The Adventures Week 2

 I am really enjoying my book the more of it that I read. It is full of stories that are very easy to laugh at! The main character, Tom, is a young boy who is full of energy and cannot wait to cause trouble. Every chapter has a new "adventure" that Tom has, which keeps the story very entertaining. The titles of these chapters are named with the adventure or main event that is going to occur. I really like this because it gives you a sneak peek of the chapter. This also gives me sometime to brainstorm what could Tom possible be getting into now! One question that I have would be is there really going to be a plot to this book other than a whole bunch of stories and adventures? My guess would be that there will be one adventure that causes Tom to get into more trouble than usual. However, I do not know anything for sure, so I will just have to keep reading and finish the book!

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer! Week 1

Hey everyone! In the beginning of the week, I had chosen a different book to read for my report & visual, however, I have changed my mind on what I want to read! I never really had any interest in reading Tom Sawyer until this past December. I went to Arizona over Winter Break to visit my grandparents and was walking around the house and saw this lovely book sitting on the coffee table and picked it up. I had all intentions to bring it back to Michigan with me and read it on the plane but that did not end up happening! Instead, it has sat in my bookshelf for a few months now and I saw it lying there the other day and decided I should read it! So here it goes! Wish me luck as I read all 318 pages ;)
-Erin

Compare and Contrast

  In my opinion, Tillie's family and the Capulet family are both similar, but also have some differences. I will start by saying that both of the main characters do not have very good relationships with their mother. Tillie and Ruth, and Beatrice, their mother, have a certain way of going about things. Somethimes, Beatrice will be very tolerable while at others you wouldn't be able to tell that she is a mother to those children. Lady Capulet and Juliet also do not have a very close relationship, but I would say that they handle everything with much more respect to each other, even at times when they are fighting.
 Another thing I found to be very similar is that both families have people they dislike. However, the Capulets are only against the Montague family while as with Tillie's family, Beatrice really just hates people in general. She is always complaining about everybody who calls their house, and does not even end up going to see Tillie in the science fair.
  Overall, I feel as though I could really get a sense of Tillie's family by how the author chose them to act around each other. There were only a few characters, so it made it easier to connect and relate to them. The Capulet family is very large and all in all I couldn't connect to everyone on the same level, let alone get a feel for them and who they are.

How Can I Relate to This Play?

When I first picked up this play, I had never heard of it and really had no clue what to expect. Before reading the first act, I read over the blog topic to keep it in the back of my head while I was reading it. Now I have finished this act and haven't found too much to relate to other than the character Tillie. Tillie stands out from the crowd and is not afraid to do things that other people wouldn't so they would "fit it" with their friends and society. There have been times where I may have decided differently than most people, but when I firmly believe in something, I won't let other peoples opinions get to me. I feel that Tillie is the same way. This girl truely loves science and people try to stop her but she doesn't let them get to her. Tillie is strong and firmly believes in her science project.

Character Development of The Nurse

   For my character journal, I chose to focus on The Nurse. From the beginning of the story, I really liked this character's way of thinking. I thought of her as the mother Juliet could actually listen to and learn from, considering Lady Capulet wasn't acting like a real mother towards her. The Nurse was giving Juliet advice when she asked for it and even when she thought she needed it. She even threw a little humor into the story when things were getting a little windy!
   In the beginning of the story, The Nurse is rambling on and on about true love with Juliet. Juliet is very mature for her age, but she can't imagine getting married at this time in her life. A little later on she meets Romeo and her feelings change. The Nurse is there for Juliet, letting her spill her feelings out. The Nurse encourages her even though he is a Montague.
   Once Romeo has been rumored to be 'dead' and Juliet is set to marry Paris, The Nurse changes her way of thinking a little bit. I feel she is almost telling Juliet to forget about Romeo and is encouraging her to marry Paris. I think Juliet felt the same way about this 'new' Nurse. Although The Nurse didn't follow through on who I thought she was, she really does want the best for Juliet.

