The book The Nine Lives of Chloe King, by Liz Braswell, is about a 16 year-old girl named Chloe King. In the beginning, she seems to be your average teen. However, as you get deeper and deeper into the book, you pick up more and more clues to her true identity. The story starts off with Chloe deciding to skip school with her two best friends, Paul and Amy. She falls off the Coit Tower on her head, and to everyone's surprise, she survives. That was the first hint. Then, she finds out that she's a cat, and that a group, or cult if you will, called The Order of the Tenth Blade, is trying to kill her. She becomes the leader of her Pride (remember, she's a cat), and she escapes death a bunch of times. That really means that she dies, but she comes back to life. The story is about her adventures with her friends, her trying to find out who her mom is, and her struggling with three different relationships. Braswell uses her eyes (which are featured on the cover of the book), among other objects, to symbolize who Chloe really is.
In the book, there are many symbols. Chloe's eyes, when she is in cat form, is the first symbol you encounter, because it is on the cover of the book. Her eyes are a very important symbol of Chloe. There is a saying that says, "eyes are the window to the soul". I think that this applies to Chloe, because her eyes reveal who she truly is inside. Her eyes are different from most people's, and she is different from most people.
In conclusion, Liz Braswell uses Chloe's eyes to symbolize "her inner self" or who she really is. There were some other symbols in the story, but they were minor compared to her eyes. Symbolism plays a very important role in any story, because it gives readers more insight into the characters. It helps shape the story is a "show not tell" way, and it keeps the reader thinking deeply about the story.
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Friday, November 28, 2014
The Glass Castle
"No matter how many times he hurts me, I always forgive him. Some call it stupid. Others call it love." - Unknown
The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls, is a memoir that takes an in-depth look at her unique childhood. Her parents, Rex and Rose Mary Walls, have three other children named Lori, Brian, and Maureen. Bad parenting and poor life decisions cause the Walls family to endure many hardships such as no food and a poor place to live. The book follows the family as they are constantly moving from place to place, and all of the troubles they encounter. Two of the main problems are Rex's drinking problem, and Rose Mary's not putting her intelligence to use by getting a job. The children, and eventually Rex and Rose Mary, all move to New York. As each child starts to take their own path and find peace; both parents continue their destructive behaviors as homeless people. Over the course of the book, Jeannette realizes that the Glass Castle symbolizes her relationship with her father; when the idea of it comes up and they are ready to plan it out, their relationship is solid and happy. However, when Rex is drinking and/or his promise of building the Glass Castle becomes empty, their relationship crumbles a little bit more.
In the book, Jeannette's father keeps on promising Jeannette that when they build the Glass Castle, then it will be more extravagant than any apartment in New York, Jeannette's dream city to live in. "All of Dad's engineering skills and mathematical genius were coming together in one special project: a great big house he was going to build for us in the desert. It would have a glass ceiling and thick walls and even a glass staircase. The Glass Castle would have solar cells on the top that would catch the sun's rays and convert them into electricity for heating and cooling and running all the appliances. It would even have it's own water-purification system... He carried around the blueprints for the Glass Castle wherever we went, and sometimes he'd pull them out and let us work on the design for our rooms" (page 25). In this scene, Jeannette was describing what Rex had planned for the Glass Castle to look like, and during this time, she and her father had a strong relationship. The Glass Castle was acting as one of the few things they had in common, and it kept them in good terms with each other.
However, when the plan of building the Glass Castle doesn't seem to be working out, Jeannette and her father don't seem to get along as well as they usually do. "Dad's hands trembled slightly as he unrolled different blueprints... I stared at the plans. 'Dad', I said, 'you'll never build the Glass Castle.' 'Are you saying you don't have faith in your old man?' 'Even if you do, I'll be gone. In less than three months, I'll be leaving for New York City.' ... 'Dad', I said, '... Go ahead and build the Glass Castle, but don't do it for me'" (page 238). In this scene, Rex was attempting to convince Jeannette to stay and to not move to New York by saying that he would build the Glass Castle with her. By this time, Jeannette had learned that her father was excellent at making promises and then breaking them. She understood that if she stayed back and believed that her father would actually build the Glass Castle, then she would be losing a huge opportunity to start a new life and to become successful. She realized that a glass castle would do no good for her anymore and that her father was full of empty promises.
In conclusion, in The Glass Castle, the promise of building a Glass Castle becomes a symbol. Every time Jeannette's father promises her a life in the Glass Castle, he and Jeannette have a wonderful relationship, but towards the end of the book, Jeannette realizes that he isn't an promise keeper. This shows that she no longer cares about the Glass Castle, or if she does, it's only a little bit. This also shows that she realized that it was going to take more that the promise of a dream to make up an entire relationship with a person.
