Blogging Wrap-up

     So for this semester, I read a few independent reading books... but I guess that's just how it is when your busy with band. I read the end of  The Fault in Our Stars (I had already started it during the summer), though I didn't blog about it. I also read Cress by Marissa Meyer. It was okay, but definitely not as good as the previous books in the series. Ha. In fact I didn't like it very much at all. The third book that I started and still currently reading, is The Help. I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. It's actually kind of funny(I absolutely recommend it if you haven't read it already).
Sooooo.... I know I should have been more active on goodreads, but I haven't. That's why all of the books I read during this semester were book recommendations.
    
     I honestly have to say that my blogs did evolve over the course of the semester. Let's just say they were not the whole, "Knock-your-socks-off" blog. At first they would just be very repetitive and wayyyy to simple. They didn't have much thought put into them. As time went on, I started adding in textual evidence about halfway through the semester. Not only that, but I started to put in some different varieties of visual evidence besides just pictures. In comparison to the SUPERIOR blog post criteria, my posts have shifted closer and closer to the expected requirements. Specifically, My blog posts have become less professional voice and more... blog post-y... conversational like voice. Hopefully my blog will evolve EVEN MORE next semester.

     Ok. 3 goals... let's see... Um... Well... Oh! Got it!
Goal #1... Make my blog posts more thoughtful. I noticed that when I blogged, it was very repetitive and just went on and on with no meaning or thought put into it at all. it was just a "I have to do it so I'll just put random stuff down" kind of situation. Ya know what I mean?
Goal #2...For next semester, I want to read more challenging books. for me, I feel that when a book is not hard to read, but challenging, it's easier to write about. If I understand everything, then, there's not really any point. Whereas when a book has a great plot, good diction...etc., the blog posts can just come flowing. A challenging read means something to write.

Goal #3... Well, I can't say "read more" because that was already clarified in the directions. For some reason, it's so hard to come up with a 3rd goal. Is that just how I am? A maximum of 2 goals? Soooooo... Goal #3... goal #3... goal #3? Aha! Got it. For goal #3, I want to incorporate better visual aid. Yes, it has gotten better over this semester, but there is definitely room for improvement. Most of my visual aid has been mainly pictures, a couple videos here and there, and only, like, one article link.

I'm pretty sure this is the longest blog post I've done in a while. :)

The Help

     I'm slowly making progress in this book. So far, Minny has gotten a new job. I still haven't reached the part about the pie...

     I'm going to say that the most important line from this chapter is, "'And she ain't told you why she don't want him to know?' 'All she say is she want him to think she can do the cooking and the cleaning herself . But that ain't why. She hiding something from him.'" (Stockett53-54). This is the most important line from the chapter because it really sums up what is going on throughout the whole chapter. The new person that Minny is working for doesn't want her husband to know that she's hired help. She wants her husband to think that she can do everything herself; as the quote explains. Why? No idea. The book still has not revealed what is going on. Not only does this quote sum up the chapter, but it also sets up some suspense also. Why does she not want her husband to know? What could be worth hiding from him? what is Minny going to do?

     To help you get a little better of an idea of Minny's boss's fear..., "'Miss Celia,'I grit my teeth, 'how come you can't tell your husband about me? Ain't he gone know when the cooking gets good?' 'Oh! I didn't think of that! Maybe we ought to burn the chicken a little." (Stockett 52). This quote shows just how much Miss Celia is desperate that her husband doesn't find out about Minny and the help she's getting. For some reason, Miss Celia is so afraid of her husband...

This is the scene from the movie where Minny tries to teach Miss Celia how to cook.

The Help... again

     
      Alright-y... so a little behind on blogging posts, but I guess that's what happens when your off on a band trip. Being busy these past few weeks, I haven't had much time to catch up on my independent reading. Meaning that I've only read one more chapter. Surprisingly, this chapter was actually kinda sorta really long.

     As I mentioned before (a couple posts back), this book, The Help has a lot of slang in it. In my opinion, it helps bring the time period to life to really represent what it was like back then. To show you what I mean, here's an example, "She trying to get her husband to reduce. She want skillet and green salad. And how many calories do I spec them meringue thingies have?" (Stockett 30). See what I mean? Not only does the author use slang to help bring this book to life, but she also's includes humor as well. Such as when the help/maids talk about and make fun of each other's masters with each other. It also helps me to enjoy the book better. It takes a very serious time and adds humor to make the book enjoyable, but without taking away the seriousness of the matter. Some "scenes" probably didn't happen, of course... but it makes me curious to know...Maybe you've heard of what one maid in particular, Minny, did with a pie...? Yeah, gross. If you don't know, I'm not going to be the one to tell ya. Do you think that really could have happened...?

