Book Project Blog #2: Summary + Description of characters, their personalities, how they deal with conflict, etc.

5/9/2012

****If you have not posted your book title, author and brief description of the book (in your own words) in the 4/23 BLOG - no minimum word requirement - you will not get credit for last week's blog and I will not approve your book, meaning anything you do after this will NOT COUNT!! Please make sure you have posted in last week's blog before proceeding.*****

TITLE ALL BLOG POSTS
WITH YOUR NAME, PERIOD, AND BOOK TITLE
Blog #1 – Due date for both posts: Friday, May 11 – Summary of what you’ve read so far, including page numbers, plus DESCRIPTION OF CHARACTERS, THEIR PERSONALITIES, AND HOW THEY HANDLE CONFLICT. Be descriptive and provide examples, opinions, or connections to what you know about this time period or that come directly from your book. You must also respond to another post.

All original blog posts must be a minimum of 250 words. Responses to post by classmate must be a minimum of 100 words and cannot just be an agreement of post (ex. You may not just write “I liked what you said.” Or “I think your book sounds interesting.”).

To earn an A, you must demonstrate understanding and analysis of book and historical time period. You will not earn higher than a C if you only summarize and don’t provide examples, opinions, and connections to what you’ve learned in History.

175 Comments

Zach Carlson

5/9/2012 03:04:35 am

As i have stated that i have finished the book, but i started to reread the book and i have read about 1-95. And so far the charcters are just mind puppets the only one who is not is the leader, charles manson. He is a jack of all trades he has the ablitiy to cope with peoples problems and become what they want him to become so then once he has them under his control he can make them do whatever he wants them to do. The other charcters are just people he found who were lost souls and he just took advantage of that. He really doesnt handle conflict well except by punishing his followers or by conning his way out of things, but he has been to jail on a lot of occasions so he learned to be what people wanted from jail.

Jasmyne Miller

5/9/2012 03:43:57 am

This book sounds so interesting to read, that topic creepishly interests me for some reason. I have never heard of who he is until a few weeks ago, which it seems I was one of the lasts to know. It kind of reminds me of the Jonestown Cult. That cult consited of a man who was preaching to a small town and said everything that people wanted to hear, he preached equality, love, purity, and living a holy life. He became so popular and made so many promises to his followers that they trusted him too much and did everything he told them to do, including move to Africa and start a new “perfect” life. Once he realized he couldn’t keep up with him promises he decided to preach them into all committing suicide. Really creepy.

Zach Carlson

5/9/2012 09:06:09 am

The topic of serial killers has always fascinated me, but the manson murders is by far the most interesting, his power to control people matched no others except maybe that jonestown guy but id say read this book except be very prepared to see manson at night or his other followers. They have haunted my dreams on many occasions since i finished it and the book disappeared as well so just be prepared for manson, but other then that its a great book

nick beall

5/9/2012 12:03:32 pm

I like what Zack wrote, as I find stories on psycho killers really interesting. I’ve heard about what happened but I’ve never read the book. I think it is crazy that one man could have in a way brain washed people to kill others. People told me that he only controlled women and I think that really strange. I wonder if it was because the ladies like them so they did whatever he told them to do.

Ashley Cotten

5/10/2012 08:18:42 am

I want to read this book at some point, I know it's morbid but Charles Manson is super interesting and the fact that we still hear about him today (even though he's in prison) is crazy. He reached a level of fame that is of celebrities, which is sickly funny considering he's a serial killer. It also has always been interesting how easily you can control the human mind if it is weak, like you mentioned. When people are lost and don't have purpose they often easily submit to ideas thrown at them, like cults. I know it's kind of offensive to compare him to mass religion, but it has always blown me away how quickly and mindlessly people can follow ideas/beliefs if they aren't strong in their own. I've seen him on the news a couple of times and in one story he had managed to get a cell phone into his cell. That's terrifying, considering he's probably at a super high security prison. Maybe he mind controlled the guards. Anyway, it's insane how much trust people put into this man, and how drastic the actions of his followers were (murder, suicide, etc.) Creepy, but interesting...

Aurora Roberts

5/10/2012 12:39:01 pm

I think this book sounds so interesting. I wanna read it. I like stories about serial killers. This book kinda reminds me of something i learned today. I have read somethings about this and what has happened. It also has always been interesting how easily you can control the human mind if it is weak, like you mentioned.I would be scared if this happened to me. When people are lost and don't have purpose they often easily submit to ideas thrown at them, like cults. I know it's kind of offensive to compare him to mass religion, but it has always blown me away how quickly and mindlessly people can follow beliefs if they aren't strong in their own.

Zach Carlson

5/11/2012 05:54:26 am

Your last paragraph copied exctaly what ashley said

Ashley Cotten

5/11/2012 08:52:40 am

Hey those last few sentences sound a lot like mine.....hmmm. ;) You should at least change up the words if you're going to copy my exact work!

Kendall Talbott

5/15/2012 07:47:52 am

I agree with everyone. I think that a book relating to serial killers and how they think and manipulate people is very interesting. This is defiantly a book I would be interested in reading. It's crazy to think that people can become so sickly powerful. For instance, Charles Manson seems to have people wrapped around his finger, killing people left and right for no apparent reason. It so obnoxious how quickly people can be persuaded into doing the wrong thing, especially like killing someone!...so weird to think about.

Matthew Bond

5/11/2012 02:06:34 pm

I love the irony of the character, in the fact that he learned what people want from jail. As well he sounds very interesting. Were it not for his inability to deal with conflict I’d actually say he’d make a great leader. As it is he’d still make a wonderful politician. Many a ruffian and conman have become great leaders, great not for their deeds but their power. Hitler was a horrible man, but a great leader. The right words at the right time can change the world. To be able to control those who are under you’re power through ambition rather than threat is a useful trait indeed.

Lucas Broyles

5/12/2012 05:18:47 am

Drix im really fascinated by your book. Like you the topic of serial killers is just like so interesting to me because its just like mind blowing to me that just like one thing can change a persons pyschology and mental state and can drive them to killing and its like creepy and horrifiying but its like you cant look away. I've always heard stories about charles manson and like john wayne gacy but if you read their biographies on wikipedia its just amazing how scary a human being can be, its like these are the real monsters of this world.

Zach Carlson

5/13/2012 04:52:07 am

I like duhamer better the gacy,but yeah i have that sick intrest in learning about serial killers and all of the obseucre ones even tho they are big like the btk in kansas or richard remierz they are just so fascnating to rea and learna bout

Anthony Rue

5/14/2012 12:28:44 am

It is actually not that sick of an interest...many people have that interest and it is these people who usually find a good career in law. Have either of you thought about being a cop or lawyer?

carson cavner

5/13/2012 08:32:18 am

drix sounds pretty much exactly right about charles manson and his followers. his followers were pretty much puupets who did exaclty what he said

Carson Cavner

5/29/2012 08:10:08 am

I forgot to add that it is also very interesting to learn about why a person becomes a serial killer and why they choose to do that. I also find it interesting how well charles manson was able to manipulate his followers to the point to where they would gruesomely murder for him.

Alex Gastelum

5/13/2012 04:00:15 pm

The whole Manson case has always interested me cause of how shocking it was to find out someone could control a cult of people to killing others. So I find this book extremely interesting and hope to one day read it myself

Zach Carlson

5/14/2012 05:57:28 am

Please, dont comment on my blog posts

andrea perez

5/13/2012 04:23:13 pm

This book does sounds really interesting, I want to read it someday in the future maybe when im done with mine. It's really interesting how some people can just control others the way he did, and how the people were just so fascinated by him and would do everything he would tell them to. I kind of dont understand it but then again maybe those people were just lost and needed to do something.

Anna Bongiovanni

5/13/2012 05:42:59 pm

I'm currently reading this book and I can't wait to really get into it. From the posts I've seen you post onto this blog, it seems that you have really enjoyed this book. I, too, have an interest in serial killers and I find the power of the human mind to be more powerful than your physical body. The fact that he controlled these weak people with simply mind power intrigues me beyond belief. Also, the whole "conning his way out of things" and learning what people want, and so forth, in order to get out of situations is very interesting.

David Bodkin

5/14/2012 02:05:55 am

This book sounds fascinating! Like Zach i have always been intrested in serial killers and why they kill people. Charles manson is one of the most notorious criminals in American History. I think iot would be intresting to read about how he conivnced the members of the manson family to committe crimes and murder people for him. Manson had the power to control peoples like minds like I have seen nor heard of before.

Kenneth Jacobson

5/14/2012 08:22:12 am

Book sounds interesting. I love when books talk about those kind of things. I have to read them! I love reading about what happen in the past that made into a book. I guess this guy is very powerful, he can control a lot of people, and as you said he went to jail so he knows what people wants. If he does punish his own *allies* or who ever he gets to follow him, if there mistreated and if there tired of it? Why cant they just rebel against him and get a new leader? Never understood that...

Zach Carlson

5/14/2012 02:28:59 pm

They can't rebel because he messed their minds up with so much LSD a (hallucinate). That they fear him and thought that he was everywhere even in their minds when he really wasn't

Dylan Gouthro

5/22/2012 09:55:18 am

I don't know what the title of this book is, but it sounds kind of creepy/interesting. Kind of scares me drix that you are fascinated by serial killing. But besides the fact I am going to keep following up on your blogs because your book does sound interesting and id like to look into it more. It sounds like a manipulative mind book and i like that. Almost reminds me of SAW.

Dylan Gouthro (continued)

5/22/2012 09:58:31 am

I didnt mean to submit my last one so fast, i wasn't done. I don't always find books to be interesting but this one in particular interests me because it sounds like he is able to manipulate peoples brains and controls them, and for me to be someone that i like to mess with people, that would be a good book for me to read. It sounds very interesting and i will have to check it out. thanks drix

Kristen Beck

6/1/2012 02:58:47 am

I'm really glad that I am not the only who enjoy and are intrigued by murder novels. Zach this sounds like a really good book. This Charles Manson guy is insane! The way he manipulates people and takes advantage of them when they're vulnerable is very clever and cold. I hope to read it sometime this summer or near future.

Anthony Rue

5/9/2012 03:22:54 am

Book: The Scarlet Pimpernel
Progress: Finished
Characters: Sir Percy Blakeney- He was often considered the most foppish man in England, or at least London, with both his manner of thought and dress being considered "gay" (not the sexual orientation). However in due course of the book we realize that this is a guise of the most brilliant and daring figure... The Scarlet Pimpernel. Most akin to a red shawled Zorro.

Lady Marguerite Blakeney- Wife to Percy, she is oft considered the most beautiful and clever woman in both France and England. She is manipulated throughout the course of the story showing a fractured will and a misunderstanding and mistrust in her husband. She is unaware of his stature and persona.Ironic considering her fascination and enchantment by the Pimpernel's tactics.

Armand Chauvelin- The obvious choice as Percy's arch-villain (self-proclaimed at one point) always appearing opposite of him in all subsequent novels. While being shown as pathetic and frail he is intelligent and cunning even deducing the fact that Percy is the Pimpernel early on in the book, however he keeps it to himself so as to further himself when he captures the Scarlet Pimpernel.

Julianne Skelton link

5/9/2012 05:30:41 am

Anthony, You finished your book. Well, from what you said about this book to be your blog 2; your story sounds so interesting. I love how you explained the characters and some of the story. I'm glad that you got into alittle detail to explain the story.

Brittany Shumate

5/9/2012 02:55:31 pm

I have already seen the movie, but now this summary of the characters intrigues me enough to read the book. The characters seem quite interesting and I want to know how they are in the book.

alexmoon

5/10/2012 08:15:33 am

Ay-up mate! Quite a well written blog, my dear sir. I've seen the movie before, and I'd have to say this "Percy" character is quite the rabblerouser there in good ol' France. A quite jovial and clever individual I'd add. I'd like to add that he's got a bloody good sense of humor. The Scarlet Pimpernel is a masterfully written ace of his trade, and I'm sure I'll be quite impressed with your final project, my dear man. Any road, good luck to you old chap. We must go out for some fish and chips someday.

Zavier Verbick

5/13/2012 10:51:32 am

"Sink Meeeehh!" The movie really piqued my interest so I was wondering if the books was as enjoyable. From what I've heard in your synopsis and examination of this novel, it sounds quite interesting. By the way, do you plan on reading the sequels to this book despite being less successful? Well, keep me updated.

John Wilson

5/13/2012 04:37:00 pm

The Scarlet Pimpernel.. very great story. I remember watching this movie in Ms. Worthington's class admiring how much of a man Sir Percy Blakeney because of his accent. i very much suggest that we watch this movie again this year. all of your descriptions are very well put together and it helped my refresh my memory of how great of a story it really was.

Jasmyne Miller- Period 1, "Japanese American Internment Camps"

5/9/2012 03:35:08 am

In my book Japanese American Internment Camps, I’ve read pages 43-62, but it’s only Wednesday so I should have read about twenty more pages by Friday. As of now they are covering not only the Japanese side of this situation but the Americans who want to put them in these camps. A good thing about my book is that it is completely unbiased and it let’s me form my own opinion. There are no characters because it is composed of only primary source documents but there are groups of peole I can describe. There are the Issei, which are the first generation immigrants to America from Japan, although the government thinks they are out to sabotage our country they actually seem very loyal and greatful to be in our country from the articles and quotes I’ve read from them. They listen to everything the government tells them to do, regardless how bad it is. They would get rid of airlooms brought from Japan just to prove their dedication to our country. The Nisei, the second generation of Japanese immigrants, children of the Issei were less tolerant towards to actions of the US government to their people. They didn’t exactly rebel at all, but they had an attitude that questioned the ways they were being treated, they also questioned why their parents were so loyal to a country treating them s badly. They found it unjust to sign up for a draft in a country that wouldn’t even grant them citizenship. The government workers and people in charge of making the decisions to concentrate all Japanese immigrants inland were sour people. They were so opinionated and blind to how the Japanese immigrants actually were. They assumed that since they lived near coasts and bases that they were out to get our country. I understand that they were putting our countries safety first but they were far too irrational.

Jasmyne Miller.. blog post continued

5/9/2012 03:39:22 am

This connects to what I've learned in history with the red scare. We were so irrational to force communists and any suspicious actions out of our country. It makes you wonder why we are repeating history three times if you think back to the Salem witch trials. Possibly even four times if you connect it to the Holocaust by forcing all people of one kind into concentrated camps. Yes, it wasn't nearly as bad as the Holocaust but it's rediculous how recent this was and how unknown it is. Somewhat shameful for our country.

Claire Purvis

5/9/2012 02:21:14 pm

Jasmyne, this theme is very similar to what I am reading about. America, their own country, is imprisoning them because they stand out and are considered as a threat. In my book, “The Hiding Place,” the Ten Boom family, although not Jewish are still arrested and imprisoned for their harboring of people who are consider a threat—the Jews. I find it interesting that the first generation immigrants are much more accepting of this internment policy than their children who are born in America. Perhaps this is because they have experienced an oppressive government situation in Japan, which they fled by immigrating to America. Isn’t it interesting that mankind continues to fear people that are identified as an enemy because of their heritage or customs, and society react by isolating or eliminating them from their communities? Will we ever learn?

Luke Kullberg

5/10/2012 02:21:13 pm

Miller, I chose to respond to your post because your topic is very similar to mine. It's interesting looking at the difference between your Japanese segregation and my African American segregation. What you wrote is very interesting because it shows some of the experiences and troubles that people went through. Its interesting because we get to learn about it from someone how was during that time period, and they were directly effected by it. I also find it interesting that you connected your book with the red scare because I, myself have thought about that conflict in history as being similar to my novel.

Liz Studdard

5/9/2012 08:23:51 am

I think that this book sounds very interesting because it is not written in either side’s point of view and lets you come up with your own opinions like you said. It also sounds like it would be interesting because of the different thoughts from different groups on the internment camps and the way the government during this time treated Japanese Americans. I would not want to live during this time because I would realize how terrible it was to put innocent people into these camps and I would not be happy with how everyone reacted to this.

Vanessa Schnurer

5/9/2012 11:33:03 am

Jasmyne, you book sounds very interesting. I like the way your book has different primary source documents. This would give you a great insight to what was really happening when America had the Japanese internment camps. I cant believe that America would do such a thing basically because they were paranoid. The book that I'm reading right now is about the Holocaust and the Japanese internment camps sound a bit like the ghettos, but less severe. I also don't know how a person of Japanese heritage would even want to serve in the US military. If I was a Japanese during this time, I wouldn't be able to trust America after what they had done. I just wish that America wouldn't have freaked out the way they did by throwing Japanese in inadequate internment camps. From what we have learned in school, the camps weren't the best place to stay. It was dirty there, the superiors weren't the kindest and people were hungry. Your book sounds very informative and an interesting read. Its nice to learn about something in school and be able to connect the information to a book that your reading. Our hard work put to use. :)

Caroline Dineen-Carlson

5/10/2012 02:04:14 pm

The part I read this past week starts the journey as to why I wanted to read the book. Jurgis starts his job at the meat-packing industry and is disgusted at how they treat the food and their handling of it. However, he is still optImistic because of the $2 an hour he makes. His children want to work, but he does not allow them because he wants them to go to school. They go looking for houses to live in, but unfortunately they do not find one suitable. The children find a rental and buy it. When JURGIS comes home he is outraged. This relates to modern day because of the poor economy that we live in and the struggles to find a well fit home. It also relates because JURGIS is so happy and excited for his job because there are not many available.

