Evaluation

I think Chris Crutcher uses the six traits plus one to an advantage in his writing. First, I’ll start with his ideas and contents. He had a good central theme. His theme to me was that life will have bumps in the road, but you can always pick yourself up and get on with your life. Louie had bumps in his road. He quit the football team to stand up for what he believed in, the principal wouldn’t let him participate in other sport activities, and he lost his girlfriend and yet at the end of the book he was the best two mile runner in Trout and he was able to make me laugh. Also, Chris kept his topic focused on one thing and that was Louie’s life. He never once got of topic. I also believe that the author used his own life experiences and knowledge to write this novel. Next, I would like to talk about his organization. He starts off the book with Louie sometime in the future reminiscing on his past. Then we enter the story which goes in chronological order from there. He had his paces set pretty good I don’t think I ever once caught myself wishing this part was over or that, that part my never end. His conclusions though didn’t really keep me thinking he tied up the book really well. I just wonder will he ever get caught for vandalizing the plaque. Furthermore, Chris Crutcher has a good voice in the story, but at some places the writing seems far off in a cloud. Like the writer was in a daze. The story did want me to read more especially on page 135 when Louie says I mean she’s dead. You’re like what Becky can’t be dead what happen and the words just kept you hooked. The next trait is word choice he had good word choice. He did use slang and other words to liven up his writing. Like the word wussy was used all in the book. It was a word made up by the character, Boomer. “A wussy is a cross between a wimp and a word Boomer’s dad almost beat him senseless for using” (Crutcher 7). To follow, the next trait is sentence fluency which was obviously good for I flew through that book without stumbling over any sentences. He used never had any sentences too long or any too short. There were fragments in there for flair. It was a smooth sailing story. His Conventions were fine I didn’t come across and spelling or grammatical errors. Lastly, we have the trait of presentation. The photo I think helps me at least visualize the hit that occurred at the Salmon River game. The print was easy to read and never gave me a headache. All in all it was a wonderfully written book.