Summer Reading "Looking For Alaska" Entry Four

I would say so myself that I am familiar with the author John Green and on the list of books for summer reading when I saw the option Looking for Alaska I knew that John Green cant write anything that I would not enjoy. I have some friends that were finished with their summer reading before I had even started and they all read Looking for Alaska and I did not believe that it could have been a coincidence that the book they all said was amazing was written by John Green and I had previous thoughts of reading it. After reading I thought the book was outstanding. It was difficult to connect to because it is the opposite of who I am and what i believe in but it was so awesome to see from a different perspective the fearless kids that do not worry about getting expelled or in trouble and do crazy things like smoke and pull huge pranks and using loopholes in the rules to only get in trouble rather than expelled. Any reader that is ok with adultery and likes the drama of twisted and insane teens in love would definitely love this book (of course you also need to be at a mature age to read this book as well as it does have vulgar language and acts in the novel).

Summer Reading "Looking For Alaska" Entry Three

Hooking the readers in this novel almost was not noticeable and John Green makes it seem like he intended us readers to get hooked without us knowing that we are getting hooked. (WARNING LONG PARAGRAPH/QUOTE INCOMING) John Green makes it look easy to hook readers by instantly introducing a conflict instantly. He introduces "Weekday Warriors"; another tool to hook readers by introducing them to knew slang or terminology that is used throughout the story. "She laughed. 'Oh God no. I've maybe read a third of em. But i'm going to read them all. I call it my Life's Library. Every summer since i was little, I've gone to garage sales and bought all the books that looked interesting. So I always have something to read, But there is so much to do: cigarettes to smoke, sex to have, swings to swing on. I'll have more time for reading when i'm old and boring.'... 'a shared interest in booze and mischief'" (page 20). What John Green did here was he hooked us by giving us a future for the character Alaska that we want to see play out as well as promising a good story with adultery and mischief, things all people like. Below is a link to "6 ways to hook a reader" which describes in other words what I said John Green has done above, he introduces an interesting character, he gives a future for Alaska (A pivotal moment as described in the link), he has a compelling narrative voice, as well as an unusual situation which is a boy going to boarding school and meeting out of the ordinary people.

http://writeitsideways.com/6-ways-to-hook-your-readers-from-the-very-first-line/

Summer Reading "Looking For Alaska" Entry 2

Pudge, the main character, may be seen and most of the time is simple. Most of what he says is what he means, he is not metaphorical and you understand everything he says. What makes pudge complex is the love life he lives as he loves one girl and dates another, constantly flirting with the woman he loves but dates and interacts with the woman he dates. Alaska, the woman pudge is in love with, is the most complex character I have ever been introduced to in a novel. She never once in the entire book says, thinks, or admits her love for Pudge. She flirts with him constantly, has many love scenes with Pudge, and even gets intimate with him. She says throughout the story "I love my boyfriend" who let me clarify is not Pudge. She keeps so many dark secrets to herself and her friends (Pudge, The Colonel, and Takumi) do not learn most of them except that her mothers death is her fault and her father blames her. Alaska speaks in metaphor almost 100% of the time and even develops the theme herself with her suffering which is "How do I get out of the Labyrinth" a question that gets answered by Alaska, of course, in a figure of speech. Takumi who the reader does not know until about the last page of the book, also loves Alaska. Takumi is pretty simple in that he is at Culver Creek, he is friends with the 3 others, and he goes along with every rule and prank the four of them create. The book is structured in first person in Pudges' perspective. This making understanding Alaska's metaphors and poetic speeches nonetheless more difficult. John Green gives us Pudges' thoughts and perceptions making him a more simple character because we understand everything he does. Well I am guessing everyone is dieing to know the answer or even know what the heck "How do I get out of the Labyrinth" Even means but as Alaska answers it, the Labyrinth is not life or death, but it is suffering. And a somewhat of a (SPOILER ALERT) suicide note she writes next to the question "Straight and fast". This being relevant because how she dies is in a car accident described by an officer as "She didnt swerve, and sped up directly into the stationary truck". Below is a link to a summation to "The Labyrinth" so you can better understand what the labyrinth is as Alaska created this them by pulling the quote out of another book (I know, a book inside a book, its weird).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_General_in_His_Labyrinth