Left to Tell

     Just so you know, this blog was created with Aya Kraimer and you can find the same post on her blog. We are both reading Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza. While reading the book, we realized that it is important to have hope and faith that everything will turn out okay. You have to keep going even when its hard. We were able to realize this by seeing life through Immaculee's perspective and seeing what she thought as things happened around her. It was as if we could experience what she did, and again, we could see what she thought; making it easier for us to depict a central idea.

This is her sitting in the bathroom
that she hid in with 7 other girls
during the genocide. Isn't it SMALL?

     Okay...So you know what we realized from the book, but you didn't read the book. Let's get you caught up. In a small country called Rwanda, a genocide is going on. There are different groups of people living there. The different tribes that are there are the Hutus and the Tutsis. The main character is a Tutsi, and at this point in the book, The Hutus are killing the Tutsis.  The main character is currently hiding in the bathroom of a priest with 7 other girls. While there they can never make any noise or they will be found. As she experiences this, the reader is able to see how she is trying to stay strong and to keep faith and hope as she struggles through. I mean, she's going through a genocide. That's hard.



This is the author and her family before the genocide.

Immaculee's story reminded me of Anne Frank's so doing some research, I found out how similar they were. Both went into hiding during a genocide. During both of their times in hiding, they had to be very quiet as to not give away their whereabouts. In addition, both girls had some sort of way to cover the entrance. In Immaculee's story, a wardrobe was used to cover the door to the bathroom she was in along with other girls. In Anne Frank's case, a bookcase was used to cover the door to her hiding place with her family. Both girls had to be extremely careful, and keep going. They both had faith and hope that everything would be okay. They both did all they could to stay safe. Both girls had much in common.

Anne Frank 

The Help

        Alright, so I've heard a little about this book, The Help, and that it is worth a read. I honestly know nothing about the book or the story. Yet, I've been told that is good. From what I assume, I predict it has a story line that has some powerful and meaningful message. (If you know what I mean). Is it one of those books that just...Well, sticks with you? Something that you remember for a long time?

 I actually just started the book. As in the first chapter. So far, it's pretty decent. I think I really enjoy how the author used actual slang to help bring the book to life. It makes it so realistic and I feel as if I could actually be there. One question, does she main character work for Miss Leefolt, but care for other people? I guess what I'm trying to say is, what does the help's job involve? What are they required to do? I know this took place a while back, but when exactly  did this book take place? They're are paid to work... and that means they're not slaves. So did this take place before or after Martin Luther King Jr. and his time? So much is introduced in the first chapter, and I'm sure it will make sense later, but right now I just have so many questions! They made a movie from it...Is it like the book? I assume it is...
If there is one thing I have heard about the book, it's the character Minny. Apparently she ends of doing something with a pie...

                                                                       

   
 Okayyyy.... I'm in chapter 37, so a little more than halfway through the book Cress. The suspense keeps growing. Especially this chapter. Just a little background information is that there is a doctor, Dr. Erland and a girl named Cress. They don't know each other but they are meeting in this chapter. Cress has no family, and Dr. Erland lost his daughter. See where this is going?  Going from there, Dr. Erland takes a blood sample from Cress because he is trying to find a cure. He starts to run the test when Cress runs and hides.


      The most important line from this chapter is, "He found himself hoping that the hallucination was true and she was not his daughter. That his daughter had been killed by Sybil Mira, as he'd been led to believe so many years ago. Because if it was her, she would despise him." (Meyer 335). See? The suspense is growing. You can probably predict what happens. This quote helps so much to foreshadow what is going to happen in the plot next. Without it, what the doctor is thinking would not be, well, obvious. This quote is going to help develop what the doctor is going to think and feel later in the book. Can you just imagine what he'll think when he-...Well, I'll leave the imagining up to you.

     
      Cress. The book is good, great actually. The author does a great job using figurative language to help bring the book to life. Similes are the most frequently used type. The similes used are also not always used to compare two items, but instead used to compare actions that would happen in reality.

It helps engage the reader and relate easier. "He kept rapidly blinking behind his glasses, like trying to clear away an eyelash, until his gaze fell away from her all together." (Meyer 328). This is an example of the similes the author uses. To me, I could easily relate to what the author was trying to describe because of the comparison she used.

      Although the book uses good figurative language, is does not use as much diction as it could. Every now and then there will be a good descriptive word, yet the book could use a few more. Sometimes, the book can feel repetitive in word description in areas where there isn't much diction. Thus making that section a very easy read. I think the book could use a little more to make it a more challenging read. Even with only some diction and a lot of figurative language, the book is still a great read.




