Canto allows for lots of different themes to be connected to the other books since there are so many characters/character relationships. Magician’s Assistant was a very fast read, and I was engrossed from the start. Magician’s Assistant dealt with themes of loss, sexual orientation, and love. Run was the least enjoyable read for me since it was very repetitive, and the themes were not as apparent in the book as the other two were. Overall I was very happy with my choice of selecting Ann Patchett, and themes were plentiful and easy to find when writing the paper.
I enjoyed reading three of Ann Patchett’s books for my Author Thesis Project because there were multiple connections between her books, numerous reoccurring themes, and the plots are detailed and interesting. I read Run, The Patron Saint of Liars, and Bel Canto, all of which have multiple connecting topics. Specifically, Patchett explores all different kinds of relationships and families of all sorts, and the characters in her books are very easy to relate to. There are numerous reoccurring themes within Patchett’s books, and it is not hard to find similarities between characters and different aspects of their lives. Many of these themes are interesting, and caused me to really consider all my options for a topic. I ended up choosing a theme that I thought had the most evidence shown through my books, and I was able to write ten pages with all the evidence I found. Also, Patchett’s plots make you think about the outside world. Specifically, I really enjoyed Bel Canto because it was intense and hard to put down. I recommend Ann Patchett for anyone who wants to read interesting books, and likes analyzing connections between characters.
I really enjoyed Patchett's work. I found that the books I read of hers were very easily relatable. The three novels that I read were Taft, Bel Canto, and The Patron Saint of Liars. I really enjoyed Patron Saint of Liars and Taft, but Bel Canto was a little bit slower and harder to read and understand. It still related to the topics, but I found it to be fairly long and hard to keep reading. I might recommend reading one of her other novels because they all seem to relate well and might be a faster and better read. Patchett raises the ideas of relationships and the connections between them throughout her novels and also leaves you thinking about the world we live in today and how relationships might effect us. All of her novels analyze the themes of love within relationships and allow you to choose a theme from many topics with tons of evidence to back up your argument. In general, I found Ann Patchett to be a great author with good connecting ideas and great books to read. I definitely would recommend her for others in the future.
I really enjoyed Patchett's work. I found that the books I read of hers were very easily relatable. The three novels that I read were Taft, Bel Canto, and The Patron Saint of Liars. I really enjoyed Patron Saint of Liars and Taft, but Bel Canto was a little bit slower and harder to read and understand. It still related to the topics, but I found it to be fairly long and hard to keep reading. I might recommend reading one of her other novels because they all seem to relate well and might be a faster and better read. Patchett raises the ideas of relationships and the connections between them throughout her novels and also leaves you thinking about the world we live in today and how relationships might effect us. All of her novels analyze the themes of love within relationships and allow you to choose a theme from many topics with tons of evidence to back up your argument. In general, I found Ann Patchett to be a great author with good connecting ideas and great books to read. I definitely would recommend her for others in the future.
I really enjoyed reading Anne Patchett. She brings a refreshing view of the world to your eyes. The books that I read were: Bel Canto, Patron Saint of Liars, Magicians Assistant and Run. I red Magicians assistant however it didn't connect to my themes, so I read Run and that helped me connect my thesis theme instead. My favorite was Bel Canto, and my least favorite was Magician's Assistant. The themes in some of the books aren't exactly apparent so it took me a while to figure our what to write my paper on. I didn't really have a hard time writing the essay because I found a clear theme, but I can see how she might be a difficult author for someone else. I would recommend Patchett for Author Thesis if you want to enjoy yourself while reading. -Catherine Peta (Ms.Dubé)
I enjoyed reading Ann Patchett's novels. I read the Patron Saint of Liars, Bel Canto, and State of Wonder. I liked these books and they were easily relatable, though they aren't books I would have chosen to read if I didn't have her as an author. Her books connected very well, and there were multiple themes that I could have used to write a thesis. I would recommend Ann Patchett for other people.
I thought Ann Patchett was a good author to pick. Her books have a lot to them and I had no trouble finding something to write about, I would recommend her if you do not mind ambiguity, abrupt endings and magical realism. One piece of advice would be to not read The Patron Saint Of Liars, it is the first book she wrote and, although the themes fit with the others the style and type do not. I thought all her books were pleasant to read and I am glad I picked her. I read The Magician's Assistant, Taft, State Of Wonder, and The Patron Saint Of Liars. -Valerie Shor
I really enjoyed reading Patchett's works. Her books touched upon issues that still exist today at the same time as tying the topics back to older times. I found the reading was interesting and easy. My favorite was Bel Canto. Bel Canto has many themes, so it works for a variety of theses and I recommend reading it. My least favorite was Magicians Assistant. It worked well with my thesis, but it was very hard to believe that anything in the story would actually happen in real life. I also read three of her other works (Run, What Now?, and Truth and Beauty), which were enjoyable. I would recommend that if you choose Ann Patchett, read a synopsis of what happens to ensure that the books all have a similar theme. I wrote my paper on three of the five books I read, which made it a waste of time to read the other two. If you would like easy and enjoyable reading I would suggest Ann Patchett. However, if you have trouble writing and coming up with a strong thesis I would not recommend her. Because her books have multiple themes, it can be confusing to come up with a concise thesis.
