Quiz

1.What connection does Asmol make between the land covered with seawater and Pobby and Dingan? Why is that important to the story?

In chapter 9 in the book, Ashmol has a metal description saying "all this land where Lightning Ridge is now once covered by seawater and how all kinds of sea creatures had been found fossilized in the rock. I felt a shiver go down my spine..... Suddenly I thought how maybe if this amazinging was true it was just possible Pobby and Dingan were true too". Ashmol thinks that if the assumption of saying the town is once covered by sea water if true, then Pobby and Dingan can also be true. Because the town he lives is covered by desert entirely, it's hard to think about the land has ever been covered by water. Ashmol doesn't believe Kellyanne's friends are in reality, but this time by remembering what Dad has said, he realizes that everything is possible. Therefore Pobby and Dingan probably exist in the world. What's more, he doesn't want his sister to think that she has such a brother who "didn't believe anything". At least he can have a try to explore in the opal mine and maybe he is able to find something incredible in it.

This part is so important because it's like a plot showing how Ashmol changes his mind and attitude towards Pobby and Dingan. In the previous chapters, Ashmol is hardly believe what Kellyanne says. He doesn't believe anything about Pobby and Dingan. He thinks they are ridiculous. But after seeing his ill sister and remembering what Dad has ever told him, he realizes that if the whole world can be changed entirely during a long period of time, then nothing is impossible. Maybe his sister is right, maybe he himself just never notices Pobby and Dingan. This part Ashmol's attitude towards the two invisible friends has changed and after that Ashmol convinces that they do exist in the world. And thus he wants to help Kellyanne to hold a funeral for Pobby and Dingan in the next chapter.

2. In the very end of the novel, Ashmol talks about what it’s like to “believe in something which is hard to see. Or to keep looking for something that’s totally hard to find.” Discuss the importance of imagination and dreams in this novel. Why are they so important even if they cannot be seen. Consider what dreams Rex, the father, and Annie, the mother, have in the story. Consider, also, the dream that Ashmol has. How do those "unseen" dreams connect to Kellyanne's belief in Pobby and Dingan?

Imagination and dreams are always essential for people because they give us hope to life. They cannot be seen absolutely, but without them people won't have any enthusiasm to live or work. If we don't believe in anything, life will be boring and lack of creativity. Looking back at the history, if people didn't have any beliefs or imaginations for future, would computers, air planes and something else be invented? Certainly no. We need imagination and dreams to keeping working and exploring. In this novel, if the Williamson family has neither imagination nor dreams for life, they may be involved in such a bad situation forever- Dad is called "a ratter" without finding any opal and Kellyanne is dying because of the lost of friends. Only if they have hope and dream to for future can they get rid of this embarrassing condition. And everyone in the family is able to turn better.

Rex Williamson:

As a man in a family, he takes his family members to Lightning Ridge, where it is all covered by desert. He eagers to become rich by looking for opals like everyone else in the town in order to make a comfortable living condition for his wife and children. Also he wants his children to grow up healthily, so he cares a lot about Kellyanne. In his mind, to become a rich guy is important, but also family members are even more important than anything else.

Ashmol Williamson:

Ashmol wants to see his family members all healthy and happy. He doesn't want to lose any of them. He knows his mom is missing home, so he wants to sell the opal for a holiday for his mom. When he know his sister is really weak, he feels upset and anxious. He tries his best to make Kellyanne feel better. He also eagers to prove that his Dad is innocent, so he comes up with an idea by converting people's attention from Dad to Pobby and Dingan. The only dream he has is to have a happy family.

Those "unseen" dreams are sort of reflected in Kellyanne's belief in Pobby and Dingan. She believes Dingan has an opal belly button. She thinks Pobby and Dingan are always happy. That means she also wants everyone in the family is happy and full of hope to future.

A journey for one person

     As soon as I went back home, I immediately came up with a idea: why not travel to somewhere alone? Then I just made a quick decision and booked a train ticket to Xiamen Cirty, which is a city located in Fujian Province. I didn't expect too much at first about traveling alone, since I was still 16 years old and could not book any hotel. But my dad just agreed with my idea and said I could just go to Xiamen and live in his friend's apartment. That was great! So I spent a whole day preparing all the stuff for my journey.

     When I got there, the strongest feeling I got was excitement. Xiamen City left me a familiar emotion and I didn't know why. I could just take a bus and go somewhere like I was so familiar to any place without any help. I visited Ximen University at first. I had to say when I was young, I'd ever dreamed to enter this famous University. But I just chose to study abroad as I grew up, it was kind of regretful, though. And then in the afternoon, I took a ferry and left for a well-known island, Gulangyu Island.

     Gulangyu Island was so popular because of its rich history and different kinds of old buildings left. It was also popular because there were many local unique and delicious snacks. Visitors were always happy to have a taste of these snacks. I had lunch at first and bought a map, then I began my "exploration". However, I should've realized that maps would never work. I could always got lost no matter the maps showed how specific indicators were. And this time, fortunately like before, I got lost in an alley.

     It was an alley with old buildings with stones and old banyans. There was no any other sound except my breath and and the sounds of my foorsteps. Why there was no one else in this alley except me? Was this a strange alley that nobody had ever visited and so I was the first one to discover it? Or was it a scary alley where there were some supernatural things happened? I hoped not. And as lucky as I was, there was a little dog sitting at the road and looking at me. I thought it must belong to someone else. It had yellow fur and a pair of big black eyes. I was not terrified any more because of this cute animal. Finally I found an old lady sitting in front of her house by following the lovely dog. She showed my the way clearly to seaside and told me that I just went in an alley which was seldom visited by tourists. It was absolutely not a supernatural alley.

