Reading With Your Ears

     You may look at the title of this post and think to yourself ,"Kayla you cant read with your ears, duh!" Well I beg to differ. Ok so you may not be able to literally read with your ears but you sure can listen to a story. Audio books my friends: reading with your ears. I'm sure we all remember in kindergarten when our teacher would have story time. We would all run over and sit criss cross applesauce (doesn't anyone wonder why we say 'applesauce' at the end) on the carpet. Our teacher would read a small picture book written with a sentence on each page and show the picture to the whole class going in a semicircle motion. Do you ever think about why we loved this so much? Some of the slacker kids were probably just like "Yeah we get to zone out for 15 minutes!" Now that I think back on this common school activity I realize how relaxing it is to have a story read to you.

 

     Audio books are like a teacher reading to you only the more mature version. All you have to do is pop the CD into the stereo or press play on your device. Then you sit back, close your eyes, and listen. You don't have to worry about your eyes getting tired from reading line after line and you don't have the problem of the uncomfortable positions you have to read your book in. An audio book does the work for you, leaving you to the imagining. The images described to you can come alive, almost like a dream while your still awake! I have to say though that the voice the audio book is told in has to be engaging. We listened to some of the scenes in Romeo and Juliet on tape and lets just say the voices weren't the best. They were pretty bad, I mean I don't understand how the tape was published! Some voices made the class laugh and others were just plain annoying.

 

     I have made my point that audio books can be more relaxing than books but there's another reason they're good for. In some scenarios audio books are more logical when you want to read. For example when you go on vacation or have a long drive, you may want to read in the car. At least for me this is a problem; I get car sick if I read for too long while in a moving vehicle. Listening to an audio book  eliminates this issue. You still get to hear the story but with out staring down at a small font which leads to an icky feeling stomach. Then there's some strange people who may like to read while swimming or taking a bathe. Hey, I never said I was one of those people but trust me they're out there! A book would get ruined if you dropped it in the water. The pages would wrinkle up and the ink would smear. How about an audio book? No paper, no problem! And of course for those book worms who don't want to look like a nerd. If you put an audio book on your ipod or iphone you can put your headphones in and look like your jamming out to some tunes when really you're reading! Mind blowing right?!?

 

     So for all my avid readers out there, next time when your looking for a book, read with your ears not your eyes. You will be surprised what a difference it is. 

Books and Their Movies

 

     People always say that the books are better than the movies. In some cases this is true. However there are pros and cons to both. Personally I like to read the book, to get the story line in depth, and then watch the movie to see it come alive. There are those books that you would absolutely love to see in theaters and wonder why no director has taken the opportuunity to make it a movie. Whether or not your a book person or a movie person, there are reasons why you have your preference.

 

    Usually the books have way more detail than movies. This may seem like a bad thing but if a movie had all of the same details, you could spend 7 hours sitting on the couch, which would get boring. Books also give you a chance to picture the story however you want. You create the characters and the setting, well based off the authors description of course. We are the directors of the movie in our minds. I have had cases where I see a movie before reading and then I already have the images in my head that were created for me. There's a flip side to that coin. If you picture the characters or setting in a way different from the movie, you could be disappointed the film wasn't what you wanted.

 

     Movies are obviously good for being able to visually see a book come to life. You can see the conflict and chemistry between the characters more easily than if you were reading. The emotions/moods of a story engage you more when you're physically seeing what's going on. The "magic of the movies" as people say is used to enhance the plot and attract a viewer's attention. The stories in books you watch through your own eyes but stories in movies you watch through the eyes of someone else.

 

  I'm not trying to persuade you either way-books or movies. I love both for their own reasons. However I do have something you should think about. Books are pleasing to the mind, movies are pleasing to the eye. Which do you prefer?

Act 3 Scene 5

     Most of you probably know that we are reading Romeo and Juliet in English. Recently we were divided up into three groups and assigned a scene from Act 3. We have to teach the scene to the class as well as act it out. My group got Act 3 Scene 5. This scene definitely foreshadows events that will occur later on in the play. It also reveals a lot about some of the characters.

 

     The scene starts out with Romeo and Juliet. Romeo had just been banished to Mantau for killing Tybalt. The two lovers spend the last moments before sun rise together, then Romeo has to leave. Lady Capulet comes to deliver news to Juliet. The two women discuss their anger with the death of Tybalt and how they're going to make Romeo pay. Obviously Juliet is lying when she says this. The news that Lady Capulet brings does not make Juliet very happy. Her father had arranged for her to marry Paris in the upcoming week. Juliet refuses and when Capulet hears of this he is furious.

