Semester 1 Reflection

          The books I read this semester included If I Stay by Gayle Forman, Looking for Alaska by John Green, and Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza. I selected my reading by the books that are popular at the time, to be completely honest. Both If I Stay and Looking for Alaska were bestsellers, and very popular with teenage girls, so I had to try them! I really liked both of these books and I actually bought the sequel of If I Stay, Where She Went, which I am looking forward to reading soon.
          Overall, my blog was very put together and always on time. I put a lot of thought into each of the posts and tried my best to make all of the requirements. It improved throughout the semester because at the beginning of the semester, all I did was say what my book was about, and towards the end of the semester I got more comfortable with blogging and I started incorporating more articles and interesting things that I found into my posts. Also, agreeing with the rubric for an excellent blog, my blog "sometimes uses a variety of syntactical structures and effective diction". My blog was great, it just needs a few small improvements for next semester.
          This semester I worked really hard on my blog posts and always turned them in on time. Next semester however, I want to take my time even more and add some variety to my posts. I want to include more articles instead of just stating what I've read that week, for example, including more reviews that other people have said, and any interesting articles I find relating to the book. I also want to update Goodreads more often. I was a bit of a slacker with that site. For my last goal, I would like to state that I want to read more books. I really only finished these three books and I want to read more often so that I can expand my reading list and blog about more interesting things.

Blog Post #10

 

Recently, I found a website that gave me a lot of interesting facts about Romeo and Juliet. Some of the facts on here were very surprising and I enjoyed reading them, so I figured you might as well.
For starters, did you know that Romeo and Juliet was Shakespeare's first play about love?! That's a pretty good first try if you ask me. Also, the original title for Romeo and Juliet was "The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet". It's a good thing that he changed it, what a mouthful! An interesting fact about Shakespeare is that he is the second most quoted writer in the English language, after the various writers of the Bible! Shakespeare married a woman named Anne Hathaway and they had three children together. Before you start to wonder, no, she is not related to the modern day actor with the same name. Shakespeare lived to be 52, and died three days before his 53rd birthday.

Here is the website that I found all the interesting facts on,

http://tannermaddison.wordpress.com/fun-facts/

 

Blog Post #9

I have started reading The Maze Runner by James Dashner. So far, it is hard to judge because I am literally still on the first chapter. So far Thomas is very confused about the whole situation. He wakes up in this moving box and is transported to this unknown world and he doesn't remember who he or his family is, but he knows that something is off. He knows he didn't used to live in this place. He asks around for what he is doing here but everyone else is very casual, while Thomas here is freaking out because he doesn't have a clue what's going on. He gets very aggrivated when they start being rude to him as well.
I am very interested in what's going to happen in this book because all the movie trailers and reviews seem very good! I have heard that there is a lot of conflict in this book, which I have mixed feelings about. I love reading about conflict because it adds a lot to a story! But with that, I fear that there might be too much conflict in this book because of the previous blogs I have read. I guess I'll have to read more to find out!

 

Blog Post #8

Grace and I are reading Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza. This memoir takes place during the Rwandan Holocaust. This Holocaust is between two Rwandan tribes, the Hutus and the Tutsis. There are a lot more Hutus in Rwanda, and they feel superior to the Tutsis. There are no differences between the two tribes, except for the fact that the Tutsi's tend to be taller and have broader noses. One day, the Hutu government feels threatened by the Tutsis and declares that all Tutsis are seeking to kill the Hutus and regain power. As a result of this, many Extremist Hutus band together and start killing innocent Tutsis. Neighbors would turn against neighbors, just because they were Tutsi. The government also declared that the Tutsi population must be destroyed at all costs. Even Tutsi babies and the elderly were brutally murdered by this genocide.
This memoir taught me that anything is possible with faith in God. Immaculee was always very religious and prayed frequently. When she and 7 other women hid in a bathroom for three months, only about 4 feet long and 3 feet wide. She would pray from sun rise to midnight. She would pray her father's rosary that he gave her before she went away, and pray for everyone to be okay after the genocide. There were many instances when the killers were in the room right beside her, and she would pray to God to blind them with His love, and not to let them see the bathroom door. It worked. It always worked. Towards the end of the genocide, she didn't want her killers to die a painful death like she used to want, she prayed for God to forgive them for their sins, and for them to see what mistakes they've made before they die so they can go to Heaven. After the three months in the bathroom, the French soldiers protected many Tutsis in their camp. After approximately a month of protection, the French were transporting Tutsis to a church, where they could take a more permanent refuge. The French were told by their captain to drop them off about a mile away from the church, which was a problem because there were still hundreds of killers in that distance. Immaculee and a few of the other refugees walked confidently in the direction of the church with killers at their heels. Immaculee prayed for God to blind the killers one last time, that was all she needed. She didn't even pray to live anymore, she just prayed for her new friends to be okay and for the killers to see the errors that they had made before it was too late. The killers eventually walked away from her group and she was able to get to the church to send back help for the others.

Immaculee with her father's rosary.

This video shows how Immaculee had faith in God and that helped her forgive her killers.

