Book Suggestions?
Read anything great lately? Want to share it?
1:41 pm 
egrimm 
AP English 12, English 10, Helps, Odds 'N Ends, Professional English 
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comment 1:41 pm egrimm AP English 12, English 10, Helps, Odds 'N Ends, Professional English Trackback-URL comment8 Responses
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comment | June 3, 2009 at 13:43 | individual comment-link
I just finished Jeannette Walls’ The Glass Castle. Loved it. This memoir takes the reader completely across the country and deeply inside a family. Makes a reader question nature versus nurture, commitment, and family values. Check it out!
comment | June 4, 2009 at 19:20 | individual comment-link
I have made progress into The Awakening by Kate Chopin and am now on chapter 21. I am starting to like the plot more and more, but I am not liking the way the story was written. The diction is pretty high, using large vocabulary and written to fit the time period of the 1800’s. The symbol water has made another symbolistic way into the novel with a different theme. When Kate finally drove herself to swim in the water (when she had claimed she did not remember how), brand new thoughts overcame her, representing the idea of rebirth. Anyone who likes classical literature should read this book.
(blog #2)
comment | June 7, 2009 at 15:39 | individual comment-link
Getting toward the end of the book, bigger events and thoughts are starting to occur. First, Edna Pontellier finally admitted to her friend Mademoiselle Reisz her love for Robert. Thoughts of him are constantly in her head, even though she should be consumed with thoughts of her husband. Then, her husband leaves for a wedding, and her children leave to stay with their grandparents awhile for a visit. Next, Edna is thinking about renting a house around the block to get out on her own. She says it is because of how big it is, but truth is she does not feel at home there, she feels it is her husband’s home. The suspense is growing in the story as more events continue to happen.
(blog #3)
comment | June 9, 2009 at 21:25 | individual comment-link
With only one more chapter to go, The Awakening by Kate Chopin has had a turn of events. Edna Pontellier begins to isolate herself, not only from her household duties, but more frequently from her friends as well. Her husband even pointed out to a doctor that she likes to take walks by herself at nights instead of staying at home. This is soon changed, though, when Edna runs into Robert, who had returned from Mexico two days prior. He is hesitant, which pains her dearly. Both Edna and Robert mistaken each other’s intentions severly. They are in love with one another, but they also both doubt it. I left off at a point where Edna and Alcee have taken on physical activities, which I believe is due to the emptyness she is feeling, being alone all the time with her husband away and with Robert constantly avoiding her.
comment | June 15, 2009 at 19:14 | individual comment-link
I now started The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. There are a lot of similar characters, such as Aunt Polly, Ben Rogers, and Jim. Also similar is Tom’s need for a made up adventure, although his journeys are usually trouble. These include missing school and getting his friend to endure his punishment of painting the fence.
A character I particularly noticed so far in Tom Sawyer was his cousin, Mary. Even though they are related, they are complete opposites-him being a rebel and her very obedient. She came into the story when trying to teach Tom his bible lessons. This is similar to the Virgin Mary, which the bible states as Jesus’ mother. Much of chapters so far revolved around bible verse learning.
Although it seems as though Tom is a bad kid, he really isn’t. His intention are not to disturb anyone, but just to have fun. He is really just lazy-not wanting to do any work by himself.
comment | June 17, 2009 at 19:10 | individual comment-link
Now through chapter 10, I have met probably the most evil character in the novel, Injun Joe. This man killed another by the name of Dr.Robinson due to a past minor mistreatment in their past, and then framed a drunk who pathetically believed him. His anger may be due to the racial history the town has bestowed on him, because he is half native american and half white. In the town it’s just what he is known as, his status. It is a pity what Injun Joe goes through, but his devious ways make it hard for me to like him an any way.
On Tom’s note, he convinced Becky to be engaged, but she got upset when she found out he was once betrothed to Amy, causing her to shun him. Tom felt depressed to know that she didn’t want to be around him anymore, so much to a point that his aunt started to worry about him. This scenario seems to be a part of Twain’s famous use of sarcasm in a way that mocks real relationships.
Tom’s depression lands him as a pirate with his friends Huck Finn and Joe Harper, which really shows the boys sense of adventure.
comment | June 26, 2009 at 15:31 | individual comment-link
Well, Mrs. G., the book I’ve loved this summer thus far is Alan Bradley’s The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie–a murder mystery that takes place during WWII in Great Britain with an unusual heroine, a precocious 11-year-old girl. It reads like a funny Masterpiece Theater story. It was fun and challenging; I learned stuff about stamp collecting, for example. Loved it!
comment | June 29, 2009 at 11:50 | individual comment-link
Tom Sawyer seems to be a predictable character in his story. He’s always disobeying the rules, but in these later chapters he takes it one step further by running away to a little island with Huck Finn and Joe Harper. What wasn’t so predictable, however, was how being alone with no adults made him miss and appreciate his elders. What was interesting, though, was how Tom knew how the adults and townspeople would react to the boys being missing. He knew that even though they were underappreciated, they adults and townspeople would be out with search boats with a longing to have them back. Also, Tom knew he would be able to convince Joe and Huck to go to their own funeral because they would be curious about how people would miss them. These examples of Tom’s knowledge show that he is able to understand people in general, he’s able to read them. This is opposite to Huck, however, who doesn’t care about what people think about him. Even at his funeral when Aunt Polly gave him a hug, he felt truly embarrased.
Tom’s motivation seems to be by what his fellow peers think of him. Joe and Tom wanted Huck to teach them how to smoke, not for themselves, but to impress their friends when they returned home. This way they would gain respect of their peers.