6. Soundtrack

5. Warrior by Demi Lovato
Ky began to lose hope of ever finding his way to Cassia near the middle of the story when many obstacles came his way while on the mission of the Rising because they sent Cassia elsewhere on her mission trip.  But he learned to keep hope, like I think Demi did when she wrote this song about her struggles.
4. Almost is Never Enough by Ariana Grande
Xander loved Cassia, and always loved her as his Match but Cassia fell out of love with him when Ky came along on her microcard after the Match Banquet, and she fell in love with Ky soon after.  So they're nearly in love, but it's only 'almost' because Cassia doesn't love him as much as he loves her.  And their relationship never works out because Almost is Never Enough.
3. Daydreamin' by Ariana Grande
When all of the people effected by the plague that went around Oria and Central, they were forced into small containment cells that were completely see-through of all four walls around, so I imagine that they were daydreaming of being in a better and happier place.
2. ET by Katy Perry
When Ky and Cassia were placed into cities nearly as far from each other as they could possibly be to finish their mission work, I'm sure they felt like they were from 'a whole other world, different dimension'.
1. Problem by Ariana Grande
Plain and simple, the gang has gone through many struggles throughout the story so far, and once they released that stress after completing some of their missions and taking down most of what was wrong with the Society they probably felt as if they had, "one less problem without them".

5. Most Important Line

In Reached by Ally Condie that I'm reading right now, the most important quote was, "You cannot change your journey if you are unwilling to move at all."
This quote was significant because even though it was an idea from Cassia (main character), it applies to all characters in the book and us as readers also.  It relates to Cassia because she is struggling with stolen poems that she needed in order to 'trade her way' to Ky, and Ky cannot even reach Cassia if he doesn't carry out his duties with the Rising first.  Xander, lastly, needs to continue mending his broken love with Cassia, because if he doesn't act swiftly she will already be gone and content in her love with Ky.
Most importantly, this quote relates to the readers and their lives I think because if we don't work, we can't change our futures, and in everyone's own special way they can relate that idea back to something they dream of for their life.  This lesson gives the author a way to connect with the reader of the story, and gives Condie more credibility because she understands this concept.  We want her to understand.

4. Symbolism

I am reading Reached by Ally Condie.
A symbol I would offer to Cassia is lone wolf because she is very independent in general, even though she is very attached to Ky, she still thinks and makes decisions for herself.  For instance, when The Rising came along, Ky did not want to join because his father was in it before he died and he was still bitter towards his dad for not protecting as many people throughout it as he should have.  And yet, Cassia still chose to join whether Ky would or not.
I would symbolize Ky as a functioning broken heart because although his heart is shattered at times knowing that he may not find Cassia anytime soon or as soon as he'd like, he can still function along the way to get work done.  But, once he finds Cassia, nothing else in the world matters anymore: people, their safety, his friends: none of it.  Finding Cassia is all that truly matters to him.
I would symbolize Xander as a fish, because he keeps on swimming and swimming and swimming but can't ever seem to get to Cassia as much as Ky.  It hurts him, but he never stops swimming because he feels like the top is close than it truly is.

Krista Ramsey Column Summary

      I read an article about her children using cute phrases.  It's adorable for one, and we should therefore appreciate what they say because it only lasts so long while they are really little.  A quote that stood out to me was: ""..." this is one of the many thought-provoking writer and speaker Maya Angelou."  I really liked the diction-choice she used here.  Based on "lead" she used mostly casual diction, and also (with her great use of the word "thought-provoking") spiced the medium-length sentence up with some elevated diction.  In terms of syntax there's not much spice to it.  I interpreted that as meaningful because that's all she wanted - to state her feelings of Angelou; nothing more.  I like simplicity because sometimes it's great and I'm sure Maya appreciates it.
     All of her columns contain meaningful simple sentences as well - almost always representing her opinion of someone / something like here: "Life is not two-dimensional." (not her words but she placed them strategically at the end of the article)  And her writing craft is very admirable!
     Questions for Krista:
-What provoked your family member to say, "don't mess with a happy baby,"?
-What inspired you to become the person you are today in society?
-How long (on average) does it take you to write and edit one of your columns?
-Why do you choose to write about the things you do? (relating to the world AND to personal life?)
-When did you decide this to be your full occupation and did you always enjoy it?

