Finally

This semester I only read three books. The Kite Runner was my favorite, although I do like reading The Help as well. I would either read in study hall or at night before bed and usually big chunks at a time instead of spacing it out. I didn't manage my time well when it came to reading (or blogging for that matter). I've found that my favorite types of books are books about friendship and growing up, but I would still like to broaden the genres of which I read.While reading The Kite Runner I would get lost in it, but for the other two books I found myself checking my phone, texting, or even staring at the wall, for whatever odd reason. It's not that the books were bad, I'm just easily distracted. That's why I like reading in silence the best, music and the television would distract me beyond belief, which is why I should really stop doing my homework in the family room. I have stayed the same as a reader throughout this semester and will probably always stay the same. When it comes to reading it's patchy in a sense. Sometimes I go for long spurts without reading, and other times I'll be engross in books for weeks, it just depends. A lot of it depends on how busy I am, how motivated I am, or even my emotions. When I want to get something off my mind, I read because it is a decent distraction from what I am trying to avoid. Reading allows me to temporarily forget about my problems, which can make me feel better, even if it is short lived.

Currently 11/4/11

"The Help" by Kathryn Stocket
Pages for week 2: 100
Pages for week 3: 78
Pages this semester: 1050

Sentences of the week:

1.) The she say, "Aibee, you're my real mama."
 2.)"It's true. There are some racists in this town."
3.)Miss Celia takes a deep breath in that tight pink skirt and for a second I guess we all think she gone pop.

Close Reading Bingo

Chillin In The Nyle-  Rule #6- (use) 
http://letsgetawesome5.blogspot.com/

Apples to Apples- Rule #4 
http://wowfaktor.blogspot.com/

That one guy's blog- Rule # 9 (this)
http://mrbsbooks.blogspot.com/2011/10/activity-2.html

As Told By Ginger- Rule #4 (use)
http://mbutchko.blogspot.com/

Practice Diction Analysis

The Mezzanine by Nicholson Baker has a somewhat straightforward diction. The description is precise and has a somber bitterness to it. The rubber handrails "wavered slightly" and had a "black luster." On  sunny days there was an "escalator of daylight" which conveys a poetic dullness, yet a common denotation. The word choice is dull and low-level, but it still has a high level of description like the escalators described as a "pair of integral signs swooping upward." Overall, Baker wrote a very descriptive paragraph, but lacked colorful and exciting diction.

Currently

The Help by Kathyn Stockett.
Pages this week: 110
Pages this semester: 872

Style Mapping
http://the-squirrel-monkey.blogspot.com/
http://thatperuviangirlathomestead.blogspot.com/
http://ticanthunder.blogspot.com/

Favorites ^

Style Mapping

The Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy has a musical and elegantly figurative sound to it. The words used for description are somewhat poetic and melodious. McCarthy writes, "Days of riding where there rode no soul save he. He's left behind the pinewood country and the evening sun declines before him beyond an endless swale and dark falls here like a thunderclap and a cold wind sets the weeds to gnashing." Stardust by Neil Gaiman is more denotative and specific however. His way of description is littoral, precise, and common. His description is seen by the excerpt, "The houses are square and old, built of grey stone, with dark slate roofs and high chimneys." The Help by Kathyrn Stockett is lower and blunt, but is still somewhat poetic with a figurative rhythm to it. One of the characters, Aibileen, says, "But I ain't never seen a baby yell like Mae Mobley Leefolt. First day I walk in the door, the she be, red-hot and hollering with the colic."

The Help

I'm about a quarter of the way through The Help! At first it was somewhat hard for me to understand the way Aibileen talks but I've gotten a little more used to it now. Right now in the book, Aibileen is feeling really sad because it's the three year anniversary of her son, Treelore's death. Treelore wanted to be a writer and wanted to write a novel about what it was like being a negro working for white people in Jackson, Mississippi. He died before he could write it though and now Miss Skeeter wants to take his idea. She wants to interview the help (maids) in white people's homes. So far however, she can't find a maid to agree to interview with her. I don't blame the maids either. Aibileen sums it up by saying, " if I agree to take this interview, I might as well burn my own house down." Which at the time, it was a good possibility to have your house burned down for using the wrong bathroom. Aibileen's neighbor was blinded by a mob of white men for using the wrong bathroom, when there wasn't even a sign indicating it was a white only bathroom! Different bathrooms?! ridiculous.

