String of Thoughts

Prezi Presentation

2011-08-04T08:56:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Weygandt! Here's the link :)

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Chapter 27 Response: Garden Party

2011-07-31T16:46:00.000-07:00

Mansfield is saying that there is a clear division between the neat-and-tidy upper class and the poor-and-filthy lower class. Everyone seems to think the division is fine except Laura, a daughter of the upper class family. I'm not sure why, but I'm going to assume she is the youngest and not so set in her ways. Some story elements that reflect the division are weather and geography. The weather at the garden party is "perfect". It is warm and sunny and ideal. The house of the upper class family sits upon a hill, while the group of small houses where the lower class live is at the bottom of said hill. This visually aids the reader in seeing the class distinction.

I did pretty well and got the gist of what the story was about. I however got nowhere near as in-depth as one of Foster's graduated students. This student Diane saw sooooo many other things like birds and world-view blinders. Foster saw a connection to the story of Persephone. This makes a lot of sense once he goes into detail and connects each important piece of the story. Some aspects don't match up, but the comparison made me see the strong association between the valley and hell, the hill-top and Olympus. Some of the feelings of the characters can even be inferred to be the same as their corresponding character in the Greek myth. It is really interesting to read a story and realize you aren't only reading one story, you're actually reading one and a half.

Chapter 24 Response: Sickness and Symbolism

2011-07-20T11:24:00.000-07:00

In the novel The Sisterhood of The Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares, one of the members of the "sisterhood" (Tibby) has a friend from work who discovers she has cancer. Throughout the set of four books this young friend suffers and eventually dies from the disease. The four things listed to consider when dealing with a disease are as follows: the differences among diseases, the potential imagery of a particular disease, the origin, and the meaning/metaphor/symbolism connected to the disease. This young girl has cancer. Cancer, a common disease in our society that millions of people suffer from. As for imagery, the chemotherapy treatment that rids your body of the cancerous cells destroys good cells as well. It makes the victim weak. Their hair falls out. Their skin is pallid and transparent. They are constantly nauseous and in pain. Cancer is something that can't be explained. It can happen to anyone really, though it is especially uncommon in children and teenagers. The poor girl did nothing to bring about her fatal illness. Tibby struggles in understanding why this sweet, talented, brave girl had to be the one to suffer, to die. The girl was strong and understanding of what was happening to her. She took it in stride like the brave heroine Ann Brashares intended for her to be. I think the important symbolism in this disease is mortality. This book is centered on four high-schoolers who grow and learn with each page. I think this disease was intended to show that life and death are uncertain. No one knows what day will be their last, and life is too valuable to be left unlived. Her death also seems to challenge the characters and readers to have bravery. The girl modeled unbelievable bravery in death, but sometimes we all need to remember to possess bravery in life.

Interlude Response: Archetypes

2011-07-17T20:24:00.001-07:00

An archetype is a reoccurring theme. Throughout stories, a particular event occurs repeatedly (a quest) or the plot resolution seems to be the same (good defeats evil). One set of stories that immediately came to mind when thinking of borrowing and piecing together elements of past stories was C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia. This familiar book series, a sort of retelling of Biblical stories in a fantastical style, takes bits and pieces of the Bible and changes them into thought provoking tales of the creation, life, love, good, and evil. It's hard to miss the connection to stories many people are at least vaguely familiar with, and the repetition of a quest, saving the world, self-sacrifice, and the triumph of good over evil prove it to by archetypal by nature.

Chapter 17 Response: Racy Scenes

2011-07-12T11:36:00.000-07:00

If you've ever seen the movie Moulin Rouge, then you know it is full of "suggestion". The movie can be described as a comedy/romance/tragedy/musical, so much of the suggestion is humorous as well as thematic. In one scene, as a love-song plays in the background, short clips of the two main characters that fall in love (Christian and Satine) play on the screen. One clip is of the two looking longingly at each other, one is them hugging/kissing, one is them sneaking around the theatre so a jealous love interest won't see, one is the two standing on a balcony in sunshine with "strategically placed sheets." There is no dialogue between the characters, but it can be understood that (a) both characters are equally in love, (b) they have to hide this love, (c) they act on their love even though there could be consequences, which tells viewers how bold they are. These scenes show the characters love while also building up the tension of the situation. If they are caught sneaking, there will be no clean break between the two, no easy way out.

Chapter 14 Response: Christ-Comparrison

2011-07-06T11:10:00.000-07:00

When I started searching for a Christ-figure, I thought of Tess from Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy. No, she wasn't a 33-year-old man. She was for sure in agony and suffering. She was socially and outcast and looked down on by "Pharisees" who thought she was below them. Tess was self-sacrificing girl. She left her home to seek work with extended family in order to help support her family. Almost every move she made was to help her family in some way, always thinking of their security first. Tess was also good with children. She loved her younger brothers and sisters, and they loved her in return. She was a good mother until her child died after a few short months. The mode of transportation Tess usually used was walking. I was amazed when reading how casually Hardy described getting up early to walk 12 miles in one day, though none of it across water. She would often go out alone in the fields of the dairy or thresh-farm. The strongest connection with Tess as a Christ-figure is the act of temptation. The very root-meaning of the book is innocence, purity (Tess) tempted by the devil (Alec). She resists for so long, but a great separation between Tess and Christ is her human imperfection; eventually she buckles to his persistence and gives in to the devil's promises. She spent no time with thieves, had no disciples, and developed no parables. She was the opposite of forgiving; she sought forgiveness from everyone in her life though she was "blameless". What she wanted forgiveness for was not her doing. The cause of her unhappiness was a person she would never forgive. She proves this by eventually eliminating him entirely. I don't believe the cause of her quest was to redeem and unworthy world. If she set out to redeem anything, it would be the unworthy name of her family, Durbeyfield turned D'Urberville. One last trait I want to use not found on the list is one of her last wishes. Tess was "crucified" in a sense. She was charged with a crime worthy of death (that unlike Christ she was very guilty of). While waiting for the end, she asked her husband and most trustworthy friend to take care of her younger sister. This is just like how Jesus asked John to take care of Mary, and I found it an important enough fact to mention about Tess.

Chapter 10 Response: Weather

2011-06-29T14:46:00.000-07:00

In the opening of The Book Thief, a funeral occurs during a biting snow-shower. Apart from being a setting in the plot, the snowy atmosphere adds feeling to the tragedy that occurred. As stated by Thomas Foster, snow can be severe, inhospitable, suffocating. The little boy that died (the reason for the funeral) died from a combination of hunger and cold, further proving that the harshness of snow was matched by the harshness of war. The boy and his sister were being put into foster care at the beginning of WWII. Another point brought up by Foster is the "unifying characteristic" of snow. Snow storms blow snow over all people in the winter, not a select few. Weather points out the unity among people otherwise separated by class or ethnicity. It snowed on the mourners at the funeral, it snowed on the graves, it snowed on the Communists, the Jews, and the Nazis. Weather doesn't discriminate against life stage, race, or education. When thought of this way, as more than just part of the setting, weather (snow) eases readers into the underlying issues children growing up around WWII would encounter, the ones the story is built around.

Chapter 7 Response: Biblical Allusions

2011-06-25T19:43:00.000-07:00

The work My Wood by E.M. Forster is written about the effect of property on people. Forster believed in the principle that greed leads to the acquiring of property, which leads to further greed and one must be careful when considering his possessions. What is most important in life? He says, "Property produces men of weight, and it was a man of weight who failed to get into the Kingdom of Heaven." He explains this widely known parable from the Bible, so nothing is lost if the reader doesn't have a clue. A later allusion is more unclear, and could be easily skipped over. Forster writes that "men of weight cannot...move like the lightning from the East unto the West." This reference refers to judgement day in the book of Revelation and the "coming of the Son of Man". Understanding this is another allusion to the Bible presents the underlying theme that being "heavy" with property condemns you because it is sinful. It keeps you from moving like "lightning". It will keep you from following your faith and weigh you down into the depths. Not understanding the allusion would make a reader think "heavy" meant a great amount of literal weight rather than spiritual weight.

Chapter 5 Response: Intertexuality

2011-06-23T08:41:00.001-07:00

Intertextuality: the ability of a work to relate to other works past, present, and future. This relationship is important for novels, stories, and poems because it allows for a deeper reading of the work where the meaning can be multi-dimensional. Shakespeare's works are extremely important to have read early on in English. Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Othello, Hamlet, and others can be linked to various books. When I recently re-read The Hunger Games, I realized that a major part of the plot can be linked to Romeo and Juliet. Rather than the Capulet's and the Montague's fighting, tributes from various districts are set against one another in a televised "war" for all to see. Two main characters in the fight allude to Shakespeare's opening lines by calling themselves "star-crossed lovers". They are supposed to fight each other, but they refuse. In the end, the solution they find to get themselves out of the arena without killing one another is (GASP) suicide. Staged suicide. As the two put the poison to their lips an announcer booms that they both can be champion and leave together. I kept revisiting the Romeo/Juliet tragedy in my mind. In Brave New World, the character John (the "savage") owns a book of Shakespeare's works that he has committed to memory. He recites comfortable phrases as they fit with his situation. Most of the quotes he recites are from Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet, and they are either connected to his love for Lenina or his disgust for his mother's promiscuous love-life. John's quotes fit brilliantly into context, so that if you didn't know what play they were from or further background information his quotes would just seem like poetic observations. It DOES make books more enjoyable when you can catch an author utilizing intertexuality.

Chapter 1 Response: Tess's Quest

2011-06-18T06:43:00.000-07:00

Tess of the D'Urbervillles is a novel that clearly involves a quest. (1) The quester herself is Tess. Tess leaves her family's home (2) at her parent's request to find work at the quarters of a distant-but-not-really-related, wealthy cousin because (3) her family was put in a strained situation after the father's horse was killed in an accident, and the transportation for his job was dissolved. (4) Her mother secretly hopes she will marry, and during visits in preparation for Tess to move in, she is "befriended" by a "cousin" named Alec. He is a pretty pushy guy and Tess has to deal with the scum-bag on and off while she is employed there. (5) Tess heads off any ways, though she is uneasy about leaving her home, because she wants a life of her own. Being independent and leaving her little town will get her away from her careless father, her marriage-pushing mother, and her dependant siblings. If she can get away, she might have a real chance to do with her life what she wishes, not what her family wishes. It's a break, not only a chance to redeem the family's economic situation.

Tess later leaves the D'Urberville quarters and sets out on a couple other quests. She is the perfect female equivilant of a Knight. Tess the Knightess. Nice Ring :)

Teacher Argument

2011-03-31T15:23:00.000-07:00

I agree with Kati Haycock's opinion on how to raise the status of teachers in our society. She declares that if the United States will invigorate teacher training and educate aspiring teachers more thoroughly, they will be more prepared for the "difficult, intellectual work" of teaching. If all teachers are well-educated and suitable for their individual positions, they will be respected by their students. If a teacher is respected by his/her students, the students will not only respect the teacher, but they will also respect the profession, recognizing that the knowledgeable person chose to dedicate their entire career to teaching above other paths available to him/her. It will start with the students' respect, but it will end with society's respect, an impression having been made on more and more students as time goes on. Along with a strong education, Hancock says teachers should be "compensated" for their hard work--triumphant teachers should be given a salary "they deserve". If teachers would be willing to go through more strenuous schooling than currently, that would demonstrate their dedication to teaching. A salary increase wouldn't need to be so great as to be the sole purpose in pursuing the career. It might just be enough to motivate possible future teachers and make them feel like their pay is a reflection of the important job they have. Some people might think that raising academic standards for teaching would dissuade people from becoming teachers, but I think that it wouldn't. It would just maintain that teachers who graduate from school with the degree they deserve would be both intelligent and hardworking and qualified. With a salary raise, I especially don't think higher standards would dissuade too many people. That mentioned, it is true that money doesn't grow on trees and greater pay can't just happen--it involves tax dollars and government decisions. What I have been told is that many people who are teachers teach because it's what they love to do. If potential teachers would be passionate enough and driven enough to graduate with the love of teaching in mind, they would not be deterred if there isn't an eminent rise in teachers salaries.

Great Gatsby

2011-03-16T10:37:00.000-07:00

F. Scot Fitzgerald's hopeless and reflective tone pushes the reader to see that, as the character is seeing the fresh, old world that transformed into the modern world, we cannot let things slip by us into the past, into the world of regret.

The "old island" was a "fresh, green breast" to the sailors who arrived in the new world. This metaphor describes how the island was bare and natural, an untarnished new land without settlers and cluttered buildings and streets; the diction in the word breast gives bareness to the comparrison, like a natural/bare person is one without clothes. This old world became the modern world, one with "ferryboat(s)" and "house(s)" and "dock(s)". The "vanished trees" is a metaphor for vanished newness, and vanished oppurtunity. They were the personification of "human dreams" that were cut-down as time moved on. From the past to the present, the character saw that the feeling of newness and possibility had left that place.

As he is thinking of the old world, "his dream seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him." This portion of the text seems to be a warning by the author to those who read it. The character just seems to realize that the world is changing; trees are cleared for houses, oppurtunity leaves, dreams don't wait on the dreamer. We must go after our dreams before they are behind us. In the next paragraph it says the "future...year by year recedes before us". The future is infinite, yet it grows smaller with each passing year. Will our time run out before we too can "grasp" our dreams? "It eluded us then, but that's no matter--tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther...And one fine morning--" This syntax is broken and incomplete, like the character is still completing his thoughts. This is where the hopeless tone really unveils itself. He says he will try, and appears to have hope, but it is a false hope. "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." If we miss our oppurtunity, our dream, we will revisit our missed chance. Our regret will haunt us like a ghost, "ceaselessly" bringing us back into the past we would so wish to change.

If we look forward, like Gatsby, dreams and missed oppurtunities will be less frequent because we will be waiting for them, searching for them. Fitzgerald closed The Great Gatsby with this passage as a strong reminder to readers to embrace their oppurtunities in the present and future to save the past. Go at the green light.