3. What I like best about my book

     I'm still reading Reached by Ally Condie, and it's very interesting so far.  Something I really like about the author's writing style and how it has changed throughout the series is that in the first book, the only perspective you heard was Cassia's (the main character) throughout the entire book.  Then in the second one you hear the perspective of Cassia and her love Ky, and then in the third book you can hear the perspective of Cassia, Ky and her other love Xander; this increases the drama because it gives you empathy for the different characters and what they are experiencing and what is being played out within the love triangle between them.  It makes decision-making a lot harder for Cassia because although she loves Ky, she can't help but love Xander too because he has always been her friend since childhood and was also her Match in the first book.
     She'll never forget how happy she was in that first Match Banquet a long time ago (well it feels like such a long time ago, although it's really only been about 5 months) when she was Matched with Xander.  But the feelings began coming to her when the Society made a 'mistake' which she later found out to be planned for some silly experiment they were trying on Cassia and Ky to see how they would react.  She's conflicted now; which boy to choose and be happy with once the Rising comes along... IF it ever comes.  No one even knows who the Pilot is (the leader of the Rising) and some even suspect he is dead.  There is much suspense, I'm ready to hear the decisions Cassia/Ky/Xander make in the near future as the story comes to a close.

2. Why I chose my book

     I chose the book I just started reading, Reached, first of all simply because it's the next book in a riveting trilogy called Matched, and I really got into it at the first chapter of the first book because of how well-written it was.  It was a very interesting journey that you go on with a young teenage girl named Cassia whom was born into this futuristic society where everything is based on odds, chances; numbers.  They predict everyone's behavior and moods all based on the data they've collected of them and their ancestors through the years they have been in power and that is what helps the Society stay in control of the people: because they know what the people will do (or there's a good chance of it) and can prepare themselves for it.
     The second book in the trilogy, Crossed, I thought was really dragged out for a short number of events.  There was 'a lot going on' in a sense, but most of what was happening was really in Ky's and Cassia's thinking process which made it really hard to get through and enjoy.  I still reached for the third book because I knew that where the storyline had come to,  that the third one would have very interesting twists.  Xander has come into play now in this love triangle (a lot like 'Twilight') and the readers are now aware that he is a part of the Rising; always has been.  It's shocking because we'd never expect that rule-abiding genius kid Xander would have any opposing views, but turns out we don't know as much about him as we thought.  I can't wait to get further in the book and hear what Cassia is going to do next. 

1. Character Change

[Crossed]
     I just finished Crossed which I had started at the end of last trimester.
     This was an interesting sequel to Matched by Ally Condie and I have to say the main characters changed throughout the story a lot.  Cassia Reyes, a teenage girl born into the Society was (in Matched) very obedient.  But once her newfound love Ky and her old one Xander showed her a bit of what is wrong with the Society, and that it isn't perfect after all.  Now Cassia is fighting for Ky because she wants to be with him forever, and can't do this within her society because they matched her with Xander, and it is either him or no one.  She can't have that.
     So to clarify on the change that we see throughout the book, Cassia was once obedient and loved the Society because it made her feel safe, but now she sees that feeling safe isn't worth having all your choices taken away from you, or made by someone else who thinks they know what is best for you.  Ky also has changed from a passive boy, to one who is willing to fight for Cassia the love of his life.  But one thing he cannot do for her, is join the Rising.  This is a group of people that may or may not exist whom people believe are trying to overthrow the government from outside.  Ky does not want to be part of it, an idea coming forth from his childhood and his parents' choices that he did not always approve of. 
     Cassia and Ky always thought that they were equal; the same; one.  But now they are beginning to distance themselves from each other.  It is all Cassia really wants (besides to be with Ky) to join the Rising.  She is passionate after learning the evils of the world they live in and wants to do something about it; and when all Ky wants to do is leave everyone else the way they are so the two of them can be alone and happy, she takes it as pure selfishness and is infuriated that he wants to leave people behind.  Some, literally, to die.

