Reading Over the Semester

Most difficult to least difficult reads: In Defense of Food, LOTF, The Throne of Fire, Nation, Insurgent, Divergent, The Power of Six, The Rise of Nine, The Serpent's Shadow, Cherub: 1, Cherub: 2, All of my own selected reading was pretty much on the same playing field so after about the first four they are kind of the same.

        I think I have done a pretty good job reading this year. I have always liked to read, but when annotating is brought up I think of "Blehhh". I love to read adventure books and other action-filled stories. These are normally the ones that I choose to read and I enjoy them a lot. I think one of my weaknesses is that I'm not very open-minde about reading (In Defense of Food strengthened that trait of mine). I like to read a whole series and then when it's over I'm sad and have to find a new one. I don't like nonfiction that much unless it's about sports and I read very slowly when I have to annotate. This is kind of what I learned about myself as reader this semester.
       I think that I should set a goal of finding a book that is not in a series that I enjoy. This might help me be more open-minded in what I select and maybe not so much of a "series reader". I also need to do a better job of tracking my specific reading times for these blogs. I normally have my overall time for the week and then I split it up logically over a few days on my blog. This is not a good habit and I will try to break it next semester. I will also try to find a nonfiction book that I like. This will help me broaden my horizons and might open up a whole new area of reading that I have never explored. Hopefully I can accomplish these goals.
       
Reading Times:
LOTF 12/7  1 hr.    12/9  35 mins    
The Kill Order by: James Dashner      12/8  1hr. 10 mins

Power through Chapter 11

        Chapter 11 was a huge chapter as far as my reading focus goes. There were some big power shifts and the conch breaking made me very sad. So, in chapter eleven, Ralph's "reign", if you would, comes to an end when he is the only one left on his side. Piggy is dead. He had been loyal to Ralph and always sided with him even if it took a while and now that whole relationship is out of the picture. Ralph is now literally up against the whole island who now basically wants to kill him since it is ruled by Jack. Ralph knows how it will be when Jack, "Hurled [hurls] his spear at Ralph. The point tore the skin and flesh over Ralph's ribs." (181). This is when he figures out that the power struggle between himself and Jack has become a battle to the death. This struggle had been going on throughout the story, but is focused right here.
        Another obvious thing that happened in chapter eleven related to power was that the conch is destroyed. This has been the number one item in this story and it had everything to do with Ralph's power as chief. The conch gave him his power as the leader and now that it has, "exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist." (181) I would say that Ralph's time as chief is up. This was a huge symbolic item and now that it is gone Jack has total control of the island with the savages. Power was fully given to Jack in this chapter and everyone, including Sam and Eric, are now part of his group. Jack has taken over. Everyone must die.

Reading Times

LOTF- 11/29  35 mins    12/3   40 mins      The Kill Order by: James Dashner  12/3    1 hr. 25 mins

Reading Times

Kill Order     By: James Dashner     97 pgs.    1 hr. 25 mins.     LOTF    1 hr. 30 mins.  

POWER: The Conch Rules the Day

       Oh boy, I think that these boys should give me the conch by the way that They've been talking, especially in chapter 5. They are crazy! Power has definitely been a huge part of this book so far and I think that it will continue and possibly escalade as we dive deeper into the story. Through the first four chapters I have spotted many times where the conch has ruled all. This shell gives the people who have it rights, and therefore it has lots of power. The conch has been quoted as having "reverence" amongst the group and even between Ralph and Jack. If the conch wasn't there there would really be no way to keep everyone in line and this would be an even worse train wreck than it already is. The conch has been a recurring theme of power through the first couple chapters, but in chapter 5 the conch's pink color has faded and I think that this could be a sign of a possible power shift or even something grimmer.
       Two other things involved in power have obviously been Ralph, as chief, and Jack. Ralph has the given power by being the chief, but it appears that he is a little bit overcome by it, and is trying to be as fair as possible. The power that he has has really showed up in two, maybe three places. One was at the beginning of the story when he finds the conch and brings everyone out of hiding and calls the first meeting. He is elected chief and he is given a new kind of power. Another spot is after Jack goes hunting and lets the fire go out and he gives an order and then expects it to be followed. He also shows his power by taking charge of the meeting that they just had. I didn't really get to Jack, but he shows his power through his hunting and toughness. He also rebels against Ralph having all the power in some ways and really wants to rule the whole group. He feels like he should have this power because he leads the choir and is very cocky.

