The Outsiders: Coming of age

   I think that ponybot is experiencing a lot of hate and betrayal in this book because of what his older brother did.Darry had hit him across the face when Ponyboy talked back to him. Ponyboy's only family now is his two brothers and they are really close, he felt betrayed because no matter what happened his brothers were always there for him. For example in the beginning of the book Ponyboy had went to the movies alone. He risked getting jumped by the Rich boy gang called the Socs. Turned out he did get jumped but good thing was his brothers and his gang was there.
  Now Ponyboy probably hates Darry for hitting him. Darry and ponyboy constantly get into fights and Ponyboy never had gotten hit by Darry. It was a rule in the house that there wasn't supposed to be any violence. What I think about this is that Darry really wants what's best for Ponyboy. Darry shouldn't have hit Ponyboy but I think Darry really wants him to behave and do what's right, and not follow in his foot steps. Darry was really good in high school and was on the football team but since his parents died he had to take all the responsibility of his brothers.
   Ponyboy is getting really good grades in school and he is really good at Track, he might even be able to join the track team, but since he;s in a gang there's a lot of ways that he can ruin it. Also the said he wanted to drop out of school and that's going to be a waste of everything. Darry really wants ponyboy to get a chance of doing something big.

The outcasts: coming of age

   I'm about halfway through the book "The Outsiders" and what I think about the main character is that he lives his life in fear, but he doesn't really let it get in his way. Ponyboy is the main character and in the begging of the book he gets jumped by a gang of rich kids. What I think the author is trying to say about youth is that try not to let anything get in your way and not to live your life in fear of anything.
  Ponyboy goes to the movies by himself in the beginning of the book and get jumped by a gang called the socs but luckily his friends were there and saved him. Ponyboy is also in a gang called the greasers and the greasers put alot of grease in thier hair. Ponyboy's parents had died and now he lives with his two brothers and they protect and take care of him.
 Even with responsible and caring brothers it's hard to find someone that he can really talk to. Ponyboy's big brother is very harsh on him and sometimes loses him anger. It's hard to find someone that you can really relate to if you don't have parent's around. Also there isn't anyone that can give advice on how to solve problems.
  What I think the author is trying to say about youth is that. You shouldn't live your life in fear and you should try out new things, you just have to be careful about things.

Reading response

   I'm in the beginning of reading the book "Godless" and what I found out is that the main character is very caring about the people that are around him. His best freind is very smart but is uncapable of doing physical activities that well. Also there is this girl that he likes, and he trys hard to protect both of thier feelings.
   The main character Jason has a best friend Shin, Shin enjoys collecting snails as his hobby and Jason respects that. Once when they went snail hunting and met up with some bullies, Jason stood by Shin's side even though he knew that they were gonna get hurt. Jason stood by his side even though he knew that they were gonna be made fun of in school.
  Jason likes this girl Magda and she is with him in this chruch program. In the program they talk about thier feelings towards religion and what they think should happen. Jason respects what Magda says and also cares about who she hangs out with.
  Jason might be like very caring and loving but i think he is a bit too caring, it gets him in trouble. I think Jason should mind his own buisness because all of his other friends don't like shin that much but Jason doesn't want to hurt Shin's feelings so he keeps secrets from him.

when I read this poem I thought that it was mostly just describing the painting, and what's happening in it. The poem has 3 stanzas and I think each stanza are describing different things.

When I read the first stanza I can see that it's just like a description of the painting by Van Gogh,  the stanza says that the night boils with eleven stars and I see well in the painting "Starry night" that it does have many stars and it does have eleven stars. Also in the painting I can see a large cypress tree at the left side, and it fills like the whole half of the painting, and the tree is also described in the first stanza of the poem.
I think the second and last stanza of the poem is about Van Gogh and how he felt because there is this line "The unseen serpent swallows the stars" and I think what he means that all the happiness, which I think is represented by the stars are swallowed up, and he just is feeling sad. In the last stanza there is this line that says " to split from my life" I feel like it means that Van Gogh wants to end life quickly and it just gives a feeling of death.

letter Re: Romeo And Juliet

   Some observations I made while reading "Romeo And Juliet" is that the author changes the word and it makes the book very confusing, but the book has translations on the opposite page, but it still is a little bit confusing because of the way the characters talk. Now I understand that everyone has a little bit of a different understanding of what the script means.
   I think Shakespeare is really hard but if you know the words that is commonly used it can be really easy to know what the story is about. If my friend were to read Shakespeare I would advice him to get a Shakespearean dictionary or an easier version of the book that you are currently reading. It can be really hard if you just started but it gets easier at the end.
    Some thoughts that i have about Rome and Juliet is that why the author writes the translations of the words that you don't know if you don't know what the sentence means?

reading response: walking with the dead.

