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.