Every Hidden Thing Analysis

To be an effective reader, one must utilize the numerous reading strategies to fully comprehend each line of a text and grasp the larger ideas. The novel “Every Hidden Thing” by Kenneth Oppel provides countless opportunities for me to stop and reflect on my reading. Before I started reading the novel, I looked at the cover and was able to predict that the storyline revolves around paleontology and romance. These predictions prompted me to continue reading the story to determine if my predictions were accurate. Visualization is another extremely effective reading strategy I utilized during my reading. In the text, Samuel states, “It was surprisingly lush along the brown, slow-curving river lined with cottonwoods and tall grass and flowers.

The grasshoppers were so loud they could’ve been snakes.” The author’s excellent use of descriptive vocabulary and the senses of touch, sight, and sound helped me to easily and effectively create mental images of the characters, settings, and events in the text. Questioning is yet another comprehension strategy that is very effective to understand a piece of text. A question I asked myself was, “How might have the Pawnee felt after Cartland’s team took the heads of the deceased Sioux from the funeral platforms?”. The expressionless faces of the Pawnee guides made me question as to how they might have truly felt. If I were to ask myself the same question in a different way, I may have gotten a more accurate answer thus opening up more opportunities to understand the text. Connections have led me to understand and get a clearer picture to visualize the setting of the novel. The description of the badlands in the story reminds me of my experience at the Grand Canyon. By further connecting the text to other texts and to the world around me, I can get a broader view of what the text is implying. Using clues from the text and my background knowledge has led me to create excellent guesses and