I'm reading Snakehead by Anthony Horowitz. It's the 7th book in the Alex Rider series. The main character is a 14 year old spy for the British Intelligence Agency, MI6. While recovering from his last mission in Australia, Alex get another call. This time, from ASIS, the Australian Intelligence Agency. Alex had sworn a week ago that he would never agree to do another mission again, but a certain detail about this particular mission makes Alex unable to say no. The mission: Snakehead is the world's most profitable "illegal supermarket" It sells everything that can be bought legally. Guns, slaves, conflict-diamonds, fake documents, biological weapons, so on. ASIS is looking to infiltrate one of the biggest Snakeheads, located in Bangkok. So they need to get people inside the "supermarket" to get info without anyone having suspicions. Alex's job is to assist an older agent to make things less suspicious. Alex and the agent, whose name is Ash, will pretend to be father and son refugees from Afghanistan who want to be smuggled into Australia. The part about this mission that tempts Alex is that Ash is a good friend of John Rider, Alex's father, and is Alex's godfather. Alex believes that Ash can tell Alex about his father's unknown past including how he died. When Alex arrives in Bangkok, he looks out of the window. The author gives a description of the city...
"The city was spread out on the other side of a wide brown river that curved and twisted as far as he could see. Skyscrapers stood in the far distance. Nearer by, there were hotels, temples, palaces with perfect lawns, and--standing side by side with them--shacks and slumhouses and warehouses so dilapidated they looked as if they might fall over at any time. All manner of boats were making their way up and down the murky water. Some were modern, carrying coal and iron. Some were ferries with strange, curving roofs, like floating pagodas. The nimblest were elongated, long and wafer thin with the driver leaning wearily over the tiller at the very back. The sun was setting. The sky was huge and gray. It was like looking at a television screen with the color turned off." (78)
This entire paragraph gives a very visual image of Bangkok. The descriptive words were so effective that I was actually conjuring up images of what the city might actually look like. When it said "Wide brown river that curved and twisted as far as he could see" I imagined seeing a dirty brown river that flows off into the distance with no end. I imagined the New York City-like buildings rising above in the background. And then I imagined luxurious buildings for the rich when it said "nearer by, there were hotels, temples. palaces with perfect lawns." I really like the word "dilapidated". Dilapidated- In a state of disrepair or ruin as a result of age or neglect. I thought it was one of those out-of-the-box words that you don't really expect to be thrown in. When using the word dilapidated, I can imagine miserable-looking buildings that are poorly constructed and unsanitary. And then I imagine the various boats floating on the river. Everything-- like luxurious leisure boats, commercial boats, and local taxi boats to travel from one side of the city to the other. I finally imagined the low sun making everything that it touched glow. It didn't matter if it was the very rich side of the city or the very poor side across the river. The azure sky and yellow-orange sun would outline everything and everyone.
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Post for the Week of April 29th-- choose a line
This week, dive into the book you are reading and fish for some diction! Choose a line or a section from the novel you're reading. Look for something you like the sound of, or that has emotion, or that uses words in a really great way to describe something or capture the sound of a character's voice.
- Give the title and the author of your book and several sentences that give us an idea of what the book is about. Ground us and get us ready for your diction choice.
- Recopy the line or section directly from the book. Cite the page number.
- Compose a minimum of 1 solid paragraph dealing specifically with WHY you like what you wrote. Pull out words, make connections, talk about images....
Monday, April 22, 2013
Quotation Connection
"It's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything.” Chuck Palahniuk,Fight Club
This quote applies to Michael in Michael Vey: Rise of the Electroclan. After the Elgen captures his friends, girlfriend, and mom and Michael loses everything,even his house. Michael stops at nothing to get the ones he loves back. The Elgen have been capturing the kids with electrical powers and have destroyed everything and everyone thats stand in their way of accomplishing their goal. This character was then motivated to go after the Elgen and track down the head,Dr. Hatch. After Michael loses everything, he stops at no cost to get his friends and family back. Michael even blows up vehicles and Elgen buildings to finally defeat Dr. Hatch. This was a positive outcome because it taught Michael how to use his and helped grow a better relationship with his friends and family.