   In the book "Walking with the dead" the main character Alex has many problems that he has to overcome. In the beginning of the book Alex is dealing with a bully at his school, which gets 5 dollars from Alex each week, if Alex doesn't give him 5 dollars he beats him up. Also at home his mother isn't with him anymore so his dad is depressed all the time, and his dad doesn't have a job so coming up with the 5 bucks a week is stressing him out.
  The bully isn't just causing problems for Alex, he's causing problems for his dad too, the bully is causing problems for his dad because seeing Alex everyday stressed out is affecting his mood. Alex dosen't really talk to his dad because he's worrying about Slug, the bully and how he's gonna make 5 bucks a week.
   His dad doesn't have a job because of the economy and how everything is changing, Alex's dad plans on making a reopening of his Museum with the new mummy that he has, but His dad feel's like Alex is unsupportive of this idea because Alex won't talk to him much since he has many worries on his mind.
  The way people act may have a bigger impact than you know of like Slug the bully only cares about the 5 dollars that he gets a week and Alex only cares about how he's gonna get it.

sonnet: DRAFT

Looks of her smile smile warms my heart,

 Her eyes shine so bright it melts me like I’m on fire,

 Her presence enlightens my soul,

 These are the things she makes me feel,

But there's only one thing I would like to say,

She’s the only one that can make me feel this way.

im light as a feather when she's near,

just her presence wash away my fears,

now that she's entered my mind.

No matter her height, no matter her knowledge.

She'll always appear perfect in my eyes.

She makes it stop every time she walks by.

i want to explain myself but i just cant seem to.

im just too shy...

3 poems

Poetry is
Poetry is likes and dislikes,
Poetry is your thoughts,
poetry lurks in every corner,
poetry is everything,
poetry is everything that you think.


What happens to a dream differed?
 Does it disappear like a ant in a ocean?
does it call to you like how your parents do
for dinner?
does it fly away into the sunset?
or does it...

Art: Andy Warhol

   Andy Warhol was born on August 6, 1928 in the working-class neighborhood of Oakland, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Warhol made many pieces of art and one of them was the "Marilyn Monroe" painting. Warhol made the painting "Marilyn Monroe" because he wants to show what society thinks of "pretty". Warhol focuses on the things that make her "beautiful" for example her bright pink lips and her golden hair. Marilyn Monroe  was an actresses. 

   What I think of this painting is that the colors play a big role in the picture. There isn't any shading with pencil so the colors that he used stood out. I think that's how he focused on the facial features more, he made them a brighter color than the rest, also he made some places darker so this emphasizes the facial features even further. Also there are details that are really interesting like how he doesn't color in the lines. If you look closely you can see that there isn't a border for the colors it just stops. And if he didn't color the way he did i don't think there would be a texture to this painting. 

   Warhol admired celebrities and he made a lot of art based on them. He painted this painting because he thinks she symbolizes beauty and she was a admired actresses. 

Sources : http://history1900s.about.com/od/artists/p/warhol.htm

By Jennifer Rosenberg 

POEM:

Party all day,

Party all night.
I think i see someone with talent, 

I know i'm right. 

I want her to be part of my art,

I want to make art of her, guess it's time to start.

Throw colors on paper,

All the colors scatter everywhere.

I'm tired now,
i'm just going to hang this on my wall.

Pet Sematary

  I'm currently reading the book "Pet Sematary" by Stephen King. What I have noticed about this book is that the author does a really good job of describing every little detail in the story. I like the way that the author wrote the book with a lot of detail because I can picture the story in my head easily. King does a good job of writing about the setting of the book.
  Within the first sentence I learned a lot about the main character already. " Louis Creed, who had lost his father at three and who had never known a grandfather, never expected to find a father as he entered his middle age, but that was exactly what happened...although he called this man a friend..."(3). This sentence described the main character's life and family. This already gave me a picture of how the man lives and what exactly happens before the story is started.
  Another way that King makes his story very good is that he describes every little detail in the setting. " The engine ticked, In the silence, which seemed very big after Chicago and the bustle of state street and the loop, a bird sang sweetly in the late afternoon." In this excerpt he described every little detail like how the engine ticked and how a bird was singing in the late afternoon, this just gives me a bigger picture and i can clearly see what's happening.
  I just started reading this book and I like the book already, I like the book because of all the descriptions that the author King writes in the book. It gives me a good idea of what the setting would look and this just makes the book more interesting to read.

