Weekly Blog (12/08/14)

Holes

Book by: 

Blog by: Sonny S.

Prompt: In few sentences, summarize what you read.

     Today, I read the book Holes. I continued from what I've read recently. Today, the part I've read that really caught my attention is that Stanley "stole" sunflower seeds. Really, Stanley didn't steal the seeds, but he did take the blame for it. He then got himself in trouble, and Mr. Sir took Stanley to the Warden. Stanley didn't know this, but the warden is actually a women. She had long nails, which she painted with dry rattlesnake venom in front of Mr. Sir and Stanley. Mr. Sir then told the warden about the incident.

     Mr. Sir told the entire thing to the warden. One thing you will learn reading this part of the story is that, the warden doesn't like to mess around... she also doesn't like people disobeying her orders/commands. Mr. Sir told the warden that he thought that Stanley actually didn't steal the sunflower seeds. The warden then basically got tired of the story and struck Mr. Sir directly on his face. He let out a great groan of pain when the dry snake venom sunk in. Mr. Sir eventually fainted and Stanley was dismissed. 

     When Stanley was dismissed, he encountered a rattlesnake himself, but he got through back to his hole with no harm. Then he seen something very weird. Stanley was looking in all his friends holes to see who was done and who wasn't. The only one who wasn't done was his friend Zero. He was looking around because his hole was already dug. Zero said he dug the hole since he took the blame. So Stanley returned the favor by teaching Zero how to read and write.  

Weekly Blog (12/01/14)

Holes

Book by: Louis Sachar

Blog by: Sonny S.
Prompt: Do you like what you’re reading? Why or why not?

     I do like reading the book Holes because it's like the real world. Many people try to teach kids and such discipline. Discipline is a huge part of life, you can't just do whatever you want without getting punished, you will be getting no where at all. Holes teaches deficient kids discipline. This detention center is like boot camp, except at Camp Green Like. The only thing is, it's not a lake anymore... it's a dried up desert.

     The book Holes brings into a third person view of a boy named, Stanley Yelnats. Stanley comes to this boot camp because of what he call his, "no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing great-great-grandfather." As you can tell what he was accused of doing due to the name Stanley gives him. Stanley is now trapped with all sorts of young men eight hours away from any kind of civilization.

      At Camp Green Lake, you are forced to dig holes that are five feet deep in every direction. These holes must be five feet apart too. This seems a lot harder than it seem due to the fact that the land is now a considered a "very dried up wasteland". Stanley eventually get along with a group of friends, trying to work together to get out of their sentence, so they can finally leave Camp Green Lake.

    

   

The Best of Teen Writing of 2011 (11/17/14)

The Best of Teen Writing (11/17/14)

Book By: Myla Goldberg

Blog by: Sonny S.

Prompt:  

1) What is the mood of what you’re reading (happy, sad, funny, serious, etc.)?

Defend your idea.

2) What was going through your mind as you read?

     The mood in all of the short stories are normally happy. The mood in this story is serious. My evidence to prove that this story (The Spectrum by Kevin Hong and I've read this a while back) is serious is that it says it is serious. Well, I should rephrase myself and say that the part of the book I'm reading is serious, the scene is the serious part. It says that, ""Seriously," Bo said..." This proves that the scene is serious.

     If you're asking, "What makes this scene so serious?" Well, I'm going to answer that question. The thing that makes this scene so serious is that there is like, a stench from some paint that makes Bo feel like he has a condition. Bo says, "...my eyes feel swollen. I feel like there's a probe (A probe is like a instrument that doctors use on their patients to explore the wounded part of the body) poking around my nose. I think I'm developing a condition." The weird thing is that this happened when the crew was having lunch. The crew wasn't even painting at that time, they were eating. That's the bad thing about this, they weren't painting and Bo still took in the stench from the paint.

     As I read, I feel so anxious to read the rest of the stories. It's really cool to see all the kinds of different stories written by different people. The different types of writing types and different word choices through-out the book make you feel like you're improving very fast. It's also really cool because it's all in one book, which on my opinion was a very smart idea. This book makes me very anxious to read, and I think this is one of my favorite books, I hope I can find other versions (2012, 2013, 2014)!

