Crank Reflection

I sincerely enjoyed reading the book Crank as my semester reading book.  I really liked the way the author structured the book, and how it wasn't the plain and boring ways that publishers and author's structured their books.  I feel that because it was written that way it was able to add to the overall quality of the book because it showed how unorthodox Bree was with the unorthodox way the book was written.  I personally believe that reading for pleasure is completely different from reading assigned books.  When you are reading for pleasure, you get to read at your own pace.  You don't have to be afraid of falling behind or reading ahead and spoiling it for someone else.  Also, you get to choose your book and read something that interests you and not something that the school board chose for your curriculum.  With the personal reading, I think that there were a few things that I did well.  One of which was that I subconsciously started connecting the books to other books that I had read.  That really helped me understand the book better, because of the weird way that it was written.  Also, because of the work that we have been doing in class, I felt myself also subconsciously figuring out what the theme was as I read, and how it changed and affected the character throughout the book.  I believe that something that I have to work on is identifying literary devices.  That is one of the many problems that I have even when I am told to be looking for them, and not just on my own.  I don't think I have a problem with keeping up however, because I really like the book.  However, when it is assigned I feel that I have trouble keeping up, especially when I do not enjoy the book.

Crank Reflection

Reading Crank was a wild trip. It starts off with a normal girl, quite relatable to any high school girl, unhappy with herself, and wishing she had more attention from guys. Kristina develops relationships that destroy her, and looses relationships with people that could save her. We see the change in Bree's personality and as she changes, we notice how she starts to pull herself away from old life, and dive headfirst inter her new life, maybe a little too deep. Even though I thought my reading experience with Crank was optimal, there are still some things that I want to work on. Finishing the reading on time isn't really an issue for me, but sometimes I finish too fast,  which leads me to forget some of the details of the book, as I've read multiple other books in the course of this assignment.  If anything, I would've chosen a book that was more challenging, or I would've waited longer to read Crank, or not finish it as fast as I did. I think I did a good job identifying the theme and connecting the characters, along with understanding details that depict how the characters evolve. This book peaked m interest because I thought it was a good amount of spooky, mixed with a fair amount of suspense and drama.

Orchards Reflection

I enjoyed reading this book because it was a very interesting, well written, fast read book. Reading for pleasure in my opinion is better than being assigned books. When reading for pleasure, I get to pick my own book based on what I like not on why the entire grade is reading. The only bad thing about reading for pleasure if constantly reminding yourself to read. Sometimes there were nights where I would completely forget to read at all... But while reading this book tracking the character development and identifying the theme came easy to me because the book was such an easy read. I really enjoyed reading this book because it was written in the form of many short poems. I also could relate to the book because it was coming from a teens perspective. Something that I know I would need to work on is to just keep up with the reading in general. As good as the book was and while I was reading it I didn't want to put it down, it was still very hard to keep up with reading this book on the side while reading an assigned book (Catcher In The Rye and Lord of the Flies). Other tun that, this book was overall a good book that I'd recommend to anyone who is a teen because it's very relatable.

Gone Girl Reflection

I greatly enjoyed the book Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn. From the very beginning it was very suspenseful. Within the first couple chapters Amy is gone and it starts to get intense.  Throughout the whole book the suspense keeps up and I kept finding out more and more clues that I never would have seen coming. The ending is surprising and I never would have expected it. In addition to the suspense, this book is written in great detail which makes it easy for me to picture what is going on. The details also amplify the suspense. I also liked the never ending mystery in the book. It kept me on my toes and made me never want to put the book down. Another thing i enjoyed about the book is how it was written from two different views. It was really interesting to me to see the contrast in perspectives and made the book more enthralling. I really enjoyed reading on my own for pleasure compared to reading an assigned book. Reading an assigned book is more forced and if you don't like it you can't really do anything about it. I really liked being able to chose my own book that I thought would be good. I also like how we don't have to take any notes or quotes for pleasure books. That makes it a lot more enjoyable. I believe I did a good job tracking character development. I always made a mental note when a new character would come up so later if they came back again I would remember who they were and what their connection was the the min characters. I also sometimes wrote them down on a piece if paper so I would remember who they were. This would help me predict suspects and solve the mystery. In the future, I need to work on keeping up with my reading better. I tried to read every now and then but it definitely wasn't enough in the end. I ended up cramming it all in a few nights and it did not work out well. I wish I didn't put it off until the end. Next time I will try and pace myself more.

Eleanor and Park Reflection

Eleanor & Park Reflection

Although this book started off pretty slow, I ended up getting really into it and I couldn't put it down. I really enjoyed the book, in fact I cried when I finished it, not because of the ending necessarily, but because it was over and there was no more surprises to look forward to. I generally loved the whole book, from the plot to every aspect of the characters, to the twist ending that I wasn't really expecting. To be honest, this book affected me so much that I actually became interested in reading again. I used to read when I was younger but ever since we were required to read books in school I stopped reading for fun. And now I've started again, I already have a list of books I want to read! Reading this book for my pleasure was much different then reading assigned books from class. Because reading for pleasure makes me want to read and keeps me interested because I pick the book from my favorite genres. However, reading assigned books in class usually bore me and make me hate reading because it feels like it's a chore that I have to do. Occasionally, we do read a book in class that I enjoy, for example, I enjoyed Catcher in the Rye and I enjoyed to Kill a Mockingbird from last year. They both had powerful messages and kept me intrigued until the very end. Additionally, with assigned books to read I try to keep up with the reading and the work that follows, however with an independent reading book, I tend to fall behind or forget to do the work because I get too into my book. And although I didn't finish my book until pretty much the last minute, I do have to say that I did track the character development, I was able to identify the theme, and made connections with other things I've read as well as my personal life and my interests. For example, one reason I believe I was so attached to this book was because I love music, all kinds of music, and this book intertwined music with a beautiful love story. It was truly amazing how they bonded over music and various bands that they loved to listen to, because I knew a lot of the bands they talked about and it just filled me with joy whenever they mentioned their names. And although I loved this book and payed close attention to details, character changes, and the theme, I do believe that I have some things I need to work on. I need to work on keeping up with my reading so I don't finish last minute, and I need to work on being able to identify literary devices because I normally don't even notice them or disregard them while I read. But overall, this was a great reading experience that made me want to read more, especially books written by Rainbow Rowell, who wrote the book I read.

