To Kill a MockingBird 12/19/14

Prompt: Are these characters realistic?

     I think that Boo Radley isn't very realistic. There may bee people that have not seen the sun or are as pale as him, but it's not really normal. Also, for his age he should've left the househe's probably like in his young adult years. 17 or 18. Nathan Radley could not have kept him in there. If he was out then, why does he come back? Is it because of no shelter or no place to go?

     As humble as Atticus is, I think he was too optimistic. He would have at least expressed his hate some way. Maybe it just wasn't mentioned in the book. But getting spit on and just taking the name calling. I tink he would've broke. Like Jem did with Miss Dubose. Not exactly as destructive, but in some way, shape, or form. Atticus was brave and courageous, I think he was a little too against human nature. He's humble so he won't brag or show off his shooting skills. Whihc is understandable, but still human nature is loving to show off. Which was pretty easy not to do because of Atticus' morals. He could be realistic because some people were like Atticus, so it depends on any comparisons.

     Calpurnia, although it was a very rare thing to have a black person be articulate Calpurnia was. It was out of the normal, but she seemed pretty realistic. Although going back to Attcius, I don't think a regular man would accept their cook as a part of their family in the South. But, it's possible. Calpurnia acted as a motherly figure, she dressed the children, fed them, and sometimes gave advice. So overall, she was pretty realistic given the circumstances. 

Found Poetry

Gun in his hand

Atticus is

The bravest man

with real courage

the humblest

"You know you're licked before you begin,

you begin anyways"

"you never really understand someone

until you climb inside of their skin"

He always said.

He held his head up,

and kept his fists down

"unfair advantage over living things...

...won't shoot till' he had to"

he put his gun down

     This poem is about Atticus' bravery. The phrases show his bravery/courage. How he's humble and his phrases. Like "You know you're licked before you begin, you begin anyways". Also, how he's not quick to fight, he doesn't want violence. Like how he would shoot unless he had to because his gift was an unfair advantage over other living things. 

To Kill a Mockingjay: Week of 12/1/1997

Prompt:
5- Aunt Alexandra and Atticus
d. Effect on Scout
Chapters: 9-12

     Atticus has a very big effect/influence on Scout. First of all, Jem and Scout call their Father Atticus instead of saying dad. Also, Scout respects him. He told her not to fight anybody and she didn't, she tried her best to not to and didn't to keep her promise to Atticus. “Doesn’t come up to scratch half the time but she tries. She knows I know she tries." This quote is from Atticus' conversation with Uncle Jack. Which is that Atticus knows that Scout's trying her best. 

     Aunt Alexandra may have a negative effect on Scout. Their personalities are very different and Alexandra just decides what's best for her. Alexandra even tries to get rid of Calpurnia. But, Atticus doesn't allow that to happen because he believes she's part of the family and even raised the children very good. Also, Scout said that usually anything that Atticus' sister does, was her own choice she made and usually no one opposed. “We decided that it would be best for you to have some feminine influence.” This quote is from Alexandra, she says this to Scout when she asks why she was at their house.

     I think that Aunt Alexandra is going to have a bad effect on Scout. She takes over too much. Alexandra is too bossy and thinks whatever is good for her, is good for everyone else. When Scout mentioned Calpurnia's church, and how she visited the Sunday Aunt Alexandra came, she became interested. "Cal said she'd come get me if you were off in the car. 'You may not.'" This quote is from Scout and Aunt Alexandra. Scout is explaining Calpurnia's offer, then Alexandra said, "You may not". These quotes are proof, Scout will possibly be more disobedient, she pretty much hates her Aunt. Scout will try to protect Atticus/obey him no matter what. She knows he's wise and she shouldn't trouble him too much. "I broke away from Jem and ran as fast as I could to Atticus." This quote is from Scout, when she runs up to Atticus' side because she "couldn't miss this". She wanted to help him/learn more about the situation. I feel like Atticus is the Alter ego of Aunt Alexandra. He's not as strict and the children respect. Scout doesn't Aunt Alexandra and disobeys her unless Atticus is there. Also she's a woman and he's a man. Atticus also doesn't care about how they dress, Aunt Alexandra wants Scout to be ladylike and wear dresses instead of overall.  

Photo Analysis

     In this photo there's a lot of houses. With one big house in the middle. The big house could be a town hall or something The roads also seem to be dirt, not paved. Maybe the roads aren't paved because the town's too poor? There is a small amount of trees. So the town seems to be in the plains. There's also a horse drawn carriage, which seems to be the family's transportation. Speaking of the family, There's no husband. He could be the one taking the picture though. Which leads me to the next thing, the mom looks straight at the camera, and the sons look like they're striking a pose. So they could be wearing their best clothing because they know they're getting a photo taken. Or they're middle class.

     I think that this is very close to Maycomb. The houses are relatively close and there are dirt roads. It was also taken in the earlier dates. Since there are horse-drawn carriages. Also the people in the photo seem to be middle class. Since the clothes aren't that nice. Also in farmlands, there are little trees, in the picture, there only seems to be 3 tress. So not much. And not many anywhere else. So in a plains area, like Maycomb.

"Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Black-and-White Negatives." Farmer's Family Waiting to Go Home on Saturday Afternoon. Enterprise, Alabama. Web. 25 Nov. 2014. <http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/fsa/item/fsa1998012413/PP/>.

The Fault In Our Stars 11/20/14

Prompt: Describe the Conflict, Characters, and Setting
Pages Read: 38- 173 (Between Blogs)

     The conflict is love. At first Hazel doesn't know if she likes Augustus or not. She's wondering if it would be wrong to date Augustus. She figured that maybe he's dating her because she looks like his old girlfriend. Also, she'd worried he might get too attached. Hazel knows she's going to die and doesn't want to hurt Augustus. Hazel's also worried about Isaac and how he'll cope with being blind.