Summer Anderson

5/11/2012 02:13:04 pm

The book your reading sounds very interesting. I didn’t know that we put Japanese immigrants in internment camps until recently in history this year. It really surprised me to learn that we put them into camps like how Germany put Jews in camps. It may not have been as drastic but it was still taking the rights away from citizens who came to America for freedom. I understand that the U.S. needed to protect people from spies and they were scared of some Japanese immigrants being traders. But I also still don’t think it was fair for them after all the promises of freedom in America. It’s interesting how in your book you found out that the second generation of Japanese immigrants were questioned the internment camps more than the first generations. I didn’t know that the first generation went along with it a lot better than the second and tried to do everything the government asked even though there rights were being taken away.

Heidi Garbers

5/16/2012 09:03:25 am

Jasmyne this book seems very intense in what all the people in these interment camps had to go through seems terrible and the fact that just because their race they were put into these camps is very sad. Americans back then were so scared of a outbreak of whatever they were fighting about that they didn't realize that just because you are of a race that you aren't it doesn't make them a bad person for not being the same color as you.

Claire Purvis

5/9/2012 04:47:23 am

Book: The Hiding Place
Period 1

Blog #2: I have read 62-180 since my last blog. In this part of the book, Corrie and her sister Betsy are at home at the family house with their father. The war was just starting and the Germans were occupying Holland. Corrie found that she was good in the watch shop while Betsy was better running the day-to-day activities that were in the household. The Ten Boom family has a radio in their home and are able to hear the war proceed and even though they had hoped for Holland to be neutral, it ends up that Holland is very affected. In these chapters the Ten Booms begin to help Jews escape prosecution. The mother had also passed away and could not help make decisions for them anymore. Corrie and her family take a lot of risks to help the Jews, especially the ones that stand out. Even though they try to safeguard their house, they are eventually raided and go to prison. The Jews at the Ten Boom’s home are stuck in a hiding place behind a wall. Not even the Germans could find this place because an expert built it. Although, the Ten Booms had to take the fall for it because the Germans knew they were secretly hiding Jews they just didn’t know where. Many of the chapters deal with the harsh conditions the family must deal with in prison. The father ends up dying because of old age and tiredness in the jail. With not much hope, Corrie keeps moving on and sees her sister who remains in prison. The rest of the family was released and sends correspondence and care packages to get her through. One of the conflicts is that the Jews who are hiding are stuck because the Germans are guarding the house and they cannot get out. This conflict is soon resolved because when the Germans leave the house, the Jewish refuges are able to escape. The second conflict is that Corrie and Betsy are still in prison. The guards keep calling Corrie the ringleader of the whole thing, so I feel that it will take a while for her to get out of jail.

Mariana

5/12/2012 01:19:42 pm

I think Claire's novel The Hiding Place, seems very interesting and is also in the same time period that my book is in, so I can relate to all the conflicts the characters encounter. Her novel seems really interesting I would like to read it as well. I can't believe that the Jewish people had to hide within the walls to prevent persecution, how could the Germans be so inhumane. Another reason why I liked this novel is because the main character in the story Corrie, was courages enough to hide jews in their house to keep them safe, unfortunately they got caught, and got thrown in jail. I admire and wished everyone had the bravery to go against the government, an individual, or a cause, to do something they think is right. So I will defiantly will be reading this book, I really liked it.

Rosa Flores

5/20/2012 02:05:30 am

Claire, your book seems really interesting and I will probably end up reading it because I wanna know more about it. I think it was clever that Jews made hiding places within the walls because it was much more difficult for the Germans to find them, I probably would've been dumb and hid behind a couch. At the same time, it's sad that they had to go through such drastic measures to prevent themselves from getting caught. I really admire them for all the things they had to go through because I know if I was in their shoes, I probably wouldn't last a week.

Liz Studdard

5/9/2012 07:58:53 am

I just finished my book this weekend. There were 358 pages. I thought that it was really good because I like this time period and the story was good. In the end the speakeasy worked out really well and Cordelia made a lot of money from it. Also, Letty made a big break singing at a speakeasy and got an offer to be in the movies. The father’s murderers kidnapped Cordelia’s other friend, but her brother saved her and got the Coast Guard after the murderers, who caught them transporting alcohol onto another boat.

Cordelia Grey is one of the main characters in my book. She grew up in a small town in Ohio, but found out that her dad was a famous bootlegger in New York so she ran away to New York with her best friend, Letty. Shortly after she got there he was shot and killed but she wanted to carry on his business so she took a risk and started up her own speakeasy. While she was doing all of this, she also was struggling with a guy that she liked who was for prohibition so he did not like her.

Letty Larkspur is Cordelia’s best friend from Ohio that also ran away because she wanted to pursue her dream of becoming a famous singer/actress. She struggled throughout the novel with finding a job and finding a way to start her career. She auditioned at small clubs and speakeasies, but did not get her big break until later on when she sung in Cordelia’s speakeasy.

Erin Fitzgerald

5/9/2012 04:35:27 pm

Liz- what book is this? It sounds really great.
Its interesting how literature can put us in a place where if a main character is doing something illegal, we still sympathize for them, and sort of cheer them on throughout the story. Although I must say, during the time of prohibition, not too many people obeyed the law anyhow, so breaking it didn't seem quite a big deal. In your book though, it seems cool how the two characters have their own little divergent plots separate from one another, but then in the end the two come together, and are as a team successful.

Liz Studdard

5/10/2012 09:02:31 am

and sorry Mrs. Moore i forgot the title and stuff. its "beautiful days" period 3

Erin Fitzgerald

5/9/2012 04:35:37 pm

Jordan Kelley

5/10/2012 04:05:22 am

Dang I am jealous. It sounds interesting think I can read it when you're done? Unless you got it from the Library.

Liz Studdard

5/10/2012 08:58:46 am

its called "Beautiful Days" by Ana Godbersen and its the sequel to "Bright Young Things". And i got it at the school library and it was really good

Mollie Privett

5/13/2012 11:06:16 am

Liz, the book you read sounds like a really good book. I definitely would be interested in reading it, on account of we went over the prohibition era heavily this year in class. I always enjoyed learning about the prohibition era and I even did an English project regarding the time period as well as all of the bootleggers and speakeasies. Both of the main characters in this book sound like they were both very driven. I wonder how Cordelia felt when she found out that her dad was a bootlegger. It must have taken a lot of guts to open up her own speakeasy considering that was completely illegal at the time. It's really interesting how people back then and to this day will put their legal rights on the line in order to come up with money. Just like the other character, Letty. It seemed like she struggled to get a job that she was interesting in, so she also had to resort to singing in a speakeasy. That certainly shows how important money is even if it involves putting yourself at risk to get it.

I also want to know what happened to Cordelia and the boy that she liked who was for banning alcohol. I think that would be an engaging plot throughout the story and I would definitely be interested in that because I love reading a good love story. I wonder if people also would sacrifice love in order to make money. It's apparent that the main character sacrificed her legal rights in order for the speakeasy to be made... so I wonder if she also chose her speakeasy over the boy she liked who was against it. This book seems really great and I think I will also read it.

Vanessa Schnurer

5/9/2012 11:01:30 am

I have read through pages 24 to 75. Within these pages the Jews have been sent to the ghettos. Many people were getting killed on the streets and in their homes. The day came when all Jews had to come to the ghettos. Susie and her family were sent to ghetto 2. At this ghetto, people were given yellow passes which were work passes, then later changed to blue passes which also served as work passes. Then they were taken to ghetto 1. Here they moved into one of the apartments with Susie's family. It was often times cold because there was no heater. There was a limited amount of food so everyone was always hungry. The guards at the ghetto would not permit the Jews to bring food into the ghetto. If people were found with food, they would be beaten. Here, at ghetto 1 here grandfather died of heart failure. Later, a woman in the family named Chassia was pregnant. This was not allowed in the ghettos. The baby would have to be terminated. Susie, her mother, step-sister Dolka and Chassia went to the public restroom and Susie's mother reserved three washing tubs (I believe they were bathtubs). Here a woman at the restrooms helped Chassia to perform an abortion. Chassia screamed because of the pain. Here baby was in a better place now. Shortly after this, Susie, Susie's step-father, mother and Dolka moved into a different apartment inside of ghetto 1. This apartment had a heater, working stove, a bathroom, and running water. Susie attended a secret school inside of the ghetto where they learned as much as the teachers could remember. The food situation was getting worse now. One day, Susie's mother went to Vera and Olga to get some of her supplies back but they threatened to call the police and turned her down. Mania suggested that Susie's mother let her have Susie to keep her safe and out of the ghettos (Mania was Polish). Another “action” took place. Then came action organizations. Many people began looking for hiding places. Mania offered to take Susie again but Susie's mother refused. A nice hiding place was made. Susie, her mother, stepfather (Julek), and stepsister all went to the hiding place through the toilet through the pipes and into two rooms underground. Many people came into the hiding place. Susie's family was scared that the people from outside would draw the attention of the Germans to the hiding place. People were getting claustrophobic and suffocating. There was a limited amount of oxygen so people weren't allowed to move around much, because they would be breathing in a lot of oxygen. Another “action” took place. That and a little more is what has happened in my book so far! Super good and suspenseful book!

Description of two main characters: Susie is the main character and narrator of this non-fiction novel. She is struggling with having to live through and experience the Holocaust. She is constantly starving, exhausted, and scared. She never knows if she will be alive the next day she wakes up. Life in the ghetto is hard for her and everyone, especially because she is only 10 years old (she was 8 when she first arrived to the ghetto). She has lost family members and friends and has to somehow cope with these losses. He has nothing but the clothes on her back and maybe a blanket. This is an incredibly difficult and scary time during Susie's life.
Another main character is Raja, Susie's mother. I don't think Susie ever mentions her mothers name in the sorry (I found her name at the beginning of the book where the author dedicated the book to her mother). Raja is a strong woman. She hasn't only gone through a divorce just before being sent to the ghetto, but she is living through the Holocaust. She goes through the same things that Susie goes through every day; hunger, exhaustion, fear. But there is one thing that Susie doesn't have to worry about. Raja takes care of her daughter Susie and makes sure that she is never taken away. Raja worries that one day the Germans will find them hiding and separate her from her daughter. This was a constant worry to Raja. What mother wouldn't worry about this?
Both of these characters have gone through a lot thus far. Sadly, there is worse to come.

Vanessa Schnurer

5/9/2012 11:18:47 am

Continued...When we learned about this in school, everything that happened and everything that people went through was sad and horrible to learn about. People actually went through this. Its not just some story that someone made up. As I read this book, I can imagine how the scene looked. But I could never possibly know how the people felt during this time. Its one thing to learn about something and another things to feel what they went through. I'm not saying that I dont feel horrible knowing what thousands of innocent people went through, I'm saying that because I have never lived through the Holocaust and experienced it, I would never truly be able to know how they felt. Therefore, the things that people went through during this time were too incredible for me to be able to relate to. As I was saying, in school I've learned about the ghettos and how horrible they are to live in. I have also learned of the horrible treatment of the Jews by the German people. Its nice to read this novel after I have studied about the Holocaust. It makes the book easier to understand more interesting to read.

Nick beall-2-the jungle

5/9/2012 11:56:55 am

Pg. 30-58
Now we go back to when Jurgis and Ona were living in Lithuania. Jurgis worked as a peasant to support him and Ona. Ona’s father died leaving their family with a big debut. They talked about moving to America as wages were higher, and when Jonas, Ona’s uncle, told them he had a friend that moved to America and made a lot of money they decided to move there as well. Lots of the family went: Jurgis, Ona, Jurgis’s father, Jonas, and Marija. When they arrived Jonas luckily encountered the man he was talking about. His name was Jokubas and he should them a place to live which was next to Packingtown. They decided to live there. These were tenement houses, they were crowded with foreigners, really tight, and it smelled really badly. Jokubas takes the family on a tour of Packingtown. They are disturbed by all the blood and killing of the animal but Jurgis is excited to start working. His job is to sweep the remainders of the cattle off the ground. The family finds a paper advertising the sale of four-room homes and it seems that they can make the payments. The family goes for a tour of the house but they are disappointed as it doesn’t look like what they saw in the advertisement. Jokubas later tells them that it is probably a scam and they want to steal your money. They then decide to get a lawyer when he tells him that everything is in order. When Jurgis finds out they made the deal he is furious but he later find out it was safe.
Jurgis: he is the man of the family and he wants what best for them, especially for Ona and his children. He likes to work and in Lithuania he worked in harsh conditions so built a body that later helped him get other jobs. He is really precautious and optimistic. When he gets his job in the US he is really excited even though it has to do with cleaning the entrails of animals. He spends his money when he has to and doesn’t want to make any stupid mistakes. That’s why he freaked out when they closed the deal on the house.
Ona: she is fragile and easily frightened, as when she worries about the cost of the wedding. She trust Jurgis a lot and she takes care of her family as well, mostly around the house. She cares a lot about her children as she doesn’t want them to work but go to school.

Kyle Cottrell

5/9/2012 12:56:48 pm

Abraham lincoln vampire hunter
pages 63-123
so what has happened in what i have read. Abe has met a vampire but he is a good vampire. and this good vampire teaches him how to more successfully kill bad vampires. The good vampire also says to "not judge us equally" because some vampires are good. And the way that Abe confronts conflict is to kill the other person. he is usually getting into conflict with vampires and his goal in life is to get rid of all vampires everywhere because they are evil. He took a flat boat down the mississippi and it was very fun and peaceful for him. then he arrived in new orleans and he met edgar allen poe (this was before he was famous) and they bonded over vampires. Poe wanted to study them because he found it very interesting that they defy the laws of.. like everything, and abe just wants to kill them all. this is as far as i have gotten but so far i love the book. i am very glad that i picked it.

Carelen

5/9/2012 01:28:47 pm

I totally should have read this book.

(No, Mrs. Moore, I do not believe this is going to count as my blog response, I'm just saying...)

Paloma Estrada

5/10/2012 12:01:03 pm

This book looks super interesting. I like it because its an original and creative idea and I like how I cant predict the ending. So far, it looks like a lot has happened and I would love to get to know more about the history of these vampires and how involved in society they are as well as if Abe is portrayed as honest or if there’s a whole new side. Also, I wonder if Abe is nice and just wants to rid the world of evil, or likes killing them all because he’s mean. Its also cool how they include other historical references in their like mentioning Edgar Allen Poe. Combining history with fictional creatures was a good spin off the vampire idea. It sounds kind of funny in a way, like the author was making fun of a certain concept. I feel like I should read this because it sounds interesting and clever.

JT Strabala

5/13/2012 12:11:26 pm

So in this book Abraham Lincon hunts vampires, that dosn't seem very believeable. And im preety sure Poe and were in different countries at the time. And Poe was more concerned with the aspect of writing, he was a coward. Also the fact that Vampires, according to legend, didn't exist in America, this story has no historical reference except for the fact that their names are in history books. But other than the historical reference this book looks totaly awsome. I definitely on my reading list for this summer.

Laura Williams

5/13/2012 04:37:02 pm

This book sounds so interesting. I think it is super cool that they took one of our presidents and made him into a vampire hunter. That is not something your average person thinks of writing about and I think it is a good idea. I also like that they got Edgar Allen Poe involved. I think that combining these two historical figures into the same book and then also making it about vampire hunting is quite the creative idea. And I think that perhaps it says something about the characters in that Poe seems to want to handle things a lot more peacefully while Lincoln just wants to kill. You really get a good idea of what the characters are like just by looking at how they handle conflict.

Brittany Withouski <3

5/9/2012 01:16:19 pm

In the novel, The Boy In the Stripped Pajamas the main character is named Bruno and he is 9 years old. He is forced to move with his family because of his father’s job; his father works for Hitler. Bruno has many conflicts so far in this book but the ones that stand out the most are his insecurity and his unknowing of his father’s job. Outside of Bruno’s window there is a plain a few hundred feet away where there are fences and men in matching stripped pajamas. Bruno has no idea why these men are there and who they are so he tries to figure out what his father does in order to know why the men are there. Bruno has a sister named Gretel and she tells him that they are in the country, but he is curious as to why there is no grass and animals. This makes Bruno want to ask his dad who the people are but every opportunity he has he can’t find the right way to ask. Bruno got so bored one day so he decided to build a swing in the backyard and when he did he fell off and went unconscious. The butler/cook saw the accident happen and rushed out to help him. Bruno was not suppose to talk to this man but he did anyways and was grateful he helped him. Once his mother came home he told her all about it but while Bruno wasn’t around she told the Butler that is anyways asks, she will say that he took care of him. This shows the separation between people during this time and the fact that Bruno being only at 9 years old, doesn’t understand anything that is going on.