 

     Capulet goes on to yell at Juliet and tell her she has no choice but to marry Paris. He says that she is burden to the family and that she should be thrown out on the streets. Sounds like a loving father right? Juliet's Nurse stands up for her only to be criticized by Capulet. He calls her a gossip and a fool before leaving. Juliet begs her mother to postpone the wedding but Lady Capulet tells her she isn't going to say a thing. Juliet asks for comforting from the Nurse. The Nurse tells her that it would probably be in her best interest to marry Paris. Juliet pretends to agree and acts like she is going to confession. Really, Juliet is furious at the Nurse for telling her this. Instead she goes to see the Friar and ask him what she should do.

     At the very end of the scene Juliet says, "If all else fail, myself have power to die" (3.5 243). Here Juliet says that if worst comes to worse and she can't do anything about the wedding, than she can always kill herself. This foreshadows when she fakes her death later on in the play. It also shows her dedication to Romeo. Juliet isn't the only character we learn more about in this scene. Through Capulet's rage with Juliet we learn that he is a hot headed man who doesn't take no for an answer. We also come to know that Lady Capulet isn't really there for her daughter. When Juliet asks her to try and do something about the wedding she says, "Talk not to me, for I'll not speak a word: Do as thou wilt, for I have done with thee" (3.5 203-204). Only the Nurse seems to be some what on Juliet's side.

If you want to read Act 3 Scene 5 for your self click on the hyperlink!

Cliff Hangers

 

     As much as we hate when we are reading and are left with unanswered questions, what's a good book without cliff hangers? Yes we like to know what happens next, but when you think about it, cliff hangers are what keep you reading a book. I personally love when every chapter leaves me on edge. Of course then I never want to stop reading and thus the cliff hanger serves its purpose. I don't particularly like when entire books end in cliff hangers though, then you have to wait until the next book in the series comes out. But hey, you buy the next book don't you! For the authors that's a mission accomplished.

 

    The book I am currently reading (13 Wishes) does a good job in ending some of the chapters in suspense. For example, in chapter seven, Tanya first learns about the woman who was the original owner of her grandmother's mansion. It was said that her husband turned her into a mental hospital after she was accused of being a witch. The text says, "'Tanya, Elizabeth Elvesden never came out of the asylum. She died in there when she was only twenty-three'" (Harrison 108). Reading this gave me the chills. I had to keep reading on to figure out what other mysteries the house held. Later on in the story Tanya comes across a picture of the girl who went missing in Hangman's woods fifty years ago. Fabian tells her that she was her grandmother's best friend. After closely looking at the photo, the two realize that its the same girl they saw when they got lost in the woods earlier that week. Chapter nine ends like this, "They stared at the photograph. There was no doubt in Tanya's mind that the girl standing with her grandmother was the same girl they had seen in the woods... Fabian looked troubled. 'There's... there's something I have to tell you'" (Harrison 132). I wanted to know what he was going to tell her so to the next chapter I went.

 

    Books aren't the only things that use cliff hangers to their advantage. Movies use them to get you to want to see the sequel and TV shows use them so you watch the next season. For example one of my favorite series Touch ended with the biggest cliff hanger, The series was about a boy named Jake who knows how the future will plan out based off of numbers. He gave clues to his dad to make sure the future happened correctly. There is also a girl who has the same gift, Amelia. However, the company Astrocorps kidnaps her and fakes her death so they can use her to improve their business and gain money. Throughout the first series we get clues that Amelia is still alive and Jake and his dad learn that the same company wants to come after Jake. At the end of the last episode, Jake and his dad run into a woman after they go into hiding from Astrocorps. It just so happens that the woman is Amelia's mother! I mean what?!? I can assure you that I watched the next season.

Setting in 13 Treasures

 

     Being properly introduced to a setting is very important when reading a book. It sets the ground work where the whole story takes place. The setting can have a great impact on the plot and how the story unfolds. Depending on the location of the setting, a book can have certain tones and the characters can be affected. If the setting is unclear or not specific, it can be hard to get a grasp on things that occur in the story. Lucky for me, 13 Treasures  has a well explained setting that I have a good image of. I can also tell the impact it is having on the plot.