"My Wood" Response

2011-03-10T10:31:00.000-08:00

E. M. Forster believed, when he wrote My Wood, that having "property produces men of weight," though not all property is "sinful." I agree with Forster. I feel that having and owning a myriad of physical possesions can shift the focus of one's life from meaningful things (family, friends, religion) to trivial things (money, things, comforts). Not all property is bad though. If you don't have what you need and a job to support yourself, how can you help others? I think in his essay, Forster wanted to get this point across--If you have wealth and you don't help people, if you horde it all for yourself like the greedy Lyme Regis and his blackberries, you are already so weighed down by property you cannot hope to live for much else. I enjoy this quote from the last sentence of the fifth paragraph of his essay: "Our life on earth is, and ought to be, material and carnal. But we have not yet learned to manage our materialism and carnality properly." A little property can lead to want, want can lead to too much property, too much property can lead to greed, greed can lead to sin. In each case of weighing property versus righteousness, it can depend on the person. Some people are more responsible than others. What I think Forester wants us to see is that, placing individual responsibility aside, the trend of humanity is to connect property with greed and become absorbed into the material world. We must be careful not to fall into the selfishness trap.

3rd Nine Weeks Reading List

2011-03-10T09:58:00.000-08:00

I read 4 books, the equivalent of 6 books.

Tess of the D'urbervilles (CLASSIC, 384)
City of Thieves, (272)
Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac, (271)
Jinx, (262)

I enjoyed reading City of Thieves much, much more than I imagined I would when I started it. In my last English group, Spencer recommended the book to me. I needed something to read and he told me to give it a try. I was a little wary of reading it because I knew we had slightly different reading tastes. After I started, I found that it was actually okay. City of Thieves is an account of World War II in a Russian perspective. It reminded me of The Book Thief, which was an account of the War from a German point-of-view. Two boys meet when thrown in jail; one deserted as a soldier and the other was out after curfew. Instead of being executed, they are given a quest: Find a dozen eggs in food-rationed Russia for a general's daughter's birthday cake, or die. Their bravery is tested more than once as they trek throughout the country, and once, over enemy lines. The only down-sides to the book were the continual interjections of raunchiness. The book WAS from the point-of-view of a 17 year old boy...

A Quote To Remember

2011-03-01T16:56:00.000-08:00

Ten short words of T. S. Elliot from his work The Hollow Men can sum up American Consumerism: We are the hollow men; We are the stuffed men. When you sit back and think about it, it makes perfect sense. We are "the hollow men" because we are, in fact, "the stuffed men". I believe that what T. S. Elliot was trying to convey in this short quote was this: we have everything we need. We are stuffed. We are stuffed into our large houses (global-scale), into our nice cars (global-scale, again), into our rich schools (thinking globally here). Americans enjoy so much opportunity and wealth and prosperity, and yet, we seem hollow. We are so preoccupied by what we have and what we want that we the consumer become consumed in our busy lives, forgetting to live. It seems that we would be better off with less THINGS to live for, like Tammy and Logan from the New York Times article But Will It Make You Happy?, instead living for our God, our loved ones, and those that need our help.
I feel like we are surrounded by a society that plants in our minds from the beginning a seed of the greed tree. We go to school from the time we are potty-trained, and for what? So we can be schooled in preparation for college. We go to college so that we can be prepared for the workforce and be "productive" adults in this world (meaning that we can get the best job open to our ability). We get that job and start working away, making the money we need to live. Soon, if we get married, we'll have to pay for wedding things, couples things, maybe even kid and pet things. Not long after, we'll be paying for all of that, plus our children's needs, wants, and education. Did I leave out gas money? It seems like everything in our life revolves around money and stuff. It seems like a pretty hollow and empty and stressful way to live. We shouldn't have to live out our entire lives that way. We should focus our attention on more meaningful things and prioritize our desires. It's the only way to stop the black hole inside us that only gets larger and larger, wanting more and more. We need to take the "stuff" out of stuffed and find out how to no longer dwell as hollow men (and women).

Personal Shopping

2011-02-27T18:25:00.000-08:00

One technique that stores online are offering is the option to chat with a store employee who can easily answer any questions about their merchandise for sale BEFORE a buyer spends any money on it. Live-chat is utilized by many online shoppers and can save someone from making a mistake and spending wastefully. Store live-chat is used on many retail sites, but my example comes from Dogfunk.com, a winter sports store. On the home page, there is a giant yellow button that says "Live Chat" where if you click, it brings up a window containing the picture to the left and a space to type your question. The added feature of talking to a store representative makes the buyer feel more secure when making purchases, because they get to find out the details of a product they are interested in rather than merely looking at a picture of it.

Looking at an online store that offers more than the normal for customers makes me feel privileged when browsing there, because I know if I had a question, instead of taking a plunge and buying the wrong item, I could ask about it. I think that is precisely what the site designers want me and all other potential customers to feel when using their website, and that's why this technique is so widely used.

2nd Quarter Annotated Bibliography

2010-12-04T09:33:00.001-08:00

Brontë, Emily. Wuthering Heights. New York: Modern Library, 2000. Print. (415)

Mr. Lockwood begins renting a house in the English countryside from the man known as Mr. Heathcliff. When Mr. Lockwood goes to meet his landlord, he is astonished by his strange behaviour and harsh personality. From the moment he arrives, he feels a bit odd, like things are not as they should be. He meets a lady who he presumes is Mr. Heathcliff's wife; she turns out to be his daughter-in-law. Soon after, a man enters that he presumes is Mr. Heathcliff's son and Mrs. Heathcliff's husband. The man turns out to be a mere worker for Heathcliff senior, though he speaks with the two others as though he is of equal importance. Puzzled by the strange behavior, he leaves for his own house across the moors. On arriving he asks the housekeeper to explain the strange relationship among his strange tenants. She complies, and tells the unfortunate tale of Wuthering Heights from beginning to end... What could have happened to turn Mr. Heathcliff into the sour man he is today? And where is the rest of the "family"?

This story is not at all what I had originally thought. When I wanted to read a classic, I picked up Wuthering Heights because I thought it was the same basic story as Emma or Pride and Prejudice. I didn't imagine it would be a story about death and sadness. It was a story that kept me interested but I feel like I was tricked out of what I had anticipated. There were a few "love-story" elements, such as a love triangle including the main girl Catherine, her friend Heathcliff, and her neighbor Edgar. There was marriage and a secret affair. However, the main gist of the book surrounded the erie death of... a main character and the lives that were made miserable because of that.

Sparks, Nicholas. A Walk to Remember. New York: Random House Large Print, 1999. Print. (304)

Jamie was a simple preacher's daughter from Beaufort, North Carolina. Landon was a spoiled, teenage boy with no goals and no cares in life. After running for senior class president when his dad pressured him, Landon had to attend an upcoming dance WITH A DATE. He didn't have a girlfriend and had waited too long to ask most "acceptable" girls, so he found himself flipping through a yearbook in search of a date the night before the dance. He knew Jamie was a nice, but strange, girl and asked her to accompany him. This small date lead to a minor friendship, and when Jamie needed someone to be the lead in the school play, Landon obliged, doing so out of pity more than kindness. The night of the play, when he realized his true feelings for Jamie, he would find he didn't have much time to spend with her.

When I read this book, I wondered, which character am I? Am I more like the pre-changed Landon or Jamie? I hoped I was more like Jamie, the sweet, loving, wise person who didn't care about what others thought and always tried to do what was right and listened to her parent(s). I felt ashamed when I realized traits Landon and I shared. His tendency to get whatever he wants and his embarrassment to be seen with certain people in public. I think this book made me realize the differences between good personality traits and ones that should be avoided.

Zusak, Markus. I Am the Messenger. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2002. Print. (357)

Ed Kennedy lives an almost too normal life in his own sunny Australian suburb. He is a cab driver, which can be a really dull job; it matches the dull live he's lived his whole life. His siblings were always better at everything growing up and he feels like he's let his mom down. After his father died a quiet drunk who kept to himself, he lost the only person who believed in him. That was true until the day Ed Kennedy helped stop a local bank robbery. Shortly after, he began to receive mysterious cards from someone who believed he could make a difference, believed he could be a messenger for change. Can Ed live up to his secret manipulator's expectations? Will his duties cost him his life?

Ed's personality is a lot like my own. Throughout the book, he talks about himself being the quiet one of his family and of his friends. He's very caring towards everyone (specifically his dog and his elderly friend) and his favorite pass time is to play cards. I love my dog a lot, and though cards is not my favorite pass time, I do love to play with my grandmother whenever we visit. On the other hand, Ed's character is not like my own. His conscience leads him to do good, but constantly he shies away from what must be done out of cowardliness and fear. One of his most uncorrelative traits in comparison to mine is his tendency to procrastinate. His house is a mess because he can always "do it later". His dog smells because "it can wait". Ed and I would get along, up to a point.

A Not So "Merry" Christmas

2010-12-04T08:00:00.000-08:00

As I was searching for a thINK topic, I scanned the Shelf page and discovered a website that was part of the New York Times called "LENS" where many photographers have contributed pictures that capture global current events and a magnitude of emotion without writing, except a short caption telling where the photo was and what is in the picture. I began clicking through the pictures, interested at getting news without reading. I saw many disastrous pictures of riots in Greece and wildfires in Israel, HIV-sufferings in India and explosions on the Ivory Coast. It disturbed me to think that, as I sit at my computer, typing and listening to Christmas songs on my ihome (during a "weekend" when I can choose to do what I want), there were people, from country to country, who were in great suffering.

The most disturbing set of pictures I came across had the caption "Children Heading Households in Moldova". It's exactly as it sounds. Children the same age as my sister, 13 and younger, are playing the roles of adults, taking care of their younger siblings, cooking, cleaning, working, all while going to school. It seems a stretch to say they are "playing" the roles of adults; they have become adults prematurely. Why is this happening? This small country of Moldova located above Turkey, in between Romania and Ukraine, is incredibly poor. Parents of these children must leave to live and work in western European countries to make money and send it with food and other supplies to their kids. Because it is expensive to get visas, many parents owe debts to loan-sharks that gave them the money needed to emigrate, and they must continue working to pay it off. This vicious cycle is depriving families of parents, and young people of a childhood. Andrea Diefenbach, the photographer who took the pictures in Moldova, feels that because the best educated citizens are the ones who are leaving to find work elsewhere, "the country is bleeding out" in a sense. Any chance of improvement looks bleak.

As I looked through images of what it is to be left behind and struggling during the holidays, I realized how good it is that my circumstances are. I have my loving, working, providing parents right here with me. I don't worry about how I'll make it through the week or if I can take care of my little sister. I have everything I need and I will have a very merry Christmas. I hope that even with all of Moldova's poverty and separation, siblings can celebrate each other's company, thankful that they can take care of one another and share burdens.

A 12 Sentence-Story Told Around the Fire...

2010-11-29T14:27:00.000-08:00

The Awesome Adventures of L-squared:
The Extreme Camping Story

Lauren Gunderman and I decided to embark on a camping adventure, both bored with the same old sleepovers, both looking for excitement, both having a taste for smores, both halfway through our eighth-grade year with nothing to show for it. I bought all the supplies; Joey, my step-dad, set up our campsite in my backyard. My parents thought we wouldn't spend all night, a full twenty-four hours, outside, and they would have to let us back inside. I challenged their inferences, saying we would sleep outside, all night, in the woods, behind my house, in a tent, beside our fire. We enjoyed spending our time outdoors in our fresh camping realm. Until night arrived. We were alone and heard noises and saw moving shadows. I was terrified, but Lauren was calm. In order to get to sleep glow sticks we lit and games we played. Who knew I would forget the "monsters" of the night so easily? That night we played, and cooked, and burned, and laughed, and talked, and sang, and screamed, and slept. The fun of cooking our own food, the thrill of sleeping under the stars, the endless time we had to talk made our adventure the most memorable camping experience I've ever had.

The Sacrifice of Self

2010-11-09T17:54:00.000-08:00

The sacrifice I'm talking about isn't one similar to the aztecs or Old Testament stories. This is the word's softer similee; this is a "sacrifice" meaning something taken from one thing, or one person, so that another might have it. In the book I Am the Messenger, time was the most impactual self-sacrifice that could be given to a particular woman.

Ed Kennedy is a simple man, or rather a simple boy...perhaps somewhere inbetween. He is nineteen years old and strives for nothing, cares for nothing, hopes for nothing. In one chapter, he finds himself reading Wuthering Heights to an elderly woman in her home, keeping her company. Altzheimers grips her, and she thinks Ed is her husband who went off to WWII and never came home. For some reason, Ed can't stop spending time with her, though he isn't being forced to make visits. It must be the "dazzling smile on her face" or the "loving way about her". He knows this is right. He knows he is helping a lonely woman. He knows his sacrifice of time (that could be used for HIS wants) is being spent on a meaningful cause.

When I think about Ed and the place he is in his life, I feel a twinge of guilt. He is a nineteen-year-old boy with total freedom to do whatever, and he is devoting his spare time reading to an elderly woman. I'm a sixteen-year-old girl who has ambitions, values, and four nursing-homes within city limits. Here I sit, typing out words on a home computer after internet shopping and watching you-tube videos. My down-time compared to Ed's is a serious and utterly selfish waste.

It's not that bad (an exuse reserved for times like these). There are worse things I could be doing than nothing at all. But are there? Is the waste of precious time better? No. I believe selfish hours are equally "bad". Even though Ed is a fictional character bred from the mind of Mark Zusak, I can't read of his use of time and his sacrifice of self without wanting to follow his example.

Three Books to Read...

2010-10-21T10:49:00.000-07:00

This nine weeks I would like to read Julie and Julia, The Hunger Games, and Pride and Prejudice.
Julie and Julia looks like an interesting book, because I have seen commercials for the movie, and books are ALWAYS better than the movie. Something humorous releases pent-up stress from school, plus I think I'd enjoy reading about cooking.

I have actually read The Hunger Games before, but I enjoyed it so much that before reading the second and third books in the trilogy, I would like to refresh my memory of the characters and the setting.

Pride and Prejudice has been recommended to me by Natasha Bray so I am interested in reading it. I also would like to read a classic sometime soon, and Jane Austin is something of a given in that regard. Thirdly, I have seen the move Emma and liked that, so I'm sure I will like this similar story.