Quarterly

This quarter, my favorite book has been The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. Actually, it's my favorite book I've ever read by far. It is a book I will never forget and I will probably end up reading it several times over for fun. The themes in the novel appealed to me and I connected with them well even though Amir lived half way around the world from me. I would find myself reading The Kite Runner until 2 in the morning because it reeled me in completely. Right now I'm reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett and I'm hoping it's just as good. Everyone that has read it has told me they loved the book, but I honestly don't think that any book could top The Kite Runner. I'm hoping that I'll be surprised and love The Help just as much however.
Next quarter I want to try to read more consistently, instead of reading a bunch Thursday night so I can reach my weekly quota. I also want to try to relate my blog posts more to my reading, rather than simply rambling about my life and whatnot.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Pages this week (week 8): 104
Pages this semester: 762

Currently

I am currently reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett and have finished Whistling in the Dark by Lesley Kagen


Sentences of the quarter:
1.) "No matter how poor we are," Mother said, backing into the parking space in front of Shuster's Shoes up on North Avenue, "we still need shoes." She winked at us. "They're important to our souls." (Whistling in the Dark)
     Well, I LOVE SHOES so this sentence is self-explanatory. I spend too much money on shoes and I have a lot a shoes, some would say I have too many, but that is a false statement. You can't have too many pairs of shoes.


2.) "Children aren't coloring books. You can't fill them with your favorite colors" (The Kite Runner)
       This sentence has really stuck with me all quarter. It was one of the first sentences I have read in a long time that made me stop, and reread it several times over. I believe that this statement should be told to every parent everywhere because I think that in general, parents pressure their kids way too much to be perfect spitting mini images of themselves. It is beyond stressful and if I get a complex, I'm blaming my mother.


3.) Laughter not only is the best medicine, it's also the best disguise. (Google?)
       I forget where exactly I heard this sentence and I still can't put a finger on why I like it so much. Laughter has healing powers no doubt, laughter is good for the soul. Fake laughter however, is a great disguise to what you're really feeling inside. Laughter can be extremely deceiving sometimes.

The Help

I just started reading The Help! The movie looks so so so good and I love the the actors in it. What I have found though is that the book is ALWAYS better than the movie. For example, Harry Potter, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Twilight, My Sister's Keeper, Narnia, Marley and Me, and many many more. The book is always better because it allows you to picture it yourself and experience it for yourself. When watching a funny movie you tend to laugh with everybody else, but laughing while reading is like a little secret, a little inside joke you have all to yourself. Reading can entrance you in a whole different way than movies can. I like reading, unfortunately, I don't read as much as I should because I am always so busy! I tend to procrastinate quite a bit too however.

Tripped.

I hate being guilt tripped into things. Especially into things that I really don't want to do. Usually, I don't allow myself to get pulled into things, I'm actually pretty stubborn. But I was guilt tripped by a sweet old lady to ref a couple soccer games on Saturday, when I was planning to go shopping instead, and needless to say, I'm fricken ticked! I hate reffing, and my mom said I could stop reffing when I  got another job, which I did. I was planning on never reffing ever again (never happened, my mom made me keep on reffing anyway, can you say hypocrite much?) Then my dad tells the referee assignor that I can ref on Saturday. The referee assignor happens to be a nice old lady that nobody can say no to, and she pulled a major guilt trip on me. It was so unfair. So much for my strong sense of willpower and stubbornness.

Talking about stubbornness reminds me of Troo, a girl in a book that I'm reading right now. She wouldn't be guilt tripped into anything! Her evil stepfather, Hall, hit her three times trying to get her to cry, which she never did. She wouldn't give anybody the satisfaction of seeing her cry, talk about willpower! Troo also always get her way no matter what. Along with being stubborn, she is also very manipulative. It kind of scares me to be honest!

