Outside reading week 5, post B

For this weeks book response i am going to explain the significance of the quote i wrote in part A. "David spent all of his time with Roland, sleeping beside him during their periods of rest and walking the perimeter with him when their time came to take the watch." I feel that this quote is significant because it shows how close David and Roland have become. Also it shows that David is treating Roland more like a friend and less like just a bodyguard.

Outside reading week 5, post A

Vocab

• Furrowed(pg180):A deep wrinkle in the skin, as on the forehead.
• Befallen(pg182):to happen to, esp. by chance or fate.

Figurative speech

• "...big as a pony,". this is a simaly because it compares the size of a loup to the size of a pony by using as.
• " their shields shattered like broken glass." simaly because it compares using like.
• "It stank of sour berries." Imagery because it helps us imagine what the crooked mans breath was like.

Quote

• "David spent all of his time with Roland, sleeping beside him during their periods of rest and walking the perimeter with him when their time came to take the watch."
  

Outside reading week 4, post A

Vocab

• discern(pg 68): To perceive by the sight or some other sense or by the intellect; see, recognize, or apprehend.
• crevasse(pg69): A fissure, or deep cleft, in glacial ice, the earth's surface, etc.

Figurative Speech

• "The deer was as dead as my mom." This is a simaly because it compares the death of his mom to the death of some deer girl.
• "The apple was an ocean of flavor." This is a metaphor because its comparing the amount of flavor in an apple to the size of an ocean without using like or as.
• "The dwarves were like walking stools." This is a simaly because it compares the hight of the dwarves to that of stools.

Quote

• "And then the animals fell upon her, tearing and biting, ripping and shredding, as david turned away from the grisly sight and fled into the forest."

Outside reading week 4, post B

For this weeks book response i'm going to respond to and explain the significance to the below quote."And then the animals fell upon her, tearing and biting, ripping and shredding, as david turned away from the grisly sight and fled into the forest." i find this significant because it shows the death of one of davids fears that he brought into this imaginary world.

Outside reading week 3, part B

I like this book. Its interesting. It has a bunch of parodies of old fairy tales. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm........ It doesn't suck. I don't know what else to say. The only important thing that happened was that he went through a gap in a wall which I'm guessing takes him to magic-land or something.

Outside reading week 3, part A

Vocab

• encroaching(pg 62): To take another's possessions or rights gradually or stealthily
• murmuring(pg60): A low, indistinct, continuous sound

Figurative speech

• "Like the beanstalk in the Fairy tale that led jack to the giant, the ivy seemed to know precisely where it was going." Simaly because it uses like.
• "David saw its fingers extend into the air, as if Georgie were hanging before it like an apple ready to be plucked from the tree." Simaly because it compares two things using like.
• "It had been a long tense summer." Personification because summer cant really be tense.

Quote

• "The choice had been made for him. David could not hesitate. He forced himself through the gap in the wall and into the darkness just as the world that he left behind became an inferno." I thought this quote was significant because it describes why he went through the gap in the wall.
  

Hornet league debate post

Australia-Asia debating, British Parliamentary Style, Classic debate, Comedy debate, Duo Interpretation, Humorous Interpretation, Impromptu debate, Leaders debate, Lincoln-Douglas debate, NFA-LD , Parliamentary debate, Policy debate, Public debate, Public forum debate, Socratic method, and Spontaneous argument are all the forms of debate i found. They all take place in some sort of room and their purposes are either to prove something, change something, or critique something.

Outside reading week 2, part B

I'm starting to enjoy this book allot more than i did before. Partly because the author has brought in other fairy tales that have been slightly modified, but mostly because it's overall just more interesting than the first section. Also I believe somethings going on with my quote from part A. Either David's going to have to find the hidden meaning in the book or the reader, me in this case, is going to see a hidden meaning in this book.

Outside reading week 2, part A

Vocab

• Crooked (pg 34): Not straight; Bending; or Not straightforward; Dishonest; or Askew; Awry
• Ill-fitting (pg 33): Not fitting well

Figurative speech

• "His smile was mocking." this is a personification because a smile cant really mock.
• "If he said something of which they disapproved, they would mutter insults at him." this is another personification because they is referring to the books on a shelf.
• "They tasted wrong." this is imagery because it refers to the sense taste.

Quote

• "You know how sometimes a story seems to be about one thing, but in fact it's about another thing entirely? there's a meaning hidden in it, and that meaning has to be teased out." this quote is by David's dad and i think it's important because it might be foreshadowing something to come. Also it might be stating that there's a hidden meaning in this book.
  

A theme in this book i think is emerging is that it's fairy tale-ish.