The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls, is a memoir that takes an in-depth look at her unique childhood. Her parents, Rex and Rose Mary Walls, have three other children named Lori, Brian, and Maureen. Bad parenting and poor life decisions cause the Walls family to endure many hardships such as no food and a poor place to live. The book follows the family as they are constantly moving from place to place, and all of the troubles they encounter. Two of the main problems are Rex's drinking problem, and Rose Mary's not putting her intelligence to use by getting a job. The children, and eventually Rex and Rose Mary, all move to New York. As each child starts to take their own path and find peace; both parents continue their destructive behaviors as homeless people. Over the course of the book, Jeannette realizes that the Glass Castle symbolizes her relationship with her father; when the idea of it comes up and they are ready to plan it out, their relationship is solid and happy. However, when Rex is drinking and/or his promise of building the Glass Castle becomes empty, their relationship crumbles a little bit more.
In the book, Jeannette's father keeps on promising Jeannette that when they build the Glass Castle, then it will be more extravagant than any apartment in New York, Jeannette's dream city to live in. "All of Dad's engineering skills and mathematical genius were coming together in one special project: a great big house he was going to build for us in the desert. It would have a glass ceiling and thick walls and even a glass staircase. The Glass Castle would have solar cells on the top that would catch the sun's rays and convert them into electricity for heating and cooling and running all the appliances. It would even have it's own water-purification system... He carried around the blueprints for the Glass Castle wherever we went, and sometimes he'd pull them out and let us work on the design for our rooms" (page 25). In this scene, Jeannette was describing what Rex had planned for the Glass Castle to look like, and during this time, she and her father had a strong relationship. The Glass Castle was acting as one of the few things they had in common, and it kept them in good terms with each other.
However, when the plan of building the Glass Castle doesn't seem to be working out, Jeannette and her father don't seem to get along as well as they usually do. "Dad's hands trembled slightly as he unrolled different blueprints... I stared at the plans. 'Dad', I said, 'you'll never build the Glass Castle.' 'Are you saying you don't have faith in your old man?' 'Even if you do, I'll be gone. In less than three months, I'll be leaving for New York City.' ... 'Dad', I said, '... Go ahead and build the Glass Castle, but don't do it for me'" (page 238). In this scene, Rex was attempting to convince Jeannette to stay and to not move to New York by saying that he would build the Glass Castle with her. By this time, Jeannette had learned that her father was excellent at making promises and then breaking them. She understood that if she stayed back and believed that her father would actually build the Glass Castle, then she would be losing a huge opportunity to start a new life and to become successful. She realized that a glass castle would do no good for her anymore and that her father was full of empty promises.
In conclusion, in The Glass Castle, the promise of building a Glass Castle becomes a symbol. Every time Jeannette's father promises her a life in the Glass Castle, he and Jeannette have a wonderful relationship, but towards the end of the book, Jeannette realizes that he isn't an promise keeper. This shows that she no longer cares about the Glass Castle, or if she does, it's only a little bit. This also shows that she realized that it was going to take more that the promise of a dream to make up an entire relationship with a person.
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
How the Murder of Four Teens Started a War: Response
In the article "How the Murder of Four Teens Started a War", by Patricia Smith, the article talks about the killings of 4 teenagers, and how it was the start of a seven-week battle between Israel and Hamas, a militant group that controls Gaza. Smith starts the article off by describing how the three Israeli boys, Naftali Fraenkel, Gilad Shaar, and Eyal Yifrach, were killed. She then tells of the Jewish extremists who took the life of the fourth boy, Muhammad Abu Khdeir, a Palestinian. Over the course of the article, Smith describes the history between Israel and the Palestinians. She then ends by talking about what might happen next and what people hope will happen next.
The pictures right above the beginning of the article show the four boys all smiling, days before the killings. I think that this is meant to show their innocence and how horrible it was to have them being killed off. Throughout the article, Smith uses loaded words, when she says "Israel launched devastating airstrikes in Gaza." The word "devastating", in my opinion, is a very powerful word. I feel that devastating isn't the right word, and that the sentence would sound better without it. Also, the author uses heavy words to express her point of view. For example, she said "... for surviving Israel's military onslaught." This quote caught my eye, because she uses "onslaught" to show her feelings on the casualties from the seven-week war. This makes the reader think that she is more sided with the Palestinians, because the way she worded this sentence makes the Israelis look like horrible, mean people, while the Palestines are innocent and a victim.
Overall, the idea that killing innocent teenagers makes me feel unsafe, because if this can happen in a situation like this, it can happen anywhere. This also makes me realize how self-centered and selfish countries can be, because they are not thinking about all of the trouble they are causing and how many people they have hurt, physically and emotionally.