     I thought it was the most memorial thing I had on the whole journey. It was the first time that I got lost in an alley and had such an interesting experience. Maybe many years later I would still remember there was an old alley with old buildings and banyans. It was silent because there was almost nobody walking along. It was silent also because there were only a dog, an old lady and me.

Descriptions about Pobby and Dingan

     As Kellyanne says, "[Pobby and Dingan] didn't look like anything in particular" (Rice 41), but I know it's a boy, and it is round and short. He has one wooden leg because he his leg was injured before, and thus "Pobby had a limp in his right leg" (Rice 41). Unlike Pobby, Dingan is tall and has long beautiful hair. "Dingan had a lovely opal in her bellybutton, only you had to be a certain kind of person to see it" (Rice 41). It's obvious that Dingan is very beautiful because opals are very beautiful and shiny under the sun. As for their personalities, Pobby is quiet and shy, maybe because his leg was hurt before, and, if anyone speaks loudly, he would probably get startled. Dingan may be more outgoing. However, both of them "don’t sleep and they don’t shoot. They’re pacifists" (Rice 49). Therefore, I may feel comfortable spending time with them, if they are in reality. 

     These two friends are just like Kellyanne herself, I think. Pobby is like a Kellyanne who remains a introval outsider. A wooden and a limp leg probably presents her personalities- sensitive and emotional;  and Dingan, who is like a Kellyanne who our little Kellyanne really wants to be- beautiful and outgoing. Pobby and Dingan are figments in Kellyanne's imaginary, but they present different sides of her personalities. They are kind of paradoxical, but both of them are real Kellyanne. Kellyanne may not have any pcychological problem, she just doesn't know how to face the reality fearlessly like other kids.

Vocabularies

1. claim

noun

When Dad left for the claim one morning he volunteered to take Pobby and Dingan with him to get some exercise while Kellyanne was at school.

It is a place where Dad works.

2. wobbling

adj.

The noise of a car drove into our ears and a four-wheel-drive police jeep came wobbling down the creamy red track that leads to our claim.

=shaking

3. startled

verb

My dad turned around, startled.

=astonish

=shock

4. figment

noun

I walked over to where Pobby was supposed to be sitting and punched the air and kicked the air in the head to show Kellyanne that Pobby was a figment of her imaginings.

Something that is in one's imagination

5. rummaged

verb

He rummaged through piles of rocks. He looked behind trees, in front of trees, up trees and down trees.

Search haphazardly

6. ute

noun

One time he even took Kellyanne, Pobby and Dingan out to the Bore Baths in the ute.

A kind of big truck.

7. crackpot

noun

Lightning Ridge was full of flaming crackpots as far as I could see.

Weird person

8. Mello Yello

noun

I said, hiding my anger in a swig from my can of Mello Yello.

It's a kind of juice.

9. mates

noun

"I'm looking for my daughter’s imaginary friends and you’d better bloody well believe it, mate!”

=partner

10. opal

noun

My dad would come back from the opal mines covered in dust, his beard like the back end of a dog that’s shat all over its tail.

A precious stone.

11. grub

noun

She said they were quieter and better behaved than me and deserved the grub.

Informal term for a meal.

12. fossilized

adj.

There’s rumours going that Lucky Jes has taken out a million-dollar stone and a fossilized mammoth.

Being ossificated

13. mammoth

noun

There’s rumours going that Lucky Jes has taken out a million-dollar stone and a fossilized mammoth

An animal which looks like an elephant, but it has long tusks and long hair.

14. fairdinkum

adj.

“Fairdinkum?”

=Reliable

=very good

15. imaginary

adj.

Now, I was as much a rockhound as the next kid, but I wasn’t crazy enough to talk to imaginary friends, I’ll tell you that for nothing.

Not real.

Pobby and Dingan

     In my opinion, I don't think Pobby and Dingan are real in the world. In the book Ashmol once says to his dad, "Dad, what the hell are you doing? You know all that Pobby and Dingan stuff’s just horseshit! She’ll never grow out of it if you talk like that!” It shows that all of the family members are clear that Kellyanne's friends-Pobby and Dingan-do not really exist at all. What's more, even the neighbors know that Pobby and Dingan are imaginary friends, because Old Sid says "You can talk about invisible people as much as you like" to Ashmol's dad. Also, Dad says “She don’t seem to get on with the other kids around here too much”. It is because Kellyanne always stay with her imaginary friends and has no connection with other classmates, which makes her look autistic. It is a obvious that Pobby and Dingan are in Kellyanne's imagination and are created by her in order to avoid having conversations with others in reality.

     However, I'm kind of frustrated when I finished reading the end of chapter 1 and chapter 2. Why does Dad greet to Pobby and Dingan one day and even take them to school, and therefore Ashmol cannot get into the car? And why Dad takes Kellyanne and Ashmol to the claim to look for these unreal friends? It seems that Dad believes Pobby and Dingan are visible. If they really are, why cannot Ashmol see them but only Dad and Ashmol can? In a matter of fact, chapter 2 remains unclear to me.

About my final draft

     From my first draft about the novel Me and You and the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's to my final draft, there are several things I improved. First of all, I added more quotations into my body paragraphs and corrected my citations about those quotes, which made my paragraphs stronger and well-proved. According to the peer feedbacks from Lillian and Jerry, I added topic and ending sentences into each body paragraph so that the whole paragraphs look clearer than before it was. Also, I deleted many summaries about the two different stories and put more analysis instead. What's more, I corrected my grammatical problems and simplified some phrases to make them less wordy. There are also some corrections about how to write the titles for the book and the movie. For example, when writing a title for a book, I need to underline the title, whereas I need to make the title italicized when writing a title for a movie. These are basic things but are all very important for me to notice.