Gwen+Montrose

Hello mrs.Culver, this is Caitlin. I was gone the first time you explained that we had to give you our email to get onto the wiki site AT ALL. So when the last three or so kids went up to put theyre email in I was under the inpression that it was if they simply were having trouble uploading there project. I greatly apllogize for the misconception. This was what I knew to do in hopes that it will work. thank you AP English Outside Novel Project Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier is a tale of time travel and a teen hero. The main character is a sixteen year old girl whose name is Gwen. She is part of the Montrose family, who have a something most other families do not, a time traveling gene. A person carrying the gene will be able to travel in time; this becomes apparent around the age of sixteen or seventeen. While the entire family believes that Gwen’s cousin Charlotte is the next to have the gene, it turns out that Gwen is in fact the one who possesses the timetraveler gene. Gwen is then thrown head first into the world of time travel without any preparation.Found now in the midst of a strange secret society, Gwen joins Gideon de Villier, her time traveler counterpart, in initiating the last other nine of the total twelve time travelers into the chronograph to The Secret of the Twelve. Since this novel is the first in series, we are left at the end with Gwen and Gideon having just had an encounter with Gwen’s great grandmother (an attempt to get her blood to initiate her into the Circle) and now stuck hiding in a confessional in a n old cathedral.Two of the major themes in Ruby Red are secrecy and deceit. Gwen is the protagonist fighting to overcome the massive and frequent obstacles that are the result of secrets. From the beginning, Gwen's mother lies about Gwen's birth date, keeping the truth hidden. An attempt to spare Gwen from the legacy of her ancestors turns out leaving her unprepared for time travel or the idea of a secret society all together. She symbolizes a quest for truth in a counterfeit world. HERO CRITERIA: Gwen is an archetypal mix of both an Epic and Reluctant Hero. this is because she is unbelievably brave but this bravery usually emerges after a period of doubt or uncertainty.  On the Epic side Gwen meets the several criteria: Lineage/special birth, visibility, and license to kill. Being born a Montrose incorporated Gwen into a family line that possesses a time traveling gene that can be passed down. Often throughout the book she is linked to this special lineage in passing implications, often being called special because she “is a Montrose”. The cover page also says this too. On top of that she is the twelfth time traveler, so last in the Circle of Twelve, thus she is called the Ruby by the secret society. Her mother explains this to her on page 110, saying that “ Each of the time travelers is represented by a gemstone. You’re the Ruby.”. Of course the “you’re” here being Gwen. the Epic criteria of visibility if fulfilled when looking at Gwen's characteristics. She is revealed early in the novel as the black sheep in the family. In the Montrose family, all have curly red hair, even her younger siblings “Caroline and Nick inherited the red hair as well, leaving [her] as the only one with dark, straight hair like [her] fathers.” page 32. Gwen also possesses a license to kill like an epic hero..While in the past ,Gwen and Gideon are attacked. Gideon is cornered by three men, though he took one down, the other two were wearing him thin. Seeing this, Gwen decides to take action; she severely injures one of the men, resulting in saving Gideon. “[She] clasped the hilt of the sword and ran at him...they didn't notice [her] until the sword had sliced through the black coat that one of them was wearing and slid soundlessly into his flesh.” page 244. After this,Gwen calls herself a murderer several times, but her best friend Leslie reminds her that she had to cut the man first before he cut her up. Gideon also thanks Gwen for saving him, because he needed her help. Gwen had the right to kill because she had to protect herself and Gideon, who have to remain alive or the Circle of Twelve will fall apart. The action was very Beowulf in that she was willing to put herself in danger to save another. Here there is a glimpse of reluctant heroism because her effort to save another put her in danger and peril. Gwen meets the criteria of a reluctant hero again, in that she is suddenly thrust into heroic position, she has a guide (companion), and she must learn as she goes. Since Gwens cousin Charlotte was expected to have the gene, she was never prepared for any of this time traveling business. upon her first and unexpected trip back in time Gwen remembers a comment her cousin made: “I’d know what to do.Charlotte's words were still echoing in my ears. Of course Charlotte would have known what to do. But no one had told me.” page 42. on page 146 Gwen is even told directly that “It is going to be difficult to make up all the ground [she’s] lost these past few years.”. Gideon de Villier is Gwen's guide/companion, since he has been trained, he helps her through some of the tricky situations and time travel altogether. He has been so extensively trained, even his hobbies are classical skills, “like Latin, dancing the gavotte, and driving horse drawn carriages...” even “playing the violin” page 236. An example of his superior knowledge base would be when they are in a house speaking to Paul de Villiers (the bad guy long story short) and the situation turns bad when they find out this trip back in time was a trap. We know that gideon had anticipated this and we see Gwen realize he had done so when she says “ He was right. We had fallen into a trap.” page 305. He quickly “ [holds] [her] close to him with one arm”, leads her to the front door, and once there, orders her to run. Taking heed saves her from being shot; she depends on Gideon heavily at this point, in order to stay alive.