Reading Reflection

2010-10-15T09:53:00.000-07:00

The thing about reading is you either love it, or you hate it. Those that hate it were probably having problems working through six books in only nine short weeks. I, however, love to spend extra time outside, in this perfect fall weather, reading my book. The best thing about reading is that you can pick any book you want; you can get lost in a story that has nothing to do with your life. It is so freeing, and it can go on much longer than a TV show or movie.

The journaling element was completely new to me, and, honestly, it was a hard habit to start. Mostly I get so enthralled in the book I'm reading that I don't pay attention to much else. I forgot to journal when we first started and had to remind myself before it became habitual. Now that I've started it's hard not to. I like to write down what I think, because instead of thinking things and laughing about jokes to myself, I feel like I'm preserving my perspective and making a meaningful commentary on the novel I chose where I can always go back and look through the pages.

The books I've chosen to read are pretty diverse, but I haven't hit the genre I've been waiting to try--classics. I've read the typical girl-books, the creative and imaginative books, the almost non-fiction books, and the advice/self-help books but I have yet to read a classic work or auto-biography. Currently on my to-read list are Withering Heights, A Tale of Two Cities, Pride and Prejudice, Sherlock Holmes, and Julie and Julia (I know that last one isn't an actual classic, but I had to break it up a little).

Socratic Seminar Reflection

2010-10-11T10:14:00.000-07:00

Socratic Seminar was an interesting, new way to think and discuss deeply the ideas presented to our class in the book Brave New World. I enjoyed discussing the complexity of the "new world" society and how it compares with our own, but it made it a little more challenging to be graded on how much input we have in a small-group conversation and whether or not we ask questions.

I must admit, it was unnerving to be watched and evaluated by all but three of my English classmates while we were discussing our personal views and takes on the book. My questions were focused on Shakespeare, language, and John the "Savage's" role in the plot. I couldn't help but wonder how many people disagreed with what I was saying. I had to calmly speak with my group and forget I was being listened to.

My favorite discussion from the seminar was on the first day, Friday the 8th. Sadie, Sean, Nelson and Natasha debated (though we were only supposed to dialogue) about the expression, or rather suppression, of individuality in Brave New World's futuristic society. Natasha made the point that our own technology, using mass production, is causing us to lose individuality; all parts and cars and ipods and such are being made available and to the factory mold standard, essentially the same. Nelson countered that how something is made doesn't matter because how you use the object and express your individuality actually allows you to be more individual. I can agree with both these points, but I can see where mass production can cause "trends" where everyone likes the same thing and buys the same thing and looks, therefore, the same.

In regard to individuality or the personal freedom to choose your own destiny, talking about Brave New World with structured questions was really stimulating; it allowed me to see a different side of video games (Question 6) and think deeper about people's relationships with each other (Question 5), as well as speak with people that I may not have book-talked with had I not been assigned to their group. I wouldn't change anything about it.

Ist Quarter Books Annotated Bibliography

2010-10-11T10:09:00.000-07:00

Colasanti, Susane. When It Happens. New York: Viking, 2006. Print. (320)

This duel story blossoms out of a small school in New York City. Two seniors start their first day of high school, for the last time. One character, Sara, is a smart girl trying to keep in motion towards her goals, whether it be finding out if the pretty-boy Dave has any remote interest in her or getting accepted into the notable college she's had her eye on. The other, Toby, is a boy solely concerned with two things: his band and Sara. The shy boy has never told her that he sometimes watches her from across the cafeteria or imagines talking to her, making her laugh. Toby isn't hopeless or unattractive; he just knows that smart, beautiful, driven girls don't usually go for slackers, no matter how much they seem care. The point of view shifts in a pattern from Sara's mind to Toby's, each new chapter written from a different first-person account. After a short time of Toby's stumbling words and Sara's curious interest in his not-so-secret crush, Toby finally asks her out. The truth they soon find is that people are complicated; people are not always what they appear to be on the outside. The relationship that grows from their combined sense of humor and realness is beautiful to read, but can happiness last? They say that nothing lasts forever and it IS senior year...

It is wonderful when you like the story of a book, but it makes it even better when you can relate to it. This book made me laugh with almost every turn of a page; I could find so many parallels between things/people in my life and things/characters in this book that it was starting to freak me out a little. The characters of Sara, her friends Maggie and Leila, Toby's friends Mike and Josh, remind me so much of five specific friends of mine that it is unreal. Also, the characters' sense of humor is so familiar that the author could have just written down some of my conversations with friends. One instance where Toby is filling out back-to-school forms is an echo of my personal feelings towards it, and I know I have said his same words. Also, the repeated theme of lunch-food jokes are identical to those I hear students make all the time. It had to be the relatability of the characters that pulled me in to this book, and I'm glad that one author's imagination linked so closely to the way high school students actually think and feel.

Dessen, Sarah. This Lullaby: a Novel. New York: Speak, 2004. Print. (345)

This Lullaby is the story of a teenage girl whose life always seemed to take the wrong turn. Her dad, who left her mom and brother when the mother was pregnant with Remy, left her a sole thing--a lullaby completely devoted to her. All through life Remy has lived under the pretense that all men (boys) do is let you down, with no redemption brought about through her mother's many teeter-totter relationships. Remy's wasted her time dating when she knows she is too scared to ever commit to a relationship; Remy breaks up with each boyfriend when they decide they like her more than just a casual girlfriend. After her most recent break-up, she bumps into a new boy (named Dexter), literally. Remy tries to avoid his conversation and interest, but she seems to see him everywhere. It almost like fate. She continues to run away from the inevitable; what will it take to convince someone who has been hurt to risk their most valuable possession, their heart. Can a person who cares enough break through countless shells and gain Remy's trust? And how long can said "trust" last?

Remy is a lot like me and a lot NOT like me. She is very organized and responsible. She is always keeping her single mother in order and buying groceries, organizing the house and taking solace in the complete control she holds over her own room. She is also afraid of decisions and risks; I know that everything I do is weighed and measured long before I move it into action. Remy isn't like me in how she gets rid of her pent-up stress. Remy is a "party person" if you know what I mean. Her friends sleep around, she used to smoke, and they all drink plentifully. In fact, I feel like this almost contradicts her responsible, orderly personality. In the real world, responsible people tend to be responsible in all aspects of their life. I guess that's why certain books are important; they allow you to enjoy realities and situations that can't be lived or experienced anywhere else.

Zusak, Markus. The Book Thief. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006. Print. (550)

The year is 1939. Liesel is just a nine-year-old girl. Her brother died before her eyes and she has now been put up for adoption. Her mother, her only shred of family left, was taken from her in cold, German snow, the reason unknown. She was frightened of the new life she would lead with an strange family, and she tightly clung to the memories of her brother and mother. She gets used to the routine of her strict school, her loud-mouthed Mama, and her gentle Papa. She also is made welcome by Rudy, her rambunctious school mate, with whom she can entrust her secrets and play a little street soccer. Comfort moves swiftly, and soon, Liesel is shown the power that lay hidden deep within herself; Papa, her new papa, teaches her to read. With this great new power comes great responsibility, though. Her skill proves to woe her neighbor and thankfully distract friends and family from the ungodly world war that engulfs their small city of Munich. As Liesel grows and morphs into a talented "word-bender", she impacts the lives around her (and one in particular), more than she could ever imagine.

I loved this book for the story, but in its own unique way, the book became even more enthralling because of the way Markus Zusak wrote: His descriptions, his style, his mid-thought-interruptions, his humor. The sum of it perfectly filled my need for a heartfelt story with beautiful syntax, delving into the complexity of human emotions. It was entertaining and informative (historically) at the same time. I absolutely can see myself reading this book again.

A Whole New Analysis

2010-09-12T17:24:00.000-07:00

Daniel Pink pointedly shows Americans their lack of need and wastefulness when it comes to want by providing detailed annecdotes and comparitive statistics of our country's attempts to be self-fullfilled. Americans have a multitude of material things. Pink writes that "13 percent of homes are second homes". Second homes. Meaning that people are using one of their homes purly for recreational purposes. Another piece of information shared states that "more people in the United States have cars than licenced drivers," meaning that on average, everyone who is licensed has a car. The amount of abundance in the United States is staggering; reading these statistics in print makes them more real, putting the facts right in front of me where I cannot overlook them or deny their existence. We are fortunate as a country, and wasting as if we always will be. Americans throw money away--litterally. We "spend more on trash bags than ninety other countries spend on everything". Pinks examples show us the very extent of our abundance, and I'm sure that was his exact intent.

As a country of such wealth and abundance, we thrive on the extravagant. We have all we need, so we spend extra time on figuring out what we want and taking the neccissary measures to obtain it (making money --> buying STUFF). Contrary to the reasoning of most, Pink actually found that this endless material cycle is nothing more than that. A cycle. He writes "paradox of prosperity is that while living standards have risen...life satisfaction hasn't budged." This use of paradox ironically points the above fact out to all of us. I know I immediatly thought to my most recent back-to-school shopping trip and the how the result of that was not bird-chirping, walking-on-sunshine happiness. I bought stuff, and the momentary happiness of new stuff dwindled into the stress of school. Pink unveiled that people are looking for something they can't find. People are substituting stuff for a void that must be filled elswhere. Until they find what they are searching for, until they un-lock the missing meaning in their lives, they have a hunger that isn't satisfied. The underlying message from our excerpt of A Whole New Mind is that people aren't simply working for wealth in our society, but pursuing peace of mind.

Huxley Essay --> Thesis Statement

2010-09-05T11:04:00.000-07:00

T.H. Huxley's examples of simple reasoning break down the scientific method to reveal the raw thinking patterns of ordinary people, portraying both thought processes as no different from each other.

Analysis of Ad: Cocaine Destroys

2010-08-25T10:33:00.000-07:00

Persuasion is an art that, when used properly, can be manipulated effectively in several ways. The types of persuasion I notice most are advertisements, commercials or magazine prints. My group discussed a controversial ad affiliated with a government organization in Colombia. This institution named Shared Responsibility is reaching out in an attempt to stop the purchase/consumption of drugs, specifically cocaine. Placed strategically throughout the ad, there are examples of rhetoric in the forms of ethos and pathos.

Ethos is used in a negative way. Instead of a famous endorsement or a recommendation by a prestigious organization, the designers of the ad placed a man dead-center in the layout, well-dressed while sitting in an otherwise slummy setting, holding an automatic rifle, his head taking the form of a giant nose. This picture of the man can give multiple implications. One, him being well-dressed while in the midst of his surroundings implies that he is wealthy/influential. Two, his head is a giant nose, showing that he is a cocaine user. Three, he is holding a gun, giving the viewer an image of fear or "terror". The gun says to a viewer, "This user might as well have kidnapped a child himself, because he's paying the terrorists that will." This visual expression shows that this man is powerful, a cocaine user, and (knowingly or not) a direct terrorist supporter. It gives the viewer a negative image of rich "party people", even stating in text above that "Cocaine helps you stay up all night when you're clubbing. It also helps finance terrorist kidnappings..." The negative ethos makes whoever sees the ad NOT want to be like the man in the tie, like an example of everything NOT to be and do.

Pathos speaks to you from the moment you set eye on the other side of the ad. Beside where the man is sitting, there is an open doorway, where you can clearly see a child/girl/woman laying face down on a cot, head in hands. Is she praying? Crying? Both? There can be only two reasons why. She is either a kidnapped victim or a mother who just lost her child. It is a painting of any parent's worst nightmare. That is exactly the feeling the designers of the ad wanted--deep sadness with a little disgust thrown in. They wanted parents to see this and think that stolen child could be their child, or that loss could be their reality. This tells viewers that kidnappings are going on all over Colombia, and as long as cocaine use is funding it, they are going to continue. Make it stop before that woman is you.

The interesting thing about this ad is that there isn't really any logos. I believe logos was intentionally left out because of the target audience. Designers knew that people who are doing drugs aren't using reason, or else they wouldn't be using drugs. They knew that if they want to reach users they were going to have to convey rhetoric through emotions, not logic or statistics.

http://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/shared_responsibility_kidnapping?size=_original

ACT stands for Agonizingly Cruel Test

2010-08-03T13:44:00.000-07:00

As I was opening the "shelf" online, looking for something interesting to read, I stumbled upon a link for the daily ACT question from their website. Curious, I clicked the link and was led to this question: "As it is used in line 3 (...weeds and grass that composed the front yard dripped...), the word composed most nearly means (A) contented, (B) unexcited, (C) satisfied, or (D) constituted." This question sounds easy enough, but when I didn't know the official meaning of my preferred answer choice, my questioning of my own vocabulary began to cloud my judgment. I chose (D) and quickly scrolled down to check my answer. I was correct, but before celebrating, I went to dictionary.com and searched for the meaning of "constituted". It meant composed, as I had guessed, but is guessing enough?

This simple ACT question of the day led me to a deeper train of thoughts than I wanted to follow over the summer. I am approaching my junior year. Am I ready for all that lay before me? The ACT is a large part of college admittance--will I reach the score I need, if not want? What can I do to prepare? Such questions are probably a healthy thing, because they will keep me on my toes. I would rather stress and work hard, than not stress and suffer because of it. The ACT is the queen mother of all stressful tests, and the final question stands:
Will I take the test, or will the test take me?

A Kick While They're Down

2010-07-10T12:45:00.001-07:00

With all the news circulating recently on the BP oil spill, it wasn't a necessity for me to read into it further through online articles. It was instead a curiosity for details and a sense of obligation that led me to the article published online by the National Wildlife Federation. The publication entitled ...Dark Shadow over... Fishing Community allowed me to really understand what many coastal workers and families are going through. I have family living near the gulf coast, and the spill is directly influencing their culture, recreation, and economy.

The NWF piece states that the spill has been worse for local fishermen than hurricanes, because with hurricanes, they merely lose "material stuff. When you take [fishing] away, it's not material, it's your way of life." Many coastal towns are still struggling with the economy's plunge after recent hurricanes, and this spill added to it will cause a deeper economical plunge. To think of so many people out of work and feeling purposeless really depresses me. They must feel insecure, because they have no way of knowing when it will end and the gulf will clear up. The article says that 36% of the gulf is closed to fishing, and the percentage is rising instead of falling.