Currently

Whistling in the Dark by Lesley Kagen
Pages this week: 150
Pages this semester: 526

Sentences of the Week:

1.) Her eyes bulged out of her head when she said that because she had a condition called a thyroid, which was located somewhere in her leg.

2.) There really was a shitload of kids. That's because the neighborhood was chock-full of what Granny called "products of Catholic marriages."

3.) "No matter how poor we are," Mother said, backing into the parking space in front of Shuster's Shoes up on North Avenue, "we still need shoes." She winked at us. "They're important to our souls."

I liked sentence one because I'm a nerd and thought the fact that Sally thinks the thyroid is in the leg is funny. The second sentence I found humorous as well. The third sentence is my favorite because it is SO TRUE! I love shoes!

Whistling in the Dark

The stepfather, Hall, in this book is really getting on my nerves! He is such a jerk! He's a drunken fool that hits his kids (Sally, Troo, and Nell), that aren't even his kids! Above all that, he has a 'mother' tattoo on his arm. Mama's boy. Ew. He even started to yell her name when he fell over drunk after hitting Troo! This guy screams pompous idiot. Also, the girls' mother has been in the hospital for a couple days now, so the girls have to watched by Hall. It is a horrible situation altogether. Another thing that's going on in the book right now is that the oldest sister, Nell, has to cook dinner for all of them, and since Hall is spending all the grocery money on beer, there isn't much food to cook with. All in all, I don't think it's going to end well for these little girls.

I Should Probably Blog

I started a new book this week called Whistling in the Dark. I'm not sure if I'm going to like it or not yet. I'm still in the "oh my gosh The Kite Runner was so great phase" if that makes any sense to you at all. Have you ever read a book you like so well that the next book you read pales in comparison? Well I think that's what I'm going through. Or maybe I just need to give Whistling in the Dark more of a chance. It could potentially be a good book. I haven't gotten far in it yet, but so far it's about a little girl and her sister. Their father dies, and her mom remarries a guy they hate, and they have to move into the city. So far, I'm not too found of the mother. The first few pages in the mom was talking about how you can tell all about a person just from his or her last name. Crazy judgmental right? Yeah that's what I thought too. And the girls' stepfather seems to be an asshole. A real big jerk. He's acting like their new 'daddy' and acts like he has every right to boss them around. In my opinion, he is stepping on some major toes, 1: because he has dated their mother for all of a month, and 2: because he is not their father, or anything near father material. So pretty much he is a jerk. The end.

Side note: I applied to Ball State today!!! I still have to write an essay for Purdue, but hopefully I get that done soon! Eeek, I hope I get accepted!

Sentences of the Month

1.) "Children aren't coloring books. You can't fill them with your favorite colors"
2.) It turned out that, like Satan, cancer had many names.
3.) I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded, not with fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering its things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middles of the night.

These are my favorite sentences because all of them hit a nerve. With the first one, I feel like parents put so much pressure on their kids to be perfect and make them feel like they never measure up. The second one I like so much because I think it is a great analogy. The third sentence I thought was a very interesting insight about how forgiveness works.

Currently

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (finished!)
Whisting in the Dark by Lesley Kagen
Pages this week: 63
Pages this semester: 386

New Book Ideas?

The worst part about finishing a book is trying to find one to read next. Nothing is seeming to spark my interest much. I'm sick of the typical girly lovey-dovey novels, and I'm looking for something different. Maybe I'll try to find a funny book to read. I could always go for a good laugh. But I also like books with a good meaning and theme behind it. So I really don't know which direction I should go. So if anybody actually reads my posts, it would be FABULOUS if you could give me a couple suggestions on what to read next. Please and thank you!

