Post-it #7

N/A. Wintergirls book cover. Digital image. Yareads. Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson, 19 July    2010. Web. 18 Nov. 2012. <http://www.yareads.com/wintergirls-by-laurie-halse-anderson/book-

   reviews/2758>.

   In the book that I am reading, Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson, repetition is used a lot. Repetition is the recurrence of  a sound, syllable, word, phrase, line, stanzs etc. In this book, there are repetitions of many different phrases. "...body found in motel room alone..." (Anderson, Wintergirls 42). This phrase is also found on pages 22, 14, 12, 4 and 1 (as well as other pages beyond 42). This quote is used repeatedly whenever Lia has or is about to see her dead friend Cassie. So it's significant to the scene because it lets you know that she's about to see Cassie, and it's important to Lia (the character) because whenever the book has this line, she's always alone and she starts to worry, and get scared or uneasy of what Cassie might do that night to toy with Lia's mind. Another couple of quote that relate to each other are, "I didn't answer" (Anderson, Wintergirls 36) and "she called me thirty-three times." (Anderson,  Wintergirls 31). These quotes show up periodically throughout the book (the quote "she called me thirty-three times." shows up more frequently), and they are important to the character, Lia, because she feels that if she and Cassie hadn't been in that last fight, or if she had just picked up the phone for even a minute, that maybe her friend would still be alive then. Also, she wouldn't have to keep seeing Cassie's ghost, and have her torment her mentally, when she's alone in her room or alone in public places. These phrases, make Lia feel guilty, like the dead of her friend was her fault, and that if she had listened she may have been able to help her.

Post-it #5

"Lucas the Book". http://www.newbiecritics.wordpress.com. Web. 19 Oct. 2012.

I am now reading a book called  Lucas by Kevin Brooks. 

My Theme Quotation: "The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing."

N/A. "Wisom Quotes." BrainyQuote. Xplore, 2001. Web. 19 Oct. 2012.                                               

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_wisdom.html.

 Wisdom

   The theme that I chose, was wisdom. To me, wisdom is knowing and understanding what you know and knowing what you can and can't do, but also being aware of the things that you do not know. 

   In the quotation, it is saying that real wisdom is knowing and being aware of the things that you know absolutely NOTHING about.

   In my novel, Lucas by Kevin Brooks, Wisdom is shown in the character, Caity McCann (she goes by Cait), when she is looking for her dog down by the beach, and this guy, Jamie Tait that she knew was swimming in the water, and he came up to Cait and started acting inappropriate and making Cait uncomfortable, and the way Cait got out of the situation showed she had wisdom. (Cait's  dog's name is Deefer). "He pursed his lips and smiled. 'Oh, come on, Caity, let's stop messing about. You can't bring me all this way and then change your mind.' 'What?' 'You know what I'm talking about. Come on, it's getting cold. Let's go inside. Let me show you my changing room. I've got a bottle in my jacket. A nice drop of whiskey will warm us up-' 'how's Sara?' I asked. Sara was his fiancee...." (Brooks Lucas 27). "Kick him, I thought, kick him...but I couldn't do it. I couldn't move. I couldn't do anything. All I could so was look with disbelief into his eyes as he tightened his grip and moved even closer-and then a deep-throated snarl ripped through the air behind him...'Move back now or I'll set the dog on you.' He took a cautious step back. 'Don't turn around,' I told him. 'Don't move. If you move, he'll bite you.' "(Brooks, Lucas 29). "By the time I reached the creek my calmness had evaporated and I was shaking like a leaf. I took a deep breath and yelled for Deefer."(Brooks, Lucas 30). In this part of my book, it shows that Cait, to get away from Jamie, made him think that her dog who was snarling in the distance, was right behind him so she could get away. This shows that Cait has wisdom, because she knew that she could make him believe that Deffer was right behind him even though he really wasn't. 

Post-it #3

I am still reading  Uglies by Scott Westerfeld (which I will be finishing this weekend).
   In my book, justice is used, and shown. "Shay rolled herself over. Her face was red, her lips puffy and bleeding. She spat, saliva trailing from her mouth to a blood-red glob on the dusty ground. 'Croy,' she managed with a thick tongue. Then her eyes fell on Tally. 'You!' 'Uh, Shay...,' Croy began. 'You did this!' Her whole body writhed like a snake in its death throes. 'Stealing my boyfriend wasn't enough? You had to betray the whole Smoke?' Tally closed her eyes and shook her head. It couldn't be true. She had destroyed the pendant. The fire had consumed it." (Westerfeld, Uglies 301).
   In the book, at this part, Tally (the main character) 
has been discovered-in a way-by her friend, Shay. Tally came to the Smoke initially as a spy for the people of the Special
Circumstances, and the said pendant, was given to her with a
 tracker in it, so when she got to the Smoke she could activate it and the people from Special Circumstances would come and take the "Smokies" back to their cities to become pretty. As Tally got used to the life of the Smoke though, she decided she didn't want to turn the Smoke in, so she stayed and didn't activate the pendant, and she threw it in a fire in front of David, (Shay's 'boyfriend') to prove to him that what the pendant meant, (she told him and everyone else in the Smoke that it was from someone back home who she liked and who liked her) didn't mean anything to her anymore. When she threw it in the fire, it activated and the people from Special Circumstances came within a few hours to get all of the uglies. So this is how justice is used. Tally got what she deserved which was, her world-that she now loved at the Smoke-taken away from her because she only went there for selfish reasons, to become pretty, after turning in all the 'Smokies', even her friends. Also, she lost Shay as a friend because she stole David from her AND she turned the Smoke in to the Special Circumstances, even though she hadn't realized it. Lastly, in a way her whole world was taken from her (the Smoke) like what she was so willing to do just weeks before, to everyone else who was living in the Smoke.




