"The Mark of Athena"- Thoughts, Inferences, and Predictions

I started to learn a lot more about two characters in particular- Hazel and Leo. Though they are not the main characters in the book, Hazel and Leo are still very significant in the plot. Both have a very important role in as for they are two of the seven people who are destined to stop Gaea from taking over the world. In many ways, Hazel and Leo are very alike. One way is that they both had very dark pasts- Hazel was resurrected from the dead by her brother and Leo had a harsh aunt who put him into foster care and was really mean to him. Also both have a encountered Nemesis, who is the Goddess of Revenge, and she told both of they about their responsibilities or fates that are going to occur in the future; Hazel has to go and rescue Nico, for he will die in six days, and Leo is the odd man out and he will need to fight through many hardships in the future. No that I have declared them to be quite similar, I think that Leo, who actually thinks that he is the odd man out will realize that he is not really that different from Hazel and he might stop those thoughts from contaminating his brain. 

I think that Nico, Hazel's brother, will be saved by Leo, because during the mini quest to get materials for the ship, both Hazel and Leo develop a friendship. And with that friendship, Leo will feel obliged to save Nico. Though there is not too much evidence to back up that prediction, I surely think that Leo will rescue Nico. That prediction is for later in the book, but for now, I think that after Leo and Hazel return to the Argo II, the other will be back and they will head to Rome to save the entire Rome as well as Nico. This can be thought through logic; if they cannot head back to the Roman demigod's camp and they have nothing really to do at Camp Half-Blood, their only other option in order to advance their plan to stop Gaea and go to Rome.

I think that at the end of the book, the Roman demigods will realize that some took control of Leo, who made him attack the Roman camp. Since the Roman are following them, I think that both of the groups will travel to Rome and, meet there. However, they will later realize that Leo was being controlled by someone else. So far, I think that this a great book and encourage everyone to read this series.

"The Mark of Athena"- The Highlights of the Book (So Far)

I am around pg. 95 in the Mark of Athena and so far, the book is extremely interesting and many unexpected things have happened just in the first couple of chapters. Rick Riordan is extremely good at plot twists and changing the story line at the most hyped-up times. For example, after the Greek and the Roman camps unite to destroy Gaea, the most unexpected thing happens- Leo, who somehow became demented for a little while, used the Argo II and shot at the Roman camp. The Roman think that the Greeks came to attack them right now and they are now fighting. Since the Greeks were outnumbered, they retreated and Percy, Annabeth, and a couple others board the ship a leave. They later realize that Leo has been possessed and someone made him attack the camp.

At first, I thought that after the Greeks and Romans unite, no one within the camp would cause the alliance to break apart. But, of course, what I didn't expect happened. I even thought that they would just team up and kill one cyclops, Gaea's children, at a time. I believed that the only other problem that would occur is the prophecy of the Mark of Athena, which wasn't well described in the book, but was mentioned. Apparently, once a son of Athena went to Rome and came back mentally ill. I really don't have an explanation about what the Mark of Athena is, but since Annabeth is the daughter of Athena, I think that something bad will happen to Annabeth.

Another interesting point is that when Leo and Hazel go to find celestial bronze and lime, they encounter Nemesis, the Greek and Roman Goddess of Revenge. Nemesis started saying that she would be the only God that could help them on their quest, because Hera, their former "mentor" is being chased by the Gods for failing to unite the Roman and Greek demigods and causing them to get migraines, since it is hard to be both the Greek and Roman version of themselves. So after Nemesis asks them if they need help, she says that Nico, Hazel's brother, is going to die in six days if they don't find him and save him and she also talks about something bad that is going to happen to Leo.

This lead to suspense for the readers and it made me very intrigued, because I wanted to keep reading to find out more about their obscured fates and also about the Mark of Athena. Again, Rick Riordan is so good at plot twists that he just forces the reader to keep reading and reading his books. He leaves the reader with limited amount of information and then he literally make the reader keep thing about what the obscured thing is. For example, I just kept thinking and thinking about what the Mark of Athena is and about Nico's and Leo's fate. Overall, I think that the two main point from this reading that Rick Riordan leaves the reader thinking about is what the Mark of Athena is and the fates of Nico and Leo.

Please comment on this blog post and maybe even discuss about what these two things are about and if you already know, don't ruin it for those still reading.

The Heroes of Olympus- Thematic Statement

 

The Heroes of Olympus is a series on Greek mythology where two demigod camps, Greek and Roman, have to overcome their hatred of one another in order to stop Gaea, the goddess of the Earth, from taking over the world. Though there is a lot of mythology and action in this series, the theme is quite applicable in the real world, maybe even in daily life. The theme that I have drawn from what I have read so far in the series is that teamwork will help achieve seemingly impossible goals. Throughout the series, it emphasizes the fact that the Greek and Roman camps can only stop Gaea from taking over the world with unity between them. In fact, in the Mark of Athena, the Greek camp is putting their differences and hatred with the Roman camp aside and approaching them to ask for help or, in other words, an alliance. After all they both have one goal: to stop Gaea from taking over the world.

Even before the Mark of Athena, the Greek and Roman camps already seemed to have an alliance. Jason and his friends, Roman demigods, were saved by the Greek camps from a monster at the very beginning of the series. The Greek demigods, unknowingly, brought them to their camp, thinking that they were Greek demigods. Since Jason and his friends were brainwashed, they didn't remember that they were Roman demigods. Later in the Lost Hero, Jason and his friends help the Greeks defeat a Cyclops, a son of Gaea, and from there they formed an informal alliance. On the other hand, Percy, a Greek demigod, was rescued by the Roman camp and taken in there, thinking that Percy was a Roman demigod. Since he was also brainwashed, he couldn't remember that he was a Greek demigod. At the end of the Lost Hero, Percy helps the Roman camp and develops an informal alliance. Later in the series, we find out that the Greek/Roman god and goddess planned this out so that the Greek and Roman camps would work together to take down Gaea and put her back to sleep. Based on these two pieces of evidence, it is obvious that teamwork is emphasized and the fact that teamwork is helpful and needed to achieve a common goal.

