Looking for Alaska Post #4

Of all the choices I had for summer reading, one novel clearly stood out to me from the very beginning. This novel just so happens to be Looking for Alaska by John Green. My attention was drawn to this novel particularly because I have heard only amazing reviews about this book, both from my peers and online. I have heard this book reels you in and is very hard to put down, which is a quality I look for in books. Another reason I have chosen to read this book is because I recently read The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, and it was one of the best books I have read in my entire life. I felt connected to Looking for Alaska because one of the themes in the book was peer pressure, and I am constantly finding myself under peer pressure. I would definitely recommend this book to any mature teenager, or anybody who feels comfortable reading a book that has content such as drugs, drinking, etc. I think teenagers would like this book because it deals with current issues that go on in the teenage world, such as falling under the peer pressure of doing drugs, or drunk driving. This book left me with a powerful message and I definitely recommend reading it!

Looking for Alaska Post #3

"I need y'all to go to the gym." "Now", he added. And as if answering my prayers, the Eagle said, "You're not in trouble. But you need to go to the gym now." I heard the Colonel rolling over above me. "What's wrong?" "Something terrible has happened," the Eagle said, and then closed the door(Green 138). In this part of the book, the Eagle, the school principal, announces to Pudge and the Colonel that they must immediately go to the gym to hear some bad news. The Eagle is about to announce to the whole school that Alaska Young died the previous night in a car accident. This part of the book has the intention to hook readers because a few pages before, Alaska Young was out driving in the middle of the morning. Once the Eagle stops by to announce everyone must report to the school gym, the readers heart drops. The reader doesn't want to assume the worst and believe that Alaska might be dead, so they start to assume otherwise. They start to hope that the Eagle will be announcing something else. It also hooks the reader because the reader is very curious to see if Pudge and the Colonel are in trouble. 

Looking for Alaska: Post #2

           In the novel I am currently reading, Looking for Alaska, I am starting to pick up on a new trend: each character has a strong desire or will for something.  For Miles Halter (Pudge), his favorite obsession is memorizing the last words of famous people as they are dying. This made Pudge crave the “Great Perhaps” (Francois Rabelais, poet). Throughout the book, Pudge has been mentioning the Great Perhaps quite often, thinking of what he must do to achieve his own Great Perhaps. However, I think it’s going to be difficult for Pudge to seek a Great Perhaps if he keeps up with his new drinking and smoking habits. For Alaska Young, the beautiful, intelligent girl living down the hall from Pudge, her goal is to put her many problems behind her. When Alaska was younger, her mom had a seizure and Alaska, being very young back then, failed to call 9-1-1. Alaska feels very guilty about this and continually blames herself for her mother’s death. Another problem Alaska has was her father leaving the family. Her father would blame Alaska for her mother’s death, which, again, allowed Alaska to feel she was the cause of her mother’s death. Alaska solves this problem by drinking a lot and planning pranks. I think one theme that is starting to appear is that there is more to life than one person’s experience, and we will never know why certain things may happen to our loved ones.

Looking for Alaska: Post #1

I am currently reading Looking For Alaska by John Green. There are many characters I find to be interesting. Some main characters include Miles  Halter (Pudge), Chip  Martin (Colonel), Takumi  Hikohito, Alaska Young, the Eagle (Mr. Starnes), and Lara Buterskaya. Not to mention the old man, Dr Hyde, who I, not going to lie, find to be quite boring. The setting of this novel is at Culver Creek Boarding School in Alabama. Pudge is originally from Florida, but decided to go to Culver Creek because his father went there and really enjoyed it. Pudge hopes that his decision to attend Culver Creek is a wise choice and that he will be able to make friends, since he didn’t have many back in Florida, and that he will be able to perform better academically. The conflict of this novel is that Pudge gets involved in the wrong group of people. He starts to do things he never imagined, like smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol. He also became friends with a group of people who don’t mind, but rather enjoy being rebellious and doing pranks.  Once Pudge realizes this, he doesn’t stand up for what he believes is right, but rather he steps out of his comfort zone. I predict that Pudge is going to get in trouble for his actions, which might anger his parents. Can standing up for your beliefs change who you are as a person, and possibly shape your future?