I would highly recommend reading Ann Patchett’s works for your author thesis because her books range in topic, setting, and characters, so reading her collection of works is continually interesting. However, one caution I would give anyone who reads Patchett is that she dislikes concrete endings and often leaves the reader to come to their own conclusion about what will happen to her characters. One benefit of choosing her is that her books are all roughly 350 pages, so they are not intimidating. Her writing style is lyrical, and because of this her books flow and are easy to read. Patchett focuses on the little things that make people human, yet at the same time keeps the pace of the book moving. She addresses the themes of, love, loss, the bond between parent and child, and the humanity everyone has within them.
I chose Ann Patchett because after reading Grapes of Wrath over the summer, I realized that I did not like books about westernization, agriculture, or anything along the lines of historical events. For example, the Great Depression was not of interest to me. Her books were easy to read and not that hard to understand. They are extremely interesting because all of Patchett’s books are about family, love, relationships, and hardships in life. It was easy to write about this book because the topics are so apparent. There were multiple that I could choose from so I was not cornered into one idea. I would recommend this book to people who like reading about real life situations rather than historical events such as the Great Depression or westward expansion. Her books are modern and can relate to people’s everyday lives. The Patron Saint of Liars and The Magician’s Assistant were my favorite books because of their plots. The Patron Saint of Liars is about the repercussions of an unwanted pregnancy, and The Magician’s Assistant is about a woman discovering her husband’s secrets past after he dies. Also, sometimes during the reading process I didn’t have time to read so I had to catch up a lot on the weekends or vacation. As hard as that was, Patchett’s books were so interesting that I did not mind even though I do not like to read outside of school.
I could not be happier with choosing Ann Patchett as my author for Author Thesis. I chose her after reading positive feedback about her novels on this blog, and also after reading a couple pages out of some of her works and realizing that I was engrossed in her novels from the start and that I could completely see myself reading more of her writing over the following months. I also was not interested in reading any war stories, dark or depressing novels, or novels with flowery language, and Ann Patchett’s works were none of these things and uplifting. The books were entertaining, varied, and had me looking forward to reading my author thesis books. Now, I reflect on how I would have picked up her books to read over the summer; they were that enjoyable. I read Run, Bel Canto, Magician’s Assistant, Patron Saint of Liars, State of Wonder, and Taft and really liked all of them. The plot is very easy to follow in her novels and her books are ripe with themes, so if you pay attention when you’re reading you’ll have plenty of possible topics to write about. If you choose Ann Patchett (which I highly recommend), buy her books so that you can underline as you read!
I loved reading Ann Patchett's works. Her books are full of emotion and have great relationship dynamics. I was completely absorbed in her novels from the beginning, and could not put them down once I started. A lot of her novels revolve around family relationships, and the themes are easy to detect. Her books are not too long or short, and the plots are all similar to situations that could happen in the modern world, making the books an easy read. Patchett's books are interesting, unique, and immensely enjoyable. I read Bel Canto, The Magician's Assistant, Patron Saint of Liars, State of Wonder, and Taft. I loved all of them, but my favorite is Bel Canto because the story was so well written and the plot was very interesting. All of her storylines are easy to follow, and the books are full of great characters that develop throughout the novel. I highly recommend choosing Ann Patchett for this assignment because the books are an easy read, and one can easily make connections with the characters.
I chose Ann Patchett as my author after reading the this blog and I was very happy with my decision. Although I usually gravitate towards dystopian or fantasy novels in a bookstore, I really enjoyed reading all of Patchett’s realistic fiction books, even though I would not have necessarily picked them up naturally. All of her books are relatively easy to read and of a reasonable length. I read Run, Taft, The Magician’s Assistant, The Patron Saint of Liars, and Bel Canto. If I had to describe all of Ann Patchett’s novels in one word it would be ‘beautiful’. All of her books are about raw, pure and unique human relationships which remind us what is really important in life. Bel Canto, my favorite book, captures this in a particularly beautiful way using language that is elegant and engaging, making me cry at the end of the book. Although I enjoyed them all, I had more trouble finding themes in The Patron Saint of Liars and Taft, especially themes that connected to the rest of the books. While I was reading I put post-it notes in the books by where I saw themes and messages. I then separated the quotes/ examples by theme and by book, and was able to draw connections more easily. Although this was time consuming it was very helpful.