-Giuliana Ponterotto

In the Heart of the Sea final blog

Overall, I did end up enjoying the book In the Heart of the Sea, by Nathaniel Philbrick. Even though I felt that it start off slow with a lot of background information, I still managed to like it and I needed that information to understand the plot. Multiple times I got bored in the middle of this book and wanted to stop reading it, but I am very glad that I didn't because towards the end I really enjoyed it. Part of the reason that I enjoyed this book was because we read it for pleasure, not as a nightly assignment book. This gave me the freedom to stop reading if I got bored and I also never felt pressured that I had to rush through this book. With the personal reading, I think one thing that I did very well was tracking the plot through all of the information that was being thrown at me over the course of the book. Along with this I believe that I also was able to manage my time very well. While I could have easily just waited to finish this book in the last week and cram it, I was motivated to make sure that unlike most assignments, I could finish this with room to breathe. One thing that I realized that I need to work on during this personal reading was tracking character development. I don't know if it was the fact that this book didn't really have true and defined character development for all of the character or if I'm just not good at understanding details that hint at character development. This has always been one of my weaknesses and I hope that by the end of these year I can learn this skill.

In the Heart of the Sea- Reflection

 In the Heart of the Sea
     I did enjoy reading the book In the Heart of the Sea, by Nathaniel Philbrick . The plot of the book was very interesting and kept me going back and continue reading. One part of the book that I didn't expect was the action. I didn't think there would have been as much action as there was and thats what kept me wanting to read more. I also enjoyed the personality of all the characters and how they reacted while on there journey. I really liked this book and would recommend it for others.
     This pleasure reading assignment was much better then assigned reading book because I don't feel like I need to finish at a certain time. I feel that reading a book in class you are forced to read and some night are really just not the night that you want to read. While if I'm reading a pleasure reading book and I don't feel like reading its not a big deal for me and its not something I need to worry about. While reading the assigned books in class I didn't take the time to read my pleasure book but i was able to make up for it on the weekends and after the assigned book was finished.
     I feel that I did really well with keeping up with the reading and not having to cram in the whole book in the weekend before it was do. I didn't really have a schedule of when I should read the book but I had a Idea of where i had to be at certain times to be caught up in the book. One thing I need to work on was Identify the theme. I need to work on that because at some points in the book it did get confusing and I had to figure out what that part meant. Even though I was able to figure it out it would of been easier a and more fluent if I was able to identify the theme.
Lucian Tamburro

Gone Girl Final Reflection

Gone Girl is one of my favorite books that I have read. I love the mystery and suspense that it gave. At first, I thought the book went by too slowly. There wasn't anything exciting happening besides the fact that Amy was gone. It mostly told the story of Nick talking with the police and their investigations. The beginning was also confusing since every chapter was written from either Amy or Nick. It became confusing because the book kept on transitioning from past to present with both of their perspectives on their life. However, later on in the story, the book became very suspenseful. Nick was kept on being accused of being involved in Amy's disappearance and we find out how crazy Amy actually is. The ending is twisted and I never would've guessed what would happen. I personally liked reading a book on my own because I think that I make enough time to do that. I liked that I didn't have to annotate so that I could keep on reading. What I did well was tracking character development. It was easier to do that with this book because the story was being told from two different perspectives so I could compare the both of them. I tried to pace myself, but the book was almost 600 pages which made it more difficult. What I could've done better was reading more earlier on so that I didn't have to cram the week before it was due. 

Crank Reflection

This book was pretty good. The ending was very quick and it seemed rushed. The rest of the book was pretty good. It was written well. I liked how it was written as poetry and I also liked the genre. The book reminded me of several other really good books I have read. I hate reading assigned books because the book is normally not in the genre I like. The books are normally boring and everyone has already read them so you already know what happens. I like picking books because you can talk about with a few people, but no one will go up to you and tell you what will happen. This book was over pretty good. I liked the description and the suspense. It was kind of like Wintergirls and Go Ask Alice. It was kind of creepy in a way, which I also enjoyed. Overall, I would rate it a solid 4.5.

In The Heart of The Sea Reflection

I enjoyed reading In The Heart of The Sea for the most part. I really liked the story line of the book because I love adventure and these kind of lost stories. In my opinion, it didn't have enough action, but I did like the plot. I like reading for pleasure a lot more than assigned books because I feel less pressured to read when I am reading a book, I like to be reading something because I want to, not because I have to. I made many connections reading this book, because to some extent, it is similar to one of my favorite shows, Lost. This helped me picture many of the scenes in the book. Something I need to work on is my time management. I left the book alone for a while and I didn't get to enjoy it as much when I had to rush through it.

In the Heart of the Sea Reflection

I did not enjoy reading In the Heart of the Sea by Thomas Philbrick because the characters didn't develop by the end of the book. Reading for pleasure is different from reading an assigned book because if I don't like the pleasure book, I can stop reading it. I have to read an assigned book because if I don't, I will fail the class. I read the book, and it was very difficult to make connections because I do not like to read sea venturing novels.

