week 4, post 2

This book is interesting. I like it more then most books I have read in school but if this wasn’t for school I would probably stop reading this book. The reason I am kind of bored with this book is because it’s just a bunch of fairy tales put together into one book and I have heard all these things before. But it is kind of different because its like David is you and you get to go through all these fairy tales and almost interact with them because as David goes along he changes the stories up a little bit. As I am reading this book it just occurred to me today that David isn’t just weird and is imagining these things, I remembered that he got hit by a plane and he probably got knocked out or killed. So the story is making a little more sense to me now.

week 4,post 1

Scabbard: a sheath for a sword or the like. Page 169
Chasm: a yawning fissure or deep cleft in the earth's surface; gorge. Page 176
An emerging theme a saw in this section is a crooked and evil man is trying to screw David over but he’s telling him all the things David wants to hear, like that he could have his family back. So David is having an internal conflict with himself right now trying to figure out what to do and I think this is going to affect him throughout the rest of the book.

week 3, post 2

The third section in my book was quite eventful. It started off with them leaving the Woodsman’s cottage and being chased by wolves in the forest in the middle of the night. When they arrive at the end of the forest they reach a canyon type thing and there are two bridges. They have to solve the trolls riddle to figure out which one is the safe bridge. When they are about to cross the bridge the wolves and loups catch up to them and the Woodsman sacrifices his life fighting them off to save the boy. Now that David is across the bridge he is alone and doesn’t know where to go, so he just follows the path. A little while later he trips over a dwarf. And then the story of the seven dwarves comes along. But in this story they are numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8 because the seventh one moved away to live with his parents.

week 3, post 1

“The Woodsman locked the cottage, then laid his hand flat upon the door and he lowered his head, as though praying. He looked sad, and David wondered if, for some reason, the Woodsman thought that he might not see his home again.” (p. 100). I chose this quote because it was and good example of foreshadowing. In the end of the chapter the Woodsman gets killed by wolves and loups. (Who are wolves that cross breed with humans). And a big theme I can see is that the entire book is based on other fairy tales that have been made into the imaginary world David is now in.

week 2, post 2

In the second section of my book it starts off with David and his stepmother arguing about pointless things and David crosses the line and says his dad doesn’t love her as much and he loved his real mom, and Rose slaps him. Later that night when David's dad gets home he only hears Rose’s side of the story and he sends David to his room for the night. While in his room David thinks he hears his mothers voice calling him from the garden, so he goes outside and to the garden but the sound had been drowned out by a loud thundering noise, that noise was a German fighter plane that was falling from the sky so David crawls into a whole in a brick wall at the back of the garden and when he looks to see where he is he is in a dark lush forest. So David looked behind him to see where he had come from and there were only trees, he had entered another world. He hesitantly starts walking around not sure what to make of what just happened when he sees the woodsman. David is scared at first because the woodsman is big and he is carrying a bloody ax. But the man explains it’s for wolves and he cares for this forest and David warms up to him. David asks for help from the woodsman to get back to his home world and the woodsman says he doesn’t know how either but he says the king of his land might. So they are just leaving the woodsman’s cottage at the end of the section.

week 2, post 1

“Then find routines that allow you to feel secure when they are done. You told me that you have a new brother: look to him each morning. Look to your father, and your stepmother. Tend to the flowers in the garden, or in the pots upon the windowsill. Seek others who are weaker than you are, and try to give them comfort where you can. Let these be your routines, and the rules that govern your life.” (p.94) I picked this quote for a couple of reasons. The main reason I chose this quote is because of who said it, the woodsman said it. The woodsman is a guy that David met in the new world he traveled to. The other reason I picked this quote is because I thought it showed the woodsman’s character very well; he is kind loving and smart. Two words I didn’t know when I was reading were, recluse: a person who lives in seclusion or apart from society. (p.89) and copse: a thicket of small trees or bushes; a small wood. (p.98)

week 1, post 2

In the first section of my book I have read about a character named David. David is a boy who lost his mother to an unnamed disease. At first he deals with this death by reading books to get his mind off the pain, then the books started talking to him and he went to a psychiatrist who didn’t really seem to help him much. Later his dad started seeing a girl named Rose and David gets really mad, he gets even more furious when she gets pregnant. But this story is taking place in the time of World War II so other things are kind of keeping his mind off that. Because of the war his dad has to change jobs and he now works for the government as a guy who tries translating German codes, and with the job change they move in with Rose where David has a new room filled with old books that he buries himself in because he has no one around besides his dad.

2nd quarter reading, week 1, post 1

Abide: to remain; continue; stay. (p.14). adhere: to stay attached; stick fast; cleave; cling. (P.15). One theme I saw in the book so far that I think will persist throughout the entire book is the fact that his mom died and he is mourning that.