The Best Teen Writing of 2011 (11/10/14)

The Best Teen Writing of 2011

Book By: Myla Goldberg

Blog By: Sonny S.

Prompts: 

1- Analyze the impact word choice has on the meaning or tone of a text.

2- Analyze how dialogue or specific incidents reveal information about characters. Make sure to include textual evidence.

     In, The Best Teen Writing of 2011, the teens use an excellent word choice. These young teens use words based on the setting of their story. All these students wrote short stories. In these short stories... they try to bring out as much potential in their writing as possible. Based on what I've read so far, their writing is the best during conflict. The conflicts of the story are very climatic and have a great amount of potential. This is why I like the conflict in their short stories.

     Events in this story can really give off some great detail. Arguments are the best parts of the short stories because of all the details. People in the stories can really show their true personality because of these details. It's the arguments that really can spark the light of the personality of the person.

This book is a great book for analyzing key details to the story. There are also several different stories, which can help you adjust to characters and the personality of their characters. Overall, this book can really help you with your reading skills, and will help you see all the different events that can take place in a book.

Reflection on Poe (11/7/14)

Reflecting on Poe

Blog by: Sonny S.

     Poe is a very detailed writer. He loves to write short stories. These stories may be short, but really detailed. One story I've read of his recently was, "The Tell-Tale Heart." That story is very detailed, but brings a very... malevolent, nefarious, and an ugly image. I think his writing is insanity. This-this thing, takes him over! Insanity! Insanity. This story might have been about a man with hysteria, a psychopathy mental disorder.

     Before I read about Poe, (http://www.poemuseum.org) I didn't know that he had a very hard life. His life has been so treacherous! His parents died when he was around three years old. He was taken by the Allans, who were wealthy tobacco farmers. The Allan's fostered Edgar (Poe's first name was Edgar) while he was growing up. Once he became older, he tried to go to school. While he was in school, his girlfriend had went with another man in Edgar's absence. His life has been, pretty problematic. Which is the reason I think why Poe writes very detailed and dark stories.

     So what genre does Poe write about? Poe writes like a poetry horror. If you've ever heard of Stephen King, you'll know where King has gotten his writing from. Poe wrote his stories in the 1800's. When Poe died (October 7th, 1849), someone needed to keep it going. Now there are all kinds of horror novels and books and short stories. All kinds a poems and all kinds of different writing, but there's one well-known person who writes horror. That is Stephen King, so you now can see that Poe has inspired many. But what inspired his writing?

     The events that took place in Poe's life were, like I said before, they were harsh. His life was unfortunately unfortunate. So that is probably what inspired his writing. The bad things equal bad ideas, but Poe was smart... he couldn't avoid the negative ideas, but instead, he used the negative ideas to make pessimistic or, negative writing. The writing is very good and detailed, but brings a negative atmosphere. Which I kind of like. He basically mixed the good and the bad, the happy and the sad.

     Overall, I think that Poe is a very inspirational man. Poe can inspire anyone who likes or loves to write. Poe may have went through a very long and harsh life, but it did eventually pay off. He is now a very famous man, he may not see it now, but he certainly can feel it. My opinion on Poe was he was a great writer.

   

The Best Teen Writing of 2011 (11/3/14)

The Best Teen Writing of 2011

(Yes, I know it's 2014)

By: Myla Goldberg

Blog By: Sonny S.
Prompt(s):
Do any of the characters feeling change as you’ve read? Explain why or why
not.
Do you like what you’re reading? Why or why not?

In, The Best Teen Writing of 2011, I do feel characters change. In this book, it shows all of the best stories that teens have written. This means that there are several different characters. In the stories, I feel that sometimes the people can be a little picky, but ending up being the nicest person ever! People of all kinds write these stories, and in real life... people will change, overtime that is, but they do change. I like to see the different perspectives of people, all kinds people and writing styles. This is an excellent book to practice characterization, and other items like that.

