The Viper's Nest- Book Review

I started and completed The 39 Clues: Viper's Nest. The book was so interesting that I just couldn't stop reading it. I really like the series, because the series is a collaboration of different examples. What I mean is that different authors write each book. The author, Peter Lerangis did a splendid job of reveling the branch that Amy and Dan are a part of. I recommend this series to anyone who can follow through history, because there are several historical figures that are present in each of the series. For example, in the Viper's Nest, it talks about Shaka. Shaka was the military commander of the Zulu Kingdom, which reigned a lot of central Africa during the Age of Imperialism. The thing that I really like about the series is that it uses a lot of allusions that can be quite popular among those who are really good at history or even those who completed World History. Here is a brief summary of the book.

After Irina Spasky dies while saving Dan and Amy from the fire that Isabel Kabra set on their uncle's cabin, Dan and Amy decode the last words of Irina and that directs them to Pretoria, South Africa. When they venture into Pretoria, they are given a postcard that suggests a connection with Shaka. As they unravel the history of Shaka, they must penetrate the Tomas base, where they will find a very important clue. Then they encounter their fellow family, the Kabras. And the book then ends with a family secret.

Now, that is all that I will tell you for the rest will be full of action and suspense. The rest of the book is just building up to the very end where you will learn about Amy's and Dan's family branch. Though the book is quite an easy read, it contains several literary elements. For example, on page 2 of The Viper's Nest, it states, "Isabel Kabra had done it.She had burned down their house in Massachusetts all those years ago, and Dan and Amy's parents hadn't been able to escape all those years ago. Now Isabel was finishing her job." The last sentence was the key clue to tell that the Kabras will, again, try to kill Amy and Dan again in this book. I think that the author gave too much information in that sentence. If Peter Lerangis would have just said something like "And now she tried to burn Uncle Alistair's cabin" or something along that line, it wouldn't have told that much. But the fact that she said "finishing her job" established that the role of the Isabel Kabra is to kill or attempt to kill Dan and Amy. 

The picture was found on the following URL:

https://gatheringbooks.wordpress.com/2011/09/20/teaser-tuesday-2-graphic-novel-ya-love-and-poetry/

Cliffhangers

As I finish reading The Mark of Athena, I am just puzzled by the ending of the book. Rick Riordan completely blows my mind with the plots twists that he fuses into the story. For those who have not read or completed reading The Mark of Athena, first read the book and then read this post.

ATTENTION SPOILER ALERT!!!

So as you know, if you have actually read the book and have not decided to read this post without reading the book, that the ending of The Mark of Athena is a cliffhanger. The best thing about the cliffhangers that Rick Riordan implements is that the demigods or demigod, in some of his books, complete(s) the quest and makes it look like a happy little princess-like ending, but then with his evil thought, yet making good twists, he fabricates a never-ending suspenseful until the next book comes out. In The Mark of Athena, he concocts a ending where the demigods successfully succeeds their quest in finding Athena's Parthenos, a statue that went missing for thousands of years, and they rescue Nico and Rome. Then, of course, Rick Riordan doesn't stop there, he forges the plot structure of House of Hades with the ending of the book and makes Annabeth and Percy fall into Tartarus. If you think of this technique, cliffhangers, in a more broader view, you will realize a similarity between the books in the series and a typical essay.

One similarity between the Heroes of Olympus series and an essay is that the first book acts as an introduction in the "essay". But, after The Lost Hero introduces the long-term objective of the demigods, which is to stop Gaea from waking up, and states the objective clearly, which is like the thesis of the essay, Rick Riordan writes the "first body paragraph" that describes the first step to reach the long-term objective. Then eventually uses a transition that makes it easy for the reader to transition from the first book to the second book by using a cliffhanger. Then at the beginning of the second book he then states the quest in the second "paragraph". And then this structure continues on until the last book, which has the first part containing the last paragraph and the last part having the conclusion that ends "essay".

Though I do not enjoy reading cliffhangers, as a writer, I must comply with this strategy in order to keep the reader engaged throughout my writing. The cliffhanger will induce a emotion in the reader that is the goal of the writer. The emotion that it sparked in the reader will coax them to reader the writing further and will have a greater lasting impact on the reader.

I think that Rick Riordan did create an extremely suspenseful ending in the book, because I just couldn't stop thinking about how Percy and Annabeth would survive in Tartarus, which contains the most dangerous of the most dangerous monsters, if that makes sense.

My future plans in reading, would be to get hold of The House of Hades, but if I can't I will continue reading a series that I started last year- The 39 Clues, until I get the book.