Sea Inside Post 3. Make up Work

At this point I don't remember specific scenes but I do remember when people would talk to Ramond they would obviously be taller then him so the high camera angle from Ramond's visitors personal view were looking down upon him and I feel that happened because the film maker wanted to show that Ramond felt that people didn't really respect him and they literally and metaphorically looked down on him. I feel this is important because the movie is about Ramond not liking himself with locked in syndrome and wanting to die.

book info

the book i am reading is called The Book of Lost Things, by John Connolly. The Book of Lost Things was published in 2006. the book is a mystery fiction book and it is 339 pages long. The evidence as to why this book is challenging to a high school sophomore is one, that its pretty lengthy, and two because it was on Mr. Hattens list of book suggestions, and it wouldnt be on there if it was too easy. i chose this book because none of the other suggestions looked interesting to me besides one other, but that was sold out, so i chose this book; i also chose it because i liked the cover.

sea inside post 2. make up assignment

The similarities in the diving bell and the butterfly and the sea inside are obviously that they both have locked in syndrome and the stories are just about how difficult life is when you’re paralyzed. Another similarity is they both seem to have very detailed day dreams that seem almost unreal. To me the major differences between the two stories is that Bauby actually did something productive and accepted who he was and Ramon didn’t like who he was and killed himself. I thought the sea inside was more powerful because I’m a visual learner and I connected more with the movie then the book. Also Ramon acts more depresses and he talked about it a little more then Bauby so I felt worse for him.

sea inside post 1. make up assignment

Over all I thought the movie was pretty good for a movie we watched in school but I wouldn’t ever choose to watch it. I don’t really blame Ramon for wanting to die, I cant imagine life not being able to move would be much fun, and I agree with what he says about it being not very dignifying because he wouldn’t be able to do anything for himself. I don’t really understand why the court cared, like I can see the one lady wanting to have the pastor guy come in to talk to him about it and try changing his opinion, but I don’t think they should be able to tell him that he can or cant kill himself. His eventual reactions of killing himself to me is fine because that’s what he wanted to do and that’s what he believed in so I say why not. Though it may seem weird that his friends are helping him die I think that they are really good friends because even though they will lose Ramon they can see that he is miserable and would much rather be dead so they respect his decision.

outside reading final

Running with Scissors

You can’t let people get you down. If Augusten Burroughs would’ve let people get him down I don’t think he would have made it through life as well as he did. Augusten wanted to tell people that sometimes life and people suck. But if you have a good outlook and don’t let things get you down it wont be that bad.
Not letting things get you down is important and Augusten shows this in this quote, “I walked off to my room, where I selected an outfit for school and carefully arranged it on hangers at the front of the closet. I would wear my favorite polyester tan pants and a blue shirt with the vest cleverly sewn on. If only I had a pair of platform shoes my outfit would be complete. Still, knowing my clothes were ready gave me a sense of calm. I could control the sharpness of the crease in my double knit slacks, even if I couldn’t stop my mother from hurling the Christmas tree off the porch like she did one winter. I could polish my 14k gold-plated signet ring with a Q-tip until the gold plating wore off even if I couldn’t stop my parents from throwing John Updike novels at each other’s heads.” (19) He says this right after his mom and dad get in a huge fight. He doesn’t let his parents fighting get him down, he just goes off and does what he loves.
Augusten is forced to live with his moms shrink for while and he uses imagery to describe how terrible this house is, “We got out of the car and I shielded my eyes from the sun as I scanned the house. The pink paint was peeling off, exposing veins and patches of bare wood. All the windows lacked shutters and were covered with thick plastic, making it impossible to see inside. And the lawn-at least what was once a lawn-was nothing more than firmly packed earth that had the look of heavy foot traffic. Parked crooked in the driveway with the nose touching the corner of the house was an old, gray Buick Skylark. It was missing all its hubcaps.” (39-40) When he describes the inside of the house it’s just as bad. But once again he just doesn’t let anything get him down and he makes it trough the week he has to live there.
One time Augusten did let his mom get to him, but he channeled his anger very well and he and his friend Natalie make a hole in the kitchen ceiling because Augusten said “I need high ceilings”. So him and Natalie took down the chandelier and started hacking at the ceiling. It was humorous and after Augusten was no longer angry and him and Natalie laughed there problems away.
In conclusion Running with Scissors was a very good book with a great message, don’t let people get u down and u should be just fine. Overall I didn’t really like this assignment but I’m glad I read this book.

