3rd Quarter Reading Reflection

Book List:

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne
Five Weeks in a Balloon by Jules Verne
Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Left to Tell by Immaculée Ilibagiza
Dorothy Must Die  by Danielle Paige
The Bright Forever by Lee Martin
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
Delirium by Lauren Oliver
Matched by Ally Condie
Crossed by Ally Condie
Reached by Ally Condie
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Looking back on the goals I set in my 2nd quarter independent reading post, I met all of my goals for this quarter. My goal was to read 10 teen fiction books and 5 classic books, which I met (exactly :) ). 3rd quarter is usually the busiest time of year for me. I didn't find much time to read, but I still pulled through (YAY!!!). I really enjoyed reading all of these books (though I am a bit tired of love triangles), and look forward to continuing my reading experiences.

Measurable goals:

I want to read...

-7 classics

-12 books total

...in order to gain exposure to all kinds of texts and writing styles.

"Crafty" Book Review

A family struggles to stay alive, a ravaged land is torn to shreds by genocide, a single girl is left to tell.

Set in Rawanda during the year 1994, Immaculée Ilibagiza tells her harrowing story of survival during the Rawandan Genocide in her nonfiction autobiography Left to Tell. In her own version of the diary of Anne Frank, she details her experiences, some of which are as terrifying as the flames of Hell; being locked in a tiny bathroom while listening to stories the heinous crimes taking place all around their safe haven. She pleads with us to find ways to accept each other despite our differences, reminding us that we are all God's creations, one and the same. As we follow her in her struggle for survival, we too must struggle to survive our own demons and conquer the darkest corners of the human soul.

Through the murder and abuse and terrible conditions in Rawanda, the narrator manages to keep hope alive, hope that she wishes to share with all of us, hope that there will be change, hope that will never fade.

Point of View -- Meghan Daum

Meghan Daum can be best described as having a critical point of view. In her column “Geez Frisco,” Daum criticizes San Francisco's excessive ban on buying pets from pet stores. In another one of her columns, “Curvy or no,” she criticizes Mattel for coming out with Curvy Barbie, saying that Barbie is still a mean girl no matter what. In her writing she severely chastises both parties for their “blunders” by using informal diction to make fun of them.

One writing craft technique that Daum uses in her writing in order to establish a caustic and critical tone is low and informal diction. She uses this technique in order to put emphasis on her sarcasm and make it seem more mocking. For example, she uses words like “geez,” “kooky” and “jerks” to make fun of San Franciscans. Her informal diction makes San Francisco look and sound stupid in comparison to other cities. When she describes San Francisco as kooky, she uses this slang term for weird to debase the city's government and inhabitants. When she calls its inhabitants jerks, she directly makes fun of the people who live in San Francisco. She ultimately calls the San Franciscans strange and unreasonable using these casual and informal words. She treats Mattel the same way, using words like “basic” and “sucks” to call Barbie stupid. She describes Barbie as a “ high – maintenance, trend – obsessed yet eternally bland young woman”, the equivalent of how she calls San Franciscans jerks. In both of these columns, Meghan Daum uses informal diction in order to berate San Francisco and Barbie.

Links: Curvy or no, Barbie is still a mean girl
          http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-daum-curvy-barbie-20160204-20-column.html
          Geez Frisco, lighten up
          http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jun/30/opinion/la-oe-daum-pets-20110630

Things I Learned Last Year

Things I Learned Last Year

When people walk, they tend to stay on the right.

Walk on the left, and you will learn that the hard way.

Clay, regardless of color, picks up every speck of dust in can possibly find.

The result is a disgusting, hairy grey lump.

Every year, we save up every penny,

then spend it on playthings and miscellaneous items of no real value.

Afterwards, we love to brag and boast about how much we saved,

and show the things we bought, glossing over how much we spent.

Hacking into the fabled Silverlake Wi-Fi doesn't mean

that what you get is of any use.

Being 12 isn't a whole lot different than being 13,

except that you're one year closer to dying.

When I die, I would like it to be in the morning,

just after sunrise.

Then, I could enjoy one last dawn

and let the sun carry me up to the clouds.

People all around the world occupy themselves by putting

their billion dollar autographs

on a piece of paper that marks the coming and going of the human race.

Poem Time!!!

The tone of my poem is meant to start out funny and lighthearted, but as it progresses, it begins to turn into a more reflective piece (which reminds me of visualization during swim practice). The first three two-line stanzas are just quirky and funny little comments, while the longer stanzas and the remaining two-line stanza are more serious, and even a bit dark (for my tastes). My poem is very similar in structure and even tone in comparison with Stafford's poem. The 7 stanzas follow the patterns that he uses in his poem. The tone also becomes gradually more serious the further you get. Many of the lines themselves are based directly off of the original. I know I'm so original, right (get it?)?

Reflection:

2015 was a much anticipated year for many (or maybe it's just me), but did it live up to its expectations? Well, no. I didn't meet even half of my New Year's Resolutions (not bad, considering that I met none of them the year before), so the bar this year is set pretty low, and what little remains of the ambitious 12 year old has carried over into the next year, and probably will continue to do so until, well, I don't know. (INSERT POSITIVITY... Oh, wait, there is none... I'll try to think harder. There has got to be something). Things have changed. Impulsiveness, extremes, motivation, energy and so many things that once defined me have faded into the grey. The wiring up in headquarters has changed. If you've ever watched Inside Out, it's like when Goofball Island collapses. Pre-teen me has not completely disappeared yet, but 2015 has taken a decent bite out of who I was and replaced it with factors that are still mostly unknown. I guess we'll just have to find out.