Midterm

       I am suddenly beginning to get very stressed over the midterm exam in this class(and all the others). I find myself not having time to really digest the book as we haven't talked about it in class except for one day. This concerns me greatly and then a paper about a different topic basically on our own is also concerning. So back to the midterm, I think I have grasped most of the things that we have done, and feel that I will be prepared for these. Like I said before, I still think that the book and the literary analyses could definitely be a big question mark for me since we are doing them at the same time.
       I think I have a pretty good grasp on the things that we did in first quarter even though I don't really know how there could be questions on literacy narratives. Short stories seem like a place where a lot of the points will come from along with our knowledge of Lord of the Flies. I think that literary analyses could be difficult in a test format and am very worried about the prospect of an English exam. They always scare me. I hope that we have a good review and possibly an in depth look at what we do and don't need to know for the test. I just don't really know with this one.

Island Activity + reading times

The Kill Order         11/10   1hr 33mins               LOTF ch.1   1hr  10 mins
by: James Dashner               99 pgs.                     11/11     30 pgs.

       I wasn't there on monday so I guess I can't really reflect on the activity that we did. I got to class right at the end and I got the gist though, so I guess I'll talk about that. Our class was pretty organized in our discussion. I can see how that could've become a yelling match between people, but I thought it looked like they had it under control. Lily-Catherine and some others thought that we should eat the first graders that were on the island with us. This is definitely an interesting technique and it might actually have to come to that if you're starving on an island I guess.
      These ideas are basically what I got from my five minutes in class so here's my thoughts on it. I probably would've taken charge since I normally do that and I would have sent the people that I had to do different jobs to help get some basic needs like food, water, and shelter. Once we established these resources I would have attempted to find rescue. This would involve signal fires to try and attract a plane or boat and maybe trying to salvage a radio or other communication from the crashed plane.                    

Reading Response

"The Catbird Seat" 10/30  15 mins 5 pgs.     "Sucker" 11/1-11/2   25 mins 15 pgs.  
Lorien Legacies By: Pittacus Lore    11/4   1 hr. 56 mins   113 pgs.

        I finished the Lorien Legacies today, and it had a great ending. The garde members all united and even though they didn't defeat their arch enemy, Setrákus Ra, they finally joined together and I'm sure that they will get him in the next book in the series. I thought that this was a great installment in the series and it answered a lot of the questions that I had asked myself after reading the first two stories. I know that Lore will come with an equally, and probably more exciting series finale and I am really looking forward to it.
        Something that I found very interesting in this book is that it was constantly switching narrators, which is something that I've noticed in other books that I have read lately. This really gives the story an interesting point of view in that it is constantly switching. This became even more intense in the battle scenes and when all of the garde finally came together. There would be like a paragraph form this guy and then another one from another one. This gives the story the feeling of a first person story, but it also gives you all the knowledge that you would get from a third person omniscient narrator. This is a very interesting dynamic that helps to give you multiple story lines at once and tell the story in a different way.

Free Post

       So, this year I was a part of the football team. It was great going to all of the varsity games and even getting in on occasion, but the real highlight of this season was the JV games. They were so much fun. It was like middle school football all over again and I loved it. I practically never came out of the games and we had a very successful year. It was pretty much the same team that we had as seventh graders with the addition of guys like Kydris, TJ, and Rashaad who were new to school this year. I had a fantastic time.
       The best part about JV is that it lacks all of the pressure of varsity games while still feeling like a real football game. You just get to go out there and play. Obviously you hope to come out on top in the end though, and this JV team won quite often. We posted a 6-2 record which is the best JV record ever at EHS. We lost to U-High in a heated battle that came down to the last play and also to Redemptorist who basically played their varsity team. TJ, William, and Kydris led the way to most of these victories on offense and the defense was stout all year. I can't forget about all of Noah Ponjuan's announcements either. I always laughed so hard when he went up there and I will miss them until JV baseball season, which I will also be a part of.

Reading Times 10/29

I forgot to put these on my other post so here they are for this week.