Ann Patchett is a very talented writer. Her descriptive writing is one-of-a-kind due to it’s eloquent way of painting a picture in the reader’s mind. I really enjoyed reading these novels for my project. However, her themes are slightly abstract and when it came to actually writing the thesis I struggled a bit. Because she is as illustrative as she is with her words, it is hard to differentiate between her descriptions and her symbolism. Despite these slight difficulties with writing the paper, I strongly suggest choosing her as an author to write about. Her themes, while slightly difficult, are by no means impossible to find. Throughout every single one of her books, I also found that she was very engaging and I greatly enjoyed reading her works. Go Ann!
I chose Ann Patchett as my author initially because I wanted to read about a more modern time period than what we had been studying in class. I ended up really enjoying all the books I read, and there were lots of different themes to choose between when it came to writing the essay. The main themes I pinpointed were love, family, loss, and self-realization, so there are a lot of options and perspectives to pick from. Having said this, I originally found it difficult to narrow down to one specific, clear theme because there is so much going on in her novels, and many different characters to think about. Once I figured out what angle I wanted to take, there was lots of usable evidence in all of the books, so it was usually easy to find quotes and examples. The assigned notecard system was also a huge help with sorting through ideas throughout reading, so I would definitely recommend keeping track of themes and evidence while reading instead of coming back to it when it’s time to write the essay.
I chose Ann Patchett as my author because her books are very enjoyable and easy to read. Most are set in modern times so I could relate to many aspects of the stories. I read Bel Canto, Run, and State of Wonder. All 3 books had an exciting plot, but could get a bit dense and boring in the middle because she tends to spend a long time describing things that aren't necessarily that important. My favorite was Bel Canto because the storyline kept me interested the whole time, and I felt really connected to the characters- it even made me cry. Patchett's characters tend to be complex so you might want to pay attention to their growth throughout the novel, maybe write a timeline or something. There are lots of themes to choose from because she puts a lot of symbolism and thought into the characters. I would recommend taking careful notes of multiple themes when reading the novels so you don't have to go back and find them after. Overall, I enjoyed having Ann Patchett as my author and I highly recommend her!
I chose Ann Patchett as my author for this assignment. After reading a couple of her books to get a feel of her writing style, I grew very interested, fore every book of hers has an entertaining plot that pulls you in and never leaves you bored. I read The Magician's Assistant, Taft, and Bel Canto. In all these books, the theme of relationships was relatively easy to pick up on, and finding multiple pieces of evidence which connected to other themes throughout the other books was not too hard to find. Even though some of the plots in her books seem a little far-fetched, her characters undergo very interesting developments with themselves as well as with others, which are good things to keep track of as you read. I also liked her books because they were full of problems, causing the characters to have to get themselves out of sticky situations, which made me want to read more and more, making Author's Thesis feel like less of a chore to read for. I also could make some connects with the characters to my own life and relationships, engrossing me more and more into her novels. Overall, I highly recommend Ann Patchett, due to her easy-to-follow plot, interesting themes and enjoyable plots.
I chose Patchett because I enjoy realistic fiction, and while one book and parts of the other two were well-written and thoughtful, I found it difficult to capture Patchett's overall ideas. I found a vast range of themes in my notecards and often had to dig much deeper in some cases to find and interpret the significance of single moments that the recreational reader would overlook. While her books are sometimes far fetched, they do have a lot of seemingly insignificant details which can be interpreted and applied to a more general theme, which occurs in multiple specific instances throughout the book instead of a 'cookie-cutter' type theme that occurs once per book. Some themes carried less of a message and ended up being more of Patchett's metaphorical voice coming through, and these quotes had to be applied to the main message of the book in order to carry true significance. I read the first forty pages of Bel Canto before deciding I didn't want to incorporate it into my thesis -- it's important to choose the author's works wisely even though everyone may tell you to read a certain work of the author. It's important to select ones that sound interesting to you because you'll be taking the book apart, so you want to ensure it's something you'll be interested in enough to pay attention to things like themes. The Magician's Assistant was my favorite because of the complexity of the plot and relationship, but it was hard to draw common themes between it and State of Wonder. Run was also a fair book, but it was so unrealistic that the themes were hard to compare to the more natural events in TMA and SoW. Overall, I wouldn't recommend Ann Patchett for an intensive academic project because of the intriguing (rather than thematic and argumentative) plots that make minor details the key to theme-discovery -- in my opinion, Patchett's works serve better as recreational reading.