The same sense of obligation that caused me to research is urging me to find some way to help. What can I, someone halfway across the country, do to aid fishermen and animals plagued by oil? After surfing the site, I found various programs for wildlife where donations mean saving coasts. If they aren't protected, they could never be the same. I think my help alone would be appreciated, but our class's help, our school's help, could actually be impactive. If anyone wants to donate money for the clean-up, you can find out more by visiting parts of the cite. I found that an easy way of donating is through texts.

Driven by Poverty

2010-06-13T12:58:00.000-07:00

I chose to read "A Modest Proposal" by Jonathon Swift. I found Swift wrote the essay in Ireland in the 1700's, and I thought it would be interesting and refreshing because of its different written style (from the usual fiction I spend most of my reading time with).

In beginning reading, I noted the sadness and pity the essay exuded. It spoke of the trials many poor women faced, caring for multiple children when they couldn't even properly care for themselves. I immediately thought of some third-world countries today, and I felt torn for the poor. I waited for the "modest proposal" that would be a cure for the picture painted by Swift--intense poverty. Abruptly, one sentence changed the entire tone of the essay.

This sentence was actually Jonathon Swift's proposal. It suggested that the freedom from poverty for poor couples could be achieved by selling their babies to the rich, reasoning that "a young healthy child well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious, nourishing and wholesome food". I was so astonished that I started reading the entire essay over to find the foreshadowing that lead up to this twist, finding none. I had to finish what I started, so I continued reading, though gingerly, because the mention of cannibalism had disturbed me.

After finishing, I felt Swift's proposal was written well, with much fore-thought put into it, and this disgusted me greatly. After reading, I doubted how any person, in any degree of poverty, could even consider such a practice. In my disbelief, I researched the essay further; I was surprised, yet again, to find that there was a different meaning embedded behind his words. The essay was intended to be satirical of Britain's government at the time, and Jonathon Swift did NOT truly believe in cannibalism as a means of profit. He only intended to compare Britain to the rich, for they had mistreated Ireland as rich landlords mistreat the poor. This new understanding of "A Modest Proposal" gave me great peace of mind in knowing that the proposal written about never came close to being more than just that--a proposal. My final thought on this essay was curiosity, sparked with the wonder of how many other works have meanings hidden beneath the surface of their texts...

Annotated Photo

2010-06-12T20:47:00.000-07:00

How Lauren Cam reads, writes, lives...

Anaysis of Mice and Men

2010-05-24T10:37:00.000-07:00

Detail

From his first paragraph, John Steinbeck sets the scene in Of Mice and Men through his use of imagery as he describes the natural world as a parallel to later events in the novella.
"Under the trees the leaves lie deep and so crisp" is a phrase from the novel depictiting that the leaves died with the change of season, and fell off the trees. The figurative meaning of this quote is that Lenny and George have come to a time in their lives when they needed to change (the incident in Weed). They changed paths like the changing-colors of autumn and fell away from their town when they left.

"A path beaten hard by boys comming down from the ranches to swim in the deep pool, and beaten hard by tramps who come wearily down from the highway" is a quote litterally meaning that a path that is traveled frequently leads to a comfortable pool. The imagry of it is that the path represents a way of getting somewhere, a portal to obtain what is desired. The boys and the tramps represent different people in different stages of life. The boys may be more innocent while the tramps way be older and more street smart; altogether they represent the workers. The pool represents the money and meals that are worth working for.

"The limb is worn smooth by men who have sat on it" is an excerpt speaking of a limb worn smooth from the wear of people sitting on it. The metaphorical limb is Slim. Slim has calm eyes and a steady, "smooth" disposition. He is wisened from working the ranch so long and knows how to stay out of trouble and keep his job. The parallels in the novel serve as a way for the reader to see forshadowing of comming events and understand them in poetic way.

Point of View

The third-person objective point of view accentuates the differences between each character through descriptions of their traits. The quote from page 37 of the novel states that "Curley seemed really to see George for the first time. His eyes flashed over George, took in his height, measured his reach, looked at his trim middle" when he encountered George in the bunkhouse. Curley was a small man and had self-confidence issues, forcing him to put on a tough front. He looked over George to see how big he was in comparison. George also happened to be small, this making Curley feel relieved and more at ease when talking to him.

"[Crooks] kept his distance and demanded that other people kept theirs." (pg 67) As also stated in the passage Crooks was "proud" and "aloof." These quotes from Of Mice and Men shows that Crooks, the stable buck, knew he was different from everyone else. Keeping out of the way of the other ranch workers' was the only way Crooks knew of to keep his pride. Third person allows people to see the differences in Crooks, because their are no personal point of views to give a racist perspective in Steinbeck's novella. Without the descriptive passages regarding these characters in third-person objective, their characters would not be as defined as they are found in Of Mice and Men.

Tone

The despondent and hopeless tones in Steinbeck's passage from chapter three reflect Candy's feeling as the death of his dog draws near. Despondence is a term describing the tone exuded by the character Candy. In the passage exerpt, Candy "did not look down at his dog at all". He was in a depressed state because his dog, his companion that lived with him for so long, will soon be put down because he is old and cripled. He felt as if he was loosing a long-time friend, so he lay sadly and "crossed his arms behind his head and stared at the ceiling."

Hopeless is another term showing the feelings of Candy in the Chapter 3 passage. Candy felt hopeless because Slim told him that having Carlson put down his dog was a good idea; Candy "looked a long time at Slim to try to find some reversal. And Slim gave him none." He knew that Slim was wise and he had to accept the fact that too many people agreed that the dog shouldn't be kept alive, suffering as a cripple. Because Candy was despondent, but agreeable, he finally "said softly and hopelessly" for them to take his dog away.

Theme

I am my brother's keeper. Even though people can live fine on their own, having someone that will always have your back is a major comfort and relief. I think it is our job, our responsibility, to take care of our friends and family, and those that need help. My view on being a "keeper" is obvious. I believe that the general message found in Of Mice and Men reflects my view that we should look after those we hold as unable to help themselves.

In the novel, George sacrificed so much that he could have had, just to take care of Lennie. He tells Lennie that he "could live so easy. [He] could go get a job an' work...and [he] could take [his] fifty bucks and go into town and get whatever [he] wants." (p. 11) Instead, he chooses to keep watch over Lennie. Why would he do that? Well, for one, George says he knew Lennie's Aunt Clara (p. 40), and he knew when she died. Perhaps his reasoning was that he felt sorry for Lennie, and he knew that Lennie couldn't make it on his own (p. 13). Another possibility could be that he grew to love Lennie as if he were more than a tag-a-long, but rather an immature brother or young son. George tells Slim (p. 40) that at first, "Lennie just come along with him out working" and when he wanted to travel to work, Lennie followed.

George was Lennie's keeper, whatever his motive. Just as George looked after Lennie (as if he were a younger sibling), I look after my younger sister. Most mornings, I make her lunch for her before school. I help her out with her chores so she won't get scolded for getting behind. Like George (p. 15), I give my sister advice for what to do in unsure situations. I am my sister's keeper. If I am my sister's keeper, and my actions parallel to those of George, then a theme of Of Mice and Men is that we are our brother's keepers, relatives or not.

Photos of a "Migrant Mother"

2010-05-20T10:21:00.000-07:00

My first thought, when looking upon these pictures, was of sadness. I didn't even take in the surroundings at first in the form of the shabby lean-to and their bare feet and dirty clothes. The sadness came from their expressions. The looks on their faces. The mother looks so lost and desperate. I wonder where the father of the children is. I wonder how many children she has, when all that I could count was four. I wonder how long they'd been camped at that same spot, and how long they would stay in wait. I hope that when I am 32 years old like that mother, I do not feel as tired and look as defeated as she. My lingering last thought was thankfulness. Who do I thank? My situation is so much greater than she and I am thankful.

Book Review: The Giver

2010-04-30T10:13:00.000-07:00

The Giver. It is a very simplistic title, and upon hearing it, I imagined a book to go with it that was completely different than the grim story of dystopia that it is. Instead of selflessness and kindness that the word "giver" implies, The Giver by Lois Lowery is filled with secrets and pain.

The world as Jonas knows is black and white. That's because every day is routine and rules regulate every aspect; there are never exceptions. That is also true because he actually SEES in black and white. No, Jonas is not simply colorblind and he is not a dog. Jonas, as have all the people living in his community and the communities around him, has been made to not see colors. This startling fact is only the beginning. People also have their emotions and hormones controlled by taking a pill (that is the equivalent of a anti-depressant/hormone supplement). They have never seen the sun or felt the rain. The humans living together are all the same in as many aspects as possible. Why you say?...
As Jonas begins to question this very thing, he discovers that perfection is hardly attainable, and the major barrier is the awful human past. Was there a time when things were different? Jonas learns such when he is assigned his training at the end of his school career. He is to be the receiver. Of what? All the answers and secrets lie in the wizened old hands of the giver, the man whom Jonas owes his new apprenticeship.

The underlying theme of The Giver is to show people that uniqueness and individuality is what makes life interesting and happy. It is also to show that if you take no risks, nothing bad will ever happen to you, but nothing good will ever happen to you either. People end up neutral puppets following orders, as the citizens of the book were. Embrace your differences and know that Utopia cannot come from socialism; perfection is not attainable, because, frankly, people can never be perfect, and the stress from trying should be enough to make a community (such as Jonas's) collapse in on itself. There are perks to safety, peace, and control, but when humans loose their ability to make choices, they loose their humanity.

The Giver is a Book that I think everyone should read at some point in their life. I really enjoyed reading in, and then again in school :) Jonas is a great character because he is so naive and honest. And still, he is more worldly than his hometown...

Book Review: Animal Farm

2010-04-27T17:48:00.000-07:00

This is an almost non-fictional parallel to the Russian revolutionary fall of czarism and rise of socialism. Animal Farm gave a metaphorical view into how Lennin, Trotsky, and Stalin would organize their country, their government, their farm, if they were not historical figures, but animals. Written by George Orwell, Animal Farm linked world government to a fable.

The main characters all represented an actual person involved in the Russian Revolution. Old Major, an old rebel who ignites the flame for the farm's uprising, represents Vladimir Lennin. Snowball and Napoleon represent the original leaders of the worker's revolution--snowball being Trotsky and Napoleon being Stalin. Squealer, one of Napoleon's main accomplice, represents those who spread propaganda for Stalin.

I feel like the story's purpose was to be a satire of Russia's government from George Orwell's point of view, but instead of making up a country and new names, he transformed the people into animals. It was...interesting to read. I think George Orwell used pigs as the leaders, because pigs are supposedly really smart animals; that fits how manipulative Napoleon and Squealer were. Orwell's comparrison to animals was effective because (a) each animals nature helps in understanding different characters and (b) it creates a joking parallel without openly making fun of Russia's communist era, plus (c) animals make everything more fun :)

Cross Examined

2010-04-20T10:40:00.000-07:00

Why might I ever be cross examined?? I can easily imagine my parents cross examining me after coming in from errands or a friends house and wanting to know the exact time I went where and how long I had taken in doing so. There never fails to be a time when I am cross examined by my mother and asked about the course of my day, afternoon, night, homework, and weekend plans. Not to mention my feelings on such and any news with my friends.

It seems, ever since my birthday, I have spent less and less time with my family. Since I have spent less time with my family, I have been asked a mentionable amount of questions--more so than before. This I can understand, with me being on my own more and driving alone. I still have to wonder sometimes, when I leave home will they call and ask me these things even more frequently? Will I always feel like a suspect sitting on the witness stand?

Flowers

2010-04-12T10:57:00.000-07:00

Here for a season
then gone

They wither and fade
each year

Only to spring up
once more

Flowers give faith, trust,
and hope.

Celebrations!

2010-04-12T10:39:00.000-07:00

I love all celebrations. Probably because I like to be happy, and most celebrations are with friends and family. Now I am celebrating my birthday! It's tomorrow! Yay! It's my sweet 16!

Most birthday celebrations in my family are low key and just a small acknowledgment of accumulating age (especially small in my mom's case lol). We usually bake a cake, make the birthday boy/girl blow out candles, and let them open presents. This year, my most important birthday yet, I especially celebrate my privilege of driving, of independence. I'm thinking the way we will celebrate is to just eat out and let me enjoy driving my mom's car :) I'm sure that every time I get in the blue FJ and start the engine I will be celebrating a little.

I Wear a Mask

2010-03-31T10:34:00.000-07:00

I Wear a Mask

I am myself, myself I'm not,
The part suppressed is left to rot;
My outward face is always best,
'cept on my own when it can rest.

Things come and go with time, it seems,
Some we wish would stay awhile;
Like perishable moods and friends,
My soul and mask must make ammends.

The sun will rise and stay and set,
Its orbit constant from day to day;
Major problems will fade away,
The mask can become real, still yet.

St. Patrick's Day

2010-03-17T10:01:00.000-07:00

For my family and me, St. Patrick's Day doesn't mean much more than we wear green and think about Irish leprechauns and their pots of gold. Our usual rituals are to cook a green breakfast (green eggs and ham, pancakes with green syrup, or cereal and green milk) and pick the first daffodils of the year and dye them green, as well.

It was surprising to me, this year, that as I thought about the holiday, I never realized why it was important and why it is celebrated across the globe. If you want to find out what the holiday is and who Saint Patrick was, click on this green link.

I think from now on, I will remember that St. Patrick's Day is more than wearing the color green; it is about remembering someone who was a missionary for the Christian faith. Go dude.

Book Review: Call of the Wild

2010-03-06T15:09:00.001-08:00

An animal's perspective is something rarely obtained in this world. People are hard enough to read about and understand, so imagine reading a novel that is told through the mind of a domestic-turned-wild sled dog. This Jack London classic is a book that caused me to look at my own dog in a different way.

