In a word, a slice of perspective...Mary Schmich

1. I think Schmich wants the reader to feel and think about what she is saying. In her first paragraph, she says, "words sometimes land in your mind like birds on a wire." Immediately, I am thinking of this image and what it means. It already makes her column stand out to me because of the relate-ability, and that's what I think she wants the reader to feel - relatable.

2. Schmich wants the audience to remember the last paragraph the most, because that is where her claim jumps out at you. Earlier in the piece, she compares the word portion, to "10 potato chips, 7 Triscuits and never quite enough ice cream." At first this didn't really stand out to me. I understood it, but it wasn't related to anything. However, in the last paragraph, she ends her piece with, "a lot of us have potato chips to spare." This was so cool to me, how she tied that piece of information into the end of her column, where she reveals what she is trying to say. That is why it was so memorable to me, and why it made her column that much better.

3. The purpose of this column was to tell people that though we think we don't have a lot, we all have a portion that we could give, to somebody who really doesn't have a lot. I think this was her whole claim, and the whole purpose for her writing this column.

4. Schmich utilizes diction and syntax to elevate her piece and make it more interesting to read. Some of the techniques she uses are asyndeton and anaphora. The example of asyndeton that I found was in the first paragraph. She says, "they flutter in, sit there, flutter off, come back, distract you at inconvenient hours." This is a great example of asyndeton because it engages the readers and gives them something interesting to read. The example of anaphora was in the last paragraph. She says, "a bigger slice of brains and beauty, a bigger scoop of fame and money, a bigger helping of love and time." This really emphasizes what she is saying, making it so much more memorable and meaningful, ultimately making her column better.

5. The value of this column to society is so huge. It may not seem like an important topic after reading all the paragraphs except the last one, but in that last one, you finally see the claim, and it suddenly hits you. It is saying that everyone has a little they could give, no matter how much you think you have, and society would be so much better if everybody gave a little bit more to people who really do need help. This is such an important aspect of society that not everybody sees, and thats why she wrote about this topic, to enlighten people about this issue.

Over Spring Break I finished re-reading The Lives of Tao. I enjoyed the great detail and action in this book. I previously read this book over the summer for my summer reading project. I think it is a very good book for boys entering high school because of all the intense action and attention to detail. This book is an Alex Award winner because of its excellence.

Some people may say that it is pointless to re-read books, but I think it is very beneficial because it allows you to see a different side of the book. Also you may have a different opinion of the book the second time you read it. Personally, I had the same reaction to this book as a did the first time, but I understood things better and more of the little details stood out to me and made more sense. So I think it is very beneficial to re-read novels.

The book that I am currently reading as my independent reading book is The Lives Of Tao, by Wesley Chu. I read this book as my summer reading project, and I enjoyed it so much that I have decided to read it again. It is about an out-of-shape IT technician, who wakes up hearing voices in his head. It turns out that he is actually hearing an ancient alien life-form called Tao. The life-forms race crash landed on earth way before people were a concept. There are two opposing factions of this race: the peace loving Prophus, and the savage Genjix. The life forms find hosts to live in, and the two sides train these people to become their warriors. This is the terrible situation the overweight technician has gotten chosen to be a part of. He of course had no idea of this, and now is being forced to train for his unwanted companion. The story also deals with key topics such as obesity, friendship, and trust, all of which make the reader think about the motives of characters. I think this is why I personally enjoyed the book so much, because it kept me engaged the entire time reading, and it made me think deeper than the surface.
One of the main ideas is that there is a hero inside every one of us. It says this on the cover of the book, that's how important it is. And it is true. Each one of us has something unique about us, and in the IT technicians case, he was smarter than other agents. It was very hard for him to realize this about himself due to all of his struggles with weight, but he found it eventually. And this is the biggest theme of the book. We can all be the hero, we just have to find it within ourselves and make it happen.

Dover Beach

In Fahrenheit 451, Montag reads a poem to his wife and her friends called Dover Beach. This poem may not seem like a big topic of this book, but it truly is. One of the reasons for this is because it caused Mrs. Phelps to break down and cry, which is something people never do in their society. But why did it make her cry? What stuck with her and got her thinking? I think it made her think about the society in the poem, and the society in which they live in. I believe that she understands how messed up the society has become, and she cries. Then she says she doesn't know why she is crying, which could be true, but it could also be because she didn't want the others to know how she truly felt about the society. This could be interpreted in many different ways, but I personally think she was lying about not knowing why she was crying. I think she knew what the poem meant, and she finally understands.

     The book that we are currently reading in class is Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury. He wrote this book to be set in the future, and some of the details are a little scary to think about, if they could actually happen in our future. The main idea is that books are no longer a good thing. The whole society is based around entertainment, and people are not supposed to think why things happen, but just to assume that these things are normal. They believe books will help people to begin thinking about why things happen, so they have made the roles of firefighters not to put out firers, but to essentially start them and burn the books that citizens may secretly have. This is scary to think about because we are taught to read books and learn about subjects like history, math, science, and english. In this society, however, they don't learn anything, they simply enjoy there televisions. I cannot imagine living in this kind of society.

     I believe Ray Bradbury wrote this book to send a message to the readers, encouraging them to not create this world, and continue learning new information. It is interesting too because he wrote this book in the 50's, and he didn't know about all the technology that would be invented until after publishing his book. This is cool because he predicted the world changing and evolving to the use of technology, and he was warning his audience to stay away from his, somewhat exaggerated society. I think this was a great way to send his message, through his book, showing the hardships of this society.

   

        The book that I am currently reading is called, "The Fat Boy Chronicles" by Lang Buchanan. This story is based off the true story of a high school student that went to William Mason High School. This student was overweight and he got bullied a lot. The story uses his journal entries that he was required to write for his english class, as the basis for the novel. The book is very interesting because of how it brings his journal entries into the book and gives a new perspective of how the story is told. Of course the whole idea of the book is to tell the story of this overweight, unhealthy student, and how he gets bullied in many different locations throughout his school day. One of his most feared locations is in the boys locker room.
        He is in PE class, and is required to change his clothes everyday. Well he does not feel comfortable because of his weight to take off his shirt, because people will se how big he truly is. He goes to the corner in an attempt to get away from a crowd. However, some of the football players make fun of him, saying things like, "Maybe our mascot should be the tomatoes, not the patriots." Of course this does not make him feel good about himself, but he just takes the bullying and gets to class. This happens multiple times throughout his day, not just in the locker room. It happens in the halls, in class, and even on the bus ride home. Life is a constant struggle for him.
        I think that the whole point of this novel is to not only tell the story of this boy, but to reveal to the readers the emotionally painful world that obese teenagers experience everyday. I would love to be able to say that I have never made fun of somebody because of their looks or anything about them, but honestly, that is impossible for most people, including me to say. We may not realize it, but its true. Often times, it may just be a joke that is meant to be taken lightly, but in reality, those things can be very hurtful to those people. That is what this book is trying to tell through this boys real life story.

Life Of Pi

The book that I am reading, Life Of Pi, is very good at using descriptive language, however, for me, I feel that the book is too slow, and isn't very climactic. I just think that the story takes too long to reach its peak. I think that if you do not like a slow paced book, then I don't believe that you will enjoy reading this book. But, if you do enjoy that kind of book, then the Life Of Pi would be a good book for you to read.