Outside reading week 1, post B

Something i find odd about this book is that right away the kids mom dies, and then three months later his dad goes and meets some other girl. In the real world wouldn't you still be a little sad that your wife just died so you'd want to wait a while? Plus it would be a little weird explaining to your kid that even though his mom just died that your gonna date some new person. Idono thats just what i think.

Pgs 1-25

Outside reading week 1, post A

Transform(pg 3): To change in condition, nature, or character; convert.
Solemnly(pg 4): Grave, sober, or mirthless, as a person, the face, speech, tone, or mood

Figurative language

• "His mind filled with dactyls and pentameters, the names of those like strange dinosaurs inhabiting a lost prehistoric landscape.
• " this is a simile because it uses "like"."Stories were different though, they came alive in the telling." this is a personification because it is giving stories the ability to come alive.
• "Death had made her small." this is a metaphor because the writer didn't use like or as.
  

"They could take root in the imagination, and transform the reader. Stories wanted to be read,"(pg 3)

A theme I see in this book right now is that its sort of gloomy.

Second quarter outside reading

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

• Published in 2006
• Fiction
• 352 pages
• My evidence that this book is challenging enough for a high school sophomore is that it wouldn't be on the list of recommended books if it wasn't.
  
• I chose this book because to me it was the most interesting one out of the recommended books list.
  

The Sea Inside post 1

It was o.k. I found it hard to pay attention because it was in Spanish but it wasn't too bad. I believe that Ramon's request to die was perfectly o.k. The court system should have allowed him to die legally but instead they left it up to Ramon's friends. It would have been very hard to help kill one's friend and they were very brave.

The Sea Inside post 3

The shot i thought had a lot of meaning would be the one where Ramon flys to the ocean. I think it has a lot of meaning because it shows how his mind can wander off and then he takes an imaginary trip to the beach. Another important part of this shot is when he finds Julia at the beach and kisses her showing that he loves her.

The Sea Inside post 2

The sea inside and the diving bell and the butterfly are similar because they both involve quadriplegics. However, I believe that the sea inside was more powerful. I believe this because in the sea inside the quadriplegic dies. In my mind death creates a more powerful image. Also in the sea inside, we got to see the feelings of the separate people because it was a movie. These things move the watcher more making it more powerful.

Outside reading final paper

I believe that Augusten Burroughs wrote this book because he wanted to show us that life isn’t always perfect. I think he did a pretty good job at it too. He does this by his use of a humorous tone, his word choice, and figurative speech. By using all those elements he paints a great picture of how screwy his life was.

The first element Augusten uses to prove his point is a humorous tone. This shows that his life was so strange to the point of being funny. A quote that proves this would be the one I used in a previous post. "I am not gonna watch my sister scoop my dad's shit out of the toilet so she can put it outside to dry." To me that’s strange enough to be somewhat humorous.

The second thing he used to write this book would be word choice. He swears a lot when he writes and I think that just adds to how real this book really is. “You are a monster, he said. You are fucking evil monster. You’re no innocent fourteen-year-old. You’re a fucking psychopath.” If he had gotten rid of fuck in that quote it would’ve been less real. Also it would have created less emotion.

The final thing he uses to his advantage would be his figurative language. He does a very good job at using metaphors and similes. In fact the name of the book is comparing his life to running with scissors. He's saying that he's living his life as if he was running with scissors.

Augusten Burroughs wrote this book to prove a point. That point would be that life isn’t always perfect, and when it isn’t you’ve got to just live through it as best you can. He did a good job proving this point by showing us his childhood and by his use of a humorous tone, his word choice, and figurative language.

Outside reading final section

The final section of this book got good right away. Bookman, his boyfriend for a long time, runs away and nobody knows where he is. Then Augusten goes boyfriend hunting and ends up asking out a strait guy. After that he and Natalie take yet another trip to McDonalds. Finally, Augusten and Natalie go to college. Augusten drops out and decides he wants to be a writer and the book ends.

Week 5

Section five was very amusing. Augusten has decided he wants to be a hairdresser and practices on his 30-some year old boyfriend. He screws up and they have a little fight. Later, his mom has one of her episodes and hooks up with some wanted criminal. He hangs out with Natalie more often and they become more like good friends. Finally, at the end of this section, his mom has a really big episode and for a while they think she might not get better but she meets a new girl and they become girlfriends and somehow she gets better.

Outside reading week 4, part 1

"I am not gonna watch my sister scoop my dad's shit out of the toilet so she can put it outside to dry."(pg 167)
-Natalie Finch

I believe that this book's tone is somewhat humorous. I also think that the above quote is proof of that. It's as if Augusten is showing us how his life was so messed up to the point of being funny.

