Why Monster

Before reading this novel I was wondering what book am I going to pick for my summer reading assignment. Scrolling down the list of books I have to choose from, none of any interest to me. Here I am wondering if there even is a good action book on the list that will keep me on the edge of my seat. Then I come across Monster, the cover photo on the book intrigued me, as I have never seen a book with a cover photo as a mugshot. Also by looking at the title the word monster comes to me as a heroic storyline within a movie or book that a see or read, but along with the heroic storyline comes times where there is action packed into the book. Me knowing this and all the things that came into my head by glancing at this book allowed me to have some interest in the book and even more pick it up and read it.

          I had no personal connection with this book after reading it. I don’t want to spoil a lot but this book involves the justice system, and I have not had any experiences with the justice system or anything of that nature, making me immune to connecting personally with this novel. 

Monster By Walter Dean Myers

In a novel from Myers a teenager who dreams of being a filmmaker writes the story of his trial for felony murder in the form of a movie script, with eye grabbing journal entries after each day’s action. Steve is accused of being an accomplice in the robbery and murder of a drug store owner, or for something else but I will let that be up to you to find out. As he goes through his trial, returning each night to a dull, trapped, frighting prison where most nights he can hear other inmates yelling at each other screaming and dark noises, he reviews each one of the events leading to this point in his life. Myers leaves it up to readers to decide for themselves on his protagonist. The format of this heart moving drama forcefully regulates the pacing, with breathless, edge-of-the-seat courtroom scenes written entirely in dialogue arranged with thought. These journal entries that offer a sense of Steve’s eye closing terror and unique confusion, and that deftly demonstrate Myers’s main point of the reading, if you would want to know, you gotta read the book.

Summer Reading 2nd Part

Major Character (What He Desires)

Steve Harmon -
This sixteen year old after facing the realities of crime he is facing a battle within himself for a right to call himself good. This is a ongoing battle through out the book because of all the guilt that gets thrown at him and how deeply this affects Steve and his self-confidence. He expresses conflict over his guilt or innocence in various ways. Did he participate in the robbery and therefore, according to the law, is he equally as guilty as the person who killed Nesbitt? So after evaluating Steve you can see that Steve desires or wants the right to call himself a good person, also I would say he wants the guilt to go away.

Theme

The primary theme of the story that is beginning to develop is examining how a person who commits a crime (Young Adult) is arrested, convicted, tried, and punished. This book looks at the legal system through the eyes of a young, African American teenager. He paints horrible images of life in jail

Structure

At quick glance, I thought the screenplay would be distracting and Steve’s journal entries appeared at random. However, after getting used to the style (This is a very new style for me), I quickly realized just how effective it is. This style creates an important visual element that makes the story engaging.

Summer Reading 1st Post of Monster

Major Characters

Steve Harmon -
He is a sixteen year old young Black male 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.

Kathy O’Brien - 
She is Steve’s defense attorney she distances him from the other defendants as way of getting a not guilty verdict.

Sandra Petrocelli -
She is the Assistant District Attorney who prosecutes the case against Steve and James King. She labels them “monsters.” Which is where the title of the book comes from

James King -
A black man who is also young, 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 ultimately shooting the older man to death.

Setting

The story takes place in Manhattan and Harlem, New York City, mostly in a city lockup, but sometimes in the neighborhood where Steve Harmon lives.

Conflict

The book consists of multiple conflicts between man vs. man also man vs. self but I would say the main the conflict is man vs. society. It is man vs. society because Steve is 16 years and deal with the most frightening nature of the justice system.  But could also be man vs. self because of Steve's battle to prove his innocence within the novel.

Divergent Book Review

Overall Divergent has been an amazing book start to end. It has a great plot and I am surprised to say that Divergent kept me in the book from start to end. Which is pretty hard to do the only other books to do this was the 1st Hunger Games and the Last Olympian (the last book in percy jackson series). I am still debating rather to read the next book over the summer if we do not get a summer reading assignment (that is how bad Veronica Roth has me hooked) and let me tell you the ending is unbeilable. I am still wondering when Tris and Four will get married, by the looks of it maybe 3rd book ( I have not read the 3rd book so don't suspect it)

Going back to the rating i defiantly give this book a solid 9.5 maybe a 10, the only situations I didn't quiet like is the drama/ relationships with Tris. Divergent is that one novel that had me jumping out of my seat, biting my nails, cheering her on one minute, and wanting to throw away the book the next. But then the next minute she is putting herself in danger for someone else, and you soon understand why she has a bit of a split personality.