 

Our realization can be seen in another genocide survivors story as well. Jason Nshimye was 15 when the Rwandan genocide started and he, like many others thought that the killers would not murder in a church. He was wrong and barely escaped, but not before he saw his whole family die. He lived in a brush for many weeks with another young girl. Her whole family had also been killed. Another wrong assumption he made was that the killers wouldn't murder young children. One day when Jason was walking with a group of small kids they ran into a soldier. He assumed that they would be ok but the soldier told them to lay down so he could shoot them. He had to watch the other kids be shot and he knew he would be too. But god saved him, when the soldier pulled the trigger nothing happened. The gun was out of bullets. Remembering those times were very hard for him but he knows that it was his faith in god that saved him. ' "Even speaking about it today," he says, "it's hard to explain the tragedy. It was horrible." Rather than forget, he chooses to forgive. He credits his unwavering faith. "During this time," he says, "I was terrified and horrified, but I kept my hope in the everlasting God. He looked down upon me." '

 

http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/inside-story/articles/2014/4/8/experts-weigh-inhastheworldlearnedfromtherwandagenocide.html

 

Jason at the church where his family was killed.



Blog Post #7

So far, The Color of Water is a lot more interesting than I thought! It isn't just another novel that we're forced to read and analyze during class. It has a complex plot and well thought out characters. One of my favorite characters, is James' mother.
We can already tell that she has had a rough childhood,. She was worked way too hard, abused, and worried about her race. Since she was a Jew, she was treated unfairly by the world, and unfortunately, she was exposed to this harsh discrimination as a young child. She wasn't allowed to do a lot of things, according to Tateh. She and her older brother Sam had to run directly home from school to work in the family grocery store. Their homework had to be done while on the job, during any downtime they had. Sam was worked especially hard because he was the oldest. He eventually ran away to Chicago when he was only 15 or so, and ended up dying in the military during World War II.
My least favorite character by far is Tateh. I could write an entire blog post about how much I don't like him. I think the main reason I don't like him is because he doesn't love Mameh. He doesn't just not love her though, he is completely awful to her! A great example of this is on page 197. "The way Tateh treated her, they'd call her an 'abused woman' today. Back then, they just called you 'wife.' And a man could do anything he wanted to his wife in the South. Especially if she's a Jew who's crippled and he's a so-called rabbi. He can yell at her, make fun of her, curse her, slap her. He can even go out with another woman right in front of her face" (McBride 197). This and the way that he treated his kids makes me so angry with him. I mean, if two of your kids run away before they're even 18, I think your parenting style is wrong. But that's just my opinion.

This is a picture of Ruth McBride Jordan, because I was curious what she looked like...

 

Post #6

IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENS IN THE BOOK I WOULDN'T READ THIS!
Since my last post, I have finished Looking for Alaska by John Green and I realized that a lot of things make more sense after you finish a book. For example, the title is a big hint for what the story is about, especially later in the book. SPOILER AHEAD.. Miles ("Pudge") and the Colonel are always chasing after Alaska, partially since Pudge has basically fallen in love with her. Alaska has always been unpredictable and sometimes moody but in the grand scheme of things, she was well liked by a lot of people. One night, Pudge, Alaska and Colonel had all been drinking. After they had all fallen asleep, Alaska went outside and answered a phone call. She came back in slamming the door and crying hysterically. She was screaming how she was stupid and she had to get out of there. She told Pudge and the Colonel to distract the Eagle (the dorm advisor) so she could drive away. They did as they were told and Alaska drove away.
They never knew what Alaska was crying about. They never knew where she was going. They never knew why she had flowers in the backseat of her car. Alaska was driving down the highway where there was a jackknifed truck. There were lots of police cars around and Alaska hit one of them. Never slowing down, never swerving the slightest bit. Everyone at Culver Creek was devastated. Pudge and the Colonel blamed themselves for letting her go and not stopping her. They were determined to find out what she was doing when she died. They spent the rest of the book looking for clues to figure out Alaska's death, and eventually, they did.

Blog Post #5

            I am still reading Looking for Alaska by John Green and it has gotten a lot better since my last post! At the time of my last post, I was still unsure what all the '___ days before' chapter titles were about but I figured it out now. I'm not going to sit here and spoil it for you but I was not expecting what happened! I definately would not have guessed it! Currently the characters in the book are still in shock about what happened.
           It's hard to summarize what I've read when the current plot is revolving around what just happened. The characters are working to solve part of this mystery and it's hard both physically and emotionally. Miles has officially gone head-over-heels for Alaska, part of which makes this transition even harder. So far, I definately reccomend this book to anyone looking for a good suspenceful book!

