last summer assignment

I am reading “Monster,” by Walter Dean Myers.  I chose this book because it is the first winner of the Michael L. Printz award.  The cover of the book stood out to me over the rest of the books.  This was because it had three awards on the front, and the text of the title made it look very interesting.  The colors of the cover stood out because one color was bright which contrasted with the duller black color of the cover. The personal connection I found after reading the book between myself and the book is that Steve Harmon (the main character) is influenced by his friends, and I am also influenced by my friends.  I recommend this book to anyone wanting to read a good book or any book.  I specifically recommend this book to people looking for good books about crime and the judicial system, or a book that is also a movie.  I personally thought this book was a good book.  I thought it was a good book because it is written like a movie script; which I liked.   I would give this book a 8 out of ten, with ten being the highest and one being the lowest.

summer assignmennt #3

I am still reading the book, “Monster” by Walter Dean Myers.  For this part of the summer reading project, I chose to use the first quote of the book.  “The best time to cry is at night, when the lights are out and someone is being beaten up and screaming for help.”  In this part, Steve Harmon is narrating the story about himself.  I chose to use the first quote of the story because the first quote is almost always the quote that makes you want to read the rest of the story.  This quote hooks you on to the story because it grabs your attention because, you want to know why that’s the best time to cry and why someone is getting beat up.  The reason to cry when someone is getting beat up and screaming is so that no one can hear you and beat you up the next day when the lights are out.  The setting of this quote is in a prison, so that explains why people are getting beat up when the light go out.  I highly recommend this book to anyone trying to find a good book.   Walter Dean Myers is a good author and writes this book intelligently.

Summer Assignment #2

Im reading Monster, by Walter Dean Myers.  One theme in the story has been that one should not succumb to peer pressure. This theme has been shown by the main character Steve Harmon who fell into peer pressure to rob a drug store and now he is being accused of murder.  The other theme that has recently showed up is how the judicial system racial profiles Steve Harmon. There is a sense that because Steve is young and black, he is more likely to have committed the crime in the eyes of the jurors.  

All the charecters want different things to happen.  Steve wants more than anything to be found not guilty and to go back home.  The rest of his "crew" just wants to rat on the others so that their punishment is less severe.  The district attorney wants to find them guilty.  Steve’s Parents and family obviously want Steve to be found not guilty and to come back home.  

My book is structured like a screenplay written and narrated by Steve Harmon, who writes personal comments.

What would you do to keep your sanity if you were in jail?

Summer Assignment Entry #1

Im reading Monster, by Walter Dean Myers.  The story takes place in Manhattan, Harlem and, New York City,in a jail cell and courtroom, also in Steve Harmon (the main character) neighboorhood. 

Steve Harmon-a sixteen year old black guy who has been arrested for being the look-out in robbery that goes bad and ends in a murder. He is the narrator for the story, writing it in the form of a movie script.  Kathy O'Brien- Steve’s defense attorney.  Sandra petrocelli- The Attorney who prosecutes the case against Steve and James King. She labels them “monsters.”  James King- A young black guy  but older than Steve, he encourages Steve to be a part of his “crew” which will rob the drugstore. He is accused of being in the drugstore, wrestling Mr. Nesbitt for the gun, and killing the old man.  Richard Evans- He is the other young man accused of being in the store at the time of the murder. He is stealing the money from the register. He makes a deal with the prosecution to testify against James and Steve to get a lighter sentence.  Osvaldo Cruz- He is another participant in the crime. It was his job to stand outside and trip up anyone who tries to catch them after they rob the store. Aquinaldo Nesbitt- The guy that died.

The conflict in the story is that these boys were accused of murder and theft.  I predict that he will be found not guilty, because thats always how stories end.  What do you think will happen to Steve?

final assessment

I am almost finished reading, "The Maze Runner" by James Dashner. The genre of the book is science fiction, because it is placed in the future. This book takes place in the future in a maze called, “The Glade." The book is about a group of people in The Glade that are trying to escape the maze that surrounds them. The main characters in the book are Minho, Gally, Ava Paige, Teresa, Thomas, Ben, Alby, Chuck, Newt, and Fry Pan. Thomas is a runner.  He got this priviledge because, while exploring the Maze, Alby is stung by a Griever. Minho attempts to get him back into the Glade before the walls seal but they are not going to make it. Thomas sees them and races out into the Maze to help, breaking a major rule. He finds himself trapped outside in the Maze with them, and they become the first ones to ever last the night in the maze.

     I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars, because it has a lot of imagery and the author uses great diction, but I feel like they should have given us more information about the creators of the maze because we know very little about them.  I also feel like the author doesn't give the reader much insight to how they first started obliging people into the Glade.  You should read this book if you like books about the future or if you like adventure books that have a lot of suspense.  What would you do if you were stuck in a maze with no way out?

1.    What specific words/phrases demonstrate your writer’s voice? How do these words/phrases showcase your personality as a writer?

Some specific words that illustrate my voice are, breaking a major rule, and trapped outside.  These phrases show off my personality because it shows I follow the rules and I don’t like being trapped anywhere.  Also it reflects over the entire blog not just in one little spot.

2.    2. what purposeful diction AND syntax choices did you make to enhance your writer’s voice? You must choose to discuss at least one diction AND one syntax technique from the list below.

I used elevated diction to showcase my voice better. Some example of the elevated diction I used are, insight, privileged, obliging, and seal. I use Sentence length to keep the reader interested by using medium to long sentences then stick a short sentence to keep the reader intrigued. An example of this is, “The main characters in the book are Minho, Gally, Ava Paige, Teresa, Thomas, Ben, Alby, Chuck, Newt, and Fry Pan. Thomas is a runner.  He got this privilege because, while exploring the Maze, Alby is stung by a Griever.”(Gilstorf) I highlighted the short sentence blue, it is in the middle of two medium sentences (yellow).

Characterization

I am reading the scorch trials and I'm close to finishing the book.    I think Thomas Is most like a rock because he never changes and he stays strong the whole story.  I think Teresa is most like a flower because she grows through-out the story.   Minho is most like a Einstein because he is really smart.  What are your characters like?

The best thing about my book

I am reading "The Scorch Trials." I am just middle of the book where Group A is a little more than half of the way to the end of the scorch.  The main thing that i like about my book is that there are so many characters.  Without all the characters it wouldnt be as exciting.  The suspense between each chapter is always making it hard for me to stop reading.  I like that they have the opposing group attacking them it really changes the plot and mood.  I dont like that my book doesnt give us the point of view of the creators.  We are just as clueless as the characters in the book.  The author makes her voice very clear in the story by using the characters dialogue wiht each other.