I love ready, The Best Teen Writing of 2011. The reason why I love reading this book is because you get to see all kinds of perspectives from all kinds of different people. I find this interesting because everyone has a different writing style than the next guy. This book is very interesting because of this. The word choice people use makes their stories very detailed. Myla G. (the author) had a very good idea to put together all kinds of stories and writing styles.

Overall, this book can really help people practice characterization and other item under the category of Literature. I find this book very, very interesting because of it. I am astonished by the writing in this book and would love to read more books like this. This book will teach you all kinds of things... and you might not even know it. This book is also very enjoyable! So that's the reason I would give this book a positive review overall.

I Survived - The Shark Attacks of 1916 (10/27/14)

I Survived - the Shark Attacks of 1916

By: Lauren Tarshis

Writing Prompt:  Describe the setting – when and where what you are reading takes place

May Contain Spoilers

The shark attacks of 1916 took place in 1916 in Elm Hills, New Jersey. This takes place at a beach very close to Elm Hills. A shark goes to the beach and swims there. The only thing is, the shark doesn't only swim there... he feasts there. This shocking news has gotten the whole city talking about these shark attacks and the shark in general. Stay away from Matawan Creek

This story is about a boy named Chet coming face-to-face with a bloodthirsty shark. He's very daring just to go to the beach when he knows there has been a recent shark attack there. Chet will have to face some consequences because of his actions. These actions were very poor actions and shouldn't have made that decision. Chet had a choice though, he didn't have to go down there. 

Chet made a very poor decision. He may be the new popular one, but was it worth it. Was it really worth it to go down there and get his leg hurt (I'm not going to what happens to his leg). He's on crutches now. He would be considered as disabled now. For what cause??? Now he can't do as many things as other people can. But the only thing he can do is heal and try.

Find Out What Happens to Chet Reading:

I Survived - The Shark Attacks of 1916

Between a Rock and A Hard Place Part 2 (10/20/14)

Prompt: List at least three problems the characters faced? Which was the most life
changing? Explain

Pages Read: 351 (all)

Book: Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Warning: May Contain Spoilers

     Today, I've finished the book, "Between a Rock and a Hard Place." This book is about how a man named Aron Ralston went hiking in a Canyon in Utah. He didn't tell anyone where he was going, or what he was doing. He faced three major problems in this story. That's what I'm going to be telling you about.

     Aron Ralston (the author and the character in the story) went on a hiking trip in Utah and fell into a canyon. When he was grappling down the canyon, an 800 pound boulder fell on his arm (problem 1). He was trapped down there. He tried to chip away parts of the boulder to free his arm with a knife, but he eventually dropped the knife (problem 2). Now, this is a true story, and everyone need food and water to survive. Aron had a water container, but then dropped it (problem 3). He was stuck down in that canyon for 127 Hours. He eventually, had to get out. So he decided to cut his arm off.

    Today, Aron has a pickaxe for an arm (since he doesn't have an arm anymore) and went to climb many mountains and overcame his fear of ever hiking again. This story is very inspirational because it shows how he has the perseverance and determination to get out of the canyon. He also overcame his fear of ever hiking again. Aron and many other people can learn something from this book, and most likely have learned something from this book. BE CAREFUL!!!

The Lady or the Tiger? (10/20/14)

"The Lady... or the Tiger?"

Blog by: Sonny S.

Story by: Frank Stockton

In this blog, I will be sharing what I think the ending should be to "The Lady or the Tiger?" This short story originally takes place in 3rd person... but I will be changing it into 1st person... just for the extra suspense.

    Every single heart in the amphitheater completely stopped beating... every breathe was held. I didn't know which door to choose. I honestly don't even know why I'm here, but I'm here. I bet it was that beautiful princess. But that king brought me here... WAIT! That's why... he caught me looking at that princess. Ugh, I don't know which door to choose. 

    I was walking along the streets in my olden times, and seen a beautiful young lady. She seemed like she was very nice. So I was there, just glancing at her from the corner of my eye. It was at that moment when I saw the King, I was assuming it was her father based on their interactions. So that was the princess I was staring at, I was lingering around her. I think he noticed me... and maybe that's why I'm here.