Isabella Araujo

5/11/2012 03:32:52 am

I saw this movie and it was definitely one that brought me too tears. I’m sure the book is just as good from how it’s sounding. I can see what Brittany is saying when she explains how the separation between the people at the time was so strict and judgmental. Its sad to say that little kids who thought everyone was equal were being taught that if you looked different or had a different religion you were less than someone. Its shows how society teaches us to judge and we aren’t born thinking people are less than us.

Brittany Shumate

5/9/2012 02:51:19 pm

Book: Empire of the Sun
Blog 2: I have read pages 70-140 and as we pick up where we left off. Jim is now staying with the American soldiers Frank and Basie. It seems that Basie is trying to sell Jim off to Chinese traders, but they won’t take him and Jim is too tired to care. Jim told Basie about his house and all the riches in it and the other houses in his neighborhood. Basie and Frank have Jim take them there and when they arrive, Japanese soldiers have occupied the houses and capture them. Jim and Basie end up in a dilapidated open-air cinema used by the Japanese as a mini camp; Frank is gone. For the next few months, Jim takes care of the old and ailing Basie until they and other prisoners are transported to Lunghua Camp.
Jim is the main character and he grows up in an environment that is sheltered; he is a rich kid living the good life in China, going to a private school and lavish parties on the weekends. His life is suddenly changed dramatically and he goes from being a rich boy to scavenging for food in abandoned mansions. He has to grow up very quickly and take care of Basie and other prisoners in the camp whilst his hope for the war to end fading every day.
Basie is the American sailor that picks up Jim and takes care of him, but who is actually trying to sell him off. Basie only sticks with Jim because he needs him to take care of him and get things for him. As soon as somebody else comes that has more to offer than Jim, Basie drops Jim. Yet Jim still stays with Basie because he needs to survive. Basie is also trying to survive, but in a more unpleasant way.

Kacie McBarron

5/13/2012 05:11:16 pm

This book sounds quite fascinating. I love capture books like this. I believe my book can related to yours due to both of our characters are uncomfortable with the recent event that will change their lives forever. My character, Regina was kidnapped by indians, while yours is trying to survive. when ever i read books like this i can't help but think what it must be like for them, its quite sad because the people didnt have any choice. Also the strange thing about books like this is that there is a possibility that it has happened to someone, my book is based on a true story so technically it happened to regina but other books it's written down but it's a fictional character instead of a real person.

Jack Foley

5/9/2012 03:34:34 pm

Mosque in Moscow

well this is not the original book I picked but I will follow the rubric the characters in my book are not fictional and the so called main character is call Sultan as in his race I his display of solveing problems seems quite diplomatic since he surrendered to the german army and joined their military sultan speaks german and does not like the sovietss although he was serving with them.

Jordan Kelley

5/10/2012 04:08:46 am

My book is very strange because it has weird ways of how they nazi's killed jews. Some which I have never heard of before and how odd but how intense they make it seem and how crual it was but it is mostly about how Germany got to be that powerful with Hitler in power and it was baffling to see how much they did and how much hitler did to help Germany in that Depression yes he was a very crual man but a great leader.

Jordan Kelley

5/10/2012 04:10:48 am

The book is titled "IN THE GARDEN OF BEASTS" by ERIK LARSON. It has a lot of action but some parts do not make sense and it is a great book to write a "Dear Abby Letter" on.

Ashley Cotten

5/10/2012 08:05:43 am

Ashley Cotten
Period 4
Book: The Help

I’ve been lagging so much on my reading, but every time I pick up this book I don’t want to stop! The book switches between the point of view of Minny and Aibileen. Last week I left off on page 27, and now I’m up to page 60. At this point in the book I’ve really gotten to know Aibileen, and she is hilarious, but also has to deal with many tough situations. All of Aibileen’s friend’s joke around that she is magic because whenever she prays for people, there problems are solved. Despite the death of her son, and her lack of money, Aibileen always has hope and gets up everyday to go out and work hard for the white women. Her best friend, Minny was recently fired from being a maid at Miss Hilly’s house, who is a completely racists, rich, and rude socialite. There’s a lot of foreshadowing as to why she was fired, but I’m sure many of you know if you’ve seen the movie or read the book. Minny is trying to find her a new job but both her and Aibileen are scared that Miss Hilly is spreading awful rumors about Minny to all the white women looking for maid services.

Miss Celia Foote, who is pretty much the southern Marylyn Monroe according to the book is looking for a maid to clean her huge house, but many have turned down the offer. Minny goes to her house for an interview, and his to tell herself not to be too sassy or else she might not get hired. It comes to Minny’s surprise that Miss Foote is extremely nice and asks Minny when she wants to work, how much she should pay her, and even asks her to teach her how to cook. Miss Foote is a horrible cook, and has a great time learning how to make dinner with Minny.

A conflict in the story so far is that Miss Foote doesn’t want her husband to know she has hired help. Minny keeps asking her why because she is scared if he cached a “colored woman” in his kitchen, he’ll shoot her. Minny makes sure she leaves before he comes home and doesn’t leave things too clean so it seems like Miss Foote did it herself. Minny is very kind in solving her problems, because she was taught from a young age not to “sass” the white women she works for. Minny gives Miss Foote a few months before she has to tell her husband, or else Minny won’t work in secrecy anymore. We can see that something is going to happen with their relationship with his foreshadowing confliction. Both Aibileen and Minny are always there for each other to help each other out with their problems, but are surprised when they feel like they can make friends and even trust the good white women of Mississippi such as Skeeter and Miss Foote.

Jocelyn Melendez

5/10/2012 12:48:55 pm

Jocelyn Melendez
Period 1
Vixen

I enjoyed watching the Help so much, so its great to hear that the movie and the book sound pretty similar! From what I read in your post, it shows how cruel some white southerners could be. Like when you talked about Miss Hilly talking to all the white women looking for maid services so they wouldn’t hire Minny. It doesn’t even give her a chance to start over and provide for her family, but nobody sees past what Hilly says about Minny. They just see a rebellious African American woman, who wouldn’t listen to her employer. Also, another example of how horrible things were back then for discrimination against African Americans is that Ms. Celia Foote believes her husband will shoot Minny if he catches her at the house. I think it’s highly likely that if the help was white, Ms. Celia Foote wouldn’t think that but because they are in the South its only logical to jump to such a conclusion.

I don’t know much else about this time besides the extreme discrimination in this time even though African Americans had gained their freedom. They were still slaves to society’s restriction on them because they couldn’t hold high position jobs and were treated very poorly. Naturally this ignited rebellion in many African Americans, and fortunately, they started fighting more for their equality and gained some more civil rights.

Bailee Davis

5/12/2012 10:27:28 am

I now want to read this book after reading your description! I haven't seen the movie either so this gives me a vivid description of the book so far. I don't know if Abilieen's son is a big part in the story but I would like to know how he died and why she doesn't have much money? Miss Hilly seems like a really rude person and I don't think anyone appreciates her spreading these false rumors around to other women! Even though during this time period, white people probably did much more awful things to their maids or slaves and I think that is horrible too.

alexmoon

5/10/2012 08:06:32 am

Animal Farm
I've read from page 86 to 123, and I've noticed that the characters in this book seem to be inspired by major leaders in Russia's communism movement and the USSR. The pigs represent the leaders, the ones who have ideas and manipulate the other animals. The dogs represents the smart supporters of the leaders that use their positions to give themselves more power. The horses represent people that are nice and hardworking, but too stupid to realize they are being used. Benjamin the donkey represents people who know that everything the leaders are saying is fake, and aren't easily swayed by them. The stupid animals represent the general worker, who is manipulated to only be loyal to the leader because they are unable to figure anything out for themselves. Major characters are snowball, a pig who has plans to make the farm modern and convenient, Napoleon, a pig who is manipulative and smart, and believes that animals only succeed with hard work, Boxer, a hardworking horse that is loyal to the farm and Napoleon, and Benjamin, an old donkey who is much smarter than the other animals and isn't swayed by the lies of the smarter pigs. These characters generally handle conflict in a wide variety of ways : Snowball is a talker that uses his persuasive speeches to sway other animal's opinions, Napoleon uses brute force to get what he wants, Boxer does anything he's told, using the phrase "I will work harder" instead of figuring out the real reason things are the way they are, and Benjamin doesn't really care much, saying that "things will always be the way they were, bad". Napoleon most likely represents Stalin, and Snowball represents Trotsky, who was forced to leave the USSR after Stalin gained power.

Carelen Camero

5/10/2012 02:12:33 pm

I loved "Animal Farm" when I read it in the 8th grade and I am so not surprised that you picked this one, Moon. :D (I'm going to try and do this response without giving anything of the book away, since I've already read it.)

One of the things that I always thought was interesting about this allegory was that the animals used to represent the Communist leaders were pigs. I mean, biologically, pigs are highly intelligent creatures, so that would make sense. But, and I don't know about you, when I think of pigs, intelligence is not the first quality that comes to my mind.

I don't even actually have an answer to why the author chose pigs to represent the more intelligent characters, it has just always been an interesting question to me.

aaron galindo

5/11/2012 02:38:38 pm

i on the other hand have never read animal farm but it does sound really interesting. i'm also confused on why pigs were used to represent the manipulative leaders. as far as most comics and generalizations go pigs would represent greedy creatures much like the fat cats are often used to depict american companies. its a very odd concept of why they lazy sloppy animal plays one of the more dominate roles

aaron galindo

5/10/2012 11:12:25 am

Pg 128

The main character is Ishmael who when the story started was a young innocent boy with fear of the rebels. As the story progresses the death of a friend enrages gim and be joins the government army into a new routine of life where instead of running killing becomes a daily thing for him.

So after Ishmael finds the village where family is is most likely at, he becomes furious and begins to beat the man who held them up by asking the boys to do him a favor. Blaming him for not being able to see his family Ishmael said “I would have rather been there when the rebels attacked that way when I died I was at least with my family. The young boys are yet again on the move. Eventually they reach a village that is controlled by the army and is peaceful. No one here lived in fear and the children played games. The soldiers fought hard against the rebels determined to take the village. One day it was announced by the lieutenant that the village was no longer safe and that if you could not help the army it was in your best interest to leave. Although the next day a couple people attempted to leave the next day even when the lieutenant said it was unsafe and they were killed by rebels. So he and his friends decided to join the army and one day during an ambush he say a friend die and became furious, this is when he became a killer.

Zach Carlson

5/10/2012 12:30:54 pm

Your book sounds really intreasting. I would like to know more about this as seeing this has become a big thing latly with children army's and kony, if the part when he becomes a killer is when he is young.

Jasmine Espindola

5/13/2012 03:21:19 pm

This book sounds like an interesting story about a little boy who has to mature at a young age because of all that is going on around him.My book is also sort of like this because the main character luke is always at the wrong place at the wrong time. This causes him to be a witness to several murders and even the birth of a child who is born to a 15 year old girl who is not married in the 1950's. Can you please tell me where the story takes place because I know there has been a lot of problems like this with families being displaced in a lot of countries (Like the whole Kony thing that is happening now). Anyway, I find your book really interesting. Can you writye the book title next time because i relly want to read it.Thanks

Paloma Estrada

5/10/2012 11:33:49 am

My book, Shanghai Girls, has gotten pretty interesting so far. The two main characters, May and Pearl, have had their lives go from perfect, to terrible in a matter of days. First, they are forced to get married to these unfamiliar men in order to pay off their fathers’ debt. A few days later, however, terrorists from a group of Japanese rebels attack shanghais shoreline by bombing everything they can, including the man May truly loves. So the city is in total chaos and so many have died. But when they don’t follow through, they find out that Shanghais largest gang was involved and then forced to comply by moving to America. I would say that both of these girls do very well with conflict because they stay calm and composed nearly the entire time throughout each tragedy. Although they deal with it well, they are still so hurt and disappointed at the fact that their lives are no longer the way they wanted to live them. Everything they know is about to be taken from them and their being forced into a very unfamiliar world. May and Pearl are pretty self-centered though, considering how the world revolves around them. Every time they see something awful happening, it never effects them unless it directly involves them. In general, they are pretty likable characters except for that aspect.

Brad Power

5/10/2012 03:41:20 pm

Your book sounds like it would make a movie with all of the action and drama. It's funny that the two girls who should be scared and terrified about what is going to happen to them are calm and relaxed. It sounds like a good book though with the gangs and and a rebel invasion. The book is probably very suspenceful, which is always good.

Jocelyn Melendez

5/10/2012 12:33:56 pm

Jocelyn Melendez
Period 1
Vixen

I’ve read from page 27-95 this week and the novel’s plot still seems to be preparing the readers for upcoming conflict. I think that’s sort of exciting because even thought right now its just kind of background information on the characters and some new game changing information, the readers don’t know how the characters will deal with those problems.

Characters:
-Gloria Carmody is an exemplary student, with great grades and involvement in various clubs. However, when she becomes engaged to Sebastian Grey (aka Bastian) she feels that there is something missing in her life. That she’s been living her life too safe, and that she should do what she wants until she has to get married. So she has begun sneaking out of her house with friends to visit Chicago’s most popular speakeasy, the Green Mill. Gloria seems to handle conflict by becoming more stubborn about her point of view on something, for example, when she got her hair bobbed, her mother and fiancé were mad. But this only makes her happier about her choice because she sees how they disapprove of what she did, which makes her feel like a flapper.
-Clara Knowles is a reformed flapper trying to keep her past hidden in Chicago as she visits the Carmody family, to help her cousin Gloria plan the wedding. In what I’ve read so far, we learn that Clara is only a reformed flapper because she was arrested for stealing a policeman’s car when they were busy raiding a speakeasy she had just escaped from. Her parents bailed her out but threatened to disown her if she didn’t leave her flapper ways behind, she wouldn’t mind this but she thought it might be a good choice to go back because she seems to be avoiding a man in New York because he broke her heart and for another event, not yet revealed. Clara seems to handle conflict by avoiding the subject if possible because she found a note on her bed saying “I found you” and she got very nervous and simply hid it, out of sight so she wouldn’t have to think about it.
-Lorraine Dyer (aka Raine) is Gloria’s friend who seems to live in Gloria’s shadow, which she tries to avoid by being rebellious. We haven’t learned too much about her character yet besides the fact she has a crush on her and Gloria’s friend, Marcus Eastman. Lorraine seems to handle conflict by becoming more desperate for attention and vying harder to be the center of attention.

Connections: (based on what I’ve learned in history, English, and dance about the 1920s)
-New money was looked down upon by the old money in society, which is why Gloria’s mother wants her to marry Bastian, so that she can get his last name’s legacy (old money).
-Even though old money were involved in illegal events, such as attending speakeasies, they still looked down upon the new money because they became wealthy through illegal means instead of family money inheritance, like they had.
-Charleston was an increasingly popular at this time, all the flappers were dancing the Charleston in the Green Mill, and Lorraine tried to do it as well, but it wasn’t as natural to her as it was to the flappers.
-The 1920s was very segregated, at the Green Mill, there is an all African American Jazz group. Jerome Johnson is the Green Mill’s pianist and some commented that he was going to become the next Jelly Roll Morton.

Aurora Roberts

5/10/2012 12:34:03 pm

In my book The General Son by Miko Peled,I have read pages So far the main character is Miko Peled. He is talking about his experiences though out this child hood in the high school.How everyone knows his has the general`s son. He would stay up extra late sometimes just so he can talk to his father over the kitchen table sharing desserts. Then he talks about how he was sent into being an Israeli soldier and meet his wife there when he go injured and became an paramedic basically. He then starts talking about how he started karate and how it impacted his life. He would work for long hours a day just so he can become a first degree black belt. Later he had to chose between going back to being a soldier or keep going with his love for karate. He chose to be karate and it was the best decision he has made. He talks about his back-packing adventure though India, later on Miko goes though another tragedy that another one of his family member have died and he has to make another trip back up to help with everything. This influences him to be more of a peace maker and help spread that everyone can be equal. He talks about how he talks to his dad and also the issues he goes though with his dad. Miko conflict though out the story that I have read so far in the book is that he has to follow in the foot steps of this great general dad.

Megan Galloway

5/10/2012 03:38:31 pm

Sounds pretty cool AJ! I also like how you stated that he believe's karate to be one of the best decisions he's ever made. Wasdin, the main speaker in my book SEAL Team Six, says that his greatest mission or accomplishment was when he directly disobeyed orders to save a young boy who had his feet blown off while he was at school. I think that's pretty cool, and it rhymes. If your book says what Miko looks like, I'd really like to know! As to how far you've gotten in the book, is he older or young? If he's young, he's gone through a lot! Probably close to Wasdin's tragedies as well.

Connor McGrath

5/10/2012 01:42:27 pm

Connor McGrath
Unbroken
Pgs 27-90

summary: Louie ends up losing the 1936 olympics but he shows everyone how much potential he has. It's being held in Germany and signs of whats about to happen are prominent. He trains for the 1940 olympics. They were going to be held in Japan but the location got switched to Finland. Louie realizes that there isn't going to be a 1940 olympics because of the impending war. He gets drafted into the war and is assigned the job of bombardier. He and his crew train in their plane for combat. Their first mission was a counter attack on Wake Atoll, a small island with a US naval base that had been taken over by the japanese. It ends up being successful. At the part that i left of at the author is talking about the incredibly small chance of being rescued a person that survived a plane crash had.