I would reccommend this book to anyone who is in the mood for something different. I'm not used to reading books like this and it changed my perspective on animals. I made many parallels to humans in Buck, and I think his character was very much like all of us. The Call of the Wild was gripping. :)

All Buck (aka the dog and main character in the story) has ever done is be a pet in the Judges household; he isn't for much longer. The next thing Buck knows, he has been stuffed in a cage, traded for money, and moved out to a brutally cold, white world, the likes of which he has never experienced. Besides getting over the shock, he must also learn, and learn quickly, how to survive. This sensible dog must learn to be fierce and trust his instincts, or it may very well be his last instinctive thing felt.
Buck is passed around and around among various sled dog owners, until, one day, he is too weak to move on after stopping for the night. He refuses to move, and is almost beaten to death by an owner. A man looking-on saves Buck and his old team and masters move on without him. He has traveled full circle; Buck is no longer a sled dog, but a "pet" of sorts.
Along with his new master, John Thorton, Buck accomplishes many things and overcomes gigantic obstacles. The only question remaining for Buck is possibly his most difficult--will he answer the call of the wild? Read and find out!! You'll want to know...

Writer's Notebook: What is a Winner?

2010-02-23T11:45:00.000-08:00

The U.S. is second in the Olympics thus far! Yay! They are winning because they have an amazingly high medal count, but they are also winning because they are trying so hard. I have watched interviews on TV with some of the athletes, and I know before the games began the U.S. competitors were winners. Cheesy as it may sound, being a winner is getting up an doing what is right, working hard to accomplish your goal. They are trying with all they have, and they are winners.

Writer's Notebook: Persuasion

2010-02-23T10:50:00.001-08:00

I am pretty good at persuasion. I have a certain technique that allows me to persuade people into either doing things or allowing me to do things. But, of course, there are exceptions to every rule. The people I use persuasion on have to be agreeable, reasonable people and the topic of persuasion has to be something that is possible to change. For example, my bedtime. Long ago I persuaded my parents that I did not need to go to sleep at 8 o'clock to get enough sleep. How? By logical evidence! I showed my parents how I can get ready easily in the morning, even when I stay up as late as I want.

I use other techniques when persuading my sister. The key to persuading her is to act like whatever decision she makes does not affect me at all; my attitude must be completely neutral. When persuading her to allow me to borrow, say, a purse, I must act nonchalant and compliment it. If I can do that, my persuasion usually works without any problems.

Writer's Notebook: "Olympic" Commitment

2010-02-15T14:31:00.001-08:00

Athletes in the Olympic Games make a huge commitment that compromises their otherwise normal life for one of total sport-dedicated training. In my life, at this point, I feel I have made two major commitments--dancing and being part of my church.

My dance commitment has been complete with sacrifices and choices, not unlike those that professional athletes make. I sacrifice my Saturdays of sleeping in and going to birthday parties to instead practice for upcoming recitals. Also, with my pursuit of being a dancer rising above other sports and hobbies, I have put many of my second-favorites aside.

My church commitment is one I have made throughout my life, and plan to commit to until the end. Being a christian, I feel like I am in training all the time, working on my strength and endurance. Some obstacles will get in my way, but I have to keep myself focused on the ultimate prize. The more prepared I am, the easier the trials are that happen every day.

Book Review: 13 Reasons Why (290 pages)

2010-01-25T12:02:00.001-08:00

Sadness. Hurt. Betrayal. Loneliness. These are four reasons for a person to become depressed. Slowly, depression can snowball into a more dangerous form of self-destruction. What if there were more than four reasons to feel cut off from all that is good and happy and right in the world? What if a person had thirteen reasons? What if those reasons were more than reasons, but people? And what if those people drove someone you loved to the ultimate self-destructional deed...

In Jay Asher's book, Thirteen Reasons Why, an unlucky-in-love boy finally gets to get inside the head of the girl of his dreams, but it's not as great as it sounds. Clay comes home to find a package, addressed to him specifically and no one else. How awesome! A present! Right? Wrong. What he finds within the contents of that brown package will change his life forever, along with twelve others. All Clay has to do is open the parcel and follow instructions, and for him, it is so much harder than he anticipated.

There are multiple themes that fit this single book. One is that people are very mortal, very temporary, and you never know when they might leave our presence and never return. Another is to always treat people the way you would want to be treated. Very standard. Very Golden Rule, but also very effective. When you treat people the way you want to be treated, they will usually treat you with respect in return. You just never know how a negative remark or comment can alter someones bad day into their worst.

This book was one of my favorite books of all time. In part, it was because Thirteen Reasons Why was so powerful. It made me read of things that can happen to any person, but are uncomfortable to discuss. It made me realize how the actions of one person, however insignificant, can affect another. It made me question things I have done and said in the past; could I have handled that better? Is there someone I can help as I sit here typing? Thoughts flew through my mind and pages continued to turn. Once I started, I couldn't stop reading.

I would recommend this book to teenagers; It might be over young readers' heads for a couple of issues that are confronted. I feel that both girls and guys would be impacted by it. I hope, if you decide to read this novel, it changes the way you think towards people around you for the better.

Book Review: An Abundance of Katherines (215 pages)

2010-01-21T10:33:00.000-08:00

Clones--In today's society, that's not beyond the realm of possibility, but that's not what An Abundance of Katherines is about. This book, by John Green, instead takes you on a wild ride (literally) through the post-graduation of a nerdy senior and his awful heart-breaks of the past.

The plot starts at the end of the school year, when the worries of a former high-school student should be out the window. Emphasis on the word should. Instead, Colin is thrust into a depression that can only be the result of one thing--a break-up with a Katherine. The last Katherine, one of nineteen. The thing with Colin, is that he has a thing for Katherines. He has dated only Katherines in his lifetime, and they had to have the spelling K-a-t-h-e-r-i-n-e. When his most recent Katherine fling has gone crashing down, he is effected so much that his best friend, Hassan, decides he needs a drastic rehab.
This rehab takes the form of a road trip that starts in Chicago, slowly working its way south to the great state of Tennessee. Once they get to the small town of Gunshot, the duo decide to ditch the open road and rest a while. "Resting" actually turns out to include meeting new friends, staying with a small family, and getting a job. They stay in Gunshot so long, they begin to feel attached to the quaint town and its drawling people. Who knows? Maybe this is just the right medicine for a boy looking to break his mean-Katherine streak and his jolly friend. Can he do it? Read An Abundance of Katherines by John Green to find out.

The character, described by John Green, Colin, is a kid who got picked on his whole life. Not for being mean, not for being weird, but for being smart. Colin is the type of person who is the nicest person anyone could know, but for some reason, people avoid knowing him because of his level of intelligence. He struggles throughout the book to keep friends and girlfriends, except for the nice and also smart (though not as smart) Hassan. Colin changes throughout the story; he becomes a person who is comfortable with who he is for what he is. He experiences the insecurities of every teenager and prevails, happy and in one piece. Go Colin!!

The setting of most of the book, Tennessee, reminds me so much of home. The same hills, the same wonderful green outdoors, the same hot summers. I believe I've actually been to some of the same places described by the author. The fact that the setting was relatable made the scenes so easy to picture as I read.

Because of Colin's (minute) trials and tribulations, the theme of the book is "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." I also think that the theme of this could be "Change is good". My thinking behind this is simple; Colin leaves the people of his past behind him and slowly evolves into a more self-confident, risk-taking person. In this process he meets NEW PEOPLE and has NEW EXPERIENCES. Under his circumstances, change is good.

I flew through this book; It only took 4 days to read. I would refer it to both boys and girls. It kept me laughing, so if you prefer comedies, this is a must-read. Enjoy:]

Communication Errors...

2010-01-19T12:49:00.000-08:00

Life today is so fast paced. I look around and I see faster cars, faster trains, faster planes, faster cooking, faster eating, faster producing, faster shipping, fast, fast, fast etc. Though all of this is great, one fast-messaging device (a.k.a. the cell phone) causes problems in the communication area.

How? How can something that makes our life so easy be so bad? I'll tell you how--the text message. The text message is a great thing for people who need to get a message quickly or silently, like while in a meeting or after a practice of some sort. Other than that, the highly impersonal message can cause some major problems.

One reason is the dating game. How many people use text messages to "talk" to their someone? Too many. These days, people don't even talk using their voice. They don't ask out using their voice, they don't break up using their voice, and they don't make plans using their voice. This could be okay, except that it is extremely impersonal and you don't get to know a person over a screen, approximately 1x2 inches in length. Sure, you may feel confident when you have a couple of minutes to think of what you'll say next, and you can come up with funny things to say that you may not say out loud, but when you finally do talk to them, to anyone, will you act like the person behind those texts?

That, of course, is only the beginning. A second reason why exclusively using a cell phone may not be the best source of communication is the lack of *word emphasis. This happens due to the fact that (a) you can't hear the sound of peoples' voice in a text message and (b) you can't put texts in italics. A wonderful example of this was discovered by me and a friend. Take, for instance, the sentence "he won't kiss her". When different words are emphasized, the sentence can take on whole new meanings. The four formed from this sentence are as follows: "He won't kiss her", "He won't kiss her", "He won't kiss her", and "He won't kiss her". Crazy, right? Yes. That is why a ring on the telephone still is ultimately better than a text when the conversation will last longer than a question/comment and its response.

*Word Emphasis: usually shown by using italics, word emphasis shows the "prominence given to a syllable, word, or words, as by raising the voice..." (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/emphasis?o=100074)

Someone Took A Stand

2010-01-16T15:16:00.000-08:00

I admire those who can stand up to what is wrong. It takes bravery. It takes guts. Its a risk that not many people are willing to take.

Once when I was in the fourth grade, I knew a boy named Keith. Keith was a kid with problems. He was in the second grade, and he clearly wasn't the coolest person in our small class. It seemed like he couldn't fit in anywhere. He was a loner, the person that kids looked at through eyes that didn't see a person, only a fatal disease; if they got too close they were sure to be infected.

It seemed the loneliness only intensified at our daily recess that lasted about 45 minutes. He seldom played in the most popular recess sport, kickball. That all changed one day. This special day, Keith decided to get in there with both the big kids (6th graders) and the cool kids (basically everyone else). He jumped in line with the rest of us as we waited to be picked for a kickball team. He, obviously, was avoided and over-looked until he was the only one left.

This was the turning point for Kieth. The team captain forced to accept him did so grudgingly, letting everyone know that he was unhappy with his latest addition. Just as he did so, a boy in the fourth grade stepped up beside Keith. He expressed his feelings about Keith, saying, "He could be an awesome teammate. He could even be a better player than most of us. How would we know? We had never let him play with us. Is that okay? No. No, it's not. He's a kid just like us and deserves to play ball and have fun. So the least we can give him is a chance."

The whole time we just sort of listened and felt ashamed. Ashamed that we could be so cold to someone who was a little different than the rest of us. When Kieth was done blushing, the boy who had spoken up walked him over to third base and asked him how he was at catching. We started up a game, and realized that Keith enjoyed ball as much as we did. He was a normal kid; He had just never been given a chance to act as one. He might never have gotten a chance if someone hadn't taken a stand.

I Took A Stand

2010-01-16T14:49:00.001-08:00

I remember a time when I really took a stand against something I thought was wrong. It made me feel like I was doing the right thing, even though at the time, it wasn't the easiest thing. Taking a stand isn't about doing the easy thing though; that's why people who take stands for things are ultimately respected. We still remember Martin Luther King, Jr., who took a major stand against treating people unequally. We get out of school for his national holiday, which is this coming Monday. The point is, taking a major stand or not, doing the right thing makes a difference.

One day, when I was younger, I was sitting in church with some of my friends. We were sitting near the back, and one of my friends had an idea. They said, "I have my Ipod in my purse. If we move to the very back, then our parents wouldn't see us and we could listen to it. It's so much better than the boring sermon and this music." My other friend was just about to agree when my conscious made me speak up. I told them that I knew the service wasn't easy to follow, the songs were old, and most of the time we didn't know what we were singing, but that really wasn't the point. The point was, church was about getting up and coming in early to give attention to God. It wasn't supposed to be entertainment; it was supposed to be worship.

My other friend agreed with me. We had to reason a little more with our friend, but eventually they saw our point. We sat in our usual spot and tried to pay as close attention as we could at our age.

Book Review: The Hunger Games (387 pages)

2010-01-09T16:40:00.001-08:00

What will become of the earth when peace is no longer possible and human nature threatens all that people know and love? A lot, that's what. Suzanne Collins's novel, The Hunger Games, thrusts readers into the life of a normal girl. Well, a normal girl for her time.

In the life of Katniss Everdeen, there is one place to call home. One of twelve city-state-like districts that is controlled by those that lead the Capital, the main city that houses privileged inhabitants. In her district, number twelve, there is a plain and simple separation of people into two classes: poor, starving workers or the less poor and starving workers. Still, they are separate. Why is the known human race relenting to an awful type of dictatorship? The world almost ended when all countries entered into a full-fledged war. This "country" that consists of twelve districts is all that is left.

Katniss has to support her family after her father dies. When the annual hunger games drawing commences, selecting one female and one male for each district, she takes the place of the sister she dearly loves. Competing in the hunger games may be the most threatening and dangerous task she's ever taken on. What is the hunger games and can she survive? Only readers will know...

A huge difference in the setting between Katniss's world and our own is obvious; though her country of Panem is located in fairly the same region as our United States, her surroundings are clearly not the same. A city with a fence lining the outer border is the only place she's ever been, ever been ALLOWED, that is. We, as citizens of a free country, exercise our right to travel quite frequently, though we take it for granted. We also have a relatively safe feeling when out and about; we don't often question our safety when we are in town, in a crowd, and in broad daylight.

Cars are also never used in Katniss's world. Where would we be without them? I guess if you are confined to one city, walking is not as bad as it may seem. All of our modern methods of getting from place to place seem to be missing with the exception of trains, and in the place of planes, you find hovercrafts.

The main characters are Katniss Everdeen, Prim Everdeen (her younger sister), Gale (her best friend), and Peeta (an acquaintance turned deadly). Collins gives her characters attributes that you would want them to have. In this way, she makes them so that a reader couldn't not like them. I love the way she made Katniss a girl that has problems and imperfections; this made me want to talk to her, not be jealous of her and the things that I can't change about the problems and imperfections in my own life.

Another character I fell in love with was Peeta, the kind and brave. He risked harm out of kindness for a stranger, then, later, when this stranger became a friend, he risked his life to save theirs. He always seems compassionate, kind, and courageous, even when he isn't strong enough to face what lay ahead. I admire his thoughtful nature; it contrasts greatly with the fierce and tough attitude of Katniss, though she can sometimes be soft and gentle.

