Looking For Alaska

I am currently reading Looking For Alaska by John Green. I have just started reading the book and it is good so far. It keeps my attention and it is an enjoyable read.

I chose this book because I like John Green books and my friend wanted me to read it. I thought I would give it a try. It sounded cool. I was interested to see if it was good because I really loved reading The Fault In Our Stars. This is also written  by John Green. 

The cover is mysterious. This is also why I wanted to read the book. I was curious. Interested. Engaged. The cover is black with smoke coming up from the bottom of the page. Before I read the book, I didn't know what is meant or if the smoke was a symbol. I want to continue to read to find out if it is a symbol and what is represents. 

I find it interesting that John Green writes the type of books that he does because he seems silly and outgoing. His books can have serious topics such as cancer. It seems like his personality and his style of writing are contrasting. 

I am very excited and glad to have chose such an interesting and compelling book because it has been very entertaining. Books are very fun to me. I have always liked to read. For a while I couldn't find books that I liked so I began to lose the fun feeling. Once I started reading Looking For Alaska, I began to like reading again.

Write a thematic statement for your novel and provide textual evidence that supports this theme

I am currently reading The Rule Of Thoughts. There is a common theme in the situations that the characters face in the book. The characters have to do things that are scary sometimes such as going into virtual worlds that are dangerous. A common theme that I have seen through out the book is never give up and don't be scared to face your fears and come out of your comfort zone. Also the characters stick together so that they can complete their goals together. 

I will provide examples from the book that express this theme.

I recently read Chapter 20 and this theme is very reoccurring in the chapter. The first quote is as follows, "Something pulled him away from Bryson and Sarah, but he held on to his friends. He curled his fingers tightly around theirs, refusing to let them slip away." This quote shows how Michael and his friends have a strong relationship that is worth keeping. They do everything together. They work extremely hard and stick together so they can accomplish missions easier.

Michael has a  very determined and powerful personality. He keeps going. All the time. He never seems to give up. Another quote that can be found in Chapter 20 is, "It's the sleep, he told himself in a rush of panic. It's not real, not happening. Endure. Don't let go." Michael is pushing himself to continue to endure the really difficult situation. 

In Chapter 20, Agent Weber has the 3 friends going on a terrifying mission to stop the main enemy in the book, Kaine. Michael is scared but he and his brave friends decide to carry on with the mission. A quote found in this chapter that fully shows how the friends are ready to face their challenge is, "'But we've proven ourselves,' Bryson said with a shrug. 'Honestly, would you really trust someone else to do this? It's us man. The Burn-and-Pillage-y Trilogy. If anyone can pull this off, it's me, you, and Sarah. Slip in, do our business, save the world from a psycho, slip out.'" This quote is perfect for showing how determined and strong these characters are. 

James Dashner does a good job including dialogue and events to show this theme of being strong and never giving up. This theme was evident in Chapter 20, but is also evident in other chapters in the story. 

   

     I am currently reading The Rule Of Thoughts. It is the second book in the series. I have read the first book in the series by James Dashner. I am almost done with The Rule Of Thoughts and I have really enjoyed it so far. It has a lot of aspects that I like in a book.

       

       Once I finish The Rule Of Thoughts, I would definitely want to continue to read the rest of the books. 

       

       The aspects that I find interesting and essential to a great book are suspense, humor, and strong development of characters. 

       

       Starting with suspense.

       

       Suspense is interesting. It hooks the reader and I enjoy when a book contains suspense. I find that a book with suspense is fun. Suspenseful books have been the genre of books that I have always enjoyed. 

       

       Now on to humor. 

     

       Books to me aren't as interesting when they are extremely boring. I find that humor adds to a book and makes it less boring. Everyone loves to laugh and books find a way to make people laugh. Books that are funny keep the readers attention.

      And the development of characters.  

       I personally like books that develop personalities of characters. I like learning about the characters because you can relate to them, and I remember books more because of the huge character development. 

       I liked reading The Rule Of Thoughts because of all of the aspects that are mentioned above. These aspects are all wonderful components to me that can be found in a book. 

·        Determine a symbol for each of your characters. What tangible item can represent something abstract about them? Explain your reason for your selection.

     

I     I am currently reading The Rule Of Thoughts by James Dashner. It is the sequel to The Eye Of The Minds. I decided to write a blog post that wasn't specifically about the setting or suspense or plot of the book, but instead about the characters. The main characters in the book are Sarah, Bryson, and Michael. Each character has a distinct personality and they can be represented by everyday things. 

      

      Bryson could be represented as a calculator or a dog. A calculator is smart and can figure out all types of formulas. In the book, Bryson can figure out codes and he is very smart. He can also be represented by a dog because dogs are always sniffing and searching. Bryson is good at manipulating code that is found in the futuristic society that the 3 friends enter. 

