The Glass Castle

"The Glass Castle" by Jeanette Walls is a memoir dealing with the authors early life. As a child, Jeanette deals with a self- involved, art- obsessed mother an alcoholic father and three other siblings. Throughout her childhood, she faced many hardships and difficulties, many of which had to do with her families constant moving and her parent's irresponsibility. The use of setting details in the story is extremely relevant and important.

In the “Glass Castle”, the desert is one of the most important settings. In the book, the desert is where the walls kids spent most of their childhood. The dessert was paradise for the family.  One example of this is, “On Christmas Eve, Dad took each one of us kids out into the desert night one by one.” This shows how on one of the families most important days of the year, they decided to make it special by going out to the desert.

In the “Glass Castle”, the families cars are also very important. I think this because the cars are what carry the family around the country. This shows the type of lifestyle the walls family leads. An example of this is when Walls’s first car the blue goose breaks down and the family gets another car, the green caboose, the kids have a special connection with their vehicles because of how much time is spent in them.

In the memoir “The Glass Castle”, Jeanette walls and her family lead a rough life, however they seem to be able to get over many of these hardships. So far in the memoir, Jeanette’s adolescence is what mainly gets her through these issues. In the book, one of the only things the walls family enjoys together, is spending time in nature and in the outdoors which really gives a certain level of emotion to the book.

And then there were none

  The book "And then there were none" by Agatha Christie is about ten strangers invited to Soldier Island by a mysterious U.N. Owen all for different reasons. The first night on the island, a disembodied voice accused each guest of murder and one guest is found dead. In this book, the setting is very important to the tone of the story and the events that unravel.

      In the book the setting makes a very big impact on the tone of the story. One example of this is, "If this had been an old house, with creaking wood, and dark shadows, and heavily paneled walls, there might have been an eerie feeling. But this house was the essence of modernity. There were no dark corners—no possible sliding panels—it was flooded with electric light—everything was new and bright and shining. There was nothing hidden in this house, nothing concealed." This shows how the house gives the story a certain tone. Because the house is so modern and bright it gives it a less creepy feeling even with the surrounding events.

      The setting of the book is also very important to the plot of the story. One example of this is the nursery rhyme, "Ten little soldier boys" which is often referenced in the book. This nursery rhyme comes in the form of table figurines as well as  framed copy in every room. Because the house is full of references to this rhyme, it is a major clue in the mysteries.  

      So far, though I am not very far into this book, I am really enjoying it. I think that agatha Christies way with words as well as crime goes together hand and hand in this case. She heavily used the setting as well as symbolism to let the story unfold in a truly mind-boggling way. In my opinion, this book is written in a truly beautiful and remarkable way.

      

      

Non-Fiction Critical Analysis- Are we running out of chocolate?

The article “Are We Running Out Of Chocolate?” by Kathy Wilmore  is focused on how the worlds population is consuming more chocolate than can be grown. 77,000 tons of chocolate is consumed every year. In the article, the author uses interesting vocabulary as well as structural techniques to get the main idea across as well as making the reader think and feel certain things as they read the article.

In the article, the author includes small sections about related topics such as “Slaves to chocolate” Which discusses the hard labor of children and poor families  that goes into harvesting cocoa beans for chocolate. “A brief history of chocolate” discusses the history and past of chocolate and its discovery and consumption over many centuries. Having these small sections in the article really helps bring light to some of the important issues while still focusing on the main idea of the article.

In the article, the author wants us to think and feel a certain way as we read the article. One way the author does this is by discussing serious issues like slave labor. By taking about these issues, it makes the article more complex, thought-provoking and factual. The author also includes small facts throughout the article more interesting and overall appealing.

In my opinion, this article was definitely compelling and engaging. The author did a remarkable job touching on some serious topics and still making the article fun and attention-grabbing. Overall, I think this was a very well written article that left a lasting impression.

Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children

The book "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" is about the journey of 16 year old Jacob. After the traumatic death of his grandfather, Jacob travels to a remote island off the coast of Wales where his grandfather spent his childhood living in a children's home for "peculiar" children. While on the island, Jacob makes several shocking discoveries about his grandfather's past. Throughout the story, the setting is very important to the plot and overall development of the story.

In the story, the island of Cairnholm is extremely important to the story. Jacobs entire adventure takes place there. While Jacob is there, he notices how different Cairnholm is from his home town. It is very rustic and old and in no way is modern which helps Jacob connect to a time when his grandfather lived there. One example of this is, "I soon discovered that almost no one in Cairnholm even had a phone. I found only one number for the entire island." This shows how the island hasn't changed a lot and is still very outdated. Another example is, "it was my grandfathers island... As I gazed up at its sheer cliffs, tops disappearing in a reef of ghostly clouds , the idea that this was a magical place didn't seem so ridiculous." This shows how even just seeing the island reminds Jacob of his grandfather and the stories he used to tell.

