Blog 121214

I think that the book that had the greatest impact on me this year was The girl who fell from the sky because it was the book that had the best plot and was the most entertaining for me to read.  I really enjoyed following along with Rachel as she grew up and faced all of the things that she went through with her family and as a teen and finally meeting Brick at the end.

"I look at all the other letters in the drawer and don't care what they say.  I put grandma's letter back and retie the ribbon.  Then I take the wad of cash out of my pocket and put it back in the bag" (252)

I choose this passage because it is the part were rachel packs up all of her things and tries to run away.  This moment is very important because she finds all the letters from her father and she decides that she does not want anything to do with her famil any more.  She kind of shows the reader that she is done with the things in her life that had effected her the most.  

Blog 111814

Going beyond what you know can mean you are entering darkness and the unknown.  In this poem using the word bank with words such as wandered and pulsed meaning that there is tension when you enter the unknown but you go anyways.

Word Bank:

• wandered
• light
• trolling
• silence
• swallowed up
• beast
• dripped
• raised
• eyes dead
• sightless
• scent
• beating heart 
• pulsed
• lurched
• soundlessly

Blog 111414

Part One:

SO much happens in Persepholis! I thought it was very confusing and awkward at some points for example I did not like how the story ended with her looking back and seeing that something had happened to her mom.  I was very confused on weather or not her mother had died or fained but later afte talking with a  friend I learned that she ony fainted because her mother is in the next book.  If the book had ended with her mother dying I would not like the ending.  One specific part that was somewhat awkward was when she was about to leave the country and she sleps with her grandmother and she talks about the flowers in her shirt and I did not understand how that was something imortant to the author becuase I think that it made the reader feel uncomfortable.  Well soemtimes an awkward situation in a story is good becuase it makes the readder think about what is happening.  


Part Two:

Over all I enjoyed the book because it was a quick and easy read but it had a good story plot.  It really helped me think about Iran and Iraq becuase I personally have no idea what is going I only knew that they were at war but I did not know that the war went way way back and that it all started with a rebelion and that a lot of it had to do with personal connections and family ties.  I had no idea that so many people died and were torchured in horrible ways. I learned a lot because there was so much that americans dont notice when we are at home safe in our homes ut a lot of stuff is going on in the middle east and its not easy as a teen to get inforation about it becuase when you ask someone what they think they only tell your their oppinions but no the whole truthful story.  One think that I thought was absolutly horried was that they were not able to kill a virgin which meant that a soilder would have to rape a women and then kill her which is just NOT OKAY.


Part Three:

In persepholis you learn that growning up and taking responsibility is not always better than being a child and that war never truly solves a problem. 

Black Boy Themes

1. Love
2. Pride
3. Hunger
4. Isolation
5. Youth 
6. Education
7. Ignorance 
8. Resilience 

• Justice 
• Authority Figures
• Identity
• Racism 
• Gender Roles 
• Religion/Faith 
• Coming of Age 
• Journey 

In Black Boy by Richard Wright I learned that sometimes you think things are best for someone else when they really are not.  In parts of the memoir Richard goes to a private catholic school where his Aunt is his teacher and his authority figure.  He tries his gardest to behave but in the back of his mind he does not truly beleive in what the school is teaching him.  He tries to keep his faith as his family pushes to continue at the religious school.  After a time where Richard is blamed by his aunt for something he did not do and gets betten he has had enough and says he will no longer go to the school.

In Black Boy by Richard Wright I learned that Identity plays a big part in the way that you are looked at by other people.  For example, When richard is out with his grandmother they get wierd stares because he is a young black boy and from where people can see she is an older white woman.  What they do not know is that his grandmother is part black and that she is whith her grandson.  

My thoughts on the book are that the education and authority figures in Richard Wright's life were not in a positive place in his life at the moment.  He often disagreed with the religion and education being taught at his school and just as often questioned all of the authority figures in his life.

Literary Analysis

T- tone/mood; the emotional of the author or the reader
W- word choice; metaphors
I- imagery; paints a picture in a readers mind (5 senses, especially sound)
S- style; punctuation, syntax, ect.
T- theme; what you are going to start with, main idea, central meaning


"There was the breathlessly anxious fun of chasing and catching flitting fireflies on drowsy summer nights" pg. 45 mid-way

T- sad but hopeful; wants freedom away from his family
W- uses describing words to say what he hopes for in the future, personification (drowsy summer night)
I- "breathlessly anxious"
S-  blank statement, does not use much punctuation
T- While going through difficult times is better to stay hopeful and wanting a better future; throughout the memoir he goes through a lot of difficult moments but he still has the hope to resolve to a better future

A to Z Literary Devices

A
allusion; reference to history
alliteration; words together with the same first letter
allegory; an extended meaning or metaphor
analogy; comparing two things
antithesis; comapring with two opposites
anaphora; "there was" statements

B


C
connotation; beyond the literal level
characterization; the personality of a character
conflict; the thing conflicting with other things throughout the story
D
diolouge; words between characters
denotaion; a literal meaning of a word
E

F
first-person; where the author writes about themselves using I
foreshadowing; something in the text that predicts something that happens in the future part of the book
flashback; a part of the story that brings back a story from the past

G
genere; the type of book

H
hyperbole; exaggerated statements not to be taken literally
haiku; a type of poem using 5,7,5
I
irony; the opposite of what was expected
imagery; using your 5 senses to descirbe something
J

K

L

M
metaphor; comparing two things without using like or as
motif; a repeating symbol or idea
mood; the emotion of the reader
monolouge; a paragraph where a character is talking to themselves
N

O
oxymoron; ex- jumbo shrimp
otomotopia; a word that defines a sound

P
paradox; a situation that contradicts itself
personification; giving a non-human thing a human quality
plot; the line of the story
pun; a play on words
perspective; the way a charcter sees things about situations

Q

R
rhyming; rhyme
repetition; using a word or idea more than once
rhythm; the beat of the line

S
simile; comparing things using like or as
satire; making fun of a bigger thing
sarcasm; harsh or mean satire
symbol; something in the story that represents something
soliloquy; where the character is talking to themselves
T
third-perosn; where the author writes about themselves using their name or they
theme; a central idea throughout the story
tone; the authors style while writting

U

V
voice; the voice of a character

W

X

Y

Z

My Most Vivid Childhood Memories

When I was 5 years old my dad, mom, younger brother, and I moved to the Czech Republic from Chicago for my dads job and I specifically remeber the day we rode the plane to Prauge.  it was early in the morning and we had all of out things packed in boxes outside our house except for a few things we were bringing with us on the plane.  The big truck came to take our things where it would later send them to us.  Our family friend named Salvador drove us all to the airport but before we left my uncle and my grandparents were all at our house to say goodbye.  After goodbyes we got in the car and were dropped off at the airport.  I remember getting to the airport and me and my brother had matching outfits so we would not get sepperated or lost. Later we got on the plane and...