The main character, Katniss, stands for justice. She rebels again and again throughout The Hunger Games against the Capital's forces that threaten to quench each individuals will to survive, along with their sense of humanity. When she was put in a position where she had to kill to survive, she allied herself with others in hopes of not having to harm. Her biggest stand up occurred at the end of the hunger games. Only two people were left to fight 'til the death--herself included. She and the other decided it would be better for them to both die a painless death of poison berries then for them to fight until one was left standing. This would be the ultimate rebellion against what the Capital wanted to happen, a way of proving that they could not be controlled and they would not willingly slaughter each other like animals. Righteousness could prevail; the only thing Katniss had to do was take a stand.

The Hunger Games is the second best book I have EVER read. I loved it so much! I only read it because so many others had read it and thought it was amazing. Those that referred it were boys, but I loved it, so I would refer it to both girls and guys. It was a powerful book that provoked my thoughts about the limits of human nature and compassion.

Book Review: Shopaholic and Baby (358 pages)

2010-01-06T10:09:00.000-08:00

The best clothes; a thoughtful, handsome, a successful husband; an amazingly close friend; a family that pries out of love. What more can a girl really need? In a book by Sophie Kinsella, one woman, Becky Bloomwood (now Becky Brandon since her marriage), will find that only having one more thing could add to her lovely life--a baby. This book made me laugh, made angry, and made me tearful. I love Shopaholic and Baby and all of the previous books in this series!

The plot of the story begins with the shopaholic working her shift in the shop in which she's employed. The shop is in trouble of closing and only lots of publicity and personal connections could ever help to keep it open. Besides the stress of possibly losing her job, she also has personal matters to worry about. She reads an advertisement about about a famous obstetrician and decides to change doctors mid-way through her pregnancy, against the advise of her husband, Luke. The famous doctor, Venita Carter, turns out to be extremely nice and intelligent and all seems to go great until Becky brings Luke along for an appointment. Luke recognizes Venita and Venita recognizes Luke; they dated in college!
What is the chance of that? Becky decides to stay with Venita as a doctor, even though this fact makes her uncomfortable. Nothing is wrong...or is it? When Venita starts putting the "moves" on Luke, what will Becky do? And in the midst of this awful situation, can she also save her work?

The main characters are Becky, Suze (her best friend), Luke (her loving husband), Venita (her doctor/home wrecker), Jess (her sister), and Danny (her quirky designer friend). I love all of the characters; they all have very easily defined personalities that are simple, yet complex. It is easy to forget they are figures of Sophie Kinsella's imagination and not real people. The character I can associate myself with most is probably Luke. He is hardworking, intelligent, and very kind. He always comes up with a solution to the problems Becky causes without hassling her for them. I also find that he is good at handling sticky situations presented in the novel (I won't go in to detail so you will have to read the book and find out for yourself).

I liked this book a lot. Probably because I know how Becky feels. I love to shop! Who doesn't? I feel that it is a great book for girls of any age. Shopaholic and Baby is the fifth book in the Shopaholic series; the books listed in reading order are Confessions of a Shopaholic, Shopaholic Takes Manhattan, Shopaholic Ties the Knot, and Shopaholic and Sister. I have read them all and hope if you read them you will think they are as fun as I thought they were.

Book Review: Julius Caesar (209 pages)

2009-12-11T10:26:00.000-08:00

Anger and Jealousy are proven to be two of the most powerful of emotions. When these are combined by multiple people coming together against one man, the result can't anything less than deadly. Julius Caesar, a play by Shakespeare, is a combination of history and tragedy that tells of friends' betrayal and political conflict.

The composition, though entitled "Julius Caesar", tells more of the people surrounding Caesar than of Caesar himself. Cassius and Brutus are angered by Caesar and decide in secret to do something about it. Caesar is warned by bad omens and his wife's odd dreams to stay home from a Senate meeting where shady members await him--will he choose to listen or follow is own will, as he does most of the time. Will his choice affect the entirety of the Roman Empire?

The setting of the play is Rome, Italy, when the center of the Western Civilization was ruled by Julius Caesar. The contrast between 44 BC, the date of Caesar's assassination, and the present time is extreme. Then, people were just beginning to have a say in the government, when now, people expect their say in the government through either voting or establishing leaders to vote for them. Then, women were looked down on; now, all people, male or female, are considered equal. Besides the obvious political differences, the physical differences are obvious. The structures such as buildings, art, statues, and roads were all build out of different materials and designed to look a different way (mostly brick roads, marble columned buildings, and marble statues).

The style of the book is standard Shakespearean script--Iambic Pentameter. The lines are organized into sets of five lines with each line containing ten syllables. Julius Caesar was written to be preformed as a play, so the story is told directly through the characters speech with no additional narration.
The speech used in the play is old English from Shakespeare's time, so it is naturally more difficult to read and follow than modern day books. I didn't particularly like this, because it was not easy to read, but the way the author presented the words in certain puns and dialogue was witty and made me feel intelligent to be able to read it and comprehend.

If a person is not interested in taking time to read a challenging book, I would not recommend Shakespeare for them. Though intriguing, I had to take time to look up extra meanings to words in order to understand. On the other hand, if they are up for a challenge, Julius Caesar is an intellectual and adventurous read.

What Makes a Leader a Leader?

2009-12-08T10:17:00.000-08:00

What makes a leader a leader? Is it the power they hold? Is it the fact that they have a large, obedient following? Is it the qualities and characteristics they posses? Is it the drive that wants or needs control?

I think being a leader is being an example. People don't have to be well known to be leaders. People don't have to have known followers to be a leader. People don't even have to think they are leaders, when in fact, they might be. To lead, a person need only to do something that causes someone else to follow; the unaware leader should be aware of themselves and their actions. It is all too possible to lead others in the wrong direction.

For leaders that lead without openly demanding respect (leaders that are followed at the follower's choice), the following is composed of individuals that admire that leader. It may be the way they handle sticky situations, the way they solve problems, or the way they look out for others. When peoples actions are observed and followed out of admiration, they are leaders.

Some leaders that influence me in my life or that I think are/were important are as follows:
My mom, Jesus, Amelia Earhart, Sacajawea, Leslie Roper, an unnamed friend.
My mom is a leader because she is very independant, and has always been. She runs her own business and knows how to be in charge without being controlling. I admire her stregnths when it comes to that, because not being "bossy" isn't easy.
Jesus is obviously a leader--He's God, He lived a perfect life, He has more followers than any leader I know. Not only that, but He has every quality you could ever want in a leader--unconditional love for everyone, complete selflessness, wisdom, compassion, mercy, and more.
Amelia Earhart and Sacajawea are two women who boldly charged into sticky situations and faced their fears, one a young adventurer, the other a young mother. They took major steps as women of their times.
Leslie Roper is my youth minister. She is a leader because she chooses to get up in front of our congregation twice monthly and speak for what she believes. She also gets up in front of about twenty hormonal teenagers and speaks about what God would want for our lives and how she believes in what we can do as church members. I admire her for appreciating us as young adults and taking time to help us in our journey.
The last leader I will write about, my friend (unnamed so I don't embarrass them), plays a big role in my life. When I look at how I do in school and how involved I am in church, I also think about her accomplishments. She always does her homework, would never cheat, pushes herself to do her best, and also in involved in clubs and sports. As for church, she goes to Sunday School, church, and youth, plus camps and frequent bible studies. I admire her strength as a girl, as a student, as a christian, and as an all-around person. It makes me pround to think I am following in her example, because its an amazing, though difficult one.

Book Review: The Host (619 pages)

2009-12-01T10:26:00.002-08:00

Can you imagine waking up one morning and remembering things that happened the day before, the night before, and suddenly, you realize that those memories don't belong to you? Those memories are in fact some other beings and everything you are has changed in the blink of an eye; I certainly can't. In Stephanie Meyer's book, The Host, no one is what they seem, and trust is worth more than one person can imagine.

The setting of the story is in present time, in and around the major cities of Arizona (like Phoenix). When I say around, I mean that most of the action in the book happens in the deserts, described in-detail as being hot, dry, hotter, and drier. This is something the people of our temperate town don't know much about. The characters suffered, it seemed, from heat exhaustion and lack of water. I personally cannot relate to this aspect, thought I have been to Arizona and can say for myself that it is a very hot, dry place.

The plot starts by following a young woman named Melanie and her younger brother Jamie as they work to evade the "intruders" that are replacing all humanity that inhabit the Earth. It started out small, but slowly, people are changing. They leave home themselves, only to return strange. Melanie and her younger brother are the only people to make it out of their home town still themselves, and they escape to find their uncle who gave them a map embedded in a puzzle, a map to where he would be hiding in preparation for the invasion that was to come and did come.
The unexpected happens when Melanie and Jamie are separated while Melanie is in a city scavenging supplies and information; she is captured and taken to become changed. Later, it is revealed that the changing is internal. Aliens called souls that are small, silver, bug-like creatures are embedded into a person's brain while unconscious and take over their body and with it, their being. The host who is taken over doesn't die, but is just unconscious, unaware in a type of coma. That has been true for all other hosts, but not Melanie.
Melanie wakes up, only its not Melanie that does, but her soul. Her soul is in her body, and feels what Melanie feels, loves who Melanie loves, and remembers what Melanie remembers. Her soul is conflicted with the need to care for Melanie's brother, and her job of being a soul--making Earth pure. After all, the non-violent souls living on the planet instead of evil humans is a step toward utopia. What can the soul do? Melanie is happy to give her input, speaking through her thoughts. The soul is disturbed; why is there two people living in one body? Clearly there is something wrong. Can this duo exist? Can they work something out in order to save the boy they both want to protect from all harm? The answer lies with Melanie's uncle, where all family is hiding and all future hope lies. Let the search begin.

I think a theme that Stephanie Meyer is trying to portray in her novel is the very essence of humanity. What faults make humans human? People are not perfect, physically or consciously. People do not always know the right thing to say or do. People get hurt, sick, angry, jealous, stubborn, and selfish. These traits and more make the Earth a place of grief, but also a place of great happiness and love and especially hope. When people who can have such faults find it in themselves to also be charitable, kind, or peaceful, it is a wonderful thing that gives hope for mankind to all. Earth would be boring and plain if everything and everyone were perfect.
Another theme is bias. It shouldn't matter what the person looks like on the outside or what group they come from; all that should be of any importance is what the person is like on the inside, though in our world, people are too quick to be judged based primarily on their appearance or posse, no words spoken. For example, in The Host, though Wanda is an extremely timid and considerate soul, the settlers view her as dangerous and threatening. This is a biased opinion based on her species as a whole and the way some of her kind are. Her judgement has nothing to do with her self.

Another story this book reminded me of at first was The Invasion of the Body Snatchers, because like that classic movie, this book does feature aliens that essentially "snatch" bodies. The difference occurs in the character of the "invaders" from both stories and in the genre of the stories. While the invaders from The Invasion of the Body Snatchers were evil, mind-eating alien pods, the invaders from The Host are kind spirited aliens who want to end violence. Yes, that includes taking out the human race, but in a sense they aren't throwing people away, just recycling.
The genre is different because The Invasion of the Body Snatchers was a horror story and film, while The Host's genre seems more complex. It features all the elements of a good novel--science fiction, adventure, mystery, and romance.

The Host was a thrilling read. Once I got into the storyline, I didn't want to put it down. It was an exceptionally long book though, so for readers who are slow-going or get bored easily, I would not recommend this. I would suggest this to either a girl or a guy for a read; it is so fun and exciting, I don't know who wouldn't want to read it.

Global Warming

2009-12-01T10:25:00.001-08:00

Okay...so the first sign of fall is usually, what? The leaves turning pretty shades of orange and yellow and red and brown? The days getting shorter and shorter until I feel like I should be in bed and asleep at six o'clock? Or is it the fact that by Halloween the weather outside is FRREEEEEEZZING!

I usually go by the last one, but this year was different. My Halloween was pretty moderate temperature-wise and I can remember going outside on All Saints Day (the day after Halloween for those of you who don't know) and being quite content with a t-shirt and jeans on, no jacket neccissary. I kept thinking progressively throughout the month of November, its going to get colder, this has to be the last bit of warm weather before a cold snap. Every week of rain I thought this is it, the cold front that will start winter early and put fall in its place. Only, that never happened, and the temperatures would dip down to about forty degrees only to climb right back up to the mid-sixties on most clear afternoons. It drove me crazy!

I could not figure out what the problem was, not until a couple of days ago. Then it hit me, the thing that should have made sense all along. The only possible answer to the troubling question I had pondered--WHAT IS RUINING THE FALL WEATHER?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? The answer is, global warming.

Global Warming is a natural process, or so they say, and it would and does occur without any help from humans or animals alike. The only problem is that, though the naturally occuring global warming caused by green house gases is not bad, the "help" that human civilization provides IS. The main thing that contributes to bad global warming is all of the darn pollution that we put out. Now before I go any farther, I want to make sure that you don't think I'm some crazy envirnmentalist, because I'm not. I'm just like any other person that is concerned with the health and well-being of the planet and is scared that their children and grandchildren will never experience a snow.

If global warming is the cause of this weather change, the planet is in deep trouble, because that means that changes in our climate are happening fast enough for me to notice, and I haven't had many years to observe. I will continue to worry until temperatures drop and we actually have a need to wear more than a thin sweater for warmth. Who knows? Maybe that could be this week, maybe that could be next month. I'm just concerned because it is December 1st and I haven't worn a coat outside yet.

Sighned,
Someone who misses cold noses and mittens

Reasons to be Thankful

2009-11-24T10:34:00.001-08:00

I am so thankful for many many many things. The first thing I am thankful for is my family. I am lucky that I have a large family. Not only a large family, which means a lot of people who take care of me, but also a loving family. Some people may not have that, but I do, and I'm thankful for it.

The second thing I am thankful for is the fact that I have friends. Not just so-so friends either. They are the kind that truely care about me and my well being; I'm not sure I deserve them. :)

Number three on my thankful list is my life-style. I am not poor, I am not homeless, I am not hungry, I have no wants. I think people in the holiday season should be extra thankful for what they have, and I have so much more than I need to be happy.