Summer Reading "Looking For Alaska" Entry One

Looking for Alaska has several some simple and some complex characters. While in the title Looking for Alaska; Alaska is not even the main character, although she does play a major role in the book. Miles "Pudge" Halter, the main character, appears a simple character although can be seen as complex throughout the book with twists and changes to who he is. Honestly after reading the book I would have been totally for Alaska being the main character because personally I thought Alaska was a way more interesting character (obviously speaking she is way more complex than the other characters). So Pudge is the skinny self-conscious boy who is literally completely opposite to Alaska the outgoing beautiful and open girl. The two characters who are what hold Pudge and Alaska together are Chip "The Colonel" Martin and Takumi. The Colonel was the one to introduce Pudge to Alaska and Alaska introduced Pudge to Takumi. The Colonel and Takumi are pretty easy to understand and the book obviously revolves around Alaska and Pudge. These four are in boarding school together at "Culver Creek High" which is a dormitory school located at a lake, a symbolic and important location for the four characters. The conflict in this story being that Pudge who had no friends at his previous high school wants to make friends at Culver Creek and was accepted by The Colonel. Throughout the book Pudge learns about the other characters and tries to have a better social life than at the previous high school he attended. Comparing this book to other works is difficult because this is one of the first drama books I have read but I can say that this love story relates to other works in that the love they share can not be expressed to each other because Alaska is in a relationship already. In this short video hyper linked below John Green, the author of Looking For Alaska tells the readers how these characters came to be and in general how to book came to be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0pz5g5FP0g

Insurgent: Book talk

Do I like Insurgent? Yes. Do you like Insugent? I don't know. Should you like Insurgent? Yes. Have you ever read a dystopian novel of a girl stronger than most men and is brave enough to take on armed soldiers to save a child from death? Most likely because you know all novels know a days' are dystopian and like that, but I promise you; this one is special.

Now in divergent Tris may have been the girl I described as above but now I don't know like she cut her hair and she is scared of everything now and wont hold a gun and as a reader I am yelling at the pages to pick up the pace and start shooting things but now I'm just rambling and I apologize. With the new idea that Abnegation was hiding some important secret scares me because I want so badly for Eurudite to be the bad ones and Abnegation to be the good ones but as we know from all novels the good guys win. Mostly. So I have little worry as I feel Tris marching into Eurudite soon and kicking some butt then walking out like a total beast. I'll keep you updated on that.

Insurgent: Book vs. Movie

Now I have seen the movie, but not finished the book; so bear with me here, I don't know the end to the book yet. From all the rumors before watching the movie it was pretty critical; not going to lie. It was the typical review of the movie that was about such a great book and had such high expectations from the readers. It seems like every time a movie about a book is watched the viewer says the same line "It was nothing like the book". What if the book was made about a movie, then would it be "it was nothing like the movie"? Or would people continue to blame the movie producers.

I can agree with that movie producers sometimes need to make better decisions on what scenes to leave out and which to include because sometimes great scenes are not portrayed in the movie. But I can promise you if you can enjoy a future dystopian movie then you will enjoy insurgent, read the book or not. Someone that hasn't even seen Divergent could understand the general plot, which could be bad because that means the producers have a messed up plot, but its also good and I like it.

Columnist Response

Well I can say that the first couple columns I read I didn't really like. They were all by Mike Lupica and let me tell you, he loves sports, I guess he feels the need to bring up any basketball game specific moment every sentence he writes. I feel like sometimes he is just showing off with literal lists of events that happened 20 some years ago. Reading his columns really just bored me, don't get me wrong the column about the Boston marathon was pretty moving but really three fourths of the column was about historical sports moments rather than about the marathon! Mike Lupica will make an entire paragraph just a list of events.


Next we have Robin Givhan, what do I have to say about Robin Givhan. Well, first of all, Robin puts more detail into his columns than I ever could have imagined. His detail I find very unnecessary, he feels the need to describe every detail of every person he ever mentions in his column. His first column, "An Image a Little too Carefully Coordinated" I didn't even know what I was supposed to get out of it, all I read was detail of these families attire and that the family that had the judge win the head of the supreme court was well dressed. Attire is this guys life.


Finally, our last author, Dave Berry. Out of all these authors, we finally get one that tries and makes his columns humorous, this guy is not serious. His column "The Mother of all Parties" made me feel two different ways, one I wanted to laugh, this guy said too many true things that are insane about planning a birthday party for a 4 year old. Berry was definitely my favorite author out of these three.

English Handout

Theme: Censorship causes diminished individual thought

Timeline:

1. The people allow the government and firemen to make decisions in regards to books
1. “You can't ever have my books,’ she said. ‘You know the law,’ said Beatty… Come on now!’ She shook her head.” (Bradbury 35)
2. Montag becomes friends with Clarisse and begins to view life in another perspective
1. “‘I’ve tried to imagine,’ said Montag, ‘just how it would feel. I mean, to have firemen burn our houses and our books.’” (Bradbury 31)
3. Montag takes a book, and Beatty offers two options for what to do→ Keep book for up to 24 hours then burn it or get burned by the firemen.
1. “We let firemen keep the books for twenty- four hours.  If he hasn’t burned it by then, we simply come burn it for him.” (Bradbury 59)
4. Montag reconnects with Faber and he is anxious to learn about books
5. Montag made a reckless action the caused one of Mildred’s friends to become upset
1. “Mrs. Phelps was crying… Clara what is wrong? ‘I-I’, sobbed Mrs. Phelps,’don’t know, don’t know, I just don’t know, oh, oh…” (Bradbury 97)
6. Beatty made Montag burn down his house because the fire department found out about Montag’s books
7. Montag fled and joined the book people to wait for revolution

Why This Theme is Important to Understanding of Fahrenheit 451

• The society within Fahrenheit 451 is centered around creating a uniform thought and through the censorship of media (books, radio, etc.) people’s thoughts were controlled.