Reading Wishlist (Best Sellers)

 

 

Book Talk Presentation (Best Sellers)

Book Review (Best Sellers)

(Angle #1) Uglies by Scott Westerfield

     Uglies is a dystopian novel about a future society in the ruins of the world where everyone is ugly.  From the moment you are born to your sixteenth birthday, you are considered an Ugly and must live in Uglyville as such.  Everyone dreams of turning sixteen where they’ll get a life-changing operation to look like all the Pretties in New Pretty Town.  But Tally makes a friend named Shay, who doesn’t really want to become a Pretty, which is absolutely absurd, and Shay runs away just before her sixteenth birthday to an old place almost unheard of by the citizens of Uglyville called “The Smoke” to meet a boy named David whom Tally isn’t sure even exists.  Tally isn’t comfortable with the idea of leaving the Society with Shay, so she remains in Uglyville as she awaits her Pretty operation.  But when that day comes, the Specials had found out she knew about Shay’s illegal leaving of the Society and blackmailed Tally into betraying Shay and the possibly make-believe people of The Smoke.  Tally is so desperate to become pretty that she follows through, but when she arrives and finds out something so horrifying about becoming pretty that she’s not even sure she wants it anymore, and has to make a choice.

     The book is riveting and you can’t put it down for multiple chapters at a time! The plot was great because it was unique; Tally chose not to betray Shay and the other people who live in The Smoke, but actually betrayed them anyway (on accident) because the Specials had chipped her (it was unexpected for sure).  The main character, Tally, for most of the book was not likeable because she had such different views than almost anyone nowadays would; she knew and embraced that everyone was ugly before they got an operation that made everyone look almost exactly the same.  No one really understands her point of view while reading the book, but later on they do because Society really changes people and has a huge influence on what they think of themselves and others, and that’s really all Tally was being impacted by. 

     “Why can’t tally understand how messed up her society is?” That’s simple.  It’s because she doesn’t see it from somebody else’s shoes, all she sees is the inside of her society: she’s like a puppy in a store; she hasn’t considered that there’s any other way to live besides this one yet.  But that all changes when she goes to The Smoke and reads into their lifestyle.  The novel’s purpose is really to show people that everyone’s beautiful, and you can’t let society change how you feel about yourself and other people.  Westerfield was strong in developing Shay and David as characters, but Tally was a bit weak because she is basically only modeled by the society and doesn’t really have any specifically different character traits than anyone else (it might have been more interesting had she really had a love for one thing, like a hobby or something).  Also Tally was weak in the scene where she realizes she fell in love with David, and throws her necklace (it was something a Special gave her with a button on it that she could press whenever she wanted them to come and get everyone from The Smoke, and that would be the time when she could become a Pretty at last) into the fire.  That was really stupid, because if that were me (she’s about as smart as me I think, they still go to school in their society) I would have just stuck it to a bird or something and sent them off the guard, rather than damaging it in a fire which I would have known would’ve sent the Specials swarming to the area!  That was a weakness in the author’s plot, but beside that the plot was really strong.

     This book deserves 9/10 stars because it was really fun to read and you’ll get excited  whenever it tells you Tally’s thoughts because with those you can predict what will happen next (the fun part is sometimes you’re wrong and will be shocked by it).  It doesn’t get that last star though because of the hooked ending (super annoying) and because of the scene I described above; Tally’s not dim-witted, but that action was so it was really out-of-character.

Character Reflection (Best Sellers)

Likeability -

     The narrator of my book is not very likeable in the beginning, but as the story progresses she becomes more likeable as she begins making better decisions.  She does fit some of the arguments Claire Messud made in the article we read, because she's not likeable in the beginning for how she's making all the wrong decisions like leaving Uglyville to betray her friend Shay even though she promised that it wouldn't happen, and doing all of that just to get the operation to become pretty and live in New Pretty Town.  But even with this, like Messud said, we still 'like' Tally (main character) in a different way because she is so interesting and BECAUSE she makes such decisions that we wouldn't.  Their society is so different from ours, that we are intrigued to see how people think based on their growing-up environment.  There is a connection between the book's genre and the narrator it has because if the book's genre is 'dystopian', for instance, the narrator tends to be the one person that is or becomes different from everyone else in their futuristic society, (ex. The Hunger Games Trilogy, Divergent Trilogy, Uglies Series), and we like that.  Or maybe in the instance of 'fantasy' the narrator tends to be someone going on a journey to find / save something / someone and using interesting powers or fantastic creatures (ex. Eragon Series, The Hobbit, Harry Potter).
    

