40 Book Challenge 12/15/14

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Prompt:
-Describe the setting – when and where what you are reading takes place

-Which character do you like best? Why?  Which character do you like least? Why?

Pages: 40-158

     The book The Maze Runner, takes place in a maze. They are in the middle of the maze and trying to escape it. The middle part in which they are in is the size of several football fields surrounded by big walls of stone. It is called the Glade. On the north east side is the Gardens, the gardens consist of the crops are grown and the water is pumped, it never rains in the Glade. Then there is the Homestead on the north west side, that is were the boys sleep. Behind the Homestead is the Slammer, it is a place like a jail. Then on the south east side is the Bloodhouse, there is where the livestock is raised and slaughtered. Finally, on the south west side is the Deadheads where there is a thick forest with a graveyard. In the center of the Glade is a metal elevator and the Gladers call it "The Box."Supplies and newbies come through there.

    The character I like best is Minho.I really like him because he is a Runner. The Runners are the only Gladers that are allowed in the Maze, they are really cool to me. He is really fast and noble to Thomas. In the book it states, "... he stayed strong while I turned into a panty-wearin' chicken... I nominate this shank to replace me as Keeper of the Runners." That shows that he has courage to give Thomas his job because what Thomas showed on that night with Minho. Minho respected people, like Thomas.


    My least favorite character is Gally. He is basically the bully of the Glade. He is just jealous of Thomas and the leaders. He is very stubborn and just hates anyone who is better than him. In the book he says, "I think it was all an act. How could he have done what he did out there after just a few days? I ain't buying it. I think he's a spy from the Creators." Basically Gally is just blaming him just because he doesn't like Thomas, he wants him in the slammer for a month. I really do not like Gally, he is one of the Keepers, but he is a negative and horrible one.

40 Book Challenge 12/08/14

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Prompt:Who are the characters? Describe who they are, what they look like and how they are connected.

Pages: 0-40

     Some characters in The Maze Runner are Thomas, Gally, and Newt. Thomas is the main character, and is the newbie in this suspicious location called the Glade. All he knows about him is his name, just like every other boy in the Glade. Thomas is about 16 years old, and in the story he is described as the protagonist of the story. He is not to tall or to short, has dark brown hair and is muscular. Thomas is brave, loyal, and clever. Thomas' good friend is Chuck, his enemy is Gally. When he arrives to the Glade he notices that he remembers something about the Glade...


   Another character is Gally. He is known as the nemesis of Thomas, as they liked to call him that in the book. He is connected to Thomas because Gally states, "I know you, I saw you in the Changing and I'm gonna figure out who you are..." Gally actually bullies him on the day Thomas arrives, not knowing what to do. The physical appearance of Gally is he is a black-haired guy who was about fifteen and tall and a bit skinny. He also had a small nose, that resembles a deformed potato. He thinks he is the leader of the Glade, even though he is just the guy that picks on the newbie.

     Another character is Newt, he is the second in command in the Glade (after Alby). Very sarcastically and very direct he becomes Thomas' friend and spends time explaining the way the Glade and Maze work. His physical appearance is he is very tall and muscular boy with long blonde hair. He is an overall average joe, he is a nice guy.

40 Book Challenge 12/01/14

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

Prompt: 

-Write a summary on the book.

-List the personality/characteristics of the main character (feelings, interests, behaviors, etc.)

Pages: FINISHED BOOK

*WARNING SPOILER IN PARAGRAPH 3*

     The main character, Brian Robeson was on his way to visit his dad, but the the pilot had a heart attack while flying the plane! The pilot died, and the plane collided into the Canadian forest and Brian was all ALONE. He was there in the forest with a Windbreaker and a Hatchet nothing else. One thing that was killing him was the divorce between his mom and dad, it was the Secret, he was filled with anguish because of what happened between his parents. He must find a way to survive alone, he does not know how much time he has...

    Brian at first tends to be very, babyish and weak and scared. The way he reacted at first with landing. His behavior was "I'm done, I'm going to die."Very negative based on what had happened, he didn't think of later, what to do to live and survive. He would just give up and lie on the ground crying. I know I'm kind of sounding harsh but he was just doing nothing to help himself. It states in the book, "He was there lying in the soft, moist sand being eaten alive by mosquitoes. He then fi
nally cried himself to sleep."

