Reflection

                The quality of my writing has improved over the course of the trimester through not having less grammatical errors. In a couple of my previous posts I would have simple things that I wouldn’t do like underline the title of book. Like I did form my post about Playing For Knight. Or I would do things like not indent in a new paragraph and have run on sentences. Also in my posts I wouldn’t go into much depth on what was going on in my book. In the early post I gave a quick summary of what has happened in my book since my last post. But I made it about two sentences long and didn’t give it much detail. It made my posts seem really short and simplistic. I could’ve gone on in the summary and possibly given the reader a picture that was in my mind and talked about it. Also an aspect that I added to my more recent posts was I made connections. Like in my post about predictions, I compared my book to another piece of text (The Giver) in order to show a similar situation in another story and use it to help make my predictions. But the main thing that has improved in my writing is incorporating quotes from the text into my posts. In my early post I talked about who I would recommend my book to. Then in my post I said it could help motivate athletes. But I never said how. I could’ve given an example when it motivated me and said that considering I am an athlete myself. But then in my more recent post I found good quotes in the story to help show the writing style of the book, and then I went on, on what the quote means and I made a prediction on the quotes to help understand the text better.

I struggled with finding things to blog about sometimes. I struggled with this because I would post about all the things the teacher would grade me on and then I would do a summary and another summary and another. I felt I did the same thing a lot and that I needed to do something different but I couldn’t think of anything. I would stare at a blank screen for twenty minutes just thinking what I could blog about. Also I had a hard time finding a good book to read. A couple times I found a book and would drop it because I didn’t like it at all I would try to work through this struggle by finding a rhythm of blogging. I would try to give just one summary on each book, then talk about a character in each book then try to do a different graded piece on each book. It worked sometimes until I got to a point where I wouldn’t read much for a couple days and I wouldn’t have enough new writing to blog about. So sometimes I wouldn’t blog about my book I would blog about the short stories. One strength I had with blogging was making connections. I made a couple different connections that I felt were good. I made them to different types of things. Like other characters, another book, and videos. The one I liked to best was the one about the video I found. It was very similar to way I felt while reading plus it was an interesting video. I didn’t make my reading goal this trimester it was a bit of a stretch for me. I used goodreads.com to keep track of the books I read and was reading. But what I liked the most was it gave me book recommendations because I always have a hard time finding a book to read. I think I have improved as a reader this year. I think I can easily tell by seeing my posts and how I was able to understand writing better throughout the year. Also, as much as I hated “Romeo and Juliet” I think it really helped me. It made me analyze text more and have a better eye for finding things like figurative language and finding their meanings.

Divergent Personal Review

Divergent Personal Review

      I finished the book Divergent like I said in my last post. The book in my mind was fairly decent. It was weird becasue of the writing style and the point of view of the book. It was odd because first it was about a girl living in the future, and in the society she isn't aloud to do anything. They aren't aloud to have much of a personality because of all their freedoms have been taken away from them. they can't even look in the mirror. Like when she's going to take a test to see what faction to live in. She's just looking around at the other kids from other factions as if they're like aliens. The other kids are conversing with themselves while she can't. She describes "Patty-Cake" as an odd clapping game. Then boys are playing cards and she has no idea what there doing.

      Also Tris is a girl which also adds to the difference in writing style. Most books I read the narrator is a boy. But with a girl their word choice is a little more sophisticated. And this book is really descriptive. Whenever Tris enters a room or place she likes to paint a picture in your mind. I really liked that part and it was amusing the way she described some things that are unfamilar to her yet their things that we do every day.

      I would recommend this book to anyone who loves sci-fi reads. It really falls in that category but it's not way out there. It's at the point where you could also relate to the things they do to things we do. Like when they have to take a test and pick a faction, it's similar to taking a test to find a carreer path and help choose what college you would like to go to. Also this book could go to anyone who feels a little like an outsider. In this book, Tris seems a little like that in the begginning and I think this would be a good book for people like that. 
   

Summary of Divergent

      I have just finished my book Divergent, and I liked it. Although it ended on a cliff hanger that continues into the next book and I don’t know if I liked it enough to continue it on for another 2 books. I haven’t posted many updates on the book lately so I’ll just five a summary for the rest of the book. I left of saying that Beatrice has to pick her faction. She ends up picking Dauntless partly because she likes the style of them. Like their jackets and piercings and things. And also because her test scores that show you which one you should chose, they didn’t really match up very well to any of the specific factions.

    To get in though she has to train and compete with others in order to get in. During this she makes friends and creates enemies. She gets a new name (Tris) and constantly has to hide that she's Divergent. There's blood, violence, and some drama. So pretty much just highschool. While in Dauntless she figures out that Erudite wants to overthrow Abnegation by brainwashing Dauntless. But because she is Divergent she doesn't get brainwashed. This is the time when she has to rise up and stand for her faction. She fights and battles to take down the enemy although she has a great loss during the battle. Her parents. And then she leaves the future town of Chicago in complete chaos. I may have to pick up the next book.

Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet

     Romeo and Juliet in my opinion is a well written story with a good a idea. It has the two large powerful families that are enemies, each with a kid of the same age that fall in love. Each of the kids has a cousin who is like there best friend and they try to help each other out. Although what bothers me about the story is that both of the kids are very childish and stupid. Like, in the story, Juliets father throws a party so a boy can 'woo' Juliet into marrying him. But, at the party she makes eye contact with another man, in which they talk for about two minutes then kiss, and when they leave eachother they talk as if they have fallen in love. Yet they know nothing about one another. They don't even figure out what the other persons name is until Juliet goes and talks with her mom.

     Also Romeo was just in a relationship with another women who decided to go into the church. He was winning about it for days to his cousin and wouldn't even leave his house. But then when his cousin convinces him to go to the party, and he sees Juliet he all of the sudden just loves her and completely forgets about the other girl. Romeo is only about forteen and I believe he is just a boy who finds every girl attractive and when he sees an attractive girl he declares that he loves her and wants to be around her forever, but then gets over her in a couple days. Most guys, when they first start talking to a girl they talk about there likes and dislikes, and their past. But not Romeo, when he first talks to her he says, "My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss." All he wants to do is kiss her. He hasn't asked about her or her personality or even what her name is.

Predictions

     

I'm currently reading Divergent, and I feel there are a lot of predictions to be made in the story. For one, on the cover of the book it says, "One choice can transform you." So I'm guessing the main character makes one huge decision. I'm predicting that choice is coming up because the main character said that she has to choose her faction soon. In this story a faction is similar to a country. But not that separated. They are a lot smaller and don’t fight each other, but each one has like their own government and set of rules. Currently Beatrice, the main character, lives in Abnegation. But I believe I already said this in my previous post.

 I'm predicting her decision is just going to either, blow up, or change their society in a good way. Because that is how most 'utopian' society books end. Just like The Giver. The main character left the society with all the knowledge of the world therefore everything he knew spread out to everyone there. But you don't get to see what happens to them because he is gone. I hope that’s not how Divergent is. I'd like to see if Beatrice helps everyone.

New Book: Divergent

I have just started reading Divergent by Veronica Roth.  It’s one of those books that you live in a society where everything is controlled by the government. There are things called factions which are places with different rules and you get to choose which one you want to live in for the rest of your life. Right now the main character, Beatrice, lives in the Abnegation faction. She can only see herself in the mirror once every three months when she gets her hair cut. She says while she’s getting a haircut, “I sneak a look at my reflection-not for the sake of vanity, but out of curiosity. A lot can happen to a person’s appearance in three months.” She actually has to “sneak” a look at herself just to remind her what she looks like. This is so different than our world. We probably take a look at ourselves in the mirror about ten times a day. Beatrice is at the age where she has to choose her faction and it is happening soon. I’ll update when I get there.

 

Plot of Interlopers

"The Interlopers" is a tail of two families who despise each other. It only grew when the Ulrich Von Gradwitz and Georg Znaeym became the head of their household. It starts off with the two men hating eachother and out on a cold night wathing their own land making sure the other isn't on it taking their game. But then they meet in the night, just starring at each other. The author describes this moment like this, "The two enemies stood glaring at one another for a long silent moment. Each had a rifle in his hand, each had hate in his heart and murder uppermost in his mind." This just perfeclty descirbes the tension between the men.

But then the story takes a complete spin when a storm knocks a tree onto them and they're both stuck under it, helpless. This then just causes them to argue on who is going to be saved first and how they aren't going to help the other. This would probably be the climax of the story. When they become the most furious at each other. But then I think it hits them that this maybe the last moment they have alive. They actually share a drink together and resolve their problems between eachother and say if one of there backup arrives they would help the other first. But they actully get eatin by wolves before that happens, but they still worked out their problems and resolved the conflict between them. This stories plot is just a regular mountain plot where everything just builds up, like the families hating eachother then the two men meet, then the tree falls. Which leads to the climax of them fighting my stuck, but then is resolved and in this case they talk and share a drink at their last moment alive.

Looking for a New Book 

       I've finished my book and I'm looking for a new one. I've heard about the Divergent series which sounds really interesting. I've heard it's one of those science fiction books that involves a utopian like society and one person, in this case a girl, changes through her decisions. It sounds similar to the book The Giver, where a boy knows all the secrets and terrible things about his society that nobody else knows and he can't tell anyone. I still want to read it because I really like books like that because it's weird to see how each author describes a society that is "perfect" because each on describes them deifferently. Also it looks like they're making a movie about the book and I would like the read it before the movie.

Summary So Far

       I've read a little further in my book Playing for Knight. So far Steve has talked about his freshman year at Indiana University. He goes in deep on how hard of a program it is. He talks about the first practice at midnight on October 15th. Usually for basketball players that practice is the first one that kicks off the year and is usually a fun one where the coaches and players can talk and just play pick-up games. But thats not how it is with Coach Knight. Alford says, "Some colleges- Kentucky, Kansas, and a few others- celebrated October 15th with midnight scrimmages open to the public, but Coach Knight was a traditionalist. Practice meant work, no show biz." This really shows coaches determination towards the game. In the practice Steve asks all the players where coach is and they say he always shows up late and he walks in the gray door over there. So for the next 15 min of practice the players are constantly looking over there shoulder at that door.
 