     The characters all have some sort of problem. Which is cancer, Augustus had leg cancer, Hazel has lung cancer, and Isaac had eye cancer. Isaac had a relationship with a girl named Monica. Doctors told him they had to perform a surgery which would get rid of Isaac's cancer, but make him blind. Right before the operation Monica broke up with him. He was very gloomy and depressed. Mostly sad and angry at first though. Augustus grew up liking basketball but started disliking it one day. Then he was diagnosed and had his leg amputated. He received a prosthetic leg. Hazel has lung cancer and is surviving. She has to be hooked up to a machine to be able to breathe.

     The setting seems to be a normal city/town. It's known to not have many parks. There's a church with a support group in it that meets every once in a while. (Which is how Hazel and Augustus met). There is an airport to. (When they start to head to Amsterdam). In Amsterdam there's lots of beautiful rivers and trees. The scenery is just incredible. There's also confetti from all of the celebration.

   

Passion Project Update

In the project, Jesus, Gabriel, and I have been working on a sports camp. At first, we started on the poster and started gathering information. Like phone numbers, an email, and possible locations. We got the YMCA, Bounce, and the recreation center. We've made an email and sent it November 18, 2014. During the 15th Autumn of the 21st century. We're planning to add details to the call script and possibly call today. After the class leaves. We have plans for the equipment (soccer balls, basketballs, and the nets.) The plan is to ask if it's available, if not we can get support from one of our sponsors to buy or borrow equipment. We still need to figure out the exact times/hours for the camp. But as the date approaches we will have the times.

Introduction Video

Nightjohn 11/13/97

Prompt: Analyze the impact word choice has on the meaning or tone of a text. Analyze how dialogue or specific incidents reveal information about characters. Make sure to include textual evidence.
Pages read: 16- End

     I think that word choice has a lot to do with the theme of the story. It can slo help with some points. For example, in "NightJohn" Sarney said a lot of slang and had poor grammar. Which helped enforce the theme of slaves not being able to learn reading or writing. Well not being to do much at all in general. Sarney was curious and wanted to know/learn more. She picked up words from listening to gossip too. 

     When John talked to her he seemed to have better grammar and knew more words. Since he knew how to read and write. The word choice for him implied he was educated. He explained his story, of escaping to the North. Then, he came back to teach and got caught. It was important that he taught because the words used were very simple, like bag and fib. 

      In the book there's a lot of dialogue for John that reveals information. For example, "We all have to read and write so we can write about this- what they doing to us." John's dialogue helps improve his morals and character. We know based off of the line that he thinks reading and writing is important. Which adds to his background information of coming back after achieving freedom to teach how to read and write. 

     "Let her be. She don't know nothing about it. It was all me." This quote was taken from when Sarney's mom was being punished because Waller, the owner, suspected it was her that taught Sarney to write. John said the quote and took the punishment before Sarney's mom got hurt too badly. After 3 nights since the punishment John continued teaching.

"'It's all my doings.' I pulled at the chains but they don't give."This quote is from Sarney when she's crying at her mother's side. Before the punishment. It shows that Sarney cared about her mother. She was also regretting writing the word that got her caught. She was resentful towards herself and Waller.

     

The Fault in Our Stars 11/6/97

Prompt: Describe what happened
Pages read: 0-38

     The story starts off with Hazel Grace, a lung cancer patient who needs to go to a support group. There we learn about a few characters.  Like Patrick, he's the support group leader and a cancer survivor. There was another kid named Isaac, who was friends with Hazel. He had eye cancer and they usually communicated through sighs.

     After a few weeks Hazel met Augustus Waters. He was constantly staring at her at first. After the speech that Patrick was giving Augustus introduced himself. He came out and said he liked her and she was surprised. She kind of liked him too and when the meeting was over they chatted away. While Hazel was waiting for her mom, Augustus took out an unlit cigarette. Hazel was infuriated and disappointed. Since she had lung cancer herself she was mad because he had experienced cancer by losing a leg and he was smoking. After she stormed off, Augustus explained he never lit the cigarette. Then said, "It's a metaphor, you see."

     Hazel decided to go over to his house because they had agreed to watching a movie. There Hazel learned some background information along with meeting his parents. We also learned that Hazel's a vegetarian when she rejected the enchiladas Augustus' parents were making/made. Augustus took Hazel downstairs to get the movie and there she found out before his diagnosis he was a basketball player. They exchanged what their favorite book was and both agreed to read each other's favorites.

Drums, Girls+ DangerOUS PIE 10/29/14

Pages Read: 128- 220
Prompt: Summary

     After a while Steven's mom and his little brother going to Philadelphia was routine now. But, as the days had gone by Jeffrey had started missing classes and most importantly math. His teacher told him that he should get a math tutor. The teacher then assigned Steven to Renee and he's excited. But as the day comes she says she might be a little sick. So, Steven had to tell her she couldn't come in. Since Jeffrey had very low white blood cells and couldn't get sick.

     When he went to school every guy had respect for Steven for kicking Renee to the curb. But, he didn't benefit much since he didn't get the tutoring afterwards. So when he took the math final he only got a 37 on it. The teacher told him and make a phone call to his mom. When he got home he heard a voicemail from his mom telling him to call back as soon as possible. A few minutes later his dad arrived mad at him for worrying his mother and not calling back. Steven was tired of being yelled at and told his father that he wasn't a very good father. Since he didn't talk or interact with him for the last few months. They got along and started "bonding". Once his mother arrived Steven explained the whole thing and how he was sorry.

     Jeffrey started going back to kindergarden after a while. Since he was absent for so long the new kid didn't really know what his conditions were. When Jeffrey asked if he wanted to be his friend, the new kid replied with, "Hi, you're bald". Which just crushed Jeffrey. He was crying and when Steven confronted him Jeffrey said he didn't want Steven to know that he was bald. Steven then started shaving his hair off. Which seemed to help Jeffrey's crisis and self-esteem.

Is Montresor mad?

"Do you know why you're here today?" The police asked.

"No officer, I haven't got a clue" Montresor replied.  

