Summer reading (post four)

Out of all the books that we could have read for summer reading I chose, Looking for Alaska. I chose this book because the cover and title were very intriguing. I kept wondering why they were looking for Alaska and if it was talking about the place or a person. I also noticed smoke on the cover and I wanted to know why it was so important that it had to be on the cover. In the novel they kept talking about how they always want to know what will happen when they do something or when they are making a decision. I can connect to this because sometimes I wonder if I am making the right decision and I want to know what will happen in the long run once I make the decision. I loved this book, and if I were to rate it I would give it five stars. It kept giving a ton of detail and I could really put myself in their spot and think how I would feel if the things that happened to them actually happened to me. I would recommend this book to any teenage girl because it is an emotional book that talks about a girl, Alaska, and situations that she and other characters in the book had to go through that a teenage girl might be able to understand. 

Summer reading (post three)

“If only we could see the endless string of consequences that result from our smallest actions. But we can’t know better until knowing better is useless. And as I walked back to give Takumi’s note to the Colonel, I saw that I would never know.”  This quote was from page 218 of Looking for Alaska. I chose this quote because I think that if someone were to read this quote they would want to read the rest of the book. This quote leaves the reader wondering who Takumi and the Colonel are and who is narrating the quote. It also leaves the cliff hanger of what the note was about. This quote is talking about how Takumi, Pudge, and the Colonel, they are neighbors, have done many things they regret. They just wish they knew what would have happened before the consequence hit. The note referred to above, that Takumi wrote, was about their actions and their consequences. No one can ever or would ever know why the things that happened actually happened. The best that anyone can do is guess why things happened, but no one would ever be positive. I don’t want to give away anymore of the book than this though, the book Looking for Alaska is too good to spoil.

Summer reading (post two)

There are many goals and desires for the main characters in the book Looking for Alaska.  Pudge, for example, wants to date his neighbor, Alaska, but she has a boyfriend whose name is Jake. Alaska always tells the Colonel and Pudge how much she loves Jake and that she always wants to be with him (she never wants to cheat on him). Alaska’s desire is to pull the biggest prank that she can on the president of Culver Creek, the Eagle. The Colonel, Takumi, Pudge, and Alaska all love to break the rules and they always want to get to the bottom of different situations. The only major desire that Lara has is that she just wants to fit in. The theme that is appearing in the book is that you shouldn’t take anything you do for granted.  No matter what happens, keep moving forward. Who knows when something bad will happen, and you can’t prepare for it.  All you can do in that moment is not blame yourself or try to think of what could have been done differently to stop a tragic event from happening. Pudge is the narrator for the entire book and the structure of the book has lots of dialogue between all of the characters. The book also contains lots of descriptions so that you can visualize the book in your head. 

Summer reading (post one)

I am reading the book, Looking for Alaska, by John Green. Culver Creek Preparatory School is the setting of this book, this boarding school okay, not a perfect boarding school but, not terrible.  It has a huge campus, but doesn’t have air conditioning (except for in the classrooms), there are lots of people to become friends with but, the showers are really bad (almost no water comes out of them). The students sleep in cabins fit for two people, and the only way the students can talk to their parents is with a pay phone. In this book, there are many main characters, such as, Miles Halter, Alaska Young, Chip Martin, Takumi, and Lara. Miles Halter got a nickname the first day that he went to boarding school from Chip Martin; Chip Martin is Miles roommate at Culver Creek. The nickname that Chip gave Miles was “Pudge”.  This nickname was ironic since Miles was very skinny. Chip Martin also has a nickname, “The Colonel”. Chip got this nickname the first years he went to boarding school. Alaska is Pudge’s and the Colonel’s neighbor, and Alaska is also the Colonel’s best friend. Lara is one of Alaska’s many friends on campus.  Alaska ends up setting Pudge up with her. Takumi is also one of the Colonel’s and Pudge’s neighbors and he has known the Colonel since he started going to Culver Creek. Pudge is very nervous about going to a boarding school, instead of his school down in Florida, because he doesn’t know if he will make any friends. I predict that later on in the book he will meet his new best friend at Culver Creek. I think that his best friends will end up being Alaska and the Colonel because they all live near each other. I can make a text to self-connection because when I went to camp a few summers ago, we stayed in cabins with no air conditioning just like everyone in Culver Creek.

(3rd tri)The Fault In Our Stars (9)

I just made trailer for the book I am reading The Fault In Our Stars because it is a really good book and I don't know the ending, so I won't give it away in the trailer on accident. If you haven't read this book you need too because it shows that no matter how bad your life is, if you have good people with you then you can get through it. No matter what happens with Hazel and her cancer she always has Augustus right by her side to help her get through it and keep a positive mind. 

 

This quote was said by Augustus and I think that it really shows something about Gus. It shows that he know people will hurt you and it doesn't matter because you can choose if they are people worth being hurt by.

The Fault In Our Stars

(3rd tri) The Fault In Our Stars(8)

I think that John Green is a very good author so I wanted to know what lead him to being such a great author. I found out that John Green graduated from Kenyon College in 2000. He graduated with a major in English and Religious Studies. He was also bullied all the time as a kid and they made his life miserable. He was inspired to write The Fault In Our Stars because after he graduated in 2000, he was working as a student for 5 months in children's hospital. All the working he did in children’s hospital made him realize all the really bad and the life-threatening illnesses that some people have. The kids at the hospital are what caused him to write The Fault In Our Stars, they inspired him because of the lives they had.

(3rd tri) The Fault in Our Stars (7)

In The Fault In Our Stars John Green, the author, uses a lot of dialogue. The use of the dialogue shows the perspective of all the characters. It allows you to see what they are thinking in the situations that they were put in. I also like when authors use dialogue like John Green did because it lets you make connections. The use of wording also lets you choose your path. You can look and think about what you would do in those situations. I think he is a very good author and his sentence structure really helps get characters point across.

