Best of the World 2012
Runnie
L'Horizon
Portraits of Grief
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Recalling a Memory
Because of a functional brain, I can remember what I did yesterday, where I went, how I felt, and why I did it. Not only can I remember yesterday, but I also can remember most things in my life. Yesterday, I smashed the snooze button about three times, rushed to get to school, sat through seven boring classes, went to practice, did homework, ate, and went to sleep. That is the routine of most of my days. As I mentioned, not only can I remember my daily routine, but I can remember big events like, who I crushed on in middle school, when I got stitches, why I'm not friends with Bob anymore, and any emotion that triggers an event. It's ordinary for me to be able to recall memories, as well as for you. But can you imagine if you couldn't remember the day before yesterday? If all of your memory before today was erased?
If you can't imagine it, it's really hard to relate to the characters in The Scorch Trials, the second book in The Maze Runner Trilogy. I know it's hard for me to relate to the characters because it's impossible to imagine having no memory.
Fortunately, Thomas, one of the main characters, dreams at night stories and events that he thinks may have been his past self, but he isn't one-hundred percent sure. One dream that he had was a scary and lonely dream and he could recall a voice saying, "The Flare is rooted inside him." The Flare, a grand epidemic that is ruining the world is the reason the boys are trapped. Mad scientists are experimenting with the innocent boys so they can somehow save the world (Crazy, huh? I really don't know how trapping boys in the Scorch area will help save the world.) However, Thomas recalls his dream/memory and it changes his perspective. What are the creators planning? Are they cozening him to a miserable death?
With many questions about the intense plot and after reading a big chunk of the book I get one overall feeling: that I hope I never get Alzeihmers in the future.
If you can't imagine it, it's really hard to relate to the characters in The Scorch Trials, the second book in The Maze Runner Trilogy. I know it's hard for me to relate to the characters because it's impossible to imagine having no memory.
Fortunately, Thomas, one of the main characters, dreams at night stories and events that he thinks may have been his past self, but he isn't one-hundred percent sure. One dream that he had was a scary and lonely dream and he could recall a voice saying, "The Flare is rooted inside him." The Flare, a grand epidemic that is ruining the world is the reason the boys are trapped. Mad scientists are experimenting with the innocent boys so they can somehow save the world (Crazy, huh? I really don't know how trapping boys in the Scorch area will help save the world.) However, Thomas recalls his dream/memory and it changes his perspective. What are the creators planning? Are they cozening him to a miserable death?
With many questions about the intense plot and after reading a big chunk of the book I get one overall feeling: that I hope I never get Alzeihmers in the future.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Hitlist to a Shortlist
Friday, January 20, 2012
Finding the catchiest blogs
In my opinion, some of the catchiest reading analysis blogs:
lost_at_sea http://pagenotfounderror404.blogspot.com/
^This blog has a really good intro and point to make, and a little sarcastic too.
coraline http://xixamxkenziex.blogspot.com/
^"You know those books you accidentally come across? " This is the very first sentence of the post and it really made me want to know what she was going to say, because for me, coming across books accidentally happens all the time.
In my opinion, some of the catchiest Dead Poets Society paragraphs:
nans http://rrr-nans.blogspot.com/
^ "In Peter Weir’s Dead Poets Society, the explosive crowd of parents and the aggressively proud students highlight the sense of passionate strength and intense superiority that will be countered with the arrival of a teacher whose thoughts change the ideas surrounding the school. " Nans does a great job with the claim because of the powerful nouns and verbs that help describe the observations and inferences. The rest of her paragraph correctly posted about the observations and then the inferences that led to possible problems in the movie, like the new teacher.
lost_at_sea http://pagenotfounderror404.blogspot.com/
^This blog has a really good intro and point to make, and a little sarcastic too.
coraline http://xixamxkenziex.blogspot.com/
^"You know those books you accidentally come across? " This is the very first sentence of the post and it really made me want to know what she was going to say, because for me, coming across books accidentally happens all the time.
In my opinion, some of the catchiest Dead Poets Society paragraphs:
nans http://rrr-nans.blogspot.com/
^ "In Peter Weir’s Dead Poets Society, the explosive crowd of parents and the aggressively proud students highlight the sense of passionate strength and intense superiority that will be countered with the arrival of a teacher whose thoughts change the ideas surrounding the school. " Nans does a great job with the claim because of the powerful nouns and verbs that help describe the observations and inferences. The rest of her paragraph correctly posted about the observations and then the inferences that led to possible problems in the movie, like the new teacher.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Finished The Maze Runner
I recently left off wondering how and why the innocent boys were put into the maze. Upon finishing, only one of the nagging questions was answered. Thomas and about half of the Gladers decided to bravely take their chances and fight the Grievers so they could escape. However, after jumping through the Griever Hole, battling Grievers, and punching in a code, they only came out to a cage-like room with windows revealing the evil creators.
