The Best of Me -Character Development 10/14-10/17

Pages: 292 out of 292 (finished)     *Spoiler Alert*
Prompt: How does the main character start to develop throughout the story? Explain.

                                The Best of Dawson (Identification of Each Character) Direct and Indirect

       When I was reading The Best of Me I noticed that the plot sort of connected to the requirements of a traditional character arc. There were some parts of the novel that involved the antagonist (Ted Cole and Abee Cole) chasing the protagonist (Dawson) or vice versa. The author Nicholas Sparks uses his words of knowledge in order to make the reader, like the good guy and hate the bad guy. During the reunion between Dawson and his high school love Amanda he says "marriage is a partnership not a democracy." The quote is showing how he has compassion towards any kind of love most importantly family love. The passion that Dawson has towards family love shows how he transitioned from a heart-broken maniac to a hero to others. Since he is known as the "good guy" of the story which makes him like able then what makes the antagonist Ted hateful. Although he doesn't have a lot of dialogue in the story, but based on his actions I could infer that he will do a lot of damage to the other characters. The direct characterization is that the author explains Dawson's physical and mental issues. He mentions that he is extremely strong even at age 42 and that he has a large capacity of love in his heart. Throughout the story he includes phrases which show his concerns about David's family and his thoughts regarding Amanda. The quotes that show his direct characterization are shown above. The indirect part of his personality is the theme he is trying to create throughout the story. Although Sparks doesn't say it in the story but he is trying to show that Dawson truly cares about family love. He includes bits of the theme when he says after David's death Dawson started to send money to his family. This is shown when he says "I am nothing special, of this I am sure. I am a common man with common thoughts and I've led a common life. There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten, but I've loved another with all my heart and soul, and to me, this has always been enough."


                                     Dawson's Transition and What Makes Ted "Hateful"

        I mentioned before that what makes Ted Cole hateful is his action towards Dawson. In the story he beats up Dawson during his early childhood and eventually tries to shot him (in which he succeeds). The other antagonist Abee believes seems a bit less crazy than Ted but he has a lot of mental issues towards his girlfriend Candy. Let's get back on topic the protagonist Dawson Cole starts to change after his accident with one of the only doctors of his small hometown. In his early teenage years he started dating a girl named Amanda in which they feel deeply in love. The beginning of this relationship seemed a bit like a Shakespeare play in which they were denied to be together. We start to see his development through his dialogue in which says "the past can be escaped only by embracing something better." This is showing that he wants to have a future with Amanda even after twenty-three years without seeing each other.

                                      The New Version of Dawson and His Early Flaws

       Guilt. That word and feeling was one of Dawson's earliest weaknesses after what he did to poor doctor David. The teenage relationship between these two lovebirds didn't end well which drove Dawson into a long depression. He started to feel remorse in which he believed that love wasn't that important in life more like a distraction. We get to see this through his actions in which he refuses to love anyone else and decides to live the rest of his life alone. I also see it in his dialogue when he says "you might not understand, but I gave you the best of me, and after you left, nothing was ever the same." The transition begins when Dawson decides to get drunk after Amanda leaves in which he loses control of the wheel. After the car accident he learns that he because of him a young doctor named David was killed. The horror of seeing his family suffer and his kids growing up without a father eventually changed Dawson's personality. That is when he decides to take stand by fighting his cousins in order to protect Alan (David's son) in order to show his change of heart. The risk of helping Alan caused his life but showed that "love is the most powerful magic of all". -Once Upon a Time.


                      
This tree is symbolizing family love in which it grows from generation to generation. I put this picture to show the main reason why Dawson changed and how it impacted the lives of other characters. He used to think that love wasn't that important but after seeing how much David's family suffered, he realized that that's all you ever need in life.

This week I will comment on Athziry, Autumn, and Steven's Blogs. 

Reflective Writing 10/6 - 10/10

Prompt: What are you noticing? What has progressed? What can you learn from your writing?
 