__How to speak like Gwen Montrose:__

Example of this is seen when Gwen is about to meet her ancestors and doesn't know what to do. She asks “ what could i say to make him or her take me to a member of the family ? Maybe great-great-great-great-uncle Hugh was still alive? Or already alive? “ Since she has to learn as she goes, Gwen must think of all possibilities, go through the options quickly in order to be as prepared for what's about to happen as possible. this is exactly what she is doing here. So you must also ask many questions about what is going on, what could happen, and what you would do. This is an especially important step when you are in a new situation with a lot of unknowns; in those situations this will help turn those unknowns into knowns.  Example of this is in Gwen's statement after stabbing a man. “For a frightful moment, I thought I must have missed- maybe I’d run the sword through the gap between the man's body and his arm.”. Here she uses aporia, doubting one's own thoughts or actions, when she assumes she missed the guy as opposed to the simple and true fact that a sharp sword slides through a body easily.It is like a double check to see if your in reality. You can do this by prohibiting yourself from jumping to conclusions, or jumping the gun; which will allow you to keep a level head if what you've just done or seen is traumatic.
 * Step One: Ask questions **
 *  Step Two: Second guess yourself **

 An example of this is when Gwen realizes what she has started by ringing the doorbell of her ancestors house back in time and when she thinks she has killed a man. Both times, at moment of realization, she exclaims this. By frequent usage of this statement we gain an understanding that Gwen is taking in large amounts of information in and it occasionally overloads her. When she has reached a new maximum she says “Oh my God!”. A good time to take this step is when you too have reached your maximum for absorption of new information and occurrence of traumatic events. It is a coping mechanism that allows you to press on through ever changing situations and overcome fear.  An example of this lies in Gwen’s statement at the end of her rant directed toward Gideon after he called her a normal/average girl. “If you've been trained for your life as a time traveler only half as long as Charlotte, then you’ve had no time to make any friends at all, and tour opinion of what you call average girls comes from observations you made when you were standing about the school yard alone.”. This sentence is 51 words separated by commas, showing Gwen’s intense passion at this time. Rambling is very beneficial when trying to stall or get everything you want to say out without the recipient interrupting. It makes the recipient a bit sidetracked as well.
 * Step Three: Often exclaim “Oh, my God!” **
 * Step Four: Ramble when you're nervous or passionate **

 Example is when Gwen saves Gideon: “ I clasped the hilt of my sword in both hands and ran at him, ignoring Gideons shocked expression. The men didn't hear me coming. they didn't notice me until the sword had sliced through the black coat that one of them was wearing and slid soundlessly through his flesh. For a frightful moment, I thought I must have missed- maybe I’d run the sword through the gap between the man's body and his arm. But then his breathing slowed. He let go of his weapon and dropped to the ground like a felled tree. I couldn't bring myself to release the hilt of the sword until he was lying there, nearly dead.” page 244 paragraph 3. Gwen is seen here using very vivid predicates to describe what she is doing. She uses “clasped...sliced....slid..dropped”. Each emphasizes the characteristic of bravery being shown by Gwen, who proceeds to kill a man in order to save Gideon despite the fact that she is wholly untrained to do so
 * Step Five: Predicate strong **

__<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Conclusion to steps: __ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">When you are tossed into a new situation that requires bravery and quick thinking, and level headedness from you, it would be wise to take these steps to get through it. This type of situation might be criminal investigating. To do this well one must be able to question every aspect of a crime, ask questions that lead them to an answer and when dealing with a potentially harmful criminal they might need to be able to talk for a while and stall while the rest of the team finds a solution.