This quote applies to Michael in Michael Vey: Rise of the Electroclan. After the Elgen captures his friends, girlfriend, and mom and Michael loses everything,even his house. Michael stops at nothing to get the ones he loves back. The Elgen have been capturing the kids with electrical powers and have destroyed everything and everyone thats stand in their way of accomplishing their goal. This character was then motivated to go after the Elgen and track down the head,Dr. Hatch. After Michael loses everything, he stops at no cost to get his friends and family back. Michael even blows up vehicles and Elgen buildings to finally defeat Dr. Hatch. This was a positive outcome because it taught Michael how to use his and helped grow a better relationship with his friends and family.
Critical Lens Quotation Connection
“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment
that
something else is more important than fear.” Ambrose Redmoon
What this great quote means is that being courageous is not the same as being fearless. Having no fear is not what it takes to have courage. In fact, it may even be fitting to say that it is impossible to have courage in fearlessness, for there is no trouble in doing what someone with fear would be afraid to do. This idea connects with a series I have read this year, The Obsidian Trilogy. In this series, Kellen, the main character, has many reasons to be afraid. First of all, there are all the enemies that are trying to destroy him and the people around him. Additionally, he is heaped with huge responsibilities that would be nearly impossible to handle for anyone, much less a 17-year old boy. And he knows that he must even go beyond those responsibilities in order to save everyone. He is not able to go through these ordeals without fear; however, he judges that the safety of everyone else is more important than his fear, and he rises up to the challenge. He tries as hard as he can and, in the end, his resilient courage pays out.
something else is more important than fear.” Ambrose Redmoon
What this great quote means is that being courageous is not the same as being fearless. Having no fear is not what it takes to have courage. In fact, it may even be fitting to say that it is impossible to have courage in fearlessness, for there is no trouble in doing what someone with fear would be afraid to do. This idea connects with a series I have read this year, The Obsidian Trilogy. In this series, Kellen, the main character, has many reasons to be afraid. First of all, there are all the enemies that are trying to destroy him and the people around him. Additionally, he is heaped with huge responsibilities that would be nearly impossible to handle for anyone, much less a 17-year old boy. And he knows that he must even go beyond those responsibilities in order to save everyone. He is not able to go through these ordeals without fear; however, he judges that the safety of everyone else is more important than his fear, and he rises up to the challenge. He tries as hard as he can and, in the end, his resilient courage pays out.
The Notebook- Connection
"It's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything.” Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club
This quotation connects to a book I've read called The Notebook. the quote is saying that once you realize you have lost everything, you realize that you can dop anything you wish to do. In the book, Noah ends up losing his only love, Allie, when she moves away at the end of the summer. She was everything to him and he was heartbroken at first and then he realizes that he made a promise to her to fix up a old broken down house. he fixes up the house just like thay said they were going to do it. Since he lost Allie, he has had so much free time to do what they were dreaming of doing. he ended up fixing it to perfection and getting in the newspaper. Allie sees it in the newspaper and goes to visit him. So as a result, he got to see her for the first time in a long time. It was a positive outcome since they got back together, started a family, and grew old together. I think that this was a perfect exmaple for the quote above. It explains that if you lose everything you don't have to stop and drop what your doing. He took his free time to do something huge and ended up getting everything back.
"It's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything.” Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club
This quotation connects to a book I've read called The Notebook. the quote is saying that once you realize you have lost everything, you realize that you can dop anything you wish to do. In the book, Noah ends up losing his only love, Allie, when she moves away at the end of the summer. She was everything to him and he was heartbroken at first and then he realizes that he made a promise to her to fix up a old broken down house. he fixes up the house just like thay said they were going to do it. Since he lost Allie, he has had so much free time to do what they were dreaming of doing. he ended up fixing it to perfection and getting in the newspaper. Allie sees it in the newspaper and goes to visit him. So as a result, he got to see her for the first time in a long time. It was a positive outcome since they got back together, started a family, and grew old together. I think that this was a perfect exmaple for the quote above. It explains that if you lose everything you don't have to stop and drop what your doing. He took his free time to do something huge and ended up getting everything back.
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Quotation Connection
"It takes a
great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up
to our friends.” J. K Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. This quote relates to a book I read this year. This book was Along Came a Spider by James Patterson. Patterson's main character, Alex Cross, has to make brave decisions that effect his enemies and friends. Cross's actions are directly related to J.K Rowlings quote.
J.K. Rowling's quote "It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends," has a lot to do with bravery. He used this quote in his book Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Rowling uses this quote in his book to teach the protagonist, Harry Potter, an important lesson. Harry's professor, Professor Dumbledore, tells this to Harry to prepare him for challenges that he will face later in his magical life. He tells Harry that he must be brave and courageous or else his enemies and even his friends will destroy him. Without this advice, Harry would've have been defeated and killed in the first book.