"Someone told me that they saw you and Fortunato together on the last night he's been missing."

"Yes, he was my dear friend, I asked him if he wanted some more wine because it was Carnival. When we were nearing the catacombs I noticed that he had a severe cough. He said it was nothing, then I convinced him to go back to Carnival, it'd be better there."

"So you asked him if he wanted some of your wine? I'm not one to judge but that seems a little lame." Replied the police officer.

"Yes, but he had a love of wine. I wanted to see if the wine I bought was of value. I bought a whole cask of it. I needed confirmation on if it was worth the money I paid." Montresor stated.

"Moving on, the anonymous witness said that it saw you with a sword of some kind. Is this true?" The officer asked

"Yes it's true, but it wasn't a real sword. It was simply a prop for my carnival costume. We were both dressed up." 

"Really? Do you think you still have that 'prop', if you do please show me."

"That's absurd! Why would I keep a prop from 50 years ago?" Montresor exclaimed. 

"Ok, calm down sir, where were you by the time of 9:00 to 12:00 the day of Fortunato's disappearance?" The officer asked. 

"Well, I was hanging out with Fortunato since the house was empty. Then he left at around 10-11 pm. We were both intoxicated so I don't remember the exact time." Montresor stated.

"You said earlier that you were nearing the catacombs and went home after that." The officer said.

"Um, well, uh... we did go but left at that time." Montresor struggled to get those last words out.

     The room was silent. The officer stared him down and ignored the incoming sounds from his radio. Montresor was very nervous, he could feel the sweat as it trickled down his forehead. His palms were getting warmer and sweatier. Montresor knew he now has to put up with the guilt he felt years ago when he heard the jingle of Fortunato's hat. He decided enough was enough, he pointed behind the officer, yelled something and ran when the officer was distracted. Montresor decided to visit where he buried Fortunato before he was arrested. He ran all the way to the catacombs where he heard police say, 'You're surrounded!". "Good," though Montresor as he was only going to see Fortunato. Once he arrived the police were there. Before they went to restrain Montresor he calmly said to the brick wall he built years ago, "I feel a strong guilt for doing killing a man, even if it was you. But, it was worth it!" He crazily cackled as the police took him away.

Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie

Pages read:  0-128
Prompt: Describe the Characters

     Steven is the main character of the book. It starts off with him at his graduation thinking of everything that has happened the past few months. Then he starts retelling his times at the school from nearly the beginning. Steven has always had good grades and intentions. He is also in jazz band and 2 other programs where he played drums. He does tend to have a smart mouth most of the time.

     Jeffrey, Steven's little brother, is the usual little brother, annoying and energetic. But, one morning he fell off of a stool and his nose bled profusely. After Jeffrey came back from school he found out that Jeffrey actually had cancer. Jeffrey slowly became less energetic and more sick, since he was more vulnerable to germs.

     Annette is Steven's best friend. She usually babysits Jeffrey on weekends. She's in the same Jazz band as Steven and is a pianist. She's pretty much Steven's only real friend and Steven doesn't realize it yet. She's always been attentive to what's been happening with him. Like how he kept spacing off and not even doing his homework

Passion Project

     I think I want to do a project towards animals. Like a possible solution to the skunk overpopulation or the effects of littering for everything. Like the environment, animals, and people. Maybe even trying to prevent pollution I guess just like an ad telling you why you shouldn't litter or a week of biking every year. I could make solutions and talk about why and how you could do them. Or like a thing where kids can't watch TV for a whole week and get like a ribbon or whatever at the end of the week. Maybe setting up something for funds. Like getting a better bus that doesn't protrude obnoxious black gas into the air.

     Well some of the reasons I'm trying to prevent pollution is because of all I've been learning about what's happening and what's going to happen in the future. Like how the Earth is going to be extremely hot as the years go by. It'll just keep getting higher and higher. Even scientists are saying we need to do something. China's trying to work on it too. I honestly don't know what I want to achieve. I guess just people taking action will be like an achievement. Like people participating in like a bike week or something. That's how I'll have known if I was successful or not.

     Another Possible thing is sports. To try and make a sports camp. Like have a meeting where kids can play. It'll help kids get more active. Plus, it'll be a fun experience. We could try to have consecutive meetings like every week. We'll know we've accomplished our goal if kids show up to a meet or get a spot for wherever the meets are. 

Time Travel

Q: Where would you go?

A: I'd stay in the U.S. and go to Memphis, Tennessee  

Q:To which year or period would you travel?

A: April of 1968

Q: Who would you want to meet or what event would you want to witness?

A:I would go to see Martin Luther King Jr. before he died.

Q: Where would you find this person or see this event?

A: In a hotel room preparing for his speech

Q: Why would you want to meet this person or witness this event?

A: To hear what his dreams were and what he wanted the world to be. Like him telling me what his goals were and what his idea of a perfect world was.

Q: How might YOU change history?

He might not get killed since he was talking to me. Maybe I might have an impact on whether he does well on his upcoming speech. (By somehow messing up his train of thought or focus). Leading to him losing followers. Also, he already had a huge following and enough support but he did gain a lot of attention after he died. 

Insurgent 10/17/14

Prompt: Character Development

     Throughout the first 2 books Caleb has been portrayed as smart and responsible. He joined Erudite and usually corrects Beatrice. "He gave me the look he used to give me when he was disappointed in me." This quote shows that he would always try and make Beatrice selfless and belong. The author also helped out develop Caleb's intelligence with the use of vocabulary and actions. Like how Caleb always wanted to read books and understand more of the world. Also, the author made Caleb's dialogue include a lot of advanced vocabulary and many words to further support whatever he said.

     Another character that the author really developed was Peter. In Divergent Peter seemed like a side character that wouldn't be relevant. Then, near the end of Divergent and Insurgent he started getting morals. His main character change was when Beatrice was captured. He saved her and explained his reasoning for freeing her. "I can't be in someone's debt and owe them a favor". So, the author made Peter's goal/moral to not be in debt to anyone. So, he'll side with whoever treats him better.