"Hills Like White Elephants": 45 mins. 10/24    "Dracula's Guest": 50 mins. 10/26    

Lorien Legacies: 1 hr 30 mins 10/28 

Short Stories

        On my own I read "The Sniper", "Hills Like White Elephants", and "Dracula's Guest". I found the second two stories a little bit hard to follow. "Hills Like White Elephants"had me thoroughly confused as to what was actually happening. It is apparently very hard to write a story through basically a rambling conversation about life. I did find some points that could make up a meaningful thesis, but I would probably need to understand the story a lot better in order to make it worth any thought. "Dracula's Guest" was a good story and characterization and setting could make for a great paper. I am leaning towards this idea.
        Of course my favorite story, "The Sniper", didn't have any great things working in it and was really just a heart-breaking, action-filled scene that speaks to why civil wars are the worst thing that can happen to a country. It made me feel sick when the main character turned over the body of his prey and saw his brother. I can't imagine it. Overall, I think I read three viable options for my thesis that will all have to be looked into in more detail before I really begin crafting the thesis.

Reading Times

Lorien Legacies  2 hrs   121 pgs.       Free Short Story+annotations    30 mins.

"To Build A Fire"

         In "To Build A Fire", by Jack London, the man's travels and his ultimate death are pretty much all a result of his stubbornness and cool calculations (that were wrong). London uses great characterization throughout the story and even comes straight out and tells you when he says, "The trouble with him was that he was without imagination. He was quick and alert in the things of life, and not in the significances." He goes on to explain how he doesn't care how cold it is and this is the main reason that he dies in the end.
        He thought that he could make it to the camp even though it was nearly 80 degrees below because he was ignorant and very, very stubborn. I also think that London uses good characterization when talking about the dog versus the man. He shows a theme through description of the dog and man of instinct against the man's stubbornness. Characterization is a major part of this story




Short Stories:   1 hr. 30 mins.

Lorien Legacies: 1 hr.     63 pgs.  

First Quarter Review

         I think that as a class we have done pretty well with coming to class prepared and following procedures. We could probably do better at not packing up early (especially me). It's hard to prevent yourself from just going when it's getting near the end of class. I think that i have also done a pretty good job of bringing my materials even though I forgot my free reading book a couple of days. I think I payed attention most days and took good notes as well. Every once in a while you're just out of it and that's really the only time that I slipped a little bit in class.
        As far as group work goes I think that I did a pretty good job. I stayed on topic and normally didn't allow my classmates to lead the group down the wrong discussion path. I have liked the group work so far this quarter and think that it was definitely beneficial to the class topic. Something that I should probably improve on in group work is taking the conversation deeper than just the assignment and make it more meaningful. I don't really have any suggestions for the class. It's about as good as an english class can be.

Reading Log

10/5   60 mins     10/7   1 hr 30 mins     10/8   30 mins             200 pgs.

Writing

        I am a writer who struggles with coming up with topics. I get writer's block a lot and unless a prompt is very specific I can't come up with a good topic. I wrote about this in my literacy narrative, but it is still true. This is probably my biggest weakness. I just can't get started. I think I have improved on this over the years though and now it isn't that big of a deal.
       I am a writer who describes things well. I have always found that I am very descriptive in my writing. I love to use similes and metaphors to show things. I liked the literacy narrative because description was a major component in our scenes. I always look for ways to make my writing more realistic and real. I think that this is definitely one of my strengths when it comes to writing.    

Reading Response

9/28  45 mins.   9/29   60 mins.   9/30    60 mins.        180 pgs.


        I continued reading The Serpent's Shadow this week and I thought that it had a very clear plot structure. I am literally on the last twenty pages and the story has really taken shape. It started out in the middle of an action scene, but calmed down after that and began the opening by filling in details as you went. It was a little bit like the short story that we read in that the rising action was pretty long, but it was also different because the falling action was full of much more excitement.
        I thought that Rick Riordan had a great structure and it made the story that much better. There was a great climax which really put everything in motion and led to the huge battle scene that was the major part of the falling action. Being a novel, there were many more subplots and other things going on that added another wrinkle to the structure. I am expecting a good resolution because this is the end of a series and Riordan has to tie up all the loose ends of the story. I think that the plot structure definitely worked well in this book.