A Long Way Gone Reflection

I did enjoy reading A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah. I enjoyed reading this book because it delivered a strong message to the audience about the lives of kids my age in a third world country like Sierra Leone. I liked all the action that was involved and how it kept you at the edge of your seat as I read it. Reading from pleasure is much different than reading an assigned book in many positive and negative ways. A positive way it is different from an assigned book is you can read at your own pace. Also, you din't have to do process journals for your book which can feel more like work than pleasure reading. A negative difference between pleasure reading and assigned reading is that you may not understand the characters as much in pleasure reading. Many of the questions you have about the book are generally not answered in a group in pleasure reading so you have to answer them on your own. However, while I was reading this book I did pay attention to tracking character development. I tracked how Ishmael developed over time has a person. I kept track about his emotional changes throughout his journey and how he matured and slowly started to become a man at the end of the book. I need to work on making connections to texts I have already read as I was having trouble doing so. I just couldn't think of any books that are related to the book I read. Overall, it was a great book and it was fun reading it.

In the Heart of the Sea-Reflection

I did enjoy this book, but more specifically from the middle to the end of the book. The beginning of the book was awful boring. The first couple of chapters were used to give background information on Natucket and on whaling. I found this information not intriguing and somewhat repetitive. When the book got to interesting chapters from the middle to the end of the book, I was hooked. The Essex crew members journey of survival was very interesting.
Choosing a book to read was a lot different from reading an assigned book. I was able to read without stopping, which I normally would've had to do if I was reading an assigned book, due to annotations and such. I enjoyed picking the book too, for it gave me a chance to read something I would be interested in.
When reading, I was able to pay attention to details well. Due to the fact that I didn't have to stop and annotate, I was able to pay attention to details better and understand the flow of the story a lot better as well. There were few if any literary elements in this book, and I did not make any strong connections to the text.
I need to work on tracking character development better. It was hard to track the development in this book because it really isn't written like a normal book in the first few chapters, instead its written more like an informative essay. Once the book actually started to talk about the Essex voyage, I found it hard to keep track of the character's character, for the author jumped from one person to another too quickly.

Butter- Final update

The book butter is a heart warming book about a boy who is over weight and an outsider in his school. With few friends butter is desperate to be the center of attention, or just to be noticed once in his high school. He doesn't do this by reaching out and talking to people or joining more after school activities, but he makes a suicide post on a school blog for everyone to see. Not only that but the post is a threat that he is going to eat himself to death. He asks people to suggest food ideas for his "death menu", which they do in a cruel and mocking way. Butter has also made a fake relationship online with a girl from his school who he really likes, but with all of the lies he told her online compared to who is he is real life, it is almost impossible for him to ever come clean to her and fix all of the damage he has already done. Although the book does have some funny moments, it is for the most part very serious and deep. In the end the reader is left with a partial cliff hanger when Butter has come clean to the girl he likes, re-connected with his true friend, is alive in the hospital, but has barely begun to regain his health and start to lose weight.

Gone Girl Reflection

Gone Girl

I enjoyed my book, for many reasons. First, it was so unpredictable, every move was the opposite of what I thought could happen. And that really made reading it so much more fun from the shock I would get when I flipped the page. Also, it was really interesting and just had a really creative plot and idea to the whole story. Even though we were assigned to read this and finish book, it was still pleasurable. Picking and reading our own choice of books is more pleasurable because we as individuals have an idea of what we enjoy, and when you enjoy something usually its not something to dread or to avoid like which is what sometimes happens with assigned material because it doesn't appeal to everyone. Personally, I think I did well with making connections to real world stories, and tracking the characters. It was kind of confusing at first, but then I started to really understand each character through experiences, so it was really helpful. But, something I need to work on is time management, because even though it was a 593 page book, I still should have been able to finish with plenty of time left over. Though I finished the book, I had to cram the last 100 pages into just 1 week, where if I had started reading x amount of pages per night, I would have been done and less stressed, so that is something I clearly need to work on. 

Reflecting on Just One Day by Gayle Forman

The book, Just One Day by Gayle Forman,  was not my favorite book.  I thought the plot of the book was very predictable and boring.  I guessed everything that was going to happen.  I also found that the main character, Allyson, extremely winey and annoying.  I was reading the book and I was just watching the girl isolate herself.  I thought of so many solutions for this girl, but she didn't do any of them!  She just pouted and isolated herself.  I could not get involved in the book because I found her so annoying.
  Reading this book was a lot different than reading an assigned book for class.  In class in order to understand the book and to be able to go deeper in class discussion, you have to read and annotate the entire book.  For this book, I didn't annotate it at all I just read it.  It was a pretty transparent book so it wasn't difficult to understand, but I didn't go as deep as I could have.  I did a good job at following Allyson's development and depression in the book.  I noticed how when she was with Willem she was very content and happy, but then when he left she was so sad.  Then throughout the rest of the book she was just trying to regain that happiness she once had by trying to find him.  I didn't do a great job at tracking the theme.  The theme I got from the story was that people make themselves happy, others can't do it for them.  This was a decent theme, but it could have been deeper.
 In the next book I read I will be sure to track the theme better.  I will take better annotation notes , and that will help me understand the book better.