                                             Photo Source Information: "Uglies the book". http://www.uglies.com
                                                                                               2006.Web.12 Oct. 2012.  

                                 

Post It #2

 "Uglies the book". http://www.uglies.com. 2006. Web. 5 Oct. 2012.

Sorting List:
1.Suspense                  2.Character                3.Setting

4.Irony                        5.Point of View

Suspense
   To me, suspense is a huge part of a book that I like. I like suspense because I like not knowing for a certain amount of time what may or may not happen to the main character, or someone the main character knows. In my book, Uglies by Scott Westerfeld, I think suspense is used in many ways, such as, "The sunlight seemed wrong, twisted out of shape, like the Boss's neck. As if the world had become horribly distorted while she was among the trees. 'Where?' she murmured. 'We have to go to my parents' house.' " (Westerfeld Uglies 332). This creates suspense for me, because I didn't know if his parents (David's parents) were going to be ok or not, or if they had left their home and I didn't know where they would have gone if they did leave. Another spot in my book where suspense is used, is here, "A hand grabbed her chin and forced it up. She blinked, and a dazzling red light flashed. The Special looked at the device closely. 'Hey, it's her.' Tally shook her head. 'No.' The other Special looked at the readout, nodding confirmation. 'Tally Youngblood?' She didn't answer. They lifted her feet and dusted her off. 'Come with us. Dr.Cable wants to see you immediately.' " (Westerfeld Uglies 303). At this point in the story, I didn't know whether they Specials were going to completely blow Tally's cover of being a spy even though she now LIKED the smoke (where uglies run away to when they don't want ot become pretty). I didn't know if Shay would ever talk to her again, and I really didn't know how Tally would react!

Post-It #1

   Three qualities I expect from a 'good book' are, one the characters in the book are part of some sort of alternate or unreal world that is very different from our own. Second, there has to be some sort of thrill, adventure or problem for one of the main characters. Lastly, the main character(s) have to have a good story. (Meaning their background stories that are told early or later in the book).
 
   The book I am reading right now, Uglies by Scott Westerfeld, does have characters that live in another place unlike our world. For example, "Tally took of her interface ring and said, 'Good night.' 'Sweet Dreams, Tally,' said the room" (Westerfeld 4). Her room talks to her, and pretty much does everything else for her.
   There is an adventure, because in this book, Tally has to go to a place called "The Smoke" to find her friend Shay. "Either Tally infiltrated the Smoke and betrayed Shay, or she'd be ugly for life." (Westerfeld 135).
   Finally,the main character of my book, Tally Youngblood, does have an interesting background to go with the story line, such as why she so badly wants to become a pretty (because her best friend Peris was a pretty).
  
Westerfeld, Scott. Uglies. Avenue of the Americans: New York, NY. 2005. Print.

Introducing Myself (first post of 2012)

Hello, I am Sam N.

I like to read fiction books, mostly about vampires (so yes, this got started by the Twilight saga). I am also quite a slow reader, so it takes me a while to get through some books. Other 'Vampire books' I like to read, are the "House of Night Novels" by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast, and finally "The Vampire Diaries" by L.J. Smith. I do read other books, such as "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld. I also read the "Sloppy Firsts" book series, by Megan McCafferty. All of the said books, I do recommend. The last two books I have read are, "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld, which is about a girl named Tally who is an "ugly" and at the age of 16 she will become a pretty. When she turns 16 though, her friend, Shay, runs away, and the "Special Circumstances" don't let her get the operation to become a pretty until she finds, and brings back her friend. The other book i have recently read is, "Second Helpings" by Megan McCafferty (part of the "Sloppy Firsts" series) It is about a girl named Jessica Darling, who writes in her journal and talks about her problems in high school. It is VERY funny! My all time favourite book would have to be "Sloppy Firsts" by Megan McCafferty because the way she writes makes me think she's actually taken my thoughts, which lets me connect to the story even more! I am almost done, but I am in the process of reading "Charmed Thirds" by Megan McCafferty (this is the third book of the "Sloppy Firsts" series).