I chose Ann Patchett as my author for Author Thesis. Her books were interesting, easy to follow and were about 300-400 pages. The books I read were Bel Canto and Run. Bel Canto was my favorite because the story line was great and I felt a connection with the characters by the end. There were many themes to choose from and relating the books was not too difficult. The only problem was narrowing down the theme options to a few that were the strongest. My recommendation is to keep a running list of themes and page numbers in the books so that the themes are organized. Overall I highly recommend Ann Patchett due to her easy to follow plot and many theme options.
I chose Ann Patchett for my American Author Thesis because I enjoy reading realistic fiction. I read The Magician's Assistant, Bel Canto, and State of Wonder. My favorite novel was Bel Canto because the plot was intriguing and I felt connected to her many complex characters. I enjoyed all her books because they are easy to understand and the plots are engaging, but I had trouble tying State of Wonder into the other novels. The main themes that I found throughout her novels were based around familial bonds, romantic relationships, loss, and identity. Although there are definitely multiple themes to interpret from her literature, I had trouble digging deeper and finding the most important themes. When reading Patchett's work, it is important to pay close attention to small interactions between characters and how characters change and develop throughout the novel; most of her thematic ideas are portrayed through her characters' actions, thoughts, and experiences. However, one problem I had with writing the essay was creating an argument that was both deep enough and controversial. I had trouble with this because most of the themes and ideas I had in the beginning were straight forward. If you choose Ann Patchett as your author, I recommend to keep thinking about your thesis and to make multiple drafts in order to create a controversial and creative idea. Overall, I would not recommend Ann Patchett for the American Author thesis because although her books are very interesting and fun to read, I had a difficult time finding complex themes that I could write about in my essay. However, I would definitely recommend that everyone read the books for fun!
I chose Ann Patchett as my author because I liked her style of writing. I read The Magician's Assistant, State of Wonder and Run. I thought that all of her books had a very interesting plot that would pull you in. Her characters are all intriguing and they have very complex developments within her novels. The character relationships are complex and I would recommend paying attention to the development of the characters. The main themes in her books are relationships, loss, and love. Finding evidence to prove your thesis was relatively easy, but I would recommend thinking of many different theses while writing your paper. Her books have a main conflict which the character has to solve, which make it even more intriguing to read. Reading her books did not feel like it was forced, but more like I was reading them on my own. I would recommend Ann Patchett for her fascinating plots and complex characters.
I chose Ann Patchett as my author after reading reviews from prior years and sampling a few of her books. I immediately knew I liked her writing style, as it is modern and very descriptive. You are not left trying to figure out what old fashioned words mean and her books are enjoyable reads. Even if you do not read Patchett for Author Thesis, I would still recommend her books. I read Bel Canto, State of Wonder, and Run. A commonality throughout Patchett’s work seems to be characters learning something new about themselves or finding themselves through relationships with others. The themes I saw in these three novels pertained to relationships, family, learning about one’s identity, loss, and the effect of trauma on a person’s life. I would definitely recommend reading Patchett’s most famous novel, Bel Canto, because it is interesting and you will find yourself invested in the lives of the characters. I saw direct connections between all three of the books, but writing about Patchett’s themes was difficult because they were not all that complicated, so there was not a lot of inferring and proving needed to be done. This made coming up with a controversial and complex thesis a little more difficult, but I would not let this scare you away. You might need to dig a little deeper when brainstorming a thesis, but overall I would suggest Ann Patchett as an author because the reading process was so enjoyable and her themes were prevalent, though a little hard to write about. One tip I have for future students is to write down or place a sticky note when you see a possible quote for your note cards or future paper. Even if you do not do your note cards as you read, it is far harder to look back in the books and find quotes than it is to have already recorded some possible ones.
Now that you have written your essay, we ask that you reflect on the reading portion of the experience and write 100-150 words about your author.
Think of what you write as advice for someone next year and beyond, someone who (like you were doing last fall) is thinking about choosing your author - and maybe even the same three books - to read for the assignment.
23 comments:
Anne Patchett’s work is enjoyable if you like novels about all different relationships. Her novels are easily relatable and very heartfelt. Her books are not very challenging to read and are not very long in length. They varied from 200-450 pages. I read Truth and Beauty, Bel Canto, and Taft. Her books mostly revolve around relationships and modern day events. I enjoyed reading her books because her writing is very up to date. Her storylines and characters are very modern and are all contemporary. For the most part her books move quickly without a lot of description. She writes in a modern form and uses many experiences from her own life. Truth and Beauty is based on her true friendship. I would definitely recommend reading Patchett.
