The Count of Monte Cristo

       When my mother first handed me this book, I immediately didn't want to read it. The book was very old looking, and missing the cover. So, I laid it on my book shelf and forgot about it.

Until now.

I was looking for a book to read, and she reminded me of this book which I had displaced from my mind. She then began going into great detail about the book and how I would never be able to sleep again as long as the book stayed unfinished. It was apparently that good. Instantly I became intrigued.

The Count of Monte Cristo ("Cristo" not "Crisco" which is what I thought it said) is about a man ,imprisoned for a crime that he did not do. He then escapes from the prison and seeks revenge on his enemies. According to the back of then book, ...his carefully wrought revenge has held millions of readers spellbound for more than a hundred years." 

Including my mother (hence the part where she said "I would never sleep again until it was finished").

So now I'm givin' it a shot.

My 2nd and 3rd grade teacher always said that the 1st page of a book can tell the reader a lot. And the 1st page of this book already has me curious as to what is going to happen. The book says, "The vague anxiety hovering over the crowd affected one man so much he could not wait until the ship entered the harbor; he leaped into a small boat and ordered the boatman to row him out to meet the Pharaon." (Dumas 1). Why he's doing that? I don't know. What's making him so anxious? I don't know. What's going to happen next? No idea. I guess I'll just have to keep reading to find out.

I've only read the 1st page, I'll be able to sleep tonight because I haven't gotten far enough, but this is going to be one. Good. Book

Finishing Gathering Blue

       Okey dokey... This blog post is extremely late but better now than never right?

2 books down.

I have already read The Giver and I have just finished Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry. Leaving only The Messenger and Son left to read to finish up this series.

At first, the book Gathering Blue seemed a little slow and not very exciting. But as the book went on, it got a lot more interesting. This book doesn't really tie into The Giver very much, but now that I've started reading the third book, The Messenger, it makes so so so much more sense. The characters' interactions and stories begin to tie into each other; Jonas from The Giver shows up the third book. Because I have only just started The Messenger, the book hasn't exactly explained how Jonas got to where he is now, but it for sure does continue his story. Except it doesn't pick where The Giver left off, it jumps ahead a couple years.

I really like the third book better than the second. As I already said, the second book is slower. This one is more suspenseful, and is just, well...more interesting.

In the second book, the main character's (Kira) supposedly dead father is introduced and the third book shows his story, along with the story of a friend of Kira's.

I actually enjoy the way Lois Lowry has written this story line. It's intriguing and it allows to see all of the character's story connect with each other. Whereas in other books, one character's story is told, then it finishes, then another is told...etc. This particular way the story was written makes the reader have to read the whole series to know what happened to another. And I'm almost done!

2 books to go...

Columnist Packet Follow-Up

       The columns that I read were.. pretty interesting. And while all were good, I did enjoy the column "What will Kate Middleton's wedding dress look like?". I thought it was odd (well, maybe not odd but it was a little odd to me) how crazy and detailed people can get about a wedding dress. Okay, yeah sure it can be a big deal, but in my opinion, Kate's search for a dress is just an up scaled version of every other soon to be married woman. Which is why it was strange to see people get soooo excited about the dress. I also liked some of the language they used in this column, It was very artistic. One example is, "There has been a smidge of speculation in the vast blogosphere of fashion that Middleton might turn to someone like Oscar de la Renta or Vera Wang." I think what made this language and diction so fun to read is that I thought it really showed author's voice within the piece. They used fun, made-up words like, "smidge" and "blogosphere". 

       I felt like there is a lot of author's voice used in all columns. I guess that's what kind of makes it a column and opinionated. If you can really hear the author's voice, you can understand their tone and point of view towards a particular subject. Which is why I also really liked the column, "A ruff and ready playmate". I also found this one humorous and consistently used good voice. Such as when it said, "I suddenly experience a sensation of humid warmth...my right arm has disappeared up to the elbow inside the mouth of a dog...I am not alarmed... how a large, friendly dog says: 'Greetings! You have a pleasing salty taste!'"

       This one was also my favorite because it was really funny. And like me, most people (I'm assuming) like to read things that are comical and don't put us to sleep. 

Theme handout

Censorship diminishes individual thought

Timeline:

1. Montag met Clarisse and she changed the way he thinks. She made him more curious about the society.
2. After they burned the old lady and her house Montag started to question the procedure that the firefighters use. Also while Montag was in the house, he took a book from her house.
3. Montag pretended to be sick from the nervousness from stealing the book. He planned on involving Mildred with his crime. He had a change of heart towards Beatty.
4. Montag decided to go to Faber after numerous events in which he found a bible and exposed himself to Mildred, and wanted someone to help him in his new way of thinking.
5. Montag returned home to find Mrs. Bowles and Mrs. Phelps at his house. They angered him when they talked lightly about their husbands which caused him to recite Dover Beach despite Faber telling him otherwise causing Bowles and Phelps to storm off distraught and Mildred cursing him.
6. After the reciting of the poem, the call for a burning was actually for Montag’s house. At that time Montag and Beatty confront each other, causing Beatty to take out the device Faber used to communicate. The two fought until it came to gruesome end in which Montag burned Beatty before the hound came, for that is what is Beatty wished.
7. After this incident, Montag had officially became a convict. He had planted a book into one of his colleague’s home and had made the run for it after he learned that the hound was nothing but accurate. When Montag finally made it to the forest he had noticed a fire in a way in which he never had before and met the intellectuals/book people, who had noticed who Montag was and welcomed him. Shortly after meeting they were met with the site of the city’s aftermath from being bombed.