 

     The story takes place at Tanya's grandmothers huge property. The manor she lives in is old and full of fairies which causes conflict with Tanya. On page 20 the massive house is described, "There was no question that it would have been an impressive view when it was first built in the late eighteenth century. It had close to twenty bedrooms - not including the old servants' quarters - and almost as many parlors and sitting rooms, once decorated lavishly. Had it been properly maintained, it would probably still be beautiful." From this quote we can understand the size of the house and get a feel of its old worn down look. The inside of the house is described equally as well. Tanya's room is depicted on page 23, "The carpet was threadbare, and the walls were covered in lavender paper that was peeling off in some places." The reader can tell, from the many descriptions in the book, that Tanya's grandmother lives in a grand house that she has been unable to keep up.

 

     Hangman's Woods is the forest next to the house which is also an important part to the story. Many secrets lie with in these woods. A strange gypsy woman lives alone in the middle of the forest, and Tanya learns about a girl who went missing almost fifty years ago in there. Also Tanya's dog, Oberon, runs away so she and Fabian run after him into the collection of trees and end up getting lost. Warwick finds them and warns them about the dangers of the woods and that they are never to go back into there but the kids don't know why. Hangman's Woods is described on page 74, "Gradually the trees grew thicker, taller, and closer together. It was cool and dark between them, and small creatures rustled the undergrowth as passed through and disturbed them." From this we can already start to see why Tanya and Fabian aren't allowed into the woods. However, from the mystery about these woods, I feel like Tanya will venture back and uncover the secrets she is dying to figure out.

A+ on Vocab and Word Choice

 

     I have recently made a post about the book I just started, 13 Treasures  by Michelle Harrison. Nothing too action packed has happened yet. I am still in that introduction stage of the book where you meet all of the characters and are introduced to the setting. However there is one thing that I have noticed about the author's writing. She uses a very sophisticated vocabulary and I admire her for it. Instead of using basic adjectives or verbs, she spices it up. I will admit that some of the words I have come across I don't know. I like that it challenges me to use textual clues and previous knowledge to try and figure out their meanings.

    

     On page 4 the author shows her wide vocabulary range. The text says, "The incidents had become more vindictive of late." A synonym for vindictive is refengeful or resentful. In this part of the text the reader learns about the mean antics of the fairies when Tanya tries to tell people about them. This adjective is a perfect way to describe "the incidents". Instead of using a common word, Harrison reaches for lesser known vocab and impresses me.

 

     The author does this again when showing Tanya's anger with her mother for forcing her stay at her grandmother's. "Tanya shot her mother a venomous look and stared at the land outside the gates" (Harrison 19). Everybody knows what venomous means and that it can be a deadly thing. The use of the adjective in this quote is brilliant word choice. We can tell just how evil a look Tanya gave her mom. The use of adjectives like this benefit the book greatly. It also helps me to extend my own vocabulary. I am excited to conitinue reading this book and uncover the new words hidden in its pages!

I've Got A New Read!

 

     Yesterday I started reading the book 13 Treasures by Michelle Harrison. It is a pretty good book so far and has me asking a lot of questions. I am only four chapters in but here is what has happened; I have met Tanya a twelve year old girl who can see what others can not, fairies. These aren't your typical fairies either, these fairies are mean and won't leave Tanya alone. In the first chapter Tanya has another encounter with these mischievous creatures in the middle of the night. They pull her out of her bed and use magic so that she has to walk on the ceiling instead of the floor. Tanya has tried many times to tell people about the fairies and has written multiple journal entries about them. The fairies don't like this too much and come to punish her every time she does it. They came to warn her against trying again to reveal their secret and threaten to erase her memory. Tanya agrees and so the fairies send her crashing to the floor. Tanya's mom comes in (she is the only one Tanya lives with) and decides she can't take any more of Tanya's antics. Tanya's mother doesn't understand Tanya's unusual behavior and thinks it's her way of seeking attention. As a result she takes Tanya to spend a couple of weeks with her grandmother.

 

     Tanya isn't the closest to her grandmother and does not like that she has to spend so much time in her huge, aging house. One of the reasons Tanya doesn't like her grandmother's house is because of the mass amount of fairies that are there. Once they arrived at her house I met the creepy grounds keeper, Warwick, who isn't the warmest man on the earth. He is tall, dressed in dark dirty clothing and has skin that shows his long time spent in the sun. He takes Tanya to her room. After Tonya's mom  makes sure Tanya gets her belongings into the house, she leaves without a good bye. Then Tanya's grandmother shows up from the grocery. Tanya goes to help carry in her bags and finds a dead fairy on the car windshield. This makes Tanya uneasy so she has a proper funeral for the creature. She goes to the edge of Hangman's Woods by the house and buries the fairy. Once she is finished she runs into Fabian, Warwick's son. Fabian is a bit of a science geek and Tanya considers him nosy and annoying. He had been spying on Tanya and asked what she had buried. Tanya tells him a dead mouse, hoping that he believes her.