       Once coach finally gets there every one lines up on the baseline and he demands them go to the film room. In there everyone has a notebook and actually has to take notes on previous games played. Steve actually just doodles in his book and doesn't really pay any attention. Then They go back out onto the court and spend the rest of practice working on screens. Steve is actually tired from the fast pace of practice and is just waiting for practice to end.

      The next day the team has a team dinner without coach, and it's just a good time. The upper class tell "war stories" about there previous basketball years here at IU. On of the players won two state championships in highschool in Illinois, and had bumber stickers of them on his car. But when coach saw he screemed, " I don't care what you did in highschool, this is higher level basketball," and he had to take them off. This is where I left off.

Non-Fiction

I used to only read fiction books because I liked how they could be different and abstract. But recently after reading my book Playing for Knight which is a true story, I'm starting to really learn about the world. I think it's fun to read about things that are really happening.

I've also started reading online articles just about current events, and it's fun to see what is happening that before I would never know about. Yes some of it is very boring, there are some non-fiction texts that are just awful to read, but not all are like that. I just recently read some articles on CNN and New York Times about the Trayvon Martin Case. It was unbelieveably different but i really liked it. I got to learn about new laws they were thinking about adding to the Doctrine of Self-Defense. Also i while reading I ended up picking a side so i get really into it and actually felt emotion while reading it.

I do recommend to read non-fiction to anyone. It really gets you caught up on things and can help you learn about current events and history. What's great about it is that it's real so you can go look it up to help you understand the text and learn something new. I'm not saying just read non-fiction, but i do highly recommend you read some on a daily bases. And not a whole lot you can just go look up a current article thats a page long online.

Recommendation

I haven't gotten much further into my book, Playing for Knight. All that has happened is Steve is preparing for his next season. He has done nothing but go play open gyms with some of the older players and talk about how this program is. I figured I would use this post to talk about who I would recommend this book too. This book is obviously a basketball book based on the cover, so anyone who likes basketball would like this. But not just basketball players can get into it, any athlete because this book can help show how hard they have to work or even motivate them. Also this book could appeal to anyone who is interested in non-fiction stories, because this book is about a real player and coach that they could learn about or relate to. I really liked this book, I got to see a different person's coaching styles and got to see how The main character, Steve, changed throughout the insane coaching style of Coach Knight.

I just recently started reading the book Playing for Knight. It's a book about Steve Alford, a basketball player who goes to Indiana University and plays basketball there for the well known crazy but brilliant coach, Coach Knight. I'm not far in but he just recently made a bet with Michael Jordan after his freshman year there saying he can finish out his college carreer at IU playing for Knight.

In this book they the author, Steve, is depicted as a very dedicated and hard-working person. For one, he made it into Indian University which isn't an easy thing to do. So he had to have worked hard and been a good player already. But then he says he is going to make it all four years there with Knight. Which shows extreme dedication because many players have left that basketball team because the coach was to tough on him. Also he made it on the Mens Olympic team which as well, isn't very easy at all. Although with all this success he is a little confident in himself so he acts like he knows more aabout the game then he does. So with Coach Knight as his coach, being the crazy man he is, I feel Bob will really change Steve throughout his college career.

I made a connection of the beggining of this book to the "How Bad Do You Want It" video on youtube. Which just talks about things that get you motivated, and shows you famous athletes working out. Steve reminds of this because he is so dedicated and motivated and determined which is the feeling you get when you here this video. He and this video are both inspiring to others to want to succeed in anything you do.

In my summer reading book the main character, Ben, who is an athlete, straight A student, and part of the theater. But he felt his contribution back to society wasn't good enough. He wanted to enroll in the army after graduation. All his friends and family talked to him about how he didn't have to do this, but he went through with it. Because of this you think the theme of this book is to give back and to be thankful. Although that is true, that isn't the theme of the book after what happens to Ben in Iraq. A bomb goes off lea"Hey, bud. Do you know you’re a hero? Do you know that we love you?”
ving him with a traumatic brain injury. Then with him left in the hospital and handicapped for the rest of his life he feels he has lost all purpose. Then thats when you realize the real theme. Which is everything has a purpose, it can change, like used paper towel rolls. Once out of paper towel they can be used as telescopes for kids, or to help organize things or even use them to create scultptures. This is what happens to Ben. His purpose is no longer to fight but to bring hope to people and help motivate them or even show them how much worse things can get for them. I know Ben's condition impacts his family and friends positively also because in the story Ben's best friend comes up to him and says, "Hey, bud. Do you know you’re a hero? Do you know that we love you?”(Mazer 54).

 

This article just talks a little of what the book is about and what kind of story it is, like whether or not it's a sad or uplifting or intense story. It also talks about ways to know if you would like this book.

Book Article