     Tobias is another character that really developed. Throughout the 2 books I've read his character has been getting more and more detailed. At first he seemed more vulnerable when he showed Beatrice his childhood of being scared of his father. Then, he started acting more independent. Especially when his mother tried to strike a deal to make Dauntless and the factionless join together. After a while he started realizing he should trust Beatrice more before she was held for trial. For being accused of being a traitor.

1st Quarter Reflection Blog

     Throughout the first quarter I started off reading any book off of the shelf, only picking fiction or fantasy. Then, I read Divergent and continued the series. After that, I decided to read a biography called, "Never say Die". It featured 2 stories of a hiker and an ice climber barely surviving at the verge of death. I have been more open to different books now. I used to only want to read about fiction and fantasy. Now, I don't mind a few non-fictional books or biographies. I've already done at least 3 or 4 books and my 40 book challenge progress is looking ok.
     I also learned a lot of current events throughout the AoWs. Like how Ebola has caused West Point to be quarantined. Also, how Malala got a Nobel Peace Prize for standing up for woman's rights. We learned that the world is still slowly progressing and not going insane from, "Is the World going nuts?". The short stories like, "The Lottery", and, "The World's most Dangerous Game", helped us understand morals better. Also, how it may or may not apply to current world situations.
     I have been slowly making progress with my procrastination. I've been starting homework at 5 or 6 pm. The thing is, it takes up to 9 or 10 because of me getting distracted by something else. So, I usually only do homework and go to sleep after school. I also need to manage my time wisely. I usually spend 40 minutes doing something when it should only take 15. Which is something I need to work on next quarter too.

Reflective Writing

     If I look back on a blog last year like Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince compared to one of the ones today, there'd definitely be a change. I am noticing that my grammar was not at par with the level of grammar I have today. Also, My paragraphs were short and to the point. The old blog also contained a lot of abuse to pronouns. I kept saying, "it" and "the" without mentioning what, "it" was in the first place. I definitely improved on that. Although it was a slight change that does need working on. In my current blog I don't really use pronouns unless I'm sure I've used them in a sentence before or clearly.

     I think my writing has progressed a lot. As in vocabulary and descriptive details. If the old blog wasn't my own I would not have understood what was going on. "Then, one night when Kreacher and Dobby were fighting each other. Harry and Ron broke them up and Harry asked if they could tail Draco Malfoy." It went from this to that with no explanation. Like who was that, and where were they? I tend to try not to be redundant in my new blog and in my old blog I tend to say Also a lot. (Which is a current problem too.)

     I think looking back at a current blog and one from a year ago helps me a lot. It can help me see what's still the same, to try to improve it, and what's gotten better. I think my newer blog posts are better because I'm more used to it now. My old blogs were strict and straight to the point. With almost no opinion and mostly the story.

Insurgent 10/2/14

Pages Read: 0-425
Prompt: Mood and Character Development

     I think that the mood was very serious at a lot of time and a bunch of twists too. Like how Peter saved Beatrice and Tobias. Also, how Caleb has always been on Erudite's side. I like how Veronica added how Beatrice was skeptical of how much Tobias trusted his mother might've blinded his choices/actions. There was a lot of serious things like the situation Beatrice was in. She was being tested on then after they gathered their data, was to be executed.

     The character development was huge. I learned more of Tobias' past and background. How his mother was said to be dead and he found her alive. Also, based on Beatrice's analysis, how Tobias' mother seemed sketchy and was probably using him. Marcus tells us more about Beatrice's mother and why she found Beatrice when she did to save her. Beatrice realized she originally wanted to make a file/information public and stumbled across her.

     In the story, you also find out more about Beatrice. Like which traits she has that are similar to her actions. Also, Beatrice comes to a realization that maybe Erudite isn't the bad guy. They still are morally for killing a lot of people from one faction and putting people under simulation. But, she realizes that Jeanine is trying to protect the people from figuring something out also. Which makes her more curious about Jeanine's morals and goals.

Banned Books Vlog 2 (New and Improved)

Divergent 9/16/14

Pages Read: 311- End
Prompt: Describe the characters

     The main character Beatrice, or Tris, is a small, "weak", girl. When she takes the aptitude test she gets mixed results and she's suspected of being Divergent. She has attributes of mostly 2 factions and the tester can't determine whether she is one or the other. She chose Dauntless and training started off in the range with guns and knives. Then, they started to do fights. That's when she started finding out that she's fast. So, she needed to get hits in first and not get hit to win. She also figured that she couldn't have weakness. So as the time progressed Tris got more aggressive and cruel. She didn't have that sympathy or let someone's pain bother her. Like when she shot Peter and told him he needed to walk/keep up with him and to ignore the pain. Overall, Tris/Beatrice is a small, quick, and aggressive character.

     Four, or Tobias, is a pretty calm, cool, and strong guy. He is Tris' partner and is known for his bravery and fear count. Tobias shows he's calm by keeping his temper and never losing his cool. He seems like a pretty good fighter to. Also, Tobias is Divergent, like Tris, and gets injected with a fixed serum that works on Divergent too. Tobias is also pretty brave. He usually goes against the rules and gets really brave and daring mostly for protecting Tris.

     Caleb, Tris' brother, was a role model type of character near the beginning. To Tris, or Beatrice, he was the definition of Abnegation. He was smart and selfless. So when the choosing ceremony began, Tris was surprised that he chose Erudite. She came to the realization that Caleb was very smart and knew a lot of things. When she was shot Caleb knew how to take the bullet out. Caleb also is very stuck to the rules. He always wanted to abide by them. So overall, Caleb seems smart and is a good hearted person.