I really enjoyed reading Ann Patchett for my author thesis because her books are very easy enjoyable reads, and her characters are relatable. They are very reasonable in length, so I never had to worry about cramming in lots of reading in one night. I read the books Bel Canto, The Magician’s Assistant, and Run. Bel Canto was the most confusing to read because of the amount of characters, but yet still a good read. Bel Canto allows for lots of different themes to be connected to the other books since there are so many characters/character relationships. Magician’s Assistant was a very fast read, and I was engrossed from the start. Magician’s Assistant dealt with themes of loss, sexual orientation, and love. Run was the least enjoyable read for me since it was very repetitive, and the themes were not as apparent in the book as the other two were. Overall I was very happy with my choice of selecting Ann Patchett, and themes were plentiful and easy to find when writing the paper.
I enjoyed reading three of Ann Patchett’s books for my Author Thesis Project because there were multiple connections between her books, numerous reoccurring themes, and the plots are detailed and interesting. I read Run, The Patron Saint of Liars, and Bel Canto, all of which have multiple connecting topics. Specifically, Patchett explores all different kinds of relationships and families of all sorts, and the characters in her books are very easy to relate to. There are numerous reoccurring themes within Patchett’s books, and it is not hard to find similarities between characters and different aspects of their lives. Many of these themes are interesting, and caused me to really consider all my options for a topic. I ended up choosing a theme that I thought had the most evidence shown through my books, and I was able to write ten pages with all the evidence I found. Also, Patchett’s plots make you think about the outside world. Specifically, I really enjoyed Bel Canto because it was intense and hard to put down. I recommend Ann Patchett for anyone who wants to read interesting books, and likes analyzing connections between characters.
I really enjoyed Patchett's work. I found that the books I read of hers were very easily relatable. The three novels that I read were Taft, Bel Canto, and The Patron Saint of Liars. I really enjoyed Patron Saint of Liars and Taft, but Bel Canto was a little bit slower and harder to read and understand. It still related to the topics, but I found it to be fairly long and hard to keep reading. I might recommend reading one of her other novels because they all seem to relate well and might be a faster and better read. Patchett raises the ideas of relationships and the connections between them throughout her novels and also leaves you thinking about the world we live in today and how relationships might effect us. All of her novels analyze the themes of love within relationships and allow you to choose a theme from many topics with tons of evidence to back up your argument. In general, I found Ann Patchett to be a great author with good connecting ideas and great books to read. I definitely would recommend her for others in the future.
I really enjoyed Patchett's work. I found that the books I read of hers were very easily relatable. The three novels that I read were Taft, Bel Canto, and The Patron Saint of Liars. I really enjoyed Patron Saint of Liars and Taft, but Bel Canto was a little bit slower and harder to read and understand. It still related to the topics, but I found it to be fairly long and hard to keep reading. I might recommend reading one of her other novels because they all seem to relate well and might be a faster and better read. Patchett raises the ideas of relationships and the connections between them throughout her novels and also leaves you thinking about the world we live in today and how relationships might effect us. All of her novels analyze the themes of love within relationships and allow you to choose a theme from many topics with tons of evidence to back up your argument. In general, I found Ann Patchett to be a great author with good connecting ideas and great books to read. I definitely would recommend her for others in the future.
I really enjoyed reading Anne Patchett. She brings a refreshing view of the world to your eyes. The books that I read were: Bel Canto, Patron Saint of Liars, Magicians Assistant and Run. I red Magicians assistant however it didn't connect to my themes, so I read Run and that helped me connect my thesis theme instead. My favorite was Bel Canto, and my least favorite was Magician's Assistant. The themes in some of the books aren't exactly apparent so it took me a while to figure our what to write my paper on. I didn't really have a hard time writing the essay because I found a clear theme, but I can see how she might be a difficult author for someone else. I would recommend Patchett for Author Thesis if you want to enjoy yourself while reading.
-Catherine Peta
(Ms.Dubé)
I enjoyed reading Ann Patchett's novels. I read the Patron Saint of Liars, Bel Canto, and State of Wonder. I liked these books and they were easily relatable, though they aren't books I would have chosen to read if I didn't have her as an author. Her books connected very well, and there were multiple themes that I could have used to write a thesis. I would recommend Ann Patchett for other people.