Characters:
Phil- level headed, reacts well under pressure, mature
Louie- Reacts well under pressure, a little immature at times, plays pranks
Pete- Louie's older brother, "perfect"

Maddy Williamson

5/13/2012 03:47:54 pm

This book sounds very interesting to me! i love how it ties in a huge well known event and the war. I never have even thought that that was postponed because of war so it sounds nice to learn about the olympians who were recruited. I never would have guessed that they had to risk their lives in order to protect their country. I would like to know how it ends to see if any olympians were injured in war to the point where all of their dreams were ruined because they were too injured to compete! That question would keep me interested enough to finish the book.

Luke Kullberg

5/10/2012 02:14:28 pm

Jackie Robinson
Pg. 62-82

After high school, Jackie Robinson went to Pasadena Junior College. Here he broke records in track and baseball. He won the regions Most Valuable Player and was elected to All-Southland Junior College team. During his tenure at PJC, his closest brother Frank Robinson died in a motorcycle accident.

After Jackie's success for baseball in Junior College, he transferred to UCLA in 1939. He became the first athlete to letter in four different sports: baseball, basketball, football, and track. What’s ironic about Jackie's years at UCLA is that baseball was his least successful sport. He also met his future wife (Rachel Isum) his senior year. In early 1941, Jackie dropped out of college right before graduation to pursue a job as an assistant athletic director with the government's National Youth Administration. After this job, he continued playing semi-professional football for the Honolulu Bears and the Los Angeles Bulldogs. His career but put to a halt when Pearl Harbor was attacked.

In these chapters, I learned a lot about the main character Jackie Robinson. I learned how he handled conflicts and how his life changed once his closest brother Frank died. It was a life-changing event but he still stayed focused so he could achieve his ultimate dream in honor of his brother. We also learned how he handled racists. In 1938, he was arrested and became suspended for two years because of his dispute with a white teacher on giving one of his friend’s detention for no reason.

Jake Finley

5/13/2012 04:30:13 am

Yeah Luke Jackie Robinson is pretty cool and its ironic we just read about him in History because he was the first African American to play in the MLB. That crazy I didn't know he was so good at multiple sports. He changed professional sports and opened a path for African American athletes to get into pros. yah luke

michael beeson

5/10/2012 02:42:11 pm

Micheal beeson
period 4
night

The main charecter in this book is Elli Wiesle. He is just a boy when he has to be but into a consintration camp. Before the camp, he was a free spereted religious boy who had his whole life open to him. after he gets put into the camp he slowly starts to lose his faith after seeing his friends and family and people that he doesnt even know pray day after day and still die. When i say die i mean killed brutely or even just die from starvation or sickness. If i was in his situation i would to lose my faith. I mean you pray to this god that is supposed to help you out in times of trouble but when they need him the most hes not there to help. I would lose faith fast. But in the story Elli is a strong indevidual that at first is timmid and scaired but latter becomes a faithless bad ass. He starts to not cair what they do to him. he almost becomes numb. in my book he is one of the strongest people ive heard about. He handles his stuggle (in my oppinion) very well. he is open minded, he helps others out and he also helps people keep their faith even though he lossed hi own.

Sarah Rigoli

5/10/2012 02:57:48 pm

I like how you said that your character Elli Wiesle becomes numb because that is how many of the camp refugees felt after their whole life was ripped from their hands. It is hard for me to even to begin to relate to your character because nothing that harsh has occured in my life like the pain delt by survivors and victims of the holocaust. I always find it difficult to believe the human race can turn into such a malacious race. I would like to know if they have talked about any brain washing tactics in the novel your reading because I have read about the huge controversy about how people suspect that was the cause of the genocide of the jewish race and many other races as well. I wish i could learn more about this topic or even read a book written by a former Nazi to see what was going on in their minds as well because only then can a person grasp the full concept of what really happened it what exactly was the cause.

SarahRigoli

5/10/2012 02:47:02 pm

Book: Emma
period 1
Ive actually finished my book from page since last time and ive read from 50-200

I picked up from where Emma Goldman was in russia and was planning to move to the U.S for bigger and better opportunities. She is sick of being treated harshly in her textile working factory and she is ready to move on to an environment that is new and where she can meet people such as herself. She does not exactly meet a ligitimate job but instead friends in a pub in new york. The scene starts off with one of her newly found friends whom introduces her to ALexander Berkman(whom everyone called Sasha) was a guy with opinions to go on for miles, like herself. He is strong willed and has a nonchalant attitude but Emma is quickly drawn to him and decides to help him with posting up posters about the corruption of the government. He is an anarchist and free spirit just like Emma and they automatically connect. He too is drawn to her witt and ideas of femenism and views towards the government as well.

Eventually Emma, Sasha and their friends rent an apartment (in 1885)together and decide to put their radical minds to good use and make impacting speeches to anyone who would listen.

To many Emma's views on prisons, atheism, freedom of speech, militarism, capitalism, marriage, free love, and homosexuality. Her views were different than most and she was speculated by the public eye and political figures who were getting fed up with Goldman and her radical thinking partners. Throughout their protests and speeches Goldman began to fall for Sasha hard. They had an open relationship but she seemed to contradict herself throughout this relationship. Emma would want to be with him yet she did not want strings attached. She was a complicated woman.

The climax of the story is when Berkman begins to plan to assassinate Henry Clay Frick as an act of the propaganda act.Sasha's friends beg him not to or offer to help him but he is big headed and believes it is his duty even if he must die. He is very dramatic and he ends up facing 22 years in prison. This moment in historyroused the working-class strikers to unite and revolt against the capitalist system.

While in prison Sasha and Goldman keep a relationship even without seeing one another at all. His friends decide to buy a house near the prison that sasha is in so that they can help him escape. They all begin to help build an underground tunnel from the house to Sasha's cell, but before he can escape their tunnel is discovered. Eventually Emma Goldman begins doing even more speeches and more people are following her talks. Years later Sasha and Emma's relationship fizzles away and a suave man, Ben Reitman, is intrigued by Emma's strong and bold personality and at first she is not interested but she begins to fall for him. They have an intimate relationship and they write deep love letters to one another where Emma revealed to Reitman, "You came to me like a stroke of lightning, kindling my soul and my body with mad passion, as I have never known before." Reitman not only makes Goldman feel loved but he helps Emma by setting up huge meetings acting like a manager for her and setting up her lectures about free love and many of her views on how women should be independent. Emma was very ahead of her time when it came to women's rights and the majority of people thought she was outrageous. No matter what people said she continued to speak her mind. When it came close to recuiting soldiers to fight for WWI the goverment began to keep a close eye on her to make sure she did not try to speak out against going to war or supporting the war. They threatened her and planned to get her deported back to Russia if she succeeded. Like they predicted Emma made a huge and passionate speech to many where she put oppressed against WWI stating that we are being controlled by the capitalists and that the people deporting men to war are cowards for making other men die for their freedom. the crowd roared for her and she was taken off stage by force and later on deported back to Russia.

Maddy Williamson

5/10/2012 02:51:01 pm

Period 4
Pages: 1074/1284 (weird kindle version)
So far i have learned more about RuPaul and his past. I have received all of the secrets about how he transforms himself as well as learned how he feels about certain things in society. RuPaul faces each problem or situation head on. He thinks logically and acts what he feels is appropriate. He is a man who knows what looks good on others and he knows how to treat people. The ways of life he talks about in this book is the way i want to be. My favorite quote so far used in the book is "It is none of my business what other people think about me". Im my opinion this book shows me how RuPaul handles things. For example i learned that this is one of the many ways RuPaul handles drama. You cannot please everyone and you shouldn't focus on what others say about you. This book has taught me to do what i love and that is it. RuPaul deals with his problems by knowing himself and doing what he loves and not letting what others think get to him. I have learned how strong of a person he is and i respect him so much more for it! He has to stay strong otherwise he wouldn't be such an amazing role model for people everywhere.

Josh Kessell (Kody as Maddy says)

5/13/2012 03:59:46 pm

That sounds like a good book. I like how you explain how RuPaul deals with his problems by doing what he thinks is best. Not what others may want him to do. That sounds like you Maddy. I think you are like him in the way that it doesnt matter to you what others think and I feel like that makes you a much stronger person than other people. I feel the same way. I really dont care what others think. I do have a problem however in the sense that I sorta just say what ever is on my mind as its on my mind because I dont care what others think. Oh well I guess thats my flaw but Who cares right?

Brad Power

5/10/2012 03:32:43 pm

The Maine marine corpsman is doc Bradley. He was a preacher before he joined the marine corps, so the men in his company call him father. Being only 22, Doc Bradley is the same age if not older than the men he saving. My book describes him as being one heck of a hero, racing back forth from the front lines, saving wounded young men. The other five flag raisers are barely men and deal with initial shock of combat by aimlessly running around and screaming for their mothers. Others are paralyzed with fear And can do nothing but watch in awe as the men they trained with are killed. The book explains the effect combat had on the boys instead of their personalities or who they were before the war. The boys also have to cope with physiological things like not being able to see the enemy they were fighting, and knowing the enemy was stalking them, waiting to kill them while they slept at night.

Megan Galloway

5/10/2012 03:33:56 pm

SEAL Team Six
Currently at Page 240

SEAL Team Six
Currently at Page 240

As from my last blog response, Wasdin, the writer and main character of this book, has undergone many trials to become a part of SEAL Team Six- that of which he is a part of now. He is currently a part of the Red Team and the Black Team, two divisions of SEAL Team Six, and has been deployed with 3 others as well as a few from the Delta Unit to Pakistan. He is currently on a mission to kill or capture Aidid, a rebellious leader killing Pakistani soldiers currently stationed to protect American Assets, as well as other Pakistanis.
Since many things cannot be completely described, the only character we have a lot of background to is Wasdin. He is a military personnel whom the angrier he gets, the quieter he gets. We can see this when his team was so close to killing Aidid, and the military said no to their only chance. After that, they had to change locations.
Wasdin is also known to be caring. One can see this because of when a teenage boy who went to school days earlier day had his feet destroyed by a buried bomb caught gangrene, Wasdin and Casanova did a hard entry- to enter the house by kicking down the door with guns and tie up the family inside- and went to work by bringing the boy back inside and treating his wounds, even though it was directly against orders. Even though he didn't follow his orders as to not blow their cover, Wasdin believed it to be one of his greatest missions he's ever had to accomplish.
I'd honestly like to say that so far I'm really enjoying this book! It's a little hard to do some of the blogs, but I really do like it so far. :)

Lexy Perez

5/13/2012 12:00:43 pm

This sounds like a very emotional and deep book. Something like this book would be kind of difficult for me to read. This book almost sounds similar to the book "The Things We Carry". I can see how Wasdin has a lot of compassion. If I was a part of this book it would be difficult for me not to help someone in need. I, much like how I see Wasdin to be like, am very compassionate no matter what side I'm on. Growing up on sports fields I've always been the one to pick someone up when they got hurt no matter if they were on my team or not. But it is nice to see a character who is like that in a real life situation.

Kevin Fahey

5/13/2012 04:51:40 pm

Megan your description of what you have read this week has gotten me preety intertested in your book. From what I can take from your post the book seems to be very informative and tells action packed stories about Wasdin's time in Seal Team Six. Wasdin seemed like a caring and strong minded person, you did a great job of showing that throughout your post. Books usually don't come off as fun to mean but will probably end up reading this book in the near future.

Mollie Privett

5/10/2012 03:59:12 pm

Water for Elephants

Since page 40 of the book, I have read to page 201. I seriously cannot put this book down; it’s such an amazing story so far with complex characters, dialogue, descriptions and conflicts. It has turned out to be MUCH better then the movie; it’s literally so much more detailed and just all together a better piece. Anyways, since I left off, there is so much I can say that has happened. But in summary, August (One of the main characters who is Marlena’s husband and a director of the circus) invited Jacob to dinner in order to get to know him more. At the dinner, Jacob meets Marlena for the first time. Jacob begins to tend to Marlena’s horse because her horse is injured. This is the first time that the readers see how delicate and loving Jacob is to animals. He is so passionate and thoughtful about animals that it foreshadows how caring his character is. Unfortunately, the star horse of the circus, Silverstar, has a bone disfunction and he has to be put down. Marlena is terrified and distraught by this because she, like Jacob, is one with animals and her horse means so much to her. Readers can see how Jacob and Marlena have much in common with each other and throughout the book they become closer and closer. Chapter seven introduces Kinko, another performed that is living on the train, and who has to room with Jacob in the horse’s train cart. Kinko is extremely stand offish and literally despises Jacob. As he shakes his head and cusses at Jacob when Jacob looked at his magazines without him asking. However, as the chapters go on, Kinko begins to open up to Jacob. Slowly but surely we see a progressing friendship begin to form because Kinko understands Jacob on a personal level. Many relationships begin to grow whether it’s on a good level or not so good. August begins to develop a jealously for Jacob because he can tell that something is different about Marlena. He can tell that she is interested in Jacob so that obviously makes him very upset. One night when August invites Jacob out again with him and Marlena, they go to a nice dinner club but a raid begins and everyone has to flee. Jacob and Marlena hide in a near-by alley and without hesitation Jacob kisses her. This sparked a lot of controversy in the story because many relationships hindered from that one kiss. Marlena now feels awkward because she cheated on her husband even though she didn’t propose the kiss. Jacob feels like an idiot for betraying August, who remains his boss, but he has mixed emotions because he admits that he is beginning to love Marlena. Meanwhile, Kinko figured out what happened between the two so now he is just a by-stander in the situation.

Chapter nine introduces one of the most important characters in the whole book. Uncle Al (main leader of the circus) orders the circus train to travel to a town about 3 days away in order to pick up any left over perfomers or workers from a previous circus that just closed down there. While there he pays 400 dollars for an amazing elephant (they called a “bull”) named Rosie. Rosie is admired by Jacob and Marlena but to everyone else she is nothing but a “stupid animal”. I personally found that many characters’ light was exposed in chapters 9 and 10 because I could interpret them from how they interacted with the elephant. August and other workers like Blackie and his crew constantly beat the elephant with the bull hook. Jacob was completely angered by this and even when he was debating about leaving (In chapter 10) he declared that he could not leave his animals behind especially Rosie. Jacob is one of the most passionate characters I have ever uncovered in a book. I truly admire how much he cares for Rosie; he even goes to the trouble of allowing Rosie to eat vegetables from random people’s yards, and he will never use the bull hook on her. He is absolutely amazed by the elephant as the readers see the one of a kind bond that begins to form between the two.

In chapter 14, a huge conflict is revealed. One of workers who is stationed in many train carts back from Jacob, named Camel, has become ill. Camel is an elder man who is extremely wise and has definitely lived through it all. Long story short, one day he complains that he is losing feeling in his legs. He pleads to Jacob to tell him what’s wrong, and even though Jacob isn’t a human doctor, he tries to figure it out. However, Jacob wants a professional to come up with a diagnosis. Since Jacob has literally no money, he gives his prized possession, his dad’s watch, to the doctor (since he has no money to give him). This shows how much Jacob really cares about everyone around him, he is completely selfless and is always willing to help others before himself.

Anna Bill

5/13/2012 11:01:06 am

Wow Molls, you should have just rewritten the whole book!

But I actually read this book also and I have the same feelings about it so far. I think that the way that the dialogue and plot occurs in the story is much more appealing than the movie. As far as the conflict with Jacob, I think that was a good interpretation of what kind of person he is. I definitely didn't feel the same way about him when I was reading this, but I like the way you think. I also agree that he is one of the more passionate characters in the book.

Emily Arnold

5/11/2012 03:34:21 am

I have finshed my book. Bascially, Catherine is miserable as queen and has her cousin set up a night with her love, Thomas Culpeper. Then, Francis Dereham, a man who she lost her virginty to, comes and causes trouble for the Queen. In the end, Francis goes to the King and tells him the truth and both he and Thomas die. Catherine is tried and arrested. SHe never sees the King again. In the end, she is beheaded. Catherine was only 15 when she was killed. She was the least known of Henry's Queens but she was one of the most loved. She was young, naive, pretty and not very clever. Se let the ambitons of her family rule her life and that became her downfall in the end. I find my heart going out ot her at what happened. She was foolish and not in love with her husband. Her story is a tragic one and one that not very many people remeber. I love this book and have read it countless times.

Margarita Navarro p.2

5/13/2012 07:15:32 am

thsi seems like a really good book for you because i know that you like this type of history/ era. is this like real? like did this happen in real life back then? i love to know more about it!

Airean Gillig

5/18/2012 03:52:51 am

I know everybody posts the same thing on like every response for this blog thing but this book seems pretty interesting/ cool I guess. SO, catherine got beheaded for like not really a goooood reason right? It's like a lot of nonsense but it does sound good though. It's sad that she dies along with the other guys too but it's also very sad that "no one" remembers her story. That would suck! Even if it was an important i just think it's bad for people not to remember! I don't like the king! he sounds like a jerk! I mean....lust compared to love! Come on man! soooo wrong! He sould'of died haha! I'll check this book out for myself! I want to read the whole story that builds up to the climax of the story then I'll fully understand the meaning of this book.

