Reading List and Goals (with a holiday thank you)

Before I say anything or get started on business I wanted to give a shout out to everyone in my class and tell them them to pat themselves on the back because this blog is the last blog for the 1st semester! Whoo Hoo!! Which is a huge relieve and accomplishment for us all so give each other kudos for making it this far and keeping up the excellent work. I also wanted to thank everyone who helped me along the way and gave me guidance either on here on the blog or in class. You all have been such a great help to me and I appreciate each and everyone one of you for giving your time to help me and give me advise. I feel humbled to have such great help and such kind and loyal friends. I hope everything turns out the way you want on exams (it will so don't even worry!) and that all of your holidays are safe and filled with joy and family.

So far this year I am surprised on how many books I have read, some were more fun than others, but all were good books and I'm glad I took time to read them. Out of all the books I have read this year, to order them in easiest to hardest is more difficult than I though, but here it is.

At the bottom for the easiest I would have to place the over eleven short stories we read (including free reads). I thoroughly enjoyed each and every one of these short stories. I think they all shaped me as the reader I have become so far, by enhansing my attention to detail, critiquing, and ability to decipher hidden themes or hints. Next up I would have to put "Nation." To be honest, I didn't really enjoy reading Nation (especially over the summer,) but I think it prepared me for the year to come and gave me a taste of the criteria in English 1. Then I would have to put my summer free read "The Five People You Meet In Heaven" I absolutely loved this book! Needless to say the only reason I read it was because I was running out of time and my mom made me, but I'm so glad I did. I though it was going to be really "girly" and stupid. but I was wrong. It was filled with dozens of high intensity moments, with some war scenes and fights, but mostly heart pounding suspense. This was one of those books that makes your heart beat fast so that you never want to put it down. Next I would have to put LOFT (even though were not finished.) Then I am going to put my three and a half free read books that I've managed to finish throughout the first semester. I say three and a half because the fourth one is still in progress of being completed. These seres of books mean a lot to me because in a way I can connect to them throughout everyday life and my interest in history. They aren't the easiest to read, nor are they the  shortest books out there, but I love them and think they are the books that have truly shaped me as a reader from the beginning. Finally, at the tippy top of the list, in the most difficult spot is no other than..... The "beloved" "In Defense of Food!" (which I know was everyones favorite book this year.) Needless to say, in shocking disbelief, "In Defense of Food" was not only the toughest book to read, but it was my least favorite of the bunch. Part of me, as a reader, needs to have some sort of connection to each book I read in order to feel a connection and grasp the overall picture and theme. Sadly, I did not feel this connection to IDOF in any way, shape, or form. I really don't like telling people (especially my english teacher) that I just flat out didn't like a book, but I just flat out, didn't like this book.

Now to respond to this:

This year I think I've learned a lot about my self. I think I have found out a lot of my strengths and weaknesses. One thing that I have learned is that I'm actually not awful at English. I think this year was kind of my savior year, considering that it saved me as an english student from falling down the beaten path of people who just flat out don't like english. But I am not proud to say that I have a new perspective on English and I think I will no longer be another student who hangs their head and sighs "Ugh... i have english next.." Even though I have these days for every class, it will not be just another reoccurring, day to day thing like it was in the past. I am also proud to say that I have found very little weaknesses in the criteria we have learned so far this year. I think that I don't understand a lot of big projects like the Literary Analysis or Literacy Narrative until, about half way, or three quarters way into the project when suddenly everything clicks for me.  So since I got all of that out of the way, I think its time to set some goals.