Book 2 Trailer (Best Sellers)

Truth in Memoir (Best Sellers)

I don’t think a book has to be completely true to be considered non-fiction; we all know that you aren’t ever going to be 100% accurate when it comes to things like dialogue and small actions / setting descriptions, so I don’t see a problem in changing the circumstances around a little as well.  I do think, though, that if it has a ton of insanely exaggerated or untrue points in it they need to say somewhere that it is based on a true story so people don’t assume that it is entirely true if that’s not the case: like Oprah did when she credited the author of A Million Little Things to having everything that happened in the story to have happened to him.  She got that impression by how he called it a memoir, and if he had said “based on a true story” she could have already understood that it couldn’t be entirely true; only based on things that happened to him in his lifetime.

Half-Truths are okay if it is still a good story I think because we don’t beg people to take our money for the book just because we heard it was a true story, we pay for the book because we think that it will be interesting and inspirational for the fact that it is a true story.  Even if some of the story may not be true, we still got what we wanted with an interesting and inspirational story that didn’t occur to us so doesn’t matter to us anyway where there are half-truths.  We just want to believe that things as amazing as these can happen; lessen the significance on what did happen.  So it doesn’t really matter to me (and shouldn’t to anyone else) that these authors bent the truth in their stories.

I think David Shields is right in the sense that a story is just a story, doesn’t really need to be labeled as true or untrue, but I disagree with the genre labels as in comedy, romance, etc. not being necessary because when I want to read something funny or sad or inspirational I think they need to be labeled as such so I don’t just search through a library in a giant section called “books”.  It ruins efficiency.

Blog Post #7 (English 1A)

     A conversation I'd love to have with a character in my book would definitely be with Tally.  She's the main character in Uglies (as I spoke about her in last week's post) and she is so fixated on sticking to her current society in Uglyville / New Pretty Town that she can't see how it's really effecting the people around her and herself!  They're controlled completely by the Specials, and don't have any power to make their own decisions; don't even have the freedom to remain the way they were born to look by the time they turn 16 years old.  She is searching for her friend Shay who lives in The Smoke which is a place far away from the society Tally and everyone else (as far as she knows) lives.  She wants to give Shay away even though Shay is her friend because the Specials will not give her the Pretty Operation until she does so and brings her back to Uglyville.
   

Redicide (Best Sellers)

     Renocide is definitely a problem in schools.  I've read stories in school that I disliked (like The Shadow Club) and I read through so much of the book and then realize that I was so bored I wasn't even paying attention to what it was saying and had to read it again.  Reading it through again is torture, and I think that for that reason especially we should read more stories that kids tend to like in schools.  Or even, let the kids pick the story they want to read for themselves; give them options!  That would help so much because 1. we feel independent already, like we have a say in how we use our time reading and 2. we enjoy the books more when we know that we picked it for ourselves and liked it.  We need to give a little more leeway when it comes to books because kids need to like a book to understand it.  I think it's a well-known fact that if we don't like a story it's really hard to actually pay attention: it's just like a guy watching a chick-flick; they get bored so quick that they can't tell their girlfriend a single word used in the whole movie when it's over.
     I think we want kids to read books because they are key parts of being able to read important things later in life.  These things (like fine print in a legal statement, terms and conditions, and most people when they are grown will have a job that involves some type of reading even if it means just writing an application and reading the questions) are so important in everyday life!  We read all the time when it comes to something as simple as a dinner menu at a restaurant.  Illiterate people have a hard time making it in society today; almost everything needs to be read to be understood in the economic world.

Blog Post #6 (English 1A)

     The main character, Tally, has changed very much since she was first introduced.  In the beginning, in her strange society of Uglyville and New Pretty Town, she followed Shay her friend through thick and thin.  Shay was always a rebellious character, liking the way she looked even though she was an Ugly, which may sound strange but in this futuristic place it's very out of the ordinary to be like this.  Tally didn't agree with everything Shay thought, but respected her for most of it and promised to keep her secrets and not give her away when Shay swore to run away with a character named David, whom Tally didn't even believe was real until just recently.
     Now, though, Tally is dying to become pretty through the operation.  The Specials found out that Shay had gone missing into the Outside, and also found that Tally knew where she had gone through the riddle letter Shay had given her before she ran away, just in case Tally may want to come too so she wouldn't have to get the operation (but Tally never thought anything of that; she wanted to become pretty more than anything she'd ever known).  And although Tally had made that promise to Shay, she was willing to do anything to get the life-changing operation so she's now finding out where Shay is so the Specials will make her pretty.
     But until then, they swear that she will be an Ugly.  If she doesn't find Shay for them and bring her back for the operation along with David and their crew, Tally will stay ugly forever.  So I believe she will go to just about any lengths to become beautiful, but we will have to see.  The theme later may turn out that friendship is more valuable than anything, in that case Tally decides not to become pretty anyway, which is a theme I expect to see sometime throughout the story.  It's predictable.