Isabella Araujo

5/11/2012 03:49:43 am

Period 4
The Help
This week I from 84-109, I’ve been pretty busy this week with not a lot of time to read so not much has changed in the story. Minny is still working for Mrs. Celia, but Mrs. Celia still hasn’t told her husband she has hired help. Minny cleans her house everyday and gives her cooking lessons so that her husband thinks she’s a good wife. We still haven’t found out as to why Celia hasn’t told her husband but in chapter 4 as Minny is cleaning her husband comes home and she has to hide in the guest bathroom. Luckily she dodges Mrs. Celia’s husband but I haven’t read far enough to see if she gets out of the house without getting caught. It’s sad that even though Minny is helping out with their house, she still isn’t safe as the help in Mrs. Celias house. Chapter 5 is written in the view point of Miss Skeeter. She graduated from Ole Miss and comes from a wealthy family who owns a cotton plantation. She roomed with Mrs. Hilly during college but aren’t very close anymore since Hilly got married. So far, Skeeter has just talked about how she struggles to have a good relationship with her mother because of the fact that she doesn’t date and isn’t married. Her mom is very old fashion and worries that her daughter will never get married, even if she got married to someone because they’d only want her money. Her mom thinks that the wealth of the family will get her a husband considering she doesn’t see Skeeter as a good looking girl because of how lanky she is.

Sydney Waitley

5/11/2012 07:45:19 am

Title: Because of Romek(Holocaust Survivor's Memor)
Author: David Faber
Autobioography
(pg's.1- 43)
Because of Romek is Autobiography by David Faber. This is his story from the Holocaust. This book is dedicated to his entire family. David is one of six children. he has six sisters and an older brother. His sister's names are Sabina, Fella, Sonia, Laika,Rachel, Kriendal. His older brothers name is Romek. In the first six chapters David(13) describes how his life is changing now because he is Jewish. Him and his family, except for Romek are all being forced to move out to a safer location. Romek is in the military, and is curaintly AWOL. Finally after two days of walking they find a nice family that lets them stay for the night. In the morning David and his family and the host family are all eating breakfast. All of a sudden they here gun shots and shouting in German. German soldiers come in and take David's dad Solemen, and The dad and the two sons from the host family. The girls and David are worried and don't know if they are safe or alive. While all the girls are hiding upstairs David sneaks out the back door to find his dad. He finds his dad four blocks away from the house digging trenches with othere men. David makes contact with his dad and helps him escapae. David and his father are hiding on a roof, watching and waiting. German soldiers don't notice Solemen is gone. All of a sudden soldiers show up and start shooting the Jews and pushing them in the trenches. In tears, David and his Dad get back to the house with their families. And now they wait for the germans to leave.

Summer Anderson

5/11/2012 09:22:04 am

P.1
Title: Soldier X
I finished my book “Soldier X”. I really enjoyed it, the plot was really good. Erik’s journey from the front of German lines to America was a very crazy journey. After the Russian infantry pushed through the German lines, Erik switched clothes with a dead Russian soldier so he wouldn’t be killed. He was then transported to a Russian hospital in Alreni. He had a gunshot wound in the stomach and sharp medal in his knee. At the hospital while he was getting better he started helping out. Erik pretended to have amnesia so that he wouldn’t be found out for being German. While in the hospital he met a girl named Tamara and fell in love with her. After awhile the war caught up to the hospital and they had to move. Tamara and Erik then walk through land trying to get to a neutral country in the war. Along the way they ran into German troops and other obstacles. When they got to what looked like a deserted town soon found out was harbored by American troops, who mistakenly shot at them. The American soldiers then took them to a hospital. Tamara recovered from a gunshot wound to her side. Erik was shot in his mouth which exited through his cheek, as well as a lost arm. Tamara and Erik then moved to America and got married. They also had three children. Tamara became a nurse while Erik a history teacher. The conflict between Tamara and Erik is not only the fight to survive but Tamara finding out that Erik is a German. Which at first made Tamara confused and angry, but in the end she didn’t mind because of her deep love for him and the fact that he helped the Russians at the hospital. Another big conflict was trying to survive and get to a safe zone without being caught by the Germans for her being Russian and him for being a deserter. Erik didn’t want anything to do with the war. He was actually drafted into going to the front and saw the wrong in the war and how Germany was treating its citizens, the Jews.

Matt Bond

5/11/2012 12:31:31 pm

Period 4
Common Sense
I'v already finished my book. I cant do this post though since my book has no characters. It only speaks of events, their reprocutions, and what actions should thus be taken.

Bailee Davis

5/12/2012 08:08:12 am

Period 4
Book: Wiseguy
I’m now on page 52 of my book and there are a lot of characters so far but the main one who the book is about is Henry Hill. His age at the part of the book where I’m at, he is 20 years old. He got involved with the mob scene at age 11 so that means so far he has learned 9 years of ways to be a “great” mobster. In the beginning of the novel, Henry doesn’t have a violent bone in his body. The first time he saw someone get shot, he was working at the cabstand across the street from his house and helped the guy by giving him a couple towels to clean up the blood and a chair to sit on. That was the first death he had witnessed and it hit him very hard that the world is a cold place. He’s a boy that’s just in the whole mob scene for the money and the feeling of people looking up to him. There hasn’t been a brief description of what Henry looks like; he just looks like a regular teenage boy.
As Henry got older and started making more money, he thought that if he kept doing what he was doing he would get in a lot of trouble with the police and his family so he joined that Army. He was sent away and stationed in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He loved the Army so much. He loved getting fit and feeling the power of being in the Army. That shows he’s a person who likes to be in charge of himself and others. Being in the Army started getting to his head; he would always get in fights at bars and would cause chaos and eventually he had to spend his last two months of being in the Army in jail. With his fighting, this shows that he does not handle conflict very well and he might not be a person to mess with!

Karly Holthaus

5/13/2012 04:43:36 pm

This doesn't seem to be the kind of book that I usually would be interested in, but for some reason your description makes me want to read it. The beginning sounds very sad, at least the part about how he had to get into the "mob scene" in order to be able to live and afford anything. I also really enjoy when novels don't get description of what characters look like because it gives me, as a reader, the opportunity to create the character in my mind.

I never am interested in anything that is involved with army or war, but the background information you gave in your description makes the later setting seem a lot more interesting. I'm curious to know what happens in the rest of the novel and I'd definitely be interested in reading it.

Mariana Magdaleno

5/12/2012 12:58:50 pm

Period: 2
Title: The Diary of A Young Girl
Author: Anne Frank
This week I read from page 27-40, in the novel The Diary of A Young Girl. Currently in the novel, Frank is explaining that Mrs. Van Daan (a women that is in hiding with the Frank family) is unbearable. However besides disliking Mrs. Van Daan, and the circumstances of being in hiding, she also tells us that she is interested in the Royal Family's welldoing; which shows how Frank isn't completely aware of the gravity of the problem, or that she decides to put her problems aside to not stress out as much. Frank also talks about how Peter (Van Daan's son) likes her, but she doesn't like him back. Even though the Van Daan's think they're a good match Anne has a clear view of who she wants as a boyfriend. From pages 32-38, Frank is now starting to question pointless conflicts in the hideout, but also to present fear about the German domination. Frank at the ending sentence of of page 40 she says "In fact, Germans and Jews are the greatest enemies in the world" which shows how the conflict within these two races affect the emotional stability of the young and the old, not allowing them to live their daily lives.

Rosa Flores

5/13/2012 03:44:53 am

Rosa Flores
Period 2
Because of Romek

I have read up to page 63 so far in my book. David has managed to save his father and just in time too because minutes after his father had managed to escape, the German soldiers had shot everyone that was in his group. After that whole ordeal, David's family decides to stay at David's aunt and uncle's house but just a few weeks into their stay, the Nazis barge into the apartment and kill everyone except David, who was saved by his cousin that threw herself on top of his body to protect him from getting shot. David's own family was out at that time getting food so they were safe. They then move into an old synagogue because they think it is much safer, and Romek, David's older brother, had been let out of prison so he was back with them. But a few weeks later, David is sent to go get some groceries and while he's at the store a couple of soldiers grab him and throw him in their truck. He got sent to a labor camp and now he's trying to find a way to escape and return to his family.
The main character of this book is David Faber, he is around 11 years old when he first escaped with his family to escape from the Germans. Throughout the book he has evolved into a strong boy and has been looking out for his whole family, trying to get them food and creating hiding places within the walls to protect them. He does at times become scared of what will come of his family and himself but he doesn't show it because he doesn't want to scare his younger sisters.
Another great character is David's father, Solomon, whom David looks up to a lot. His father always seems to have a plan and is always calm about what is happen so everyone else won't worry too much. David tries to be like him and be in charge when he's gone out to get food and etc. because he wants to be as strong and brave as he is.

Deming Tobin

5/13/2012 06:07:15 am

I read this book awhile ago it was really well written but so sad. It's really heartbreaking to hear first hand what the Holocaust was like for a boy and his family. It's really sad to think that a boy who is just 11 had to experience everything he went through. He is clearly a very brave person to be able to write about all that he went through to inform others of the horrors of the Holocaust. It was amazing to actually read something written by a survivor and a story that is a hundred percent true instead of articles or fictional books of movies written about it.

Jake Finley

5/13/2012 04:23:54 am

In my book Dillinger: A short and violent life I am now on page 66 and its just starting to get into John Dillingers criminal life and how he is always on the run and robbing banks. Dillinger got sentenced to jail for multiple bank robberies and while he is in jail, Dillinger and some friends are able to smuggle guns into the jail. They are able to escape and again he is on the run. There is a police detective named Huntington and he focuses all his time in finding and capturing Dillinger. He is visiting every bank that has been rob in the mid west and everyones descriptions match Dillinger. Dillinger is starting to become big and one of their bank robberies they stole the most amount in a bank robbery in Indiana. Dillinger is a person that seemed fearless and calm in everything. He always seems like he knows what he is doing and he isn't worried about consequences.

Fred Schlichtholz

5/13/2012 08:56:17 am

i want to know who this john guy is. im really interested in the lifes of criminals and what not. i watched alot of locked up raw and stuff like that so i like to know how people were before and what they did to get in. i think this would be a good good for me to read actually considering the interest in have in people like himself.

cory noonan

5/13/2012 10:30:46 am

this book is interesting to me. I can picture the story so far in my mind as another crime movie or a tv show. I think of all the things the character John has to go through as he deals with the problem of going to jail and escaping jail and robbing banks. He has a super sketchy life.

Quinn Waitley

5/13/2012 05:16:31 am

Book: SunRise over Fallujah
my book has gon from war to fo finding who you really are. Birdy doesnt know who hes is yet like most people in the world, he belives that everything just happends for no reason unlike his best friend Jonesy. Right now they are in conflict with the 3rd group of Civil Affairs,'The 3rd' thinks that they should not go into combat because they are only there for compromise with the civilians. I turns out that the 3rd and the 1st have to go on a mssion togather so they have to learn to trust each other.

Deming Tobin

5/13/2012 06:20:08 am

Deming Tobin
1st Period
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Blog #2

So far I have read pages 1-89 which is the end of chapter 6. I love this book so far. There are 3 people who tell the story Skeeter, Minny and Aibileen. I really like all of the characters but my favorite is Miss Celia who is the person that is employing Minny as a cook and maid. An interesting person that is mentioned a lot but never appears or at least hasn't yet, is Constantine. Constantine was Skeeters maid growing up and she basically raised her. On page 66 skeeter is remembering a conversation she had with Constantine and she said "Your...father was white and your mother was .... colored?" and it shows how rare that was it completely shocked Skeeter. She was taken off guard because during that time period it was view as unacceptable in society. That shows just how segregated everything was during that time period which is kind of what we are learning about in history right now. When working towards civil rights and getting rid of segregated facilities and bringing together the two races.

Another thing that can be related to something going on in the world right now is sexuality. On page 75 Skeeter's mother asks skeeter: "Are you.. do you.. find men attractive? Are you having unnatural thoughts about... Girls or - women? Because it said in this article there's a cure, a special root tea-" It sort of disgusts me that some people can be ignorant enough to think a root tea can change your sexuality. Right now there is a ton of social issues involving same sex marriage and trying to legalize it and this just shows how some people still are today even though this was set during the 1960's.

Kourtni Litzenberg

5/13/2012 02:14:54 pm

Deming, This book sounds great so far! I was going to read the book, but decided to read something else. I did watch the movie though, and it is one of my favorite movies. You mentioned the conversation between Skeeter and Constantine about how Constantine is bi-racial. This shocked me as well as Skeeter because bi-racial people were very rare. I did notice though that i don't think that was mentioned in the movie. But it really would have made a little more sense to put it somewhere in the movie! I also remember when Skeeters mom asked Skeeter is she was homosexual, and was trying to show her remidies on how to cure it. This shows how ignorant and naive people were. There are no cures for homosexuality!

Margarita Navarro p.2

5/13/2012 07:12:50 am

Title: On Trial

Revised: Max Hayward

Pages 41-73

There are two men on trial but the author introduces us to Yuli Daniel first. Under a pseudonym he published books named “Hands”, This is Moscow Speaking, “The Man From Minap” and “Atonement” but not in the soviet. He is being charged with writing anti- soviet propaganda “under Section 1 of Article 70 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Republic, which says: Agitation or propaganda carried out with the purpose if subverting or weakening the Soviet regime or in order to commit particularly dangerous” (37). Daniel doesn’t think that his works are anti- soviet but could be used as anti-Soviet propaganda but they were not written in that intention. The prosecutor and he are going in circles around the fact whether or not his intentions were ethical or not. Daniel gets through these accusations (conflict) by adding some humor and being sassy. He is a favorite of the courtroom because when the prosecutor asks “And these lines, could they be constructed as anti-Soviet?”(67) then Daniel comes in saying “They could be, but aren’t (laughter in the courtroom)” (67). He is a crowd pleaser and knows how to entertain. The prosecutor doesn’t want to be made a fool so he bites back but then get in trouble by the judge. Daniel has everything under control; however, loosing this case is very great. There is a lot of evidence pointing towards him knowing exactly what he was doing and you can’t deny evidence. I am rooting for him nonetheless; he is a clever and brilliant author.

carson cavner

5/13/2012 08:25:56 am

my book is the other side of the mountain and i have read from pages 97-304

the book is about mujahideen tactics during the soviet afghan war, in the pages i have read, i have learned that both the soviets had the major weaknesses and strengths, for example the soviets biggest weakness was that they weren't using common sense or being aggressive, they would regularly be attacked from a single point an they would not do a thing about it. And when they were ambushed, they rarely committed infantry to try to close in and destroy the mujahideen who generally fought from well fortified positions. overall, the largest mujahideen weakness was a lack of communication, contrary to popular believe, they were not single cohesive group, they many groups who for the most part were divided by tribal ties, so in one example, three mujahideen base camps near each other, and they did not communicate with each other, and the soviets took them one by one and the groups were forced to flee whereas if they had communicated, they could have stopped the soviets at the first base.

Fred Schlichtholz

5/13/2012 08:53:24 am

Period 1
Summer of '49
97-129
So there is no real main character/s. because its about the teams so i can give you a little info on the major players on the team.

so over the next to chapters so 5 and 6 you dont really advance more into the book its still alot on backround information. they tell you about the players and how they were before and now coming back what its like. they also throw in some stats and some information about tension with media and others of sort. now im going to choose just a few to show from each team starting with the yankees then red soxs.

Yankees: Joe DiMaggio- Was an amazing outfielder who had a brother Dominic on the red sox. Joe was a very good baller player and was always a hometown favorite.
Yogi Berra- One of the greatest catchers of all time. Hall of Famer. Something big in the book with him is when he meets erest hemmingway.
Phil Rizzuto-A Stunning short stop. nicknamed "the scooter". know for his fantastic bunting skills.

Boston: Ted Wiiliams- Stud. Left fielder who was the last mlb batter to hit over .400. Named "the greatest hitter to ever live". was also in pearl harbor
Dominic DiMaggio-youngest of 3. center fielder like other 2 brothers. had many records for the team. played whole career in boston. also returning from war.
Bobby Doerr- starting 2nd basemen. hit for cycle twice which was a crazy accomplishment back in the days.had a major slump at one point in time in the season of '49. also had hall of fame talent while playing.

Zavier Verbick

5/13/2012 09:29:53 am

Book: Papillon
So for, Papillon planned and executed his escape from La Bagne. After getting around in La Bagne, He joins forces with a small group of convicts who want to escape from prison and they formulate a plan on how to do so. In this part of the book, Papillon really shines when it comes to determination and tenacity. He shows superb scouting and lying skills. While checking out the layout of the complex, He quickly finds a vulnerability in the prison when he is sent to the physician. He realizes that he could have a group of prisoners pretend to be sick and, in the middle of the night, they could overtake the hospital and break out from there.