The pictures right above the beginning of the article show the four boys all smiling, days before the killings. I think that this is meant to show their innocence and how horrible it was to have them being killed off. Throughout the article, Smith uses loaded words, when she says "Israel launched devastating airstrikes in Gaza." The word "devastating", in my opinion, is a very powerful word. I feel that devastating isn't the right word, and that the sentence would sound better without it. Also, the author uses heavy words to express her point of view. For example, she said "... for surviving Israel's military onslaught." This quote caught my eye, because she uses "onslaught" to show her feelings on the casualties from the seven-week war. This makes the reader think that she is more sided with the Palestinians, because the way she worded this sentence makes the Israelis look like horrible, mean people, while the Palestines are innocent and a victim.
Overall, the idea that killing innocent teenagers makes me feel unsafe, because if this can happen in a situation like this, it can happen anywhere. This also makes me realize how self-centered and selfish countries can be, because they are not thinking about all of the trouble they are causing and how many people they have hurt, physically and emotionally.
Thursday, October 23, 2014
“Darkness Too Visible” Response
In the article, “Darkness Too Visible”, by Meghan Cox Gurdon, is about the negatives of young adult literature and why they are not appropriate for teens. In the article, Gurdon provides excerpts from many “gruesome books”, including The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, and The Marbury Lens by Andrew Smith. Additionally, the author expresses her dislike for the millions of young adult books that are being published each year. Finally, Gurdon compares authors such as Judy Blume and Lauren Myracle, saying Myracle was “this generation’s Judy Blume”.
Meghan Cox Gurdon uses loaded words to try to make me feel disapproving of the current young adult literature and their content. For example, she says, "The argument in favor of such novels is that they validate the teen experience, giving voice to tortured adolescents who would otherwise be voiceless" (Page 3). This quote alone has two loaded words, which are tortured and voiceless. By reading these two words, Gurdon paints an exciting picture, where teens who are usually afraid to speak up are no longer afraid because they read a book about it. She wants us to feel that this idea is silly and that you can't get helpful support from reading a book. Another use of loaded words is when Gurdon talks about Amy Freeman, a mother of a 13 year-old, who was trying to get her a book, but decided against it because she felt that the books were "all vampires and suicide and self-mutilation, this dark, dark stuff" (Page 1). This quote is designed to make you feel that all of the young adult books are too advanced for teenagers to be reading. The author mainly supported her own opinion, giving only quotes that supported her side of the argument.
In conclusion, I believe that the article "Darkness Too Visible" is an argumentative piece, however, stating only one side of the argument. I disagree with the author on most notes, such as how all of the books on the shelves are all vampires and suicide and self-mutilation. In fact, many of the books I read are not about any of those topics. From reading the article, I realized that there are many people who are stubborn and who refuse to look at the other side of things. Meghan Cox Gurdon is one of those people who forgets or doesn't realize that there is another side to their argument.
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Reading Response
Marta Brennan October 20, 2014
Class 806 ELA Reading Response
“The terrified mother perched on the roof of Eva’s hut and called to her baby all day. I watched that mother and wondered what she would have done when her new babies came the next year. Would she have kept the older baby or pushed it out of the nest to make room for the perfectly formed new ones?”
- Whisper
The book Whisper, by Chris Struyk-Bonn, is about a sixteen year-old girl, Whisper, who has a cleft palate and lives in an encampment with three other young rejects and their caregiver, Nathanael, all of whom are outcasts from a society that kills or abandons anyone with a physical or mental disability. When Whisper’s mother dies, she leaves Whisper a violin, which Nathanael teaches her to play. Whisper’s father comes to claim her, and she becomes his house slave, her disfigurement hidden by a black veil. But when she proves rebellious, she is taken to the city to live with other rejects at a house called Purgatory Palace, where she has to make difficult decisions for herself and for her friends. Throughout the book, the author uses Whisper’s violins to represent how she handles her emotions.
One example of Whisper using her carved violin to represent her emotions is when she says, “Closing my hand around the violin at my neck, I brought it out of my shirt and pressed it against my cheek. The coolness of the wood soothed my hot face” (page 153). This quote shows that the thought of Jeremia, one of the rejects who lived with her in the woods that gave her the violin, calms her down. She uses his love and support for her to hold her down and to stay sane. She uses the violin to help her when she is not feeling in control of her emotions, actions and thoughts.
Furthermore, Whisper says, “I sat up in the chair, lifted the violin to my shoulder, lowered my chin, closed my eyes, and played the song of Whisper when she had known who she was and where she belonged” (page 117). This quote is meaningful, because music is the one thing that Whisper had that made her feel that she belonged and that she was wanted, and slowly, she was losing that too. Whisper’s violin was represented to show how she was feeling lonely and empty, because she was losing the peaceful and safe emotions she had when she played her violin.