Article

        Cinder Linh is one of the main characters in my book, Cress. To describe her would be to say that she is very brave, determined, but also kind, and caring. In a way, she kind of reminds me of Katniss from the Hunger Games. She is the type that would do brave, and daring things, but would not appreciate a lot of publicity from it. An example from Cress is, "She raised her head. The woman was still beaming. 'Yes?' 'You are brave and beautiful.' She tensed, feeling the woman had threatened her than complimented her...The woman kept smiling.'Um. Thank you?'" (Meyer 220). This example shows that Cinder does not exactly know how to respond, and she sure doesn't bask in the admiration. Just as Katniss did not always want her actions and private life to be displayed all across the country.


     In addition, both characters are not only Cinder chooses to stay in the dark and in hiding as does Katniss. Both characters do it mainly for the same reasons. Katniss hides from the government as they try to track her down, and Cinder hides from the queen who wants to kill her. Because both characters share a similar conflict/situation, this results in similar actions and responses. When two characters share similar personalities, and then they also share similar situations, they are most likely to react the same way. It makes it wasier for the reader to predict what may happen.




Article

        The best part of my book, Cress is how unique the story line is. It takes the usual, familiar fairytales and turns them into something creative and puts a huge twist on the story line. It uses the stories of Cinderella, red riding hood, and Rapunzel and brings them to futuristic times. Because these stories take place in futuristic times, Cinderella(Cinder) is a cyborg, Red Riding Hood (Scarlet) becomes friends the wolf who is apart of a secret organization, and Rapunzel (Cress) lives in a satellite instead of a tower.

        In the previous books, Cinder and Scarlet, the characters meet and team up with each other along with other characters who aren't exactly from fairytales but they do play a big part in these stories. In the third book, Cress, The story of Rapunzel if finally introduced. All the characters are teaming up to overthrow the Queen of the planet Lunar. As the characters face different hardships, the suspense grows. In addition, each chapter is from a different character's point of view which also helps to see what is happening to the other characters when the get split up. It also helps contribute information to the reader about the character's pasts. With all of these components of this creative, uniquely written story, it makes the book an exciting read.

                I just started this new book Cress by Marissa Meyer and it is absolutely fantastic! It's the 3rd book in the series The Lunar Chronicles. It's really part of one of those series that takes a simple, well known, idea/story and puts a creative twist on the whole thing. That's mainly why I chose to read this book. Being fairly familiar with most classic fairytales, and having a liking of futuristic books, this book/series really interested me. It's hard to understand one book without reading the other ones that come first. Each book builds off the one that came before it, making an ongoing and suspenseful storyline; which I prefer. It keeps the story going therefore the books don't keep going on with no plot.

                What also makes this book interesting is that as the book goes on, each chapter switches between different characters stories. Cinder- Cinderella but a cyborg, Scarlet- Red Riding Hood, along with the wolf, and Cress- Rapunzel, who lives in a satellite instead of a tower. It takes those simple fairytales and turns them into an adventurous story that all connect to each other as different characters team up. Marissa Meyer has really done something amazing with these stories. They capture the readers with the books starting and ending suspenseful. There aren't any boring parts which keeps the reader engaged and makes them want to read more; I know I have. There is so much that makes me love this book, but some of it I just can't explain.

     Before I read the book The Fault In Our Stars, I had heard so much about it; All the great parts of the story, the sad parts, what happens in the end, and how amazing the book was and that I needed to read it. Therefore, I set my expectations pretty high. Well, reading the book made me realize that it was nothing like I had imagined it to be like. Still a great book, but much more different.

     As the book may have been very typical like something in reality, the characters were unique and very much refined over the course of the book. As the story went on, the main characters, Hazel and Augustus became more known to the reader. The reader could come to see the characters as if they had to come to life. Each character had been crafted differently in a specific way that each person reacts differently to different situations to create interest and a plot for the book.

     When the different characters interact with each other throughout the book, mainly Hazel and Augustus, they end up have an effect on one another. By the end of the novel, Hazel has become a dynamic character and it becomes easier to see that because the book is through her perspective on life. Even though there isn't a closing/concluding statement that makes it obvious, it is easy to assume. As the story continues, Hazel, who at the beginning of the book was depressed, and constantly thought about cancer, starts to think less and less of it the more she talks to Gus, and explores things. Therefore by the end of the book, Hazel could be considered a dynamic character. It helps to show that there is much more in life, and your days are numbered, therefore you should make the best of it. Hazel helped to show this because she learned the same lesson. In books, when characters are specifically described, or they change by the end of the book, it can greatly help to develop the theme/plot trying to be expressed.

 

 

 

The Fault In Our Stars Article

 

This article describes the plot of the novel. It also explains how John Green gained the inspiration to write the book and also about its publication. The article explains the positive feedback it got from critiques and when/how it became a movie.