Henri Charriere is one of my favorite non-fiction characters because his tenacity, strength of mind, and courage are almost super-human. It took him 10 years to escape without being recaptured. That takes tenacity. He managed to escape 3 different prisons. That takes strength of mind. He put himself in danger without second thought when it came to escaping. That takes courage. This man symbolizes how powerful the will of one man can be.

cory noonan

5/13/2012 10:20:06 am

I have read 50% of my book so far. Bruno has now moved from Berlin to Aushwitz and does not like the move. he does not live next door to anyone in aushwitz. His house is huge and in the middle of a forest. there is only one road that gets him to his house. the next day, Bruno decides to go on an adventure into the woods surrounding his house. After running around for a little while, he sees a fence in the distance while in the forest and sees a boy sitting right next to the fence facing away from the buildings inside the fence and has his head faced towards the ground. Bruno walks up to the boy and says hello I'm bruno to the boy. the boy says his name is Shmuel. Bruno tries to talk to the boy but a lound sound goes off in the camp and Shmuel says that he has to go before he gets in trouble. The personality of Shmuel is frightened and scared. I get scared for him as i read about what he has to go through as a jew in the camp. Bruno does not mean any harm to Shmuel and wants to play with him and hang out with him. Bruno also seems curious about why he is behind the fence and is dressed the same as the other people in the camp.

Carlos Montes

5/13/2012 10:20:30 am

Currently read up to page 93
Do to AP testing and awards ceremonies last week, I was not able to read much in my book, For a Sack of Bones.

The main Protagonist, Legionairre Sergeant Genis Aleu is very conservative in his ways. He is in the Fascist military but is secretly against it. Genis comes across as very determined to fulfill his father's dying last wish. However, he sometimes slips and has to recover as to not gain suspision. His character is decently built, being a quiet, slightly pessimistic observer of events. He does not do what his heart and gut tell him to do as to not get caught for treason.

All the other characters and really minor in the novel; there have been several so far. Probably the next most important character would be Genis' father. As Genis goes through flashbacks, he remember how his father loved painting letters, which was his job. However, his father was very childish in thought and was excited about the war and joined the militia without his wifes aproval, which brings us to the next main character, Genis' mother. She is a quiet-spoken person with a lazy eye. She would probably be the "woman with few words."

The last character that is worth mentioning is general Cedazo, who is the general of the training camp that Genis is currently visiting in the novel. The irony in the book is that the training camp used to be the concentration camp Genis' father was held as a captive. He has to get to a tree in which his father hid a file, but he needs to do it without anybody looking. The problem is that General Cedazo has ordered a soldier to follow Genis everywhere and attend to all his needs. This book is fairly interesting; I have only fell asleep twice reading it, which is actually really good.

Carlos Montes

5/13/2012 10:21:42 am

period 2
read up to page 93
For a Sack of Bones
by: Lluis-Anton Baulenas

Sean Franks

5/13/2012 02:10:02 pm

I have decided to reply to Carlos post because I was looking through the different ones and I noticed that you have read the same amount of pages as me..93, thought it was weird. Anyways Carlos your book looks very interesting and I like the way you described your characters having a different paragraph for different characters, I would have done the same. However in my novel there is only one main character, the narrator. The way you talked about the irony seems like a good Idea to me. I will remember to do so in my next blog. Carlos is a great writer and I enjoy reading his blogs.(and excuses)

Anna Bill

5/13/2012 10:50:21 am

So, after the second week of reading "Sarah's Key," I am being pulled further and further in to an already gripping plot. I read chapters 7-20 which are pages 30-107. As I described in my first blog post, the story begins with describing Sarah, a young Jewish girl, living in Paris in 1942, who has a strong relashionship with her younger brother. Everyone knows the story of the Nazis and the hollocaust, but the French police in the Vel’ d’Hiv’ roundup has very little documentation. So, when the police came for Sarah's family, she hid her brother in a small locked closet and promised to come back for him. Since then, the family is taken to an arena with terrible conditions and thousands of other Jews, where they are forced to stay for days like animals. They are then taken in these train like cars and separated. Sarah, like many of the other children, is terrified to be apart from her mother and father, but keeps thinking about a way to get back to her brother....In the meantime, the story switches to Paris, May 2002: On Vel’ d’Hiv’s 60th anniversary, journalist Julia Jarmond is asked to write an article about this black day in France's past. I have a feeling that there will be some family secrets revealed through her investigation.

I am actually really intrigued by the fact that this part of the Holocaust was ignored. I think it might have been due to Hitler's obsession with publicizing his acts. You can find pictures of everything he did. With the French arrests, there are few documentations of the event. It goes to show how bias the history that we learn is. For the most part, we learn about the things that were written down and glorified. It makes me just more skeptical in some ways of what we are fed in our history books.

Jack Alldredge

5/13/2012 04:39:17 pm

Your book sounds very interesting in the sense that if focuses on a less glorified subject in history that the majority of people are not well informed on like myself. I would enjoy reading this book to gain new knowledge on dark times of history such as this event and gain a more unbiased opinion from my thoughts on World War II. I completely agree with you on the bias of some history books. So many events in history are left out in our book or spun to glorify or justify them in a way to create history that appeals to learner that shapes their opinion for them to cause them to favor sides. In our class James, from England I'm pretty sure, was never even taught about the American Revolution being that it was an unpleasant event in Great Britain's History. I believe we avoid similar topics in U.S. history like the corruption of many political figures or the failures we have had in wars such as the Seminole wars or Vietnam war.

Lexy Perez

5/13/2012 11:49:47 am

I have read up to page 183 in my book. Artemisia is the main character of the book and she is a determined painter, mother, and wife. She is the first woman to be admitted into the art academy in Florence. She deals with conflict by looking towards advice of others, writing letters to loved ones and looking to God to help her. Palmira is Artemisia’s young daughter who is very wild as any young child would be, she handles conflict by behaving like a child and crying and throwing a fit for the most part. When Palmira was left alone she got upset and was crying as a way to deal with her conflict. Pietro is Artemisia’s husband and Palmira’s father. He is a very jealous painter. He handled conflict by leaving. When Artemisia was admitted into the Art Academy before him he was very jealous and was at home less and less. During this time period it was unheard of for a women to be a painter and especially a better painter than her husband. Women were seen as a lot lower in this time period. The Art Academy in Florence was for the best of the best painter and never before had they ever admitted a woman to be part of their academy. Pietro never really loved Artemisia completely because their marriage was a marriage on convience. Pietro ends up cheating on Artemisia with a model that she used for a painting and who she let Pietro sketch.

Ashley Engelman

5/23/2012 02:28:33 am

This book sounds really cool, I don't think I've ever read anything like it before. The different character interactions seem really in depth and well thought out which isn't easy to do (or find). I haven't found that many books with really excellent character interactions, that's not to say that there's no good books, it's just that they don't have realistic or believable character interactions. That doesn't seem like a problem for this book which is really cool. This period of time has always been really interesting for me, there was so much creation during this time that it seems almost impossible. Also, family interactions during this time were very interesting, kind of a mix between affection and distance that's so different than what we have today.

JT Strabala

5/13/2012 11:50:41 am

I am currently reading Unbroken, which is about a B-17 bomber navagator in World War Two. I am currently at page 97. The thing that is on everybody's mind is going down into the ocean and being stranded. Louis Zamperini, is the main character who is currently a little depressed because most of the people in his barrack. He coped with his losses by drinking heavily. The men at the base were drinking so heavily that the main officer or the CO restricted the men to two drinks a day. But men found ways around that, by accidently drinking paint thinners, while thinking it was alochol. The men recently went on a rescue mission and when they dropped off the supplies for the crewmen that were stranded in the ocean. when the boats picked them up three of the men were picked off by sharks and one had his leg ripped off and died from bleading out. Louie is a smart responcible person who faces his problems head on.

Maddy Waitley

5/13/2012 04:21:23 pm

Jt this book sounds very interesting, and crazy in a sense. but Im glad you picked it, and from reading your blog it sounds like you like it. Me personally I don't know how I would feel about a book like this, but you never know. Books always seem to have a twist in the end. Well I hope that some of the men who are stranded get saved. This book sounds crazy.

Carmela Yannaccone, per 2, Slyvie and Bruno

5/13/2012 01:09:38 pm

Now up to page 295. That doesn't sound dreadfully far does it?
Anyway, the main characters are the unnamed narrator (who is terribly bad at telling what is a dream and what is it) who stands in the corner and watched the action of the High Court and the children. He usually just observes and scoffs to himself and conflict. Slyvie and Bruno, the children of the High Chancellor, work together. Brother and sister, they basically just team up together and work things out. As much as children can. Bruno, the son, is very stupid. He's basically the most childlike, while Slyvie is a picture of beauty and calm and fumes like a Victorian Lady. Then there is the child Uggug who is a trouble maker and is terribly fat. He basically causes pain for both adults and children and is what awakes the narrator from his dream on the train.
And that's all really.

Carly Cutright

5/13/2012 01:28:29 pm

Carly Cutright
Period 3
TEXAS AND THE MEXICAN WAR

I have read up to page 42. This book doesn't have a narrorator but the main characters are James Long, Santa Anna, and Stephen F. Austin. James Long was only talked about in the earlier pages in this book because he actually attempted an expedition and succeeded. Only for a short while of course. Santa Anna was known as the "Napolian of the West". He influenced Mexican politics in different ways but in the book he was against the expansion of America into his Mexican territory. He also has been a commanding officer for Teran. He ans Teran were close but drifted in opposite directions after three years. This book right now isn't really told in story form, so it's pretty difficult to follow the different stories happening at once. Most of the action is from Austin because he is following in his fathers footsteps and led 300 families successfully to settle in Texas (which happens a little later in the book).

Sean Franks p.3 LONE SURVIVOR

5/13/2012 01:44:56 pm

The book I am reading is Lone Survivor. I was very busy this week so I only read a little. So far I am in chapter 3 on page 93. Marcus the narrator has given us the basics of what it takes to become a seal. The number of phases that test your strength and see if you are willing enough to go all out and give it your best. I learn how the leaders really crack down on their training. The desperate measures he has drastically changed to become compatible with everyday life. The truth on what it was like to get where he was today and still be alive and well. Marcus gives us the reality on what it took and how got there. Marcus is a really straightforward kind of guy who doesn’t leave out details. He explains thoroughly the harsh conditions and courageous risks he encountered. Whether it was running 2 miles in the snow or 80 push-ups in a row 3 times a day, he makes a visual in your head. I think it is awesome that a lot of the training he underwent was here in Coronado. A few months ago along with the USD tennis team I was invited to a navy seal orientation where they taught us the procedures of becoming a seal. Also we got a presentation on all their weapons and got to hold them. I now wish I read this book before I went on that trip because then I would have had a better idea of what it really was like to be one. Overall this book is very interesting and I am excited to read more.

kourtni litzenberg, P1, The Joy Luck Club

5/13/2012 02:08:22 pm

pages 50-100
In the pages 50-100, the Daughter, Jing-mri, is telling us her her mothers,Suyuan Woo's childhood. In China, there was a lady whom they called the matchmaker. She would find compalibility for the familys child by their birth sign. The mom of the daughters would address their daughters as the mother in-laws daughter, sometimesto help with the struggles of letting their daughter go when they reach a certain age. This is what happend to Syuaun Woo. A large storm hit their house in china which flodded everything, so they had to move, causing her to have to move in with her soon to be husbands fmaily. She would work hard because she did not want the family to think she was dishonering her family. One day, her mother in-law came to her and said she wanted grand children. Syuan Woo did not want to disobey her family, but she figured out that her husband was not mentally mature to have sex, they were only about 12 or 13.After many months of not seeing a baby bump, the mother in-law started to get on edge because there was no baby, when it was really her son that did not want to have sex. After that, Syuan Woo thought of a way to get away. She thought that if she told them she had a dream of their ancestors telling them that she wass going to be the cause of her husbands death, they would make her move out of the house, and it worked! Even though it was tough for Syuan Woo to adjust to her new familys ways, she always thought of what her mom said, which was to not bring shame upon her family.

Brian Keith

5/13/2012 02:09:05 pm

Brian Keith
Per. 2
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

I have read 1- 138. So far, Liesel is learned to read and her family had taken in a jew named Max. Max is hiding in their basement. Liesel has stolen books from the mayor's house and a book from a Nazi book burning.
Liesel is outgoing and stands up for herself. She is a strong, beautiful woman who don't need no man. Liesel handles conflict head- on.
Hans is Liesel's foster father. He is a wallflower in every sense of the word. He is described in the book as "always part of the back ground." He is very quiet and he doesn't stand up for himself. He faces conflict by just taking it. His wife verbally abuses him and he just brushes it off.

Victor Vela

5/13/2012 02:38:05 pm

Victor Vela
Per. 3
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Pg. 1-94
Time is taking place when Hitler is rising to power, and the Olympics are going on. Leisel is receiving reading lessons from her step-father, Hans Hubermann; a man who is constantly receiving verbal abuse and does not fight back. Leisel is strong and will stand up for herself.

Lucas Broyles

5/13/2012 03:09:25 pm

Im still reading E.M. Corders the deer hunter and I love this book man ive never seen a writing style such as the authors is very descriptive but at the same type the dialogue is so powerful it blends beautifully. I’m at 109 pages now and the last part I left off on the last blog I think was when everyone was at Angelas and Stevens wedding and its here one of the main characters, Nick, falls in love with one of the bridesmaids Linda. And right after the wedding ends at night and every is driving home Michael decides to go streaking and Nick has to go chase his and give him some clothes, he ends up at the basketball court and sits down and him and nick are both still drunk and he talks about if going to Vietnam was the right decision. The next morning nick steven Michael axel and stan all go out to the mountains to go deer hunting and Michael bags one deer and they head back to town that night and the 5 of them head to the bar and there they share their final drink together. And then the book abruptly cuts to Michael unconscious lying next to his fellow dead rangers who were in his recon team and hes lying by a hooch in a small village and there is a squad of NVA soldiers killing the remaining villagers and Michael wakes up from their gun fire and grabs a flameflower and burns them all. And then two hueys fly and land to pick up Michael and Nick and Steven are on the choppers and greet Michael but he is really worn torn and doesn’t recognize them and then a platoon of NVA soldiers swarm the village and that’s where I stop reading.

braden crabb

5/13/2012 03:20:24 pm

This book sounds awesome dude. Anything that has to do with hunting, streaking, drinking, and killing NVA soldiers with a flamethrower sounds like a party to me. I may very well choose to read this book when I am done with mine. I can't remember if you said it was fiction or non-fiction, but either way it sounds sick.

Aaron Polk

5/13/2012 03:44:00 pm

This book sounds awesome and relates a little to the one im currently reading invovling war now a days and how some soldiers fought in the "Nam" war and are still fighting today. It seems like a book that is gunna keep people reading. The whole drinking, streaking and hunting sounds like a exciting but comical way to help people read and not make it super factual and boring.

Jasmine Espindola

5/13/2012 03:11:38 pm

Book: A painted House
Author: John Grisham
Pages read: finished (through page 465)
Summary: I finally got time to read this week and finished the whole book! So, in this book, luke is the main character and his family in Arkansas is picking cotton with some Mexicans and hill people to help. This book takes place in the 50’s and describes all the drama that Luke had to see and many secrets that the people living on the farm had. Hank gets into a fight at the town and kills two boys and no one wants to talk even though a lot of people saw the fight. Luke wasn’t supposed to be there so he doesn’t speak up and is a lot more afraid of Hank Spruill who took on 3 boys at once. This doesn’t intimidate Cowboy though who is one of the Mexicans and they almost get into a fight after a game of baseball and Cowboy takes out his switchblade. Later, the circus comes to town and Hank defeats a man nick named Samson and wins 300 dollars. He was one of the best cotton pickers and now doesn’t really care because he has a lot of money. He starts throwing rocks and stuff at the roof of the barn where the Mexicans sleep and this affects the productivity of cotton and Luke’s dad is mad. They finally decide to tell the Spruill’s that the cop, Officer Stick is coming for their son and that he should leave at night. Hank leaves but that night, Luke sees cowboy following Hank in the dark. He decides to follow and witnesses’ Cowboy kill Hank and steal his money. He stays hidden and heads back to the house but as he almost gets there, Cowboy leaps on top of him and threatens to kill him if his mom if he says anything. Luke is terrified and has nightmares and cries constantly after that. He witnesses Tally and cowboy talking a lot and is not surprised to find them run off together later now that Cowboy has the money he stole from Hank. Then, a Rumor is heard that the Latcher girl is pregnant and she won’t say who the father is. Soon, the Latcher’s come to Luke’s farm and ask his mom to help deliver the baby. They tell Luke’s mom that the baby is Ricky’s (who is Luke’s uncle and is fighting at the war in Korea). The baby is delivered and then Sillers creek starts to flood the farms near it. The Latcher’s are on land really near the creek and so Luke and Pappy go to help them get out and then go see because part of their land is ruined also. Finally at the end of the book, Luke’s parents break the news to him that they will be moving to the city and that they will not be farming again.
Characters:
Luke: Luke is 7 years old and is a really innocent little boy. When he witnesses the beating he doesn’t know what to do and if to tell his parents that he was there or not. He also sees cowboy kill Hank and experiences emotional conflict because he doesn’t want his mom getting killed. Luke’s innocence causes him to witness a lot of things he shouldn’t and causes him a lot of stress and internal turmoil.
Tally: Tally is one of the Spruill’s. She is a pretty young woman of 17 and is tired of having to go to farms every year to pick cotton. She also hates the hot weather and talks a lot with Luke. She intimidates him and uses him to get a lot of information about what is going on around like the Latcher’s and what Stick is saying. She resolves her conflict by leaving the farm with cowboy and going north.