week 6

natalie enrolled in a community college and augusten did the same after he passed his GED. then obviously augusten went on to write books and is now a famous writer. which his mom always wanted to be but never made it.

week 5 post 1

"an hour later hope and i were in the buick, on our way to new york." (253) wel this is pretty explanitory. they all go to new york cause they dont have a house anymore thanks to the irs. so they get an appartment in north hampton. this is pretty important because everyone moves to new york

week 4 post 2

well hope is insane. she thinks she can communicate with her cat and that it told her it was sick and wanted to be trapped under a laundry basket. so hope does that and it dies due to lack of food and water. then hope makes a stew about a week later and tells everyone that it has her special ingredient. when natalie, the first one to take a bite, tries some she said that special ingredient was the cat. because she said the cat came to her in a dream and wanted to be reincarnated as a stew. and natalie understandibly freeks out because she just had a dead cat that had been burried for a little over a week.

week 4 post 1

"i sat up and my mouth tasted horrible, like stale pot beer and cheetos. the exact combonation of ingredients that had caused me to pass into unconsciousness on natalies floor" (183) the first thing that came to mind here was that augusten and natalie are only like 14. i thought it was kinda sad how the parents didnt care or try stoping that at all. but i also picked this quote because its been a theme in the book ever since augusten started living with the finches. first he just started with ciggarettes then he went to beer now weed. it appears hes spiraling downward very fast and like hes not gonna end up in a very great place at the end of the book.

week 3 post 2

well its kinda funny because augusten spends a whole chapter talking about how he hates bill cosbys daughter. and i think its hilarious. but the rest of the section wasnt too great. till it explained about natalies old boyfreind. he was really rich and they were great then one day he beat her and broke her collar bone and they took it to court and he had to pay her a bunch of money. but her dad took it instead and gave it to the irs for there house. so that explained why shes a bitter person. i thought it was helpful. 'cause before that i thought she was just a jerk. but now i kinda have sympathy for her

week 3 post 1

"I wanted to be a cosby" (121) well augusten goes to school with one of bill cosbys kids and i thought that was kind of interesting and also i think its funny how he describes her. he says she acts like everythings perfect and she has do do everything right and all that anoying stuff. and augusten absolutely loathes her for it. i find it kinda funny because i can relate to girls like that being annoying and doing stuff like that.

week 2 post 2

ok so far in this section it started out with augusten explaining agnes the doctors wife. and he describes her more like a maid or a cleaning lady. i kinda feel bad for her. then u find out augusten is gay. he finally tells someone about it and they tell him ther is another gay finch kid that doesnt live at the house anymore. his name is bookman. him and bookman meet. and they become very close. so close it describes them doing sexual things and i had to be honest i skipped the second half of the chapter 'cause it was gross. oh and u also find out that the finch girls are quite violent and natalie almost kills hope.

week 2 post 1

"but as free and accepting as the finches were, i worried about there reaction to my deep, dark secret. the fact that i was gay had never been a big deal to me - id known all my life." (69) um well this stuck out to me because im pretty far into the book and i had some suspicions but i didnt actually think he was gay. so that did stick out to me because hes the main character and u learn something pretty important about him there.

week one post 2

Running with scissors started out boring because it was just explaining the mom and Augusten. but then the parents start to fight and they go see a shrink. then they find out the shrink has a masturbatorium and its really weird. and the mom and the shrink decide thats its best for augusten to stay at the shrinks house so he lives there and meets all of the shrinks kids. oh and the shrinks name is dr. finch.

outside reading week 1 post 1

Running with Scissors. "seeing that my father was still alive, i was now worried about my mother" (18) this quote kinda stuck out to me because i can tell that the parents fighting will either be a major theme for the rest of the book or it will lead to something that will be the theme of the book.

diving bell and the butterfly.

I didn’t like this book one bit as I did not see the educational value of reading the diving bell and the butterfly. The reason I did not like this book is because it bored me. I like books that I can relate to and I could not relate my life to anything Jean – Dominique Bauby said so I never really connected. Another reason I thought this book was boring was because nothing exciting or remotely intriguing ever happened to him so it was quite repetitive when he was speaking of his daily life. I like the idea of reading memoirs, but I just do not know why we couldn’t have been assigned a better, more interesting book with a storyline and a climax. This book didn’t really introduced his character so I never developed any feelings or interest in him or his situation, so even though it is unfortunate this happened to him, I didn’t really have any specific feelings or care about his situation. In conclusion I am glad we are done reading the diving bell and the butterfly as it gave me massive ADD attacks much like an attack someone with asthma would experience after running.

question 1

the thing im most anxious about at ehs are the tests and finals. one goal i have for myself is to get decent grades.