Blog for week 12/14/15

Prompt: Do you like what you’re reading? Why or why not?


     The book that I am currently reading is called "Memories of Anne Frank: Reflections of a Childhood Friend" by Alison Leslie Gold. This book is about Anne Frank's surviving friend Hannah. It talks about how life was when World War ll was happening. Hannah tells her story, and how her friendship with Anne Frank was very important to her.


     I do not hate what I am reading but I do not love it either. I feel this way towards the book because I really do not like nonfiction in general. I think that the book is interesting at times, but most of the time I get distracted and forget what I read. I sort of like the book because I think that Hannah and Anne's lives were interesting. I think this because they were only 13 years old and all of these tragic things were already happening. I will finish this book, but I don't think that I would reread because I really do not find nonfiction interesting.


     The thing that I find really interesting is that in this book Hannah Goslar takes the you (the reader) to a farther understanding of Anne's life. She gives you more information about Anne than what her diary does. Anne Frank's diary was only during the war, but this story tells you about Anne's life before the war and what Hannah's feelings were. I really like how this book not only focus's on Anne's life but her friend Hannah and her family. "Memories of Anne Frank: Reflections of a Childhood Friend" really gives you more of an understanding because it talks about their feelings throughout the whole book and even though I am not able to relate, I can imagine it was really hard for them because they were around my age when it happened.
   

Nonfiction Blog for the week - Memories of Anne Frank

read: up to Chapter 6 -  page 21


     The nonfiction book that I am currently reading is, "Memories of Anne Frank: Reflections of a Childhood Friend" by Alison Leslie Gold. What I have read so far is about Anne Frank's good friend, Hannah Goslar. Hannah Goslar lived to tell her story about her experience as a kid during WW||. At one point Hannah wondered if her parents knew something about Anne's family that she couldn't know. Hannah and Anne got separated, and she feared that something terrible would happen to Anne and her family. Hannah reminded herself that they were on their way to Switzerland for safety. Where I left off reading, 400 Jews from the old Jewish Quarter of Amsterdam were arrested.

    A part from the story that I find interesting is, "At bedtime Hannah's parents came into her room and said good night. She wondered if hey knew something about Anne's family they weren't telling her." I find that interesting because maybe they do know something and they don't want to tell Hannah because she might get scared. I think that something probably happened to Anne's family while going on their way to Switzerland and they do not want to worry Hannah.

     Some of the things that I have learned so far that I will not forget in the future is that no matter how far you are from someone you love that will not stop you from caring for them. I think that this book has life lessons hidden in them. Hannah and Anne have been separated for religious reasons and Hannah worries that something has happened to her best friend. Al she hopes for is that they get to safety fast.

    

Commented on: Sumar, Emily, Hazelle

Blog for Week 11/12/15 - Bonechiller By Graham McNamee

     The book that I am currently reading is Bonechiller by Graham McNamee. This book is about a boy named Danny. Danny moves a lot and is used to not fitting in. He lives in a small town in Canada. He has many adventures with his friends Ashley a.k.a Ash, Pike, and Howie. While going home from a crazy event he gets attacked by an animal. He is not sure what it is but he thinks that it is making him go nuts. Throughout the book he is trying to figure out what it is and why it's making teenagers disappear.

      I think that the theme so far is perseverance. I think that it is perseverance because Danny and his friend Howie were both imprinted by this dog-like animal and they have to keep searching for an answer even though their lives are at stake. Howie ends up in the hospital because of this encounter, but that doesn't stop him from trying to find out what this animal is and why it's after him and Danny. I think that this shows perseverance because even though they may have gotten rabies, they still continued to go back to the forest and search for their answers.


I think that this book has a second theme as well. I think that the second theme that this book has is friendship because even though they haven't known each other for so long, Danny, Pike, Howie, and Ash act like they have known each other their whole lives. Before all the chaos about the animal happened, they all went to Harvest Cove and Pike had the idea to burn a gasoline market shop down. Even though his idea was dangerous they didn't leave him alone to get caught, they stayed by his side. They were all nervous that they were going to get caught, but if one was going down they all were. 

Commented on: Jude, Emily, Amille 

1st Quarter Reflection

     Some of the strategies that have benefited me are annotating my articles. This has helped me a lot because when I look back I will remember what I read. It also helps me because if we have questions about what the article was about I could just look at my annotations as a guide on what that certain topic was about. I may think that annotating is boring, but it really does help. I will definitely keep doing this because it helps me understand the article.

     My research skills have improved in the last quarter by having a lot of projects that involve researching. In those projects we had to use different websites and if we couldn't find what we were looking for we tried a different website. Two of the projects that involved research were Banned Books Week and the Poe Web quest. Some of the times I found it hard to find the information that I was looking for, but I just explored the website a bit more and eventually I'd find it. 


     In this class I learned a lot of new things about the world because of our article of the week. Some of the times I thought that I wasn't going to be interested in the topic but then I found it really interesting because sometimes they involved new laws, or violence that has happened in places that are near by. I remember reading about Syrian Refugees. The topic was really important because there was violence happening in their country and they were fleeing to other countries near by to get to safety. A lot of the articles were really interesting because some if the events were in our own country and I didn't know that was happening. This class is basically like our own news resource.

