Lucas' Thing

A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett

It says my name is Lucas McSports because I have a sports blog on blogger, so... ya.

1. I recommend you read this book for these two reasons:
a) It is a very magical fantasy world that you will enjoy reading about, much like Harry Potter.
b) You will love the plot because it is very gripping, it's one of those books you can't put down.

2. I recommend you don't read this book for these two reasons:
a) It is much too short, it felt like the author could have wrote 1000 pages more.
b) The end of the book is confusing and doesn't do a good job of summing up everything that went on in the book.

3. If I were to cast one or two major characters from my book in a movie, I would choose the following actors for these reasons: Uma Thurman could play the witch, Mistress Weatherwax, because every movie needs a little eye candy, but more importantly because she reminds me of someone who you could dress up to look a lot like a witch. The main character, Tiffany Aching, is a much younger witch, so I'd get Miley Cyrus to be her. She is perfect for the role because lots of young girls and Prabh would come to watch our movie just to see her and we'd make lots of money. Lastly, I'd make Nac Mac Feegle, the leader of the Wee Free Men, be played by Mike Myers because the character is Scottish and Mike is great at acting Scottish.

4. The opening or closing shot of a movie based on this book would look like this for these reasons: At the end of my book, Tiffany defeats an evil, deadly ghost and the last scene is everyone smiling and laughing. In the movie, I would make the last scene all the main and supporting characters surrounding Tiffany while they all sing "Rockstar" by Hannah Montana, because this shows the viewer that Tiffany is a hero and everyone is happy (if you haven't already realized this, the movie would be made by Disney).

5. In a movie based on this book, I would choose this piece(s) of music played this way for a particularly significant moment (explain) and why. I already talked about Rockstar, so I think I'll talk about the other significant song in my movie: during Tiffany's confrontation with the ghost, I would play the song "Thriller" by Michael Jackson because it would get everyone in a scared mood, but at the same time, it would be appropriate for a kids movie and it would slightly ease the tension.

6. Write a short piece (300 words) in the style of this author and explain how your piece is similar. Tiffany wasn't very happy to be living in her new big house. The floorboards creaked and groaned like a ghoul and she swore she could see random things floating around the house, which she realized must be the friendly butler, who was a poltergeist. Her room was too small, and a large bookshelf made it seem even smaller, although Tiffany could live with this for she enjoyed reading a lot. She found a book to her liking called "Magical Potions, and How to Make Them", which she started thumbing through until she found a page entitled 'Love Potion: Make your crush love you in no time flat'. She though about Harold and realized she must make this potion. Unfortunately, the house she now inhabited did not have these ingredients, and she decided to sneak out. She knew she should not do this because her Sixth Sense detected something bad, but she went against her gut feeling and snuck out, ingredient list in hand. The reason I wrote like this is because the author frequently gave big descriptions of things, like her new house and room. Also, Pratchett liked using similes and metaphors, so I included one. I included the bit about the poltergeist because every scene in A Hat Full Of Sky was very fantastical and magical, so I decided to add a magical creature to the scene. In the novel, Pratchett quite frequently made characters read through books, and it actually has a lot to do with the plot in most cases. In my scene, I believe I made her finding the book a big part of the plot because it caused her to sneak out of the house, which would be an easy time to advance the plot. I made Tiffany have a crush because in the novel she has a lot of crushes that never last and she's always trying to thing of magical ways to get guys to like her. In the book, she has a Sixth Sense, which tells her if what she's doing is right or wrong so I included that. And lastly, Pratchett frequently writes about Tiffany being a troublemaker, and sneaking out in my passage showed she was a troublemaker.

7. Write your own alternate ending to the book and explain why. And she had been captured by the ghost. As she got ready for an attack, however, the ghost said, "Hello, I'm James." Tiffany was taken by surprise and stuttered, "T-T-Tiffany." James asked, "Why were you running away from me? Everyone does..." Tiffany said, "I thought you were going to attack me." "Really? I try to be nice but everyone, but no one gives me a chance," said the ghost (played by Zac Efron). "Let's all be friends," said everyone at the same time, and everyone was happy forever and ever. The reason I didn't like the ending in the book is because there was no twist, it was bland and predictable in that the ghost was evil, and Tiffany defeats him. Big friggin' surprise. My story is better because it is not so easy to predict, and it is a nice twist that the ghost that was supposed to be evil the whole book was actually a good ghost.

8. Write a short dramatic monologue in the voice of the character in the novel, at a time when you wanted to hear their internal thoughts. This is from when Nac Mac Feegle thought he had let the ghost kill his friend Tiffney. "Well, I guess I shouldn't be sad because as our saying goes, 'No use crying over spilled blood.' But still, she was supposed to be our queen, and I feel that I've let all the Wee Free Men down. 'Tis a sad day in the bunny hole that we live in, and now we must find a new queen. But how I loved Tiffeny, or Big Rat as we called her. I am so terrible, I let her die. How will I break this to the guys?"

9. Pick up the story in the future and keep going; then explain the logic of your narrative. 'Well, now that humans, witches and ghosts live peacefully together, there is no more conflict on The Chalk. Tiffeny died many years ago of pneumonia just like Bernie Mac, and married James, the ghost that she met while she was still alive. Weatherwax became the new queen of the Wee Free Men. Statues of James and Tiffeny were put all over town to commemorate the big achievement of uniting living and non-living beings. The Wee Free Men have found a new queen and everything is, and always will be, peaceful.' I think this is a good narrative because it shows that what Tiffeny and James did were greatly influential to the world around them. I thought it was essential that she died and married James just because it fulfils her always wanting a boyfriend during the book.

10. If your book is non-fiction, explain whether you think the author is biased in his/her version of the facts described and why. Sorry, it's fiction.