Final Blogging Assessment in English 1B

    Throughout the trimester, I think  my writing style has changed for the better. There are many new diction and syntax strategies that I have incorporated into my blogging. In my last post entitiled "Review on My Book", I used elevated diction. I used the word quite, intsead of very. "There are also lots of quotes in this book that I really like and find to be quite inspirational." I also used the word simply, instead of just. "It taught me that you can't simply change who you are, but you can choose what you do in your life and who you impact."As far as syntax goes, I wrote in all caps for some sentences to enhance the importance of some lines. One place I used this technique is when I said "WHO WANTS TO READ A BOOK WHEN YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHATS GOING TO HAPPEN???" I also added lots of question marks to make it seem more obvious.

    This trimester, I set a blogging goal for myself. My goal was to add more voice to all of my pieces, and to show more of my personality into my blogging. I think I have achieved this goal over the course of the trimester, because I use many examples of textual evidence by providing quotes. For instance, in my last post entitled “Review on my book”, I described some quotes that I found to be quite inspirational. “So, I guess we are who we are for alot of reasons. And maybe we'll never know most of them. But even if we don't have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things. And we can try to feel okay about them"(Chbosky 211).  I listed the quote, then continued to describe how this touched me. I described how this quote shows that you can’t simply change who you are, but you can change your actions and you can change how you impact others. I also included many links into my posts, such as a picture and quote by the author. I included a quote in my post entitled “Blog Post About the Author”, and I included a cover picture of the book in my post entitled “Why I Chose this Book”.

Review on my book

  I am almost finished with the book The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book. It was not very predictable, which in my opinion, is a good thing. After all, WHO WANTS TO READ A BOOK WHEN YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHATS GOING TO HAPPEN???Another thing I liked about this book is that it had many good lessons. Charlie is always standing up for what he believes is right. He is also a very humble person and he never tries to show off. There are also lots of quotes in this book that I really like and find to be quite inspirational.“So, I guess we are who we are for alot of reasons. And maybe we'll never know most of them. But even if we don't have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things. And we can try to feel okay about them"(Chbosky 211). This quote taught me a lot. It taught me that you can't simply change who you are, but you can choose what you do in your life and who you impact. Last, the thing I like the most about this book is that once you start reading, you CAN NOT STOP!! I would reccomend this book to anyone in high school or older. I hope you find this book to be as enjoyable as I did!

Best and Worst Qualities

 I am close to finishing my independent novel entitled The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I have noticed that the main character, Charlie, has many qualities, both good and bad. I think the best quality Charlie has is being loyal. He stands up for what he believes even if it involves him getting into trouble. Also, he cares about those around him. He tells on his sister, but only because he cares. I think Charlie's worst quality is that he is often questioning his actions. He lacks confidence and sometimes he holds back. I think that my best quality is that I'm honest.I always try to tell the truth even if it gets me in trouble. My parents always say that if I get in trouble and lie, I will get a punishment for what I did wrong and an extra punishment for lying. I think my worst quality is that I am very impatient.

Important Line from the Book

 The prompt I am responding to this week is an important line in the book. Oddly enough, I'm having a difficult time choosing just one (or two) important lines, because I love this book SO much! However, after a while I made a selection. I think the lines “So, this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I'm still trying to figure out how that could be." are very important, because they totally relate to Charlie, the main character in this book. In fact, Charlie is doing just that-trying to figure out who he is. As I'm reading this book I have noticed Charlie is evolving, he's changing, as a character, as a person. He's trying to figure out who to hang out with, if he's boyfriend material, and he's also trying to discover what results from his actions, and if he's making the right or wrong choices.

How Charlie changes throughout the book

 I'm currently reading the Perks of Being a Wallflower. One thing I have been noticing is that throughout the book the main character, Charlie, undergoes major personality changes. In the beginning of the book, Charlie sits back and watches his life and the situations around him. As the book progresses, Charlie starts to participate more in his life. In my opinion this all happens after Bill, his high school English teacher, gives Charlie a talk about being a participater, not just an observer. At first Charlie is convinced he can't change that; it's simply the way he is. But soon enough Charlie proves himself wrong. He stands up to his bully by physically fighting back, and he tattles on his sister after observing a situation that he feels puts her in danger. After seeing the way Charlie could change in such a short period of time, it made me start to question my actions. Am I just an observer, or am I a participator in my life?