                        My Writing Style (The Beginning of 7th Grade)

       When I was looking back at my 7th grade blogs I noticed that I indented a lot in my topic sentence. In my present self I still indent a bunch but less than my 7th grade version. I used to press the space button like 5 times. When I looked back at my blogs I was extremely redundant even more than I am right now. For example in my dragon series blog the main and supporting character's name would pop up every two lines. The picture on the bottom of my writing would be very descriptive but the problem was that, the first sentence of every statement was redundant. I remembered that I put a picture of an ice cave which was very detailed.  In every sentence the word "this" would pop up and two of the statements would start with "this is the first time". My paragraph length is still the same but my vocabulary is greatly increasing. My word choice and supporting details have progressed since the beginning of 7th grade.


                                        Today vs. Last Year
 
       The next major error in my 7th grade blogs was my choice of words that would start off the topic sentence. My grammar was terrible, reasons being that I would start off the topic sentence with words like oops or wow which directed the reader to a different path. The sentences in my paragraphs wouldn't make sense do to the reason that I would leave out a word like an. I learned from reading my past blogs that I should always proof read anything I write or type. I always write what I'm thinking but sometimes I think too fast which can't keep with my writing. The blog would be filled with nonsense statements, failure of providing grade level vocab or even higher level word choice. In my recent blog you might find more advanced words that fit with the author's use of word choice, this seems to be a sign of progress. Since the blog was about John Green's form of writing I would say that his writing techniques impacted the way I wrote my piece of writing.

                                   Prompts and In-Depth Captions for Pictures

      In my opinion I feel like providing more in-depth pictures will help the reader understand the book better and leave a little a bit of mystery that will persuade the reader to read the book. The prompts I used in the beginning of last year were too simple more like ISAT extended response questions. The prompts I used to choose did increase my understanding of what I was reading. The prompts this year give me the chance to know what the author was thinking while he/she was writing.   The pictures I include on my weekly blog were slowly changing over the last year. The quality of the image showed progress. I remember that last year I would put pictures of places that would probably be in the book. I now include images that have a bigger meaning to the novel or an image that will leave the reader hanging. In this past year I've learn how to be less redundant, more sophisticated, less wordy, and understanding the whole purpose behind a novel.


                       

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The picture of these books is showing how I have changed my way of reading and also my style of writing. I have gone from fairly easy books to a slightly challenging novel and the Icefire book is trying to show how my 7th grade writing reflected on the writing techniques used by the author Chris. The book Paper Towns is symbolizing my growth of word choice and vocabulary that I use in my current blogs.


                     

Paper Towns 9/29- 10/3

Pages: 158 out of 305
Prompt: Analyze the writing techniques used by the author. Explain the affect the technique has on the writing. Style and Mood

                           Green's Writing Style in Paper Towns 

    In this particular book the author John Green seems to develop a kind of romance/comedy throughout his writing. He seems to have the habit of including a lot of high level vocabulary that connects to the certain character that is in the book. For example in Paper Towns the character Quentin Jacobson talks like a normal teenager but he seems to use high school level vocabulary. It seems that in the middle of his paragraphs or in some pages he transitions genres. During the beginning of the book the reader would feel like this would be a romance/comedy but after the disappearance of another character Margo he starts to make the genre mysterious. The genre mystery is seen in his writing because he plucks out certain pieces of famous literature in order for it to connect to the disappearance of Margo. During this transition period he references a lot of books in the middle of the plot by using poetry from Walt Whitman and including some quotes from The Great Gatsby.

                                       Writing Style Continued.....

     Since I'm not very familiar with John Green's style I would imagine that he tries to make a character personality that readers could relate to. The first few chapters show that the other main character Margo is very adventurous and that she likes to create mysteries even though she is a mystery herself. I for an instance can relate to the other character Quentin who has the urge of staying out of trouble but will always tune in for an adventurous depending on how much a person persuades him. I liked how Green includes sentences or even quotes that makes the reader think or sometimes it foreshadows events that will eventually happen later in the book. When Margo says "the town was paper but the memories were not" and this statement makes the character Quentin infer that he is the one who needs to find her. He has a flashback of when Margo says "I picked you and then you picked me back." I didn't realize until later that this was foreshadowing how Quentin will be the one who finds her in the end.