The Arranged Marriage

"The Arranged Marriage" 

By Andrea Dominguez

In an olden era there was a semi-barbaric king who was so powerful. This king had a daughter, that no one ever dared to love because of her father. Until one day a young man from the king’s workers rose to the challenge.The princess loved him and he loved her. The king had made the lover go to the arena.

When her lover turned and looked at her, and his eyes met hers. She sat there, paler and whiter than anyone in the vast ocean of anxious faces beside her. He saw, by that power quick perception which is given to those whose souls are one, that she knew behind which door crouched the tiger, and behind which stood the lady. He had expected her to know it.

He understood her nature, and his soul was assured that she would never rest until she had made a plan to figure out her decision, hidden to all other lookers-on, even to the king. The only hope for the youth in which there was any element of certainty was based upon the success of the princess in discovering this mystery; and the moment he looked upon her, he saw she had succeeded, as in his soul he knew she would succeed.

It was his quick and anxious glance that asked the question “which?”  It was as plain to her as if he shouted from where he stood. There was not an instant to be lost. The question was asked in a flash; it must be answered in another. Her arm lay on the cushioned parapet before her. She raised her hand, and made a slight, quick movement toward the right. No one but her lover saw her. Every eye but his was fixed on the man in the arena.

The princess points to the door of the lady. She immediately regrets her decision. The princess watched as her lover married the girl she hated. Years passed and the princess still wasn’t over her decision. Her lover talked to his “wife”.

“Love, I have some important news to tell you.” he started.

“What is it my dear?” she asked.

“I still love the princess. I am so deeply sorry but we must divorce at once.” he firmly stated. As anger flared through the lady she coldly agreed. He immediately searched for the princess. Once he found her he confessed his love for her. She admitted she still loved him.

“Why did you make me choose the lady?” He asked with curiosity.

“I would rather have you with someone else than have you dead.”

“What are we going to tell your father?” They both went to confront the king. After hours of pleading he realized that he wanted his daughter to be happy. Soon after the confirmation, they married. The lady found out and wants to kill the princess. The king finds out and puts her in the arena. If guilty out came the tiger. If innocent her handsome man, the princess’s lover, was hers at last. She chooses the door on the right. The hungry tiger ran out from the door and devours her. The princess was delighted, not only because the lady was gone forever, but because she finally found her prince to be with for the rest of her life.

commented on: Emily, Robert, Yazmin

Blog for Week 10/26/15 - Bonechiller

Prompt:  How does the conflict drive the character development?

Bonechiller by Graham McNamee

pages 1 - 50

     The book that I am currently reading is Bonechiller by Graham McNamee. This book is about a boy named Danny. Danny moves a lot and is used to not fitting in. He lives in a small town in Canada. He has many adventures with his friends Ashley a.k.a Ash, Pike, and Howie. While going home from a crazy event he gets attacked by an animal. He is not sure what it is but he thinks that it is making him go nuts. Throughout the book he is trying to figure out what it is and why it's making teenagers disappear.

     The conflict so far is that Danny got attacked by a dog-like animal. The creature made Danny fall and hit his head, so he is not sure if what he saw really happened or if he was just hallucinating. This conflict changes Danny because now he is very cautious whenever he goes out. He makes sure that the animal is not chasing him or watching him. Danny isn't his daring self anymore. He doesn't want to go to Harvest Cove with Pike anymore because he thinks that the animal is out there waiting for him. Danny was daring and up to any challenge that his friend Pike would give him. Now he is just cautious and paranoid because of his encounter with the creature.

Blog for Week 10/14/15 - Marley & Me

Prompt: If you were a character in this book, who would you be? Why?

Marley & Me by John Grogan
throughout the whole book

     The book, Marley & Me, talks about how John and Jenny want to start a family but want to make sure they are ready for parenting. To test themselves they buy a dog. He is a very squirmy dog, most people would say he is disobedient but I would say he is just very excited about life. There is conflict about if they should keep the dog because of how his behavior is. Did this couple find the key to unlock their hearts to love this "bad dog"?

    If I was a character in Marley & Me I would be Marley because he is just so full of life. Marley is has a really upbeat personality and just loves everyone he meets. I really like people that have a positive personality because it gets me in a good mood as well. That is how Marley's personality is. Marley really likes to be around people instead of being with himself, that's kind of how I am. When Marley was a puppy he didn't want to sleep alone. He had to sleep with John. Sometimes I like to be alone but I don't like to feel alone. What I mean is that when I'm with someone I like to feel involved not ignored. Marley is like that too. Marley likes to be noticed. He understands that sometimes thats not possible but he doesn't go all rebellious. When Jenny has her first baby, she was worried that he would get jealous and become a rebel, but he didn't. It's like Marley knew what to do. He was very cautious near the baby. He wouldn't jump on him, bite him, or do anything to harm him. 

     I feel like the author made Marley's personality similar to a human. Marley has the personality of a positive upbeat person. He is just so carefree. I would really want to be Marley because I think that with a positive attitude you won't be stressed and worrisome. Many people could relate to Marley because he is basically a human just in a dog character. 

I commented on Emily's, Amilee, and Brimady's