An Item Symbolizing Tris

If I were to have an item to symbolize Tris it would be a sword. A sword can symbolize a role as a hero. Looking at Tris she has all the traits of a hero. One of the traits being determined,Tris' personality evolves over time throughout the first book/movie. Through her trials, achievements, experiences, she becomes more determined. Determination is a built-in motivation that keeps her going. She stands up and fights for the people she loves yet lets nothing stop her from her goals. If Tris' character lacked determination, she would not have passed initiation. 

Another Trait of hers is Bravery, When Tris chose dauntless as her faction, it's because she saw bravery inside of her. She is courageous, can be bold, and does what is right to her. Clearly without those traits, she would not have the courage or strength to even attempt to save the people in Abnegation. Her bravery allowed her to transfer into Dauntless in the first place, and then discover a different side of her personality which shaped her into a more well-rounded person. There are many other traits that Tris has but the list would go on for ever. 

Climax(My Favorite Part)

My Favorite part of the book is the climax. The climax of the book is at the end where Jeanine tried to take over the Dauntless faction by having one of the trainers inject all initiates with a simulation.  The simulation turned all of the initiates in to robot-like creatures that were being forced to do what Jeanine told them to.  All Dauntless initiates were sent to Abnegation to kill off all Abnegation people.  Jeanine captures Tris and Tobias after she finds out that they Divergent and injects a special simulation liquid into Tobias and his mind gets taken over by the simulation and all of his friends become his enemies and his enemies become his friends.  Tobias goes to Dauntless headquarters in the control room to control the Dauntless soldiers.

This is my favorite part id the climax because off all the stuff that goes down in a matter of such a short time, the Dauntless get brain washed, Tris a Tobias get caught, while Tobias is put in a special simulation by controlling what he sees. the Jeanine decides shell just kill Tris because she is shot in the shoulder. While i was reading chapter 33 and 34 I almost got a heart attack because of everything that happened.

Movie to Book Comparison

Both the movie and book of Divergent are extremely good but overall, even though I am still reading the book I feel the book is much more powerful though the imagery, word choice, and voice of the author makes the book overall a better piece. But through out the movie and the book i have noticed a couple things that were in the book and was different in the movie.

One of those differences being no one was factionless the first day, also during the first day of initiation no one died by falling to there death from the train, everyone was fine. Additionally There is less fighting in the pits. While the Divergent movie does a great job of explaining how new faction members will live and die by their rankings, we are less clued in to the absolute violence in the pit. Additionally, we do not get to see what most of Tris's friends and foes are capable of in the ring. 

Divergent Character Evaluation (Beatrice)

In Divergent we are quickly introduced to Beatrice, she is sixteen years old when she has to take the Aptitude test(which will determines what fraction she is in) During the test, Beatrice's test administrator,Tori , finds out that Beatrice is Divergent and has an aptitude for three factions: Dauntless, Erudite and Abnegation. She knows Beatrice is in danger, Tori quickly deletes the test results and warns her not to tell anyone about it. During the Choosing Ceremony, Beatrice chooses Dauntless. So at the beginning of the book we see major factors of the book that determine her personality throughout the book.

After a series of games and simulations Tris finds her personality and instincts take over and Four the instructor finds out that she is divergent. Four keeps it a secret because he knows what will happen if it were to spread, as to he is divergent. Tris and Four are later caught by the Erudite leader trying to escape. Tris and four are sentenced to death. Overall of what I have read about Tris and her actions, she is unique and different from others. Tris is the main character throughout the book form start to end and am excited to see what she ends up doing in this siduation.

Vocabulary

"Is Divergent a hard book to read?" I might get that question when I pull out divergent and start to read it in class. Well to determine the answer to that question you would have to look at the vocabulary in the book or to be more specific the Diction in the book. Well I am happy to say that the diction in Divergent is low, meaning not elevated at all. Basically I'm saying a 12 year old could pick up this book and understand it perfectly.

Having low or less elevated diction in a book that is targeted to younger audiences is a must. No teenager or child wants to read a 200 or more page book and not be able to understand half of the book and what in earth they are talking about. Even writing a book for adults, hate to spoil your day but americans are known to be lazy, so in the ordinary world any book that has a lot of elevated diction is going to be unappealing to adults. This could be one of the reasons Divergent is hard to put down, because you can understand everything that is going on in the book, even one word that you don't know in the sentence your reading can be confusing to you.