One theme that is present in the book it that even rivals can work together. This theme is demonstrated in the book, because the Greek and Roman were straight-out hardcore rivals. In the past a lot of fights and wars have resulted in the growing hatred between them. However, they overcame the difference and united to overthrow and destroy Gaea's ambition of taking over the world. This theme is very applicable in life, because now a days, people have been prejudice and developed rivals by being insensitive. With applying this theme, there will be less rivalries, so there will be less of hatred leading to a more cooperative group and society that can help each other in achieving and overcoming a common goal.

Please, if you find anymore themes in The Mark of Athena, or even in the series, comment on this blog and put the theme in there and maybe even with evidence.

"The Mark of Athena"

 

After a year finishing The Sun of Neptune, I have finally moved on to The Mark of Athena. The past two books in this series are a little obscure, but I do remember the overall plot. Basically, the Greek demigods and the Roman demigods must overcome their conflicts and work together, in order to stop the evil Gaea, the goddess of the Earth. In the first book is basically in the point of view of Jason, a Roman demigod, and his adventure with the Greek demigods. The second book is about the adventure of Percy Jackson, a Greek demigod, with Roman demigods and it is told in Percy's point of view. At the end of The Sun of Neptune, the Greek demigods were making the effort to go to the Roman camp and unite with them. Now, the story continues.....

At the beginning of The Mark of Athena, the Greek demigods made it to the Roman camp and they informed the Romans that they must work together and stop Gaea and her children from taking over the world. The Romans were questioning the Greeks and that is were I stopped reading. I really haven't read enough to make any predictions, other than that the Greeks and Romans will unite to save the world, because I don't have enough information to form any other predictions of what this book will be about. So I will just start talking about Rick Riordan and his writing.

The following information was found on http://www.rickriordan.com/home.aspx, so for more information, go to this web page.

Rick Riordan was born on June 5, 1964 in San Antonio, Texas. He lives in Boston with his wife and two sons, Haley and Patrick. He has one dog named Speedy, a Basenji/terrier mix, and three cats. His favorite characters from his books are Grover, Bes, and Tyson, because he loves to write about them. In his spare time, he reads, plays the guitar, and travels with his family.

Rick Riordan taught English and History at public and private schools, which are located in San Francisco and Texas, for fifteen years. However, right now, writing is his full-time job in Boston. His is also the author of serval series including the Percy Jackson and the Olypians series, the Kane Chronicles, and the Heroes of Olympus. At first, he wrote mystery books that was intended for grownup; one of his mystery series was Tres Navarre series. As a bedtime story, Rick Riordan wrote The Lightning Thief for his oldest son. From there, he turned his books into children's fiction.

Blog Post Reflection

The quality of my writing has improved over the course of the trimester a lot. It can be seen in the aspect of the succinct sentences that describe the literary elements in more depth. The brevity of the sentences can be seen by the fact that I use more words and elaborate more of the complexity of the character, Hope, whereas in the second one, there is more than just one thing that I talk about. For example, I start talking about the effectiveness of the introduction, and then I make some inferences in just one paragraph. In the rest of that post, I talk about the difference in the introduction between The Kite Runner and The Lemon Tree and a connection between the book and another book, Touching Spirit Bear. Another reason that my writing skills is that I have increased the level of variation of the sentences. In the first post, there were many subordinate conjunctions. This similar sentence formation/ syntax made the post seem more monotone and insipid. But in the second post, the variation of the sentence made the post more interesting.  Also, the grammatical errors have decreased but not too significantly. The first blog post had some errors, but there weren’t too significant. In the final post, the errors were very limited to no errors at all. Therefore, based on these pieces of evidence, my writing skills have augmented throughout the course of the trimester.

                The main struggle that I had with this project was actually putting the thoughts of my book onto the post and meeting the requirements of the blog. I had to write about it in immense detail and write above and beyond, because I didn’t know how detailed I had to write it to fulfill the requirements. That was the only way to overcome this struggle. The way I tackled the other struggle was by writing all my thoughts on the book that I had that time. This helped me decide which thoughts were important and which are not important. The strength in my blogging is that I was very deep in the meaning towards the end and the blogs contained the important information that was each time I wrote about. I did not reach my reading goal, because I had a hard time finding the right book. I had many books in my mind that I really wanted to read, but unfortunately, I couldn’t get a hold of any of them. But through the reading of other blogs, I found some book that I am reading now. I used goodreads.com as a reference to good book just like the blogs. My reading skills improved with the increased level of analysis of each book. My analyzing is more in depth or in a more deeper meaning, because in that first post, the analysis wasn’t too sophisticated and was more an easy observation of the character’s behavior and feelings. In the second post, the analysis of the sentence, "It was my past of unatoned sins”, was more sophisticated than the first. There was a greater need of comprehension than the first one. Therefore, my reading skills have enhanced throughout the course of this trimester.

"Romeo and Juliet"- Act III

 

In Act III a lot has happened that changes the course of the play and propels the story forward. However, I will first start with a short summary of all the scenes and then discuss some literary elements in each scene. I will then end with some predictions and even tell what I would do if I were in each situation.

In Scene I, basically, Tybalt kills Mercutio in a fight and Tybalt is later slayed by Romeo. After Romeo runs away and hides, the Prince of Verona says that he will kill Romeo once he finds him. In Scene II, Juliet is informed by the Nurse that Romeo killed Tybalt. Then Juliet tells the Nurse to go and get Romeo. In Scene III, Romeo starts crying in Friar Lawerence's cell and then the Nurse comes in. She tells Romeo to meet Juliet and he tries to kill himself, but is stopped by the Friar. In Scene IV, Lord Capulet meets with Paris and they set the marriage date to the following Thursday. And finally, in Scene V, Romeo and Juliet meet each other. Then Romeo leaves and Lady Capulet tells her about the marriage. Juliet refuses and Lord Capulet get mad at her and calls her mean names. Afterwards, the Nurse advises her to marry Paris and Juliet says yes sarcastically. She then tells herself that she will kill herself if she is separated from Romeo. The Act then ends. As you see, the summary is very brief, so do not use this as a substitute for the real play.