The Hobbit

In the novel, The Hobbit the main character Bilbo Baggins so far seems to be a really soft spoken character. He's the type who likes to stay alone and enjoy the quiet of his own home. This is obvious because when everyone begins to come into his house he has a bit of a freakout.
When they tell Bilbo that he's going to be going on this journey with them he is shocked and very frightened. But as the story begins to progress, so does his personality. He's still a shy type of hobbit, but he has more of an edge to him. If Bilbo was back home, he would have been too afraid to go up to those giants and distract them. Although he was scared while it was happening, he still came up with the courage to face some of his fears. A huge catalyst for his change in personality was in the very beginning when all the dwarfs came into his home expecting him to go with them. Bilbo wasn't even going to go, but then a last minute decision shows that he's going to go through  huge change. Not just with the way he lives and the people he's around, but his life in general; along with his personality.
Also, what I've picked up from reading this book, Bilbo seems like he just wants to be accepted by everyone he's going in this adventure with... Bilbo was just some quiet hobbit who lived in the comfort of his home, never expecting any guests; which he was happy with. But now he's on this crazy adventure that he wouldn't have even wanted to dream of.

Thomas Nickerson

In the novel, In the Heart of the Sea, Thomas Nickerson is on a voyage on a vessel called The Essex. He is much younger than all the other crew members, but probably has the biggest heart and love for whaling out of all the crew. When the story began, he was just a young man who grew up on Nantucket dreaming of going on a successful voyage, the farthest anyone had ever gone. He wanted to go the farthest of the coast because he had reason to believe that that was where the whale motherload was. In the book, they are all very tired because they have been killing, on average one whale every five days. It says though, that Thomas Nickerson enjoyed the whole process and had a glimmer in his eye when doing all this. Throughout the book, the hard work of the sea takes a toll on Thomas. The main catalyst for his change to me is when they are killing so many whales and not only does it take a physical toll on him, but also an emotional toll. In the heart of the sea, Thomas Nickerson is changed due to being overworked and it takes a big emotional toll on his personality. He changes from an optimistic young man, to a pessimistic young man.

In the Heart of the Sea response 2

One understanding of the main character, Thomas Nickerson, so far is that he has grown a lot in his time on the ship. When the story began he seemed very nervous to go out to sea and I didn't think that he was ever going to be able to adapt to that life. He had no prior experience at sea, considering that he was a farmer. He is now a changed character because after having been through all of the challenges that they faced on the voyage, those experiences shaped him to become more comfortable on the ship. One key catalyst in this change for Thomas is when he sees the whales being killed. That is a lot to go through for a rookie on a whaling boat, and now that he knew he had overcome that new feeling, he felt like other extreme actions that happen on the boat won't be as shocking and nerve-wracking to him. Another force that acts upon him are the members of his crew and how they push him. Specifically Owen is very hard on the shipmates like Thomas, and his actions really made Thomas learn the rules of being at sea. Along with the amount of time that he spent on the whaling boat, these two forces have teamed up to shape Thomas' bravery at sea.

In the Heart of the Sea

The main character of In the Heart of the Sea is Thomas Nickerson. Thomas Nickerson is a Nactucketuer, who is a fresh recruit for whaling ship the Essex. At the beggining of the book Nickerson is a teenager who is not aware of what life is like on a whaling ship. He initially has an easy life as a farmer on the island but Once Nickerson is out at sea, his view of life changes. The first mate, Owen Chase, is very harsh on the sailors making sure they are doing their jobs. Owen curses at them and punishes them if they aren't doing what they're supposed to do. Nickerson is surprised by Owen's behavior, for he was a gentlemen on the island and so we're all other sailors, but once they came out to sea, everything changed and life was more harsh. Thus, Owen and the sea, are the key catalyst, for the cruelty of both, changed the view of what life was like to Nickerson. Nickerson now realized that he no longer had a laid back life, like he did on Natucket. Nickerson now has to prepare for the harshness of the sea and whaling.

Reading book

The main character in the story 野犬女皇, are group of wild dogs who lived in the mountain.This kind of dogs only have females in their group, every year in their estrus, only the leader of the group can have baby.Each of them can have 6-8 babies, if they have more than that, they can't find enough food for all the babies. After their estrus, male dog will leave, but this year is different.

The leader of this group is named Red Heart.She thinks she love this male dog so much and she does not want him to leave. So here comes a problem. Her sister got pregnant. Her sister is a beautiful female dog just like Red Heart, she named White Peach.Because of wild dogs' rule. Red Heart should driving these two dogs away, but White Peach helped Red Heart when she was sick. So Red Heart just killed male dog. After babies born, they totally got 14 babies. This cause a new problem, they can't find enough food for 14 babies. Also White Peach divide group into two groups. Red Heart and White Peach both hate each other, they scared another will do something bad to their own children and they both want to get enough food.

One day, a hunter comes into their cave, White Peach tries to save all their children so she diverts the hunter. Red Heart hopes she would die but she doesn't want her sister die at same time. So she tried to save White Peach. But White Peach still died. Red Heart decide to take care half of White Peach’s children and half of herself. Those who left with White Peach’s dead body don’t even know what does this mean to them.

Red Heart changed when White Peach diverts the hunter, she thinks they still sister so they should be nice to each other.

Ismael Beah

Throughout the story the main character Ishmael gets braver and braver. At the beginning Ishmael is a shy kid who doesn't know what to do in the war. But over, time Ishmael gets braver as he learns from his surroundings. He does things many people wouldn't dare to do during a time of war. Like how he left the group of people he was with. Ishmael knew that the only way he would survive was if he ventured off into his own direction. This took lots of courage from him as Ishmael was almost leaving his family. He knew he might not see them again. But he took risk and hopefully it will benefit him out in the future. Another major change Ishmael has gone through is he a lot more aggressive. At some points of the book he steals from people. He his so hungry that he steals from a little boy, something he would never do before the war. The war has almost shaped Ishmael into a warrior because he knows it's either him or the person that's he's stealing from. Only one will survive and prevail through this war. 

