MY SPRING BREAK!

Over this Spring Break, I decided to go study, work and basically 'school' free. Well, except this blog, and studying for Spanish... So, sorry Mrs. Leitsch but this one's not about a book :) This one's about what I did over Spring Break 2K15. 

My weekend was nothing but mundane. We went to a hockey game at the US Bank Arena. This was my first hockey game ever so I was pretty excited to go! It was the Cincinnati Cyclones vs Fort Wayne Komets. The cyclones was in the lead by 3-1 until the last 4 min of the game. I think they thought that they had the game in the bag, and they loosened up. But they probably regretted this, as the Komets caught up and the game ended in a 3-3 tie. But the worse part happened during over-time. Komets scored another goal to take the win! Let me tell you, I did not see this coming.

Lets jump to Wednesday, 3:00 am. My friend and I went to San Francisco; without any adults! We went from Cincinnati to Detroit. And Detroit to San Francisco. We arrived there by about 11 PST. And then we took an Uber to a Hop On- Hop Off tour bus. We visited most of the major attractions SFO has to offer. Some of them were Union Square,  Golden Gate Park, California Academy of Science, Palace of Fine Arts, China Town, Pier 39 and the daddy of them all, Golden Gate Bridge! We visited all of this within the day as we had to leave at 11 pm.  Over all this was an amazing trip, I met numerous people, and they were very kind and welcoming. 

When we arrived back in Cincinnati, both my friend and I were extremely tired and felt very jet-lagged. I slept around 11 hours that day. But I guess this is the price we both had to pay in return for 24 hours of fun. I definitely enjoyed this experience and I hope I can do something like this next year too. 

     In this blog I'm going to blog about a different kind of book that I'm reading. It doesn't have a story, characters or a typical plot. This is a book about increasing my vocab list and it helps people use more elevated words. It is called, Word Power Made Easy, by Norman Lewis. As we get older, we should be able to communicate our message clearly. As boring as it may seem, it has really helped me grow as a student and a reader. I've started to use more specific and mature words like extroverted instead of 'outgoing'. Philanthropic instead of 'he's a giver'. Anachronistic instead of 'old times'. 

I think this has been seen by my teachers too. Not so much of my math of science teachers but more like my English and Speech & Debate teachers.  On tests I use words that I normally wouldn't use and it's slowly beginning to crawl into what I say. 

     I would definitely recommend this book to any freshmen who would like to increase their vocabulary and just sound smart when speaking to a mature audience.  You can get this book at Barnes and Nobles for around $3 which is unbelievably cheap for something that can result in such an academic growth. Here is the link to the book:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/listing/2671223929072?r=1&kpid=2671223929072&cm_mmc=GooglePLA-_-Book_5To14-_-Q000000633-_-2671223929072

     I hope you at least give it a try. 

"I'm not going to describe what I look like, because whatever you are thinking of... it's probably worse."





     Over the past week and a half, I read the book Wonder by R.J. Palacio. I knew that this book isn't really recommended for a 9th grader but I've heard that it's a great book by many people and it's been on my bucket list for a while now, so I gave it a shot.

     In the book, there is a kid named August Pullman, and he has a deformed face. Even after numerous surgeries, the doctors can't seem to fix it. And he gets made fun of for that at school. He has lived through this his entire life. And it's not that other people are doing it to make fun of him, they do it simply because they can't control their emotions when they look at his face. Throughout the course of the story, you will read how he makes some friends, and spends some time with people who like him for his personality. And you will also find out how he comes around to being glad that he is 'different'.

     Now, a week and a half later, I'm really glad that I read this book. It's simply one of those books that titillates you and leaves a lasting impression. Wonder has been an easy read for me, and I was easily able to complete the book. Not only did this book make me think about our society, it changed my viewpoint on judging others and making fun of them. And I know that sounds a bit cliche and cheesy, but it really did. The book was written in such a manner that you felt like you would want to go up to August and give him a hug.  This book is an AMAZING read and I would recommend it to anyone and everyone. You get grabbed with the story from the beginning and it's a type of book where you would loose track of time when reading it.

Dover Beach

     I'm really glad that we went over this poem in class! I had little to no idea on what this poem meant and why Ray Bradbury chose to include it in Fahrenheit 451.  I have 2 ideas why Bradbury chose to include the poem and why it made Mrs. Phelps cry.

     My first idea is, because it compares the reader's and his new bride's commitment to each other to Mrs. Phelps's marriage. This is why Mrs. Phelps cried. Although she wasn't able to completely understand what the poem was about, I think that she understood this key point and it made her break apart inside. I think she wanted that kind of relationship with her husband or at least one of her husbands.