Blog Post #5 (English 1A)

     I am currently reading 'Uglies' which is about a future society in which everyone normal is considered an 'ugly' up until their 16th birthday where they are given an operation that makes them a 'pretty'.  The theme of this story (as I can tell so far) is that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I think that because the main character, Tally, makes a new friend named Shay after her old best friend Peris became pretty before her (his birthday came first) and she now spends time with Shay who doesn't really WANT to become pretty; in this society that is absolutely absurd and almost unheard of ... Almost.
     Tally finds out that outside of Uglyville Shay has friends there who don't want to become pretty like her, and no matter how much Tally tried to persuade Shay that she is ugly and needs the operation, Shay won't listen because David doesn't feel the way Tally does.

Blog Post #4 (English 1A)

    Currently, I'm reading Dear John by Nicholas Sparks.  It's a beautiful and heartbreaking love story all throughout.  There are many ups and downs throughout the book.  Now, the plot line is one of the most surprising I've ever read / heard of!  Sparks decided to take a very unique route in the romantic novel.
     I think the author (SPOILER ALERT) wrote this work to show people that in reality, not all love ends in happily ever after.  I think thematically he wants to show us all that the loves in stories sometimes are only stories.  We seem to think as kids 'Ooh I want a love like theirs!' while watching a movie or reading a book, but sometimes it just doesn't happen.  I think he doesn't want everyone to get their hope up too high, because some do end up like John, where his wife found another husband while he was gone.  Love is different than is portrayed behind movie screens and hardcovers.  We need to accept that, and Nicholas Sparks approves of this message.

Adapting Book 2 (Best Sellers)

• A filmmaker would have some challenges making Dear John into a movie possibly because of all the battle scenes that John begins to talk more and more about throughout the book as he starts to lose hold of Savannah.  He's in the army, all over the place: in Kosovo, Kuwait, etc. and it would be difficult to create all of those battle scenes and stay within any budget.  To make this work, we'd need to cut a little out of the plot in the story, by making there be fewer in-action scenes of battle to save money.  It's not necessary to change any of the characters in the story; there are only around 6-7 talked about in the whole book.
• One specific scene essential to keep is the scene where John jumped into the ocean to grab Savannah's bad for her, and you can't change how that occurred or else it may not seem like such a big deal how they met.  But this was how they stayed together for a long time, and it's arguably the most important scene in the story.  Another scene essential to keep is where Savannah and John's dad were bonding over the coins in his den because this is what allowed her to study him and see that he may have Asperger's, which led to the huge arguement between her and John because Savannah had overstepped her boundaries.  It's a major plot twist in the story because while they seemed before that perfectly happy and a healthy couple this was their first fight like this; no one saw this coming.  And thirdly you'd need to keep the scene where John is reading the letter from Savannah where she is telling him sadly that she has now fallen in love with someone else while he was off in battle over in Germany because we all know as readers how heartbroken he must have felt when he read that letter, and that is the climax of the story, their relationship continued downhill and plummeted to a stop.  This also leads to his reasoning for resubmitting into the military, and is why he spent his leaves with his dad alone and not with Savannah.
• One part of my book I would have to cut if adapting it would be the scene where they go to the aquarium.  That was an unimportant scene, and doesn't really have an effect on anything that happens throughout the book after that.  It was a little silly at parts, but really the point of it was to show their time spent together, which was obviously shown many more times in the story besides that one.  Also, another part in my book I would have to cut is the scene where John is saying goodbye to Savannah tearfully for the second time (after his second leave) because it would save time (I can see this being a long movie) and it is pretty much already implied because everyone can see how much she loves him and how much she misses him, and based on the first goodbye and their relationship had gotten even stronger by that time they wouldn't need to show that again.  We would exclude these two scenes to include more of the toll that 9/11 took on both of them and on the country so that we can clearly see his reasoning and Savannah's understanding for John signing up a second time for a two-year time trial in the military.  Everyone was so shocked and filled with pride for their country that they could and would protect themselves that John felt it impossible to abandon his military buddies now, in their time of need.