Divergent 9/11/14

Pages Read: 0-311
Prompt: Literary style

Figures of Speech
     I think that there's a lot of figure of speech content in Divergent. Mostly in symbolism though. When Beatrice takes the aptitude test, she gets a Dauntless woman who has a tattoo of an eagle. An eagle kind of represented the sun/light so it helped her overcome her fear of the dark. Also when Beatrice was assigned Dauntless, she got three tattoos of birds. Each represented a family member, her brother, mom, and dad. There are a lot of metaphors in the tattoos to. Also, the clothing you wear represented what faction you were in. The metaphors and similes in the tattoos are just like the river tattoo that Tori has is or represents how her brother died.

Tone
     I feel the author's attitude is more of trying to create a suspenseful and playful mood to the story. Speaking of the mood I feel that the mood is acceptance and trying to fit in. Since Tris is new to Dauntless and tries to make new friends. Also, how she's trying to fit in and be accepted by other initiates. Tris also joins other Dauntless-born initiates in activities and reminds herself more and more that this is why she's Dauntless and belongs there. The author seems to make Four seem like a handsome, calm person. Veronica, the author, sees to try and make the story about hope and love. She added little twists like how Al liked Tris and Four seemed jealous of Will. Also, how Tris had to try and act normal and try to overcome her fears without altering the simulation in the second initiation or else she'd be suspected of Divergent. I think the tone was most visible near the middle when she broke the glass container that contained her and the water trying to drown her. That's when Four found out she was Divergent and had to delete the footage. I feel that was the most suspenseful and introduced the tone a little more. Since Four liked Tris, he helped her out.

Vocabulary
     I feel the vocabulary in this book is ok. It doesn't include much "higher level" words. It does inclu
de some sometimes. Considering some Dauntless initiates were from Erudite, a faction based on books and knowledge, there are some parts where someone uses words to over explain something to sound smart. I feel as though it's more planned/technical. There's a basic explanation then someone explains again in a different way to understand it. Or explains how something works.

   

10 Books That have Impacted me 9/4/14

10. Island of the Blue Dolphins , Scott O'Dell
The Island of the Blue Dolphins is a great book and what got me into realistic fiction. I read it in the fifth grade because we did a unit on it. I learned that you're not always lonely and have to give people
(or animals) a second chance. Like how she kept the wolf and it was her friend after a while.

9. Cardboard, Doug TenNapel

Cardboard was a pretty good graphic novel. It told of a story of a man to poor to buy his son a birthday present after his wife died .So he got him magical cardboard. After making a cardboard person, he came to life. I read this book in 6th grade and I liked it a lot because of the realistic back story. Also, it kind of enforced to be happy with whatever you have/get.

 
8. Esperanza Rising, Pam Munoz Ryan

I read Esperanza Rising in 5th grade and we did a unit in it. The unit definitely helped make the theme way more clear. I liked the book because it started off with a wealthy girl that got robbed and started working with the people she once knew as servants. At first she was snobby but then realized that it doesn't matter if you're not wealthy or rich

 7. After Ever After, Jordan Sonnenblick
First off, Jordan Sonnenblick is my favorite author. I love his books. I found out about him in the 6th grade battle of the books. The book was about a boy who had been a cancer survivor and how he had hated being treated differently. Although he loved biking. I like more of the realistic fiction and this book was perfect for me. I loved that he made the time after he had survived. This book has made me wonder even more what happened after some kind of event. So, to basically try to think deeper. After the "happy ending."

6. The Outsiders, S.E Hinton
I read the outsiders in the 6th grade Battle of the Books to. I loved this book. It felt like you were reading a 90's movie. greasers vs. socs.There was some pretty emotional stuff in that book. I think this book is a very close second to my favorite. I liked it because of the idea of what happens when they run away and the consequences. Also my view on the world and it's injustices. Also you can't forget, "Stay golden Ponyboy".

5. Ramona Quimby Series, Beverly Cleary
This book series is THE best. I loved reading these in second and third grade. I still ream them today sometimes like on road trips. Overall the book list has been kind of serious/young adult books. Ramona has had multiple adventures like trying to find the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, ruining Beezus' birthday cake with her doll, biting one bite and putting the apples back for almost all of the apples, and much more. This is my favorite/has impacted me because it has changed my view on little kids. They don't know much and are very curious.

4. Harry Potter Series, J.K Rowling
Harry Potter is my favorite series. I kind of grew up with it. I remember being like 9 or 10 and my sister asked me to go with her to see Order of the Phoniex. My love for fantasy/fiction has originated in the Harry Potter series. That's how it's impacted me. I'm so fascinated and want to know more of witchcraft and alchemy. Also the old tails of how they used to burn people they thought were witches. Also necromancy always fascinated me. Harry Potter is my favorite casual book to read.    

 

3. The Giver, Lois Lowry 
This book has been read more recently. I loved the Giver. We did a unit on it in 7th grade. It changed my whole view on the world. Just the thought of an enclosed community. Not being able to see color or have certain feelings. Also, being assigned to almost everything. Being assigned to a wife/husband, job, and kids. It has impacted me by showing how we take the littleest things for granted and how we could make mistakes by picking wrong.

2. Mississippi trial, 1955, Christopher E. Crowe

 This book is very sorrowful, but has been made for a reason. The book focused on the murder and discrimination on an African-American boy. When they held the trial, all the people that were against equal rights, which was a large amount in Mississippi, voted the man innocent. This has impacted me by seeing how this world used to be in equal and by getting me into reading books like this. Talking about the old, cruel world.  

 

1. Diary of Anne Frank, Anne Frank
I read this book near the end of seventh grade. It was a very interesting and gloomy. It was the diary of a young girl named Anne Frank. She had to move to a warehouse and couldn't go to school. She still had the same problems a 12 year-old girl usually had. But there was distress and panic at times. I think it was the ending that got me. Just to know that the diary wouldn't be written in again. Since she was taken away.

The Misadventures of Edgar and Allan Poe 8/17/14

Pages Read: 118-End
Prompt: Summarize what you just read

     After Edgar and Allan realized that the Wizard of Oz tourist spot was a big trap for them, they tried to disguise themselves and  find their cat. The plan was to find Roderick, their cat, and get out of their as soon as possible. They slipped past their grandparents and went into a theater where they slipped into flying monkey costumes for the live play of the Wizard of Oz.