Braden Crabb

5/13/2012 03:14:19 pm

Period 3
American Sniper

This week I have read from page 91 to 153. I am hooked to this book. Not only because I love the military, but because this guy and I have pretty much the same thoughts on everything. We feel the same way about the war and the events leading up to the war, and also about how powerful our military is compared to other nations. It's almost like this guy's reading my mind, except for all the stuff that ordinary people don't know about the war and training, etc. In these pages, he talks about a number of things including which guns he has used as a SEAL and which ones he likes and dislikes the most. He also talks sniper school. It is ironic because even though he has the most kills in United States history, he graduated at basically the middle of his class. He wasn't the hottest stuff in sniper school. He later explains that getting kills is more based off of luck rather than being a better shooter than everyone else. He then talks about having his first child. He claims watching his wife giver birth was more nerve racking than being in the middle of a firefight in war, which is hard to believe. There are no new main characters introduced in these pages. He mentions some of his fellow SEAL's, but he doesn't give many names. So basically it is Chris Kyle, and his wife Taya. I explained who Chris is in my first blog. Taya is Chris's wife, and she has a couple of passages that she wrote herself in the book. She is what I would think a military wife would be, very anxious and always worrying about her husband while he is deployed. But, she is also very emotionally strong at the same time and always tries to keep a positive attitude about things, which is another trait that I would think military wives would have to have.

Aaron Polk,3rd, Roughneck Nine-One

5/13/2012 03:36:53 pm

In book I'm reading there is no main character for up till what I have read now. Instead my book is based on a ODA or Special Forces team that undergoes everything from training to casualties in the battlefield in the modern day and age. The characters that are described aren't easy to describe other than their positions with the team or at least up till where I've read to so far in this book. Some people in this book also aren't able to be described and have their identity blocked for the families honor. So far there has been no conflict or anything wrong in my book. Mostly they are talking about training and giving very brief backgrounds on the group and all Special Forces on a whole.

Aaron Polk,3rd, roughneck Nine-One

5/13/2012 03:40:28 pm

I have successfully read from page 35 to page 209 because i am stuck on this book and how the feelings and thoughts of these people is so easily portrayed through the words that i literally feel like im right there alongside them in the same firefights they are and struggling to stay alive all the same. I dont think ill be stopping this book in the near future due to its AWESOMENESS!

Jack Perkins

5/13/2012 03:47:27 pm

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

This past week I read chapters 3-5. The family checks out their new home and realizes how unsanitary all of the conditions are. The workers packed meat and still sent meat out even though it was spoiled. This shows how far we have come in food regulations. In modern day society we trust that the people packing our meat, are making sure it is healthy, and back in the day it was an eat at your own risk. Jurgis is earning very little a day at his new job and his family members are also finding out about future jobs. The children are not working since Jurgis wants them to go to school, and that is very common to modern day society. Some students work and go to school, but the common student has the job of a student and only gets a job once they have graduated. Jurgis gets mad at some members of his family because they rented a place to live without his consent. Jurgis is upset because he is worried that if they fall under their financial goals, that they will be evicted. Marija, Antanas, and Jurgis find out the details and sick ways of packing that goes on at their work. They are also introduced to the corruption of Packingtown and give into it to raise more money. This relates so much to modern day society because their is so much corruption in the world and there is not much we can do about it.

Aaron Polk,3rd, Roughneck Nine-One

5/13/2012 03:47:37 pm

My book connects with the history that Mrs. Moore has been teaching because the characters are fighting for survival like in the rest of the wars we have learned about and the struggle to fight for what each side thinks is right. Each side, Iraqi vs. U.S, has something to fight for like the Americans did when they fought of the Red Coats. My book relates to just about everything we have learned just at a more modern timeline.

Josh Kessell

5/13/2012 03:53:20 pm

American Sniper
Chris Kyle
Period 4
So far I have read to page 223. The last Chapter was about Chris and his Wife Taya and their Problems with marriage. Chris believes that First should come God, Your Country, then your family. As you would expect a sniper to believe. Taya believes that first should come God, then next should be your famil and then next should be your country as most people would think. So when Chris’s Time serving his country was up, he could either sign up for more time or be done serving. And taya wanted him to be done but she also knew that she couldn’t make him do that or couldn’t tell him what to do but she said, If you do sign up again, It will change how I feel about you. So he signed up anyway. And they were just never the same but they stay together and live life. Right now that is a problem Chris faced. His marriage. And Taya as well. But the way chris deals with problems is that its better to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission. So that’s about as well as he handles issues. Taya handles her issues as well as I can tell by talking to chris and telling him how she feels about a problem and then sees what he has to say. But she does not control him. They have two kids together and he signs again after the second kid so, she was not too happy.

Alex Gastelum

5/13/2012 03:58:07 pm

In my book so far the main conflict for my main character is him adapting to just getting sent back to the past. Him seeing people when they were younger like old owners of bars and their kids. His ways of adapting, the way he has to talk, dress etc can be a conflict for him since he just went back about 50 years back. Another conflict is how he is going to stop the assassination, That is as far as I have read so far.

Maddy Waitley

5/13/2012 04:13:39 pm

The Great Escape is based on a true story. In 1942, the Germans have built what they consider an escape-proof POW camp where they plan to house all the problem POWs, i.e. those that have made multiple escape attempts in the past. What the Germans don't realize is that they've put all the best escape minds in one location. If they can't escape, these POWs believe it is their military duty to make the enemy place as much effort into their confinement as possible to divert them from other war related pursuits. Royal Air Force Squadron Leader Bartlett plans not just a one or two man escape at a time like most escape attempts in the past have been, but a massive escape of two hundred fifty men through a series of tunnels - if one tunnel is found, they can focus on the others. Each escapee will be provided with a complete set of forged documents and standard clothing.

Jack Alldredge

5/13/2012 04:18:35 pm

Book: Two Years before the Mast
I’ve read through chapter 4 of my book so far and the only character introduced so far is the author, Richard Dana. He is a very observant narrator for he provides detailed descriptions of his surroundings and his crew. He describes his crew on the ship and the clothes they wear stating that there is a certain way that a true sailor wears his clothes and certain subtleties that makes them look natural. He doesn’t feel this way about himself, being a Harvard man with a much higher education and little practical knowledge of sailing, he feels out casted. The first three days since they had left port in New York, he suffers from terrible motion sickness and becomes very weak. He describes sleepless nights in his sickness and his fear of missing orders if the crew where to be summoned by the captain. After not having eaten for three days and feeling terribly sick Dana finally eats his first breakfast at sea on the third day. The regular meal comprised of salt beef and a stale loaf of bread. His health is restored and he feels he has finally attained his “sea legs”. He then briefly describes the following two weeks at sea as very routine and structured. He says during the smooth weather the mind falls into the regular sailor routine and life becomes simple, that is until a storm approaches. Dana is quickly learning the life of which a sailor entails.

andrea perez

5/13/2012 04:28:18 pm

My book is such a slow and borring ish book to read im not really enjoying it as much as i thought i was going to, but the main characters are the Kennedy family. Its a big pusle into figuring out who assasinated all the keneddy family members, i really want to change my book but i think its too late.

Karly Holthaus

5/13/2012 04:29:33 pm

Blog #2
The Help
Per. 1

I have read to page 54 this week. There have been characters mentioned throughout the book so far, but Aibileen, who is the narrator, is the one character that I have come to learn about the most so far. You also learn about Minny who is one of Aibileen's good friends, she had just gotten fired from her job as a maid at another person's home and is looking for a new job. Aibileen is well respected by her friends and she doesn't take anything for granted. When she was younger she stopped going to school and in order to continue her education she wrote a prayer journal. It became well known in the community that if you end up in Aibileen's prayer journal, then good things will happen to you.

Besides Skeeter, who we haven't learned much more about, we also begin learning about Celia Foote, she is a very rich married women who is looking for a maid without her husband knowing about it. Minny goes in for an interview and gets the job, but she has to be sure to leave before Celia Foote's husband comes home because he doesn't want a colored women in his house. We don't learn this fact till later though so there is some conflict between Miss Celia Foote and Minny.

Laura Williams

5/13/2012 04:31:08 pm

Period 3
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

I've read pages 1-130. So far, Liesel's foster father, Hans, has taught her how to read. When she wakes up in the night, screaming from her terrifying nightmares, he teaches her to read each night. She now knows how to read and has stolen a few more books including one from a book burning. This directly relates to the historical period of Nazi Germany because the book burnings were something that actually happened and had a great impact on the people of the time. Books were just thrown into big piles and burned. It was ridiculous and awful. Also, in the story, the Hubbermans are hiding a Jewish man named Max in their home. This is another aspect that can be easily related to real events in history during this time period because this happened. Jewish people would hide in others' homes and try to go unnoticed so that they would not be sent to the horrible concentration camps. The main character in the book, Liesel, handles problems in a very strong and self-sufficient way. She can handle things on her own and stands up for herself when necessary. For example, if people were picking on her she would not be one to sit back and let it happen. She would speak her mind and be strong. Her foster mother, Rosa, is very loud and because everything she does seems to have a sort of loud and angry undertone to it, this includes the way she deals with issues that come up throughout the story. Hans, her foster father, is quite the opposite in that he is very quiet and reserved.

kevin fahey

5/13/2012 04:33:14 pm

Book: Summer of '49

pgs:37-63

This chapter was all about the Yankee's spring training camp. Even though the Yankees were the world champions they faced many problems. The chapter starts off by introducing the the manger Casey Stangel and how he might cause some problems. He was most famously know for hitting two homeruns against the yankees in the 1923 World Series and bolwing kisses to the yankee's dug as he trotted by. Then you are put into the shoes of a few rookies that had just entered the yankee's organization that spring and the problems they were facing. The rest of the chapter talks about Joe DiMaggio's injuries and how he was the their most valueable player by far.

The rookies that are introduced are Jerry Coleman and Bobby Brown. Coleman had little money to his name and was worried that he wasn't going to beat out the current second baseman George Stirnweiss because he was having an outstanding spring. Coleman was in the best shape of his life and to improve his training he got a bat that had four pounds of lead in it. He ended up getting the spot at second with his consistant hitting and instincitve fielding, which was what many verterans liked about him. Brown the other rookie was in basically the same situation as Coleman. He feared that hewould not get the starting job at third because Billy Johnson the current third baseman was extremly popluar other players on the team. Brown had been paid a large sum of money to sign with the team which gave him an edge over the others. Brown was a great hitter and ended up shaing third base with Johnson.

John Wilson

5/13/2012 04:33:15 pm

John Wilson
period 4
If Not Now, When?

Colonel Jack Jacobs (retired) - So far, all that i really know about this character is that he received the Medal of Honor in the Vietnam War. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York and he is a descendant of immigrants from Europe. Another thing that i know is that he was born in the summer of 1945 four days before the atomic bomb was dropped over Hiroshima.
Because of alot of the facts that he has said about his family, you can really tell that the setting in the book SO FAR is between World War II and the Vietnam War when he was growing up. Currently, he is describing how life was when his relatives and family immigrated from Europe and how he had to deal with growing up being Greek and his family conflicts because of his name, Pasha, which means symbolizes that he was the favored child in the family.

Kevin Fahey Revised version

5/13/2012 04:36:28 pm

This chapter was all about the Yankee's spring training camp. Even though the Yankees were the world champions they faced many problems. The chapter starts off by introducing the manager Casey Stengel and how he might cause some problems. He was most famously know for hitting two homeruns against the Yankees in the 1923 World Series and blowing kisses to the Yankee’s dug as he trotted by. Then you are put into the shoes of a few rookies that had just entered the Yankee’s organization that spring and the problems they were facing. The rest of the chapter talks about Joe DiMaggio's injuries and how he was their most valuable player by far.

The rookies that are introduced are Jerry Coleman and Bobby Brown. Coleman had little money to his name and was worried that he wasn't going to beat out the current second baseman George Stirnweiss because he was having an outstanding spring. Coleman was in the best shape of his life and to improve his training he got a bat that had four pounds of lead in it. He ended up getting the spot at second with his consistent hitting and instinctive fielding, which was what many veterans liked about him. Brown the other rookie was in basically the same situation as Coleman. He feared that he would not get the starting job at third because Billy Johnson the current third baseman was extremely popular other players on the team. Brown had been paid a large sum of money to sign with the team which gave him an edge over the others. Brown was a great hitter and ended up sharing third base with Johnson.

Erin Fitzgerald

5/13/2012 04:53:00 pm

Erin Fitzgerald
Period 3
The Grass Dancer
In my novel, i have read up to page 77. The beginning of the novel portrays a native american powwow. At this time, the date is, 1981. We meet several strange but fascinating characters. One of whom makes love to another, and she "goes him part of her soul". Unfortunately, after the powwow and winning her section of the dance competition, she and her friends head back onold the road, on their way to their next powow.At one point in the drive back, there is a car crash and all five adolescents are killed, including the young indian woman. The boy with whom she had become intimate lost his own father and brother to a car crash , so Harley already has known and experienced the pain of loss. Charlene is a heavy set Sioux girl who is hopelessly ennhamered with Harley. Her grandmother, Mercury, is the town with, using all of her portions and spells for her own selfish good, which charlene dissaproves and is ashamed of. Frank is Harley's friend, who usually picks up all the girls in love with Harley willing to settle for Frank instead. When Lydia, Harley's mother, was presented with a conflict of her husband and son dying, she vowed herself into eternal silence unless it was to sing, for her voice was famous.When Harley is presented with a conflict, such as loss or gettinghit by frank, Harley withdraws into himself, and I goes on, tumultuous on the inside.
Mentioned several times in this novel is the story of how jesus was brought to the indians, on a large steamboat, accompanied by a piano. The people were so astonished at how beautiful the music from the paint was, the people believed there had to be a god. This shows that on the people were simple and natural tribes, her at one point went. This shows how not used to s

Erin Fitzgerald

5/14/2012 12:23:35 am

Oh dear... please ignore the last two scentennces... I sort of maybe might have fallen asleep while writing Haha. I think I meant to say:
This shows that the people were simple tribes, without any exposure to the outside world. It was like this when other indian tribes were exposed to christianity as well.

Kacie McBarron

5/13/2012 05:02:57 pm

Kacie McBarron
Period 2
I Am Regina pg 15

I got my book from the internet on the 10th so I haven't read much but from what I read so far I can tell you a bit
Regina: Black hair, worried, in-tuned, she is always very cautious because of rumors that have been spread around recently about the indians to the north, she is probably mentally scarred because indians invaded her house, scalped her oldest brother and father, and have now kidnapped her and her younger sister sarah who is very young, she take on more of a motherly role for sarah probably and is now more focused on her sister more than herself
Sarah: she is young, and calm, she doesn't really understand anything due to her aged but as she grows up she will probably realize what has happened to her and her sister and the rest of her family, she has light brown hair that is curly, her hair is more like her mothers which makes regina a bit jealous but regina with use that probably to remember her mother during her captivity.
I promise next week i'll have far more to share because i would have read more so stay tuned.

Scott Smith

5/31/2012 11:57:54 am

Your Characters sound interesting so does your book. I think it would be a good read

Anna Bongiovanni

5/13/2012 05:37:45 pm

Anna Bongiovanni
Period 4
Helter Skelter

I still have not read very far, considering I've only had this book in my possession for a few days. I've only read up to page 15. I haven't necessarily gotten into the characters just yet. But, I do know what it's going to be about. Charles Manson was a serial killer. He is still in prison to this day. He essentially started a cult in the 1960's and he wanted to start a race war. He controlled these peoples minds and got them to commit many murders. It's crazy to think how malleable the minds of the weak are. I'm really excited to get more into this book. The topic alone really intrigues me and I'm quite interested to learn more. In the 1960's, the first civil rights bill was passed to stop racial discrimination which is very relevant considering the idea of starting a race war. Another thing that occurred in the 1960's may or may not be relevant is the Vietnam War. There were a lot of hippies during this time frame protesting the war and participating in a lot of riots. The 1960's was a time filled with peace, love, music, and a lot of experimental drug use. Manson targeted these people as weak minded people and brought them into his cult.

David Bodkin

5/14/2012 02:02:03 am

David Bodkin
period 3
Malcolm X

Malcolm X was insipred by the teachings of Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad. Muhammad even wrote Malcolm Back and when Malcolm was released form prison Muhammad treated him like family giving Muhammad a job of recuriting people to their casue. Malcolm Changed his last name form Little to X, the X symbolizing his familes unknown african last name. Malcolm sold the young black men on the idea that the white people were holding African-Americans down and no allowing them to reach their potentail and suceed in life.

Jose Ascolani

5/28/2012 06:13:33 pm

Malcom X was surely a important person during the civil rights movement. He just like many wanted equal rights for African Americans during that time era, however there is a controversy whether Malcom X was truly a hero during the civil rights movements due to his belief of violence was truly the way. When he and MLK met it was the last time they spoke with one another due to their complete opposite beliefs. MLK believed in non-violent protest as oppose to Malcom who believed violence was the only way blacks could earn their rights. That is why many don't find him as a true hero.