Ghosts

By the title, you might be thinking that this blog will pertain to ghosts- well you are partially right. Yes, this post talks about ghosts; however, not necessarily the scary and supernatural ghosts that everyone thinks about, but the Ghost of Ravenclaw and the ghost in The Mark of Athena.

First things first, the ghost of Ravenclaw from the last book of the Harry Potter series had known a secret about the Ravenclaw diadem, which was lost for hundreds and hundreds of years. She helped Harry find the diadem, which was a Horcrux to defeat Voldemort.And on the other hand, there is the ghost The Mark of Athena. A group of three demigods, Annabeth, Hazel, and Piper are venturing to the White Point Gardens to find out about the ghost who apparently can help them.

Now, this is a straight out prediction, but I think that there is a connection between these events in two separate books, which are very similar as I have mentioned in my earlier posts. I think that Annabeth will find out a secret to help her find the stolen item of Athena. Just like in the case of the lost diadem, the stolen item of Athena will be revealed by the ghost. Though this prediction is not so well supported, I believe that there will be a connection between the last book of the Harry Potter series, The Deathly Hollows, and The Mark of Athena.

Surprise, Surprise

I previously predicted that Phorcys would help the demigods fight against the twin giants. BUT I WAS WRONG, WRONG, WRONG! I underestimated the relationship between Phorcys and Gaea. Since Phorcys didn't help the demigods; it seems as if he still has a touching edge or a somewhat decent relationship with his mother despite the problems between them both. I really like that element that Rick Riordan includes in the book, he makes Phorcy really despise his mother, but at the end of the day, Phorcy still is on her side. This really surprised me and made me realize that the readers who give the biggest surprise tend to become really good authors.

Now, I have revised my prediction on what is going to happen next in the book. I assume that Percy, Jason, and the group will go to Charleston as they planned and meet Bacchus again. I predict that this time though, Bacchus will help the demigods out after he is given the tribute he asked for before. Though Bacchus is asking for tribute to help the demigods, the demigods should be getting a favor for help saving the world. I think that Piper's dream of Bacchus foreshadows that Bacchus has a significant role in their quest. I also think the mention of him here and there kind of foreshadows that. The rest of the predictions that I have made seem to work and hopefully they are true. I am hoping to finish my book soon, so that I can dive into the House of Hades, which might be one of Rick Riordan's best books. I think that in that book, it is going to involve a lot of Hazel and Nico, but still be based around the demigod group.

Rick Riordan vs. J.K. Rowling

Well, I have read the most popular series by both these authors. I read Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series and J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. Both of them have a lot of similarities as I have shown in my last post; however, I have not shared my opinion on whose writing best connects and intrigues me.

My opinion is probably contradicting conformity. But first, I'd like to acknowledge that both the authors are fantastic authors and are special in their own way. But the author that most intrigues and fascinates me would be Rick Riordan. Now, I am not saying that the Harry Potter series is not amazing, but I am saying that the Percy Jackson series is more engaging and appealing for me. Now, I have several reasons for my decision. 

First off, Rick Riordan's incorporation of Greek mythology just shows how creative the author is. I know that J.K. Rowling is very creative, but she uses a lot more of imagination while Rick Riordan uses more of mythology. Even with a more limited amount of options with Greek mythology to incorporate in the Percy Jackson series than fictional magic in the Harry Potter series, Rick Riordan engages and teaches the reader Greek mythology which in my perspective is quite amazing.

Second, Rick Riordan makes the main character of the series, Percy, have several different characteristics. One being quite stubborn; however at the same time he is exceptionally caring. Yes, those two characteristics do not go hand in hand, but he somehow manages both traits. He never listens to anyone unless it involves hurting innocent people. Another trait that he can demonstrate is humorous. At the same time though, he can be quite serious and courageous. Finally he is simply heroic- now that statement is valid throughout the series. On the other hand, Harry demonstrates all these traits; however, I kind of imagine him to be more serious and stern than Percy and not have that much of a humorous aspect of him. Well, that's my opinion on Harry- your's might be different.

Finally, Rick Riordan just stirs up the story with several plot twists. This is especially true with the prophecies that Riordan includes in each of the books. Though he includes the direction or goal of the story, he makes the prophecies quite tricky to decode. But while reading the story, he constantly makes the reader think about what the prophecy might mean, making us more and more eager to read on. However, in the Harry Potter series, there is nothing really that interesting that J.K. Rowling makes you concentrate on other than how Harry will destroy Voldemort before Voldemort kills him. I do like the plot structure of the Harry Potter series; however, I personally believe that Rick Riordan's structure is more engaging to the reader.

Well, those are my reasons for which series I prefer. If you have any comments on my decision or any questions, please comment below. 