     So I look back at her and her father. I don't know what door to choose! I know there is a lady, and a tiger. So which door should I choose? I go to the door on the left, and open it... but the right door opens? It's pitch black behind the door, and can't see in. I can't hear anything either. I see a lady coming out. I was really confused. Then I realized... I should've died. But then, the princess sees me with a very viscous look. I see her giving a command to her guards, then she points at me... and then, I feel sick.

    I go along with my day. I'm now getting married. I look at the crowd attending to this occasion. She thought this contingency would never ever happen. She thought that her immense tiger would come out of that door, and relentlessly kill me. No mercy at all! I knew this, I seen it in her eyes. But I also didn't just see it in her eyes... I seen her at my wedding! I sprang up from my knees, and I immediately made a run for it. The king made his decision to kill my future wife, my lover. There was only one way to stop him... and that was at her execution.

I'm at my lovers (the maiden) execution. I have a best friend named Arno. He is a master assassin. My plan is to turn this party around. Arno already lives where this execution is taking place... it is in Paris. So I travel to Paris. It takes place right in front of Notre Dame de Paris. Arno takes on more than around 10 guards at once. He starts this right away. He successfully kills the king... the princess is placed in jail... and me, well... I'm now the King of Rome, and Arno is my knight... and my lover, she's my queen.

1st Quater Reflections (10/13/14)

1st Quarter Reflection

By: Sonny S.

10/17/14

          Today is Friday the 17th, and it is the last day of the quarter. My school has pushed their limits to the actual limit. We are always so concentrated in class, but I'm okay with it. So anyways, I'm super excited because today is Friday, and I get to go home for the weekend. But I will miss 1st quarter because the quarters went by super fast. But we did learn a lot. Here are some things that I learned in my Lit. Studies Class.

Article of the Week (AoW)

          In my Lit. Class, I've learned how to annotate and proof read. Annotating is a huge part of one of my skills. If you can annotate, you're going to know where all the important parts of the story you read are. This can impact your life enormously! You can use this reading newspapers... all kinds of stuff like that. So now you can know what to do in case something involving that newspaper story pops up!

Top 10 Book List Challenge (10/13/14)

1) The Call of the Wild by Jack London

   The Call of the Wild is my favorite book because of the word choice and because the book also has a mixture of my favorite genres. The word choice helps you imagine the scenes that are happening in the book. This book deals with action, and adventure. The book also deals with survival skills since it takes place in the Arctic. This book changed me so much because of the hard times people can put animals through. I hate the fact that humans don't understand what they can put dogs though. I love the fact that dogs will not give up no matter what nature turns their way.

2) White Fang by Jack London
   White Fang is a really great book because of the the amount of skill you need to survive and live. These wolves need to grow and thrive.  These wolves need to learn to love. And this taught me that any animal can be family. This has also taught me that all animals have a life. People should treat animals with respect, and stop fearing them.

3) Pinocchio by C. Collodi
   Pinocchio is a really great book because of the way Pinocchio tries so hard to become a real boy. I love the characters he meets, and I love the fact that he doesn't give up. He really and truly wants to become a real boy.



4) Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
   Treasure Island is an exciting book because of the action the book has. This book will also put you through a bit of suspense, and thats what I like about this book. You really can't predict what can happen, and what can go horribly wrong.



5) Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
   Oliver Twist is a book where you will be cheering, and standing up on your feet, hoping for something. You will be very anxious to read the next page sometimes. This book has some awesome pros, but some majorly bad cons. This is what I like about the book.



6) Moby Dick by Herman Melville
   Everyone knows the story of Moby Dick, but I don't think you'll know this one. This story is a great story of how a man wants to take down a giant whale named Moby Dick. Moby Dick stole his leg, and now he has a peg. I like how the old man tries his hardest to get what he deserves.

7) Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
   Black Beauty is a black beauty. This horse is awesome because of the life she's been through, and how well she is. She has awesome behavior and is has manners. Like, a horse has awesome manners!  






8) The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
   The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn are very fascinating. I like how he is always curios. But, Finn is a poor boy. His imagination is too big for reality. Not until he was adopted. He can make those imaginations come true if he works hard enough. That's what I like about this book, how you can make an imagination come true, if you do something in return. 




