Using Figurative Language

 

We recently shared personal narratives that we had wrote in English class. There was a lot of figurative language used. I was actually very impressed with the creative things my classmates came up with. It made me think what if there was no such thing as figurative language? Can you picture your self reading a book that had no similes or metaphors, no personification, no symbolism? How boring would literature be with out all of these writing elements? Figurative language is one of the things that draws me into a book. It allows me to picture the story and adds depth. You know that your a good writer if you use strong figurative language.

 

There are two ways to describe things: by blandly stating what something is or what's going on, or by painting a picture that appeals to the senses. For instance if you were describing a summer day you could say, "It was hot outside and the sun shined bright into my eyes" or you could say, "The sun beat down on me, its hot rays burning my skin and stinging my eyes. I felt as if I was going to melt away." I don't think there is a doubt that the second one was the better way to describe the scene. Figurative language is so important to literature. Without it we would be reading bland words with a blank mind.

My Favorite Type of Genre

 

     There are tons of different book genres out there; science fiction, mystery, historical fiction, etc. Don't get me wrong, all are interesting in their own way. However, there is one genre that I tend to pick from and enjoy the most. Fantasy! I know there are probably plenty of others who will agree with me that fantasy is their favorite book genre. I guess I just like to read books where I can escape the real world and go on an adventure that would have been otherwise impossible. The thought of magic or mythical creatures that are some where in the modern world excites me. Fantasy just adds an extra zing to your regular old fictional stories.

 

     Some of my favorite fantasy books are the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling and the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan. I think we all need to take a moment to just think about and appreciate the work these authors put in to come up with such elaborate ideas. They pracitcally created a whole new world that dwells with in the minds of the readers. Both of these series demonstrate the places you can escape to when reading a fantasy book. While reading Harry Potter I was able to leave the stress of my own life and go on journey with wizards who encounter dark magic from Voldemort and cross paths with many magical creatures such as Buckbeak the Hippogriff. As I had my nose stuck in the Percy Jackson books I forgot about my surroundings and joined the demigod campers at Camp Half-blood and met many Greek gods.

 

     The book I am almost finished reading is also fantasy. The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan is about two siblings who are related to the Egyptian Gods and use their magic powers to help awaken Ra the sun god and prevent Chaos from taking over. Again I was drawn to this book for its incorporation of magic in the modern world. Here is an exerpt displaying the engaging element of fantasy from my book, "The griffin stepped into full view. It was twice the size of a regular lion, its reddish-gold fur coated with limestone dust. Its tail was studded with spiky feathers that looked as hard and sharp as daggers.With a single flick , it pulverized the stone slab it had come from" (Riordan 16, 17). This is definately not an every day happening. This quote shows you how fantasy books allow you to escape reality. If you haven't lately, pick up a fantasy book and see where it takes you!



The Importance of an Interesting Exterior

 

 

     What draws you to a book? What makes you interested to read it? For some people it might just be good reviews or maybe they already saw the movie and want to read the book. I know that for me, it's the cover and the summary on the back. If I'm in a book store, a library or even browsing on Good Reads, and I see a book with an attention grabbing picture on the front, I begin to wonder what story lies within it. Nobody looks at a book with a solid or plain outside and says, "Wow! This book looks fantastic!" Sure, you might pick it up and flip through it just to see what it's about, but it doesn't capture your attention as much. The picture on the front of a book can reveal a lot and make you predict what the book's about. You are then forced to test your predictions and actually read the book.

 

Here are some perfect examples of intriguing book covers:

 

 

 

     These capture your attention don't they? They make you want to know what the story is about. That's when the second thing that draws me to a book comes into play; the summary. After I find an interesting cover, I flip over the book and read the back. If it doesn't interest me, then most likely I won't read the book. The summary on the back cover has to give just enough information about the story so that you're left with unanswered questions. It has to highlight the key points in the plot with out revealing the ending.

Here are a few quotes from the summaries of the books shown above:

Monster by Walter Dean Myers- "The film will be the story of my life. No, not my life, but of this experience. I'll call it what the lady prosecutor called me ... Monster."

Feed by Mira Grant- "We had cured cancer. We had beaten the common cold. But in doing so we created something new, something terrible that no one could stop."

Unwind by Neal Shusterman- "Between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, however, parents can have their child "unwound," whereby all of the child's organs are transplanted into different donors, so life doesn't technically end."

You thought these books looked interesting when you only saw the cover! Now that you have read a bit about the book what do you think? You can see my point about how important the exterior of a book can be. They say not to judge a book by it's cover, but in this case how can you not?



I Wonder...