                                      The Mood of the Reader

  In the section where I am right now completely changed my mood towards the book because Green transitions his use of word choice. I just recently finished the part where Quentin goes to random pseudo divisions in the city of Orlando, Florida and he believes that Margo is buried beneath one of the trees. The idea of going to these pseudo divisions comes from the highlighted parts of one of Walt Whitman's poems. Quentin believes that it is a suicide note which made me feel a bit scared now that there is a possibility of Margo being dead. His technique of transitions not only changed the genre of the book but also the feelings of the reader. The technique he uses had a huge affect on the writing because it creates a darker tone and a scarier atmosphere for the reader. I myself felt that this book would be one of those happily ever after stories where two souls meet and they eventually live a happy life. The author's use of connecting death with famous pieces of literature created a suspenseful feeling and made me infer that this book will not end happily.

This week I included a picture of the book that included the poem which is frequently mentioned in the story line. I mentioned before that Margo seems to have left a sort of like suicide note in Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman. The found poem that she made has let to chaos in the plot now that it has changed the tone, the mood of the reader, and even the genre. After reading Margo's found poem it had changed my mood from humor to suspense.

This week I will comment on Jenna, Steven, and Stanley's Blogs. 
         
 
 

Favorite Banned Book Vlog 9/22-9/26

2). Choose a favorite banned/challenged book and discuss what the book meant to you and how you would feel if someone prevented you from reading it

                         

    

Insurgent Week of 9/15 - 9/19

Pages: 150 out of 525
Prompt:
Describe what was either believable or unbelievable about your reading.
Defend your opinion.
                                            Introduction to Insurgent
         This book has surprised because it's less suspenseful than the first book Divergent mostly because this book acts like the planning stage for the next book in the series. It begins where the last book left off Tris and her friends are traveling on a train heading to Amity headquarters. They escaped safely from the clutches of Erudite and Dauntless who were trying to control the minds of many faction leaders. They arrive to learn that many Abgneation members have been for days after the attack in downtown Chicago. Tris meets the calm and peaceful leader Johanna who has created safe home for the Abgneation and a bit of people who are in Candor.  The other main character Tobias worries that Amity might betray them with Dauntless for money and power. Tris feels like she should destroy the disk containing some of the information involving the simulation that the antagonist Jeannie created. She is stuck making decision because the disk shows the last moments of her parents.

                           Is it Believable or Unbelievable?

    I feel like this book can be both because it does take place in a realistic place but it's also unbelievable due to the book having to do with a utopian society. The part that makes it believable is that it describes real life landmarks in Chicago, like Navy Pier and the Loop. They analyze every part of Chicago to make it believable by describing that the loop is the way of transportation for many faction members. I would also describe the book as unbelievable because almost every person in Chicago is in some sort of faction and each faction has it's own way of life. When I started reading this book it was unbelievable when Candor tried a truth liquid on Tris and Tobias. There is no way that a person could speak out their darkest secrets just by drinking some random liquid that has some sort of magic. In my opinion I feel like the factions Candor and Erudite are the ones who have to deal more with magic/futuristic items. My opinion is two parted between Dauntless because they are believable but at the same time unbelievable.

                      Are Dauntless and Amity both Believable?

     I described before that Candor is a bit fake the reason that they both have to do with magical liquids and a "conflict room" which is like a time out room. The part that made me change my mind was when I read about the way of life in the Amity faction and how it can change our way of treating the environment in present time. I found it interesting that Amity members care so much about the environment by planting trees almost every day of the year. The long line of fruit trees create a sort of peaceful mood because it's something that it unbelievable but could be believable if we take action right now. The grounds of Amity are filled with colorful flowers and the leader Johanna tries to grows  everything that is available in Chicago. When I read Dauntless it was a bit believable because it reminded me of the military bases we have here in the United States. The way of life in this faction is to fight and protect their base as much as they can.

