I am reading the book Wintergirls by Laurie Anderson. Thi book tells the story on a girl named Lia that struggles through anorexia. Then an ex-friend of hers that had bulimia dies. Cassie, her girl that died, called her 33 times on the night she died. A fact that Lia just can't live down.
In this book I've been thinking about innocence. Lia isn't innocent because of what she does. Starving herself to look thin. Always denying the fact that she could die... just like Cassie. And the thing that doesn't make her innocent is that she knows that doing what she is is dangerous. She knows what could happen to her, yet she just keeps on doing it. In fact, Lia has been sent to a rehab twice already. And she known that if anyone finds out, she is going to go back.
Another reason that Lia just isn't innocent is that she knows Cassie called her 33 times. And yet, she didn't pick up. She heard it, but let it ring, and ring, and ring, and ring. In this situation she wasn't innocent because she might have been able to help Cassie. But maybe not. Now she sits there and wonders why, what could have been so important that she called? After all, Cassie hadn't spoken to her in months. So, why did she suddenly start trying to call? I know the answer, but I won't say.
I wonder if Lia has a little guilty consience. I mean, don't we all? If there is something that we feel bad about, doesn't it just haunt us? The little voice in the bag of our head taunts us, making us want to belive that it is all our fault. But the thing is, that it isn't. Lia needs to realize this. That Cassie dieing isn't her fault. Yes, the anorexia is, but she can change it.
Everything starts by trying to change something. Lia needs to put a foot forward, and start walking that direction.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Friday, December 10, 2010
Boys R Us by Lisi Harrison
The book I am reading right now is called Boys R Us by Lisi Harrison. This book is one in a series called The Clique. In the book you will follow the lives of 5 girls that are now ex-best friends after the alpha, or leader, of the group (Massie) disbands the "Pretty Committee". Their names are Massie, Claire, Dylan, Kristen, and Alicia. They live in Westchester and do to a school named OCD, where everyone fights to be on top.
I think that this book tries to teach you that money can't buy everything. This is a cliche, but the way Lisi shows it is different from any other way I've seen before. To Massie, Alicia and Dylan, money is everything. They could get whatever they want with it. Having Claire and Kristen there, because they are both working class, just enhances the point that you don't need money to be happy.
This theme about money leads to somethng else. It shows that you can't buy friends. Spoiler alert!! Massie learns that the hard way when she hires 4 actresses to play the roll of friends. She soon finds out that not even money can buy you what you want, and that you need real friends to be happy.
While Massie is off fighting her own battles with her new employee friends, Claire is torn in between her friends and her alpha (Massie). True friends are always connecterd by a past, the present, or the future. The old Pretty Committee girls are connected by all 3. They had a past, Claire and their minds are the presents, and by the way the 5 girls miss the old days that they were all friends, I am 99.9% that they will be back together soon. But hey, maybe things won't get better. As I continue reading the book, things might change.
I think that this book tries to teach you that money can't buy everything. This is a cliche, but the way Lisi shows it is different from any other way I've seen before. To Massie, Alicia and Dylan, money is everything. They could get whatever they want with it. Having Claire and Kristen there, because they are both working class, just enhances the point that you don't need money to be happy.
This theme about money leads to somethng else. It shows that you can't buy friends. Spoiler alert!! Massie learns that the hard way when she hires 4 actresses to play the roll of friends. She soon finds out that not even money can buy you what you want, and that you need real friends to be happy.
While Massie is off fighting her own battles with her new employee friends, Claire is torn in between her friends and her alpha (Massie). True friends are always connecterd by a past, the present, or the future. The old Pretty Committee girls are connected by all 3. They had a past, Claire and their minds are the presents, and by the way the 5 girls miss the old days that they were all friends, I am 99.9% that they will be back together soon. But hey, maybe things won't get better. As I continue reading the book, things might change.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
How does the Text Make You Think About Justice? Harry Potter
the book Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix makes me think about how all throughout the book, justice is not served. But the thing is, in the end it is so I am not really sure if it is or isn't. For example, in the beginning Harry had to use magic to fight of some demontors that were attacking him and his cousin. Harry was then expelled from Hogwarts for using underage magic outside of the school, then he was sentanced to court. Here justice was not served because he used it for defensive purposes. If he hadn't used magic Harry and Dursley would have both gotten their sould sucked out of them. Honestly, I don't think Harry should have been punished. Then at the court case the head of the ministry didn't believe Harry and thought he was making up lies. I think that this is another case of injustice because just because Conelius wasn't there doesn't mean it wasn't true. Then Dumbledore shows up and pressures Cornelius to release all charges against Harry, so in the end justice was served. But justice wasn't served with out difficulty.