Hell's Heroes

  I've noticed how Grubbs in "Hell's Heroes" is afraid of the truth. Everyone has fears that they're afraid to overcome and i think Grubbs has one, and it's the truth that he's afraid of. In the book Grubbs was hesitating about wheter or not he should go into Lord Loss's relam and kill Bec. Bec is a very dangeroues person and she was or still is a good person. Grubbs had these weird dreams about how Bec was back stabbing everyone on earth. I find this very intersting because of how Grubbs is a "animal" on the outside but inside, he's just like everyone else.
  Grubbs is half Werewolf and half Magician. He isnt the magician that perform tricks, he can cast spells and kill things. Grubbs acts like a wanton in front of everyone (the humans), everyone on earth fears him but they know that when he's nearby they're safe, safe from the demon invading earth. Grubbs isnt what they think he is, he is still half human. Everyday at night he's afraid to sleep, he's afraid because he has visions, visions of the truth. He's lieing to everyone that he's with saying that he doesnt know where Bec is. He's just afraid to find out that this is the end, Bec has gone into allinace with the demons.
   I can connect to how Grubbs feels to how the main character in the book "Dark Calling" feels. The main character in the book "dark calling" knows that the world is going to end, but he still wouldn't let go. He still fights even when he knows that there isn't hope. I think they feel that way because they have been fighting too long to give up. They don't want to give up what they do have without a fight, they want to think that there is hope left even when there isnt, they are brave and strong but they are still human even though they have changed their apperance.
  The main characters are very brave to keep on fighting even when there is no hope. They fear that this is the truth, that this is realality and this is acually happening. They are still fighting because they believe that there is still something worth fighting for, people want to get away from the truth but at the end they still have to face it.

Reading Response(social issue)

   I read the article called "Growing Drug Problem Adds To Afghans Misery"  and the article is about how lots are people are affected by drugs. The article stated that "Once a river flowed under this low Kabul bridge, but now the thin stream is clotted with garbage, the banks are piled with refuse and crowds of heroin and opium addicts huddle in the shadows". I think the author put this line inside the article because it shows how much drugs have changed people. And some people just cant stop using them, even though they know that it's killing them. They are addicted to using drugs.What i learned from reading this article is that infections can happen when people are using certian types of drugs. When they use needles and they arent careful to where it has been before, they might get H.I.V and that's another problem with using drugs. Now I'm wondering why the afghans are the most affected by drugs.
   I read another article related to drug addiction and the tittle is "When Children scribbles to hide a Prison drug". This article is about how some people will try to do anything to get their hands on some drug. I read that there was a envolope with a strip of suboxone stuck onto it's back. Also since drug usage is illegal some people wont let that stop them. They buy drugs from people that sells it on the streets, and thats how they get it. What I learned from reading this article is that people dont stick to the rules, and they are just hurtting to themselves because i read that some children use drugs, and that's really sad.

2 voice poem

Crayola
Person 1: My life is so Boring,
Person 2: My life is so miserable.
Person 1: Everyday after school I have to take piano lessons.
Person 2: Everyday after school I have to go help my dad in his store.
Person 1: The Piano lessons are so boring.
Person 2: It's hard working with your stomach growling.
Person 1: After piano lessons i eat dinner, I never get what i want to eat.
Person 2: After helping my dad, i eat dinner, there isn't always much to go around.
Person 1: My life is So boring, I never get to do what i want.
Person 2: My life is so miserable, I'm always hungry, and everyday it's work, work work.

The process I took in writing this poem was that, I tought about how everyone has different lives, and one thing to this person is another to a different person. So I wrote a poem about 2 different people describing why they don't like the way it is. I chose to do this because it shows the reader the differences, and how people are different from one another, but at the same time they're a little bit alike.
The issue/problem is poverty. Many people don;t have privileges as others because their family has no money. I feel that poverty is a important problem because many people are affected by it.