I thought Ann Patchett was a good author to pick. Her books have a lot to them and I had no trouble finding something to write about, I would recommend her if you do not mind ambiguity, abrupt endings and magical realism. One piece of advice would be to not read The Patron Saint Of Liars, it is the first book she wrote and, although the themes fit with the others the style and type do not. I thought all her books were pleasant to read and I am glad I picked her. I read The Magician's Assistant, Taft, State Of Wonder, and The Patron Saint Of Liars.
-Valerie Shor
I really enjoyed reading Patchett's works. Her books touched upon issues that still exist today at the same time as tying the topics back to older times. I found the reading was interesting and easy. My favorite was Bel Canto. Bel Canto has many themes, so it works for a variety of theses and I recommend reading it. My least favorite was Magicians Assistant. It worked well with my thesis, but it was very hard to believe that anything in the story would actually happen in real life. I also read three of her other works (Run, What Now?, and Truth and Beauty), which were enjoyable. I would recommend that if you choose Ann Patchett, read a synopsis of what happens to ensure that the books all have a similar theme. I wrote my paper on three of the five books I read, which made it a waste of time to read the other two. If you would like easy and enjoyable reading I would suggest Ann Patchett. However, if you have trouble writing and coming up with a strong thesis I would not recommend her. Because her books have multiple themes, it can be confusing to come up with a concise thesis.
I would highly recommend reading Ann Patchett’s works for your author thesis because her books range in topic, setting, and characters, so reading her collection of works is continually interesting. However, one caution I would give anyone who reads Patchett is that she dislikes concrete endings and often leaves the reader to come to their own conclusion about what will happen to her characters. One benefit of choosing her is that her books are all roughly 350 pages, so they are not intimidating. Her writing style is lyrical, and because of this her books flow and are easy to read. Patchett focuses on the little things that make people human, yet at the same time keeps the pace of the book moving. She addresses the themes of, love, loss, the bond between parent and child, and the humanity everyone has within them.
I chose Ann Patchett because after reading Grapes of Wrath over the summer, I realized that I did not like books about westernization, agriculture, or anything along the lines of historical events. For example, the Great Depression was not of interest to me. Her books were easy to read and not that hard to understand. They are extremely interesting because all of Patchett’s books are about family, love, relationships, and hardships in life. It was easy to write about this book because the topics are so apparent. There were multiple that I could choose from so I was not cornered into one idea. I would recommend this book to people who like reading about real life situations rather than historical events such as the Great Depression or westward expansion. Her books are modern and can relate to people’s everyday lives. The Patron Saint of Liars and The Magician’s Assistant were my favorite books because of their plots. The Patron Saint of Liars is about the repercussions of an unwanted pregnancy, and The Magician’s Assistant is about a woman discovering her husband’s secrets past after he dies. Also, sometimes during the reading process I didn’t have time to read so I had to catch up a lot on the weekends or vacation. As hard as that was, Patchett’s books were so interesting that I did not mind even though I do not like to read outside of school.
I could not be happier with choosing Ann Patchett as my author for Author Thesis. I chose her after reading positive feedback about her novels on this blog, and also after reading a couple pages out of some of her works and realizing that I was engrossed in her novels from the start and that I could completely see myself reading more of her writing over the following months. I also was not interested in reading any war stories, dark or depressing novels, or novels with flowery language, and Ann Patchett’s works were none of these things and uplifting. The books were entertaining, varied, and had me looking forward to reading my author thesis books. Now, I reflect on how I would have picked up her books to read over the summer; they were that enjoyable. I read Run, Bel Canto, Magician’s Assistant, Patron Saint of Liars, State of Wonder, and Taft and really liked all of them. The plot is very easy to follow in her novels and her books are ripe with themes, so if you pay attention when you’re reading you’ll have plenty of possible topics to write about. If you choose Ann Patchett (which I highly recommend), buy her books so that you can underline as you read!
I loved reading Ann Patchett's works. Her books are full of emotion and have great relationship dynamics. I was completely absorbed in her novels from the beginning, and could not put them down once I started. A lot of her novels revolve around family relationships, and the themes are easy to detect. Her books are not too long or short, and the plots are all similar to situations that could happen in the modern world, making the books an easy read. Patchett's books are interesting, unique, and immensely enjoyable. I read Bel Canto, The Magician's Assistant, Patron Saint of Liars, State of Wonder, and Taft. I loved all of them, but my favorite is Bel Canto because the story was so well written and the plot was very interesting. All of her storylines are easy to follow, and the books are full of great characters that develop throughout the novel. I highly recommend choosing Ann Patchett for this assignment because the books are an easy read, and one can easily make connections with the characters.