IN THE HEART OF THE SEA

      In the novel In the Heart of The Sea, The main character Thomas Nickerson was going on his first journey on a whaling ship in Nantucket. He starts off as being a young man that loved to be out on the water. All he wanted to do was be out there for money and fun. But as time went on he faced whole lot more then he expected. From my understanding this is his first time going on a whaling ship. He was expecting to have a good time but from the experiences he faced he would turn into something that he never thought he could be. The key catalyst for Thomas's change was when there ship was attacked by the whale. They were all forced to survive on their own with no resources and live as long as they can even if it took to eat and survive off the people you were close too.

Gone Girl

This week’s question:  What understanding do you have of the main character so far? Who is s/he when the story began?  What changes in character have occurred?  What have been the catalysts for these changes so far?  

The main character in the book, Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn, is Nick Dunne, a former write who moved with his wife, Amy, to Missouri from New York City and started a bar with his sister after being fired from his job. He moves to Missouri to be closer to his parents because they are dying, but Amy hates this decision. She despises their house and everything about Missouri. On the day of their anniversary, Amy disappears. Before they moved and both lost their jobs, they seemed to have a good relationship and we're happy. the very beginning of the story their relationship doesn't seem very pleasant. He says one of them is always angry Nick is the number one suspect.

butter-ending

In the end of  the book Butter, the main charecter, butter ends up in the hospital, with fake identity to a girl who he had a crush on at school revealed. He talked to her online as a normal boy from a private school named "J.P", when he gets attention from his online blog at school, he starts finally talking to the girl in real life, while still lieing to her online when he's at home. He isent doing it to try and hurt her feelings in the end, but he dosent think too much about how he's living a 'double-life.'  He also isent thinking about potential consequences from his actions, mainly because he is planning on eating himself to death. When he is embarresed at a party and his identy to be the girl, Anna's, fake online boyfriend, he is so humiliated by his own actions and howupset he made Anna he goes home and tries to eat himself to death like he posted on his blog. When he wakes up and finds himself in the hospital, he first thinks he is in heaven because of all of the white surrounding him, but he then realises that he's alive and almost wishes he was dead. Eventually he is able to find the hope he needs after leaving the hospital. He had been losing weight when hanging around his fake friends, but he was practically starving himself. He was introduced in the beginning of the book as the schools 'fat kid'. He didn't have any friends and he didn't really seem to mind. But eventually the lack of attention in his life got to him and he acted out by making a blog posting about how he was going to eat himself to death. Then when he started to get noticed by the 'cool kids' he continued with the blog, even though most of the comments on it were really negative, he initally looked at them as positive because they were still some form of attention. By the end of the book Butter transformed into a lonely, and physically and mentally ill person into someone who was able to begin fixing his life. He underwent a major transformation when he lived after attempted suicide.

Sharp Things- Gillian Flynn

Sharp things by Gillian Flynn is one of the most intense, well written books that I've ever read. The main character, Camille, is conflicted with going back to her hometown, Wind Gap, when she is assigned the task of reporting on the murders of two young girls. Camille has had her issues with depression due to her mother's deranged parenting style and her younger sister's death.  When Camille arrives in Wind Gap, she is greeted with loving negligence. Her mother allows Camille to stay at the house with her husband, Alan, and her young daughter Amma. Camille, who has a strong love for drink, starts off with asking questions at the police station about leads and details of the case. However, when people realize that she's "some big shot reporter from Chicago" they immediately put up walls and refuse to even mention the murders. Camille eventually lets people warm up to her, and she even forms a relationship with none of the detectives. She questions nearly every one in the town, and when she finally realizes that her sister's death is connected with the other two girls, she realizes that the only connection between them is someone very close to Camille.

Character Change

Ishmael has changed over time as the war and traveling starts to reach him internally.  Early on he started as an innocent teen to most now to being isolated and feared greatly by all villages he goes through.  His most obvious change is whren he talks of how many times he's escaped death.  He becomes fearful that the next ti,e he won't be lucky.  He feels every time he has a near death experience he believes he's slowly diening.  Every time something like that happens a small part is taken away, sooner or later it'll be his last bit he has left.  What enhances this belief is that physcally, he's very week.  When alone in the jungle he isn't able to climb away from the hogs and has trouble finding food.  Even his only food source,  he thinks it is poisinous to eat.  This shows how he doesn't care about what will happen because he knows death is around the corner anyway.  His depressing feeling and lack of motivation cause him to become a totally different person then the teen that loved rap and being a kid.

Eleanor and Park Character Development so far

This week’s question:  What understanding do you have of the main character so far? Who is s/he when the story began?  What changes in character have occurred?  What have been the catalysts for these changes so far? 

So far, both Eleanor and Park are pretty misunderstood and judged by those around them. They haven't changed much since the beginning as of now, but I believe their relationship is developing. They both feel awkward sitting next to each other on the bus considering they don't know each other very well, but Eleanor has started to not completely hate Park as she did in the beginning, for example she said that she liked his shoes and that they were cool, although she never told him that. Also, in their english class, they are required to pick out a poem and memorize it and the teacher pointed something out that really stood out to me because I could relate it back to the two characters. Their teacher, Mr. Stessman, tells them to pick a poem that speaks to them, to pick a poem thar will help them speak to someone else, which stood out to me because I thought that both Eleanor and Park should pick a poem that will help them speak to each other, and they might. I know that the two bond over music and that poems are like music without a tune, so maybe the first thing they will bond over is the poem they pick for Mr. Stessman's class. So far, Park still thinks Eleanor is weird, however, he admits that it's rude not to talk to her when they sit next to each other on the bus, he also has changed a little since the beginning because he feels sorry for her. He felt sorry for her in the beginning because he let her sit with him, but he hated her, and now he is beginning to feel sympathy towards her considering she has to deal with Tina and her mean friends and Park had to deal with them before, but now they are too preoccupied with Eleanor to make fun of Park, which in a way makes him feel bad. So I believe the main catalysts for these changes were the constant bullying from Tina and the way Mr. Stessman always calls on Eleanor in class in a way making fun of her as well.