Now my new number one goal for the rest of this semester and all of next is to improve my scores on Worldy Wise. I know this sounds like a small goal to some but to me this is a very important one. I will admit that I need a LOT of work on my Wordly Wise. The reason being is that I think that I push it off too much and that is what hurts me. I am always so busy with other things that I'm not studying my words as much as I should and my grade on the quizzes  and now the class shows it. As a matter of fact I need to start studying for that right now since I have ONCE AGAIN pushed them off until the night before, which brings me to my next goal, which is (how ironic) Time Management. Time management is a very weak suit of mine which definitely is a first priority goal in ALL of my classes this year. It is something that I believe has restrained me this year and has not allowed me to live up to my full potential this year, therefore in turn effecting many of my grades. Finally, to end the last, LONGEST blog of the year 2012 two small goals which are number one: Finish my free read book, and number 2: find a nice room somewhere filled with food, water, a comfy bed, and a 75' flatscreen LCD Tv with an Xbox, so I can lock my self in and sleep for hours to make up for all sleep lost during the long, yet very quick first semester.

Reading Focus

My reading focus for "Lord of The Flies" is Physical Setting. Now I was happy with this selection due to the amounts of different environments and habitats on the island, but so far the different elements have become very repetitive. At the beginning of the book there is an established theme of the color green. Except it was not only used to describe the typical grass and leaves but it was used in many other different, sometimes strange ways: "Ralph hauled himself onto this platform, noted the coolness and shade, shut one eye, and decided that the shadows on his body were really green." and also another usage on that same page where Piggy stared at Ralph's green and white body. Which drew questions into my mind, many of them commonly followed the theme of "why?" This is just the first of many little hints of color importance and repetition that are in the story. Also before this there was mentioning of somethings green feathers a hundred feet into the air, which I also found strange. Everything seems very strange to me as to why this exact color, and I am still trying to find connections in the story that might revel the reasoning for this. The next "Big Thing" that I have been focusing on the the mountain of pink granite. At numerous points in the text the color pink has been stressed as important color and significant factor in the setting. The first hints of pink come with talk about the conch and the mountain:   "Some act of god-a typhoon perhaps, or the storm that accompanied his own arrival-had banked sand inside the lagoon so that there was a long, deep pool in the beach with a high ledge of pink granite at the further end." The common reoccurrence of pink once again leaves questions of why? And the purpose of each, but we can detour one of the meanings when it is described as the conch fading and becoming white. Later relating it to some symbolistic themes. Finally, Ive still been looking for that big important factor of setting to come around, but I still have been focusing on new occurring colors like blue and white, as well as the differences between the two camp sites; focusing on the conditions, security, and overall environment of the two.

Finally, a quick reading response and analysis for LOTF. To be quite frank with everyone I am thoroughly surprised that these children have survived as long as they have with out dying, starving to death, killing each other, or falling off the mountain. I am actually VERY surprised and commend them  on their luck! As you all know (if your still awake after reading that LONG passage above) my reading focus is Physical Setting. So far (as you all know) I've found some pretty cool connections from the text. Now I thought I would debunk some of them that also relate to different aspects of literary elements. The first one I though was cool was the fading of the conch. As we all know the BIG colors are green, pink, and recently now some new ones are white and blue. Also the conch contains a few of these colors. Which is a cool coincidence, but what I found really cool was just as the beginnings of destruction and seperation in the tribe happened the conch faded and lost all of its color. Which, what I think, is the author giving us little fun things to find and connect everything to, keeping our minds sharp and locked onto the text. As you all know (once again... I should really stop starting a sentence with that) Simon was murdered and is now dead at the hands of... well.. a lot of people. Therefore leaving our "pathway" to communication with the devil/Lord of The Flies gone. Supposedly we are in for more surprises and excitement ahead, so get ready because the end of the book is coming very fast and when it gets here I think something BIG is join to happen. (Thats not a hint to whats going to happen at the end of the book, I have no clue I swear so don't think that the ending is really controversial because I have read the book before or something. I honestly don't know.)

Reading Times:
10/3-45 min 10/4-45 min 10/6-30min

Reading Times + Literary Analysis

11/27-15 min  11/28- 50 min 11/29 11/30-45 min 11/31- 45 minutes and 5 pages of my Literary Analysis.