     Like every character in a book Brian developed. Towards the end of the book he developed a mind that helped him live in this harsh environment by himself. He also had background information on the forest and how to survive. In the book it kept going back to how before all this happened he would watch nature shoes and read books about nature. It's good to have some background knowledge. He stayed positive. When you stay positive, positive things will come to you. He then found eggs to eat, he got lots of fish, and he then got rescued just by surviving and staying positive. All you need to survive is to be positive and knowledge, oh and a hatchet!

I commented on Siaris, Lillian, and Mia's Blog.

40 Book Challenge 11/17/14

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
Prompt: Describe the most important event. Give some reasons why you think it is the most important event.
Pages: 1-32

     The most important event in Hatchet is when the plane crashes. Thirteen-year-old Brian is in this little small plane, only him and the pilot. He is going to go visit his dad in Canada. The pilot suddenly has a heart attack and dies. Brian is left alone in the plan not knowing what to do. He then lands the plane, and he is still alive...

     I think that is the most important event in the book so far because it sets up the whole bo

ok into place. It shows the new setting, new way of mind, and also new conflicts and problems. He is now in the Canadian Wilderness, no sign of anything but trees. He must not have the feeling of the Secret inside him or it will drag him down, he cannot survive with great despair. His parents have gotten into divorce, it doesn't mean that he has to go into depression otherwise it will lead to other problems, social problems. He must be positive or he will not get far. New problems  in the wilderness will include water, food, shelter, and animals. This is the main conflict of the book, it is basically what the whole book is about, surviving in the wilderness.

Prompt: Is the setting described well enough that can put a picture of it in your mind? Why or why not?

    The setting in Hatchet is the Canadian Wilderness. It of course has an abundance of trees everywhere. Yes I do think that the setting is being well described and I can picture every detail in my mind. The author conveys, "He pulled his legs out of the lake and crawled on his hands and knees until he was away from the wet-soft shore and neat a small stand of bush of some kind."  I image a boy about my age coming out of the water with pain but also grief in his eyes, he is coming out of the water very tired because his plane just crashed! Then I see him near a small bush and him laying down and closing his eyes. It also states, "...until his back was against a small tree were he sat facing the lake, watching the sky get lighter and lighter with the coming Dawn."The author is describing a sunset near the lake were Brian was leaning on a tree because

he was so tired.

40 Book Challenge 11/10/14

Allegiant by Veronica Roth
Prompt: Analyze the impact word choice has on the meaning or tone of a text. Analyze how dialogue or specific incidents reveal information about characters. Make sure to include textual evidence.
Pages: 217-451

          The word choice in the story brings a negative connotation. The story includes words like violent, dishonestly, damage, and death. These words all have some type of negative connotation that brings the negative tone to the story. Violent has an aggressive outcome, and connotation. In the story there is many hardships the characters have to face together. Like all human nature people have different opinions so then depending on their opinion sides are built, and violence occurs between the two sides. In Allegiant there are two sides, the ones that respect Evelyn's choice and the Allegiant (that is what the group is called that does not obey Evelyn's choice). Then later the Allegiant have an uprising and they plan to battle the other side for power, they want life to go back to normal. The article states, "You know, the city is still on the verge of a revolution," she says, an the light turns blue. "The Bureau's whole reason for resetting our friends and families is to stop them from killing each other. if we stop the reset, the Allegiant will attack Evelyn, Evelyn will turn the death serum loose, and a lot of people will die." That shows us that there is violence, lots of it, and if it isn't stopped then everyone, even innocent people will die. Now that is very negative, and the word has a negative connotation. 


     Tris and Tobias are a couple, and there is lots of dishonesty in there relationship. Dishonesty has a negative connotation, this has a meaning on the text based upon that there is lots of people that are not honest. They do that to protect the ones they love. It makes the tone of the text more negative but also positive in a way because you are protecting the people that matter meaning that you must lie to another. DAMAGE, damage is a word that brings a very bad tone in the story. In Allegiant the people that genes are good are called genetically pure and the genes that are not great are genetically damaged. Tobias thought he was GP, but turns out it may seem like he is but when you look at his x-rays they are negative, meaning damaged. When he hears that he is GD he is devastated, if you are GD then you are just another person, not at all unique. All of these words bring on a negative meaning on the story. Then these, depending what you did wrong these might lead to death.

