Post Reflection

http://gabisreadingblog.blogspot.com/2015/01/krista-ramsey.html . I believe that my Krista Ramsey blog showed how I can use textual evidence to support text analysis. I used the text and found a solid quote to help me explain how her writing style is unique. It showed how I am able to use the text to help me prove a certain point about the text that I am reading. I also used multiple parts of the text to further stress my point, and it made my argument clearer. In the post I said, "'They abide by laws – natural laws – that we break without caring.' She uses the punctuation to stress the importance of the laws being 'natural laws'" this shows how I used the text to prove my point. I think this blog is a good example of how I analyse a certain text or texts. 

I have many goals for myself regarding my future reading. I would like to get faster at reading books, because it usually takes me a long time, and to become more adventurous with what I choose to read. I tend to only read certain types of books because I am afraid to start reading something and end up not enjoying it. I want to start reading things more closely, so that way when I have to read things closely I am used to doing it, because at some points this year I found it hard to read things closely enough to be able to write about them unless I was told to. Something else I want to improve on is looking for literary elements like theme, similes, metaphors, etc. in everything I read, again, to get better at the task for when it is during school or a test in the future. I also have many goals for my writing. I hope to get better at incorporating quotes into the text, making my writing flow, and incorporating more literary elements without it feeling forced. Right now I feel like adding literary elements in my writing is too forced, it always comes out choppy and unnatural, I want to use more of these so when they are required they come more naturally and I won't have to think about it as much. I want to work on making my quotes fit into the text too. I think it would make my writing much smoother and it wouldn't be as much of a hassle when trying to incorporate them. Lastly I want to work on making my writing flow together as a whole. I have found that this is something that is very hard for me to do in my writing. It takes me a while to find a good way to connect paragraphs and I really want to fix that. Overall I hope that next year, and maybe even over the summer, I can improve upon most, if not all, of these things and achieve my goals as well.

Scorch Trials: End of Book

The end of the book surprised me. I was not expecting what happened in the end. I really liked how the characters developed throughout the first two books. I loved seeing the relationships develop and grow between the old characters, and also seeing new ones develop between characters that were introduced. I love the way the author introduces new characters using indirect characterization, because it makes the book way more interesting.

I can't wait to start the next book. I was talking to my friends and they all said it was amazing. I am afraid to see what may happen to some of my favorite characters because I've heard rumors and I wish people wouldn't have told me. I'm very exited to find out if there are new characters and new relationships, because to me that's very interesting to read about. I'm happy I can read it over the summer because that way I won't have to stop and I can just read all I want. I'm also looking forward to the movie coming out in September.

The Scorch Trials: Post 2

So far into the book, a lot has happened. At the ending of the last book the two main characters were taking and Teresa, the main girl, seemed to be in trouble. When this book began, Thomas tries to go find Teresa in her room, only to find that she is gone. In the room now is a boy named Aris. He explains that he was placed into another place, like the Glade, except he was the only boy, surrounded by girls. He seems to know more about the experiments than the others.

Since I'm not that far into the book, not much has changed. I still see that Thomas cares about Teresa and now there is a conflict and they need to find what happened to her. I like the fact that there was sort of, an alternate universe going on the whole time that the reader just now knows about. It was very unexpected and I liked the fact that it was a surprise. I really enjoy authors that are able to come up with new and unexpected twists in books because it keeps them from getting boring. I can't wait to read more and to find out more about what happened in the parallel universe the author has created.

The Scorch Trials: Beginning of Book

I have started to read the second book in The Maze Runner Series, The Scorch Trials. I'm not sure what to expect from this book. I've talked to friends who have read it and some of them had complaints and others said it was really good. I really enjoyed the first book in the series, and I hope the writing is as good as the original book. I usually don't like the rest of a series as much as the original, because it gets boring after a while. I'm really hoping this one doesn't.

I'm really excited to watch the characters develop more. I want to see what the author can do with the characters, that's more than what has been done. If I don't see character development I will be very disappointed with the author. I've heard about what happens in this book in the terms of a couple of the characters' love lives and I'm not sure how it will effect the story, but I don't want it to change the characters too much. Maybe it will help push the story along as some sort of conflict? If it doesn't I feel like it would be pointless in the storyline of the book.

Satire Example

This cartoon is an example of allegory. I know this because the characters in the cartoon are playing basketball, where traveling is a term used to describe walking with the ball, and in the cartoon you can see security guards that you would see at an airport checking a player when he traveled. The characters in the cartoon are talking about being strict when a player is traveling. Also at the same time they are making fun of the security at airports with the drawing of the arch and the security guards.