 

     Later Tanya heads to her room and finds that a usually locked room has its door open. Tanya sneaks inside following her curiosity. She finds a bunch of books-some with information on fairies-and she decides to keep one to take back to her room. She finds an old charm bracelet and an old news clipping. The news clipping is about a fourteen year old girl who went into Hangman's Woods and never returned fifty years ago. Tanya's grandmother finds her snooping but is strangely not upset. She lets Tanya keep the bracelet and takes her up on her offer to help clean out the room. Tanya figured it would be an easy way to do some more looking around.

  

     Aside from what is going on in Tanya's life, I learned about an old gypsy who lives alone in the middle of Hangman's Woods. She has a gift of "second-sight" and can see the future and past, however her powers have slowly begun to wear down. The gypsy has a vision where she sees a young baby girl taken from her crib and then sees the girl when she is twelve, sad and lonely. The woman knows this girls too has the power of a "second-sight"  and knows that their paths will soon cross. I know the girl that the gypsy saw has to be Tanya. I wonder what will happen if the gypsy and her meet. I also feel like Fabian and Tanya will get to be better friends and maybe he might find out about the fairies that Tanya sees. I guess I will have to keep reading to find out!



Siblings

 

     In The Throne of Fire the characters Sadie and Carter Kane are very relatable. Carter is the older brother who does not like it when his baby sister shows him up. Sadie is only two years younger but likes to act like she is four years older than Carter. The siblings are very different from each other, like most siblings are. Sadie is fiesty and rebelious where as Carter is a rule follower. The two Kane kids don't always get along but love each other unconditionally. In the book, they have to save each other multiple times and would risk anything to make sure the other is ok.

 

     This reminds me alot of me and my siblings. I'm the oldest of four and I am very protective of my little brother and sisters. This is just like how Carter is protective over Sadie (sometimes more than Sadie prefers). I know I would do anything for them. I might never have to run to their rescue from a killer baboon as Carter did for Sadie, but if I had to I would. My siblings and I don't always get along either. I have had my fair share of arguments with them but that doesn't mean I love them any less. I am with the Kane kids in saying that siblings stand by each other no matter what.

 

     I think that there is a special bond between siblings that can't be explained. We just understand each other and can tell when something is wrong. In The Throne of Fire Carter had a horrible vision one night about Apophis, god of chaos, beginning to rise back to power. Sadie could tell just from his expressions and manorisms that something was wrong. This is the same in my family. Siblings just have a connection that is more powerful than anything else and I am luycky enough to be able to experience a bond like this.



Finally Finished!

 

     If you have read some of my previous blog posts you would know that I have been reading The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan. I have finally finished the book and I am eager to read the next one in the series.

 

     This book was very action packed. Sadie and Carter Kane go on a quest to awaken the sun god, Ra, and prevent Chaos from taking over. In the beginning, Sadie, Carter, and their friends Walt and Jaz find the first scroll of three that must be used to awaken Ra. Later Sadie leaves the Brooklyn House (the place where she and Carter had been staying with their Uncle Amos and had been training other young magicians) to spend her birthday back in London with her grandparents and friends. When she gets there she finds her grandparents possessed by the gods Nekhbet and Babi who try to stop her from going on the quest. Sadie escapes with the help of Bes, the dwarf god, who was sent to protect the Kane kids. Carter meets back up with Sadie and Bes takes them to Russia where they find the second scroll in a famous palace that was turned into a museum. They find Vlad Menshikov (one of the most powerful magicians) trying to summon Set the god of fire and ask for his help to awaken Apophis, god of Chaos. Vlad sees the Kane kids and sets a demon on them. Set helps Sadie and Carter and also gives them the location of the third scroll. After that, Bes takes Carter and Sadie to Alexandria. Set had also given Sadie a clue to the location of Carter's friend Zia who had been hidden to keep her safe after she too had been possessed by a goddess. Carter knows he has to save her and so he and Bes go to find her. Meanwhile Sadie asks Walt to come and help her find the third scroll.