     The first time during rehearsal they managed to slip away from the other group of monkeys and started exploring the barn and house out of the theater for their cat. When they got back in the play started and they didn't hook themselves to a rope. Then, all the other monkeys were flying and they were left behind. Moments later two trapdoors collapsed beneath the two and they were met by the professor that wanted to kidnap them. He had a pistol out and ready to shoot when Edgar and Allan started whistling ring around a rosy to make him move to the strings. Roderick cut the strings and a bag fell on the Professor's head and knocked him out unconscious.

     After Edgard and Allan escaped they called the police and they were congratulated by the city mayor and even the governor. After they got back home they were asked to do a movie and star as Edgar Allan Poe's younger self. They agreed if they're cat got a role and he did. But, there was a newspaper saying that the Professor broke out of the hospital and became conscious again. The police said he was armed and dangerous. Could he be the movie directer? I don't know, read the next book to find out.  

     

The Misadventures of Edgar and Allen Poe 8/16/14

Prompt: What 3 questions would you ask the main character(s)
Pages Read:1-117

     First I would ask Edgar and Allen Poe how did they manage to pull of some of the pranks without getting caught? Edgar and Allen Poe were pretty much two bodies, one mind. They were also big troublemakers. They were also really smart, they knew more than their seventh grade teachers.But they did stuff like once turn off the power grid for the whole city. Also, changing the GPS of the school bus to lead them to a mini golfing place instead of the original place they were going to. But how, since they needed access to the school bus, they could try wireless but were banned from cell phones and computers since the whole city power incident. Well I guess that's just a mistake.

     I would also ask how did Edgar Allen Poe know what was going to happen to the twins next. i mean I know he's above earth and can kind of see/hear all. But how did he know the twin's physical status? All through the twin's lives they've been getting messages that were always true. One of them said that bats would swing and go flying or something similar to that and when they tried out for baseball they couldn't hang on to the bats. They kept going flying out of their hands. Maybe Edgar Allen Poe knows a lot more about them by some mysterious means I don't know yet.

     The last thing I would ask is what would the twin's experience if another twin died. Since they can see, hear, and experience everything else the other twin is feeling/doing. This was brought up by a crazy professor that wanted to kidnap Edgar and Allen Poe. He said he merely wanted to have control over them. To kill one off and have an exclusive look at the afterlife. I mean I don't blame him. It's one of life's biggest mysteries. What happens after you die? I really wouldn't want to see one of the main characters die off but then again, it would be interesting.

Click Here (To find out how I survived the seventh grade) 8/11/14

Pages Read: 100- End
Prompt: What are three emotions that the main character has felt? What made the main character feel that way?

     One of the emotions that the character has felt was stress. The school website was supposed to launch soon and a lot of people didn't have their parts done. Especially Erin since she had to help other people out with their parts. So she stood up until midnight for about 2-3 days and had to try and finish her part while trying to prepare having to leave the play to give someone her part for the website. She felt another emotion after she realized what she had really given to be published on the website for the whole school to see.

   Erin felt huge embarrassment after seeing that the personal blogs she was writing had been published. How she talked about she liked a boy and sometimes hated her best friend, Jilly. Also what she thought of Serena, (basically her bully). Also Erin typed in a poem that a boy who liked her sent her. Calling him a bit nerdy too. After that, she kept getting calls/voice mails talking about her blog that got posted. Some from her victims. She was embarrassed because she was talking about kissing pillows and her love life. Now the whole school had seen it.

     Erin felt sorrow after that whole catastrophe. She realized some stuff she had written was in the spur of the moment and she regretted. Everyone thought that's what Erin thought of them. So she lost 4 of her friends. Erin really felt sorry and tried to apologize by writing letters to each of her "victims" and trying to explain that she was really sorry. After that, everyone forgave her and happy ending.

Click here (To find out how I survived the seventh grade) 8/9/14

Pages Read: 1-100
Prompt: What was the three most interesing parts of your reading?

     I think that an interesting part of the story is when Erin, the main character, found out her best friend Jilly wasn't in the same as her. Tracks are pretty much A and B for heritage but the school Erin goes to has three, A, B, and C. Jilly was in A and Erin was in C. I thought it was pretty interesting because the author got the "hook" part of the story. Where they create something to kind of get your attention at the beginning. So from page 1 there's a problem. Since Erin's only friend was Jilly and were only separated once in elementary.

     I find another part interesting is when she goes to the bathroom on the first day of school a snotty girl comes in that neither Jilly nor Erin like. Her name was Serena Worthington. She loved to bully Erin and now that she was on her own she decided she was prefect prey. She started saying that Jilly was Geppetto and Erin was a Pinocchio, a puppet. Erin snapped and punched Serena in the face landing her a three day detention on her first day at school. This was the most iunteresting because it impacted the rising action a lot. It caused posters of her to go up as Pinocchio and constantly be bullied. But, she also made new friends.

     I think another interesting part was when Erin joined the Intranet Club. Their goal was to make a website for the school and Erin was excited to join and started getting a little skeptical because her and Jilly always did clubs together. But her new friends she made Rosie and Mark convinced her to join it. This made her meet new people and take up a club she wanted to do. I say wanted because Jilly kind of forces Erin to join plays with her every year.

 

Loser 5/12/14

Pages Read: 109-End

Prompt: After reading, I wonder…

     I wonder what happened afterwards. When the end was nearing fifth grade also ending. So, Gary Hobins, the fastest runner in the school, told Donald Zinkoff to get off of the Yellow team. Gary got stuck with Donald on field day in fourth grade and he lost it for them. Donald didn't get it because when he got the only A on a geography test everybody was high fiving him and calling him the Zinkmeister and other nicknames, including Gary Hobin. So, when Field Day came around Donald ditched school. He went to the old lady's home and told her everything. Then the story progresses through middle school and during Winter, the old lady's daughter got lost. He went out searching for hours until he saw a light and blacked out. He awoke to find that he was being searched for himself. The little girl was found at 8 pm, Donald was found freezing cold at 1-2 am in the morning. He got grounded and after that things went to normal. It ended with a football game and the leaders picking people and one of the leaders was interested about Zinkoff's story so he picked him.