     And another idea is because the reader in the poem, pretty much says to his wife 'no matter what happens, we will always be together'. And this part stung. Mrs. Phelps has gone through 2 marriages previously and is now in the third one. But a part that builds on top of this is her third husband; who is serving in a war said to her, 'If I die, you go on marry someone else.' This means that there is no commitment in their marriage. It's almost like a marriage is a joke in their society.

     This is, at least in my opinion, why Bradbury chose to include Dover Beach in his novel and why Mrs. Phelps cried after hearing the poem.

I'll Give You The Sun Pt. 2

     I haven't read too much of this book lately because I had my attention diverted towards Fahrenheit 451. But I did get to read enough to blog about.

     

     Where I last left off, Noah was a socially awkward kid with no friends, and Jude was quickly becoming a diva. But over the course of the 70 pages I've read, an enormous change has taken place. Noah is not a popular kid who has a girlfriend and is hanging out at a late night party (we'll get into that in just a minute), and Jude is now a girl who pretends to be a diva; but in reality, she has lost her popularity. 

     This galactic change in Noah's personality and social life has occurred due to  a guy who moved next door. He made a new friend who has just moved in to the house adjacent from his. And now they both hang out. Noah really takes pride in their friendship because he believes that the new kid is his only friend. Later it is revealed that the new kids name is Brian, and it turns out that he is the star of his baseball team at his boarding school. Where the students often call him "The Ax." This turns in favor for Noah as Brian's throwing skills are beneficial in scaring bullies. 

     As the days go on, the popular group of girls find out about Brian and they immediately find him interesting and attractive. They take Brian into their group and also take Noah along because they think they are a 'package deal'. Later as the summer goes on, Noah slowly opens up and starts dating the least knuckle-head of the girls. While this is happening, Jude is rejected and abandoned. According to her, Noah has stolen her friends.

     Now it is the day before Brian goes to his boarding school, and they are throwing him a party. At this party, some 'interesting'... events occur (which I can't say). And they keep playing some 'dumb' party games; you'd expect to see at a college party. 

     Right now the story has picked up in pace and I really like how the author has given each of the characters a special identity, through their clothing, description and especially their dialogue. I definitely think you should read this book. But if you already have, leave a comment on what you think of the book so far and if you like it :)

I'll Give You The Sun By Jandy Nelson
 

                                         

     Honestly, the only reason I got this book was because the cover looked unique... yeah. I judged a book by it's cover. This is a dichotomous book because it is told through the perspectives of  two twins; Noah and Jude. They used to be best friends and would tell each other everything. But somewhere along the way, they lost each other. (I know what happened but, I wont reveal it) The book jumps between their perspectives and time periods too, which is a bit confusing at first. It's like a puzzle, you are constantly piecing together a bigger picture. They have their half of the story but what they don't realize is that if they could somehow just tell each other their story, they can fix their dispute. Even when they are mad at each other, they secretly make sure the other one is okay. 

      This book has a lot of inappropriate words at the beginning around pages 1-20 or maybe 25, but then the strong language dials down. This book is extremely detailed about the surrounding, what the characters are doing, and the dialogue is well fitting to the characters. Besides these great qualities this book has, the only complaint I would have is the chapters are incredibly long. Maybe 25- 30 pages each. And I personally like books with smaller chapters because it gives me a sense of accomplishment and it's a nice place to put the book down. In this book I have to stop in the middle of the chapter which I don't like. But overall this book is a great read for both girls and guys and should be an intriguing journey for the reader. 

     This time, I thought that I'd try something different and try to reflect on a poem. So when I was watching TV, I came across a guy reciting poem and I decided to reflect off that poem. The poem is called, Dont Go Gentle Into That Good Night. At first I could really think of what Dylam Thomas, the writer, was trying to communicate. But after reading it a couple times, I think I was able to narrow down on a few main points.  The complete poem is attached to a hyperlink with the picture up at the top; so if you would like to read the entire poem you can find it there. 

     I thought that the writer was trying to say that you shouldn't die and leave this world without a fight. The old men/ women shouldn't simply accept death but rather they should resist it. I got to this conclusion from the first two stanzas. 

"Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night."

     Here in the first line, the writer suggests that you shouldn't just give in to the concept of dying. Just to clarify, by 'resisting death,' I mean living life to the fullest and not leaving this world without leaving some sort of mark; because what good of living here if you don't leave something people can remember you by.

     And in the final stanza, the poem gets deeply personal for the writer as he connects this theme to his father who is going blind. Which, I, think is the inspiration for the writer to include "Rage, Rage against the dying of the light." The dying of the light could by symbolism for his father going blind and he can slowly, no longer see light. 

     I think I'm somewhere in the ballpark with my reflection, but if you have another interpretation of this poem, feel free to leave it down in the comments. :)