                 


















This is the symbol of Amity showing that it is peaceful and dedicated to preserving the environment in Chicago. My complete opinion about this book in the beginning was that it was fake but after reading how life works in Amity it changed my previous opinion. I felt like the life here was a bit unbelievable but it can be made real if we take action right now. The idea of the Amity faction being in Insurgent is to teach the reader how life could be a wonderful place if we preserve tree life and plant life here in Chicago.


This week I will comment on Leanna, Athziry, and Nikolas. 

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Pages: 348 out of 348 (finished)
Prompt: Analyzing the impact of imagery and figurative language have on the meaning and tone of my book

     The style of this book is clearly stated in the first chapter of the book when it introduces the main characters and the setting. The author's style was to include pictures from classic literature books every time he explained some kind of imagery in the page. The book overall doesn't include as much as 50% of figurative language it seems that the author wanted to focus more on imagery instead of using literary devices. I was imagining that the tone of this story would be sort of positive as the main character Grandpa Portman explains that the home was everything a child could dream of and using words like "marvelous" and "fantastic". I felt like the imagery impacted the tone more than the figurative language as the climax develops around the time when Jacob Portman travels to a mysterious island to find the truth about this "peculiar home". The comparisons in the book show the horrors of life during World War II and they compare the hideous hollows to the murdering Nazis.

      The photos in Miss Peregrine's album create some kind of imagery in the reader's head in order for the reader to process the threats that these peculiar children have. I noticed that author's style was to include a sentence that had figurative language but also created imagery inside a reader's head. For example "to have endured all the horrors he did, to have seen the worst of humanity and have your life unrecognizable by it, to come out of all that the honorable and brave and good person I knew him to be was magical". The imagery that shown was that these poor children have seen houses being blown up by the Nazis over and over again but that they had become honorable and brave to finally confront the hollows. The quote kind of develops the character traits of Jacob who was first seen a spoiled child but now has become a hero to this children after seeing the horrors of this world and the worst of humanity. The imagery mentioned in this quote shows that the mood might be suspenseful or  thrilling because of the adventures mentioned by another character called Emma.

        The tone starts to get darker after Miss Peregrine tells Jacob about the wights who are even worse than the hollows. The figurative language that she uses gave me goosebumps and it even made me skip the photos. The description created a horrifying image in my head when she said that their eyes were "as white as the Milky Way". Miss Peregrine also says that these monsters appear like a common person who eats peculiar children and they disappear like fog after a storm. The imagery created by these details made the tone even darker than before because it leads to the death battle between Jacob and a wight. The wound of Milliard a peculiar child gives me the idea that this book is young adult and it even lightens up the tone. In the book he says "will you quit shouting and let me bleed in peace." The language created some kind of humor in the book but the imagery of the wound gave me a sick feeling and a dark mood even in the end.
   

The description of the wight changed the mood from adventurous to a darker tone based on the figurative language and imagery. In the middle of the book she mentions that his eye was "as white as the Milky Way" and that he could "appear like a typical person". In my head I was imagining a monster who kidnaps children and destroys them just for their power. The picture above shows a wight in disguise which even lead me to skip this page entirely.

This week I will comment on Stanley, Jenna, and Citalli's Blogs. 
                 
   
   
         

"Life Changing Books"

1. Embraced by the Light  By: Betty J. Eadie
This book is my all time as it explains what happens to person after death. The author is able to change the reader's perspective on religion and how the negative activities you do in life can effect you even in the afterlife. I used to question my religion as to the reason why family members or friends had to die so suddenly. After I read the book I learned that the author is trying to teach us that every person on earth has some kind of mission. When your mission is done that means you are able to precede in the future that awaits in the afterlife. The book has created a better person inside myself and has given me the reasons that I needed to live a better life.



















2. A Separate Peace By: John Knowles
When I first saw the cover of this book in my mind I was thinking that this was going to be another boring classic book. I started reading the first few chapters just to see the form of this book and the author John taught me the importance of friendship in just a few words. The thoughts that are conveyed in this book showed me the worries of World War II and the thoughts of losing a best friend forever. I read this book when I was in 7th Grade as part of my traditional literature list which teaches more than just vocabulary but also that nothing get in the way of a true friendship.

3. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close By: Jonathan Foer
The title actually says it all when someone dies in something extremely loud they will always be closer than you can ever imagine. I learned more about the aftermath of 9/11 and the sadness of families once united but now separated. It tells the story of a young boy named Oskar who loses his father in the 9/11 attacks. The text in this book is so creative that in some pages the words actually create images from your head. I would say that this book is meant for a 7th Grader or older as it shows how one tragedy can lead to something unexpected.

4. Bomb the Race to Build and Steal the World's Most Dangerous Weapon  By: Steve Sheinkin
When I was reading this book at the same time we were learning about World War II in social studies. The facts I learned in class expired me to do some further research on the events leading up to the end of the war. I was able to analyze the facts of the atomic weapon in order to come up with a conclusion that building this weapon was sort of like a competition. The author explains that the decision of dropping this weapon was kind of like a dead end. If you dropped it thousands of people would die if you don't drop it people will also die.

5. Small as an Elephant   By: Jennifer Richard Jacobson
I would say that this book has changed my opinion on my parent's decisions and how a chain reaction can be created by one little incident. I think that the author Jennifer created this title to show that we are small as an elephant but with the help of numerous strangers we can be as big as the world. I feel like the author was trying to teach us that anyone can help out a person who is need like the stranger who helped Jack get back to his family. I read this book for Battle of the Books and this book was definitely between family and surviving. 

6. Life of Pi  By: Yann Martel
This epic novel filled with adventure in every page even though some of the chapters are only 1 sentence long. I have to admit that this was a bit challenging because it analyzed the imagery of the book and it made the reader discuss the character's feelings or emotions. The descriptive details of the character Pi and his survival in the Pacific Ocean with a tiger made me feel grateful for my family and for what I have. It taught me how to overcome adversity and the bond of two people even though one of them is not human. The faith and perspective of Pi's religion truly shaped this book.

7. I Am Malala By: Malala Yousafzai
The incredible journey of this young girl starting in Pakistan and ending up as a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize. I feel like what impacted me the most was the powerful speeches of Malala in the United Nations and her struggle to provide education for young women her same age. The determination of Malala is inspiring to others like myself who want provide a better future for kids like us. When I finished reading this book it kind of inspired me to improve the school conditions in Mexico. My favorite quote in the book is "one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world".-Malala

8. Wonder By: R.J. Palacio
A person should not judge a book by its cover as well as not judging a person by their face. This sentence I just mentioned is basically the plot of Wonder when a young boy named August who has a facial deformity struggles with the troubles of elementary school. The book was part of a book club that was formed in my Star class last year. The anger. happiness, and determination of August made me reflect on people from the 21st century. We as people have the urge to criticize and the story of August created a visualization of a world where no one criticizes which means everyone is happy. The end of the book taught me the lesson that having the urge to speak up can lead to great things in the future.

9. The Five People You Meet in Heaven  By: Mitch Albom
This is the most recent book I've read which means it's still fresh in mind. The basic lesson that the book teaches is meeting random strangers could leave an impact in their future. The author Mitch provides evidence that proves it when the main character Eddie is sent to heaven after he was killed in a deadly accident. He meets five people from his past his wife, army general, Ruby, the blue man, and Tala. The Blue Man was a complete stranger that Eddie met during his childhood when Eddie was almost run over by him. This inspired the stranger to improve his life little by little as he sees that he must value his life every minute.

10. Marley and Me  By: John Grogan
I couldn't really relate to this book due to the fact that I don't have a pet but after I read Marley and Me it gave me the feeling that dogs truly are man's best friend. The tragic story of Marley will leave readers crying but also reflecting on their past or present experiences with dogs. He might have been trouble maker but his heart was always filled with love and kindness. The book mentions that "love comes in many forms" which is true but we as humans fill to learn how to take care of the other inhabitants of earth. Instead becoming friends we are turning enemies. I think that having pet will impact your life forever as it provides you with love, kindness, and support.