Reading Response

9/20  60 min      9/23 45 min + 1 hour of lit narrative work      130 pgs.


          I continued The Serpent's Shadow this week and I think that is going well so far. I have nearly reached the climactic doomsday battle and I'm sure that that's to be exciting. This week though I have basically been convinced that Sadie and Carter will never win. They are up against impossible odds and  they have so little time I'm surprised that there are still one hundred pages left. I mean how do you fit two days into that huge space. I am excited to see how the ending goes.
          I noticed this week in my writing that Rick Riordan has a great writing style that is a lot different from many other authors. I guess every author has their own unique voice, but to me his stands out. I think it's because he tells the story from two different gender perspectives. He switches back and forth so smoothly that I can always tell who is saying something. I find this really cool about this series of books and it makes the story that much more interesting.

Free Post

         Oh man it's late. So this week we are doing literacy narratives and I am finding that I like the process by which we are creating them. I liked our peer groups because they really helped to like break the ice with our first drafts. I know that helped me a lot because I normally don't read my paper out loud and it helped me to catch a lot of clarity mistakes or just places where you go, "What in the world was I trying to say there. I think that peer groups today will also help quite a bit to get the bugs worked out of our second draft.
         While peer groups are great and all my favorite part of the process was what we did today in class by having to edit our own papers. I thought this was pretty cool because I've never done personal editing like that before. It also showed me that there is more to editing than your standard conventions. You are actually making it better even when you edit by fixing all those repeated words and other things that we highlighted on our drafts today. Overall I think that this is a strong way to create a paper.

Reading Response

9/11 45 mins   9/14  60 mins   9/16  75 mins         14o pgs of reading + time on lit narrative stuff

         I continued and finished the book Hero this week. It had a great ending that culminated in Zach, the main character, ended up just saving the future president. As his powers grew he go better and better at using them. I think that it is very surprising when he stops believing his Uncle John because throughout the story it appeared that they were very close. This was one of the odd things that happened and another was finding out that Mr. Hebert was Zach's grandfather. This was a huge surprise to me because Mr. Herbert basically switched roles at the end of the story. I thought this book had a great ending.
         I also started a new book this week. It's called The Serpent's Shadow, and it is written by one of my favorite authors, Rick Riordan. I loved the Percy Jackson series and have loved his new series' as well. This one is the third book of the Kane Chronicles and is based around ancient egyptian gods instead of Greek ones like percy jackson. Sadie and Carter, sibling main characters, tell the story through a recording and it is kind of interesting in that sense because you get the story from different points of view. I like the story too. They have been fighting Apophis, god of chaos, throughout this one. They have introduced a type of magic that hasn't been used in 100 years and I have a feeling that it's about to get good.


I had some technical difficulties last night as our internet wasn't working so I had to do it this morning at school. I hope that's okay.  

Literacy Narrative

       Here we go again. A giant writing assignment, my least favorite thing in the history of the world by the way, has been plopped onto my plate. I am not a fan of large writing assignments. I like writing in general because you get to express your thoughts, but when there are 140 points tagging along I tend to get majorly stressed. I can first off never think of an idea for such open-ended topics as this one. I'm sure some people could pound out ten of these things just for fun, but not me. I am such a perfectionist when it comes to these things (really anything) that I can't just write. I hang up on every little detail and it turns into lots of long nights and frustration.
       After giving you that bit of information I'd like to talk about this assignment in particular. I know that I'm going to talk about reading, because I love it. The only issue is that I don't remember any specific book, teacher, or any special moment that made me love it. I just do. I hope to brainstorm a few ideas today and maybe start if I can think of anything. I know that this assignment will be a challenge and I hope that I can have a strong base idea to grow my thoughts off of. I don't know what to write about yet and I hope I do soon.