In this book I think that is the Ministry of Magic and the Daily Prophet (a newspaper) that try to stop justice from occuring. They do this by lying about Harry, dumbledore, and anyone else that needs some type of justice to be served. These lies change the way people think causes less and less people to believe and trust Harry and Dumbledore. The only way to really stop this from happening is by shutting the ministry an the prophet down. Unfortunatly, this isn't possible. And in the world too, sometimes it is just impossible for justice to occur.
In this book I think that is the Ministry of Magic and the Daily Prophet (a newspaper) that try to stop justice from occuring. They do this by lying about Harry, dumbledore, and anyone else that needs some type of justice to be served. These lies change the way people think causes less and less people to believe and trust Harry and Dumbledore. The only way to really stop this from happening is by shutting the ministry an the prophet down. Unfortunatly, this isn't possible. And in the world too, sometimes it is just impossible for justice to occur.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Justice in the Book Hunted
Spoiler alert!!
In the book Hunted by P.C. and Kristen Cast I'v noticed a few social issues. One of the main ones that I've noticed is when someone important betrays you. In this book the high preistess,Neferet, goes against the house of night and betrays all the students, teachers, and most importantly their goddess Nyx. Not only does this cause a big problem in the house of night, but it causes a problem all over. She starts to worship Kalona, a fallen angel that is determined to get the main character, Zoey, in his grasp and his evil children called ravenmockers that are half human half man. But letting Kalona and his children get Zoey might mean the end of the House of Night, or the end of the world.
Now nothing like this could happen in the real world, but i have an idead of something similar that could. Now Neferet is in charge of that particular house of night, but what would happen if the governer of the state were to betray it? What would happen if he started to run the state his own way, not caring about anyone's rules but their own? most people might decide to keep following him or her, thinking that because that person is the governer, then everything must be okay. Well what if the congressmen from that state know that something is wrong, and nobody else believes it? Would they try to defeat him? I bet they would try to defeat
In the end though, justice is served in the text, but not with out much difficulty.
In the book Hunted by P.C. and Kristen Cast I'v noticed a few social issues. One of the main ones that I've noticed is when someone important betrays you. In this book the high preistess,Neferet, goes against the house of night and betrays all the students, teachers, and most importantly their goddess Nyx. Not only does this cause a big problem in the house of night, but it causes a problem all over. She starts to worship Kalona, a fallen angel that is determined to get the main character, Zoey, in his grasp and his evil children called ravenmockers that are half human half man. But letting Kalona and his children get Zoey might mean the end of the House of Night, or the end of the world.
Now nothing like this could happen in the real world, but i have an idead of something similar that could. Now Neferet is in charge of that particular house of night, but what would happen if the governer of the state were to betray it? What would happen if he started to run the state his own way, not caring about anyone's rules but their own? most people might decide to keep following him or her, thinking that because that person is the governer, then everything must be okay. Well what if the congressmen from that state know that something is wrong, and nobody else believes it? Would they try to defeat him? I bet they would try to defeat
In the end though, justice is served in the text, but not with out much difficulty.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Social Issues Blog
In the book Dreamland by Sarah Dessen and I noticed a lot of hard things are happening in the book. One of the main issue I noticed was abuse. The main character, Caitlin, is being abused by her boyfriend for no aparent reason, other than making him wait a little while for her to show up. Other times she does nothing at all. She says she doesn't leave him beacause she loves him. I think that she should leave him, and do what is right for herself. Thats another issue in the book, doing what is right for themselves. The hard thing that happened in the beginning was that Caitlin's sister Cass left. At first nobody knew where she was or why she left. But eventually Cass started calling and she was forgiven. Cass ran away because it was what was right for her. She was tired of being perfect, for pleasing everyone all the time. And by running away and not going to Yale, everybody learned that she is not perfect. And Caitlin has been trying to be as perfect as Cass her whole life, and after Cass runs away, she has to even more. She tried to fill up the space her sister left behind. Like by joining the cheerleading squad. She knew it wasn't the right thing for her, she hated it. In the end she only did it beacause it was something Cass didn't do. But in the end she couldn't do any of the things Cass could do. She could replace her. And that was the right choice for her, to stop trying to fill her sister's shoes when she could barely fill her own. I think this is a valuable lesson. To think about filling your own shoes and doing what is right for you, before you start doing that for someone else.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Bridge to Terabithia
I just finished reading the book "Bridge to Terabithia", an old childhood favorite. As I read the book I found that it was boring and got even more boring as the book drowned on. I mean, when I was in fourth grade, I could see why I used to love it, but now I expect so much more from my books, and I guess it didn't live up to my expectations.