Krista Ramsey

The column I read by Krista Ramsey, titled Bear in the neighborhood? Thrilling, not nuisance, was an article on the sighting of a bear in the author's neighborhood where the author talked about the standards people have when they see a wild animal and how you should react compared to how she reacted.
The way Krista Ramsey writes has an interesting style to it, she uses a wide range of vocabulary and her syntax really impacts the reader. There are many examples of this in this article but my favorite one was when she said, "They abide by laws – natural laws – that we break without caring." This line has a great impact on the reader because of the way she emphasizes using the hyphens. Ramsey also uses the word "abide" instead of saying that the animals "follow" certain laws, which provides the reader with a different choice of wording than someone they talk to on the phone or anywhere would say. The use of different vocabulary shows the reader that the author can be credited with at least some knowledge of the topic they are writing about. 
Krista Ramsey's style is very distinct. She uses punctuation a lot to emphasize what she wants when she wants. In the article "For better vision, kids need time outdoors" she states, "But before parents claw back the iPhones, experts say the problem may not lie in the technology itself, but the amount of time spent on it, the environment in which it’s used and the activities it’s replacing." She uses the commas to make a longer sentence instead of making multiple, to help prove her point. Also in the article "Super Bowl QB's score points for great style" she says, "At work, “Casual Fridays” have morphed into sundresses and golf shirts every day. And almost no one dresses up any more for things that were once considered something of an event – dinner at a nice restaurant, religious services, plane flights." She again uses her choice of punctuation to emphasize what she is trying to prove. In the last article I read she says, "They abide by laws – natural laws – that we break without caring." She uses the punctuation to stress the importance of the laws being "natural laws". 
If I could meet Krista Ramsey I would ask her three things: how does she come up with an interesting topic to write about? What inspired you to be a writer? and what is your favorite thing about writing?

 

 

The Maze Runner: End of Book

This book was definatley as good as I heard. There were a ton of surprises and the ending was one of them. I don't want to give anything away, so I can't say much. I was very pleased with this book overall and the ending leaves you hanging so I'm pretty sure I'll be reading the next one sometime soon. The only thing is whenever there is a good book it sets really high standards for the movie, and I hope it meets them.

As I've said before, I love the way the author writes.James Dashner I hope the movie doesn't give too much away at the beginning like some movies I've seen because the best part about the book was not knowing what was going to happen next. I have watched the trailer and the characters are well casted, in my opinion. They have the right personality and look that I saw each of them having. I'm also really happy that I read the book before I've seen the movie because I like coming up with my own vision before im influenced by someone else's.

I am going to read the next book in the series next, which is called The Scorch Trials. I hope that it is as good as this one. If it's not then I'll be very disappointed. I hope it has as muh suspense, surprise, and some of the confusion this book had because those were some of the qualities I really liked about the book.

The Maze Runner: 2/3 of the way Done.

I'm very pleased at the progress of the book. It has gotten even more interesting now that the characters are starting to figure things out. There have been clues that someone is controlling the maze, the Glade and everything in the maze, like the greivers. The greivers are big, mechanical mutants that can sting anyone in the maze, and if you don't get serum in you, it will make you go insane. Since the last part of the book Thomas has started seeing things that tell him what to do, he realized he was supposed to be a runner with one of these. No one believed him, but when he rescued one of the Gladers, the boys in the Glade, acting on an impulse, he survived a night in the maze, which had never been done before. It took some convincing, but he finally became a runner, which explains the title.

What I like a lot about this book is that it takes some thinking. Every time someone goes into the maze I think, "Are they going to find the way out?" But they don't. It creates a lot of suspense. Thomas made a promise to himself that he would find the way out, and now I'm just waiting for it to happen. Although there's still about 150 pages left, I hope it happens soon. I have no idea about what's going to happen in the end because everything keeps changing. 

I can't wait to finish the book. I plan to finish it by next week because I can't wait to see how it's going to end. I know that the book has more sequels and I plan to read at least the second one, because I've heard after that they go downhill. 

The Maze Runner By James Dashner

I wanted to read The Maze Runner before the movie came out so I began reading it. Maze Runner Movie Trailer. I wasn't expecting much to happen in the first 100 pages of the book, but surprisingly, a lot has happened. The protagonist's name is Thomas, but that's all he can remember. He woke up in a box, and was thrusted upwards and into an opening, where he saw a bunch of other boys standing around him. Where he ends up is a weird setting, which is interesting. I don't want to give too much away, but let's just say that this is set far in the future. This book is already crammed with new and unusual elements, and it involves some thinking because of that. Part of what I find cool is the maze, obviously it's important because it's in the title. So far Thomas has not been into the maze, because only the runners get to go inside. All Thomas knows are rumors of what's inside and whatever he can hear from the Glade, which is where he ends up.