I chose Ann Patchett as my author after reading the this blog and I was very happy with my decision. Although I usually gravitate towards dystopian or fantasy novels in a bookstore, I really enjoyed reading all of Patchett’s realistic fiction books, even though I would not have necessarily picked them up naturally. All of her books are relatively easy to read and of a reasonable length. I read Run, Taft, The Magician’s Assistant, The Patron Saint of Liars, and Bel Canto. If I had to describe all of Ann Patchett’s novels in one word it would be ‘beautiful’. All of her books are about raw, pure and unique human relationships which remind us what is really important in life. Bel Canto, my favorite book, captures this in a particularly beautiful way using language that is elegant and engaging, making me cry at the end of the book. Although I enjoyed them all, I had more trouble finding themes in The Patron Saint of Liars and Taft, especially themes that connected to the rest of the books. While I was reading I put post-it notes in the books by where I saw themes and messages. I then separated the quotes/ examples by theme and by book, and was able to draw connections more easily. Although this was time consuming it was very helpful.
Ann Patchett is a very talented writer. Her descriptive writing is one-of-a-kind due to it’s eloquent way of painting a picture in the reader’s mind. I really enjoyed reading these novels for my project. However, her themes are slightly abstract and when it came to actually writing the thesis I struggled a bit. Because she is as illustrative as she is with her words, it is hard to differentiate between her descriptions and her symbolism. Despite these slight difficulties with writing the paper, I strongly suggest choosing her as an author to write about. Her themes, while slightly difficult, are by no means impossible to find. Throughout every single one of her books, I also found that she was very engaging and I greatly enjoyed reading her works. Go Ann!
I chose Ann Patchett as my author initially because I wanted to read about a more modern time period than what we had been studying in class. I ended up really enjoying all the books I read, and there were lots of different themes to choose between when it came to writing the essay. The main themes I pinpointed were love, family, loss, and self-realization, so there are a lot of options and perspectives to pick from. Having said this, I originally found it difficult to narrow down to one specific, clear theme because there is so much going on in her novels, and many different characters to think about. Once I figured out what angle I wanted to take, there was lots of usable evidence in all of the books, so it was usually easy to find quotes and examples. The assigned notecard system was also a huge help with sorting through ideas throughout reading, so I would definitely recommend keeping track of themes and evidence while reading instead of coming back to it when it’s time to write the essay.
I chose Ann Patchett as my author because her books are very enjoyable and easy to read. Most are set in modern times so I could relate to many aspects of the stories. I read Bel Canto, Run, and State of Wonder. All 3 books had an exciting plot, but could get a bit dense and boring in the middle because she tends to spend a long time describing things that aren't necessarily that important. My favorite was Bel Canto because the storyline kept me interested the whole time, and I felt really connected to the characters- it even made me cry. Patchett's characters tend to be complex so you might want to pay attention to their growth throughout the novel, maybe write a timeline or something. There are lots of themes to choose from because she puts a lot of symbolism and thought into the characters. I would recommend taking careful notes of multiple themes when reading the novels so you don't have to go back and find them after. Overall, I enjoyed having Ann Patchett as my author and I highly recommend her!
I chose Ann Patchett as my author for this assignment. After reading a couple of her books to get a feel of her writing style, I grew very interested, fore every book of hers has an entertaining plot that pulls you in and never leaves you bored. I read The Magician's Assistant, Taft, and Bel Canto. In all these books, the theme of relationships was relatively easy to pick up on, and finding multiple pieces of evidence which connected to other themes throughout the other books was not too hard to find. Even though some of the plots in her books seem a little far-fetched, her characters undergo very interesting developments with themselves as well as with others, which are good things to keep track of as you read. I also liked her books because they were full of problems, causing the characters to have to get themselves out of sticky situations, which made me want to read more and more, making Author's Thesis feel like less of a chore to read for. I also could make some connects with the characters to my own life and relationships, engrossing me more and more into her novels. Overall, I highly recommend Ann Patchett, due to her easy-to-follow plot, interesting themes and enjoyable plots.
I chose Patchett because I enjoy realistic fiction, and while one book and parts of the other two were well-written and thoughtful, I found it difficult to capture Patchett's overall ideas. I found a vast range of themes in my notecards and often had to dig much deeper in some cases to find and interpret the significance of single moments that the recreational reader would overlook. While her books are sometimes far fetched, they do have a lot of seemingly insignificant details which can be interpreted and applied to a more general theme, which occurs in multiple specific instances throughout the book instead of a 'cookie-cutter' type theme that occurs once per book. Some themes carried less of a message and ended up being more of Patchett's metaphorical voice coming through, and these quotes had to be applied to the main message of the book in order to carry true significance.