There are a lot of literary elements that are present in this scene- most of which is irony. In Scene 5 of this act, Lady Capulet said that Juliet will be a bride and get a husband on Thursday, but Juliet already has a husband- Romeo. This is irony, because she is already married. Another piece of irony is that Juliet says that Romeo is very bad and starts calling him names. And right after that she says that she would rather marry Romeo than Paris. This is ironic, because she at on point started calling Romeo names and now she     would rather marry him. This is also ironic, because she is already married to Romeo. If you have any other examples of literary element, please put it on the comments.

"Is Bottled Water A Good Idea?"

As I was looking through an Upfront article, I saw a page discussing whether bottled water was a good idea. I was astounded after reading the page. They had a column that said that it was a good idea and there was another column that said that it was a bad idea. First, I will summarize what each side said and then I will give my opinion of the question.

The article talks about the good of bottled water as healthy and convenient. It says that sales of bottled water has tripled in the past 10 years, showing that bottled water is growing in popularity in the US. It also states that replacing sugary drinks for bottled water can eliminate more than 50,000 calories per year. Also bottled water has better environmental benefits than other bottled drinks. Therefore, since bottled water is popular, healthy, and environmentally beneficial, it is a good idea to have bottled water. 

The articles also talks about the bad of bottled water; for example, it not having great health benefits, consuming lots of resources, and economically expensive. Though water bottle companies say that bottled water is healthier, tap water has to be tested frequently on its quality. Also, transporting bottled water is not efficient. It also states that bottled water uses a lot of plastic and consumes lots of oil. Finally, water bottle companies earn $12 billion dollars per year, but that money could be used to improve tap water quality. Therefore, the idea of bottled water is not good. 

I think that bottled water is not a good ides, because it isn't too much healthier than tap water. Also, bottled water is 1,000 times more expensive than tap water. It also has bad impacts on the environment and consumes a lot of oil and resources. Again, I think that bottled water is not a great idea for these reasons and many others. If you agree or disagree with me, please feel free to comment below.

"The Kite Runner"- Text to Text Connections

 

The Kite Runner is a great book from what I have read. I haven't gotten too far into the book to write another blog about, so I will make some inferences and prove it from the text. I will also elaborate more on the first two chapters of the book.The book leaves me thinking after the first chapter with one question- What did Amir do to ruin the relationship with his childhood friend or friends. In the first chapter of the book, it states, "It was my past of unatoned sins." Basically, he is saying that he made many mistakes in his childhood that he is yet to make up for. He described a phone call with Rahmin Khan as his past of unatoned sins, so I inferred that he has does something wrong in the past. After this, he starts thinking and had some alone time. The story then dives into the childhood of Hassan. In this part of the story, it talks a lot about Amir, Hassan, Baba (Amir's Father), and Ali (Hassan's father). I think that Amir did something wrong to Hassan, because it doesn't really emphasize on anyone else except Hassan.

I also think that Amir will try to make the wrong that he has done in the past right. So I thinks that Amir will make a trip to Pakistan and the story will take place there. Finally, in the third chapter, I think that there will be a fight between Amir and Hassan. I hope this happens, because I don't really like novels that are discussing too much about the past like The Lemon Tree. Then I think that the author will have an entire chapter that Amir talks about this mistake he made to his father. So far, that is all that I think that the story will be about. I really can't think of anything else.

Based on what I have read, I recommend this book to everyone who enjoys reading books about the main character correcting his past. I know many books that relate to The Kite Runner. For example, in Touching Spirit Bear, Cole, the main character, is trying to correct his anger. He caused great physical pain to Peter. So he is granted an alternate for jail- living on an island for a couple of months and resolve the damage done to Peter. Just like in Touching Spirit Bear, Amir has to resolve his past.

"The Kite Runner"

Finally, I get a good book that is very interesting. I so far have read about 21 pages of the book. The book actually had a great introduction that made my eyes glued onto the page. A lot has happened in the book.

The first chapter of the book was quite unique. This chapter talked about a mistake that Amir made as a child. The main thing that intrigued me is that he directly stated," I thought of the life I have lived until the winter of 1975 came along and changed everything. And made who I am today." The main point of this book, as obvious as it seems, is how Amir changes his past. The second chapter and a little bit of the third basically talks about Amir's life as a child. He talks a lot about two main people, who are his father, Baba and his servant's son, Hassan. Amir also talks a little about his dead mother, Hassan's dead mother, and Hassan's father. The rest of the chapter is childhood memories that he relishes. 

I really like this book for a couple of main reasons. First, the book directly goes into the problem and intrigues me, which makes me more engaged in the book. Second, it goes all the way to the beginning of the story and clearly talks about Amir's childhood. And finally, it has not boring times that basically make the reader sleep. Nearly every second of my reading, I was engaged with the book. Overall, I can't wait until I get to the part where Amir makes his great mistake. 

"Romeo and Juliet"- Act 1, Scene 5

 

In this blog post, I will be discussing about the fifth scene of Act 1. This scene is mostly romantic and it is the scene where Romeo meets Juliet for the first time. The people in Scene 5 are Romeo, Juliet, Lord Capulet, Tybalt, Nurse, Servants, and Benvolio.

Scene 5 starts out with the servants talking and then Lord Capulet enters the scene. Lord Capulet just talks a little bit about the party. Then Romeo enters the scene. He sees Juliet for the first time and says that she is very hot and starts reciting and comparing her to different thing. For example, he says," O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!" This statement that Romeo talks about is about how pretty and beautiful he thinks that Juliet is. He keeps reciting similar things and then Tybalt find out about Romeo being a Montague and coming to the party. Tybalt tells his uncle, Lord Capulet, about Romeo being at the party. Lord Capulet tells him to ignore Romeo and not to cause a mutiny at the party. After some protest by Tybalt and some forceful orders from Lord Capulet, Tybalt finally agrees to ignore him.