Krista Ramsey

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In this column, it describes the crime of three teenagers. It describes the importance of going down the right path in life; making choices that not only benefit you, but those around you. In my opinion, the best line in this piece is "I couldn't tell how much information you were absorbing Thursday morning as you were led into Courtroom 108 at Hamilton County Juvenile Court." It really draws you into the story, and gives you a preview about what you're about to read. I think that the writing style in this piece is casual and informative. If I had the oppurtunity to ask Krista Ramsey some questions, here is what I would ask:
1. What inspired you to become a writer?
2. Where/when do you usually get your best ideas?
3. Do you have a favorite piece that you've written?

Soundtrack for my book

  I am currently on page 90 of the book entitled The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Steven Chbosky. I think the song Asleep by the Smiths is a good representation for this book. For one, this song is mentioned several times throughout the book. This means its obviously important, right? I feel this song is a good representation of the book for many reasons. First, the song represents suicide. In the beginning of the book, Charlie mentions that his good friend Michael has committed suicide but he cant figure out why because Michael never shared any of his problems. Also, throughout the book Charlie lists many struggles of his own. Along with his friend Michael no longer being there with him, Charlie must deal with keeping quiet about what happened to his sister, or protecting her by telling his English teacher Bill. Another issue of his is that his Aunt Helen, who he described as his favorite person in the whole world passed away in a car accident, so he feels he has nobody to connect with anymore. At this point in the book, I am wondering if Charlie will commit suicide later on because he feels he has nobody there for him. I guess I will only find out by continuing to read...

Best thing about my book

 I love the book I am currently reading. The title of the book is the Perks of Being a Wallflower. There are a lot of reasons why I like this book. First, this book has many different characters. I think it's fun to read books when there are lots of characters especially when they have many different characteristics  that you can relate to . Also this book isnt that predictable. Nobody wants to read a book where you know exactly what will happen next. But I think the best thing about this book is that its nearly impossible to put down! Once you start reading, I guarantee you wont be able to stop. If you're looking for an awesome book, I reccomend this one!

Post about the author

I am currently on page 45 of the Perks of Being a Wallflower. The author of this book is Stephen Chbosky. Stephen was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1970. He is currently 44 years old. He went to college at the University of Southern California. He actually received a bachelors degree in film-making. He is a screen writer and a television director. It wasn't until 1999 that his well known novel, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, was published. Most recently Stephen was the executive producer of the CBS television series entitled Jericho. Jericho was a show about a fictional town dealing with nuclear attacks. It's last episode was in 2008, before the show got cancelled. Stephen now lives in Los Angeles, CA and continues to film and brainstorm ideas for new books.

Why I chose this book

 I chose to read the book entitled The Perks of Being  a Wallflower by Steven Chbosky. I will be blogging periodically on my thoughts and opinions on this book. There are many reasons why I chose to read this book. The first reason I wanted to start this book is because I saw the movie. I really enjoyed it and thought it was tremendous. Another reason is because I really enjoy reading books of this genre- young adult fiction/ CRF. Although the cover may look boring to some, I have learned to never judge a book by it's cover. I have heard awesome things about this book and can't wait to read it!

Final Blogging Assessment

  I think the quality of my writing has improved greatly over the course of the trimester. One thing that I think has improved is my elevated diction. I used to throw in common words that are overused a lot. After I write my blog posts, I go back and look for common words. I try to think of a more unique word that isn't used as much. This makes my posts more interesting for both me and the people reading it. For example, one word that I find to be overused is scared. "I can't begin to imagine how terrified Ellen is during this time." In that last quote, I decided to change the word scared to terrifed. This word isn't used as often and makes it sounds more dramatic.

 While I was working on improving the diction, there was one thing that I was still struggling with: voice. It's one thing to summarize what you have been reading, and how you feel about it, but it's a whole new thing to add voice to your writing. In order to add voice to your writing, you have to be very familiar with the text. Then you must think of what would make it interesting to read. One way I tried to add voice to my posts was to make them relatable. "This is mainly because we have a lot to relate to- we are both Jewish teenage girls." In that quote, I am stating how I relate to the main character, Ellen Rosen. In this next quote, I don't relate the quote to myself, but to the people reading my blog, because nobody wants to read something that doesn't relate to them at all. "After all, who wants to read a boring book where you know what's going to happen right away? If you like books that keep you on the edge of your chair, I recommend this one." I think adding voice to writing can be challenging, but can take the piece to a whole new level.

