By: Courtney Ruhno

In the A Serious of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket, http://www.lemonysnicket.com/, the book provides an interesting twist with the author and the narrator being the same person and showing flickers into his life and mentioning a woman called Beatrice, making him a very mysterious man. The first book is called The Bad Beginning and since the author indicates no time or actual place that this story occurs but demonstrates  aspects of daily life that occur today it is considered to be contemporary realistic fiction. However this book does have aspects of mystery within the storyline.  At the very beginning of the book the author and narrator warns that these are indeed unfortunate events and in turn will not have a happy ending.

The main characters of this story are the three Baudelaire siblings. Violet Baudelaire is oldest and is 14 years old being known for her inventing skills. Klaus Baudelaire is 12 years old and because he is a massive bookworm, he seems to almost know everything and everything.   Finally the youngest is Sunny Baudelaire who is just a baby and teething during this time making her teeth exceptionally powerful.

The story starts off with one very unfortunate event, while the three of them where at the briny beach one day, their parents banker, Arthur Poe arrives with news that their parents have perished in a fire at their mansion that day.  Because Arthur Poe was in charge of the estate, it was his duty to find a home for the new orphans.  On doing so Mr. Poe tells them that their parents requested that they would be taken care of by the closest relative.  However, Mr. Poe confuses this meaning thinking that closest means distance traveled, thus they get sent to live with Count Olaf who is a stage actor, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWB1HGnA3tA .

At arrival they are greeted first by his neighbor, Justice Strauss, who is a judge on the high court. She escorts them to the door with an image of a glaring eye and wishes them good luck.  Not being there long they discover that Count Olaf is only after their inheritance which Violet gets when she turns 18. When Olaf learns that he will not get the money he ceases to pretend to be friendly and makes them do all the house work and serve his crew of people with unique features.

Soon it is discovered by the three children that Count Olaf has finally thought of a scheme that might allow him to have all of their money after discussing all night with his acting crew.  He has created a play called The Marvelous Marriage, casting himself as the groom, Violet as the bride, and his neighbor Justice Strauss as the officiator making it a legal ceremony in disguise.  Count Olaf then locks the youngest, Sunny, in a birdcage threatening harm to her unless Violet goes along with the show. 

On the night of the performance, Klaus and Violet are continuously prevented from talking to Mr. Poe or Justice Strauss about the evil plan that is about to take place.  Thinking fast, Violet attempts one final time to foul the evil plot and signed the document with her left hand instead of her right which is her “own hand” and in which that law requires the document to be signed in to be legalized.  Once the signature had been made Count Olaf declares that the performance is over and that Violet is his legal wife.  While the audience was appalled, Justice Strauss announces that the ceremony was legal much to her dismay that she had been tricked.  Violet joyfully announces that Justice Strauss is wrong and that she signed the document with her wrong hand.  With Count Olaf’s plan failed, Mr. Poe tries to arrest him but Olaf had another trick up his sleeve.  One of the members of his crew turned off the lights causing confusion and letting Count Olaf escape but not before he promises Violet that he will get their fortune in the end. 

After the excitement calmed down Justice Strauss offers to adopt the three children but Mr. Poe objects saying that it is against their parents’ wishes.  So the story ends with the three Baudelaire children saying goodbye to Justice Strauss and walking off with Mr. Poe to find another relative to take them in.

Plot Summary

 Accurately identifies and describes genre, with evidence, as well as provides a brief plot summary (2 to 4 paragraphs). 

Textual Elements

Strategically and accurately draws on some or all of the following literary elements (this is not an exhaustive list – feel free to expand this). Please reference and/or include evidence from the book to support ideas expressed.

1. Plot
2. Setting
3. Characters
4. Point of view
5. Theme
6. Text/Font choices
1.      Cites references in proper MLA parenthetical style

Artistic Elements 

If a Picture Book you also need to include this section, otherwise simply delete it. Strategically and accurately describes some or all of the following artistic elements (this is not an exhaustive list – feel free to expand this). Select and link and/or upload 1-2 illustrations to support analysis: 

1. Media and Technique
2. Style of Art
3. Composition
4. Placement on page of Illustrations
5. Line, shape, texture, color, and design
6. Use of Negative Space
7. Placement on page of Text
8. Text design
1.      Cites references in proper MLA parenthetical style. 

Analysis and Critique

Numbered Points are elements that should be included in a complete book entry. 

1. Literary  and  artistic effectiveness
2. Author’s perspective, voice, and style
3. Social relevancy
4. Overt and/or hidden messages
5. Interpretation is primarily one’s own.
1.      Cites any resources used in analysis in proper MLA parenthetically and lists them correctly in REFERENCES section. 

Citation

Picture Book Citation

Last Name, First Name. Book Title. Illus. Illustrator First and Last Name. City of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication.

One Author (No Illustrator)

Last Name, First Name. Book Title. City of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication.

Two or More Authors: 1)  List the names in the order they appear on the title page. 2) Only the first author's name should be reversed: Last Name, First Name. 3) Use a comma between the           authors' names. Place a period after the last author's name.

Last Name, First Name and 2nd Author First Name Last Name. Book Title. City of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication.

References

Will need to look up format for the type of source used.