 

     I am about halfway through The Throne of Fire and it is getting very interesting. Sadie and Carter Kane just traveled to Russia in search of the second of three scrolls that will help them to awaken Ra the sun god. They have to sneak inside the Hermitage (a tsars palace that had been turned into a museum) and find the secret entrance to the Eigteenth Nome (a region in The House of Life whch is an organization of Egyptian magicians). Once Sadie and Carter find the Eighteenth Nome they stumble apon Vlad Menshikov and he is performing a ritual to summon Set, the god of evil. The Kane kids know they will find the scroll in Vlad's desk. After they get it and try to sneak out without being seen, Set gives away their disguise. Vlad unleashes a double headed demon snake on them and the only way for Sadie and Carter to survive is to unleash Set from Vlad's binding. They know this is a risky move since they have had trouble dealing with Set before. They release Set and, without much help from him, they escape. They have to immediately leave Russia since Vlad is on their tail. Before they leave, Set gives Sadie and Carter a clue on where the third and final scroll is. He does this only under the condition that Sadie gives up his secret name, releasing her power over him. Sadie hesitantly agrees and the Kane kids continue on their journey.

 

     Sadie had felt that getting the second scroll was entirely too easy. While Sadie is narrarating the story she says, "Where were the traps? The alarms? The exploding-donkey curses? I was certain we'd stolen the authentic scroll. I'd felt the same tingle in my fingers as when I'd taken the one from the Brooklyn Museum (without the fire, thankfully). So why hadn't the scroll been better protected?" (Riordan 177,178). You can tell from this quote that retrieving the first scroll had been much more difficult than retrieving the second. It had also involved many more protective curses and charms. This makes me think that Sadie will come across more challenges once she opens the scroll or she could be cursed after she reads it.

 

     Carter had met a girl named Zia in the previous book in the series and fallen in love with her. He then found out that she was only a shabti (an enchanted figure made from clay or wax that is used as a decoy) and that the real Zia had been hidden after she had been possessed by the goddess Nephthys. Ever since Carter learned about this he had made it his own duty to find her. In The Throne of Fire Carter hears a voice that tells him about Zia's where abouts. "You'll never find her, the spirit taunted. She sleeps in the Place of Red Sand, but she will die there if you follow your pointless quest" (Riordan 27). Later on, when Set talks to Sadie before they leave Russia he tells her, " 'And just because I like you so much, I have a free piece of information for your brother. Tell him Zia Rashid's village was called al-Hamrah Makan' " (Riordan 189). I predict that once Ra has been awakened, Carter is going to ask him to help find Zia and free her. I also predict that they will find the entrance to "the Place of Red Sand" hidden some where in Zia's old village. I can't wait to read on and see if I am right!

A Must Read!

 

 

     Recently I have finished the book Tiger Lily  by Jodi Lynn Anderson. You may recognize the name Tiger Lily from the Disney classic, Peter Pan . I was already a huge fan of Peter Pan and then I found this book and knew I had to read it. In the cartoon, Tiger Lily is a Native American princess who Peter saves from the clutches of Captain Hook. However, Anderson took a completely different take on the story. In the book, Tiger Lily is an outcast in her tribe. She is not a princess but in fact the daughter of a shaman. When Tiger Lily meets Peter Pan (the fearsome leader of the Lost Boys) it isn't long before the two start to fall in love. The couple is inseparable, that is until Wendy Darling shows up and changes everything. Usually I'm a fan of the Peter and Wendy duo, but this book got me rooting for Tiger Lily! 

 

     Tiger Lily features all of the same Disney characters you know and love from the cartoon; Captain Hook, Mr. Smee, the Lost Boys, Wendy Darling, Peter Pan, Tiger lily, and we can't forget Tinker Bell! In fact the entire story is told from the perspective of the little fairy who follows Tiger Lily on her journey. I thought this idea was amazing. Not many stories are told from the point of view of a girl that's only a few inches tall and has wings. There was never a dull moment in this book. The story had so much depth from the romance between Tiger Lily and Peter to the conflict between Hook's pirate crew and the Lost Boys to the internal struggles Tiger Lily faces with herself. This is definitely not your average fairy tale!

 

     I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves adventure, suspense, and romance. This book grabbed my heart and played with my emotions. I became attached to the characters that are described with so much detail I felt like they could have been my life long friends. I loved Tiger Lily so much that I literally couldn't put it down. I read for eight hours straight and finished the novel in a single day! The ending was shocking and totally unexpected. Can you say plot twist? If you think this book is anything like the Disney movie, guess again.  I dare you to take the trip to this re-imagined Neverland and experience a read that's unlike anything else.

 

 

 

 

Click here to see a book description, critical praise, a trailer and more for Tiger Lily.