The readers didn't learn much about why the creators ran the maze experiment because a group of protestors came in and rescued the boys. Who knows exactly who the group was, but they transferred them right to a somewhat safe house.
You might be thinking that this was a happy ending and all of the boys got to return to their families; but the story hasn't ended yet. The boys are now fighting from getting the epidemic Flare. They are trapped inside this "safe" house and can see the lunatics raging around their windows. They've tried everything trying to get out of the house, but soon they hear a very familiar alarm--one only heard in the maze.
The boys may have thought they escaped the maze and outsmarted the creators, but the upbeat sequel, The Scorch Trials makes it seem as if they are yet again another set of mice in a lab experiment.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Dead Poets Society
In the opening scene from Peter Weir’s 1989 film Dead Poets Society, the ceremonious activity and formal relations reveal some skeptical intensity and proud aggression. The packed pews of the church and the sounds of bagpipe music led into a rallying speech from one of the school’s administrators. The tense sounds of the music and sounds of the loud clapping illustrates the proudly hopeful parents, but the meek worry of the soon to be students. The high expectations expressed by facial expressions and communication seem to intimidate the incredulously numb children for their upcoming semester.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Enjoying the snow day!
building snowmen
reading in the snow
hot chocolate!
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Trapped
The idea of being trapped in a maze and remembering nothing on how you got there does not seem pleasing to many people. In the fantastic book The Maze Runner by James Dashner, a large group of boys are placed into some type of holding cell that resembles a maze. The main character of the story, Thomas, is the newest addition to the maze and the perspective of the story is mainly from him. The reader learns alot about the maze and society that the group of boys have created. The most astonishing thing to the reader are the questions, how and why are these seemingly innocent boys trapped inside a maze with no memory of getting there at all?
As I have read the first half of this book, I have kept myself up way too late at night trying to race to the answers to the questions that the story is based upon. It just amazes me how some type of person or group created the maze; and on top of it all, decide to trap boys and watch them miserably fight each other. For the many questions that the story proposes, I try to come up with theories. Possibly the reason for the maze is similar to the reason of The Hunger Games--where the society watches every move of the players and acts as though it is entertainment. Entertainment definately could be the incentive for the creators, but why two years? The boy that has been inside of the maze has been stuck for almost two years. I cannot even relate emotions to the way they must feel in this dystopian setting.
As said before, the main character and protagonist of the story is the "Greenie", Thomas. The first step he took into his new home he felt a familiar sort of feeling. At the time, I wasn't too concerned. Then, just a week after of being into the incredible area, Thomas is brave enough to step foot into the maze at night--basically a death sentence. However, he was able to save two lives while being out in the maze, fight off four grievers, and make it through the night alive--the first boy to ever accomplish something like that. At this point, I still wasn't suspicious of Thomas even though other boys in the group started to become weary of him. I viewed him more of a hero, and saw it as forshadowing that he is going to be the one boy that may save them from the miserable maze and find an escape out. However, about a day after his heroic trip, the newest member of the group, which happened to be a girl, telepathically told Thomas, "It was you and me Tom. We did this to them. To us."
When I read that line, my jaw dropped. This created so many questions such as, Is Thomas the bad guy? Are they the creators? How could he be a creator of the maze and not remember? Why would he do this to anyone?
James Dashner does an excellent job of creating suspense in this book and I am looking forward to knowing the answers to the many questions he proposes. As for the boys in the book, I would hate to be trapped.
As I have read the first half of this book, I have kept myself up way too late at night trying to race to the answers to the questions that the story is based upon. It just amazes me how some type of person or group created the maze; and on top of it all, decide to trap boys and watch them miserably fight each other. For the many questions that the story proposes, I try to come up with theories. Possibly the reason for the maze is similar to the reason of The Hunger Games--where the society watches every move of the players and acts as though it is entertainment. Entertainment definately could be the incentive for the creators, but why two years? The boy that has been inside of the maze has been stuck for almost two years. I cannot even relate emotions to the way they must feel in this dystopian setting.
As said before, the main character and protagonist of the story is the "Greenie", Thomas. The first step he took into his new home he felt a familiar sort of feeling. At the time, I wasn't too concerned. Then, just a week after of being into the incredible area, Thomas is brave enough to step foot into the maze at night--basically a death sentence. However, he was able to save two lives while being out in the maze, fight off four grievers, and make it through the night alive--the first boy to ever accomplish something like that. At this point, I still wasn't suspicious of Thomas even though other boys in the group started to become weary of him. I viewed him more of a hero, and saw it as forshadowing that he is going to be the one boy that may save them from the miserable maze and find an escape out. However, about a day after his heroic trip, the newest member of the group, which happened to be a girl, telepathically told Thomas, "It was you and me Tom. We did this to them. To us."
