Exercise #3

Black Boy White School
 Curveball
Miles from Ordinary 
Divergent

1. All these book seem to have a hook that draws readers in and makes them want more.From the very first paragraph of each of these reviews, I have already decided that I am going to read them.

2. Talk about the book and give a summary or the main story. They all seem to give me an idea of what it is I am going to be reading about. They give a sneak peak of the problem that the book is going to be about overcoming which is why I think the books sound so interesting

3. All the book reviews have a strong and bold ending paragraph or statement that concludes what the review is talking about. It also keeps me interested in the book, so usually they talk about what the characters are going to have to do to overcome the problem.

Reading Log #2

This week I was really proud of myself for sticking to my goal of reading 30 minutes each night. I probably read about an hour every night. I read 400 pages of a new book called Royally Crushed, the rest of The Summer I Turned Pretty, which was at least 100 pages and I read a little bit more of the Tiny Fey book. I'm not sure why it's taking me so long to read her book. Sometimes I just need a new setting I guess. I don't think biographies or autobiographies are my favorite genre to read. I find them to actually be quite boring which doesn't help me complete my other goal of reading different genres. At least I can say I tried to read it. Next week I will probably start my slow and painful journey of reading Wish You Well. Maybe and hopefully this time i'll finish the whole thing. I wouldn't bet on it though.

Note #1

     In the book from Ron Gutman's Smile: The Astonishing Powers Of A Simple Act, Gutman goes on a journey, exploring what makes different people, in different areas in the world smile. In the opening chapter of the book Gutman wrote that when  "It was time to pull out the special power," he smiled. He explains that while traveling around the world, he wasn't always able to understand the many languages, so he would smile at everyone. The cheerful and positive tone of his language is both inspiring and admiring. It suggests that smiling is a type of language that all people are born knowing. Gutman starts this passage off, "Amidst the unknown, in a unfamiliar place, confined on the bus with nowhere to go and with no apparent way to communicate..." which suggests a sort of hopeless and lonely atmosphere but goes on to say, "Whether people looked at me or not, I smiled at them. Although no one responded to my smiles, I started to feel better." which shows his unbelievable optimism.  He writes with a lighthearted and down to earth passion as he humbly proclaims his love for smiling and how it makes him feel better.

Exercise 2

[1] "Who can't even CONCENTRATE TO WRITE this because her little sister will NOT shut up," announces the narrator

[5]: The road "bubbles up very weird smells that evil genie themselves up through the cruddy dark rain."

[7]  Not only is a bitterness tone expressed, but also pure anger with some words and even sentences being capitalized such as "...because her little sister will NOT shut up she will NOT shut up SHE WILL NOT SHUT UP and Roberta is about to BASH her little sister's HEAD IN IF SHE DOES NOT SHUT UP.

Best post: More Cowbell Please

Exercise 1

Lynda Barry's writing in her passage "Cruddy" is plain, down to earth and straightforward. The passage starts off, "Once Upon a cruddy time on a cruddy street on the side of a cruddy hill..." and as shown, it is hugely emphasized that her life is "cruddy" through her silly and unbelievable repetition of the word.  Barry's character, Roberta, develops a unique and expressive attitude toward her overbearing sister who "will NOT shut up SHE WILL NOT SHUT UP...". Her frustrated and childish attitude brings life and an energetic atmosphere into the passage and leaves readers wanting more.

Personal Goals for Quarter 4

1. Read Wish You Well  by David Baldacci- this might not sound like a big goal but, for me it is. My dad tried to make me read this book in 7th grade but it was so boring that I never got passed the 1st page. I've been trying to read this same book for 5 years and since he loved it so much, I decided that its time that I finally read the whole thing.
2. Read 30 minutes a night- Sometimes I feel like I don't have time to read so I'm going to make some time this quarter
3. Try to read a variety of genres- I would really like to read a biography or a memoir. And maybe I'll try a nonfiction book too.
4.  Read at least 50 pages a night

Anthology Theme Statement

I'm going to do my project on Smiles because smiling is one of my favorite things to do. And I love the idea of  if you smile, the world will smile with you. I think its uplifting and is my favorite saying.
A few poems that I found that I would like to include in my project is "The Smile" by William Blake, and "The Song of Three Smiles" by W. S. Merwin. I have a few more ideas for the poems but this is just my start so far.

reading

This week I decided to read 3 books at once. So I read a little bit from Out of My Mind and Bossypants, and more then a little of Jane Eyre. I'm finding it hard to keep reading Out of My Mind. It's a really good book but it doesn't have much of a plot so I find myself wanting to read the other 2 books first. Bossypants is Tiny Fey's new book and it is absolutely hilarious. She is one of my favorite authors, so it's really cool to read her book.  A lot of people wouldn't like to read Jane Eyre because we read it in school and its old, but i'm liking it a little more every time I read it. It really is a great book.