A Look Into My Book

 

     Currently I am reading The Throne of Fire  by Rick Riordan. I just finished chapter 7 and 8 and they were action packed. Sadie Kane, a magician related to the gods of ancient Egypt, had gone back to her home town of London, England to spend her birthday with her grandparents and friends before she left on a difficult quest to awaken Ra the sun god. Sadie realizes that returning home by herself was a bad decision when she finds her grandmother possessed by Nekhbet the vulture goddess and her grandfather possessed by Babi the bear-sized baboon god. The two gods are determined to kill Sadie and prevent her from awakening Ra. Sadie flees and ends up running into her two friends Liz and Emma. Sadie knows that if she doesn't protect them, Nehkbet and Babi will most likely hurt them. Sadie brings her friends with her as she tries to escape the clutches of the gods. Sadie runs into Anubis, the god of death, who tells her that help is on the way.  The three girls hop on a subway and hoped that Nehkbet and Babi weren't close by.

 

     Liz and Emma, having no knowledge that real magicians, more than just illusionists, existed were extremely confused when they saw the giant chimp of a god chasing after them. Sadie fills them in on her experiences with magic and ancestry with the gods. The girls get off the subway at Waterloo Station. Unfortunately the gods have once again found them. Sadie know that battling them is the only way to protect her friends. Babi, with an enraged temper start to fling things around the station and civilians scatter. Soon Sadie, Liz, and Emma are the only ones facing the gods. A troop of Babi's baboon minions create chaos and Sadie quickly searches her magic bag to find something she can use to defend her self. Sadie drinks a potion so that she can channel the power of her patron god, Isis. Sadie successefully causes a diversion and delays Nehkbet and Babi in their chase. The three girls bolt outside of the station and find the help Anubis had told them about. A short, hairy man presented himself to the girls as Bes, god of dwarves. Bes drove the girls to Waterloo Bridge where battling the gods would be easier since the river would make it difficult for them to stay attached to the mortal world.

 

     Once they reach the river, Sadie, Liz and Emma run to the bridge. Bes tells the girls that he will be over in a bit to help. At the bridge, Sadie has Liz and Emma draw a protective circle around them that will deflect the power of the gods at least for a short while. Nehkbet and Babi approach the girls with the taste of victory in their mouths. Sadie was weakening and wasn't sure how much longer she could hold up. Bes arrives just in time. He wore nothing but a blue speedo that showed off his flabby, hairy skin. Bes threatens to scare his fellow gods away but they take it as a joke. Bes runs over to Babi, wrestling and head-butting him until he finally gave up and disappeared. Then Bes went over to Nehkbet. He disfigured his own face and roared at her, ripping away the essence of the goddess. All that remained was the worn bodies of Sadies grandparents. Sadie and her friends ran over to them and checked to see if they were ok. Both her grandfather and her grandmother were breathing and only needed rest. Bes told Sadie that she needed to get a move on her quest. He also said that her grandparents and her friends weren't allowed to come along because they were only mortals. Liz and Emma assure Sadie that they will take care of her grandparents and that they had a great adventure. Sadie agrees to go with Bes and start her new journey.

Connecting Texts

 

 

       Currently I am reading The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan. This is the second book in the Kane Chronicles. As I have been reading this novel I have noticed it has many similarities to the book Children of The Lamp: The Akhenaten Adventure by P.B. Kerr. Both of these stories are centered around the element of magic. The Throne of Fire is all about magicians and the power of the gods of Ancient Egypt.  Children of The Lamp: The Akhenaten Adventure is about the powers of genies, or djinn as they are referred to as in the story. These two novels also have similar main characters. The main characters in each book are a brother and sister pair who are very different from each other, both in personality and appearance. In Rick Riordan's book the main characters are named Sadie and Carter Kane. Sadie has blonde hair, blue eyes, and light skin. She has a rebellious personality and a sharp tongue. Carter has dark hair and dark skin. He is well-mannered and a problem solver. In P.B. Kerr's book the main characters are named Phillipa and John Guant. Phillipa is short, has red hair, and wears glasses. She is much more intellectual than her brother. John is tall and dark haired. He is the more athletic of the two. 

 

      Oddly enough, both sets of siblings are assisted with their first magical journey by their uncle. For Sadie and Carter it's their classy Uncle Amos and for Phillipa and John it's their eccentric Uncle Nimrod. Amos and Nimrod help train their niece and nephew and teach them how to use their newly found powers. In both books the main characters put their powers to use and go on a quest to overcome evil. Sadie and Carter have to awaken Ra the sun god so he can assist them in preventing Apophis the Chaos snake from breaking free of his prison and taking over. Phillipa and John have to locate the supposedly dead pharaoh named Akhenaten, and his tomb, which holds seventy lost souls. Meanwhile, they also have to outwit Iblis (the most evil djinn) before he gains too much power.

 

         I wonder if it's just a coincidence that The Throne of Fire and Children of The Lamp: The Akhenaten Adventure have so much in common? Is it possible that one of the authors was inspired by the other? Both books are great and if you have read and enjoyed one of them I guarantee you will love the other!