      Sarah is another one of the main characters in the book. She could be represented by a flower. She is delicate but strong. She has multiple qualities like the petals of a flower such as funny, happy, and smart. Sarah is a strong person which is represented by the roots of a flower that stand firmly in the ground.  

      Michael is the main character in the story and the story is based mostly off of him. Michael finds out at the end of The Eye Of The Minds, that he is what is called a tangent. He is not considered a human, but rather a computer program. Michael always thought that he was a human until he was put into a human named Jackson Porter. Michael's personality and brain were put into Jackson Porter. Michael is confused about who he really is and why he was chosen to stop a main enemy in the book named Kaine. Michael can be represented by a magnifying glass because he has to examine himself and others very closely to figure out his and their true identities. 

Handout

Group Members: Josh Mullins, Emily Tripp, Bailey Buchanan, Natasha Saputra, Sukhi Kanniks, Almas Malik

Theme Statement: Censorship causes diminished individual thought.

Timeline:

1. Montag met Clarisse and she made him think about why he burnt books
2. Montag keeps a book from one of the home fires
3. Montag shows Mildred his collection of books and they start to read them
4. When the government found out that he had books, Montag had to burn down his own house
5. The government chases him because of his possession of books
6. He escapes the government and meets Granger
7. Montag is introduced to a society where books are accepted

3 quotes that show how theme developed:

1.) “‘They took him screaming off to the asylum.’ ‘He wasn’t insane,’ Beatty arranged his cards quietly. ‘Any man’s insane who thinks he can fool the government and us,’”

Bradbury, Ray. "The Hearth and the Salamander." Fahrenheit 451. New York: Simon

and Schuster, 1967. 30. Print.

2.) “‘They just might stop us from making the same...insane mistake! I don’t hear those idiot … in your parlor talking about it. God, Millie, don’t you see?’ ... The telephone rang. Mildred snatched the phone. ‘Ann!’ She laughed.”

         Bradbury, Ray. "The Sieve and the Sand." Fahrenheit 451. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1967. 70. Print.

3.) “The fugitive cannot escape if everyone in the next minute looks from his house, Ready!”

           Bradbury, Ray. "Burning Bright." Fahrenheit 451. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1967. 132. Print.

                                                                                                                                                                  1.) The theme of censorship causes diminished individual thought helps us to understand the story because the censorship represents the society banning books and the people in the society are unable to have their own views. The characters start to discover that books can open their eyes to new thoughts and ideas.

2.)This theme relates to society because the media portrays how people should act or look, which causes people to think differently about themselves, but this is not how they should view themselves. We should be aware of this theme because individual thoughts are important to who someone is and how they live their life, so it is a major issue when this is prohibited.

Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims

I just began reading "Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims." It is different from any book that I have read before because it is entertaining and it's a learning experience at the same time. It is about a man named Rush Revere who travels through time with his horse. He is a teacher and he shows his students how fun history can be if they can actually be in that time period. It is an interesting book because it gives you information and facts about the Mayflower and the Pilgrims. It is a silly and unrealistic book because of the time traveling, but it is informing of how people in this time period lived. 

There are occasional pictures in the book that appear that are usually of the characters or of historical ships and people. I think that this book is a book that you can read if you want to be entertained and educated about history at the same time. It's enjoyable to read and fascinating too. It's an easy and amusing read. 

I think it is cool to compare the setting of the world today and the world many years ago. The pictures show the clothing that people would wear. Also pictures of the ships including the Mayflower are shown. 

I would recommend this book to someone who wants to read a simple and fun book. It's a funny and entertaining story that includes a fun way of learning about history. 

   A book review, brief summary, type of reader who would enjoy it, rating, and details about the writing style


I have finished reading The Eye Of The Minds by James Dashner. I would rate the book a 4 out of 5 stars. It was a very suspenseful and futuristic book. It is similar to the movie The Matrix. It is different from any book I have read because there is strange technology. Because the technology was so futuristic and different, it made me wonder what was going to happen when the technology was involved. The main characters are in a virtual world and they have to solve problems within that world. I liked the suspense because it was very engaging. The ending was surprising and I liked the ending because it made you want to read more. I instantly wanted to read the next book and I started to read it. I would say that it is even more suspenseful than the first book. I would definitely recommend this series.

I  think that there is a variety of people who would want to read this book including both girls and boys. It is suspenseful and makes you want to continue to read it. People who like futuristic books, fantasy books, science or technology related books, suspenseful books, entertaining books and mystery books are going to like The Eye Of The Minds. When the characters are trying to figure out who Kaine is, they find out something that they never would of expected. This book has plot twists which makes it very interesting and easy to read. Events that occur make you think and problem solve.

I thought it was interesting how the author set up the book. He broke the chapters up into sections which are labeled with a number. This separates the events within the chapter. Each chapter has 3-7 sections. I love books that end the chapter with important dialogue or a suspenseful sentence. Phrases like these are found in this book.