Comment Response

     Many of my blogs have not been commented on by classmates so I guess I will answer one of Dr. D's Comments on here. In my hunting and guns defense I needed to give more details and now I will. When you grow up around guns and hunting it is obviously easier to pick up on some procedures and rules than if you are trying it for the first time, but if you are given the correct instruction you can make it safe. One of the basic and more general rules is to use common sense; don't shoot something when people are near where you're aiming, don't aim at people. They are basically straight forward rules.
     Some not so obvious rules might be to never have your gun loaded until you get to your stand or blind(places where you sit and wait for animals). Or to not carry your weapon up the ladder with you when getting into your stand. You should tie it to a rope and bring it up separately. Another is to follow all of the actual laws like not shooting when it's dark or shoot out of a vehicle. You should always, always have your gun on safety until right before you are ready to shoot. These are some of the basic rules that make hunting not as dangerous as some might think. If you take the proper steps hunting is an exhilarating, fun, and enjoyable pastime.   

Reading Response

    9/5 45 mins    9/8 60 mins   9/9 60 mins   9/10  20 mins     232 pgs.    185 mins

         This week I started a new book called Hero. I have had my eye on this one since I saw it one day at the store and have now finally gotten around to it. It has taken a little while to set up so far, but has still been interesting. It is by Mike Lupica, who has written many sports based novels and is actually also a sports writer for ESPN. I love sports so naturally I like to read his books because they are from someone who knows the ends and outs of the sports he is writing about. This one was a little bit different. This novel is actually about a boy who turns into a super hero after his dad, who was the super hero before, dies in a plane crash.

         I really like this story because it mixes sports, everyday life, and super powers all into one great story. Zach is has a mysterious father who is a special advisor to the president and is always going on secret business trips. His dad never tells Zach's family about his work and in Zach's eyes he is like this awe-inspiring figure. He is good at whatever he does and Zach is devastated when he dies in a plane crash. Mike Lupica does a great job describing the tumultuous times that eventually lead to Zach getting  his powers. Another thing that I find connects to the real world is Zach's best friend Kate. She is always there for him and she puts another strong character and personality into this story that makes it that much better. I am excited to see how Zach's powers develop over the rest of the book and to see what ends up happening.         

Sting Pong

       I had a great time over the hurricane "holiday". On Tuesday the guys who live in Bocage with myself decided that we should all hang out because there wasn't really a hurricane happening just yet. We decided to go to Bennett McNamara's house to play sting pong and it was tons of fun. When we first got there Mrs. Susan, Bennett's mom, said, " Guys, I made some cookies if you want some." and we all raced to the kitchen. They were gone in under 3 minutes (and there were a lot of cookies). after everyone else arrived we started playing a game called sting pong, which is basically where whoever loses stands with their back facing the rest of the players and gets pelted with ping pong balls. Sam was dominating and everyone else, including me, had already received their first welts.

       Then that fateful game started. We began racing around the table and Sam got two of his three strikes early in the game. It ended up that everyone else got two strikes before we finally got Sam. William delivered a crushing forehand and Sam couldn't get there in time. It was great because it was the first time that Sam had ever lost. The rest of us were jumping up and down and screaming (yes, it was that big of a deal). He took off his shirt and stood at the end of the table and he was freaking out. He was anticipating it so much that we decided we would make him wait and he turned around and said, "Do it, get it over with." He was spared on the first hit as it sailed to the right of him, but he wasn't so lucky the second time when he got smoked in the shoulder blade. Another hit right in the middle of his back finally got him and he finally knew what it was like for the rest of us.

Reading Response

8/30  90 min   9/3  150 min    240 mins   316 pgs.

            I continued reading the Cherub series over the hurricane and this one was another page turner called The Killing. The author, Robert Muchamore, always makes a book exciting to read by not having too much down time in the plot. I always love to read his books. This mission started out as a small one for James and the rest of the Cherub crew, but eventually developed into much more than the simple intelligence mission that it started out as. James and his partner Dave discover that the criminal that they're investigating is involved in a six digit robbery and that one of the local cops killed an eighteen year old boy. The plot develops for a while in the beginning and then quickly escalades into a sting operation that is both dangerous and very exciting for the reader.

            Another thing that I really liked about this book, and all the Cherub books for that matter, was that the author sets his books in Europe and I think it is sometimes particularly amusing how even in dialogue you can tell that someone is speaking in a British accent. Some of the expressions that the characters use I just find funny. This story had more to it than just the mission itself. James becomes an outcast at the cherub campus near the beginning of the story and that added another level to this book that some of the others have lacked. It made the mission interesting because James basically used this mission as time to forget about that. I thought that it made the story line that much better than some of the other installments. Overall, I really enjoyed this book.    