The Kite Runner

I finally finished The Kite Runner! It was so so so good! I highly recommend it. It is a story about friendship, growing up, and overcoming your past. It has many themes in it, such as ethnic tension, loyalty, betrayal, coming of age, courage, forgiveness, guilt, the love between father and son, the effects of war, religion, and redemption. The book didn't end exactly how I wanted it to, much like most things in life, but it did have a good ending. I have never been so moved by a book before. It dragged me around emotionally, tossing me from happy to sad and everything in between. This is a book that I'm probably going to end up reading again (and that never happens). It was so unlike anything I had ever read before. It was actually written well too, unlike most teenage girls novels, cough cough *Twilight*.

Excerpt representing the theme of religion:
I throw my makeshift jai-namaz, my prayer rug, on the floor and I get on my knees, lower my forehead to the ground, my tears soaking through the sheet. I bow to the west. Then I remember that I haven't prayed for over fifteen years. I have long forgotten the words. But it doesn't matter, I will utter those few words I still remember: La illaha il Allah, Muhammad u rasul ullah. There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger. I see now that Baba was wrong, there is a God, there always had been. I see Him here, in the eyes of the people in this corridor of desperation. This is the real house of God, this is where those who have lost God will find him.

I fell in love with this excerpt. The corridor of desperation he is talking about is the hospital, where he is begging to the point of tears that everything will be okay. It also represents that in time of need and hopelessness, people turn to God. They beg. They turn to Him for help. They turn to Him when all else has failed. They turn to Him in as a last resort, as a fleeting hope of desperation.

So overall, I pretty much love this book. Read it.

Claims of the Day

1.) In this scene you see Blake Griffin dunking a basketball, his expressions show his immense, powerful, and colossal body floating in the air, putting the extravagant crown into a short time of faint, quiet, and peaceful time before they erupted into a thundering and noisy crowd.

2.) Disney's colossal use of space, attractive setting, warm colors, and the adventurous and gleaming

 action the poster gives makes this movie a must see.

 

3.) Team iLuminate’s performance on NBC’s Americas Got Talent the groups jerky but elegant movements, strange and breath-taking choreography, and rapid roaming use of space.

 

4.) In Fighting Gravity’s final Performance on America’s Got Talent, the voiceless and light dancers use graceful, upbeat, and a unique technique that expresses a new and an explosive futuristic type of dance.

5.) In this beautiful beach painting, the sparkling water to the clear gleaming sky, the vast openness of the ocean, and the author’s use of graceful, yet precise lines and textures illustrates the dreamy peacefulness the author attempts to portray.

The fifth claim was my favorite!

Observe:
fierce, goofy, fun, bright, precise, graceful, sharp

Tone:
aggressive, energetic, explosive, lighthearted, playful

Claim: Catherine's use of goofy clothing, fierce jumps, and precise gracefulness express a sense of energetic and explosive dance that has a playful attitude.

Currently

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Pages this week: 100
Pages this semester: 323

Sentences:

1.) "He's selling his leg?"
Farid nodded. "You can get good money for it on the black market. Feed your kids for a couple weeks."

2.) My face was burning. What was the old saying about the penny? My past was like that, always turning up.

3.) "In the west, they have an expression for that," I said. "They call it ethnic cleansing."

I liked the first sentence because I thought it was so odd. Things were so bad, people were so poor, that they would sell their leg to feed their children. I'm not sure why I liked the second sentence, I just did. And the third sentence represents racism, a theme throughout this book.

Currently

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Pages this week: 22
Pages this semester: 223

Sentences of the week:

1.) It turned out that, like Satan, cancer had many names.

2.) I didn't know what or whom he was defying. Me? Dr. Amani? Or maybe the God he had never believed in.

3.) He put films up on the viewing box in the hallway and pointed with the eraser end of hid pencil to the pictures of Baba's cancer, like a cop showing mug shots of the killer to the victim's family.

I liked all of these sentences because they all had to do with cancer, and cancer is a touchy subject for me and many others I know. I felt like these sentences were all very true and very well written. They hit a nerve of mine as I read them, so i felt the need to write them down.

Time Management Skills : Nonexistent.