Romeo goes up to Juliet and starts talking about how he think that Juliet is very pretty. Juliet likes him back at the first sight of him as well. They start talking and soon they both begin to kiss in an uncrowded room. After that, the Nurse calls Juliet and tells her that her mother is calling her. She leaves Romeo and walks towards the Nurse. After Juliet leaves to go to her mother, the Nurse starts talking to Romeo and talks about Juliet on the matter of who her mother is and how rich she is. Romeo then realizes that Juliet is a Capulet. Then once Romeo is leaving, Juliet and the Nurse talk about Romeo and the nurse tells her that he is a Montague. The party ends and then the scene ends.

In this scene, a lot of important events take place. For example, Romeo and Juliet meet each other for the first time and they fall in love with each other. Another important event is they both realize that their parents are both enemies. These events are the main events that propel the story to the conclusion. Without these events in this book. There really wouldn't be a story. Essentially, I think that this is the most important scene in the story, because of the reasons I have already stated. I have many predictions to make on this book. I think that  that Lord Capulet and Lord Montague will find out about their love and separate them. I also think Paris, the guy who she is supposed to marry, will figure out that Romeo and Juliet both like each other and he will help them run away. I know they will run away, because it stated that in the Prologue. I just can't wait to figure out whether or not my predictions are correct.

"Romeo and Juliet"- Act 1, Scenes 2-4

After reading a little bit more of The Lemon Tree, I just couldn't bear it, because of the great deal of information it throws at you and the lack of a developed plot in the third chapter. My friend who read the book said that the first 7 chapter, excluding the first chapter, is all about the history of the conflict. Just like The Great Gatsby, I am going to abandon The Lemon Tree. I discourage anybody to not read it. I bet it is even hard for historians to read the book. I think that my next book will be Divergent.

Putting that aside, in class, we read Romeo and Juliet from scenes 2-4. After reading it, the book is not as hard as I expected. Reading Elizabethan is that hard to read. It just takes time to understand the text. I very much prefer reading Romeo and Juliet over The Lemon Tree. Here is a basic over view of the scenes.

In Scene 2, Lord Capulet asks Paris if he would marry Juliet in two years. In the mean time, Lord Capulet asks him to start "wooing" her, so Lord Capulet sets up a party for him to "woo" her. Lord Capulet then send out a servant to invite some guests and leaves. However, since the servant didn't know how to read, he asked the nearest people, who is Romeo and Benvolio, to read it for him. Romeo reads it to him and the servant invites him to the party.In Scene 3, Lady Capulet basically wants to talk to Juliet about marrying Paris; however, the Nurse keeps going off in a tangent. Then Lady Capulet finally gets a chance to talk about marrying Paris. Juliet said that she thought that marriage is is "an honor that I dream not of." However, she said that she would try to love Paris. In Scene 4, basically Romeo, Benvolio, and Mercutio are going to the party and Mercutio gives the famous Queen Mab speech.

I had a couple of predictions that would happen later in the book. One prediction is that Romeo and Juliet will meet somewhere incidentally. Then they will hang out with each other. Another prediction is that their parents will find out and they will fight even more. Overall, I think that Romeo and Juliet is a very interesting story.

"The Lemon Tree"- Chapter 2

 

Not too much has happened in chapter 2 of The Lemon Tree. I will quickly give a synopsis of this chapter and talk a little bit of the setting in the book.

Basically, in the beginning of chapter 2, Bashir's father, Ahmad, is building a house apart from his joint family. Then the story slowly fades into the connection between the family and the city and how the Israeli- Palestine war has begun. It also dives into the origins of the conflicts between the Israeli and the Palestinians.

I think in this chapter too much information is thrown out to you. I agree that the book is non-fiction; however, the story cannot throw out that much information. Also the book doesn't really describe some of the terms mentioned in the book, making it difficult for any other reader or me to understand it. I think that this book would be very good, if it was a little slower. The author should have made it into two or three books, so that the reader can easily understand it. Literally, I think that the author is just straight-out telling the fact rather than conveying them in a clear manner. I really wouldn't listen to the praises of the book, because I am pretty sure that they were very modest.

The story for now doesn't really have a setting, all it does is explain the war incidents. It gets really confusing, because they keep changing the setting. Once it is in al-Ramala and then it explains an event in another part of Palestine. Overall, I am just trying to say that this book is hard to keep up with. Only if you have a high comprehension level or you have a lot of prior knowledge of the war and if you know some technical terms, then it is really easy to understand. If you do not have any of the qualities above, I strongly discourage you from reading this book.

"Romeo and Juliet"- Act 1, Scene 1

We have actually began reading Romeo and Juliet in class; we read Act 1, Scene 1.  In this post, I will tell what I understand from this book and my view on the book. So here I go:

In Act 1, Scene 1, the servants of the Capulet house show their hatred towards the Montague family. They start brawling and then the Prince commands them to stop fighting. He also tell them that their quarrel has driven the city mad and that if they don't stop the fighting, then he will execute them. 

After the incident, Lord Montague and Benvolio, Romeo's cousin, starts to talk about Romeo and how gloomy he was recently.  They talk after a while and Benvolio says that he will talk to Romeo. Romeo walks in and Lord Montague departs and leaves the two with privacy. Benvolio talks to Romeo about why he is so gloomy. Romeo tells/ hints that he is in love. Benvolio asks why Romeo doesn't just go and ask her. Romeo replies that she doesn't want to marry anyone. Benvolio tells Romeo that he will help him. And the chapter ends there. 