     How specific incidents and dialogue reveal information about the characters is because that is their behavior and how they react to things, what there instincts based on the problem. In the story Tobias states, "I notice, however, that Peter only pretends to inject himself–when he presses the plunger down, the fluid runs down his throat, and he wipes it casually with a sleeve. I wonder what it feels like to volunteer to forget everything." That shows through Peters actions that he WANTS to forget this life, his life, his behavior shows that since he did not inject himself with the liquid, that will not let him forget. Christina states, "It's basically one of your parents against the other one, " Christina says. "Isn't there something that you can say to them that will stop them from trying to kill each other?" "Something I can say to them?" Tobias says. "Are you kidding? They don't listen to anyone. They don't do anything that doesn't directly benefit them" So there's nothing you can do. You're just going to let the city rip itself to shreds." Tobias is being very selfish. His parents have betrayed him lots of times, but he should be wiling to help save thousands of lives. He is being very selfish and already giving up on his parents. His behavior is unnecessary.
   
     I commented on Omar, Anthony, and Mia's Blog

My Reflection on Poe

     This week I have been learning quite a lot about Edgar Allen Poe, very famous writer, he had a crazy life back in the 1800s. Now he is a one of the most known and famous writer of all times! 

    The differences between living in the 1800s and the 2000s for Poe was... His parents died a year after he was born, they died from diseases that were more effective back in the day because they didn't have many vaccines and it was easier for people to die by diseases (that could be the reason why Poe died). Then he was taken in by a tobacco merchant, now there is no tobacco merchants legally, only illegally. Also, he married his 13 year old cousin, now that is illegal. His stories were also not widely known because there wasn't really a way to exchange with technology, also people thought it was very weird that he made his own genre. It is way easier now in the 2000s because of all the new technology. Now people really admire his work in many ways. Finally, he died a death of mystery, I bet if he died in the modern day
we would of known of how he died...

    Some similarities between living in the 1800s and 2000 is that Poe had to go through his father leaving his family, people still today leave people because of how they act. Also, he lost his mother and wife from TB, and people still get it and may die from it. Poe was an orphan, there are many orphans today sadly. He would also move so much, and many people today move based on similar reason back then, like environment, new life, education, and the people in the community. 

    Poe's life was a very tragic one, his life did effect his writing very much. Poe's life was very sad, his mother died of tuberculoses and also her wife. His dad abandoned his family and abandoned him. He had to move many times and he has faced lots of rejection. His stories are very dark and sad. His life effects his writing very much, it is his feelings that are his writing, his words are his emotions. He is a poet and an author, his writing is poetry and poetry is what people feel or think of inside. His life affected his writing very much.

40 Book Challenge 11/3/14

Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Prompt: List at least three problems the characters faced? Which was the most life changing? Describe how the character(s) accomplished their problems.

Pages 157-217

    A problem that Tris has had to face is taking down Jeanine Matthews. Tris had to sneak through her high tech security system and kill her to stop her plan. Her plan was to get everyone that was Divergent killed, and to have everyone else in their factions. Tris accomplished to ruin her plan by establishing an army of Divergent people, the faction less, the Dauntless, and the Abnegation. She then went into the Erudite compound and captured everyone and kill Jeanine Mathews. With the help of Evelyn, who is now the new leader of Chicago.

     Another problem that Tris went through was when she was held captive by Jeanine Matthews. During the war she was captured by Jeanine. Her brother lowered her to her and she was then captured. Then one of her old friends saved her because she was supposed to die but her friend put a different liquid in the tube that was supposed to kill her. Then she escaped with him.

   A problem that Tobias has faced was his father's trial. His father has done many things to upset the people of the court. He abused his family, betrayed his faction, and put young people's life in danger. He was then sentenced to leave Chicago immediately. Tobias was neither sad or happy. That was also a problem for Tobias' Dad, he was the one that would have to leave Chicago.

     The problem that was most life changing was taking down Jeanine Matthews. Tris went through many obstacles that is life changing for her. During it she lost her mother and father, her mother and father were trying to protect her and died. Then she lost her best friend Will, he was in a simulation so he was trying to kill Tris and Tris shot him and died. She also lost her brother's trust, he had betrayed her and worked for Jeanine Matthews. And a lot of her friends have betrayed her to go to the side of the Erudite. It has changed her life because she lost people physically and emotionally.



I commented in Siara, Jared, and Mia's Blog.