I haven't read much this week, in fact, I've read a total of 22 pages, oops. I keep meaning to read, I really do! I actually really enjoy reading The Kite Runner because it so different from anything that I've read before. It is interesting and very well written in my opinion. The reason I have not stuck my nose in it lately is simply because I have no time to. Between my seven classes (three of which are AP), soccer practice/games everyday, homework, household chores, and work, I don't have time to sit down and enjoy the book. I feel stressed beyond belief and stupid for not taking a study hall this year! On top of all that, thinking I'd be fine getting an after school/soccer job was just ridiculous. I thought I could handle the work load this year, and now I am getting daily headaches as a result. Can headaches even be stressed induced? If not, I have no clue what is causing all of these awful headaches.

Also, I must admit that I am not a big fan of these required blogs. All I really do when I blog is rant about random stuff that nobody really wants to read, but I have nothing else to write about and I've got to get my 600 word quota in by Friday. So in all honestly, it is a lose-lose situation. I don't want to write this, and nobody wants to read this. So whats the point?

Like Satan, cancer has many names.

I was sick from school today, and I really should have caught up on my reading, but I never did. I am so behind on my reading it's a joke. Procrastination at its finest. I should be done with my book by now but I'm just barely over half way. What I've read so far is that Amir (the main character) is about to get married, and his father is about to die. So emotionally, I am happy and sad at the moment. This book is constantly affecting my emotions, and I can't decide if I like the emotional roller-coaster or not. I find it somewhat irritating and intriguing at the same time. Amir's father, Baba, is sick with cancer. I hate cancer. Nearly every body's life has been affected by cancer somehow. Everyone knows someone or knows someone that knows someone who has had cancer. Unfortunately, I know multiple people, five that I can think of at the moment. Two that have died from it, two that are struggling through it now, and one that has survived it. And all of them suffered from different types of cancer too (pancreatic, brain, breast, prostate, and throat). In my book, The Kite Runner, there was a line that said, "It turned out that, like Satan, cancer had many names." I couldn't agree more. Cancer is a merciless killer that affects it's victims emotionally, mentally, and physically. I hate cancer.

Currently

The Kite RunnerPages this week: 100
Pages  this semester: 201

Sentences of the week:

"It may be unfair, but what happens in a few days, sometimes even a single day, can change the course of a whole lifetime, Amir" he said.

"Zendagi migzara," he said. Life goes on.

For me, America was a place to bury my memories. For Baba, a place to mourn his.

I liked the first sentence because I thought it was a very true statement. I liked the second sentence because I thought the phrase was fun to say. The third sentence I liked just because.

The Kite Runner

I have been so busy this week that it has been hard for me to find time to read! I have about 50 more pages to read to meet my quota for the week, and just one night to do that. I REALLY need to improve my time management skills. Anyhow, Amir and his father, Baba, move from Afghanistan to America when the war breaks out. America turns out to be a great fit for Amir. He graduates from high school, gets in to college, but most importantly, has run from his past. From Hassan. Unfortunately, America hasn't been as good for Baba. The only job he can manage to get is at a local gas station, a huge contrast to his highly successful business in Afghanistan. Baba misses all his old friends and acquaintances and huge parties, but he sacrificed all of that so Amir could have a better life. I was wrong before in earlier posts, Baba really does love Amir. He may not understand Amir, but nevertheless, he loves Amir.


One thing that I really like about this book is all the Afghan words periodically thrown into the text. The words are put in through dialogue and normal narration and makes the overall book more interesting. For example I learned that zendagi migzara means life goes on, naan means bread, and salaam means hi. It is all so interesting!

The Happy Hump Day Post

Hump day, also known as Wednesday. The middle of the week. Some people like Wednesday because they think to themselves, "yay, it's already Wednesday! the week is half over!" I on the other hand am more of the glass-half-empty type and I think to myself, "My God, it's only Wednesday, this week will NEVER end!" Especially this week in particular since it seems every teacher decided to hop on the Quiz/Test bandwagon. By the end of this week, I will have completed a total of seven quizzes or tests. Awesome. Real Awesome.
I will now get off my soap box, thank you for reading! =)

Friday

According to this personality test, I am an INTJ.