Maus

 I'm in the middle of reading the book "Maus" by Art spiegelman. This book is a graphic novel about the Holocaust, and how a person survives the war. What i found interesting about the book is that it that the author has a different way of telling the story, he just doesnt tell about how his dad ( main character of the book) survives the war, while he's writing the story about his dad in the war, he's also writing the story of how his dad's life is going after the war and how the war affected his dad. He chose a different writing style and it gave more information about the war and what was goinging on even after it.
I think the author chose a good way of telling his story becuase it gives the reader a understanding of what the war did to people. Even after the war was over, the aftermath affected alot of people.
For me the way that the author wrote his story it made me feel like it was real, it felt like the event acually happened (it did), it just gave me that extra feeling of the what the Holocaust must've felt like.
It also made me realize that these terrible things do happen and no matter what happens life must keep on going.

Identify and analyze a social issue in book.

In my book "Maus" there are lots of issues. The problem is that many people are betraying others just because they think they will get something good out of it, but the thing is that the people betraying others are wrong because the Nazis are on nobody's side. The people that are affected are the main characters of the book. They are just

trying to get through the war with their families. But some people are making it extremely hard for them.

The main character is vladek and in one part of the story he hides inside his attic. Then one day someone found them and said that he was just looking for food, so then vladek gave him some scraps and left him, sometime later the Nazis came and took them all.

The cause for this betrayal is because everyone is afraid; they are scared to stick to their neighbors. They are scared that if they do what's right then the Nazis might get mad at them.

The result of this is people are telling out other people's secrets and giving out their hiding places, I think they just want to get on the good side of the Nazis. I don’t think the Nazis have a good side. 

If they all stuck together like what Vladek's family did they might've have through this terrible war. They gave up too easily.

Groosham Grange!

I currently finished the book Groosham Grange by Anthony Horowitz. I read this book because I really like the books that I read by him, but this book is kind of different from what I read before.                             From all the books I read by him, this book is kind of different from what i read before. His books are mostly about action, like the series Alex Rider. I really enjoyed reading them. This book Groosham Grange is a totally different genre.                 

The book was pretty good and i liked it but it almost has the same "story line" as Stormbreaker because the main characters are trying to destroy the "villain’s" evil scheme.

For example in the book Groosham Grange David, (main character) is trying to close down the private school he is sent to. He finds out that the school teaches which craft.                    

For stormbreaker Alex (the main character) is sent on a mission By a British secret service. What these two books have in common is that they are about the main character trying to overcome the truth that these things are really happening and they are trying their best to “make” things normal again.

                       

reading..

1.i read some people's blogs like rhamel's
and i saw that they mostly wrote about what the story is about and  some of them i like the way
they connected to the books.
2..I read dania's and i can tell that she likes the book because of the strong connections she wrote in her blog.
some connections i can make is that they are mostly wrote about connections to their lives.
3.i like how he used alot of statistics inside his post. yohance.

4.pooja. (name sake)
i think she did a really good job becuase she's focusing on one main idea, about how 2 people get married.
5. pooja ( the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe)
i think she did a raelly good job on this becasue i felt, like she elaborated alot on her idea.
6. pooka (Inconvinent truth)
i think this blog post was really good becuase she gave alot of examples to how the climate changes affects the planet.

The Dead And the Gone

    Right now I’m reading the book called "The Dead and the Gone" in this book I find it really interesting because the events lead to how people trust each other. For example the main character Alex finds himself at home taking care for his two sisters without any help, this happened because the moon just got hit by a meteor and its critically too close to the earth. Now New York City is in a state of chaos, people looting food and supplies desperate to survive this disaster, Alex is all alone. Alex is having a hard time doing this all by himself, also at the same time he's worried about his parents.
     He’s worried because they have no information to where they are right now, his mother is stuck in a hospital and his dad is stuck in Puerto Rico. I think right now Alex needs his two sisters more than anything because if it weren’t for them keeping him "running" he would be in a breakdown. He needs his two sitter’s support more than anything because he doesn't know what will happen if things don’t get better soon. His sisters help him realize that right now the most important thing is to stay focused and stay on track.
    I think Alex is under a lot of stress because it feels like nothing are going to go back to normal, everything is so different and it to happen all of a sudden it's very terrifying for him. Alex constantly puts his sisters first because once he was worried about them, this shows how much he cares about them. An example of this is when Alex find and steal from dead people that died from the meteor and take their belongings to a tailor shop where he trades for food, and things that are in need of survival. He takes the food and gives more of them to his sisters than himself which proves that he is more worried about his sisters rather than himself.
    He is also under a lot of stress because when the school is closed down, their family basically gets no food at all and doesn't even get the free meals that the school provides, making his family more harsh. They also don't even get food in the winter which is extremely cold and stressful, living in the winter without food is like living in the desert. Finally they get sent to a place with electricity, heat, and fresh water which is lucky for them.