In addition, Whisper says, “Too late, I felt the string around my neck stretch taut and snap. I let go, and the hand-carved violin dropped through my coat to the carpet of the hallway and I stepped on it, snapping the carving in two… and I stumbled, crying out. I sobbed and leaned against the wall, trying to catch my breath” (page 271). This quote shows that Whisper believed that there was nothing left to hold onto, because the violin symbolized the love and support from her family in the woods, but she snapped it in half.
In conclusion, the author used Whisper’s violins to express the single thing she had left that was not broken in her life and that she shouldn’t give up, and she should have hope. The violin was a symbol to hold on to what you have and even in the darkest of times, you always have someone or something there for you. Teens can relate to this story, because many have felt lonely and felt that they ruined something, such as a bond or relationship or a gift, between themselves and someone else.
Saturday, October 11, 2014
Advanced Use of Parts of Speech
When I open my eyes, I am greeted by a bright blast of sunlight. What the heck? Where am I? What is happening? Am I being attacked by aliens? I squint hard against the light. The light suddenly disappears. Oh, I get it now. Relief floods my face. It's just my older brother Adrian, trying to piss me off first thing in the morning with the flashlight he got for his birthday.
When he sees my eyes open, he grins. "Good morning, Emma!" he says cheerfully. "Isn't it a great morning?"
"Sure" I grumble. "Can you please get off me now?"
He gives me another smile and hops off me, jabbing my right hip bone in the process.
"Ouch!"I exclaim. "Watch yourself, Adrian!" I yell after him as he sprints from my room. I sigh and slowly roll out of bed. I slide into my shower, singing my new favorite song, Shake It Off, by Taylor Swift. My BFFE (Best Friend For Eternity), Olivia, hates it. She thinks Taylor Swift is lame and idiotic for having so many boyfriends. I smile, and hurry up to face the day.
Thursday, September 11, 2014
The Moon and More
The Moon and More, by Sarah Dessen, is a story about a girl who is surrounded by people who are trying to tell her what kind of life she should have, but she has to cut through that and find her own path.
Emaline is spending the summer working for her family's real estate agency and getting ready to head to college in the fall. She's been with Luke, her boyfriend, since ninth grade. She thinks she has everything figured out: she'll spend her summer handing out keys to vacation rental houses in Colby (the small town Emaline lives in), then in September, she'll will be going to the college with Luke.
But things don't go according to plan. First, Emaline's biological father turns up in Colby. He had been urging Emaline to apply to Ivy League schools and even offered to help pay her tuition, but without warning, takes back his offer. Then Emaline starts noticing that she and Luke aren't really hanging out as much as they used to. Finally, a documentary filmmaker from New York shows up in town to interview Clyde Conaway. The filmmaker, Ivy, brought her assistant, Theo, who is eager to impress his boss by getting Emaline to show him the "real" Colby, not just the tourist-y area.
But as Emaline becomes more social with Theo and Ivy, she's forced to ask herself whether she's as outgoing and determined as they are, or whether she fits in better with the relaxed, beachy vibe of Colby. While the book's blurb seems to suggest that this decision is made by Emaline's choice between two very different guys, I didn't really read the story that way. Luke, Emaline's boyfriend, was so laid-back it was hard to get to know his personality. Theo, the outsider, is smart but tries way too hard, so he's socially awkward in a way that made him seem too immature for Emaline.
Emaline is spending the summer working for her family's real estate agency and getting ready to head to college in the fall. She's been with Luke, her boyfriend, since ninth grade. She thinks she has everything figured out: she'll spend her summer handing out keys to vacation rental houses in Colby (the small town Emaline lives in), then in September, she'll will be going to the college with Luke.
But things don't go according to plan. First, Emaline's biological father turns up in Colby. He had been urging Emaline to apply to Ivy League schools and even offered to help pay her tuition, but without warning, takes back his offer. Then Emaline starts noticing that she and Luke aren't really hanging out as much as they used to. Finally, a documentary filmmaker from New York shows up in town to interview Clyde Conaway. The filmmaker, Ivy, brought her assistant, Theo, who is eager to impress his boss by getting Emaline to show him the "real" Colby, not just the tourist-y area.
But as Emaline becomes more social with Theo and Ivy, she's forced to ask herself whether she's as outgoing and determined as they are, or whether she fits in better with the relaxed, beachy vibe of Colby. While the book's blurb seems to suggest that this decision is made by Emaline's choice between two very different guys, I didn't really read the story that way. Luke, Emaline's boyfriend, was so laid-back it was hard to get to know his personality. Theo, the outsider, is smart but tries way too hard, so he's socially awkward in a way that made him seem too immature for Emaline.
Finally, I liked the way that Emaline discovers new things about herself, including some things that really surprise her. This time in her life was bound to be a confusing and emotional, and I think that Sarah Dessen did a great job of showing one girl's experience with that exciting, scary moment when you're ready to take a big step toward adult independence.
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