Outside reading week 4, part 2

Section four wasn't very significant, but it was still good. Augusten talks about the least screwed up and oldest Finch daughter. Then Dr. Finch scoops his poop out of the toilet because he believes its a sign from god. After that he and Natalie fulfill their dream of being singers and sing in front of a bunch of old folks. Finally at the end of this section Hope kills her cat on accident. It was a good and amusing section, just not significant. My favorite part was when the doctor thought his poop was a sign from god.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly Reflection

I guess it was o.k. It wasn't as confusing as some other people said it was but it might have been hard to follow once or twice. I don't know how I'm gonna make this 300 words long because i really don't care that much about this book. hmmmmmmmmm. My dad read it but he wasn't to crazy about it either. yeah. thats really about it. +200 some words.

Outside reading week 3, part 2

Part three of this was pretty good. We find out that Augusten has an older brother, named Troy, who left when Augusten was younger. He has sex with his boyfriend which was fairly shocking and then we learn of his hate for Bill Cosby's daughter. that part was pretty amusing, especially because it drove him to pretend to commit suicide in order to get out of school.

Outside reading week 3, part 1

In this section Augusten tells the reader about his older brother Troy. Troy is apparently a weird kid in Augusten's eyes because he isn't able to speak very well. Next, Augusten has sex for the first time with his 32 year old boyfriend. Then towards the end of this section, Augusten explains his time spent going to school with Bill Cosby's daughter. He utterly hates her because she's perfect in every way. This hate for her is what drives Augusten to pretend to kill himself in order to go to a special hospital for months instead of school.

Augusten Burroughs was born in 1965. He lived in Massachusetts. He is the best selling author of many books including running with scissors. He now lives in New York with his partner Dennis Pilsits.

Photo: www.abc.net.au
Info: http://www.augusten.com/index_flash.html

Outside reading week 2

1. Augusten's mom, the psychopath, starts to go to a psychiatrist who is very strange. Dr. Finch,the psychiatrist, and his family live in a rundown old house where anything goes. In this house Augusten meets an old lady/Patient of Dr. Finch with a similar obsession with cleanliness. At the end of this section Augusten comes home from school early to find his mom having sex with the local church minister's wife.


2. Loaded words:

-Scrambling(pg 49): I think its negative because he uses it to describe the cockroaches in the Finch house. I think he chose this word because it does a good job describing how cockroaches move.

-Homicidal(pg 51): Its negative because its being used to describe Augusten's dad. He uses this word to show that his dad really wants to kill his mom.

-Freak and Faggot(pg 54): Both negative because they're words used to make fun of Augusten. He didn't chose these words they were yelled at him by his classmates.

-Wonderful(pg 58): Positive because its a compliment. he used this word to show us what he thinks of Joranne. Jorrane is a patient of Dr. Finch who lives in their house.

-Obsessive(pg 59): Negative because its describing a mental disease. He uses this word to describe joranne.

-Exotic(pg 59): Positive because it describes a disease that Augusten says that he wants. He chose this word to show us that he wants the disease because it would give him attention.

-ick(pg 86): Negative because he uses it to describe what he just saw. he uses this word because its what he felt like saying after he saw his mom and the pastors wife.

Stammered(pg 87): Negative because it's describing how he's yelling at his mom. he uses this word because it shows how shocked he was.

-Brilliant(pg 91): positive because its a happy word used to describe smart things. he uses it to describe the day as a good day.

1. this book is very interesting and im glad i chose it. I am very suprised at how messed up this kids life was and somehow he didnt end up as a drug dealer.

Outside reading week 1

I am reading the book running with scissors and so far it seems pretty strange. When the book begins Augusten Burroughs is a child at age 12. He is a strange kid who is obsessed with shiny things, cleanliness, and his appearance. His parents are also messed up. His mom is a psychopath and clearly has some issues and his dad is an alcoholic. They hate eachother with a passion and eventually get a divorce. His dad even pretends to die after his mom pushed him into the countertop. Even though this book seems strange i have a feeling that it will be very interesting.

This I bleieve assignment

1. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5015557
2. -Penn Jillette
3. There is no God
4. He believes that there is no god.
5. Examples
   -"Believing there's no God stops me from being solipsistic. I can read ideas from all different people from all different cultures."
   -"I'm beyond atheism. Atheism is not believing in God. Not believing in God is easy..."
6. Favorite passage: "it seems rude to ask the invisible for more..."

First assignment

1.The thing I am most anxious about at Edina High School is being able to remember stuff like homework or where my classes are.

2.One goal for myself in my sophomore year is to not fail any of my classes and keep a B average.

Welcome

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