This chapter seems very easy to understand. I think that this is a great start to the book, despite the confusing beginning and the Elizabethan English. Overall, this is the basic translation of the first part of the story. Based on this part of the story, I think that it won't be too hard to understand, because I already know the layout of the story and it isn't too hard to understand, especially with the guides on the side of the textbook. In conclusion, Romeo and Juliet isn't as bad as everyone seems to say. I think that it is totally understandable with the knowledge of the story and some familiarity with common Elizabethan words. If you have some difficulty understanding the story, then you might want to watch the video.

Shakespeare

 

Unfortunately, I haven't read enough of The Lemon Tree to write a detailed blog on it. Therefore, I will discuss about what we had learned in English 1A. In English class we are going to read Romeo and Juliet. In order to understand the book, we had to research a little about certain topics that are present in the book. For example, I was assigned to research about the Elizabethan Era. We will also talk a lot about Shakespeare and his writing style. Most of this blog will talk about the Elizabethan Era, but I will also discuss a little on other topics.

The Elizabethan Era

In the Elizabethan Era there were two major areas that differ from today which include the politics/ social order and technologies and scientific discoveries. The Elizabethan Era lasted from 1558-1603. This period of time was also known as the Golden Age of England. During this time, the queen was regarded as God's representation on Earth and the ranks were formed to show God's blessing to each rank. In the Elizabethan Era, everybody was distributed into classes, also known as a hierarchy. The order was the monarch being the highest authority, the nobility, the gentry, the merchants, the yeomanry, and finally the laborers were last in the order. The Parliament used the rankings to regulate clothing, or what each rank wore. Therefore, the clothing worn by people told their social class. There was a law called the Sumptuary Laws that limited food, beverages, furniture, jewelry, and clothing to the people. The law also dictated what color and type of clothing each rank worn, in order to identify their social class.

Another important part of the Elizabethan Era was the scientific discoveries and the inventions. Many scientific discoveries were made in the Elizabethan Era. One was by Andreas Vesalius, who is known as the founder of modern anatomy. He dissected a human body and wrote a book on it. He also gave a detailed description of the central nervous system, which is now known as "pons Varolii". In 1580, the first person sailed around the world in three years. His name was Sir Francis Drake. Galileo Galilee invented many things including the thermoscope, hydrostatic balance, and a telescope that he began work on in 1602. Many other inventions included the graphite pencil, the modern calculator, time bomb, and the wind-powered sawmill. Lots of new discoveries and inventions were discovered in the Elizabethan Era, which currently shapes our society.

Shakespeare

Shakespeare was a great playwright, who constructed many plays including some of his famous ones, which are Hamlet, Macbeth, and King Lear. Shakespeare was an influential playwright. Some of his influences include his timeless themes, romance, and his creation of flawed character that people could relate to. Shakespeare is well known for his tragedy. His most famous tragedies are King Lear, Hamlet, Macbeth, and Othello. Also the main character that he created was likable, despite his devilish characteristics. Shakespeare had tragedies that was centered around one character who experiences tragedy. Finally, he emphasizes on death in the plots of his plays. 

I think that Shakespeare is an amazing playwright, but he only problem with his writing is the language. If we understood that language a lot better I think that we would easily admire it. Many people say that it is very boring and that it is very hard to understand. As I stated before, his language is unlike modern English; therefore, it makes his writing harder to understand and love. I read A Midsummer Night's Dream in 8th grade. I agree that it is very hard, but I got the hang of it after a while. I think that exposure to this type of writing can help us a lot in English. I look forward to reading Romeo and Juliet and hopefully it is easy to understand. 

Click for a link of Shakespeare's works.

"The Lemon Tree": Chapter 1- Reading Skills

Unfortunately, I couldn't get The Mark of Athena from the library. So as I roamed through my room for a new book, I came across a book that I bought over the summer. It is called The Lemon Tree. I started reading it in the summer; however, the book got a little to difficult to understand, so I stopped. The book is about the Israeli- Palestinian conflict. After reading a brief overview of the war in English 1A, I started to understand the terms that they used in the book. By the way, this book is based on a true story; in fact, the author, Sandy Tolan, spent 7 years uncovering the story.

The first chapter of the book is quite easy to understand. The chapter is pretty much about a grown-up man named Bashir Khairi and his cousins going to their birth place in Palestine, which is now Israel. Palestinians were banned from Israel, so this is a dangerous journey. They travel on bus to the city that they were born in, al-Ramala. Then it switches to the perspective of Daila, a college student. She is just doing some daily routines. Then it goes back to Bashir's view. They have entered al-Ramala. They go to Bashir's cousins' houses. Finally, they reach Bashir's house and the chapter ends with Bashir pressing the doorbell.

I think that the later in the book, Bashir will be allowed in to go into the house and I think that they will stay there for a while and adapt to the Israeli culture. I also think that the government will find out about them being Palestinians and they will be kicked out of Palestine. I do have some questions though about this book. First off, what type of government did Israel have when Bashir and his cousins came? And finally, where is Bashir's family living, since they were kicked out of the country? Hopefully, these questions are going to be answered later on in the book.

This book sound kind of like the conflict between the Americans and the Native Americans back when America became a country. The Americans, who came to America, kicked out the Native Americans from the land. Likewise, the Israelis kicked out the Palestinians from their home. I also have a personal connection to this book and how Bashir felt. When I first came to Mason, I felt misplaced, because I didn't know anyone in Mason. The only difference is that Bashir actually had memories there and I didn't.
Overall, this book seems pretty good so far. I think that this book might actually be very good, if I understand the information in it.

Click for a book review on The Lemon Tree.

The Heroes of Olympus

 

I was a couple of pages into The Great Gatsby until I totally lost interest in the book. I really didn't get the point of the story. I think that the problem of this story is that the author doesn't intrigue the reader too much. He puts too out too much information and doesn't really make sense to the reader, at least in my opinion. I think that the main problem in the story is the time gap between now and the time that the book was written, 1928. So I will switch to a book that I am more interested in- The Mark of Athena, hopefully, if I find it in the library.