Harry Potter vs. Percy Jackson

Though I am not an avid reader, I have enjoyed reading for fun whenever I have any free time. Some books, like "The Son of Neptune", though a big book, have intrigued me so much that I literally finished have the book in one night. On the other hand, books like "The Great Gatsby" take hours and hours just to develop interest in the book and continue reading it. I have realized through my reading experience that any book that does not immediately attach the reader to the pages, in my mind, is just a waste of time. I only finish books that have an intriguing beginning making me more enthusiastic to read more. But more importantly, series are what I read the most.

Click here for the source.                                                               Click here for the source.

One series that I extremely admire would be the Harry Potter series. I admire it because it is so descriptive and just immediately intrigues the reader with all the outstanding magic and tricks. The author, J.K. Rowling, simply talks to the reader in a colloquial way, making the story easy to understand to everyone despite all the magical and wizardry words. Another series that intrigues me is the Percy Jackson series. This is simply because of how intriguingly the author incorporates Greek mythology and the description that is involved. These two series are very common and both these authors have a very similar plot structure.

Throughout both of these series, the main character are the key to solving the problem or crisis that is present throughout the series. And in each of the books, there is an essential task that the main character or characters have to accomplish to get a step closer to accomplishing the essential goal. I kind of think that this is a very common structure in series books. This structure is also present in the 39 Clues series. Though I really like all three of these series, I think that the authors should probably make a more authentic series structure to make the reader more intrigued by their style of writing.

Another similarity that I realized in the Harry Potter series and the Percy Jackson series was that all of them had three main characters- Harry, Ron, and Hermione in Harry Potter and Percy, Grover, and Annabeth. In the Harry Potter series, all three of these characters are essential in the plot; however, each of them have unique characteristics. For example, Harry is more of the leader and exhibits leadership qualities; Ron is more of the comical type of person; and Hermione is the smart one. Just like the Harry Potter series, the Percy Jackson series has these types of main characters too- Percy is more of the leader and has leadership qualities, but is more comical; Grover is probably mostly comic; and Annabeth is extremely smart. This shows that both J.K. Rowling and Rick Riordan have quite a similar mind and think quite alike.

Another big similarity between these two series are that they both have the mystical world and the author incorporates lots on imaginative elements into the story. However, in this aspect Rick Riordan is a little different from J.K. Rowling. Rick Riordan incorporates a mystical world that is not entirely his own, while J.K Rowling exhibits her own imaginative world. This shows that public really admire books that are similar to these for both of them had been extremely popular among the public.

NFL Criticisms

While reading some columns by Bill Dwyre for an English project, I read two columns by him- both of which criticized some aspects of the NFL. Both the articles criticized the NFL for several things including NFL injuries and bad behavior from NFL players. In the first article titled "The high price of heroism in pro football", it told me the situation where Wes Welker, one of the best wide receivers in the NFL, was returned to play with an undetected concussion. This shocked me; I knew that the NFL had several injuries, but I never knew these serious injuries would go undetected. The author of the NFL made me realize that NFL is not only dangerous with the injuries, but also the undetected injuries, because when Welker was sent back, he could have gotten a more severe concussion or even worse.

I am not at all shocked that the NFL has several injuries with all the tackling, but I am just still astonished with the undetected ones. I mean these injuries could have gotten worse and lead to permanent head damage and prevented him for ever playing football again. An especially when Welker a veteran wide receiver at the age of 32 and with a weight of 190 pounds. This makes this star player even more viable to severe injuries. I actually kept up with the Chiefs and Broncos game; however, I soon knew that the Broncos would leave with an easy win. Another factor that I am considering is that Welker didn't need to return, after all they were doing well and had other receivers to take his place, so why did the coach put him back in? All these factors are just astounding me on the fact that Welker was put back into the game with an injury at a not required time.

Now, in the second article titled "Fans need to stand up to the Richie Incognitos of the NFL", I learned how much the viewers impact the NFL. I mean yeah without the viewers football isn't all that fun; however, I am surprised that the viewer impact the rules in the NFL. For example, the article talks about how the NFL will realize its mistakes in the rules if we stop watching football and soon they will fix it. Well yeah they will fix it, but I thought the NFL cared more about their players than anything else. This article changed my whole perspective on the NFL. making this a remarkable column.

I am quite astounded on the fact that the NFL isn't really that strict on discrimination and bullying on teams. Richie Incognito, Dolphins player, was making rude remarks and comments on a rookie. The remarks included death threats and racial slurs. I personally thought that the Dolphins would fire Incognito before the NFL could take action; however, they only suspended him. I would expect the Dolphins to want a player who rolls with the team and it friends with everyone, not a bully. Also I would expect the NFL to take even more serious action on this matter, because it just makes the viewer and fans very sad and it is just very rude and not teammate-like (if that is a word).