     I wonder whether Donald was cool and popular after that. Maybe not popular and cool was intended to be a pun because it was in Winter. But seriously, since his story was spread around a lot of people might've gotten interested. I think Donald was popular to a point, than forgotten. Which is really sad to think about. One day he's so cool high fiving everyone. The next, he's treated like a nobody, confused as to why it happened. But he'll most likely gain at least 1 distant or close friend.

     Another ending, I guess you could call it that, would be that Donald gets sick of the attention. Don't get me wrong, everybody loves attention. But, maybe he's just sick of it. Or maybe Donald realizes that the people are only interested in his adventure and not him. I'm thinking Andrew might become his friend again. Or maybe just wants to hear the story which is more likely. It even said in the end of the book. The only reason why He called Donald to his team was because he was interested in hearing what happened. When you really think about the ending to a book, sometimes you find that the main character will still struggle one way or another.

40 Book Challenge

     I did not finish the 40 book challenge but got close. I really liked doing it because it gave me an excuse to reread all of Harry Potter again. Also, most of the books I have read counted as 2 if i was going by the certain amount of pages rule. But, to be honest, I didn't count them as 2 because that would involve me to find all the books I've read and see if it was 2 or not. But I still got pretty close with 32 books read overall. I think the most challenging thing about the 40 book challenge is probably expanding to different genres. Of all the books I've read, I think that they were a pretty good level/caliber for me, excluding some books like Diary of a Wimpy Kid and some others. 

     I think the 40 Book Challenge should continue. it really is a good experience and kind of motivates you to read more books. Also, I liked the reminders so no kid could say that he or she had forgot about it. It's also nice to try and explore with new genres. So you can describe your experience or maybe even get a new favorite genre. It was definitely interesting trying to read new books even if you think they're boring at first. The 40 Book Challenge was fun, I'd do it again.

Loser 5/6/14

Pages Read: 50-109
Prompt: Describe the most important event. Give at least three reasons why you think it
is the most important event.

     I think that the beginning and end of fourth grade was the most memorable for Zinkoff. For one reason he finally gets discovered. The fourth grade teacher is the first male and his name is Mr. Yalowitz. Whilst assigning everyone their seats he notices Donald's last name, Zinkoff. Mr. Yalowitz tells Donald about how he was always been last and now he'll make it reverse alphabetized so he doesn't have to feel like the teacher felt.

     Another reason is that the kids are getting their "big eyes". Which basically mean that kids are getting more emotional depth and can pay attention to detail. They start to notice that Zinkoff isn't as funny or cool as they thought him to be. They find him to be clumsy, too giggly, and messy. Then as activities and other thing start to go on during fourth grade, they start to find him annoying. Which is really what provked them on Field day.

     Speaking of Field day, that's the last reason I'm giving. During Field day all the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, graders play for fun. But fourth and fifth graders play for winning and losing. So when Donald is slow, and clumsy. Well, running races isn't very productive. The purple team, the one Donald was on, was barely winning because of their last player, Gary Hobin. When the last normal running race occurs, Zinkoff is the last one, or anchor. So, when Gary finds this out, he gets mad and tells Zinkoff not to lose the lead he's giving him. So when they lose all gary gets mad and calls him a loser. Then everyone else joins in and asks why he had to participate in all the activities and called him a loser. Which is the title of the book.

Loser 5/1/14

Pages read: 1-50
Prompt: Describe what you just read.

     In the beginning we read about a kid, who describes Donald Zinkoff. Since he's seen him anyways. Donald is a kid who likes to play and has a lot of freedom. He was always outside and playing with his friends. Donald was a crazy, easygoing kid. He was always smiling or laughing though.

     After 6 years he goes off to school, on the first day his mother demands him to wait for her. When Donald's mother leaves and comes back she find the giraffe hat Donald owns gone and also Donald gone. She looks off into the crowd and sees Donald's giraffe hat. She realizes she's too late and just lets him go like that. When he arrives the teacher tells them how much days of school they have in total until they leave high school. At recess they take his giraffe hat and try to bully Donald. When Donald just smiles and goes along with it, the bullies are discouraged. Also, he has a tendency to laugh lot and doesn't stop.

     In second grade Donald gets a new teacher who doesn't like kids. She gets really mad at Donald for having sloppy handwriting and laughing for minutes. In the Summer Donald gets a new neighbor. His name is Andrew and he doesn't like the new neighborhood he's in. So, his mother baked a cake and gave it to the neighbors. Donald saw the miserable kid and baked him a big snicker doodle. So when he took it next dorr it broke and than, Donald gave him a piece and took everything else and ran. So, he gave everyone in his neighborhood a piece.

   

Rules 4/24/14

Prompt:Are the characters realistic (do they seem like they could be read people)? Why

or why not?

     I think the characters are very realistic and depict accurate representations of people today. Catherine could be a real girl who likes to draw. Who has a brother with a mental disability and has to deal with it. Also, she really wants the new next door neighbor, Kristi, to be her friend. Sounds like an average girl to me.

     I like Rules because it's not a book that sugarcoats the reality. There's a boy named Ryan and he's pretty much David's bully. Ryan plays "jokes" even though he knows that it upsets David. Catherine even made a rule, "When people laugh sometimes it's at you". In real life there's always going to be that one kid who bullies you even if you've been through a lot or you're mentally ill. 

     Jason is probably the best thing to compare to a real life person. Jason can't speak and whenever he goes to the clinic the speech woman always talks loudly. He even tells Catherine (well, taps his cards) that he's not deaf and that he doesn't like the lady. That's probably what happens a lot. A lot of the kids that have to go to clinics probably understand but the people who work aren't listening or laying attention. 

