One of my least favorite reads of the summer, 'A Separate Peace' was slow and repetitive. The whole book was about two kids being friends but one hating the other because of his athletic skills. How can an author write a whole book on jealous teenage boys? It didn't make sense to me. The repetitiveness was overbearing, I felt like all the author talked about in the book was Finny's leg being broken and Gene feeling guilty about breaking it. I honestly don't have too much to say about this book.
The ending also bothered me. For Gene to apologize to Finny and then have Finny just die was horrid. You would think that Gene would be the one to be punished for his jealous actions throughout the book, but no, the good kid, who never did anything wrong, died.
Friday, August 20, 2010
The Crucible
When I first got my summer reading books, I was most excited to read 'The Crucible.' I did a report on the Proctor Family that was involved in the witch trials, so I was very excited to learn more about them in this book. I must say, though, it was a hard book to read, because of the 'play' aspect of it. It was hard to keep track of the characters, and very hard to understand their reasoning for things.
Frankly, the story is disturbing. It's one of those stories that leaves so much to the imagination that it becomes more disturbing. First off, Abigail having an affair with a much older, married mad, John Proctor, the syptoms of being 'bewitched', and the general concept of these witches and what they do are all very disturbing things.
This book was very interesting, but a very difficult read. It was slow and the concept of the witch trails, in play form, was hard to grasp.
Frankly, the story is disturbing. It's one of those stories that leaves so much to the imagination that it becomes more disturbing. First off, Abigail having an affair with a much older, married mad, John Proctor, the syptoms of being 'bewitched', and the general concept of these witches and what they do are all very disturbing things.
This book was very interesting, but a very difficult read. It was slow and the concept of the witch trails, in play form, was hard to grasp.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
The Scarlet Letter
This was a great read! It was almost chilling in parts, which is something different.
I liked this book because you can so easily relate it to alot of events in our culture today. Adultery, obviously, being the main one. It's almost odd to hear that the same thing that has happened to people like Tiger Woods and Jesse James happened way back when. It really showed me how much America hasn't changed in years.
One character I want to really focus on is, Arthur Dimmesdale. The man was crazy, if you ask me. The way that he would torture himself for his sins was insane. He was messed up. It was really surprising to learn that he was Hester's lover. I wasn't expecting it.
I really felt bad for two characters in particular during the novel: Pearl and Dr. Chillingworth. Pearl suffered so much because of her mothers mistake and had to go through public torment for a really long time. That brings me back to how much America hasn't changed. The public eye is always on so many celebrities who have 'messed up', even if it wasn't their fault for their misfortune. Pearl reminded me alot of that.
Dr. Chillingworth had no need to be treated the way he was in The Scarlet Letter. His wife cheated on him with someone much younger, while she was waiting for him to get to America! Ok, maybe she was suffering depression or something because she was missing him, but it shouldn't have been a reason to have an affair with someone else.
The best part of the novel, to me, was hearing that Hester got burried next to Dimmesdale and their tombstone just had a single scarlet letter 'A' on it. So mysterious.
I liked this book because you can so easily relate it to alot of events in our culture today. Adultery, obviously, being the main one. It's almost odd to hear that the same thing that has happened to people like Tiger Woods and Jesse James happened way back when. It really showed me how much America hasn't changed in years.
One character I want to really focus on is, Arthur Dimmesdale. The man was crazy, if you ask me. The way that he would torture himself for his sins was insane. He was messed up. It was really surprising to learn that he was Hester's lover. I wasn't expecting it.
I really felt bad for two characters in particular during the novel: Pearl and Dr. Chillingworth. Pearl suffered so much because of her mothers mistake and had to go through public torment for a really long time. That brings me back to how much America hasn't changed. The public eye is always on so many celebrities who have 'messed up', even if it wasn't their fault for their misfortune. Pearl reminded me alot of that.
Dr. Chillingworth had no need to be treated the way he was in The Scarlet Letter. His wife cheated on him with someone much younger, while she was waiting for him to get to America! Ok, maybe she was suffering depression or something because she was missing him, but it shouldn't have been a reason to have an affair with someone else.