• The theme helps us understand the censorship that affects their everyday thoughts and opinions on society and law.

• Censorship still occurs today because children’s programs are censored of adult content.

Quotes:

“Are you happy?” she said. “Am I what?” he cried. But she was gone…” (Bradbury 8)

“Then he began to read in a low, stumbling voice that grew firmer as he progressed from line to line and his voice went out across the desert into the whiteness, and around the three sitting women there in the great hot emptiness.” (Bradbury 97).

“And then he was a shrieking blaze, a jumping, sprawling gibbering manikin, no longer human or known, all writhing flame on the lawn as Montag shot one continuous pulse of liquid fire on him...Beatty flopped over and over and over, and at last twisted in on himself like a charred wax doll and lay silent.” (Bradbury 113).

Fahrenheit 451 continuation

       The words of Montag still echoed in Mrs. Bowles' head, "Go home and think of your first husband divorced, and your second husband killed in a jet and your third husband blowing his brains out, and your children who hate your guts! Go home and think how it all happened and what did you ever do to stop it?". How dare he openly criticize her like that? Never again would she go back over to that house. It was all nonsense; probably something found in one of those ridiculous books. She wouldn't believe it. Yet as much as she tried to ignore the harsh criticism, she couldn't help but think to herself that what he said was true. No! No, It's not. She hopped in her car and drove fast, at least 100 miles per hour hoping to clear and forget that any of it happened.


       Mrs. Bowles walked grumpily into her house. She did  have very nice things and was living a happy life which couldn't be better; no matter what Montag said about life being better before this lovely society. No books just meant all the less confusion. Ugh. Why she was worrying? Her children would be home soon. And she was sure they didn't hate her...did they? Mrs. Bowles shook her head and turned on the program in the parlor. It was the same program she had began to watch at Mildred's. She glanced in the fridge. Her delicious cookies where sitting on a plate. She never let the children eat them because they were her special cookies that she couldn't afford to share. Maybe she would give them some. They would like that, yes. And she could give them some when they came home, yes! That's what she would do She would be very nice and give them her cookies. Then they wouldn't hate her! But, they don't so they will just be extra happy. She would at least prove that one thing Montag said was wrong.


       Her children walked in the door blanked face, almost expressionless. When they came into the kitchen, they seemed almost surprised to see their mother with a caked and forced smile, holding out the plate of cookies as an offering. They had a look of hatred and disgust on their faces. Why had she never noticed it before? Did they really hate her that much? NO. She wouldn't believe it, she wouldn't believe anything Montag has said. Mrs. Bowles seemed almost nervous while waiting for their approval. "Hi darlings!" she managed to choke out. "How about some of my cookies while watching the program, hm?"
"Okayyyy...uh thanks?" they all mumbled, very skeptical. They glanced at her with a small appreciation and then headed into the parlor. Her smile fell. It was going to take a lot to win them over. She didn't even know where to begin. She didn't have her own children's' liking, she had multiple failed marriages... maybe she wasn't so happy. She had been putting on a good face for so long, that she actually started to believe it herself. She wasn't happy. She had never been happy. Montag was right. Now if she could just remember what the book had said...

Gathering Blue

       Soooo, I'm pretty sure every 8th grader last year read The Giver. Well, I kind of liked it, and the movie was good, so I decided to continue the series.

       I just started reading Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry, and so far, it's really good. It takes place in a village were people have to be strong and healthy to stay and survive. Yet, the main character Kira has a bad leg; which she has had her whole life. They were going to get rid of her as an infant, but her mother  kept her safe. When her mother dies, she has to face the Council who decides to let her stay. Kira has a gift. Because of that gift, she gets to live in a nice home and she has to do something that no one else can do. That's about as far in the book as I've come along.

       What I really like about this book is how intriguing the book is. It's suspenseful, has a good plot, and it is very descriptive. At the beginning of the book it says," Kira felt the aloneness, the uncertainty, and a great sadness. This had been her mother, the warm and vital woman whose name had been Katrina." (Lowry 1).  For me, that really helped me visualize what Kira felt, making the book interesting and maybe even a little interactive. These kinds of descriptions throughout the book helps to make the book lively and less dull. In my opinion, descriptions are key when it comes to books/stories. It's what makes me enjoy a book and makes me want to read it.

       The book is also suspenseful; especially at the end of the chapters. At the end of chapter 2, it says, " She did not understand how the knowledge had come to her. But it was there, in her fingertips, and now they trembled with the eagerness to start. If only she was allowed to stay." (Lowry 17). See What I mean? If a book doesn't have any suspense, I don't enjoy it. But, not only does this book have suspense within the book, but within the entire series. The 1st book, The Giver, was about Jonas. This book Gathering Blue is about Kira. So far, there is no connection between them. It's driving me CRAZY. There is no way that Jonas' story could have just...ended. I hope to know what happens to him sometime later in the series.

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. :)