9) The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
   Tom is a mischievous character with a wild imagination. Tom is a trouble-maker and one of the first mistakes he made, he had to paint a fence. I like how this book is realistic with consequences. 





10) The Cay by Theodore Taylor
   The Cay is an amazing book on how a boy (Phillip) is lost at sea, and is rescued by a black man named Timothy. Phillip (the boy) wasn't raised around black men. So he thought it was kinda strange. Timothy also has a cat named Stew. The 3 of them are on a raft sailing to a cay. But, then, Phillip goes blind. 

127 Hours - Characterization (10/14/14)

127 Hours (Characterization)

by: Aron Ralston
blog by: Sonny S.

Aron Ralston shows who he is by mostly his word choice. He also shows who he is by what his hobbies are, and what he likes to do. He can be smart, and he could also be... well, not so wise. But that's not why I'm typing this blog. It's not to debate on if he is wise or not, it's to show you what it's like to see characterization.

There are two parts of characterization. There is direct characterization, and there is indirect characterization. I will explain these now. Direct characterization is when the author of the story directly states that this person is like or likes... whatever. Indirect characterization is when the author tries to hide what the person looks like or how they act. They do this by using speeches or other kinds or actions.

In the book, "127 Hours," Aron Ralston introduces himself by using mostly indirect characterization. But the book itself gives one of his hobbies away. Aron shows his hobbies directly, but himself is indirectly. The book is has another name which is, "Between a Rock and a Hard Place." The illustration on the cover also gives away that same hobby I was talking about... but I haven't told you what it was. He likes to explore the world, or... climb the world I should say. He likes to all kinds of climbing, rock climbing, mountain climbing. This book takes place in Utah where the Canyonlands are. He goes rock climbing. He climbs down into a mountain. So that is one of his hobbies. But he will never explore the world the same when something happens. Read the book, "Between a Rock and a Hard Place" to find out what happens to Aron himself.

127 Hours (10/14/14)

This May Or May Not Spoil the Book "127 Hours"

"127 Hours"

by: Aron Ralston
blog by: Sonny S.

On page 179

          127 hours is a book about a man who goes hiking. A man named Aron Ralston (also the author of this book) went on a hiking trip without anyone knowing where he was going. He was going to go hiking at the bottom of a canyon at Utah in the canyon-lands. His goal was to explore the bottom of a canyon in Utah. Also, Aron has decided to grapple down the canyon.

Aron lost his arm by having to cut it off while on this trip. He was trapped for 127 hours before he had to do something with his arm. Aron had to get a pickaxe for an arm and climbed many mountains. But this one was his problem. He needed the pickaxe because he was stuck, and now he has it.

So I think Aron made a very poor decision because he didn't tell anyone where he was going when anything can happen. Something did happen that day. Unfortunately an 800-pound boulder fell on Aron's arm. He eventually had to chip the boulder away and get out... but how. If you want to find out what he did... read the book, "Between a Rock and a Hard Place" or you can watch the documentary, "127 Hours."

          

          

Aron Ralston (9/29/14)

Spoiler Alert!

In the book, “‘Between a Rock and a Hard Place”, Aron Ralston shows how he fell into a canyon which causes a problem for him and explains what e had to do to survive. This book discusses that Aron Ralston himself fell into a canyon in Utah and a 800-pound boulder became loose and fell onto Aron's arm. In fact, Aron has a pickaxe for a hand still to this day because he had to cut his own arm off. Aron survived after 127 hours, which is how long he was in the canyon. Now, there is a documentary called, "127 Hours"  that people can watch about Aron.

Banned Book Vlog

About the Author

Hi, I'm Sonny. I like to hang out with my friends at school. I like school because of the comedy that can happen. You won't know what will happen, and that's what I like about school. I am very interested in math, science, and English/Literature Studies. 

I am addicted to play baseball. I'm a pitcher on my team(s) and I will try my hardest until I can come out on the top of my team. I breathe baseball everyday because it's my life. I play baseball, and also make strategies because I watch baseball, and I go to school. I also play games that involves strategy.