Letter to the Author

Dear Lois Lowry,
I would like to take a minute to thank you. Thank you for writing Number the Stars. This book has been an amazing read. One of the reasons I picked up this book was because I heard it was fantastic. Once I started reading, I couldn't agree more. There were many reasons I especially loved this book. First, I had a personal connection to this book. I am 15 years old, and Jewish, just like Ellen Rosen. Another reason I loved this book was because it was action packed, and it was a cliffhanger. Once I started, I couldn't stop. Last, I really liked this book because it was powerful. I think the lesson of the book- never take life for granted, is very important. There are so many things we Americans do each day that we take for granted, and we don't realize not everyone has the ability to do such things. I look forward to reading many other books by you.
Yours truly, Samantha Winkler

Soundtrack

  Right now I'm on page 107 of Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. I am almost towards the end of the book. I am starting to notice a theme- be brave, even in the toughest times. This is because Annemarie Johansen and Ellen Rosen have to do exactly that- be brave. Ellen Rosen is Jewish, and must go in hiding with Annemarie's family, in hopes of not being found by the Nazis. She must go far away from her hometown, and without her parents or siblings. She has no idea what could or might happen in the future, and there's no way to prepare for that. Every night she has to go to sleep terrified and worried. Although she isn't near hear family, she manages to always have a smile on her face while remaining brave. This is why I think the song Brave, by Sara Bareilles is a good representation of this book and its theme.

Best thing about my book

I am currently on page 89 of Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. There are many things I like about my book. First, I can relate to it. Ellen Rosen is 15 years old and is Jewish, just like me. She lives in Copenhagen and is alive during the Holocaust. She has to travel with her friend Annemarie Johansen to Denmark, in hopes of not being found by the Nazis. Although I was not alive during the Holocaust, both my grandma and my grandpa were. I can't begin to imagine how terrified Ellen is during this time, but I know what it feels like to be a different religion than most of my friends. Another reason why I like this book is because it always has me wanting to read ahead. I want to know- will Ellen survive? Or will she be taken to a concentration camp? Last, I like this book because it is slightly unpredictable. Right when you think Ellen is going to be taken away, another event happens. After all, who wants to read a boring book where you know what's going to happen right away? If you like books that keep you on the edge of your chair, I recommend this one.

Vocab

I am currently on page 72 of Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. While reading this book, I found there are many words I am unfamiliar with. Two of these words stood out to me. The first word was obstinate. "Stand still, Kirsti, Annemarie ordered silently, praying that somehow the obstinate five-year-old would receive the message." (Lowry 4). Using context clues, I can infer that obstinate means stubborn or fidgety. When i looked up obstinate on dictionary.com, I found out that obstinate actually means firm or stubborn. Based on my inference, I was pretty close to the actual definition. The second word that stood out to me was impassive. "She glanced through the window, down to the street corner where the soldiers stood, their faces impassive beneath the metal helmets." (Lowry 55). From the text, you can infer that impassive means cold, or blank. According to dictionary.com, impassive actually means without emotion, or unmoved. I was surprised at how close my inference was to the actual definition. Looking at the text around a new word can help you guess the definition.

Conversation with Ellen Rosen

Out of all the characters from the book Number the Stars by Lois Lowry, I think the most interesting person to have a conversation with would have to be Ellen Rosen. This is mainly because we have a lot to relate to- we are both Jewish teenage girls. During the conversation with Ellen I would start by asking her the challenges of being Jewish in Copenhagen 1943. What were some things you had to risk? What were some feelings you had when the Nazis stormed into Annemarie's house in the middle of the night? Were you frightened? Startled? Nervous? Upset? I would really like to know how she was feeling in those few seconds leading up to the event, especially when she forgot to take of her necklace which had a jewish star on it. I admire Annemarie for remembering to tell Ellen about her necklace. Had it not been for Annemarie, Ellen's future, and even life may have been put in extreme danger.