The fourth thing I am thankful for are my talents. I love to dance, and I guess I'm good at it. I have had so much fun over the years taking ballet and participating in dance team at school. I also love to sing, and have been in choir at school/church.

Fifthly, I am thankful for my pets! They are so sweet and fun, even if they are hard work! They make me happy and I am lucky that my parents/siblings aren't allergic to pet hair; some of my friends aren't as lucky and cannot have any pets at all, while I have 5!

The sixth thing I am thankful for is my knowledge. My parents have always encouraged me to do well, and I work hard for them. What they have allowed me to realize is that you cannot get very far without hard work and the desire to do well. This applies to school, chores, and my hobbies.

Reason to be thankful number seven is very important, especially this holiday season. I am thankful we live in modern times and not far in the past. I cannot imagine a cold, wet, dark walk to school every day, or a house heated only by a fire in one central room. If I went farther back than that, I would need to be thankful that I wasn't suffering from a disease or not allowed to go to school.

The ninth thing I am thankful for is my health. I am not ill, paralyzed, injured, or even sniffling from a slight cold, yet.

The tenth thing I am thankful for is my religion. Special this holiday season, religion is the whole reason that Christians celebrate the holiday of Christmas. Religion has molded my life in a major way, and I am extremely thankful for it and my church's role in my life.

Book Review: The 7 Habits of a Highly Effective Teen (268 pages)

2009-11-09T11:48:00.001-08:00

Everyone feels differently as they grow up and mature in body and mind. Mood swings, loneliness, anger, and frustration are all things that teens deal with on a daily basis. 7 Habits of a Highly Effective Teen is a inspirational book by Sean Covey that tries to help young adults realize they are NOT alone and give them a positive outlook on life and those "bumps" in the road. I believe this book is helpful and was very uplifting to me as I read it.

I especially liked the organization of the book. The way Sean Covey separated his main points of discussion into seven distinct sections was ideal to me as a reader. Also, the anecdotes he featured in each section were linked together in topic; it was good to read about the same, general idea for an entire chapter and let it soak in before switching the discussion to something else. It made it feel like Sean Covey was telling you that idea solely and not thrusting all the information he wanted the reader to know at me all at once.

The theme of the book, The 7 Habits of a Highly Effective Teen, was actually several different themes--in essence, one theme per section. Though that is true, all seven habits (be proactive; begin with the end in mind; put first things first; think win-win; seek first to understand, then be understood; synergize; sharpen the saw) summed up simply reflect the word balance. Habit 1: Be Proactive, for example, means to do what is healthy to be successful. Don't be too aggressive competition for your place as a respected student, friend, family member, and human being, but don't be someones doormat either. Another example would be of Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw. It is good to have time to relax and renew the mind, body, and soul, but it is NOT good when all that is accomplished during the day is the "renewing" of the body in naps or the "renewing" of the mind by under-stressing it by no mental stimulation whatsoever. The theme of balance suggests that somewhere in the middle is where there is harmony or equilibrium. This book demonstrates a healthy way to think, and if the reader chooses, to be.

The style the author uses to write this book is an easy style to follow. He writes as he would speak, perhaps if he were speaking to a young adult-reader. This is apparent by some slang used, such as "sweet", "dude", "cool", and more. I liked this because it was easy to follow, but I sometimes disliked this, because it felt like Sean Covey was trying too hard. It kind of undermined me, made me to feel like he didn't take me seriously as mature reader who could understand the same ideas expressed in The 7 Habits of a Highly Effective Teen, only written in more mature conversational terms.

While reading 7 Habits... I was reminded of other books I have read in the past. It is very similar to Chicken Soup for the Soul Books, only it isn't focused on Christianity like those books; its focus is more of positive thinking and actions. More so, it reminded me of the American Girl's Guide to (___) books. The only real difference between them is that the American Girl books are directed towards girls exclusively, while 7 Habits... is for any young reader (or old reader, really).

I really enjoyed reading The 7 Habits of a Highly Effective Teen. It sparked my thinking on many areas of my life that I don't give a thought to on a regular basis. I don't feel like it changed my life in a huge way, but it definitely changed it on a small level. That's how change starts though, isn't it? Small changes lead to bigger changes that lead to bigger changes and POOF! A person can be changed, for better or for worse. This book changed me for better; I recommend it to someone who is a pessimist or is depressed or just bored with a normal book. Who knows? Maybe, in a small way, it could change their life for the better too.

Best Ways to Spend a *Free Day

2009-10-20T11:24:00.000-07:00

*free day: a day with no planned activity; a day that has no previous obligation with which one must be in attendence or participation; a break from school and/or work; a day that should consist of NO STRESS!

It seems like I never have a free day anymore. Between school eight hours a day- five days a week, ballet on Wednesday afternoons and almost every Saturday, dancing at games on Friday, and church/youthgroup on Sundays, I manage to stay really busy and really stressed out. All of the obligations I just named is only the main thing I have to do that day. I also have chores that have to be done and if I want to have any friends, I need to try to keep up with my social life.

I think schools realize that we need a break, and that's why they give us personal days and short-to-long breaks every now and then. There are so many ways to spend a day--for fun or relaxation. I'm looking forward now to our break on October 28th for teacher end service and Thanksgiving in November! It's just around the corner!

When I have a free day, the first thing that comes to mind is FUN! My first impulse is to call my friends and set up something where we can all hang out and have fun together. My first impulse in not always the best idea...especially when you are worn-out from working on school projects and running to extra-curricular activities. This is when it's best to take a break for a day and let your mind/body re-cooperate from stress.

Below, I have a list of my favorite things to do when I have a free day from school. Read it and see if yours are similar!

Absolutely Nothing--this day will consist of sleeping in until about 10 o'clock (that is really late for me, I don't know about you), cooking a really yummy breakfast, watching some TV, taking a relaxing shower, going to lunch with my family (if I feel like going to town with them instead of a homemade PB&J), surfing on my computer, curling up on my bed with a good book, reading my favorite magazine (which is Seventeen), and/or watching a rented movie I'd been dying to see.

Spending the day with friends--It could be at their house, at my house, or running around town. Anywhere would be fine because I know that whatever we end up doing, as long as we're together we end up having fun.

Going to the mall--I don't know about you, but since our town is pretty tiny, whenever I get the chance to go shop in the big city, it is a BIG deal. I can count on one hand how many times I go shopping every year. My personal favorite mall is Park Plaza Mall in Little Rock, but I also like Turtle Creek Mall in Jonesboro. Some malls I like but don't go too an awful lot are Wolf-Run Mall in Memphis and Lakeside Mall in Metairie.
Visiting my family--running over to a near-by (from 30 min. to 4 hours) city to visit relatives can't always be done when we are so busy. When I have a day with nothing going on, I love to get to see family I'm not privledged to live around.

Having an "adventure"--this can include almost anything. I love this kind of free day, because you never know quite what to expect. It could be hiking Sugar-Loaf, boating on Greers Ferry Lake, walking around down-town, or just getting in the car and starting it when I don't know where I want to go. These are usually the most fun of free days, even though they are more tiring and exciting than most (as long as no one gets injured or lost).

These qualify as the best ways to spend a free day in my book; what's written in yours?

Book Review: Fly on the Wall (182 pages)

2009-10-13T16:12:00.000-07:00

Boys are impossible to understand. You may try to understand them many different ways. You could ask them whats on their mind, figure out what/who they like, or observe how they act in public. These probably help, but what they do in secret, who they are when no one's watching, that would be the key to the boy code. In the book Fly on the Wall, Gretchen is searching for answers. Author E. Lockhart strives to provide them for girls a whole lot like her--the confused ones.

In Fly on the Wall the main character's name is Gretchen Yee. She is a sophomore in high-school who attends an art school for the talented (well, mostly). In a normal school, people would all strive to fit in. In hers, the more different you are, the more you are displaying your personality, making you unique and cool. Different is in; normal is plain boring. One thing Gretchen does to try to "fit-in-by-standing-out" is dye her hair fire truck red. She definitely becomes noticed for a while, but besides that, it does nothing for her. Her friend Katya still seems distant. What is coming between them? Her ex-boyfriend pays her the same amount of attention (about 2%). Why isn't he begging for her back? Her new love interest from drawing class is friendly. Why isn't he in love with her and wanting to be more than friends? Finally, her parents are still getting divorced. Did they not freak and work together to set her on the straight and narrow? Don't they care enough?
When the world seems to be a confusing place, what is a girl to do? Naturally, she will want to understand it better. After Gretchen experiences the results of a wish-gone-wrong, she has a deeper understanding of what it means to not only be a boy, but also to be a human.

I am certain the theme intended by author E. Lockhart is be comfortable in your own skin. People everywhere struggle with who they are. They don't want to put the real thing out there, whether it be on the inside or the out. Why do people want to change themselves to something different than what they have? What's wrong with you that needs to be changed? I think the main character Gretchen is good at questioning society and how it treats the "image" of teenagers. There should be no ideal, because (as I learned in World History from Greco-Roman art) the human form is not perfect, and the being inside is not perfect. So what makes everyone strive to squeeze into a mold that is IMPOSSIBLE TO EVER FIT US?!?! A great question to ask, if you ask me.

The story takes place in New York City; all of the characters seem to be culturally diverse and live in different areas due to different ways of life. New York is so huge, and I have never been, but I see a slight connection to Batesville in subtle ways. Batesville has nice neighborhoods with large houses where people better off than others live; Batesville has larger neighborhoods where the houses are very close together and normal families or single people live there. New York is apparently the same way, only, you must throw in many apartment complexes. Gretchen herself lives in a small apartment near china town. I've noticed that when the city is larger, the size of space that people have to live in decreases immensely.

This book was a quick read (because it was short page-wise and it was a page turner). I feel the same way as Gretchen at times! I want to get inside someone else's head, or at least be unnoticed as they are their true selves. I really enjoyed reading Fly on the Wall, and I believe it changed the way I thought about the opposite sex. I think it made me a more secure person. The one problem I had with the book was the cursing; E. Lockhart sure loves her some wordy-dirds. I guess I don't cuss like the characters do, and it bothered me a tid bit.

Any person who feels alone or "out" should read this book. It will change your perspective on that subject. Also, it has some crude humor that is really hilarious. I would advise you NOT to read Fly on the Wall if you don't want to hear at least five cuss words per page (I know, that's a bunch) or if you are a boy. Let's face it, this is all about how girls feel towards boys and some parts may make a guy reader uncomfortable. Enough said, to be a fly on the wall of a boy's room could be every girl's dream or every girl's nightmare; only the readers can decide.

Book Review: In His Steps (242 pages)

2009-10-09T19:05:00.000-07:00

Define Christianity. Right now. What would you say? Most people when asked that question would talk about Jesus dying on the cross to save the people of the world from their sins or God creating the world and people to live in the world, with harmony, peace, and love in mind. The truth is, no matter how people may define what it means to be a 'christian', actions always speak louder than words. In His Steps was a captivating read from start to finish; it changed me and the way I think, and I hope I stay that way.

In His Steps ,by the author Charles M. Sheldon, is a book describing the life of a christian church that undergoes a change so huge, it can hardly be contained in the church itself; it soon spreads to the town, and finally to other churches in other towns. This major "change" as I'm calling is the result of one man. Early Sunday morning, Rev. Maxwell and his wife are getting ready for church. A knock raps at the door and he answers it to find an unexpected beggar. The sad man asks if Rev. Maxwell knows of a place where he could find work or a shelter where he could stay in the meanwhile. Annoyed and uncomfortable, the Rev. tells him to check downtown for a shelter and hurries him off his front steps without an offer of food or money.

About an hour later, the Rev. is preaching his sermon; it seems like the same old routine, until the man who showed up on his doorstep walks in through the church doors. He paces straight up through the center aisle, not minding the stares and looks of shock that reflect back at him from the congregation. The man stands underneath the pulpit and speaks to fill the silence that had overcome the room. He tells the church his name and apologizes for his interruption; he continues to speak and says how he feels what he has to say is of importance. His sad story told of how he lost his job, could no longer feed and support his wife and baby, and began tramping around the streets looking for work of any kind. He had been looking for five months, with no luck. The season was currently winter, and he spoke through tears as he revealed that his child had withered away and died from sickness due to poor nutrition; his wife weeks after from grief. The church was silent. The church was awestruck. The man continued speaking. He had knocked on many doors, all with the same result--being treated like the plague. He said he couldn't understand how christian people could go to church and sing songs about "carrying their cross with Jesus" or "following him all the way" since they couldn't even follow God out of their front doors to help a person in serious need. How could they go to church and sing like hypocrites? Wouldn't Jesus help him? Wouldn't Jesus give him the money in his pocket and the shirt off his own back? What would Jesus do?
The beggars message was engraved in Rev. Maxwell's mind. He couldn't believe how he had failed; he had failed not only in his job to be an example for the church, but also to be a christian. Not anymore. With a prayer, he asks God to help him to work to be a true christian. He asks to help him to work to do what Jesus would do. His life is transformed, and slowly, other people see his change, and allow a transformation to occur in their life. It isn't easy for any one of them, but the sacrifices they make aren't overlooked.

The setting of In His Steps is in the town of Raymond, Illinois. The story moves with the people of the book. It follows them in their individual lives throughout the city, whether that's in the lowest, dirtiest part of the city, or the fanciest gated communities located in the suburbs. For example, the main girl character (Virginia Page) lives in a mansion owned by her grandmother; another character (Burns) is a street thug who wanders the streets with no house (the streets are his "home").

This book is a fictional story, not a true account, but it is so realistic, I began to imagine the characters as real people living out their lives. They way the author presents the story, it is easy to forget that it is not based on true events. This touched me deeply while reading. I realized I have friends, acquaintances, and family members, that remind me so much of Sheldon's Characters; A teenage girl in the story, who is well off and accustomed to going out to parties and having fun with her friends, skips a concert in the park to go listen to her friend sing at a volunteer program in the lower-class side of the city. She tells her friends what she wants to do instead of going to the concert, and they joke with her saying things similar to "you've lost your mind" and "you've got to be kidding, right?" and "gross! that's where all the (gasp) poor people live!" The girl's friends remind me of girls (and boys) outside of the story. I can honestly say that they remind me a little of myself. How many people, after all, would rather go sit through a christian service in the slums of a big city over a quaint evening concert in a picturesque park? The answer in my mind is 'not many'. It is truly inspiring that the girl would make such a personal sacrifice to help support local mission work.