Just One Day Character Change

The main character in the story, Just One Day by Gayle Forman, is a girl named Allyson and sometimes nicknamed Lulu.  Initially Allyson was a rule following good girl, but then she meets this guy named Willem and he invites her to just hop on a train and go with him to Paris.  She agrees to go which was one of he major changes.  She knows she was not allowed to go and it was probably very dangerous but she still goes.  While she is there, she tells Willem her name is Lulu.  She actually changes her name.  She is becoming a new person.  Then while she is there she puts all of her trust into Willem and wants to protect him.  It shows that in a way she loves him.  When these two guys were getting in a fight with Willem in French, so Allyson can not understand them, Allyson gets worried and throws a book at the guys head.  The guy grabs Allyson and cuts her neck.  It's not a bad cut it's just enough that she is bleeding and Willem gets mad at her for trying to protect him.  She is so upset that he doesn't appreciate her protecting him.  Allyson becomes very vulnerable and acts without thinking.  She then sleeps with him and the he just gets up and leaves.  Allyson is so sad and so hurt.  It really shows you how much she changed and how hard she fell for this guy.  It also taught her not to be adventurous, which is what she should be.  Allyson goes into a some what depression and just keeps to herself.  She refuses to communicate with really anyone.  She pretends that her phone died so she won't have to answer her parents calls, she won't talk to her roommates.  Going to Paris with Willem and becoming vulnerable was the whole reason Allyson changed and then changed back.

Crank - Teddy Greenspon

I believe that I have a deep understanding of my character so far.  I feel that I am far enough in the book that I understand how Bree works and how she thinks.  I think that before she got hooked on crank she was a good girl who really didn't do anything bad that her parents didn't want.  However, when she did shake hands with the monster she became a completely different person.  She went from being someone who was shy and controlled in her daily life, to being a thrill seeker who will do anything for a high, whether it be adrenaline or drugs.  I think that the main catalyst for this change was when she met Adam and first started dating him.  She really continued to be her Mother's girl even when she was living with her father.  However, when she met Adam she really went downhill from the transition from Kristina to Brea.  She was clean and had a good life, and then she went and ruined it by smoking with him and starting to take crack with him.  She went from being a shy creative person to someone who was way more outgoing and put herself out there, even when it wasn't the best thing to do.  I believe that another main catalyst was when she left to go back home and got the letter from Adam telling them to see other people even though they loved each other.  That really got on her nerves and she got really sad and depressed and cried in her room for days.  I feel that that was when she started another transition from going from Brea, to more of a combination of Kristina and Bree.  She listened to her parents more and didn't take drugs, but she was still outgoing and dated other people more, and really put herself out there more than she did when she was Kristina, but less than she did when she was Brea.  This is my understanding of the Brea/Kristina so far.

Update on Semester Reading

At this point, some of you have finished several books while others have finished a few chapters.  It's time to step up the reading, as you will need to be finished reading your book on December 16th.  In light of that, we will be reading today and tomorrow and one day a week up until the Holiday Break in December.  Each week, you will also have a blog post to think about what is happening in your novel to help you prepare for the final assignment.  

This week’s question:  What understanding do you have of the main character so far?  Who is s/he when the story began?  What changes in character have occurred?  What have been the catalysts for these changes so far? 

Moving forward, your blog posts will be assessed using the following rubric:

95+	85+	75+	65+	55+
·       Insightful and perceptive response addresses the question ·       Examples and details from the text strongly support purpose ·       Language is highly effective and has an engaging tone ·       No errors are present in grammar, usage or mechanics	·       Completely addresses the question ·       Examples and details from the text fully support purpose ·       Language is effective and has an appropriate tone ·       Minor errors in SWE don’t distract the reader	·     Broad and generalized response to the question ·     Some examples and/or details may be used or may be superficially related to purpose ·     Language is inconsistent in its effectiveness ·     Errors are present and may obscure meaning	·     Vague response or oversimplified response to the question ·     Limited to no examples or details used  or are disconnected from purpose ·     Language is mostly ineffective ·     Errors obscure meaning	·     Response does not answer the question ·     No examples or details are used in response ·     Errors prevent the communication of ideas ·     Grammatical errors prohibit communication of ideas

Hounded chapters 1 to 14

Hounded by Kevin Hearne stats out with Angus O'Sullivan, a 2,100 druid manning his potion shop when the book inserts action immediately when three monsters attack him. As the god of death takes their bodies she tells him that the God of love Aenghus O'g is hunting him down to take back Angus's sword Fragarach which he stole from Aengus long ago. He meets with flidas the god of the hunt, Leif Helgarson a vampire viking, Hal Hauk an Icelandic werewolf, and the Morrigan god of death to find Aengus before he finds him. Angus must also cover for his dog Oberon, who is wanted for mauling a park ranger in a hunt gone wrong. The tension is build as more and more threats are coming from Aengus and his minions. I am anxious to see how a 21 century old Celt would fare against the god of love.

Crank

I have read about 150 pages through Crank and I am enjoying it thoroughly so far.  Though it is written in a weird way, I really like the way that the author articulates her ideas and makes it so that everything is easy to understand although its written in a weird way.  I think that Bree/Kristina really embodies what the book is about.  She is two different people combined into one, one with almost zero inhibitions, while the other is very guarded and would never do something as reckless as sleep with Adam or walk with the monster.  As the story changes to her living with her father however, Kristina is almost non existent and Bree is the only one who exists in that world.  And as she experiments more and more with meth, the monster, and Adam she becomes even more free and morphs into someone who isn't a good girl from a small town suburb anymore.