Text To Self Connection in Divergent

This text to self connection brings me back to the very beginning of the book where she takes the test that determines the rest of her life and how she lives it. This test that Tris took reminds me or is very similar in my opinion to the ACT and SAT. The two tests ACT and SAT are two tests that you have to take for colleges. But those two tests are extremely important because they could determine the outcome of what college you choose, the fact that you might be able to get into a extremely good college because of your ACT or SAT scores.

The book Divergent also reminds me of my personal day life, going back to the beginning of the book Tris went into the group Dauntless which means the brave group. This reminds me of my personal day life because of all the choices you make in your life that separate you from the normal group. In this case this got me thinking of all the brave decisions I have made over the course of my life and all the risks I have taken, and maybe that i shouldn't of taken.

Final Blogging Assignment

As many of you know the book Divergent, from what i hear i heard that it was exciting.... suspensful...addicting..intense...all areas that make a book fun to read. So for my new book I have chosen to read the book Divergent by Veronica Roth. After looking at the books my piers are reading I have seen that the Divergent series has been recommended numerous of times. This is proven to be by the fact that in chapter 3 only 22 pages in you hear Tori say to Beatrice, "People who get these kind of results are...called... Divergent. Under no circumstances should you share that information with anyone. This is very important." After 2nd trimester I was in need of a good book to read for 3rd trimester. I ended up getting Divergent as my new book for 3rd trimester from all the great things I was hearing about the book. Also the fact that I had multiple friends yelling at me to get it and they finally shut up after I got the book.

Divergent is a great book so far, even though im only on the 3rd chapter and havn't gotten to any of the action yet. Besides the fact that she is Diivergent and dangerous amoung the community. Some people might even relate this book to the Hunger Games becuase of how intense the book is. I have read the first book in the hunger games series and couldn't put it down. So going back I am excited to say that I am on my way to finishing this exciting new book.

Krista Ramsey Intro Activity

I choose the column Locking into the Magic of Legos http://www.cincinnati.com/story/opinion/columnists/krista-ramsey/2014/02/15/krista-locking-into-the-magic-of-legos/5521245/

            This column is about children and their Lego habits. The column also goes into detail on how Legos are beneficial to children and their intelligence. The children also learn to be creative and determined by building what is on the instructions or by building freestyle.

In this column the line I think is best written is “Legos let them claim the two things adults don't even realize they need: space and silence.” This line impacts the reader because the diction of the passage is very informal and concrete. Therefore if the reader was a child or an adult this passage might be very persuading to them to get Legos. The syntax of the line was at the end where she used a colon, this was to list off things a child needs and what they could potentially have with Legos.  

The style of this column is casual. I know that her column is casual because she relates to everyday life also she does not use that much elevated diction or any sentence structures. In one of her sentences she states, “Then feet will pad up the basement stairs to show parents what's been created. And they'll pad right back down to tear it apart and move on to freestyle.” I know this line is casual because she is talking about everyday life, the days that the kid gets a new Lego set and he/she rushes upstairs to show his/her parents.

Questions

·      Have you had any experiences of Legos in your childhood?

·      How did your writing style come to be with your writing style?

·      Where do you get your ideas for your writing topics?

Future Predictions

So far in the book at Chapter 8 Tris has made up her mind that she is going to the Dauntless fraction which is all about bravery. After Tori told Tris that she is special "divergent". After Tori told Tris this, it made me thing about what might happen in the book. Knowing that Tris is going to the Dauntless fraction meaning she has a brave side to her and that she is divergent meaning she is a threat to the government, it got me thinking about what might happen/

My prediction is that because Tris is divergent the government will soon find out and plot a plan to kill Tris because she is a threat. Tris being divergent interprets this move by the government and she seeks a way to stop this plot by the government. Tris soon finds out that the government will not stop until she is dead, therefore the main character Tris goes into a revolution with the government, and because Tris is the main character in Divergent other people will follow behind her in this revolution, making the book full of action filled events also suspense.

Divergent (New Book)

For my new book I have chosen to read the book Divergent by Veronica Roth. After looking at the books my piers are reading I have seen that the Divergent series has been recommended numerous of times. After 2nd trimester I was in need of a good book to read for 3rd trimester. I ended up getting Divergent as my new book for 3rd trimester from all the great things I was hearing about the book.

Divergent is a great book so far, even though im only on the 1st chapter and havn't gotten to any of the action yet. Some people might even relate this book to the Hunger Games series and also very addicting. I have read the first book in the hunger games series and couldn't put it down. So overall I am excited to read Divergent by Veronica Roth.