Reading Response

8/20 10 min.  8/22 20 min.  8/23 60 min.  8/26 90 min.

        I started and nearly finished a great book this week. (If I can get the rest of my homework done then I can finish it tonight.) It was the next installment in the CHERUB series that I have been reading off and on for a while. It is based in Great Britain and is all about a secret organization that is like MI5 for kids. In this book the main character, James, and his sister, Lauren, team up to tackle one of the most important missions in Cherub history. If you haven't figured it out yet, I love books that have tons of adventure and action in them. This one fits the bill. It resembles the Alex Rider series to a point which is another one that I love. I haven't quite finished it yet, but it has been great so far.

        I always like spy books because I love seeing all the gadgets that they use and many other things about them are interesting to me. And this is before all of the gunfights and car chases! This mission involved going into a prison and it was really interesting to see how the author describes all of the things that go on inside. James faces some major obstacles in the prison and once he escapes. It is a fantastic book filled with action and I am excited to see what happens at the end. I forgot to tell you the title. It is Cherub: Maximum Security.

In Defense of Guns: A Hunter's Manifesto

        I love to hunt! Yes, it does involve shooting a real gun, and, yes, it can be dangerous. Though I'm probably more likely to hurt myself walking down the street. People never really understand hunting unless they have done it before because they create a false image of it. I can't stand it when I hear other people criticize hunters. It's not that dangerous if you know what you're doing and many people get it. They know that no one who hunts seriously is out in the woods using baby bunnies as target practice. That's not what hunting is.

         Probably the biggest misconception about hunting is how dangerous it really is. Guns are not dangerous to people in most settings. It is unfortunate that people have to hear about such terrible things on the news about guns and can't get the big picture especially when it comes to hunting. Guns can be a fun, enjoyable pastime that anyone could take up. When you are taught the proper way to handle and use weapons they are great. I love to hunt like I said before and when you get that rush from killing a deer or limiting out on ducks there is nothing better.

Insurgent reading response

         I read a great book over the summer as my free choice selection. Insurgent was action-packed and had all the qualities that I look for in a great book. It was the second in the Divergent series by Victoria Roth and was set in a post-apocalyptic world where everyone has a singular way of thinking and are divided into five factions that are all very different from each other. Beatrice or "Tris", is very special because she has three of the five kinds of thinking. I loved this book because it continued and even maybe one-upped the first book, Divergent, with Roth's visual way of writing and the great story line. Tris becomes caught up in a war between the factions involving one big secret. Tris goes through many ups and downs trying to defeat the mastermind of it all, Jeanine Matthews.
       
          This book is awesome because there is great action and a giant struggle between the genius and the problem that she can't solve. It ends up a great underdog story where even the factionless, the group who lives on the streets because they were kicked out of their faction or failed their initiation, rose to the top. The plot is always intense and the book doesn't get dull for a single page. I couldn't put it down. There is also a great dynamic between the people who are divergent like Tris and the ones who aren't because the divergent are not susceptible to the simulations that Jeanine can control everyone else with. This major difference makes the divergent seem almost immortal because they can't be controlled. I absolutely loved this book and I hope it becomes a trilogy because I will definitely read the next one.

English 1 2012-2013

       I am really excited for english this year. I am really looking forward to the things that I have heard about so far like our blogs and our class reading. I really like the idea of this blog because we will be able to make our writing our own each week and it will help us practice our writing without having the pressure of an essay or a rubric grade. I think that this will really help to improve my writing and also help me to become more comfortable with it than I have been in the past. Another thing that I am really looking forward to is our class reading. I think that reading Shakespeare again won't be bad and I think that The Lord of the Flies and Nervous Conditions sound pretty good. I normally like reading a lot more than writing though so maybe it's just me.

       I am also a little concerned about some things in this class. Some of the major ones are the workload and my ability to manage my time effectively and efficiently with all of the long-term assignments in this class. I play football and baseball throughout the course of the year and am normally not home until late. This shouldn't be an issue if I use all my free time at school to get things done, so I am not that worried about it. Another concern that I have heading into this year is that I don't love to write all the time and it sounds like that will be a major part of this class with our blogs and other everyday writing. Overall I am looking forward to this class and hope to have a great year.