In the Heart of the Sea

The story the Heart of the Sea, by Nathaniel Philbrick is a book that starts off very slow in my mind, but I still remain optimistic as I venture farther into the novel. The 3 main characters in the book sofa are George Pollard, Thomas Nickerson and Owen Chase. Right now where I am at, the 3 characters, who are all from Nantucket, are preparing to go on a whaling boat called The Essex in the year 1819. This is Thomas Nickerson's 1st time aboard a whaling ship, but he has in fact prepared himself for it. I do not know much about their voyage yet, but as the plot builds up I will gain more knowledge. From the author's writing style, I have noticed that the book is told from the narrators point of view.

Gone girl

In the the book, Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn, the main characters are Nick and Amy Dunne, a couple who lives in Missouri after relocating from New York. He was a journalist but lost his job. Amy was also fired from her job. In the beginning there is not much action, but it starts by Nick talking about Amy's head which is strange. Their relationship is very interesting and difficult. He questions what she s thinking which is also interesting. He asks many different questions about what she is thinking and also explains their relationship. They do not have a usual relationship.  In Missouri, Amy is not happy. She wants to rent a house so they can move, but they love each other very much so she is willing to make sacrifices for him. It also explains how they met. They seemed very happy then together and very in love. Despite this, their marriage is going through tough times at this point in the book.

Connor Walden
Four Update

   So far I like the book Four by Veronica Roth. As of now, I am on page 40, and there are already apparent conflicts between characters, especially between Four and his father Marcus. Just recently in the story, Four has defied his father and all that he strived to make his son like by choosing Dauntless and leaving him. This decision seemed to be very arbitrary, and it makes it seem like he is doing it just to hurt his father in a way. So far, I like the way the story flows, and since I have read the books that are sequels to this, I understand fully what is happening and I can relate what goes on to how it eventually plays out in the other books.

Gone Girl

I like the book Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn so far. The two characters that are introduced in the beginning are Nick and Amy who are a couple. The book itself started out strangely because it was Nick describing his Amy's head. He ponders about her and how she is feeling. This seems like an odd relationship between the two because people don't usually ask these questions or wonder what's in each other's minds.  Nick was a New York writer for a magazine, but both Amy and Nick were fired from their job. They just bought a house in Mississippi which Amy is not happy about and rather wants to rent so they can move whenever. However, we can see that she loves him enough to make this drastic change. The reason that they moved was because Nick's parents are dying, but he did not take in any of Amy's opinions on the move. I think that their relationship worsened after they moved because they're both going through a tough time since Nick is losing his parents, they used to live in New York, and they lost their jobs. The next chapter talks about how Amy met Nick on January 8, 2005. She says how happy she was when she met a boy at her friend Carmen's party. We can tell how important that day was because they ended up moving together into a new home in Missouri.

A Long Way Gone

I think the book as been really good so far up to chapter 3. It already as alot of action even though it's only the firdt 3 chapter. The main character in this story is Ismael Beah. Other main charcters in the story are Ishmael's parents, his brothers, and his grandmother. The story is about Ismael and his struggle in Sierre Leone during the 90's. It is a very violent time and Ishmael and his family is struggling to survive. Rebels have taken over many of the villages in the country and are creating a violent revolution. The story is formated as it is told in Ishmael's perspective and is a biography of him.

Eleanor & Park

Eleanor & Park is a nice story so far. Currently, in chapter 4, their relationship hasn't progressed much. Park is trying to deal with her and even though he secretly likes her and how she's different, he's considering ditching her because everyone hates her and he is being influenced by society. Except for some reason, he isn't able to move seats on the bus, this is because he felt bad for her and he knew that his family would smack him around if he told them what he had done. Park is ashamed of his good deed of letting her sit next to him because he knew it was a mistake considering everyone hates her, except he just felt too bad. Eleanor ends up being in a lot of Park's classes and I found out a lot about Eleanor and her family who doesn't seem to care much about her. In conclusion, both characters are very different yet very similar, and have yet to bond over music and understand each other. I am excited to read more about the two.

Chapter One "In the Heart of the Sea"-Andrew Cronin

So far "In the Heart of the Sea" by Nathaniel Philbrick is a decent book. The characters mentioned so far are Owen Chase, George Pollard Jr. and Thomas Nickerson, who are all apart of the same crew on the Essex, a whaling ship. Thomas seems to be the main main character, for the first chapter starts off with the narrator talking about him seeing the Essex for the first time as a child, then being apart of the ship's crew years later. The book is in third person. The author talks about the characters and their experiences. I think that this book will only get better, for it started off slow only because the author had to introduce the characters.

Family- Micol Ostow

Family is about a girls who is recruited into the family if Charles Manson. She is taken off the streets, and because she comes from a troubled background, she falls quickly into the arms of the welcoming "family". This new family welcomes her, and while she is wrapped in the loving arms of caring people, she falls easily to their wicked ways, while she is completely oblivious to the things that they do.

The Heart of the Sea 1st Chapter Response

What do you think of the book sofar?
Sofar, I think that the book is alright, but I am still optimistic about it because I am excited for the climax. 

Who are the main characters?
The main characters sofar are Thomas Nickerson, George Pollard Jr. and Owen Chase. Owen chase is the first mate and George pollard is the captain.

What is the plot?
The three characters boat, the Essex, was Nickerson's first ship and he had been preparing for a long time for his first journey at sea.

How does the writer structure the paragraphs?
The author made the paragraph be from the narrators point of view, and solar we don't really have a good understanding of the characters at this point, but that will change.