The War Journal of the Major Damon "Rocky" Gause / José Antonio Partida

5/14/2012 04:34:59 am

The main character named Gause, is having a big time trying to confront his real fears about the Japanese invasion to the Philippines. He has a mission of retrieve the radio equipment forgotten in the town of Manila. But he spends all the time trying to forget about the Japs and the near invasion that is being fight in the North by Bataan. He really tries to thinking other things and people. He talks about how they are going to live while being in the Imperial Control. What are they going to do and why. He only wants to know about the future about the people that depends in the Country. He is also thinking about how he is going to die in hands of the Japanese and how the Philippines will fall to them. He has is already thinking on the defeat instead on defending his people.
Other important character of the first chapters is Rita. She is trying to convince Gause of letting his family to safety. But Gause is fighting himself. Rita cares about Gause because after all he saved him of dying bleeding in middle of the street and has built an important relationship with him. But all her intentions to make him change his mind were in vane and she eventually abandons the idea of Gause saving her whole Family out of Manila.

colton cavner

5/14/2012 06:01:41 am

roberts ridge

i have finished my book. the seals personalities are calm and laid back and they deal with the conflicts by dominatingt he situation and doing their jobs. the army guys dont really have those traits. what i read since the last blog was the seals had to go down the mountain to a safe landing zone. while they were doing that the army quick reaction force was on the way. their helicopter gets hit and goes down. they start fighting until the next day and through the night. while they are fighting a helicopter is on the way to pickup them and the wounded. and at the end of the book the seals who survived on the mountain ambushed an enemy convoy of trucks and while searching the bodies they found some equipment from the seals who died on the mountain.

Kenneth Jacobson

5/14/2012 08:28:41 am

My book, Ive read 60 pages into it. Its a long book to read. Font is small. So far into the book the D-Boys are rangers and there in the fight zone. They all usually have the same personalities is to kill who's in the way. There young, 20's, they are rangers. After when they got attacked fast, the Rangers were scared, they been strictly been given orders not to shoot anyone unless if there shooting them first. But after that attack, they were so scared they just shot at anyone who has a gun, sometimes anyone they see. They ended up shooting at each other but luckily no one got shot. The commander was mad, disappointed, ashamed of his men. A enemy came to them with a woman as hostage and they blow them away, both without hesitate, another enemy came riding on a cow, and they blow the cow away also. War is very brutal and bloody. There is some things that should not be done in war....

Kendall Talbott

5/15/2012 08:22:17 am

(Read up to pg 72) Night has only one main character, he is a teenage boy named Elie who has been located at a concentration camp. His conflict is being totally dehumanized because of his race/religion. At Birkenau, Elie is nothing but a number, a worker, and a slave. They treat him as an animal, like he is a blank face with no opinion or emotions. Without given proper living conditions, such as nutritious food, water, shelter he struggles day in day out to stay alive. He was torn from his family, leaving himself and his father to work everyday not knowing if his mother and sister are still alive. This is extremely difficult for Elie, as it would be for any teenage boy, or any boy at all for a matter of fact. At the jewish new years service that they held inside the camp, Elie had a crisis of faith. He was wondering how this so called "god" could let something so terrible happen to the jews. Therefore, he stopped believing. Right after new years they received a "gift" from the SS-the day of selection. Selection is when the jews line up in front of all the doctors to see if they are still good for work or if they can be taken to the furnace. Elie was terrified of this, but thankfully they let him go on. But unfortunately his father wasn't so lucky, and got his number written down. During the second selection his father proved that he was still good for work and they let him stay. This was a huge milestone in the book, they let him stay.

Ashley Aucoin

5/15/2012 05:07:33 pm

I've read up to 86 in my book: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. So far, it's talked about the main characters dad and his side of the family. Four boys- all very charismatic, good looking, and musically talented. As well as reckless and careless- the dad was a drunk and died young. The three brothers all died before the age of 35. The first one died from being sick. They had bought him an expensive pillow that he died on that the main character and her family now use only for when they are sick. They say that it’s too good to use on a regular basis. I found that interesting- how they would want to save something instead of using it while they can. It’s their one luxury item and I think it gives them a sense of power. Not sure why, but I liked how the author did that. Anyways, it continued on to the last two dying from being clumsy and hurting themselves. Johnny (the only remaining son) fell in love with main characters mother. She decided she was going to have him and she did just that. They worked together in the school at night- cleaning and playing in their own little world while everyone else slept. Johnny lost his job when he missed a day because his wife was having a baby. She was waiting at home while he got a woman to come and help deliver the baby. When he got there, neighbors were already there helping out. I forgot how closely knit everyone seemed to be back then. Now, everyone seems to be afraid of meeting the wrong stranger. Maybe it was because we couldn’t call someone we knew far away, or skype them or send pictures and whatnot, so they had to create relationships with the people around them vs. being in their own little world. That’s what it seems like to me, and I've decided that I do like this book.

Heidi Garbers

5/16/2012 08:59:55 am

I'm still reading The Help and as the book goes on you learn how much a white women can tare down a African American worker. Some of the women in this book are the definitions of cold hearted b*tches, and if i was Aibileen i would have already smacked Hilly square across her face for the terrible things she says to everyone not just blacks. This book is very good so far and things just keep getting better and better as i read it.

Chrissy Taylor Period 2 (excused late) "Da Vinci's Ghost"

5/16/2012 02:38:35 pm

Um my book is kinda strange in that there aren't REALLY "characters" per se, but I'll do my best.
Not gonna lie, it's kinda slow moving and I have been pretty busy with APs, so I've read the preface plus 70 pages so far. Lately, it has been talking about Hildegard of Bingen, a 12th century female prophetess of the Christian Lord who was subject to many visions she recorded in her "Book of Divine Works," a work examined by many scholars during the mini-Renaissance of the 12th century. Nowadays, these visions have been diagnosed as a form of schizophrenia, but she contributed a lot to the main idea of this book, Microcosm. That idea that by studying the human body - "made in God's image" - we can learn all the secrets of God and the universe. Her visions were heavily influenced by the passages she read as a nun and biblical scholar, one of which was the already discussed "Ten Books" of Architectural wisdom as written by Vitruvius of Rome many many centuries before. (The Ten Books were very commonly studied by biblical scholars as an aid to their interpreting the bible during the Dark Ages.)
Hildegard, as we have read in her clinical introduction, is a modest simple girl whose visions have brought into the adoring limelight of the religion-obsessed, European Dark Ages crowds. Even the pope was in awe of her maintained modesty throughout the never ending odyssey of her connections and visions from "God". She became famous and dedicated her life to relgion, eventually making a name for herself in the founding of and holding the position of Abbott at several different monasteries and convents. She handles conflict by inner reflection and quiet thought, followed by rational action and sometimes passionate fervor for her tasks. This can be induced from her silence about her lifelong visions until the age of FORTY, when she finally confided in her superior at the monastery she had resided in for thirty two years already. It must have taken a lot of patience and reflection and thought to take so long to decide to ask advice on the matter of her visions from her respected leader and guide. I think that she was very strong and good to not get swept away by the rock star treatment she must have received in response to the public knowledge of her connection to God. In this time period, religion was all that people had left, so everything in relation to Catholicism and Christianity was a BIG deal to EVERYONE. This little girl with a hotline to God made a big splash and her strength of sincerity through all that attention is admirable.

John Scales

5/21/2012 01:05:05 pm

I've read pages 37- 67, Ryan Smithson is still surviving in the army and he is in boot camp right now. The boot camp as he is describing it is pretty bad with all of the training,running and all the hard work that they have to do. To be prepared for the war if they go to war, which by the way its looking in the book they probably will go to war. His personalities in the book are that he likes to keep to himself and not talk to anybody unless he feels like they want to talk to him, them he would talk to him. I don't know how he would handle a conflict because I haven't gotten that far into the book put I'm pretty sure he would handle it well. I think that he will do fine during the boot camp he will survive and be officially apart of the U.S. Army and serve our country very well.

Ashley Engelman

5/22/2012 03:54:56 am

At the time of this blog I had read 376 pages of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. At this point in the book Holmes and Watson have solved many mysteries due to Holmes's deductive skills. Watson has married a woman named marry and moved out of 221B, although he still continues to take on cases with Holmes whenever he is asked. Lestrade and Anderson are still bumbling their way through cases and insisting that they are better investigators than Holmes even though they call him in every time they're over their heads (which is quite often) and he solves the case faster than they can even find the first clue.
Holmes is a very analytically minded man who seems to have little regard for how normal people live their lives or his own safety and health. He is often incredibly rude, even to those who he likes and respects and has a disturbing habit of falling to drugs whenever he is bored from a lack of cases. Despite all of his faults, Holmes seems to handle conflict exceedingly well, remaining calm in the face of danger. In the Speckled Band one of the deadliest snakes in the world is within inches of him, something he has been anticipating for hours and he calmly strikes it back into the opposite room, barely reacting until after the danger has passed. This seems to fit with the time period (the late 1800s) when a man was measured by his ability to act strong and intelligent despite danger or adversity. Holmes is used, despite his multiple short comings, as the model of how a man was supposed to be in the late 1800s, something that Doyle seems to mock somewhat by disclosing every one of Holmes's faults in great detail.

Ashley Engelman

5/23/2012 02:02:15 am

I just realized that part of this blog didn't come up, sorry.
This period of time was a mainly male dominated time, women were expected to stay in the background and be inferior to the man they eventually married. This was demonstrated by the fact that even though Watson was in love with Mary Morston he was not going to even consider courting her because she was richer than him. He repeats multiple times that he couldn't possibly marry her because she was richer than him. However, if she had been poorer than he was there would have been no problem. Watson actually exhibits relief when she loses her potential fortune despite the fact that it was technically her father's last gift to her before he died. During this time period women were also expected to stay home and run the household, being very supportive of her husband in his every pursuit. Mary is rarely ever mentioned again after the chapter were she featured as the damsel in distress and when she is mentioned it is only a brief glimpse of her telling John that of course it's alright that he goes on a random dangerous adventure with his rude drug addict friend for an indefinite period of time. This to me demonstrates just how male dominated the culture was during the late 1800's.

Dylan Gouthro

5/22/2012 09:40:46 am

Dylan Gouthro
Period 2
Martin Luther King Jr.

Chapter 7-10 (pg. 52-99). In these chapters they announce the winning of the Noble Peace Prize for the year of 1964. This was the peak of Martin Luther King Jr's unfortunately young life. His ideas that he put into actions and in speech's were all acknowledged after winning this prize. Of course though, he received love and hate. A police chief, Virgil Stuart, said " I consider it one of the biggest jokes of the year. How can you win the Peace Prize when you stir up all the trouble he did down here?" On the opposite side of that some positive quotes were, "Martin Luther King has consistenly asserted the principle of nonviolence." And, "one of the great men of our time." And, "fully deserving of the honor, and I extend the city's congratulations." As for explaining the characters, Martin Luther King continues to show composure and dedication to earning his fellow African Americans the right to vote, but more importantly equal civil rights. Director of the FBI, Edgar Hoover, was an enemy of Martin Luther, he labeled King as "the most notorious liar in the country." After meeting each other, they soon weren't enemies any longer. I'd say that Martin Luther King handled his conflicts very well, arrested several times, still manages to win a Nobel Peace Prize for his actions. Amazing.

Scott Smith

5/28/2012 12:26:24 pm

58 – 125
My favorite section from these pages is they story about Commander Harry Jenkins. He was flying an A-4 Skyhawk when he was shoot down over North Vietnam on his 133d combat mission and managed to survive for eight years when finally he has reunited with his wife and three kids in San Diego. Jenkins graduated from high school in 1945 and always wanted to be an aviator. He earned his wings in 1948 and became a commander of a carrier – based squadron. He also departed from San Diego to Vietnam in April 1948. Once he gets shoot down he is captured but learns about how the aviators miss the Vietnamese supply that they try to bomb. Every time the Vietnamese truck drivers hear an airplane they abandon the truck and hide in the forest and the aviator’s flares miss the trucks almost every time. “As a prisoner, I found how much truck traffic really moved at night, and the amount was unbelievable… Sometimes the truck would stop, and we’d go hide in a ditch… Several nights we sat in a ditch for as long as a half hour…” Then Mr. Jenkins talks about how he avoided SAMs, which I thought was very interesting. A SAM (Surface – to - Air Missile) works off of finding a collision point between the missile and the airplane. So in order to avoid getting hit Jenkins says to “… go high when the SAM came up, dive for the ground; that tactic would place the collision point on the ground, and the SAM would drive itself into the ground.”

Ashley Aucoin

5/31/2012 12:05:04 pm

Wow this sounds a lot like the book that I just read called "Unbroken". Except his plane went down in the Pacific where he and 2 of his crew members survived 47 days floating on a raft, fighting off Japanese Bombers and sharks. 2 were taken by the Japanese and put into POW camps and tortured. It's crazy about all the different stories you hear about the hardships so many people/soldiers went through during that time!

Jose Ascolani

5/28/2012 06:03:37 pm

Jose Ascolani
Period 1
Red Heat
This week I have read from pages 76- 242. Something that I truly like from this book, that it contains so many facts and resources which inform the reader of everything that happened during the time period. Alex von Tunzelmann specifically speaks about every country in the Caribbean and what political ties correspond to them at the time. Tunzelmann begins with the single-minded determination that the U.S had to prevent the infection of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, the United States government calibrated its treatment of François Duvalier and Rafael Trujillo and his son Ramfis almost exclusively on judgments of whether their dictatorial rule might inhibit the creation of “another Cuba.” After Haitian gunmen attacked a limousine carrying Duvalier’s children, François Duvalier ordered the execution of 65 army officers for suspected involvement. The Kennedy administration temporarily cut diplomatic ties and briefly debated whether to support efforts to remove Duvalier from power but decided against it. With leaders rising and falling, Tunzelmann demonstrates the decisions of John F. Kennedy and which countries he was more concerned with, such as neighboring Cuba, and which countries he could possibly convert to a democratic nation instead of being taken over by communism.

Patrick Powell

5/29/2012 01:34:49 pm

The Kite runner

Amir is the main character and is the narrator. He is a quite smart character and comes from a rich family. In the book he tends to stay quite about about problems and run away from conflict. Hassan which is Amirs best friend and later learns that they are half brothers. He is a brave and loyal persons. Always saying he is Amirs friend. He is very street smart but is a uneducated person. Baba is there father but raised Amir and believes that doing the right thing comes first in life.

Raphael Galvez, Period 1, J. Edgar Hoover: The Man and The Secrets

5/31/2012 03:53:39 pm

Characters so far:
J. Edgar Hoover - Very focused and ambitious leader. Hoover took actions to turn the FBI into a very useful tool for spreading his influence. Hoover had a charismatic portrayal in society but his actions through the FBI were illegal and very bold.

Clyde Tolson - Tolson was Hoovers Associate director and had a close relationship to Hoover. Both spent time going to social events together, sharing meals and even vacationing together. Clyde was Hoovers alter ego and shadowed Hoover through his years as director.

Bri Wade Per. 4 Moloka'i

6/1/2012 02:31:06 am

Important Characters in my book so far, Rachel Kalama, Henry Kalama, Uncle Pono, Francine, Sister Catherine, Haleola.
Rachel Kalama- main character of the book, she's about 9 years old right now, she is a thin hawaii'n little girl with long brown hair and wide brown eyes. She's always smiling and laughing no matter what her situation is. She always gets sad when she thinks about her family though. Her mother has stopped visiting her and her brothers and sister have stopped talking to her. The only one that has kept writing her and seeing her is henry, her papa. Henry (papa) is rachels father and he has such a big heart, he really loves rachel and would do anything for her to be happy, even to take her place in the leper hospital. "She is just a lil keke' she didnt do anything to deserve this" said henry. Uncle Pono visits Rachel everyday on the island to be with her and play games and tell her jokes. He is always there for her making her smile. Uncle Pono is Rachels favorite uncle.

Instructions

Each Monday I will post a question, primary source document, or a discussion topic related to our current area of study.

It is your responsibility to respond to each of the posts. You will be required to submit one original post by 11:59pm every Wednesday. By 11:59pm every Friday, you must have also responded to a posting from another classmate. Your original postings must be a minimum of 200 words and should include analysis and demonstrate critical thinking. Keep in mind the themes we study in history as you respond to each post: Geography, Religion, Art & Architecture, Politics, Economics, Social Structures (G.R.A.P.E.S.). Posts that earn full credit will identify and discuss the historical theme(s) present in the topic, article or other document.

Your responses to postings from other students must be a minimum of 150 words and can question, challenge, expand upon, or affirm their post. You may offer differing opinions, but please do so respectfully (I will be reading these!).

Your initial post is worth 20 points and your response to another post is worth 15 points. Late posts will NOT be accepted unless approved by me in advance.

Last thing, please make sure your display name or the signature at the end of your post will tell me who you are! You will not get credit if I don't know who posted!

Book Project Blog #2: Summary + Description of characters, their personalities, how they deal with conflict, etc.

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