 

     Carter and Bes travel to the ruins of Zia's old village and find her buried in a chamber beneath the Nile River with the crook and flail of Ra. Sadie and Walt travel across a vast dessert and into an uncovered tomb of mummies. After escaping an army of the undead they succeed in retrieving the third scroll. They are teleported to the location of Carter and Bes only to find Vlad Menshikov and Desjardins (the Chief Lector of the House of Life who didn't exactly have the best history with the Kanes) trying to arrest Carter for stealing the symbols of Ra. Desjardins wants Carter to come in piece but Vlad insists on fighting to the death. Bes uses his powers to send the two men back to their home, but Vlad is sure to come after them. Bes and Zia return to the Brooklyn House to warn and assist Amos in the battle against the army Vlad had sent their way. Sadie and Carter enter the daut (the realm of the gods) and sail through the Twelve Houses of the Night where they come across many gods and use the three scrolls that make up the book of Ra to lead them on their journey. The Kane kids find Ra and awaken him, but he is not strong enough to battle Apophis. Vlad, who had been following Sadie and Carter on their journey, takes on the form of Apophis and tries to destroy Ra as well as the Kane kids. Desjardins shows up and uses his last bit of life to turn Apophis to dust. However this does not get rid of the Chaos god, but only buys Sadie and Carter time. Ra returns to the throne room of the gods where the other gods and goddesses pledge to look after him until he once again becomes strong.

 

     The theme of The Throne of Fire is that you shouldn't let others be the boss of you, in the end the only opinion that should matter is your own. Many of the gods didn't not want Sadie and Carter to continue on their quest to awaken Ra. They did not want a weak god placed in a position of power. Even Nekhbet and Babi tried to kill Sadie to prevent her from succeeding. Nekhbet says to Sadie, "You would place a weak pharaoh on the throne of the gods. It goes against nature!"(Riordan 102). Nekhbet is obviously trying to sway Sadie's decision but Sadie ignores her and does what she believes should be done. Another god named Horus also tries to change Carter's decision about waking Ra and convince him to take the throne for himself and lead the House of Life to victory. Horus says to Carter, "Claim the crook and flail for yourself. Take the throne. Together, we can defeat Apophis"(Riordan 306). Carter finds the offer tempting but he knows the smartest decision is to continue with his plan to awaken Ra. Neither Sadie or Carter let the gods' opinions interfere with what they believe they should do. This theme that I have explained is clearly stated on page 326. Zia tells Carter, "Promise me, if it comes to a choice, that you'll listen to your own heart, not the will of the gods."

The Language of Shakespeare

 

We are starting our Romio and Juliet unit in english class. I am sort of excited to read the story considering I have heard alot about it and know the general plot line. However I have yet to read the text itself. I am also I little nervous to read the book since I know the language can be difficult to decifer. However, there is a beauty to the old Elizibethan language. The way Shakespeare wrote dialogue was so poetic. The words are gentle to the ears and smoothly roll off the tongue. The dialect suits a romantic tragedy like Romio and Juliet very well.

 

We did an activity today in class where we had to read Shakespearean compliments to one another. The way he spoke must have made the girl he was talking to melt. Guys don't woo girls today the way the did back then. So many metaphors and similes were used to describe Shakespeare's love. Here are a few lines we read;

 

"You are a flame of beauty. Sweet and delicious as the feast of love" (The Arts of Wooing and Complementing, 185).

 

"The unblown rose, the crystal, nor the diamond, are not more pure than she" (The Arts of Wooing and Complimenting, 186).

 

"You are the star I reach at" (The Arts of Wooing and Complimenting, 187).

 

Wow. This is such fine language. I think we all need to appreciate the art these men used to speak with. For all those girls out there, who couldn't resist a guy who complimented them in such a way?

 

In my opinion romance is an ok genre. There are certain books with romance that I really enjoy. Then there's other books that are just to mushy gushy for my taste. Luckily there is comedy mixed in with Shakespeare's work. Now I really enjoy a good comedy story. I am not exactly sure how funny I am going to consider his work since humor is way different now than it was then. We also reviewed some Elizabethan insults in class too. I think the class mainly found them funny because they're so strange. Here's a few;

 

"Thou  infectuous, rump-fed, moldwarp!"

"Thou beslubbering, crook-patted, bugbear!"

"Thou warped, full-gorged, measle!"

 

If someone called me one of these nowadays I would probably be really confused, but if they said this to me way back when, I don't think I would be too happy. You can definately see a difference between language today and language back in Elizabethan times. The difference shows in both romance and comedy. My the times have changed!