In the Heart the sea

        The book In the Heart of the Sea, by Nathaniel Philbrick  is a very good book and i am enjoying only a couple chapters in. The three main characters Thomas Nickerson, George Pollard, JR. and Owen Chase are on a whaling boat in July of 1819. There ship was one of 70 Nantucket ships that sailed out to go whaling. They had one of the oldest and smallest ships out out of the fleet, but she was known by everyone as a very lucky ship George Pollard JR. was in his first year taking over the boat and Owen became his first hand. This was Thomas Nickerson's first time going on a whaling ship but he has worked had in preparing for his first time out.  While people are home Nantucket is becoming a rich town and Whale oil prices are going up. The structure of the book is from the narrators point of veiw.

Crank

So far, a lot has happened in Crank. The main character, Kristina or Bree, has lived without her father for a while. In her eyes, he was her hero and knight in shining armor, but as it turns out, he was addicted to crank. Kristina has gotten herself into some sticky situations while visiting her father. She meets a boy and starts to go on the wrong path of crank. I can't wait to see how her decisions pan out.

 I am reading the book Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell. The book takes place in the beginning of the school year in 1986 for 2 high school students. Eleanor is new at her school and is bullied by other people. She is not thin and has big red hair. She has family problems cause her mother is newly married to an abusive man who doesn't try to support the Eleanor, her little siblings and her mother. Park is an awkward, kinda short, yet attractive kid. He was nice to Eleanor on the bus by letting her sit next to him on the bus. She thinks she has beautiful brown eyes. I predict that these two will actually begin to like each other and end up having a lot in common.

The main character of the book so far is Ishmael.  Ishmael has travled with a couple of friends to promote their talent through a show.  While away he finds his hometown has been raided and then deserted by the people.  He is devestated and determined to survive past the constant fighting and tries to avoid becoming part of the problem.  Ishmael is a very good person and has a lot of courage even to still be alive.  He realizes he won't see his family anytime soon so he realizes the best he can do is keep him and his friends together.   He describes the events as surreal as he couldn't believe the civil war actually hurt and effected his and his family's life.

I'm reading In the Heart of the Sea, by Nathaniel Philbrick, and I think that it has very good potential. At the moment, it is not very interesting, only because they are just setting up the story, but I feel like it will eventually get very interesting. Once there is some action, I think it will be very interesting. The main characters are Thomas Nickerson, George Pollard Jr., and Owen Chase. Thomas Nickerson seems to be the main character of the overall book so far. The plot so far is that these 14 to 18 year old kids who are from Nantucket. They are getting ready to go on a whaling voyage on this very old and small book called The Essex. I have noticed that the book is told from the Narrator's point of view. The structure seems to be from the future when they come back from this long voyage. It is telling an old story. I really like this book and it is going to be a great read.

The Heart of the Sea Reading

 The Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick is about the dangerous adventures of the ship, the Essex.   i like the book so far because the story is about ships and i find that interesting. The main characters introduced in the book so far are Thomas Nickerson, Owen Chase, and Captain Pollard. i believe that the characters are poorly developed and they could have been changed to make the story even more interesting. The crew of the Essex are about to go on the voyage for the whales and it is going to be a rough trip for them. The book is written from the narrators view about what the crew is doing.

Gone Girl (So Far)

So far in Gone Girl, I have seen the differences between Amy and Nick, and their conflicts between personalities. Beacause of these conflicts, it foreshadows their future even though this book is written as looking at the past. After Nick forces Amy to move to his hometown, she still loves him and accepts it even though she doesn't want to. That just shows what kind of person Amy is, and how she would do anything for Nick. Nick has a strong connection and relationship with his twin sister, Margo (reffered to as 'Go') who stuggles to be the alpha female in Nick's life. It shows how Nick values both women by spending time with them both, but it also shows he would let someone take precedent over Amy.

So far in the book Butter, Butter is about to go through with his plan to eat himself to death but this girl that he likes knows that he created a fake profile online to talk to her. She is waiting for the boy who she talked to online but she finds out that he isent coming and the boy "JP" from online is really Butter. The girl Anna is very disturbed and embarrased when she finds this out. Butter plays the song on his sax that "JP" wrote for Anna but really Butter wrote it for her. She had showed her friend the song and when Butter plays it in front of everyone at the party Anna and her friend realise who the real Jp is. They are both very upset by this, and Butter almost regrets playing her the song. This is where I left off in the book.

Update on Just One Day

Just One Day is a good book so far.  It is about two girls, Melanie and Lulu (who's real name is Allyson), who meet this boy named Willem.  Willem is a free spirit who travels around Europe just being him.  When he meet Mel and Lulu he has a connection with Lulu.  Lulu is the type of girl who always plays by the rules and never does anything wrong.  He asks her to leave the tour she is on and come to Paris with him.  She does and Mel, the wild crazy one, covers for her.  Lulu is worried that she is alone traveling to Paris with this boy she just met and she is always worried he is going to leave.  The book is very intriguing at this point.

Crank

I chose the book Crank by Ellen Hopkins for multiple reasons. One reason why is I love how it is written. This style is appealing to me because of the emotional that is able to be conveyed. I also chose this book because it reminds me of a good book I read called Wintergirls. A third reason why is because the situation in this book can happen in real life.

A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah

I chose this book because the cover and the inside cover of the book looked interesting to me. It looks like an interesting non-fiction story and I enjoy reading non-fiction. I hope I gain knowledge from this book about the Africa region I haven't had before.

In the Heart of theSea

I chose this book because it sounded very interesting and the plot sounded very suspenseful. Normally I don't read many books like these and I though it would be cool to try out a different genre of reading.