• slightly expressed introvert
• moderately expressed intuitive personality
• slightly expressed thinking personality
• slightly expressed judging personality

I read the description for INTJ and it was described as being a mastermind and perfectionist. This, clearly, is not me at all. I am far from a mastermind, yeah I'm smart, but my twin brother got more of the mastermind gene. As for perfectionist? Ha. Good joke! My room looks like a tornado or two went through it. So obviously, I am not an INTJ. 

I took the personality test again to see what I would get, and I got ENFJ and once again, I disagree. I didn't disagree quite as much, but slightly. Obviously, I am a mess still trying to find out who the heck I am. But hey, isn't that what college is for?

Currently

The Kite Runner

Pages this week: 101


Sentences of the Week

1.) "Children aren't coloring books. You can't fill them with your favorite colors"

2.) She was also his first cousin and therefore a natural choice for a spouse.

3.) Everywhere I turned, I saw signs of his loyalty, hid goddamn unwavering loyalty.

I chose the first sentence because I believe it's a great message to every parent everywhere that their children aren't perfect in the least. The second sentence I chose simply because it caught me completely off guard. And lastly, the third sentence represents how important loyalty is.

The Kite Runner

This book has made it very clear to me exactly how ignorant I am when it comes to Middle Eastern culture. All I know is that Sunni and Shi'a Muslims don't get along. I'm vague as to why, or where this hatred even started. I don't remember ever learning about Afghanistan in world history my freshman year, which either means that it wasn't covered in the curriculum, or that I fell asleep that day. And to be perfectly honest, falling asleep in history class is a more than a good possibility. The religious aspect isn't that only thing I don't understand however. There is also a social hierarchy among the people and their race. And i must admit, I do not understand it whatsoever.


The Kite Runner has put me on an emotional roller coaster. It’s happy, then sad, then upsetting. It’s a bipolar mess! I was reading it in psychology today because we were supposed to be watching this weird video about the origins of psychology *snore.* so naturally, I read my book instead. Unfortunately, I had to stop. This is because I started to tear up, if I kept reading, I would have been flat out crying. In public. In front of my peers. I haven’t cried while reading in a long time, since 5^th grade to be exact. I was reading Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls and the story brought me to tears and a temporary state of depression. The ending of that book left me heartbroken.

Sadness wasn’t the only emotion I felt overwhelmed with however. I was overcome with anger. Flat out hatred for Amir. This is because Amir is a coward and an awful friend. Hassan, Amir’s best friend, is loyal as a dog. Hassan sticks up for Amir, defends Amir, and is always there for Amir. Amir on the other hand is too much of a poltroon to stick up for Hassan. Amir wouldn’t know what loyalty was if it smacked him in the face. This bothers me because loyalty is very important to me. In fact, the two most important things I value in a friendship are honesty and loyalty. Amir is lacking both of those qualities. Although I can personally connect with Amir because of his constant fight for his father’s approval, I must admit that I don’t like him. Granted, things could change and Amir could get a lesson in friendship, but until that happens, I won’t like him. 

The Kite Runner

I fell in love with this book from the very first page, much like I do with every new book I read. Something about this book was different though. I was sparked by curiosity. I read to find that the main character is a boy named Amir who is living in Afghanistan. Amir desperately seeks the approval and affection from his father, and in my opinion, will never get.  Amir is completely different from his father mainly because Amir would rather stick his nose in a book than play sports, and because *gasp* he doesn’t like soccer. In case you didn’t know, soccer is kind of a big deal in pretty much every country around the world except America, so heaven forbid an Afghan boy doesn’t like it. The fact that Amir is trying to seek approval from his father is very relatable. There isn’t a person I know who hasn’t felt that desire. Or hasn't had the feeling that he is never going to be good enough, no matter what he does.

Favorite Quotations (so far)

 “Children aren't coloring books. You don’t get to fill them with your favorite colors.” 

 "It was a long time ago, but it’s wrong what they say, I've learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past always claws its way out.”