All that aside, I tracked the issue of gender and gender expectancy throughout the book. This was a very important issue in the book , especially when it came to Leslie. She came to school on the first day with jeans on while all the other girls had on their best dresses and looked at her funny. All her classmates teased her just because it wasn't normal for that small town. Then again at recess when leslie ran over to come race with the boys, Gary Fulcher started trying to cause her grief about it.
But, it wasn't just Leslie who had people expecting things of her, they did this to Jess too. One obvious time I could think of off the top of my head was after Leslie died and Jess was eating his pancakes. Brenda started trying to make him feel bad about how he was wolfing down food after his best friend died and Ellie said how boys aren't supposed to cry at times like that. Mrs.Aarons just agreed to it.
Now in the small town Leslie and Jess lived in, they are very old fashioned, but this still happens today, in a modern school. Like for example, girls are expected to like pink and be girly according to popular belief that is, so anyway if a girl shows up at school one day dressed as a complete tomboy, then she is bound to get some strange looks.
Gender issues play a big part in the book, but they also might play a part in your life.
All that aside, I tracked the issue of gender and gender expectancy throughout the book. This was a very important issue in the book , especially when it came to Leslie. She came to school on the first day with jeans on while all the other girls had on their best dresses and looked at her funny. All her classmates teased her just because it wasn't normal for that small town. Then again at recess when leslie ran over to come race with the boys, Gary Fulcher started trying to cause her grief about it.
But, it wasn't just Leslie who had people expecting things of her, they did this to Jess too. One obvious time I could think of off the top of my head was after Leslie died and Jess was eating his pancakes. Brenda started trying to make him feel bad about how he was wolfing down food after his best friend died and Ellie said how boys aren't supposed to cry at times like that. Mrs.Aarons just agreed to it.
Now in the small town Leslie and Jess lived in, they are very old fashioned, but this still happens today, in a modern school. Like for example, girls are expected to like pink and be girly according to popular belief that is, so anyway if a girl shows up at school one day dressed as a complete tomboy, then she is bound to get some strange looks.
Gender issues play a big part in the book, but they also might play a part in your life.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Archetypes Entry
To me, Charlotte is the mentor of the story. She helps Wilbur and she teaches him, she even saves his life.
Ever since the day the two met they made a strange pair, but there friendship over ruled that. Anyway, Charlotte has been teaching him since day one. The first time was when Charlotte said salutations. Wilbur asked what it ment, and so the teaching began. Every day Charlotte tought Wilbur something new. And when Wilbur found out he was going to die, Charlotte was the first person to try and help, and also the only person. She started to think up a plan, and made sure to have it pull through in the end. That's more then anybody has ever done for Wilbur. And it saved him.
Charlotte could aslo be portrayed as the hero of the story. Like I said before, she saved Wilbur's life. If anybody deserves to be a hero, it's Charlotte. But, I guess Wilbur can be a called a hero too. Like, in the end of the book when he got the egg sac, that could be considered heroic. But the problem with that is that I start thinking that Templeton is a hero. He was the one that brought Charlotte the words she wove into her web to save Wilbur. he was the one to get the egg sac down for Wilbur.
In the end, I really don't know who was the hero. I only know the mentor, Charlotte, and what she did for Wilbur.
Ever since the day the two met they made a strange pair, but there friendship over ruled that. Anyway, Charlotte has been teaching him since day one. The first time was when Charlotte said salutations. Wilbur asked what it ment, and so the teaching began. Every day Charlotte tought Wilbur something new. And when Wilbur found out he was going to die, Charlotte was the first person to try and help, and also the only person. She started to think up a plan, and made sure to have it pull through in the end. That's more then anybody has ever done for Wilbur. And it saved him.