I have sparked an interest in sports columns and I will more frequently write on some surprising columns that I read. However, I will definitely still write posts on "The Mark of Athena".

"The Mark of Athena"- Author's Intent

The book is talking a lot about trying to save the world from Gaea and contains a lot of Greek and Roman mythology; however, the author's main intent was to show the power of teamwork, friendship, and trust. This can be easily seen throughout the book. Through this intent, the author vividly depicts any type of sports team; in order for the entire team to reach success, the team has to have teamwork, demonstrate friendship between the teammates, and the teammates should trust each other. Though the author basically depicts a sports team, these morals can also teach the reader some lessons about friendship, teamwork, and trust.

One moral the book can teach is "Sometimes teamwork is the only way to accomplish a task." This is supported by the fact that the demigods can only defeat Gaea and her giants and save the world only by the Romans and Greeks joining forces and overcoming their problems. Only with the teamwork between the Roman demigods and the Greek demigods will Gaea be stopped. Another lesson is "Though you might have several differences, friendship and trust will easily overcome those differences." This statement can be supported by the fact that the demigods, Percy, Jason, Annabeth, Piper, Frank, Hazel, and Leo, all have several difference, the main being that some are Greek and others are Roman; however, they all are friends, for the most part, and they trust each other, so their differences don't really matter anymore.

Many books, like the Percy Jackson series and the Heroes of Olympus series, have one objective and focus on that; however, hidden beneath the text are morals. These morals pretty much base the story and give the story its meaning. Just like other series written by Rick Riordan, the Harry Potter series also has some hidden morals beneath the objective of Harry Potter. One moral that is present in the text is "friendship and trust is enough to reach the objective." Harry Potter defeats Voldemort by having friends and trust among the people in Hogwarts. The friends he makes and the people he trusts helps him accomplish this goal and save the world from Voldemort's wrath.

Another book that has hidden morals is also The Hobbit. This book relies a lot on trust, because with only a bunch of dwarfs, they are trying to voyage to the mountains and kill the dragon, who stole their home. So another moral is "With trust comes confidence, and with that confidence comes hope." In the book, since everyone trusted each other, excluding Bilbo for a little while, the dwarfs were confident in regaining the land that they have lost. And with that confidence, they accomplished wonders by surviving their voyage to the mountain and defeating the dragon with a limited amount of people. Overall, even though stories seem very exciting and thrilling, always look deep into the text and figure out the morals, because they will tell the true meaning of the book.


The picture was found on the following link:  http://static1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20070927074349/harrypotter/images/1/15/Hp7.jpg

"The Mark of Athena"- Important Sentences and Inferences

Throughout the book, one sentence can pretty much summarizes the entire book: "Twins snuff out the angel's breath, who holds the key to endless death." This line is part of the prophecy basically summarizes the goal of the seven demigods, which is to rescue Nico and save Rome from the twin giants. This prophecy essentially tells the demigods what they have to do in order to succeed in their quest. Their main quest is to put Gaea back to sleep and save the world from total destruction. After the demigods save Rome and Nico from the giants, they will accomplish the task that Nico was required to do in order to stop the dead from taking over the world: find the door of endless death and close it. Now that I have emphasized on the sentence that summarizes the book, I will move on to talking about most important sentence in the book. 

 

The most important sentence in the book is "The story goes that the Romans stole something important from the Greeks, back in ancient times, when the Romans conquered the Greeks' cities."  This one line gives the title of the book. The story goes that the Romans stole something that belonged to Athena and ever since then Athena sends her children to try to find it by giving them the "Mark of Athena". This theft is the reason for the hatred between the Roman and Greek demigods and without them working together, they will not be able to save the world from the wrath of Gaea. So this mini quest that they are doing is to not only close the doors of death, but to restore the peace between the Romans and Greeks.

I think that they will now go to the old god of the sea, Phocys, and see if he will help them save Rome and the twin giants. Though he is a child of Gaea, he doesn't like her, so they are going to go to the god hoping that he will help them defeat Gaea. Then I think that Phocys will actually fight them to see if they are worth the efforts. The demigods will win the bet and then Phocys will have help them. I think then they will voyage to Rome. 

So they go to Rome and on the way there, they fight monster and get stuck, which hinders them from accomplishing their task in time. However, they will eventually make their way to Rome and find Nico in time. By that time I expect the giants to be almost done with their task of destroying Rome. But, of course, they will be stopped and then the Greeks will find out that the twins actually stole the item from Athena and that will resolve the problem between the Greeks and the Romans. 

http://img2-3.timeinc.net/ew/i/2012/09/26/Mark-of-Athena.jpg

"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.