When I read that line, my jaw dropped. This created so many questions such as, Is Thomas the bad guy? Are they the creators? How could he be a creator of the maze and not remember? Why would he do this to anyone?
James Dashner does an excellent job of creating suspense in this book and I am looking forward to knowing the answers to the many questions he proposes. As for the boys in the book, I would hate to be trapped.
"Nighthawks" by Edward Hopper
Elements:
Setting
Characters
Action
Use of Colors
Perspective
Observations:
Setting: Phillies bar, urban town, empty bar, late at night, shadow of the moon, empty streets, no life
Characters: business attire, three customers and a bartender, little energy, little interaction, exhausted
Action: Sedentary, Lethargic, intrapersonal, slow bartender
Use of Colors: dark, shadows, plain, dull, dramatic, shining of the moon
Perspective: outsider, looking in through glass windows from distance, corner of a block, emphasizes emptiness
Claim:
In "Nighthawks" painted by Edward Hopper, an outsider looking into the empty bar with ominous apathy, lethargic complacency, and dramatic coldness of the night, portray the dark, lonely mood of the lifeless customers in the peak of the night.
Setting
Characters
Action
Use of Colors
Perspective
Observations:
Setting: Phillies bar, urban town, empty bar, late at night, shadow of the moon, empty streets, no life
Characters: business attire, three customers and a bartender, little energy, little interaction, exhausted
Action: Sedentary, Lethargic, intrapersonal, slow bartender
Use of Colors: dark, shadows, plain, dull, dramatic, shining of the moon
Perspective: outsider, looking in through glass windows from distance, corner of a block, emphasizes emptiness
Claim:
In "Nighthawks" painted by Edward Hopper, an outsider looking into the empty bar with ominous apathy, lethargic complacency, and dramatic coldness of the night, portray the dark, lonely mood of the lifeless customers in the peak of the night.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Book Worm
It all began in 1999--the year I first began preschool and the year I fell in love with reading. Memories before that year can get pretty blurry, but I do remember the huge bookshelf in my basement. I was always very fascinated with the huge bookshelf that spilt books and waited for when I would be able to pick a book myself. I had struggled through books with my Mom and Dad at bedtime before the age of four, but nothing can describe the ecstatic feeling when I reached for a book on that bookshelf myself. Reaching for my very own book to read individually lead to so many fantastic things.
One of the many things reading from the bookshelf lead to was my very own library card. Trips to the library became a weekly routine and I would spend hours shuffling through the shelves finding the prettiest covers, best sounding authors, and coolest titles. As a young kid, I definately judged the book by the cover. Unfortunately, the prettiest covers were not always the best books. To not know that when I was younger definately put a toll on my reading life. I became quite bored with books because I could never find the one that kept me on my toes. Instead books became predictable and tedious. I got to a stage in my life where reading was no longer exciting.
Fortunately, this phase ended when I entered middle school and found quite a few series that kept me up way too late at night. Once again I started reading like I had never stopped. I had started visiting the library a lot more and finding stories that completely entertained me. However, I started to find no time for reading because I always had so much homework near the end of middle school and the beginning of high school. Just this past year I have started a book list, became an assistant for the librarians, and have been staying up way too late trying to figure out the next scene in the current book I am reading. Although I took a few years off from adoring the bookshelves, I can still claim myself a book worm.
One of the many things reading from the bookshelf lead to was my very own library card. Trips to the library became a weekly routine and I would spend hours shuffling through the shelves finding the prettiest covers, best sounding authors, and coolest titles. As a young kid, I definately judged the book by the cover. Unfortunately, the prettiest covers were not always the best books. To not know that when I was younger definately put a toll on my reading life. I became quite bored with books because I could never find the one that kept me on my toes. Instead books became predictable and tedious. I got to a stage in my life where reading was no longer exciting.
Fortunately, this phase ended when I entered middle school and found quite a few series that kept me up way too late at night. Once again I started reading like I had never stopped. I had started visiting the library a lot more and finding stories that completely entertained me. However, I started to find no time for reading because I always had so much homework near the end of middle school and the beginning of high school. Just this past year I have started a book list, became an assistant for the librarians, and have been staying up way too late trying to figure out the next scene in the current book I am reading. Although I took a few years off from adoring the bookshelves, I can still claim myself a book worm.
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