I know that this book is very popular and that I haven't read it, but I really didn't get the chance to. I read The Lost Hero and The Son of Neptune in 7th and 8th grade, respectively. So this year I will finish the third book of the series. I have quite a lot of expectations for this book. (If you have not read the series and are interested in reading it, I advise you not read my post further; I doubt that it will give anything significant away). Anyways, I asked someone that read the book and he told me that this is not the last book of the series. Therefore, my first expectation is not going to happen. My second expectation is that by the end of the book, the Greek and Roman demigods will become friends or allies. My final expectation is that the book has a another great plot that Rick Riordan is very good at doing, based on his older books. I really admire the writing of Rick Riordan, because he develops unique plots that literally make the reader feel like he or she is there. Therefore, my expectations for this book is very high. I have full confidence that the book will exceed my expectations. In fact, I think that it will be the best book that I have read.

The first two books of this series is very cool. The first book, The Lost Hero, is written in the situation of Jason, a Roman demigod. And the second book, The Son of Neptune, is written in the perspective of Percy Jackson, a Greek demigod. The first book is unique, because the first time that I read it, I thought that the book had nothing to do with Greek mythology. I thought that it was a tangent. The main character, Jason, didn't know anything about his past; I felt as lost as him when I read it. Trust me if you keep reading, the book will make a lot more sense. However, I realized, well into the book, that it strongly connects with the Percy Jackson series. The second and third book is the continuation of the big plot in the first book, which you can find out if you read it.





I think that if you loved the Percy Jackson series, then you will love The Heroes of Olympus series even more. I, in fact, recommend this series to anyone who enjoys action/adventure books. Even if you didn't read the Percy Jackson series, I think that you will still be able to follow the book. But reading the first series will definitely help you read this series. Overall, this series is a great series that I think that everyone should read. I know that I haven't really elaborated on the plot of the book, but I the plot is actually a mystery in the book and won't get revealed until later. So why should I reveal it now? If you want to know, the evil force, is more powerful than Kronos. So if you didn't star reading this series, get the book now. If you are reading the series, then keep reading it. If you are done with The Mark of Athena, then please don't tell me anything about the book.

My Favorite Series- "Percy Jackson Series"

My favorite series of all time would have to be the Percy Jackson Series. I absolutely admire the writing style of Rick Riordan and how he narrates the adventure of Percy Jackson to defeat an evil force. I don't want to ruin the plot of this book, because it can only be told by the author himself. Rick Riordan did an outstanding job on using great imagery throughout the entire series. The series include five books: The Lightning Thief, The Sea of Monsters, The Titan's Curse, The Battle of the Labyrinth, and The Last Olympian. I really like all of these books but the best book in the series is the last one- The Last Olympian. The reason I like the last book the best is because half the book is action and is the ending of the series. I recommend this series to those who enjoy action. The book contains a lot of mythology, but it will be easy to understand, because Rick Riordan did and outstanding job explaining it. I was so intrigued by the series that I read one of the book in just one night.

The series is basically about this one troublesome boy being a son of a powerful Greek god and goes on quest to save the world. I don't want to give too much information, otherwise it would ruin the series for you. More information of the first book will be in the video on this post. Hopefully, the insight of the first book will interest you in the series. Overall, I recommend this series to anyone really, but if you despise action/adventure, then you might not want to read it. I really think that it will be a great book for anyone who likes or does not like reading. So go to the library and get the book now. Or if you have an e Reader, then go get it now.  

Click for more information of the Percy Jackson Series. 

"The Interlopers"- Summary & Theme

 

I am going to be taking a break from explaining The Great Gatsby and shift over to The Interlopers that I read in English 1A. Near the end of August, we began to read The Interlopers in class. This, in my opinion, is the best short story that we have read in class. This story is only three pages, front and back, and it has quite the twist. In this blog post, I will explain the theme that can be derived from the text and also specific evidence from the story that will help explain the theme. But first off, I will quickly summarize the story, which will be pretty short.                                                                                                    

In the story, there is a conflict between two families for the possession of the land and game/deer that are in between both of their homes. They each claim them as their own and they fight over it. That is the background, but on that day, one of them, Ulrich von Gradwitz, and his people were protecting the game that he hunted. He later decides to walk into the forest and confronts his nemesis, Georg Znaeym. They both glare at each other for a while. Unfortunately, a huge tree falls upon them. They both are stranded in the trunks and branches. Soon they both start arguing about which of their people will find them first. After many insults racing back and forth, they soon get tired. Then Ulrich gets a surge of kindness and offers Georg a little bit of wine from a flask he possessed. Georg refuses and still insults Ulrich, despite his kindness. But, eventually, he feels bad for his actions and compromises with Ulrich. They both agree that they will help each other after their people come and find them. They decide to halt their fighting and become friends. In order for their people to find them, they yell. Then they spot shadows and get excited. They realize that the figures are running really fast; they find out that the figures are wolves.


First off, I really like this story for a couple of main reasons. The first reason is that the story contains a very good and influential theme that anybody can learn from. Next, the story itself is very well developed and described. The characters are well-developed and are characterized efficiently. Also they story is very concise, yet it describes everything very well. And finally, they story is quite interesting and contains a very appealing ending.

The theme that I uncovered and liked the most was people should not have an enemy; they might help you or become your friend later on. This is derived from the fact that both Ulrich and Georg were complete enemies of each other. Now, they became friends and helped each other. Ulrich helped Georg by giving him a little bit of wine, so that he won't get cold. This theme emerges from both of them being enemies and also when they compromise on the conflict and become friends. It is shaped through the actions of kindness of one another throughout the time they spent underneath the tree trunk. The quote below basically explains that Georg has thought of Ulrich as a nemesis and even thought he would be all his life; however, now, he wants to become his friend.

"I never thought to have wanted to do other than hate you all my life, but I think I have changed my mind about things too, this last half-hour. And you offered me your wineflask . . . Ulrich von Gradwitz, I will be your friend."

