Short Stories and My Book

The three outside of class stories I have read are Hills like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway, The Sniper by Liam O'Flaherty, and The Return by Ngugi Wa Thiong'o.  I didn't really understand Hills like White Elephants so I dont think I could make a strong thesis out of that one.  The Sniper I understood and actually felt the tension and stress and found it really interesting, even if having occured in a short short time frame.  War changes a man and I think that that is showed through O'Flaherty's description of the main character and his facial expression as well as his eyes and how he moves as well as his emotions towards killing people after the fact and his curiosity towards who the person was.  I might be able to expand on this, but I'm not sure...

I semi-understoon The Return but coulsnt figure out what culture Kamau was from, and the words like "wazungu" and how there is  "bride price" as well as how he really wanted a son, which indicates that maybe he lived in a patriarchal society, male dominant, but I dont know, that could just be World History getting to me...

All in all I really liked the last two stories I read, not so much the first one, and maybe I could make thesis out of one?? Not sure though, I ight have to read a few more, or maybe just one... who knows??




Week's Reading:
       The Mark of Athena
10/25  10 minutes, 15 pages
           3 minutes, 5 pages
10/26  10 minutes, 19 pages
10/27  60 minutes, 75 pages
       Short Stories:
Hills like White Elephants   25 minutes, 3 pages (I had to reread to understand and go back to get some stuff)
The Sniper   15 minutes, 3 pages
The Return    27 minutes, 4 pages (same situation with Hills)

          * spell check isn't working at the moment so sorry if there are any mistakes*

A Week of Reading

I have a new book!!  I also have a list of books that I am going to read after this one, which is The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan.  I have friends who are reading this and I have friends who are finished with it.  I am in the first group so no spoilers please!! This is such a great book and 3rd one in series with The Heroes of Olymps series <3  Also, since it takes place in part in the Roman camp, a lot of the terms and language and names as well as mythology is Roman so I understand it from Latin class which I find to be so cool.
I also am writing down the words I dont know now so that I dont have to later...
So here are my times:
10/15       10 minutes, 10 pages
10/16       5 minutes, 5 pages and 10 minutes, 15 pages
10/19       30 min, 37 pages
10/20       75 minutes, 86 pages

I'm so excited to continue reading this book... tomorrow... when I'm not sleep deprived so...ya:)

Reading for the Week

Well, I finished my book!!!! Finally, ha ha well this week I read:
Waltz of the Fat Man-- 35 minutes
Harrison Bergeron-- 20 minutes
And of Clay we are Created--  40 minutes
Dry September-- 20 minutes
Clockwork Prince--  55 minutes
Total time spent:   170 minutes
Well the short stories we talked about in class so I'll just talk about my independent book...
Clare's description of well everything was just amazing and she did such a good job at conveying emotions and fitting them exactly with their character, which I find amazing.  An example would be on page 344 when Tessa describes Will's gaze on her as being "like hot flecks of ash landing on her skin" and on page 334 when Tessa is gazing at Jem as if she were staring "at a beloved place she was not sure she would ever see again, trying to commit the details to memory, trying to paint them on the backs of her eyelids that she might see it when she shut her eyes to sleep."  It's deeper and more emotional than saying she stared at him intensely.  And as for the character descriptions, it was their actions, words, and appearances that made them, well, them and how Cassandra Clare wrote them out made them come alive and I felt as if I was there, perhaps watching from the shadows of the institute, their carriages, or the warehouse, as well as anywhere else they had traveled too.  It was a magnificent book. <3

Literary Element

        In Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., I think characterization is a big part in it.  Both indirect and direct characterization were used, examples being "On the television screen were ballerinas." on page 209 and "a siren was going off in his head." on page 211 of direct characterization, because they tell you what's going on instead of showing you and indirect characterization would be on page 211 when Vonnegut writes "She must have been extraordinarily beautiful, because the mask she wore was hideous.  And it was easy to see that she was the strongest and most graceful of all the dancers, for her handicap bags were as big as those worn by two- hundred pound men."  This is indirect because you can picture her standing there with a hideous mask on and a huge heavy bag on her shoulders as a handicap.  Another example would be "Clanking, clownish, and huge, Harrison stood" because it gives you an image in your head of his appearance.
        I think characterization was important in this story because you had to have all the direct things in there to know that Hazel and George were watching ballerinas and what the sounds were like in George's head without going too deep into their thoughts and all of the indirect so that you can picture the story in your head and make inferences and connections that otherwise you wouldn't have made.  An example for me would be when on page 214, Diana Moon Glampers came in and shot with perfect aim at Harrison and his "empress", I immediately thought of Latin class.  Yes, Latin class.  This is because it connects to mythology, Diana was the goddess of the hunt and the moon and this shows her shooting with perfect aim and has "moon" in her name.  Pretty cool, right? Anyways, that's my literary element for you:)

Participation First Quarter

        I think this quarter of English has been long, but I have learned a lot during that time.  I think I did well with my materials and participating in the discussions- well, kind of- I would say answers or voice thoughts in my head a lot, I don't voice opinion much in class if I can help it.  I took thorough notes during Dr. D's lectures and although when I'm paired with a friend I do more talking than with someone who all I know about them is their name and English block, I get more work done with them because if I ask them a question they get me and know what to say and how I can put it to sound like me, so that's always helpful. 
       You see, I don't speak up much in class because I don't know, I'm just not comfortable talking and sharing opinions or things that might be mocked/wrong... with people who most of which I don't hang out with at all.  I will share answers in my head, I'll think of this explanation and all this stuff but as weird as it sounds sometimes classmates will raise their hands and say almost exactly what I was thinking, no joke, and so I just get to sit there.  Im totally fine with that though.  If I ever have a question or anything I can turn to my seat partner, hopefully a friend and they can help as I stated previously.  Sorry I dont talk too much but I do participate in my own way. 
      
      I think I learned a lot in this quarter, from arguments on book opinions to character analysis.  I felt like I really learned the stuff with what we did for the most part, except for some of the few times where I felt it went by a little fast.  And wordly wise has been sort of a blur to me, but all in all, I have had a good time and learning experience this quarter.

A Week of Reading

This week I read Clockwork Prince for an hour- I'm almost done, I'm so excited!!!!  Then there are the short stories, which I read A&P for 20 minutes, Da Duh in Memoriam for 35 minutes, and An Old Man with with Wings for 40 because it was really confusing and I had to read over a lot.  So... yep:)
My total reading for this week was 155 minutes.