The best part of the novel, to me, was hearing that Hester got burried next to Dimmesdale and their tombstone just had a single scarlet letter 'A' on it. So mysterious.
The Great Gatsby
After ready The Great Gatsby, I can honestly say it's one of my favorite books. I loved the mysterious elemant of the book and of course the 'love' part. Frankly, thought, this was sort of a depressing book from the love loss to the deaths.
One of the things that hit me hardest while reading this book was when Tom and his secret lover, Myrtle, are at the apartment that Tom uses for the affair and Myrtle is giving Tom a hard time about his wife, which ends in Tom breaking Myrtle's nose. For something like that to happen to a woman because of a man back in those days was just very hard for me to grasp. Did anyone else have a hard time understanding that?
The characters in this book were so well written, I felt like the author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, did a great job at letting us get into the characters mind, but still leaving some of their reasoning to the imagination. The characters, though, at the begining were very hard for me to understand. I couldn't keep track of them! Who was Daisy married too? How was she related to Nick? Who was Jordan dating? It definitely took me a while to understand who was who. After I did, though, the characters reasoning for things, and their actions made total sense.
I personally think that what really made the novel great were the characters. Some may disagree, but that's really what made the novel a great read for me. I felt like I could get inside the characters brains and really contemplate what they were doing during the novel.
One of the things that hit me hardest while reading this book was when Tom and his secret lover, Myrtle, are at the apartment that Tom uses for the affair and Myrtle is giving Tom a hard time about his wife, which ends in Tom breaking Myrtle's nose. For something like that to happen to a woman because of a man back in those days was just very hard for me to grasp. Did anyone else have a hard time understanding that?
The characters in this book were so well written, I felt like the author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, did a great job at letting us get into the characters mind, but still leaving some of their reasoning to the imagination. The characters, though, at the begining were very hard for me to understand. I couldn't keep track of them! Who was Daisy married too? How was she related to Nick? Who was Jordan dating? It definitely took me a while to understand who was who. After I did, though, the characters reasoning for things, and their actions made total sense.
I personally think that what really made the novel great were the characters. Some may disagree, but that's really what made the novel a great read for me. I felt like I could get inside the characters brains and really contemplate what they were doing during the novel.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
The Grapes of Wrath
This book had to be the most depressing, ironic book I've ever read. I felt like the depressing element of the book never stopped. It went all the way to the end. OK, so maybe everyone learned something in the book but the constant tragedies to get to the 'lessons learned' never ended. Motif is a great literary element in the book because of the ongoing struggles of the characters.
Tom Joad is the 'protagonist' of the book: the hero. When Tom kills the police officer as a retaliation for his friend being killed it shows that he is a very passionate person, even if his passion is convayed the wrong way in that part.
Tom Joad's sister, Rose of Sharon is a very self-centered person in the book, but by the end, when her husband, Connie, abandons her and her first child is born still-born, she realizes it's not all about her. I think that her journey in the book was the best because it shows how much someone can change and it's very relatable. Alot of us seem to not be grateful for what we have and just think about the negative, like Rose of Sharon.
Was anyone else confused about her name, like I was?
This book was so hard for me to read, compared to Huck Finn. It went very, very slow and was frankly, very depressing. I hope I wasn't the only one who had trouble reading this book.
The novel does show how we should not look at the negative all the time, and we can learn things from bad situations.
Not my favorite read, by far, but still a good lesson.
Tom Joad is the 'protagonist' of the book: the hero. When Tom kills the police officer as a retaliation for his friend being killed it shows that he is a very passionate person, even if his passion is convayed the wrong way in that part.
Tom Joad's sister, Rose of Sharon is a very self-centered person in the book, but by the end, when her husband, Connie, abandons her and her first child is born still-born, she realizes it's not all about her. I think that her journey in the book was the best because it shows how much someone can change and it's very relatable. Alot of us seem to not be grateful for what we have and just think about the negative, like Rose of Sharon.
Was anyone else confused about her name, like I was?
This book was so hard for me to read, compared to Huck Finn. It went very, very slow and was frankly, very depressing. I hope I wasn't the only one who had trouble reading this book.