Romeo and Juliet Act 1

Romeo and Juliet is certainly not what I was expecting from when I first got the book! The image that I had gotten from various tv shows, movies, and book was that is was a classic love story that you just have to read. As of right now, I'm not really seeing how great this story is. However, I don't think that I have room to judge the story because I have not finished it. I am listening Romeo and Juliet online so I can really get a feel for how the characters are supposed to sound like and so I understand the plot the best I can.

A Perfect Day for Bananafish

I have to say, I was quite confused with the ending of this story. I was definitely not expecting the young man to shoot himself! However, I didn't end up hating the story, but I can say that I like CITR much better!


One of the characters I compared and sort of "recognized"right away was Muriel who reminded me of Holden. I felt that she was sort of her own person, just like Holden. Muriel also knows what annoys her, which is once again, like Holden. I also felt that Sybil was very much like Holden's little sister, Phoebe. Sybil is smart, and listens to what others say which is very similar to Phoebe!

CITR Chapters 7-12

This week we were asked to answer the following questions.


*If you were Holden, and you have just been kicked out of school, where would you go and why?
 If I am looking at Holden's situation and his record of schools that have already given him the "ax" I guess I would also try and stay away form my parents as long as possible as well. Since he lives in NYC, and it is such a big city, that he can just walk around and not have anybody notice who he is, it was a really smart choice for him. However, I don't live in a town with many people at all, so it really wouldn't be a good choice to come back to my town. In that case, I would most likely go to Chicago, because my face would be unknown there. Although, I would most likely not have a lot of money, so I would have to be very careful to not spend a lot while I am there.


* Free write about Jane's character and her importance to Holden.
From what I have read so far in The Catcher In The Rye, it seems to me that Holden, is somewhat in love with Jane. The way he talks about here with such detail, from the way he gets really jealous when he finds out that she is going on a date, with another guy. He is always thinking about her at least once per day. I think that from the way he talks about her, that Jane really understands Holden for who he is, and doesn't mind him


*Question 3
I personally don't think that people are always ruining things for you. To some degree, they can definitely ruin some things, but it is not always their fault. You can't always blame it on other people, because you have to realize that it can also be you who is ruining it for other people. I hope that makes sense for all of you (:
-Erin

CITR Q&A's

Q. What does it mean to be unique?
A. I think everybody has the general idea of unique. People usually say something like, "to be yourself." and "to stand out of the crowd." I agree with what they say, but I also think there is more to it. When I say more, I mean to not care what people think, to not give a second thought about something you are going to do, and to be proud of what you are doing. In a reference to CITR, I would say the most unique person in the story is the main character, Holden. I don't really know much about other characters since the author doesn't go into detail with them.


Q. How do we keep individuality in an adult world?
A. I would say, keeping individuality in the "adult" world, would be about the same as being unique. Apply the same things to your individuality as you being unique. I wouldn't say you have to try harder when you are an adult, because if you are really unique, you won't have a problem with adults or what they think of you. An example from CITR is how Holden wears his red hat. He wonders what others will think about him when they see him wearing it, but he still wears it anyways.


Q. How is Allie's character similar to your favorite person?
A. I'm sure a lot of people will be saying something similar to what I am going to right now, but I don't really have a favorite person. However, one of my favorite people is my brother, Evan. I would say that Allie and him are similar in a few ways. Although Allie dies and my brother is alive, Allie is described as a friendly boy. I would say Evan is friendly as well. Holden talks about Allie's baseball mit covered in poems written in green ink a few times through out these first through chapters and it shows that he is creative. Evan is creative as well. I remember when we were little he used to play with legos, lincon logs, and tinker toys everyday, building new creations, towns, and lego people. Although Evan doesn't play with these toys anymore, he still finds different ways to be creative, and builds lots of things out of materials I wouldn't even think could be possible.

A Good Man Is Hard To Find & CITR

Honestly, I thought that A Good Man Is Hard To Find was a great short story! I really enjoyed the plot line..(not The Misfit's actions..just how it made the story turn out!) and it was well written. At times it could be weirdly worded so I would have to re-read some stuff, but overall I really liked reading.


As for CITR, I am really liking this book! I have finished the reading for this week and can already tell I will like this book better than The Odyssey! The story is keeping me interested. It is definatly not what I expected when I first thought of what this book could be like. I will be posting the answers to the questions soon!


-Erin