The author of this book, James Dashner, is a new author to me. I like the way he writes because he provides a lot of imagery which helps a lot in a book like this. He comes up with new words to help describe the people, and things in the Glade. I always like books that have new concepts, as I've said before. The author really made this world come to life and it's very easy for me to visualize the characters and places.

I'm particularly excited to discover more about the maze and see if the boys can find the way out. I like having to think about things and put the details together with the characters even though I know a  little bit more than them, because of the back of the book. Im eager to read more into the book and hope it keeps getting better!

Harry Potter: End of Book

I just finished Harry Potter. As I've said before, I knew what was going to happen, but it was still fun to read. It was great to read it again because I picked up in different details I had forgotten about. I always like re-reading books because I get a chance to pay more attention to the little things because I know what's happening overall. Harry Potter Facts. J.K. Rowling is descriptive, and uses great diction, which makes the book fun to read.

As I read this book I was thinking about how creative someone would have to be to create such an elaborate story. There are so many different characters, and new words, because it's a different world, and the author is able to talk about characters that are completely different than anyone real. To create a story like this she had to be original, which is hard to do, because most stories have already been told. I don't think I have read anything like this book, or series, ever. All the books now are love stories, with sad endings, or endings that are predictable. This series is full of twists and turns that you don't expect. It's nice to read something that's not a love story, but isn't a full on action-packed book.

The next thing I plan to read will probably be another fiction book. I'm thinking about reading the Maze Runner because I've heard many good things about it, and it seems like a book I'd enjoy. I'm excited to start a new book and see if I enjoy it.

Harry Potter: Middle of the Book.

It's really cool reading this book again because I have already picked up on details missing in the movies and new ones that I hadn't noticed before. I am also able to connect with characters like Herminone while studying for tests and doing homework. When I read this before I wasn't old enough to really connect with someone like that because I had never had any really big tests or a lot of homework. It's also fun knowing that I'm now older than the characters are supposed to be, because usually when I read a book or watch a movie I am younger than the main characters. Herminone, Ron and Harry

I am right around the middle of the book and there's been a lot of interesting scenes. J.K. Rowling is very descriptive and I can compare what she says to how it was adapted in the movies. It is funny to read something and think "I'd do that differently" because I am taking a backstage theater class and I know how to set some things up that could be part of a set for a movie. There is one scene that I would have done completely differently, the scene with Hermione and the troll in the bathroom. I would have designed the troll and the bathroom differently because Rowling says the troll is more green than in the movie.

Im excited to finish the book because I like the ending and it's been fun to read it again. The last thing that I noticed was that at the beginning Ron and Harry, but mostly Ron, are very rude to Herminoe which is ironic because in the end Hermione and Ron end up married. It was interesting to see the change in attitude towards Hermione. At first they don't get along and Ron makes fun of Hermione for being book smart, and sort of anti-social. Then as the story progresses they become friends and work together. I always like to see characters change throughout books, especially when I know how the story ends, because I like to know how the journey to the end went, not just the end.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

This is the first book in the Harry Potter series. I have read it before and since I just had to read two books I didn't want to, I decided to read one I knew I liked. I think this will be fun to read because whenever I read a book I have already read I pick up on new details instead of only paying attention to the main events in the story. I still don't know why I like this series so much but for some reason it is one of the only series of books I liked enough to read all of them. I think it's partially because of the style of writing and how J.K. Rowling describes the people and places. Even just reading the book I can hear the characters talking and see them doing everything described. this is one series I really fell in love with, I even purchased the first book in Spanish and I am reading it along side of the English one to expand my Spanish vocabulary to prepare for my trip to Spain in June.

Another thing I really like about the book is how each individual character is so different. You have Harry, who is courageous and kind, but at the same time he has a darkness inside him that he has yet to understand. There is also Hermione who is one of the most intelligent characters in the book. After reading the beginning of the book again I realized that the reason Herminoe is so smart is because she feels the need to work harder than everyone else. In the book there are Pure-Bloods, Half-Bloods and muggle-borns who are sometimes called Mudbloods by the other two because they don't have magical parents. Since Hermione is muggle-born she feels like she missed out on some of the knowledge the other kids acquired in their homes with magic parents. The first time I read the book I didn't pick up on this, but now that I have read it more than once I am catching more details like that.

I am interested in seeing how many more details I missed when I first read the book. Even though I know what's going to happen in the book I still am able to enjoy the book because it is something I am not forced to read. To me, being forced to read a book makes it seem like homework and I can't enjoy the book. As I read this book I will feel less forced and really get a chance to enjoy myself.