Charlotte could aslo be portrayed as the hero of the story. Like I said before, she saved Wilbur's life. If anybody deserves to be a hero, it's Charlotte. But, I guess Wilbur can be a called a hero too. Like, in the end of the book when he got the egg sac, that could be considered heroic. But the problem with that is that I start thinking that Templeton is a hero. He was the one that brought Charlotte the words she wove into her web to save Wilbur. he was the one to get the egg sac down for Wilbur.
In the end, I really don't know who was the hero. I only know the mentor, Charlotte, and what she did for Wilbur.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Connecting Annotations Blog
1st annotation. p12.
In the book this is where I first notice that E.B. White seems to be saying that things don't last forever, no matter how much you want it to. Like on this this page I wrote how Fern doesn't want to give up Wilbur, and Wilbur doesn't want to give up Fern. They both don't want things to change, but they have to, that is life.
As the book went on, I started to see this more and more. The idea that nobody wants anything to change, but of course they can't have that. On p 49 there is a very clear example. It is when the sheep tells Wilbur that he is going to die and be turned into ham. I wrote about how mean that was and how Wilbur thought it was going to last, that he was going to live forever. I mean, I know how he feels. When my grandpa died in 6th grade, I didn't know that was going to happen. I didn't even think about how things could change like that, for the worst. But things changed. Nobody is moping around everyday anymore. Life moved on. We did too, but we still can't forget him. This makes me go to the thought I had in the end of the book.
On p 183, Wilbur was so happy to be alive, and everybody (especially Charlotte) was happy he was alive too. But Wilbur wasn't happy. He took Charlotte for granted, and thats what we all do, and what we all shouldn't do.
In the book this is where I first notice that E.B. White seems to be saying that things don't last forever, no matter how much you want it to. Like on this this page I wrote how Fern doesn't want to give up Wilbur, and Wilbur doesn't want to give up Fern. They both don't want things to change, but they have to, that is life.
As the book went on, I started to see this more and more. The idea that nobody wants anything to change, but of course they can't have that. On p 49 there is a very clear example. It is when the sheep tells Wilbur that he is going to die and be turned into ham. I wrote about how mean that was and how Wilbur thought it was going to last, that he was going to live forever. I mean, I know how he feels. When my grandpa died in 6th grade, I didn't know that was going to happen. I didn't even think about how things could change like that, for the worst. But things changed. Nobody is moping around everyday anymore. Life moved on. We did too, but we still can't forget him. This makes me go to the thought I had in the end of the book.
On p 183, Wilbur was so happy to be alive, and everybody (especially Charlotte) was happy he was alive too. But Wilbur wasn't happy. He took Charlotte for granted, and thats what we all do, and what we all shouldn't do.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Charlotte's Web Entry #1
In the book I've noticed that E.B. White manages to hide little tips and things for little kids all throughout the book. I think that he does this because he hopes it will help the people that will read the book. For example, in the beginning of the book when Avery comes downstairs and asks if he could have a pig too Mr.Arable answers that she was up at daylight and now she has a pig. I think here E.B. White it saying that if you wake up early you get rewarded, which is a good message for little kids. He does this in many other places in the book but i can't find anymore right now.
One thing that I like about the book so far is that it is written from Wilbur's view for the most part. Little bits are Fern's or Charlotte's. Bu anyway I like it when it is Wilburs view because you kind of get to see things at the other end of the line. I mean seriosly, would a pig really know that he was going to die? And if he did would he react like Wilbur did? The world will never know. Bu tfrom this book you can get an idea.
One thing I don't like about most of the book is that so far the book has really been limited to just Wilbur's pen. I feel like E.B. White should have described the outside more, especially when Wilbur really wanted to get out. I feel like he could have said how Wilbur was itching to get outside and sit under the apple trees or something like that. But I can't change that. Nobody could change that.
One thing that I like about the book so far is that it is written from Wilbur's view for the most part. Little bits are Fern's or Charlotte's. Bu anyway I like it when it is Wilburs view because you kind of get to see things at the other end of the line. I mean seriosly, would a pig really know that he was going to die? And if he did would he react like Wilbur did? The world will never know. Bu tfrom this book you can get an idea.
One thing I don't like about most of the book is that so far the book has really been limited to just Wilbur's pen. I feel like E.B. White should have described the outside more, especially when Wilbur really wanted to get out. I feel like he could have said how Wilbur was itching to get outside and sit under the apple trees or something like that. But I can't change that. Nobody could change that.
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