The novel does show how we should not look at the negative all the time, and we can learn things from bad situations.
Not my favorite read, by far, but still a good lesson.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Huck Finn
There is a reason that this book is called 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'. Throughout the whole book, Huck gets himself in many sticky situations including running away with Widow Douglas' slave, Jim.
'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn starts out by telling about the events that went on in 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'. Huckleberry then starts telling about his life after he got the robber's gold. Huck was adopted by the Widow Douglas' who lives with her sister, Miss Waston. Huck does not adapt well to the 'proper' way of living. It's hard for him to use maners, attend church and school and have an actual home to live in and take care of. Tom has the brilliant idea to create a band of robbers that includes Huck and Ben Rogers. After their plan for the band of robbers doesn't work out too well, Huck's dad ends up coming back to town. 'Pap' as Huck calls him, ends of harassing Huck then kidnapps him from Widow Douglas and Miss Watson and Locks him in a cabin on the other side of the Mississippi River. Whenever Pap comes back to the cabin he is drunk and beats Huck. Long story short, Huck fears the beatings will get worse so he ends up meeting up with the slave, Jim and they run away together. They meet many fun and odd characters on their journeys but end up making it home in one piece by the end of the novel.
Huckleberry Finn is a very complex character. Although he is fun and wild on the outside, he is very loving and cares deeply about those in his life, on the inside. The life that Huck has in the novel, is the only one he's ever known, so for us, we say, 'Wow! I'd never be able to make it through everything he's gone through.' But that's all he's every known so it's easy for him. However, Huckleberry is one of the easiest characters to relate to or to see yourselft in. I think that's because there's one point in all our lives when we've wanted to have a great adventure. Or maybe we've been pushed into a great adventure because of previoius events, just like Huck.
A Mark Twain novel, for me, is never a non-challenging read. The language he uses(this is based in MO before the Civil War, after all), is very different from our own dialect we use everyday. Once you get past the language used in the book, 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn' is an easy, fun read!
'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn starts out by telling about the events that went on in 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'. Huckleberry then starts telling about his life after he got the robber's gold. Huck was adopted by the Widow Douglas' who lives with her sister, Miss Waston. Huck does not adapt well to the 'proper' way of living. It's hard for him to use maners, attend church and school and have an actual home to live in and take care of. Tom has the brilliant idea to create a band of robbers that includes Huck and Ben Rogers. After their plan for the band of robbers doesn't work out too well, Huck's dad ends up coming back to town. 'Pap' as Huck calls him, ends of harassing Huck then kidnapps him from Widow Douglas and Miss Watson and Locks him in a cabin on the other side of the Mississippi River. Whenever Pap comes back to the cabin he is drunk and beats Huck. Long story short, Huck fears the beatings will get worse so he ends up meeting up with the slave, Jim and they run away together. They meet many fun and odd characters on their journeys but end up making it home in one piece by the end of the novel.
Huckleberry Finn is a very complex character. Although he is fun and wild on the outside, he is very loving and cares deeply about those in his life, on the inside. The life that Huck has in the novel, is the only one he's ever known, so for us, we say, 'Wow! I'd never be able to make it through everything he's gone through.' But that's all he's every known so it's easy for him. However, Huckleberry is one of the easiest characters to relate to or to see yourselft in. I think that's because there's one point in all our lives when we've wanted to have a great adventure. Or maybe we've been pushed into a great adventure because of previoius events, just like Huck.
A Mark Twain novel, for me, is never a non-challenging read. The language he uses(this is based in MO before the Civil War, after all), is very different from our own dialect we use everyday. Once you get past the language used in the book, 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn' is an easy, fun read!
Monday, June 7, 2010
My Thoughts on Honors 10
I'm really stoked for Honors 10! Already it seems much different from Honors 9(not saying that honors 9 was bad, it just seems different). I think that the schedule for our summer reading will be good and keep everyone on track. I'm also really excited about having both of the classes from last year put together. We'll be able to learn even more from and about each other! Ms. Jesik also seems like an awesome teacher! I'm really excited to start summer reading blogs and for the class in the fall!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
