Literature Step by Step Wicked Essay

Theme In the novel Step by Wicked Step by Anne Fine, the theme that can be found is surviving divorce and remarriage The first challenge is getting used to complicated living arrangements. Ralph had to remember whose house to go to on different days of the week. He ended up having two different lunch boxes to remind him where to go. Another challenge is to accept a stepparent and stepsiblings. Pixie had a tough time trying to get along with her  stepsisters, Hetty and Sophie. She was annoyed when she had to share a room with Hetty The last challenge is loyalty. Claudia was not friendly to Stella at first because she did not want to hurt her  mother. She was worried that being nice to Stella would mean that she is disloyal to her mother It is not easy to cope with divorce and remarriage. It takes a lot of patience, tolerance and acceptance Most Interesting Character In the novel Step by Wicked Step by Anne Fine, the most interesting character is Pixie Pixie is interesting because she is smart. She was the first to realize what the five pupils had in common Besides that, Pixie is very imaginative. She is able to create ghost stories to scare Hetty from staying in the same room with her Pixie is outspoken and honest. She tells Lucy exactly what she thought of  her daughters. She also told Lucy that she hated pretending that everything is all right Pixie is interesting because she is smart, imaginative, outspoken and honest One Moral Value In the novel Step by Wicked Step by Anne Fine, a moral value that can be found is love and devotion The first character who showed love and devotion is Richard’s mother. She spent a lot of money seeking for  Richard although she had to suffer  Reverend Coldstone’s anger and disapproval. Another character who demonstrated love and devotion is Charlotte. She continued her mother’s search for her  brother, Richard. Since she did not have any money, she married a rich man she did not love at 16. Colin showed love and devotion too. He kept his Dad’s tobacco tin and hummed their favorite song. He does three paper rounds to earn money to search for his Dad when he is old enough These characters have greatly showed their love and devotion. They proved that people will do anything for the ones they love A Memorable Incident In the novel Step by Wicked Step by Anne Fine, a memorable incident is the death of  Richard’s father The first change that Richard had to face is his mother’s marriage to Reverend Coldstone. Richard hated his stepfather  because he enforced strict rules and made Richard feels that his house was like a prison. He also sent Richard away to Mordanger School for four years Another change is betrayal. Richard felt that his mother had betrayed him when she allowed Reverend Coldstone to treat him  badly. He also felt betrayed when Charlotte persuaded him not to hate his stepfather Finally, Richard decided to run away and vanish. His departure caused financial ruin and heartbreak to his mother and sister. His mother spent a lot of money to search for  him. Charlotte married a man she did not love to continue the search after their  mother died The death of Richard’s father brought about a lot of changes to Richard’s family. Most of them are sorrowful. From this incident, we must remember that we should be courageous in difficult times and not let others suffer from our bad decisions Problems Faced By A Character In the novel Step by Wicked Step by Anne Fine. Colin had a few problems and had his own ways of overcoming them The first problem that Colin had is when his mother suddenly decided to move away without his dad’s knowledge. He was always waiting for his dad to come to see them but he never did. So, he wrote a letter to his dad, but he never received any reply Another problem is Colin missed his dad very much. Colin consoled himself by pretending his dad was around. He would put his dad’s tobacco tin under his pillow, hummed their  favorite song and finally unscrewed the lid of the tin to take in the smell of his dad Colin wants to find his dad. But he cannot do it now as he does not have enough money and is not old enough. So, he does three paper  rounds to save enough money to find his dad when he is older Problems are common in life. We must think  carefully of how we want to solve it so that the consequences of our decision will not trouble others Compare Two Characters In the novel Step by Wicked Step by Anne Fine, I choose two compare two characters that are similar Richard and Colin The first similarity is both Richard and Colin are missing their fathers. Richard’s father  died of an illness while Colin was missing his father after his mother decided to move away without his father’s knowledge Another similarity is their mothers ignore both of them. Richard’s mother did not defend him when Reverend Coldstone treated him badly. Colin missed his dad a lot but his mother did not seem to be aware of how Colin felt Both Richard and Colin decided to run away to make things work. Richard ran away from home as he thought that his action would make life more pleasant for everyone. Colin wants to run away to find his dad whom he misses a lot. He does three paper rounds to save money and will leave when he is old enough The two characters suffered much pain and sorrow. No one cared how they felt. Running away is not a solution. But, it may have been the best option for the both of them, as they had no one to advise them Point Of View In the novel Step by Wicked Step by Anne Fine, the story is mostly written in the first person point of view Richard wrote