Divergent: Finished with the book

I would have taken longer to read this book but since I was sick for two days this week I had a chance to read and finish the book. I wasn't surprised by the ending because I knew how it was going to end. I really liked the end because it makes me want to read the next book, which will make me want to read the last one. I really enjoyed watching the characters develop in a way I couldn't when I saw the movie. In the book I could read what the characters thought and see their changes there instead of just in their actions and what was being said.

If I had to pick a favorite between the book and the movie it would be the book. It was fun to read the book and visualize what I saw in the movie but I liked being able to visualize what I thought the scene would look like for scenes that weren't in the movie. I wish I would have been able read the book before I saw the movie because I feel like I would've been more interesting to be able to come up with my own picture of what the people and places looked like, instead of seeing what someone else thought it looked like. I am still glad that I finally decided to read this book because I think it's even better than the movie. Movies are good if you want to see a book come to life but sometimes seeing the movie is not enough to really get into the story and understand the characters. In most cases of the book and movie adaptation the book is better, but the movie is sometimes just as good as the book and that's what I think about Divergent.

I don't think that I am going to read the sequel yet but I will sometime. I want to read something that I know I will like for my choice book. I tend to enjoy reading more if it's something that I'm not forced to read. I may not start a book right away but when I do start a book I've been wanting to read I am able to really get into it.

Divergent Middle of the Book

I haven't had much time to read this week but I read some at school and when I had extra time at home. I'm really surprised at how close the movie is to the book. The actors look exactly like the author describes the characters. So far I don't really have a favorite between the book and the movie, but I think the book is more descriptive. All of the characters are different from one another, it's interesting to read about all of the personalities in the book.

My favorite character is probably the main character, Tris. She is confident, and strong, but at the same time she's sensitive and cares about the people she loves. The author is very descriptive and it really helps to visualize all of the characters. There have been some books I have read when I have a hard time trying to visualize the setting and the characters. I find those types of books good and bad at the same time, because you can leave it up to your imagination but at the same time, that may be a hard thing to do.

Overall I'm excited to read more into the book and find more similarities and differences between the book and the movie. I don't usually read this type of book because I don't find the topic that interesting, but I am really enjoying the book. Even though I know how the series ends, because multiple people have spoiled it, I like to see how the characters get there.

Divergent: Beginning of the book

I have been told multiple times to read Divergent, by friends and mostly my older sister Antonia. Back before the movie came out she had just finished the last book and told me how it ended, that made me not want to start reading the book because I would be mad at the ending of the series. Over the summer I saw the movie, so I know how the book goes. Since school has started all of my friends have been urging me to read this book, but I never wanted to. As more and more people told me to read it, I started wondering what would be different in the book from the movie. So now I have decided to read it to see what all the fuss is about.

I haven't read very much of the book yet because I have been busy this past week. So far the author has described everyday life for Tris, the main character, and her family. Then she talked about the aptitude test, which determines what faction Tris will be in for the rest of her life. After Tris takes the test she discovers that she is unique. She could fit into any one of the five factions, so she is called divergent. In her society this is a bad thing, so she isn't allowed to say anything about it, and has to decide for herself what faction to choose.

Everything I have read so far has been pretty close to how it was in the movie. I am excited to read more and find similarities between the movie and the book. Even though I know what is going to happen the book is still really interesting. When I finish the book I will be able to decide which one I like better, the book or the movie. Judging from what I have read I think I will like the book better because it is a lot more descriptive than the movie is.

Finished Death Be Not Proud

Death Be Not Proud was not the longest book I've ever read, but it was still a great book. One of the things I enjoyed about the book was that it was full of suspenseful moments. There would be moments where the family was waiting for test results, or during surgery. Every time another doctor walked in, it makes the reader think something bad is going to happen. Even though the book wasn't THAT suspenseful, it was a nice touch. I knew how the book was going to end, but the character changed so suddenly, and then the book was over.

I thought it was interesting that this was a true story because it seemed like something that would be in a movie, or a fiction book. It was so unreal. The technology we have today is so advanced compared to what they have to use in the book. Sometimes I would want them to use some kind of easy surgery but I have to remember that they don't have the technology to do what we do today. I would recommend this book to someone who likes to learn about the journey of someone with a life threatening condition, or just anyone who wants to read about Johnny's story.

The next book I am going to read is going to be Divergent. I have already seen the movie, but I haven't read the book and everyone says it's better than the movie. I don't usually read distopian novels, but my sister does, so she has a ton of them. I'm excited to see what they did differently in the movie, and what I think they should have done. Overall I'm excited to read this book, partially because I can't read anymore non-fiction for a while.