I read the first forty pages of Bel Canto before deciding I didn't want to incorporate it into my thesis -- it's important to choose the author's works wisely even though everyone may tell you to read a certain work of the author. It's important to select ones that sound interesting to you because you'll be taking the book apart, so you want to ensure it's something you'll be interested in enough to pay attention to things like themes.
The Magician's Assistant was my favorite because of the complexity of the plot and relationship, but it was hard to draw common themes between it and State of Wonder. Run was also a fair book, but it was so unrealistic that the themes were hard to compare to the more natural events in TMA and SoW.
Overall, I wouldn't recommend Ann Patchett for an intensive academic project because of the intriguing (rather than thematic and argumentative) plots that make minor details the key to theme-discovery -- in my opinion, Patchett's works serve better as recreational reading.
I chose Ann Patchett as my author for Author Thesis. Her books were interesting, easy to follow and were about 300-400 pages. The books I read were Bel Canto and Run. Bel Canto was my favorite because the story line was great and I felt a connection with the characters by the end. There were many themes to choose from and relating the books was not too difficult. The only problem was narrowing down the theme options to a few that were the strongest. My recommendation is to keep a running list of themes and page numbers in the books so that the themes are organized. Overall I highly recommend Ann Patchett due to her easy to follow plot and many theme options.
I chose Ann Patchett for my American Author Thesis because I enjoy reading realistic fiction. I read The Magician's Assistant, Bel Canto, and State of Wonder. My favorite novel was Bel Canto because the plot was intriguing and I felt connected to her many complex characters. I enjoyed all her books because they are easy to understand and the plots are engaging, but I had trouble tying State of Wonder into the other novels. The main themes that I found throughout her novels were based around familial bonds, romantic relationships, loss, and identity. Although there are definitely multiple themes to interpret from her literature, I had trouble digging deeper and finding the most important themes. When reading Patchett's work, it is important to pay close attention to small interactions between characters and how characters change and develop throughout the novel; most of her thematic ideas are portrayed through her characters' actions, thoughts, and experiences. However, one problem I had with writing the essay was creating an argument that was both deep enough and controversial. I had trouble with this because most of the themes and ideas I had in the beginning were straight forward. If you choose Ann Patchett as your author, I recommend to keep thinking about your thesis and to make multiple drafts in order to create a controversial and creative idea. Overall, I would not recommend Ann Patchett for the American Author thesis because although her books are very interesting and fun to read, I had a difficult time finding complex themes that I could write about in my essay. However, I would definitely recommend that everyone read the books for fun!
I chose Ann Patchett as my author because I liked her style of writing. I read The Magician's Assistant, State of Wonder and Run. I thought that all of her books had a very interesting plot that would pull you in. Her characters are all intriguing and they have very complex developments within her novels. The character relationships are complex and I would recommend paying attention to the development of the characters. The main themes in her books are relationships, loss, and love. Finding evidence to prove your thesis was relatively easy, but I would recommend thinking of many different theses while writing your paper. Her books have a main conflict which the character has to solve, which make it even more intriguing to read. Reading her books did not feel like it was forced, but more like I was reading them on my own. I would recommend Ann Patchett for her fascinating plots and complex characters.
I chose Ann Patchett as my author after reading reviews from prior years and sampling a few of her books. I immediately knew I liked her writing style, as it is modern and very descriptive. You are not left trying to figure out what old fashioned words mean and her books are enjoyable reads. Even if you do not read Patchett for Author Thesis, I would still recommend her books. I read Bel Canto, State of Wonder, and Run. A commonality throughout Patchett’s work seems to be characters learning something new about themselves or finding themselves through relationships with others. The themes I saw in these three novels pertained to relationships, family, learning about one’s identity, loss, and the effect of trauma on a person’s life. I would definitely recommend reading Patchett’s most famous novel, Bel Canto, because it is interesting and you will find yourself invested in the lives of the characters. I saw direct connections between all three of the books, but writing about Patchett’s themes was difficult because they were not all that complicated, so there was not a lot of inferring and proving needed to be done. This made coming up with a controversial and complex thesis a little more difficult, but I would not let this scare you away. You might need to dig a little deeper when brainstorming a thesis, but overall I would suggest Ann Patchett as an author because the reading process was so enjoyable and her themes were prevalent, though a little hard to write about. One tip I have for future students is to write down or place a sticky note when you see a possible quote for your note cards or future paper. Even if you do not do your note cards as you read, it is far harder to look back in the books and find quotes than it is to have already recorded some possible ones.
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