his story in his diary/album so it is in the first person point of view. We as readers learn of the events in his life through his eyes. We know from his writing that he had come home to find Charlotte’s letter, but we do not whether he decided to stay or leave Old Harwick Hall Claudia, too, told her story through her point of view. We only know her feelings and thoughts and not of her mother, father, granny and Stella. We know that Claudia sympathized Stella for the guests’ cold treatment, but we do not know how Stella truly felt Pixie also tells her story through her own point of view. We know all her thoughts as she speaks. For instance, from her point of  view, we find that the actions of the other  characters annoy her. Pixie is annoyed with most of Hetty’s actions like calling her  Priscilla, rolling the cat on the carpet like a sausage and sniffing while reading Writing the story in the first point of view helps us as readers to understand the story better. We get first-hand knowledge of the characters’ feelings, thoughts and decisions A Character That Changed After An Event In the novel Step by Wicked Step by Anne Fine, a character that has changed due to certain events in his life is Colin Colin changed into an unhappy and lonely boy when his mother decided to move. He had to start at another school. It was an unpleasant experience as everyone ignored him as they had their own set of friends already. Besides that, his mother was busy with work and was always too tired to listen to Colin’s problems Colin became a dreamy boy because he missed his dad. Every night, he would hold on to his dad’s tobacco tin and hum their  favorite song. He pretended his dad was around. This habit caused him to have less focus in class and do badly in school Being apart from his dad made Colin become very resourceful. He did three paper rounds to earn enough money to search for his dad when he is old enough At first, Colin responded negatively to the changes in his life. He was sad and dreamy. But at last, he decided that he must do something in order to see his dad again. This shows that he is optimistic and is determined in finding his dad Family And Relationship Portrayed In the novel Step by Wicked Step by Anne Fine, Richard’s family is portrayed to have a strong sense of love Richard showed that he had strongly loved his family. Although he ran away and vanished, he still came by the house twice to catch a glimpse of his mother and sister Richard’s mother, Lilith was the first to show her love and devotion. She spent a fortune seeking for Richard and suffered Reverend Coldstone’s anger as their money lessened. She died of broken heart because of her  undying love for her son, Richard Charlotte, too, showed her love and devotion. She wanted to keep searching for Richard after her mother’s death, but had no money of  her own. So, she married a rich man she did not love because he promised to help her find Richard Love leads to reunion and healing in a family. We should love our family unconditionally and be prepared to make sacrifices for them An Interesting Event In the novel Step by Wicked Step by Anne Fine, an event that I find interesting is when Robbo gave Dumpa an ice lolly This event is interesting because it showed how smart kids could be. Robbo gave the ice lolly to Dumpa because he wanted Dumpa to not be out in the cold. However, Dumpa outsmarted them by not eating it and stayed outside with Roy It is also interesting because it led Robbo, Callie and their mother talking realistically about their conflict. Robbo said that he was fed up with the whole situation and Callie confessed that she could never get along with Roy Lastly, this event is interesting because it brought a good change to Robbo’s family. Callie wanted to move to their dad’s house, so their mother helped made it more comfortable for her. In return, their dad agreed to look  after Dumpa to let their mother and Roy have a break It is important for all of us to be honest to each other. Pretending that everything is all right will not make things better. But once everyone is honest about their feelings, it is easier to make things work for everybody A Character That I Admire In the novel Step by Wicked Step, written by Anne Fine, the character that I admire is Claudia. There are many reasons why I admire her very much First of all, I admire Claudia because she is a gentle person. Listening to Richard’s sad story makes her weep. Besides, she is loyal to her mother. She tries not to sound too happy when speaking to her father because she does not want to hurt her mother’s feeling. She rejects Stella and refuses to enjoy her time with her father out of loyalty to her mother. She knows that her parent’s break-up is serious even though her mother sounded cheerful Apart from that, I really admire Claudia because she is a fair and sensible person. She does not blame Stella for her parents’ break-up. At the dinner party, she thinks that the guests are rude for not appreciating Stella’s hard work. She realizes that ignoring Stella would not help solving matters between her parents. Feeling sorry for Stella who is being ignored by the guests, she decides to help her get accepted by showing off the green pajamas that Stella gave her. In a nutshell, the character that I admire from Step by Wicked Step is Claudia because she is gentle, loyal, fair and sensible. I think we could learn a lot from her character. In The Midst Of Hardship Scratches – Cuts on the body/limbs Despair – Hopelessness Horrendous – Awful, dreadful Bloated – Swollen Carcasses – Dead bodies Chips – Broken pieces