                                                                                   -The Interlopers

The theme that has been previously stated develops in many ways. The theme starts from the beginning, which stated that both Ulrich and Georg were sworn enemies. Then throughout the time that they spent under the tree, they developed a connection and became friends, which is around the end of the story or can even argued as the middle of the story. This essentially how the theme is developed throughout the course of the short story. The portion of the story, where they both become friends, is the turning point of the story. It is not really the resolution, because the main problem in the story is that they both are stuck underneath the tree trunk. However, it can be argued that the point where they become friends is the solution in the text. Going back to the theme, this theme is universal, because in the Harry Potter Series, Harry and Draco develop bitterness between each other in the book and movie; however, Draco sides with Harry at the final battle and soon helps Harry defeat Voldemort. Overall, The Interlopers is a great short story that clearly sends a message to the reader. I really liked this short story (out of all the other ones) and I hope this post helped you identify the theme in The Interlopers.

"The Rocking-Horse Winner"

In English 1A, on Friday, September 13, 2013, we analyzed the first paragraph of The Rocking-Horse Winner, did some word maps on the short story, and eventually read it independently. As discussed in class, the first paragraph basically describes the mother's dislike or carelessness towards her children. She disregarded them as her children. This can be seen by the following sentences from the first paragraph:

"She married for love, and the love turned to dust. She had bonny children, yet she felt they had been thrust upon her, and she could not love them."

          -The Rocking Horse Winner

Now, I will tell what I know of this story in this blog and my opinion on this short story. However, I will not tell the ending of the story, as for it has quite a twist.

The story, as I told before, starts with the author explaining the lack of affection the mother has towards her children. It then explain the house that they live in and that they have an affluent lifestyle and a high social position; yet they have a very small income. On top of that they have servants. Based on this part description, I can tell that the both the parents are very improvident. The children kept hearing the phrase," There must be more money! There must be more money!" On Christmas, they figu
re out that a rocking-horse has been saying this. Later in the story, the small child, Paul, and the mother are talking about luck. After that scene, Paul is vigorously riding on the horse to the end of his "journey." The story mainly revolves around Paul, his uncle, Oscar, his other, and the gardener, Bassett. So Paul make a bet with his uncle for about one thousand pounds that Daffodil will win the next horse race that he is in. Paul wins the bet and gets the money; he also reveals his partnership. His uncle wants in on the partnership. Paul says okay, but only if he doesn't tell his mother. After winning a couple more times, Paul, being the good boy he is, tries to make his mother happy by giving here a thousand pound for her birthday every year. His mother finds out that he is making bets on horses. Then the story goes on to the conclusion, so I won't tell you anything more. There are some important facts that I left out, but I think that I should leave them out because that might ruin the surprise.

In conclusion, the story had a great plot and had fantastic characterization of the boy, Paul, the mother, and a little bit of Uncle Oscar. The problem with The Rocking-Horse Winner is that the topic of the book is very difficult to comprehend, because I don't really understand betting. Also the author doesn't really tell too much about the physical appearance of the character; D.H. Lawrence only develops the thinking and the actions of the characters. However, since it is a short story, it doesn't really need to describe the appearance of the characters. Those are the main cons of this story. Overall, the author told a very good plot with some cons; however, the pros outweigh the cons. I will have to admit that I liked the story mainly because of its plot. So far it is probably the best short story that I have read in English 1A. Finally, it is a must read only if you are interested in a thrilling and mildly horror story with a great plot.

Click to read The Rocking-Horse Winner.

"The Great Gatsby": Chapter One- Setting

 

In my last post, I have summarized about the characters that have been characterized in chapter one of The Great Gatsby. In this post, I will explain the setting in more detail than the last post based on the analysis of two quotes. The setting in The Great Gatsby might be hard to relate to right now, as for the book has been written in the 1920's, so the quote will need thorough analysis. The author thoroughly explains the setting of where Nick lives and the surroundings of his home; we will be using that to draw out inferences. The following quote tells the location of his house:

"It was a matter of chance that I should have rented a house in one of the strangest communities in North America. It was on that slender riotous island which extends itself due east of New York — and where there are, among other natural curiosities, two unusual formations of land."  

                                                                 -Pg. of The Great Gatsby

Based on this quote, it can be understood that Nick lives on Long Island, because that is the only island in New York. Obviously, it is known that New York is the one in the United States, because it talks about it being in North America. We also can tell, based on this quote, that Nick lives in a house in a strange or unique community. This strangest community can be defined or interpreted in many ways. First, it can be defined as unknown to Nick, because he recently moved there. Also it can also mean that the community itself has awkward things or customs; since this story is written in his view, we can interpret that it is based on his opinion. Overall, the setting described in this quote from the book is that Nick lives on Long Island and in a weird and awkward community, as he explains it to be.

"I lived at West Egg, the — well, the less fashionable of the two, though this is a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them. My house was at the very tip of the egg, only fifty yards from the Sound, and squeezed between two huge places that rented for twelve or fifteen thousand a season. The one on my right was a colossal affair by any standard — it was a factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden. It was Gatsby’s mansion. Or, rather, as I didn’t know Mr. Gatsby, it was a mansion inhabited by a gentleman of that name. My own house was an eyesore, but it was a small eyesore, and it had been overlooked, so I had a view of the water, a partial view of my neighbor’s lawn, and the consoling proximity of millionaires — all for eighty dollars a month."  
                                                                  -Pg. of The Great Gatsby

This quote is quite long; however, it thoroughly describes the envirnoment that Nick inhabits. In the first sentence, he tells that he lives in the less fashionable of the two communities. He says that he lives in a house that is small, because he says that his house is squeezed between to expensive houses, since it costs twelve to fifteen thousand dollars per season.  Also it can be inferred that he lives in a small house based on this quote only, because it says that his house was squeezed, which means that he isn't that rich, as in terms of his house, or that his house isn't that big. Anyways, if his house were big, the author would probably compare the houses and tell the differences between them. Overall, this quote states that Nick lives in a small house, as I inferred, and that his neighbors are rick, which is obviously stated.