Rules 4/17/14

Prompt: Describe what you just read. 

     Catherine had 7 cards with multiple ideas of what word to put on them. So, she looked around her surroundings and wrote down some of her favorite words. Then she realized that she couldn't just write her own favorite words and decided to write and draw some more emotion words for Jason. One of the words was awesome. Catherine had a hard time drawing a picture for that. 

     After Catherine arrived at the clinic she met up with Jason. She gave Jason his words and he tapped the phrase, "Thank you". Jason also said Catherine was his friend. But Catherine only saw him as a clinic buddy. So, after he's taken away and comes back, Jason tells Catherine to tell his mom if she can make more words for him. When Jason's mom asks how many cards she wants to fill out, she says all of them.

     After the day at the clinic Catherine's mom is preparing hamburgers and asks Catherine to ask over the neighbor to a cookout. There, Catherine finds the neighbor's mom and finds out the daughter wasn't there. The next week the girl next door came over and they were hanging out. But, every so often David would cause a problem and Catherine would have to tend to it. Then, the girl next door asked Catherine if she wanted to come over to her house and watch TV. So she went and that's how far I got.  

Rules 4/10/14

Prompt: List 3 questions you have after reading.

     My first question is why is Catherine so mean to David? Well not necessarily mean but not understanding of him. i mean sure he's annoying but she has to keep her cool and patience when dealing with him. I mean he has autism. Also, her mom's right when she said Melissa would understand about her brother if she was a real friend. I think the girl next door won't like Catherine because she follows her own "proper" social rules.

     My second question is will David ever disobey a rule? I feel like Catherine might mess up her friendship with Jason because David might break a rule and she'll yell at him and make him cry. Also, will he grow up at all? Like, a year or two? I don't think he'll age because they'll gradually show how Catherine has to try and adapt with David's behavior and help him.

     My third and final question is will Catherine ever invite the next door neighbor to come over or vice versa? I think one day she'll invite Catherine over and she has to take David along. then David might cause a scene or something. Then after the screaming Catherine will say she never liked David and the neighbor might be astonished by what she said and it'll be awkward. At least that's what i think will happen. Also, the neighbor might have some sort of connection with Jason and Catherine soon finds out later in the book.

the Lost Hero 4/4/13

Prompt: Describe
Pages Read: 21-216

     At the campfire when Jason has to start his quest he remembers the prophecy stating that there should be a dove, and a forger. So he picked Leo and almost picked Drew. But at that moment, Piper was claimed and had a huge dress appear on her. Right then and there, he chose his friends to go on the quest with him. Leo would be able to go on the quest if he found them a ride. So he found the bronze dragon, which led him to a secret base. There he made Festus (the bronze dragon's name) some wings.

     Leo returned to camp riding the bronze dragon and then left soon after. Then, they left and told stories riding off to the north wind's base/palace. When they get there they see gates. There they're stopped by two angel like monsters. One seems to be smaller and smarter than the other. The other is dumber but stronger and likes to destroy things.

     When Jason states that they need to see the North wind they said they can't let them go there. Then, Piper uses her charm speak and says that it's important and they let her go. They meet the daughter and she advises Leo to stay back since he's a fire child. He can harness and make fire. She said and I quote, "Fire and Ice in the same room won't be so good." So Jason and Piper go on to the room where the king awaits...

Poetry Reflection

Poetry hasn’t exactly had a big impact on my life. But, it did teach me some things like vocabulary and more words. I did like exploring and finding out new rhyme types. Also, whilst trying to rhyme I think I got better at it. Like finding out words and learning new ones. It does have a nice place in my life. I might do it as a hobby or try to make a poem for someone else, like a birthday poem. The big importance it has on me is testing. We learned poetry for testing reasons but some people did get into it. i feel like one of those people.

I think Poetry isn’t for everyone. If we’re being realistic. Sometimes people have hard times. Other times they can just practice and get better at poetry. Then, that would be a yes, if everyone tries hard enough they could do it. But, most people don’t care and don’t even want to take the effort of trying. Most people have their own hobbies and frankly don’t care. So, if we’re going to say that everyone’s going to want to take or learn about poetry that’s a yes. It mostly depends on if you really want to do it. Or, if you really have a passion for it. Plus, it’s be really great since you would learn new words as you read and create poems. So, I guess who ever wants to do poetry, so it. it’s a great hobby to practice word choice and poetic devices. 

It can depend on the poet’s imagination. they could create a great story with weird mystical creatures. Then, they’ll greatly practice their imagination which will help them in the future. Also, it’s easier for them to make poems if they had a lot of inspiration from childhood memories. Like running around town or a country. But, that could be a bad thing as you head just wants to do that idea sometimes. Great experiences can help inspire people to make great poems. Also, while writing college or high school essays it’ll help if you use some poetic devices to “spice” up your paper. 

The Lost Hero 3/16/13

Pages Read: 0-21
Prompt: Describe the main characters.

     Jason is one of the main characters. He wakes up in a bus and finds two people. Jason doesn't remember anything. He doesn't remember his name, friends, past life or anything.  Then he slowly starts trying to catch up with the information his two friends are giving him. Then they arrive at the Grand Canyon. There he finds out a coin that he has turns into a weapon. Then, Jason and the class he's with gets attacked by Venti. He follows his instinct and attacks them swiftly. He seems to be a great fighter.

     Piper is one of the friends Jason has. She believes she has strong feelings for Jason. Whilst Jason is still trying to interpret what's happening. Piper had been attending the school with her friends for a while. When she gets in trouble in the beginning of the book, Jason goes to save her. She seems a little insecure sometimes.

     Leo has been Jason's best friend for a while. He's been the troublemaker of them and has a lot of work with technology. Like how he messed with the Coach's megaphone. Later at camp Leo gets claimed as the son of a god. A god of blacksmith and workshop. Then he gets assigned a bed. I think he's cool but a little obnoxious.