Looking for Alaska- Summer Reading #4

  Looking for Alaska is a very fascinating book and I think the thing that drew me to it the most was that the characters were around my same age. I thought that maybe I could relate to some of the characters because they are also in high school and I would also learn about their adventures and experiences along the way. Now, after reading the novel, I felt a connection to some of the people in different ways. Like how they have problems with friends and sometimes you have to deal with drama for example. They live a different life while going to a boarding school away from home, but in the end, they are teenagers just like my classmates and I.



  Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a novel that dives into the world of teenagers. It includes friendships, adventures, conflicts, and even love. From beginning to end, this book is a roller coaster that incorporates many different themes and lessons that can be learned along the way.

Looking for Alaska- Summer Reading #3

  "I left. It wasn't the first time Alaska had left me out of the loop, certainly, but after we'd been together so much over Thanksgiving, it seemed ridiculous to plan the prank with the Colonel but without me. Whose t-shirts were wet with her tears? Mine. Who'd listened to her read Vonnegut? Me. Who'd been the butt of the world's worst knock-knock joke? Me. I walked to the Sunny Konvenience Kiosk across from school and smoked. This never happened to me in Florida, this oh-so-high-school angst about who likes whom more and I hated myself for letting it happen now. You don't have to care about her, I told myself. Screw her.
  I chose to share this passage because I do believe that it hooks the reader. It gives the reader an insight on some of the characters, Miles and Alaska. This section shows Miles conflict about his emotions towards Alaska and how they take over him. I think it intrigues the audience enough to make them question why Alaska acts the way she did and why Miles has these confusing feelings for her. Overall, the way this passage was written will draw readers.

Looking for Alaska- Summer Reading #2

  Throughout the beginning of this book, there have been many different characters that have been introduced, however, only a few are considered main characters. Each character desires different things in their life and their time at Culver Creek. Miles, for example, decided to move from Florida to Alabama to find his "Great Perhaps"; which basically is to seek a great adventure and to find himself along the way. The other main character, Alaska, desires adventure, excitement, and danger. She has courage and liveliness and to Miles, she is utterly fascinating.
  The way this book is structured is different than most novels. It starts out where the first half of the book is about Miles and what his life is like before he is completely captivated into the world of Alaska Young. The second half is what occurs after he falls under her spell. I would definitely say I haven't seen this technique before, but I have seen many different structures similar to it.

Summer Reading: Looking for Alaska by John Green

   For my summer reading project, I chose to read "Looking for Alaska" by John Green. This story starts off with the main character, Miles "Pudge" Halter, who moves all the way from his public school in Florida, to a new, exciting boarding school in Alabama. Culver Creek Boarding School. He is interested in the fact that it is gonna be a new school, filled with new people, and new experiences. By the time he ditches his boring life back in Florida, he never expected to meet the people he did in Alabama. Not long after arriving, he met his roommate, Chip, who is also known as "The Colonel". The Colonel is a tough, muscular guy who introduces Miles to his world. Along with that, Miles meets all of the Colonel's interesting friends but one of them, however, makes a lasting impression on him. He gets caught up in the world of Alaska Young, a daring, witty, self- destructive girl who is a handful. Chip has known Alaska for a few years and together, they are friends with Takumi, a skinny, Japanese boy who is all about adventure. All together, these friends hang out, pull pranks, smoke cigarettes, and carry on many other mischievous activities. Miles never expected his life to be the way it was at Culver Creek and eventually, he gets sucked into the world of bullies, Chip, and most importantly Alaska Young.

  At the end of this book, I predict that Miles life will never be the same and he is going to be a completely different person - whether that be good or bad. Culver Creek will change his life forever.                                                                

Final Blog Reflections

http://erinmullins22.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-perks-of-being-wallflower-stephen.html

  Throughout my 2015 blogging experience, I feel that my post about what I was going to read, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, was probably the most well-written response. In this post, I explained how I was going to start reading this book for independent reading and I explained what it was going to be about. This book is written in a different type of way; the pages are actually letters written by the main character. I think that I included a detailed summary of the book, but at the same time, not giving too much information away. By using different examples of strong diction in this post, it helped the reader visualize what I was talking about and what I wanted them to know about the book. There were also examples of figurative language as well like, "This book is a story about what its like to go through the roller-coaster ride of high school." and "...Sam and Patrick who takes him under their wings." which enhance the blog and make it relatable to the readers in the end. Overall, I feel like this is my strongest blog post because of the many different details I included and the use of literary elements to allow the reader to get a better understanding of this story.

Song writer helps kids summon courage to stop bullies- Krista Ramsey

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/opinion/columnists/krista-ramsey/2014/11/29/krista-ramsey-keenan-west/19673489/

   This article, written by Krista Ramsey, is about a local song writer who comes to schools all over the  world and delivers a strong message about bullying. He tells the students about how you can prevent bullying and how you can help someone in need instead of being a bystander. He makes the assembly fun and interesting by including the kids in the presentation and allowing them to get involved. Krista Ramsey really goes into detail to explain how the students react to the speech and how it impacts them. It even says, "The gym went quiet," which shows how strong of a message it truly was. Overall, this article is very complex and interesting and Ramsey did a nice job on portraying one man's impactful speech.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower- Stephen Chbosky

  This week I decided to start a new book. Yes, it may sound like a cheesy, teenage-girl book, but in reality, I've heard only good things about it. In spite of all the preconceived ideas of what this book is about, I am going to read "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky. Throughout it's 206 pages, this book is a story about what its like to go through the roller-coaster ride of high school.

   The main character is a freshman boy named Charlie who meets a pair of teenagers named Sam and Patrick who takes him under their wings. They  introduce him to a whole new world of high school life. Of course, this would include drugs, parties, and shockingly literature. This story is written in a unique way where the events that take place are written in letters by Charlie himself. These letters are sent to a stranger who gets to learn about his experiences throughout his first year of high school. Overall, I think that learning about one boy's experiences from an important time in life will not only be interesting to read, but it will teach me a little about life along the way.