Death Be Not Proud: Halfway through the book

As I mentioned in my previous blog, my book is about a boy who develops a brain tumor. My mom was recently in the hospital because she had a numbness in her arm and her face was drooping. As I was reading about Johnny Gunther's symptoms they sounded similar to those that my mom had when she went to the hospital. This made me remember how afraid I was that my mom had a tumor in her brain, when later the doctors concluded it was MS. This helped me connect to the book because I knew how the family felt when Johnny was having all of these symptoms before he went to the hospital.

In the book Johnny is interested to know more about the tumor in his brain, and so is his family. This is exactly how my family is right now. My mom, my dad and I just recently went to a presentation and dinner at Montgomery Inn about a medication my mom could possibly take. My mom has been to 4 events like this and we believe that it is a helpful way to learn what we need to. From this I have a basic understanding of what to expect from my mom, how she will act, and things like that.

This book is great because I can really relate to the feelings of the author. I can relate to the uncertainty, confusion, and the feeling of being afraid of what will happen next. As I keep reading I'm interested to see how the family handles all of the information, whether they will look on the bright side, or not. I think that as the book goes on I will keep finding more and more connections. Here are links to MS symptoms and brain tumor symptoms for you to compare.

Brain tumor: http://www.abta.org/brain-tumor-information/symptoms/
MS Symptoms

Death Be Not Proud by John Gunther

When Mrs. Noble told us we had to read a non-fiction book as one of our three books this semester I didn't know what I was going to do. I don't usually read non-fiction because I find it boring. I decided to read the non-fiction book first to get it over with. I had no idea what kind of book I wanted to read because I didn't want to be bored as I was reading it. I went home and asked my dad what he recommended and he brought me Death Be Not Proud by John Gunther. Whenever my dad would talk about it I always figured it was a fiction book, but it's a memoir. It was written in 1949. The author's son, Johnny Gunther, died of a brain tumor at the age of seventeen. His father wanted to tell the story of what happened to him, but he didn't want it to be a book on a sickness, he wanted to show people how spirited and positive Johnny was from the time when he was diagnosed to when he died.

Even though I am only 30 pages into the book, through the writing I can tell how much the author loved his son. The author took me right into the story and I feel like I am there getting to know Johnny as he grows. I'm interested to read more about his life and everything he went through to try and survive the illness that, at this time, doctors didn't know much about. I'm excited to learn about how the doctors thought, what the chances of survival were, but also about how the author felt in the last few months of Johnny's life. Whether he was optimistic, or only thinking about what was going to happen next. I think this is going to be one of the few non-fiction books I enjoy.

Even though I know how the book ends I'm still expecting some surprises. The author said at the beginning that the story was about the time before his death and how strong he was. As I read a little more of the book, I noticed he asked a lot of questions about what the doctors were doing. Even after his first operation he had a fantastic memory and was every intelligent. I'm excited to learn more about what he went through and what his family went through while they were trying to fight a disease the doctors still didn't know much about.

This is one of the only pictures available of Johnny Gunther. In the picture he is seven years old.

Summer Reading TFIOS

Over the summer I read John Green's The Fault in Our Stars. I chose this book because I wanted to read it before the movie came out, so I read it fairly quickly. If you haven't seen the movie or read the book already, its about a sixteen-year-old named Hazel Grace Lancaster who has thyroid cancer that has spread to her lungs. At the beginning of the book Hazel goes to a cancer support group and meets a boy named Augustus Waters, or Gus for short. Gus had previously had osteosarcoma, which caused him to lose a leg. As the book continued, Hazel and Gus became friends and then more. Hazel suggested her favorite book to Gus, which was written by a man who had moved to Amsterdam. The book ends in the middle of a sentence and Hazel wants to know the end. Gus suggests that Hazel uses her wish from the Genies, but she has already used it, so Gus uses his and they go to Amsterdam. Near the end of the trip Gus tells Hazel that his cancer has come back and is all over his body. The rest of the book goes through how life is once Gus can't do much on his own. At the end (SPOILER ALERT) Gus' cancer kills him.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys romantic novels, and doesn't mind sad endings. If I had to rate this book I would give it 4/5 stars because I'm not usually the type of person who likes to read sad endings. Overall I thought it was a fantastic book. The way John Green writes takes you directly into the story and you feel like you are with the characters. The feeling you get when Gus dies feels like you actually knew him, and that's part of the reason I love this book. The only thing that would have made it better, would have been a happy ending, but that's just not how life works.