The description in chapters 4 and 5 really caught my attention. Specifically, in chapter 4, I also saw examples of Gaiman’s pacing, which is similar to some of the revisions I need to do in my work. At the beginning of chapter 4, the narrator and Lettie hunt for the spirit, but Lettie needs to find specific objects to lead them to it. The first object is a blue flower, which Gaiman describes within about two-three sentences. Each object after this is given one identifier (i.e., “something red”), and then a short, one sentence description of what it is. While I’m not sure I can be this brief in my own writing, it did make me think of the delicate balance between advancing the plot and taking time for description. Gaiman understands the importance of these objects, but feels as though a short, one sentence description of them would tell the reader all the information they’d need to know, which is true. We don’t need to have three sentences about how the blood of a vole is red, we just need to know that the red that they were looking for was from a vole. I also liked how Gaiman gives us a guide through this chapter, unlike the previous chapters. In the prior chapters, our narrator was simply recalling what had happened and gave us some context as to the events that were happening. In chapter 4, Lettie takes the narrator by the hand and leads us through. We have very little context as to what is happening, yet Lettie takes us by the hand and guides us through the chapter as well as some brief, yet important information. Chapter 5, on the other hand, really focuses on description, just see how Gaiman describes the process of pulling out the worm. Yuck. It’s a short chapter, only three pages, yet it’s an intimate moment with the narrator. As he says on page 47, “worms were just something that happened to people”. This quote reminds us that he is just a child, despite the circumstances. It may not seem like an important chapter, but the ending brings up a point about self-identity, which seems to be a major theme within the novel so far.