Blog 120314

I really enjoyed this book and how it differed from other books themes and motifs that we've read this year so far. I thought it was nice to read a novel about something differing from racism, and for me it was a page turner to see the father and son's journey. I thought the book was dark, but not too dark in an inappropriate way. I thought it made sense for it to be depressing, because that was the author's mindset when writing the novel, thinking that the father and son went through a depressing journey. I wonder what truly caused the father and son to lived in a burnt society with everything ruined in the first place. All in all I enjoyed this novel because I think it expanded my knowledge of reading a writing in a good way, and I also thought it was nice to see the movie. The movie helped put a more clear picture in my mind while reading which was nice, and I could also compare and contrast the book and movie of The Road. I think the pacing of reading assignments was pretty quick to read 150 pages over break, but it was still enjoyable. I wonder what the boy's life is like once his father dies and he is adopted into a new family and if he survives very long. He must be a very strong child to not breakdown in all the traumatic events he encounters and his mother and father's death. I can't imagine having a gun in mouth and almost shot, or having my father teach me how to commit suicide like the boy's father did.

Blog 111814

• Word Bank
• wandered
• pilgrims in a fable
• granitic
• deep stone flues
• silence
• without cease
• raised its dripping mouth
• rimstone pool
• eyes dead white
• sightless as the eggs of spiders
• translucent
• its beating heart
• pulsed in a dull glass bell
• lurched away
• soundlessly into the dark
• This poem gives off the thought that fear of the outside world leads to curiosity. As one is "sightless as the eggs of spiders" and wander "soundlessly into the dark", you can see their interest in discovery without cease. The translucent actions as if it's "pilgrims in a fable" suggests that the pilgrimage is overtaken by a "granitic beast". As the other explains, its beating heart is lurched away and pulsed in a dull glass bell by this fear.

Blog 111414

Persepolis Freewriting
Part I

• In the book, when Marji is talking about having parties at her house with her family stood out to me. Small events like dancing had a big impact on her b/c of the difficult situations in her world in Iran.
• Marji was an interesting character to me that intrigued me b/c there were some situations that she would laugh at or find humorous that were actually quite sad. She would sometimes react to news in different ways as opposed to her family.
• Thinking about her hearing about torture stood out to me, it must have been scarring for a young girl to hear about that kind of abuse.

Part II

• I liked Persepolis and I thought the format was interesting. It was unique in that sense and it also helped to put faces and emotions to characters and scenarios. The way the author wrote the book I thought was well planned out and drew the reader in. When alcohol was dumped down the drain, I thought that was suspenseful b/c I know Marji would feel sad/angry/lonely if her father had been caught for alcohol possession/consumption. I was impressed by how detailed the author went into her feelings, whereas she was more general with specific facts of the war and the logistical aspect of things. Overall, I really liked Persepolis as a book and enjoyed the graphical novel type format.

Thesis Statement

• Marji is affected by her outside world, and grows rebellious from the fundamentalist government.

Blog 102214

My Goal: My goal is to complete all of my research for my project by Friday.

Part I

• Specific:
• Addresses the amount of research and when to complete it by
• Measurable
• It is measured by having enough facts and quotations to write my ten page paper off of
• Action-Oriented
• Must complete all facts via noodle tools in the specified time period
• Realistic
• It's realistic in the sense that it follows the class guidelines as well
• Tangible
• I'll know when I'm finished once I'm comfortable with the facts I've written and gathered

Part II

• Being that the end of the week is tomorrow, I'm getting close to finishing. I would say I'm about 80% finished, and should be 100% by the end of class on Friday. I will need to continue my research and complete 3 or so more note cards.

Blog 101514

Discussion Notes

• go deeper into the meaning and effect
• stay away from simply describing
• analyze what the author is doing, trying to say, teach, and show
• reasons for telling certain stories
• what are they saying similarly and differently about the holocaust
• why are they portraying it in this way?
• the line between ignorance and innocence
• what does the author want the reader to get out of this?
• informally write about what's important about the two books in my opinion
• loss of humanity

Blog 100614

In both The Girl Who Fell From The Sky and The Perks of Being A Wallflower, the topic of coming of age is clearly shown. Both the main characters in these texts go through difficult situations and journies in their young adult life. A lesson that both The Girl Who Fell From The Sky and The Perks of Being A Wallflower teach you is that these situations are what develops you as a person and shapes you into the best possible person you can be.

Although I haven't experienced the same situations as Rachel and Charlie, or at the same extreme circumstances, I believe everyone has gone through difficult paths or "forks in the road" so far in their life. I believe these issues are an important and common occurrence in peoples lives, that teach them lessons about who has a good or bad presence in their life.

Blog 092614

         I've never been asked that question, but if someone was to come up to me and ask "What are you?", at first I would be a bit confused. When I describe myself, I don't think to simply say my race, because I believe there's many other factors to determine and describe yourself as a person.
         I don't believe society necessarily makes mixed race people take a side, but I do think they don't really know how to "define" them. I guess in a way, some people may think to themselves if they consider them to be black or white. I personally find it completely unnecessary to force that choice upon someone. In The Girl Who Fell From The Sky, I've never noticed people asking for Rachel's take on whether she's black or white. I've more noticed them defining her without her input, calling her a white girl. In the beginning of the novel when one of her classmates was talking about how she's a "blue eyed white girl" that showed evidence of this. I saw a hint of The Girl Who Fell From The Sky in the article and video mostly through when they were discussing how people would ask them "what they are". In fact, Rachel once asked Brick the same question.
         After watching the interview with Heidi Durrow, the author of The Girl Who Fell From The Sky, I have gained more of an understanding of her take on mixed race in America and being defined by your race. I believe Heidi would be in support and proud of this club, where you can share your feelings and thoughts about having a mixed heritage. I've gathered this opinion through the interview because she often talked about how rare it is to meet people like her, so I think she would see it as a good place to talk and bond with others. Heidi would always respond with "I am a story, and I bet you are too.", this connects directly to the article's quote because it proves that when someone asks who you are, you shouldn't have to respond with your racial background. You should be able to explain who you are as a person.