Based on the quotes above, we can tell that Nick lives on Long Island and in a strange community or just an unknown community based on his opinion. Also we inferred that Nick lived in a small house and supported it with an explanation, even though it is stated in the book later on. Finally, we also know that he lives next to very rich neighbors, who are millionaires as it stated in the second quote. Overall, the author uses great writing that can be understood through careful analysis.

"The Great Gatsby": Chapter One- Characters

I began to read The Great Gatsby just yesterday. I have heard that the book is very interesting, but the beginning can be kind of insipid and boring. I have only read one chapter in the book so far and of course the beginning of the first chapter was very long and prosaic. Usually, I stop reading the book if the book starts of apathetically. But, I trust the words of my friends, so I will continue to read it. In the first chapter, it basically introduces some characters and it seemingly leads to a plot, but I faintly understand it. I will go more into the depth of the characters introduced in the first chapter. First off, I will discuss about Nick Carraway, who is the narrator and one of the main characters. His name is not directly stated in the words of the author, but I know this because on pg. 21(if you have the eBook version), another character says his name. The quote says as follows:

"'What you doing, Nick?'"    

                       -The Great Gatsby (pg. 21)

(This is said by Tom Buchanan, the husband of his cousin, also known as his cousin-in-law, to the main character, Nick.)

Nick grew up in a family of highly respected people in Chicago. His family were descendants of the "Dukes of Buccleuch". Nick has a passion for literature. Nick graduated in New Haven, which is probably from Yale. Also he fought in World War I and he actually liked war for some reason. Now, he aspires to be a businessman, because everyone he knew went into business. After a hard decision, Nick's father finally agreed to finance him for an entire year. The following quote gives some insight about his family:

"My family have been prominent, well-to-do people in this Middle Western city for three generations. The Carraways are something of a clan, and we have a tradition that we're descended from the Dukes of Buccleuch, but the actual founder of my line was my grandfather's brother, who cam here in fifty-one, sent a substitute to the Civil War, and started the wholesale hardware business that my father carries on to-day." 

                                                                                   -The Great Gatsby (pg.9)

So he moved to New York and found a house to share with a man from office. At the last minute, the man was appointed to Washington. Now he was alone in New York living in a bungalow that cost eighty dollars per month. On either side of the bungalow, there was two colossal mansions. Nick's second cousin once removed, Daisy, and her husband, Tom Buchanan, both live in New York as well. Tom and Nick both went to college together. Also, Tom was one of the most powerful tight ends who played football in New Haven; on top of that, he also grew up in a rich family. The second part of the first chapter took place at Daisy's mansion. The video on the bottom is from The Great Gatsby movie from 1974 and the scene where Nick goes over to Daisy's mansion. Over there Nick met Jordan Baker. At first, Nick didn't realize that it was Jordan Baker until the end of the first chapter. Jordan Baker is a sports figure and the first chapter doesn't really hint what sport she plays. Throughout the time Nick spent with her, he showed some affection towards her. Here is an example:

The Great Gatsby (1974)

"I looked at Miss Baker, wondering what it was she "got done." I enjoyed looking at her. She was a slender - with an erect carriage, which she accentuated by throwing her body backward at the shoulder like a young cadet."

                                                                                              -The Great Gatsby (pg. 23)

A very important character that is faintly described in the first chapter is Mr. Gatsby. Coincidentally, Mr. Gatsby is the neighbor of Nick; he lives in the mansion on the right of his house. Though he is a main character in the book, not much is revealed about him in the first chapter, except that he is rich. At the end of the chapter, as Nick is outside his house in the night, Mr. Gatsby was strolling on the lawn. Nick called out to him; however, Mr. Gatsby vanished. The ending of the chapter intrigued me into knowing why Mr. Gatsby ignored Nick. Overall, the first chapter tells a lot about a couple of characters, especially Nick, and faintly introduces an essential character as well. I just hope to learn more about Mr. Gatsby as I embark my journey through the book.



Click to find a review on The Great Gatsby.

Summer Reading: "The Silence of Murder"- Character: Hope

Hope

"I feel sick inside my bones. My whole life I've fought anybody who said Jeremy was crazy, or treated him like there was something wrong with him. And now I've done that and worse, here in front of everybody and after swearing about it with my hand on the Bible." (Pg. 14) 

"My heart thumps, and my head feels dizzy. This is my chance, and I know it. "Jeremy didn't murder Coach Johnson. He liked Coach. I think he may have loved him. And anyway, Jeremy couldn't kill anybody, even if he hated them. And he's never hated a living soul. You don't know Jer like I do." (Pg.37)

Based on the first quote above, it is easy to infer that, at first, Hope was okay with testifying that Jeremy was innocent by the reason of insanity; however, now, she regrets what she said to the judge and everyone in the court. With this change in her, she impels the book forward. Since Hope knows or at least thinks that her brother is innocent, with the evidence in the second quote, she late develops the idea to unravel the case and prove that Jeremy is guiltless. This is the basic plot of the book. Hope is a very important character in the book, because, without her, there would be no one who attempts to solve the case.

Hope interacts pretty well with the other characters in the book. However, she only talks to the people she knows very well or the people that she adores. For example, she only talks to Rita when she needs something or when they are arguing, but she doesn't like her. An example of someone she admires would be T.J. She talks with him in the book only if they aren't fighting. Basically, she talks or collaborates depending on her mood. At the beginning of the book, Hope dislikes Chase, because he is the sheriff's son. The sheriff, Sheriff Wells, was testifying against Jeremy and did a lot of damage to the defendant's side. However, after Chase gave her a ride, she began to cherish him for helping him out. 

Overall, Hope is an extremely sophisticated character in the book. She is the main character in the book, who impels the whole story. Without her, there is no story and without her characteristics, the story wouldn't be marvelous. Although Hope is no the only complex character in the story, it is quite noticeable that the characters undergo many changes which make the story exceedingly interesting. The changes also are some reasons why the book propels forward.  The complexity of the characters is crucial to making this story a success.

      The Silence

       of Murder