Cairnholm is also very important to the story because it helps Jacob uncover his grandfather's past and secrets. One example of this is, "' what the hell for?' He growled when I told him where I wanted to go... I explained about my grandfather and the children's home." This shows how the island for Jacob, is the door to his grandfather's past.

The book " Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" uses setting heavily to help develop the plot. Without the setting, the story would be completely different. The setting in this book is what makes it interesting and exciting.

Literary Essay

There are many books that use symbolism, but the book “Looking for Alaska” by john green uses symbolism in a way that helps the plot unfold. Throughout the story,the cigarettes are a recurring idea and are a big part of the story-line. The cigarettes symbolize self-loathing, stress, and peer pressure.

Cigarettes in the book, are frequently used to represent the self loathing of characters, whether its hidden, or out in the open. An example of the self-loathing displayed by the characters is, “ Y’all smoke to enjoy it. I smoke to die.” This quote shows how within many of the characters, there is always a hint of doubt or self-destruction. Alaska has had a lot of tragedy and hardship in her life which gives her even more misgivings and troubles. She hides many of her problems from her friends which then leads to more serious issues.

In many parts of the story, cigarettes are also used when the characters are under a lot of stress. In the book, whenever there is a stressful time, there are always cigarettes to help relieve the stress. One example of this is, " Oh, God, I need to smoke. I need to smoke, but I can't reek when I see Sara's parents. " this shows how when the Colonel was stressed out about meeting his girlfriend's parents, smoking became his way of calming himself down. In the book the characters commonly become stressed so  they smoke to help them relax.  

Throughout the story, cigarettes are also commonly used to symbolize peer-pressure. When Miles (pudge) gets to Culver Creek, he is instantly influenced by his new friends and is pressured into smoking to impress them. One example of this is, “ then lit a cigarette and handed it to me. I inhaled. Coughed. Wheezed. Gasped for breath. Coughed again… ‘smoke much?’” This shows how being around people who smoke regularly starts to pressure Miles into thinking he should too. He is not used to smoking but when he is in an atmosphere where people are, he feels like he has to as well to fit in.

Symbolism is heavily used in this book both obviously and subtly. The use of cigarettes to me is one of the most important uses of symbolism in the book because it shows the emotions and personalities of the characters. I also think its very important because it deals with common teen issues that many people can easily connect to.

An Abundance of Katherines

The book "An Abundance of Katherines" by John Green is about soon to be collage freshman and prodigy, Colin Singleton. Colin has a strange obsession with only dating girls named Katherine and has recently been dumped by his nineteenth Katherine. After his breakup with Katherine XIX, Colin was in a state of sadness and despair and felt as thought his life might as well be over. Luckily for him, his friend Hassan decides to drag Colin on a road trip that would give the two of them a break from reality.

            I have so far enjoyed this book (even though I am not very far in) because it takes a different approach on the cliché breakup. Instead of having the stereotypical girl sitting in her room eating cartons of chocolate ice cream while listening to every sad song she owns, here we have a high school graduate trying to get over a previous girlfriend by going on a road trip and creating a formula to find out who will dump who in any relationship. To me, this makes the overall plot of the book far more interesting and exciting.

            Another reason why I am enjoying this book is because it has subtle comedy. Sometimes authors add to much comedy, which distracts from the meaning of the story. Having no comedy on the other hand, can make the story boring and less enjoyable. In this book, John Green succeeded in having the story be truly funny while still embracing the plot.

             Overall I think this book is very well written. I have found that the story is very simple and yet is very complex, and this is what makes you want to keep reading.

Blog Review

http://natashasbookblog26.blogspot.com/

I read Natasha’s blog post on “13 little envelopes” and I loved it. She gives a wonderful summery at the beginning of the post that shares a bit of her opinion but is also very informative and really sells the book. Although I have not read the book, reading her post, has interested me and made me want to read it in the future.

I found it very interesting how she wove craft and opinion together. Throughout her post, she expresses her opinions and then explains her thoughts through quotes and elaboration. This in my opinion, makes the post more personal to her and her ideas. She also explained what she thought what was done well and what could have been done better and made it clear why she thought so.

Out of all of Natasha’s blog posts that I have read, I think that this one really stands out. I think this because she really shares her opinions, which makes the post more relatable and engaging. I think she also discusses and includes the plot of the story in a way that helps the reader understand what she is talking about even if they haven’t read the book. By doing this, she helps the reader connect and understand what is being said.

I really like how this post is written because she stayed on track in all her paragraphs and didn’t stray from her main ideas.  I also like how she connected all of her paragraphs to each other, by doing this, she made her post more organized and well structured. I think her post is extremely engaging and interesting because she informs you about the book it self and its plot as well as her feelings and impressions toward it. In the future, I hope to try to connect my opinions to the book more clearly and obviously like what is done in this post.