J.K. Rowling's quote also applies to James Patterson's book, Along Came Spider. Alex Cross, the protagonist, is a homicide detective in Washington, D.C. Cross faces many challenges every day that require the use of bravery. In this particular book, Cross uses his bravery and skills to arrest a psychopath named Gary Soneji. It took a lot of bravery and courage to stand up to Soneji. Also, Cross had to stand up to his friend. Her name was Jezzie Flanagan. Flanagan was one of Cross's new friends, and they worked together to capture Soneji; however, Flanagan was using Cross to commit a crime behind his back. She knew what Cross knew about the case they were working on and purposely did the unexpected to confuse him. When Cross found out, he had to use all of his bravery to bring Flanagan to justice. It took a lot more bravery to arrest his friend than to arrest a wanted criminal. Without Cross's bravery, Soneji and Flanagan would've kept commiting crimes, making D.C. an unsafe place to live in.
So you can see, J.K. Rowling's quote was directly related to James Patterson's book. I think we can all learn something from Rowling's quote. If we do not use bravery to stand up for ourselves and others, we will be taken advantage of our enemies and sometimes even friends. If you are being bullied, you must use bravery and take action by telling an adult so the bully knows that you will not tolerate his or her behavior. If your friend is making fun of you, you must be brave and make sure that he or she knows that those insults are not acceptable. We must be brave because bravery is essential for life.
J.K. Rowling's quote "It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends," has a lot to do with bravery. He used this quote in his book Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Rowling uses this quote in his book to teach the protagonist, Harry Potter, an important lesson. Harry's professor, Professor Dumbledore, tells this to Harry to prepare him for challenges that he will face later in his magical life. He tells Harry that he must be brave and courageous or else his enemies and even his friends will destroy him. Without this advice, Harry would've have been defeated and killed in the first book.
J.K. Rowling's quote also applies to James Patterson's book, Along Came Spider. Alex Cross, the protagonist, is a homicide detective in Washington, D.C. Cross faces many challenges every day that require the use of bravery. In this particular book, Cross uses his bravery and skills to arrest a psychopath named Gary Soneji. It took a lot of bravery and courage to stand up to Soneji. Also, Cross had to stand up to his friend. Her name was Jezzie Flanagan. Flanagan was one of Cross's new friends, and they worked together to capture Soneji; however, Flanagan was using Cross to commit a crime behind his back. She knew what Cross knew about the case they were working on and purposely did the unexpected to confuse him. When Cross found out, he had to use all of his bravery to bring Flanagan to justice. It took a lot more bravery to arrest his friend than to arrest a wanted criminal. Without Cross's bravery, Soneji and Flanagan would've kept commiting crimes, making D.C. an unsafe place to live in.
So you can see, J.K. Rowling's quote was directly related to James Patterson's book. I think we can all learn something from Rowling's quote. If we do not use bravery to stand up for ourselves and others, we will be taken advantage of our enemies and sometimes even friends. If you are being bullied, you must use bravery and take action by telling an adult so the bully knows that you will not tolerate his or her behavior. If your friend is making fun of you, you must be brave and make sure that he or she knows that those insults are not acceptable. We must be brave because bravery is essential for life.
Quotation Connection Blog
"It's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything.” Chuck Palahniuk,Fight Club
This quotes is saying that is not until we truly lost everything we have until we are free. We have things to hold onto- to cherish. If we have things to take care of, we don't have room to mess around or do whatever we would like. But when things start to vanish, you will eventually be left with nothing. But maybe being left with nothing isn't so bad after all. If you have nothing to hold onto or to worry about, it means you could have a fresh start- a new beginning. You wouldn't have to worry anymore. There's a whole world ahead of you with many exciting opportunities. So maybe this is what Cassia needs--a fresh start to escape from the stress of her old life.
In the book Crossed by Ally Condie, Cassia has lost everything. She lost her family, her friends, her life back home, all so she could find the one she loves. She sets out on a journey to find the one she cares most about because in the beginning, she lost him to. By running away from her home, she is also running away from the society. For years the society has been planning everyone's lives. From when they wake up, from when they go to bed. Everything they do is controlled by the society. So when Cassia finally escapes from the society, it is like she is finally free. She may have lost everything she ever cared about but it meant her freedom. Cassia knew her life would be hard, but her freedom meant everything to her. Now Cassia could start a new life. She could forget about her past and start a new beginning with the one she cares most about.
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