How This Theme Connects to Modern-Day Society and Our Lives

    → Why it is important for us to study and be aware of this theme?

• Individuality is emphasized in modern-day society, and seeing how extreme censorship would play out, it is all the more important understand that censorship is not the best way to control people.

Insurgent

I don't even know how to express my hate towards Jeanine, I guess I can just say I hate her. I mean,

this lady is mean and just too hard to understand, she is full of tricks. The fact that no one knows what that blue liquid was they were injected with during the Erudite invasion bothers me. The liquid didn't do anything! But now everyone is in a bad position because who knows what she can do with that liquid. The thing that makes me hate her the most though is her determination, she kills EVERYONE. The Erudite invade and she just starts killing kids! Kids! Just because they're "divergent". I mean, come on there has to be a limit to determination, who cares if they're divergent!

The only thing that doesn't make me angry while reading this book is that Triss may be starting to get her bearings together. As I have said before, I don't like Triss being scared and broken, it makes the book depressing and hopeless, but after Triss (and literally everyone else) watches Tobias beat up his own dad, she snaps. She yells that she isn't hopeless as Tobias claims "It was necessary" (chapter 20). Lets also not forget Triss' want to fight, her want to go to war with Jeanine with the factionless support, her fighting side.

Fahrenheit 451- Scene "Dover Beach" continuation

Doors slammed and the house was empty. "'go home and think about your past husbands' he says" Mrs. Bowles mocks. "so what if I've had more than 1 husband, I deserve to be happy". Mrs. Bowles begins walking much faster, eager to get home "My children don't hate me... Yeah my children don't hate me, my children love me!". "My 12 abortions, he knows I've only had 9, so what, they weren't ALIVE or  anything.". Mrs. Bowles starts scraping at her head trying to get the things Montag said to her out of her head, out of her memory. "Who cares about literature though, that's right Clara, keep telling yourself that." She stops walking and starts pacing. "But it was pretty moving" she thought to herself, "NO! NO Clara! books are bad and pointless! The characters were never even real!" The poem is drilling in her head and she once again beings to fast walk home through the night.

 

Mrs. Bowles returns home, "Adam, Andrew! I'm home!"... No response. "Adam?" yells Mrs. Bowles. "MOM! Shut up I'm watching the 'family' right now!". Mrs. Bowles shrugs it off. "Andrew?". "Mom. I don't need to hear when you are home, I am 17 and I don't care, I can take care of myself". Clara bursts into tears hearing this. She shrieks "YOU ALL REALLY DO HATE ME" she collapses. "That stupid poem did this! Guy Montag did this! The Quo DID THIS! My family doesn't love me, my family isn't happy with this life, we are missing something! We need something! We need change!" Mrs. Bowles claims.

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Insurgent is the second book of the Divergent series. Divergent ended off with Tris, Tobias, Marcus,

Caleb, and other Abnegation members on a train heading to Amity headquarters as a safe haven for the Abnegation Faction. For those who did not read Divergent you probably have seen the movie and basically it is a Sci-Fi genre book/kind of dystopia setting. They're are factions and each is responsible for different things such as Erudite are the smart ones, Amity are  farmers, and dauntless are brave (soldiers). Tris was a former Abnegation member but turned out to be "Divergent" meaning she didn't fit in just one faction, she fit in 3 of the 5. Erudite wanted "control" of the government because they were all the brains, and I put "control" in quotes with the recent foreshadow that maybe Erudite didn't want control, according to Marcus (Tobias' father, bad abnegation guy) the Erudite were after information only Abnegation leaders knew.

 

Anyways, onto the current story of the book, Tris is having a mental breakdown. She realizes all of the death that has occurred in the past week including her fathers, mothers, and best friend whom she killed. I don't really like the whole "scared" Tris, I like the brave one from the divergent book who left her faction to join a new one (Remember everyone, "Faction before blood"), she saved all of the factions by taking down the Erudite leader before she mind controlled everyone, was the first to jump off a building of all the Dauntless, and in general was just able to overcome everything thrown at her. Now Tris is getting weaker, almost giving up in fact, as she says, "I don't want to touch the gun. I don't want to touch it again."(Page 72). I don't like this side of Tris, not saying she should be a killing machine, but I like the aspect of the book of a weak abnegation girl being stronger than most in the Dauntless faction. I am going to continue reading the series and recommend it to everyone who was thinking about reading it.