Blog Post 4
         I have started reading Looking for Alaska by John Green. I started reading this book at the end of last school year and never finished it. I am about halfway through the book and I'm eager to read on. This is because John Green doesn't tell you what the main conflict is until you're quite a ways toward the end. The book starts off with a blank page except for one word. Before. This immediately makes the reader wonder what this word means. Before what? Instead of chapters, John Green divides the book up into different time periods, like 138 days before, or 126 days before.
        The book is about a plain boy named Miles meeting an extravagant, outgoing girl named Alaska. Miles hangs around Alaska, intrigued and utterly infatuated by this girl. They live in a boarding school named Culver Creek together and another boy who goes by Colonel is his roommate. They get along nicely and he just so happens to be friends with Alaska.
         They are currently all together, looking out for each other because they are currently prime targets for pranks. At Culver Creek, everyone is hiding something that is not allowed at the school, such as alcohol. Alaska once told the principal about one of her friends to protect herself and she was never trusted since. The students at Culver Creek are now wary of her entire group of friends, including Miles. They are pulling a senior prank and setting off fireworks in the woods as a form of a pre-prank, to make the administrators feel safe thinking that the worst is behind them and then they get pranked for real.
          I am excited to see what the actual prank is and what I'm reading towards with all of the labels on the amount of days before something happens.

Blog Post 3
I have officially finished If I Stay by Gayle Forman and I'm a little disappointed by the ending. It's not one of the cliffhangers that makes you want to go buy the next book immediately, unfortunately. it's one of the cliffhangers that makes you wonder if it was intentional, or the author had to meet a deadline. This was the main reason my rating was only a three out or five.
Overall, the book was pretty good, it just needed an extra something. There were a lot of flashbacks, which I enjoyed for the most part but too many of them can get annoying. One thing that I felt Gayle Forman did a really good job of is characterizing the characters. I had a really good picture in my head of what Mia, Adam and Kim would look like and do. This added to the book because you could get a better idea of what they were feeling and connect with them more.
Currently, I am not sure if Mia will stay or go, but based on the fact that there is another book, makes me think that she decides to stay and see Adam again. I will eventually get around to reading the sequel, Where She Went, but there isn't a rush on getting that book.

What I'm Reading
        I am currently reading If I Stay by Gayle Forman. It is about a girl named Mia, who is a cellist in a family full of rock and roll. She is very good at what she does, but she has always felt like an outcast in her own family. When they all pile in the car to go out shopping on a snow day, the unexpected happens. Mia and her family are in an accident. And a bad one at that. Her parents die on impact and within minutes, Mia and her brother, Teddy, are being shipped away to the nearest hospital. Mia is unconscious, but somehow she can see and hear everything going on around her. She is like a ghost, she can walk around the hospital and see her loved ones, but she can't make any noises and she doesn't have any superpowers either.
        Currently in the book, the doctors wouldn't let Adam, Mia's boyfriend, and Kim, (Mia's best friend)inside to see Mia, making Adam and Kim want to get in to see her even more. They create this crazy plan to distract the nurses for just long enough for them to slip in and see Mia. Unfortunately, the head nurse comes in right before they can see her. The head nurse calls for security and the two of them are escorted away. When they come out of the elevator, there is another nurse waiting outside. She threatens to tell the boss that they are taking two people trying to see a girlfriend in critical condition to security. That makes the security guards let them go without much argument. Mia's ghost then realizes that this is Teddy's nurse. Was Teddy's nurse. Just by the look of her, disheveled hair and bags under her eyes, Mia knows. She's alone. Mom and Dad are gone. And now so is Teddy. She begins to wonder if it would be better if she just went as well.

PROMPT B:
Complex characters are made gradually throughout a book by the author subtly dropping hints every now and then. If an author thoroughly described every new character, the story would feel very forced and unnatural. Just like in real life, you need to discover something about a person periodically, just like you wouldn't meet someone new and somehow know everything about them. For example, in Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight, there were two different points of view, one for Amelia, and another one for Kate, Amelia's mother. Since there were two points of view, we could discover more things about the characters faster than with only one point of view. Kimberly McCreight does an excellent job of characterizing Amelia. She characterizes her as a girl who cares about academics and does a great job in them. In the first few pages of the book, it starts off in Kate's point of view, when she gets a call saying that Amelia has gotten into trouble and Kate needs to pick her up as soon as possible. This immediately makes you wonder what Amelia has done because she is a very well behaved student, causing the reader to read on. An example from the text to support this is on page 9 in Reconstructing Amelia,

“‘Apparently Amelia has gotten into some kind of trouble, which doesn’t make sense. She doesn’t get into trouble.’

‘Amelia? I’m fresh off singing her praises in that recommendation for the summer reading program at Princeton, so I may be biased, but I certainly don’t buy it.’ Jeremy put a sympathetic hand momentarily on Kate’s shoulder and smiled again (McCreight 9).”
Overall, authors develop characters slowly throughout the book to make you want to read on and in Kimberly McCreight did an excellent job of that in Reconstructing Amelia.

Reconstructing Amelia Article

My article is about how Kimberly McCreight came up with the idea to make Reconstructing Amelia and it tells us about her life. It turns out, this was her fourth book she's written, but she hasn't published any of the other ones just yet. She has had a bit of a struggle writing these books, she was told by her agent that her second book was so bad it was "unsalable"! All in all, Kimberly McCreight delivered a fantastic read for young girls.