In His Steps is a great book. I know that is a poor description of a book, but I can't think of better words to do so. The third meaning of "great" defined by Dictionary.com (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/great) is as follows: unusual or considerable in degree, power, or intensity. That IS the novel. Great. The intensity and rawness of pure christian love and devotion should hit any reader hard. If someone is looking for a book with so much more to offer than catty drama or fantasy, In His Steps is that book.

Book Review: Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy (236 pages)

2009-10-04T17:53:00.000-07:00

My world is crashing down around me. Rather, I'm about to crash into the world. That's what Cammie, the main character in Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy, thinks when two crazy, unexpected things happen to her that are out of her control. In this sequel, (to I'd Tell You I Love You, but then I'd Have to Kill You) author Ally Carter brings even better mystery and adventure to Gallager Academy than the first book did; I enjoyed this book more than the first and can't wait for the third to be published!

The same characters from the first book are back from winter break, ready for their second semester of sophomore year. Cammie, Bex, Liz, and Macey are all girls who want, so badly, to do well in school. Macey proves this by spending less time on her appearance and more time on her aptitude. Her parents don't believe she can up her grades on her own, and she is determined more than ever to show them not to underestimate a Gallager Girl, even one who takes the eighth-grade level classes because she's not a "genius" like the other spies-to-be. While Macey is busy with her school work, the other three girls are worried about field tests (tests for Covert Operations class). These girls stress out just like girls at a normal school; that makes me feel good, knowing that I'm not the only one worrying about grades. I think the impact the characters (mainly the girls) have on me makes me like the book more. If all the characters were super smart, all the characters super athletic, or all the characters super attractive, I would be less able to relate to them. If they were perfect, they would seem less like people and more like the characters they are, because, like it or not, people aren't perfect.

The setting of this book is at the Gallager Academy, secretly located in Roseville, Virginia, but the students also take a short trip to Washington D.C. towards the beginning of the book for a "class trip" (I would say more, but that's classified information). Several times the girls also take trips to the town of Roseville, and stroll along the streets. A gazebo is mentioned and reminds me of the one in our cemetery that is white and wooden and with stones making up the base. While reading, I pictured the characters from the book having their conversations while sitting in our gazebo, because the description in the book just about matched the look of it.

In my introduction, I mentioned that two crazy and unexpected things happen to the main character, Cammie Morgan. The first is that she "accidentally overhears" one of her teachers Mr. Solomon say to her mother,the headmistress of Gallager Academy, "You don't think they know about Blackthorne, do you?" to which Cammie's mother replies, "No, but if one of them does, they all do." Cammie has no idea what to make of this! She is shocked to know her mother is keeping a secret from her. She is even more shocked when she discovers what the secret is and how she must cope with what or who she finds. I would tell, but if I did, I might just have to kill you.
The other thing that happens to Cammie is seeing the only person she swore she was done with and would not try to contact again--Josh. After an information leak to her boyfriend (now ex)Josh before winter break, he had his memory of Cammie as a spy-girl erased, and she made a promise not to jog his memory. Now he remembers a girl that lied about being home schooled and is really a student at Gallager. He doesn't have to just remember her for long, though, because in the small town of Roseville, going outside means risking the sight of a familiar face. Does she call for backup? Does she need to? Most importantly, the question is: Does she want to?

The theme of Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy is mainly how you can't make assumptions. Any spy should know you should make decisions based on cold, hard evidence--fact. When Cammie and her friends decide to eavesdrop, part of a conversation can be taken many different ways. How can they be sure they are really hearing what they think they are hearing. They can't. I have found this out, many times, the hard way. I connected with Cammie because I had gone through that before (hearing something, telling others, only to find out later what the truth is and to make myself look foolish).

Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy is a page-turner filled with mystery. Ally Carter brings together the best characters from the last book and introduces new, interesting characters into this present one. I recommend this book to young readers or old readers, girl readers or boy readers. Just remember, secrets don't make friends, but friends can help you keep your darkest secrets (just make sure they're not a double agent).

Book Review: The Time Machine (83 pages)

2009-09-30T12:55:00.000-07:00

What is time? Is it the recording of the present and past and the peeking into the future? Is it the aging process of all things? Is it relative to space? Is it changeable or in a constant mold? Can you move about it and through it? These questions come to mind while either A) reading The Time Machine by H.G. Wells or B) having a deep, frustrating moment, pondering things beyond my own understanding. That is part of the reason The Time Machine was such a great read, different from most books I have found.

There were two themes uncovered in this book, in my opinion. The first was to believe in yourself, even when people may not think you can achieve your goals. This first occurred to me when the time traveller was meeting in his study with friends, discussing his miniature model. They kindly joked and remarked on 'the absurdity' of his intentions, but he went along with his plan anyways. The second was curiosity. The saying "curiosity killed the cat" popped into my mind several times as I read. Chapter after chapter was filled with close calls and risks based on the fact that the time traveller was eager to see what lay around the corner. A scientist is supposed to be a skeptical and have a curious mind; I'm positive you could associate the main character as a scientist (based on his character traits).

As I read, I realized the main character is never named; he is just referred to as "the time traveler". Multiple maids, servants, friends, and acquaintances are named, but he is not. I found that strange, but it added mystery to the story, and it mad The Time Machine more interesting to me personally. I think the time traveler can be described as naive, curious, adventuresome, athletic, and humorous. The traits naive and curious can be found any time he sits on the time machine and maneuvers its levers. Adventuresome doesn't describe the time traveler; adventuresome IS the time traveler. The moment he steps off the seat of the machine and into the year 802,701 A.D. he is an adventurer, like it or not. I also call him athletic, because at one point in the story, he runs, on his account, about 2 miles in no more than 10 minutes to escape the coming of darkness. His character is also humorous, because he always is turning his misfortune into a joke about himself, especially when he comes home a wreck and his friends want to know why--he tells them they must wait for him to eat and have a cigar. I probably admire this last trait the most about the time traveller.

The story takes place in England in the mid-1800s. Some things that also went along with the setting was the descriptions of houses as cottage-like and clothing as 'evening' and 'day dress'.
Another thing affected by either the setting of the story or the time the story was written was the dialect. This book wasn't written in a very modern form (by that I mean with modern slang or speech). It made me feel I was in a different world, and that was BEFORE he traveled into the far future. Those descriptions were of scenarios that I had trouble imagining myself in. A place with all rustic ruins and no technology? If that's what the future holds, I don't want to travel very far into it.

In The Time Machine, the time traveler "travels" through time. That's pretty predictable because of the tittle, but what is unpredictable is the order of events as they take place. The story begins in the home of the traveller; his friends/colleagues are over and they are all thoughtfully discussing the concept of time. He tells them that with time, the fourth dimension, people should be able to move around it like they do the other three. His friends only ponder it with him long enough to cross if off their list of possibilities. The next week, he invites them back for dinner, only when they arrive, the time traveler cannot be found. A few moments pass before the time traveler finally stumbles in his front door, looking like he spent a week on Survivor (the game show). His guests are in suspense as he puts off the explanation for his condition until after dinner.

When they are all settled in his lounge, the time traveler tells the small group of men gathered of the creation of a time machine, hand built and home tested. He tells them of his first trip into the future, the amazing sights he saw, and the two very different species that solely inhabit the future earth. He also projects the thought that people can evolve or change and loose the very thing that separates human beings from plain animals. His story may come to an end, and his guests may go home, but is his adventure really over?

The author, H.G. Wells, has a distinct writing style to me; I haven't seen many books like it, but that's because The Time Machine was first published in 1895. The language used is older English than most people are used to hearing, but it essentially will cause the reader to slow down and be more thorough in how they read. I reread parts many times if I didn't feel like I understood the descriptions or dialect. What I could understand and what I enjoyed, was the writer's beautiful way of putting things that were pretty plain. Once, where the author could have said "As I went faster, night and day went by one after the other" he says "As I put on pace, night followed day like the flapping of a black wing". It makes me forget I'm reading a novel and not a poem; his writing as a piece of art.

The Time Machine was not only thought provoking, mysterious, or artistic, it was also deep. The way he compares the futures inhabitants to animals really made me think about the human race and what makes people unique. That in itself can blow people's minds, and H.G. Wells had to throw in a concept as deep as time travel right in on top of it all. W-O-W. One reflection I had was that if time and the surrounding earth could change that much, would people really change that greatly? Would our minds evolve first, or our physical bodies? Have we evolved very much over the past thousands of years?

I could go on forever with questions, as I'm sure any person could after reading The Time Machine. This book is for the scientific thinker or the adventurer; I don't recommend its reading if you don't want to think, ponder, or become curious, just like the time traveler.

Book Review: I'd Tell You I Love You, but then I'd Have to Kill You (288 pages)

2009-09-22T17:39:00.000-07:00

Ally Carter's book, I'd Tell You I Love You, but then I'd Have to Kill You addicted me from start to finish. It was so action packed and the female character was easy to relate to.

The theme of her book was every girl's own struggle--finding herself amidst peer pressure and bullies. The main character isn't even a normal girl! The life lesson illustrated is still the same; be honest and be yourself, even when people don't like it.

The author, Ally Carter, has an infectious writing style. I read this book and feel like I am the main character, because her thoughts put you right into her head. I can also really relate to distinct qualities I found in each character. This puts her style above and beyond most others.

I'd Tell You I Love You... two main characters with four or five important supporting characters. The main, as mentioned, is a fifteen-year-old teenage girl named Cammie Morgan. She's a normal girl, except she happens to be a spy-in-training. What actually makes her real-life is how she states her insecurities openly; it makes a personal connection with the reader. She stated once how, when she was talking to another character, she felt afraid this boy might not find her pretty enough to associate with and she worried if she said too little or too much. It really hit home, and I'm sure other people feel that way too. The other characters are Josh (the male main), Rachel Morgan (Cammie's mom), Bex (her tough best friend), Liz (her smart best friend), Macey (stuck up bully), and more! Not only does Ally Carter give you a down-to-earth main, but the friends and the guy are even like the "kids next door". When Josh says goodbye to Cammie one time, he tells her to "tell Suzie she's a lucky cat", which is obviously a flirting attempt. I know people like that! His personality is real.

This story takes place in Roseville, a small, imaginary town set in Virgina surrounding the Gallager Academy. This all-girls private school resembles a two-sided glass--a mirror on one side, a window on the other. That's because the academy looks like a snobby rich-girl school when it is really a high-tech pre-spy school. Though most of the action in the book happens there, my favorite description is of downtown Roseville's movie theatre, that reminds me of Batesville's own Melba Theater.

The plot begins with the school year--new classes, new skill tests, old friends. The only thing missing is boys. That's probably why Cammie, spy training and all, can't be less prepared for direct conversation with a living, breathing boy while off school campus on a special assignment. What can she do? How much trouble will she be in if she gets caught? That's not the first time she asks herself that question as she follows her heart on the adventure in front of her.

Cammie is a girl with problems, big and small. She worries, like any other teenager does, about school grades, friendships, parents, and acceptence (of the real spy Cammie). This is an excellent book for girls of all ages and guys, if you dare, I'm sure you could actually get into this book. Go Cammie Morgan!

Whirlwind

2009-09-22T11:09:00.000-07:00

I FEEL LIKE MY HEAD IS ABOUT TO EXPLODE. I HAVE NO IDEA HOW ALL THE THINGS GOING ON AT THE SAME TIME CAN POSSIBLY BE SO CRAZY.
just thought i'd share my feelings
<3 peace

10/1/09
I'm begining to see the light at the end of the tunnel...vaugely. Let's hope I make it there.

Chipper People

2009-09-08T12:08:00.001-07:00

I wake up in the morning. First thing is to jump in the shower and throw on some clothes (the actual getting ready takes a little longer, but you get the picture). I feel just fine; no problems, yet. Is there anything that I'm forgetting? Homework done? Bag packed? Lunch money?

As I move down the stairs from my room to the kitchen, I can't think of anything that could be wrong. As I prepare my breakfast of cereal and cold milk, I don't ask myself what mood I'm in. It's fine, or so I think...

The only thing that could happen to rattle me in the morning is to hear my mom's chipper voice as she walks in the kitchen for her morning cup of coffee, "Good Morning, Lauren! Did you sleep okay? How many hours do you think you got? Did your alarm wake you up? Does it still play that song that I like?"

Do the questions EVER STOP? I was fine. But now I feel myself slipping so I mumble "fine" and quickly disappear up into my room to eat in some peace.

Now I must really sound like a jerk, but think to yourself. I am all by myself for a pure hour or more in the morning and all of a sudden I have to share air and conversation with a person who is extremely chatty. How would you feel at that exact moment? I know I need more time to wake up and even though I thought I was fine, I clearly was mistaken.

Hey, my mom's interrogation probably helps me more than hurts. She's like a buffer for all the innocent people at school. She lets me know that I am not ready to walk into hallways filled with other awake people and plunge into a conversation. She allows me to make myself more alert and ready for my day each morning. If I didn't have all that, who knows what mood I'd be in when I walk into school. I would have a completely different persona. Imagine if you will, Lauren the grouch; Not ideal. Trust me, you wouldn't like me very much. I don't even like me like that very much, and I'm controling myself.

Some tips from the original un-morning person, to not let the overly-chipper get you down:

1) Get your sleep! Come on! We are teenagers and need our sleep for growth beauty (at least 8 hours)!

2) Brace yourself for people impact first-thing in the morning (examples: deep cleansing breaths)

3) Instead of thinking about all the bad things you're going to come in contact with throughout your day (like that test 3rd period you didn't study for) think about the possible good (homemade breakfast).

4) Possibly the most important, do not snap at people! If you feel yourself becoming overly annoyed just mumble and run away! One slip-up can be the difference between a party Friday night or babysitting your sister as your parents slowly develop a more extensive social life than you.

It's your choice, but don't let early-morning-chipper-people ruin your happy day. ;)