Blog Reflection

     The quality of my writing has improved multiple ways over the course of the trimester. One way that my writing has improved would be that towards the end of the trimester I used a lot more textual evidence in my blog posts than I did in the beginning of the trimester. In the post from earlier in the trimester I connected two different texts and explained how they were similar. However, I didn’t use any quotes to support what I was saying. For example I was talking about how the characters in both novels are similar. I wrote, “The main characters in each book are a brother and sister pair who are very different from each other, both in personality and appearance.” I went on to explain the ways that they were alike but I never used any evidence from the book that showed their characterization. In my post from the end of the trimester I talked about the cliff hangers that ended each chapter in my book. I used actual quotes from the end of different chapters and explained how they were each a cliff hanger for me. For example I wrote, “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.” Another way that my writing has improved would be that I was able to connect elements in my book to things other than different literature. In my older post I did make a connection from my book but it was with another book. My post said, “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.” Connecting a novel to another novel is fairly easy and I found that as the trimester went on, I was able to connect elements in my book to more things. In the post I wrote at the end of the trimester I talked about how cliff hangers are not only used in books such as my own but in other things such as the TV series Touch. I wrote, “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.”

            One thing that I struggled with through the experience was the decision of what to blog about. There were some days where I had a perfect idea of what I wanted to write about and then there were other days where I had no clue. To overcome this I had to force myself to think outside of the box and come up with more than just your basic book topics. I began to write about other pieces of writing besides what I was reading and I came up with ideas such as how to pick out a good book. One strength I had with blogging would be my ability to write thorough posts. Whether I was summarizing or discussing a literary element in a book, I explained what I was talking about very clearly with great detail.  I did not meet my reading goal but I found goodreads.com to be a very beneficial sight. It was very useful for being able to get good book recommendations. I liked how you could see what your friends were reading and I enjoyed that I was able to rate books that I had read. Over the course of the trimester I would say that my reading has improved in the sense that I have learned to reflect more on my reading. I also have gotten better at paying attention to literary detail in the books. Before I read only to enjoy a good story, but now I have learned to read so that I can appreciate the effect an author’s style of writing has on the story.

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!