(3rd tri) The Fault in our Stars (6)

In this chapter Hazel learns that she doesn't really want to kiss Gus, even know she likes him and has had a crush on him since she first met him in a support group. Earlier in the book Hazel went to a picnic with Gus and he leaned in like he was going to kiss her but just put his hand on her face, but when he did that she tensed up and Gus pulled his hand back. This is when she made her realization.

Then the whole night that is all Hazel could think of, she couldn't sleep because she just wanted to know if she was did the right thing by not kissing him. Hazel ended up calling her best friend Kaitlyn and told her about Gus, Kaitlyn ended up knowing who he was and she liked him too, well she thought he was cute. I didn't get to the end of the chapter yet but, I think that Hazel will want to kiss him and then she will actually end up kissing Gus because she has liked him for a while.

(3rd tri) The fault in our stars(5)

When you hear the word, promise, what do you think? When I hear it I think secret but not in this book.

In Fault in our Stars Gus classifies love as a promise. “But you keep the promise anyway. That’s what love is. Love is keeping the promise anyway.” Then there was a twist, he asked him, “Don’t you believe in love?” He had no idea what to say. He ended up saying she believes in true love.

What would you say?  If someone starts talking to you about promises and suddenly you are being asked if you believe in love. Personally, I don’t know what I would say.

(3rd tri) The Fault in Our Stars (4)

The author, John Green, uses very good diction and syntax in the book The Fault In Our Stars. For example he uses fragments and short sentences to emphasize points and to say something straight forward. Some examples of this are, "Right, of course.", "Saved the kids.", and "Nah, I'm good." Another example is elevated diction, such as, “astonishing" and "catastrophic". He also uses rhetorical questions, one example of a rhetorical question he used is, "Did you seriously forget?"

 

(3rd tri) Locking into the magic of Legos

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/opinion/columnists/krista-ramsey/2014/02/15/krista-locking-into-the-magic-of-legos/5521245/

Lots of things tend to change throughout the years, but kids will always love Legos. One quote from the article that stands out is, "Along, almost invariably, with a bright yellow bag of purchased Lego products. Like sparklers and hugs, Legos are things a child can never have enough of." The quote I picked impacts the reader by showing that kids love for Legos will never grow old. The diction in this excerpt is low/informal diction because most of these words everyone knows. There is also concrete diction in the line, "bright yellow bag of purchased Lego products." The syntax in the excerpt I picked is inverted order because where it says "Legos are things a child can never have enough of." This is inverted order because you could also say; children will never have enough of Legos.

The sentence length of most of  the sentences in Ramsey’s writings are long because they have more than five words, but there are also examples of short sentences such as, "The result" (from the first column), "Keep bothering" (from the second column) and "This is vaguely possible." (from the column I picked). I would ask the author three questions. First, why didn't you use alliteration, similes, or metaphors? Second, why did you decide to start the career in writing and when did your love for writing start? Lastly, what is your favorite topic to write about?

(3rd tri) The Fault In Our Stars(3)

I just started chapter three of The Fault in Our Stars and it is talking about Hazels' half birthday. I think Hazel’s family is different from my family because of all the extra holidays they celebrate. In my house we recognize the holidays like Christopher Columbus Day, our half birthdays, presidents day, etc. In Hazel’s family they really celebrate each holiday. For Hazels half birthday her mom takes her and her friend Kaitlyn to the mall for a special night out and to get gifts for her half birthday.

I think this is cool because it isn’t even her real birthday, but she still gets to celebrate and have a good time. My text to self connection was that Hazels family doesn’t just ignore holidays and basically treat them like regular holidays, like most people including my family. She actually treats them like holidays and celebrates.

(3rd tri) The Fault In Our Stars (2)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Green_(author)


John Green is the author of The Fault In Our Stars and I think he deserved the #1 New York Times Bestseller. He is a very descriptive author, which allows you to visualize everything in the book. This lets me comprehend the story and really understand what is going on. I know what each character looks like based off the word choices of the author.

I also think he deserved Bestsellers because I am only on page 28 but he has already made some twists and turns in the story that I didn't expect. I always want to read this book because of the unexpected decisions. The plot twists he picked are making the book very interesting. It also is not a hard to read book, yes he puts in big words and descriptive words, but it is easy to understand (as I said in the first paragraph). It is a very good book and I can't wait to keep reading it.

(3rd tri) The Fault In Our Stars (1)

I stared a new book because the book I was reading before wasn't that interesting. The book I am reading now is about a girl named Hazel who has lung cancer. Hazel has to go to support groups that her parents make her go to, but she doesn't want to go. She just says she wants to live out her life as full as possible. She actually says this to get out of the support group, but her parents still make her go.

When Hazel got to the support group she saw this guy named Augustus. She had never seen him before, because this was the first time he had gone to the support group for his cancer. He was staring at Hazel the whole time and she had no idea why. I predict that in the next at least ten pages that Augustus will tell Hazel that he likes her. I think this because it seems like they like each other. Hazels keeps saying that he is hot and Augustus keeps making jokes and smiling at her.

 

(3rd tri) This I Believe (1)

This book is a bunch of different short stories but they all lead to the same point. All of the different stories are about the writer’s perspective of life. For example the first short story was about a basic life lesson that most people already know. It was about treating others how you want to be treated, it also talks about not judging a person by what they look like or the job they do.

The first short story that I talked about above (treat others how you want to be treated) was about a pizza man, that was never treated right because people thought that since he was a pizza man that he didn't really need to be respected. The author also mentioned her opinion which was that the pizza man deserves an equal respect as everyone else.