The Fault In Our Stars by John Green: Theme Discussion

          I am ecstatic to have the opportunity to write my final blog post of the year on The Fault In Our Stars. Since I will be getting pretty in depth in the story, for anyone who is not as familiar with the novel's plot, or has possibly not read it in awhile, I recommend viewing the video that I have attached. It is the trailer for the upcoming film version of the novel, and it does a good job of summing up the theme and the plot of the novel in two minutes.



Click here to watch trailer



        Having just finished The Fault In Our Stars minutes ago, I have many thoughts about the book. I believe that this book was intended for many purposes. If I sit here and look back on the book as a whole, more than one theme pops into my head. One of the largest themes comes directly from the very last few lines of the book, in Augustus's final letter to the author of An Imperial Affliction, Peter Van Houten, "You don't get to choose if you get hurt in this world... but you do have some say in who hurts you."(pg 313) The general idea of hurt is a part of most themes in the book, and most of the themes are enforced in this final letter to Van Houten. In my opinion, another one of the most important themes could be summed up in this simile from the letter, "We are like a bunch of dogs squirting on fire hydrants."(pg 313) In other words, we are desperate to leave our mark on the world, and we are often so desperate to be remembered that our mark can bring more harm than good.



         The first theme discussed (you don't get to choose if you get hurt) is supported numerous times throughout the novel. Throughout the entire first half of the novel, Hazel worries so much about getting close to people. She does not want people to care about her because she knows that she will die soon enough, and she wants to leave as little destruction as possible when she does. She often refers to herself as a grenade. She doesn't want to hurt people. This is why she is hesitant in her relationship with Augustus. What she doesn't realize is that Augustus is dying as well. What she also doesn't take into account is that if Augustus dies first, it would hurt her, but it would be a hurt she doesn't mind. Therefore, she is spending all this time worrying about hurting Augustus and being a grenade and causing more harm than she has to; in the end, it will be her who is hurt first anyway, so her worries of hurting aren't even valid. In other words, the message the author is trying to get across through all of this is that you shouldn't worry about who you are going to hurt and that you should accept the fact that others will hurt you... you just have a choice in who you allow to do so. As the quote hanging in Augustus's living room says, "Without pain, we couldn't know joy."(pg 35)



         The second theme discussed (leaving a mark on the world), is supported through Augustus's desperate need to do something important before he dies. This becomes such a desperate situation that he almost kills himself (on accident, of course) numerous times in an attempt to do so. He makes the realization just before he dies that leaving your mark on the world is not what is so important, but rather, learning, discovering, noticing things about the world. Augustus Waters did not leave such a large mark on the world that millions of people who barely knew him weeped when he died. But he did leave a mark that caused those who knew him well to mourn even more than those million people ever could have.

The Fault In Our Stars: Character Symbolism

As I have continued to read The Fault In Our Stars, by far my favorite part of the novel so far is the characters. I have chosen to create a symbol for each character describing who they are. I thought this would be a fun way to introduce the characters in the novel for anyone who plans on reading, has read it, or maybe even plans on seeing the upcoming movie.

Hazel Grace
Hazel Grace could be compared to many things, but I like to think of her "The Ugly Duckling". She looks at herself and her life, and can't come close to seeing her true value and worth. She sees a "grenade" capable of exploding at any time and destroying everyone in her path. She sees her ventilator that helps her to get through cancer and thinks "ugly". She sees an ugly girl who has no life and wishes to become close to no one for the fear of harming them. And maybe others think this way too, when they first see a cancer patient, just as they did "Th Ugly Duckling." But Augustus sees her for her true value. He recognizes the fact that Hazel is beautiful becuase of all these things. She is far beyond her age in her thoughts, as we see when compared with her friend Kaitlyn. She is not a typical teenager. She has had life experiences that give her true beauty that she cannot recognize.

Augustus Waters
Augustus Waters is much the opposite of Hazel Grace, possible much of the reason they are attracted to eachother. Augustus wears a very confident swagger on his exterior and exuberates it to everyone he meets. However, throughout the story, we notice that truth be told, Augustus is not so stable and secure on the inside. He is constantly fearing death, cancer, and any other bad things. He worries a lot about things he can't control. So he appears strong on the outside but this isn't actually the case.

From these descriptions, we can see that Augustus and Hazel Grace are opposites. Augustus is confident on the outside but in reality is pretty weak, and Hazel Grace believes she is weak on the outside, but is actually very strong on the inside. Possibly this is why they need eachother so much

Research Article Study on the Importance of Spending Time With Your Family

While researching for my Creative non-fiction piece, a found a number of numerous articles which I really enjoyed reading and whose messages I really took to heart, making me desire to spend more time with my family. I have attached links to the three articles I have chosen to compare and contrast at the end of this post. These three articles are called "Importance of Family Time on Kids Mental Health and Adjustment to Life", "The Importance of Family Bonding Time", and "Family Strengths: Time Together". Notice a common theme yet? Anyway, my creative nonfiction project is on the importance of family time in the lives of children and marriages, which is something that is rather lacking in our busy society today. These three articles are very well written, and do an excellent job of moving their audiences to action, and I would love for my creative nonfiction piece to succeed just as well at this.

I love the fact that all three articles open with the importance of family time on everyone in the family and conclude with a list of good ways to incorporate family bonding time into your life. I think this is a really great strategy in moving the audience to action because you give them explicit examples of how to apply the point to their own life. Not to mention the fact that I feel very strongly about the topic that is discussed in these articles. I think it's really interesting that lack of family bonding can hinder the growth and development of a child in every aspect of life. I also completely agree with the fact that family bonding should take primary importance in life because your family will be the people who stick by you your whole life an their love and support will be unconditional, never phony or fake.

Anyway, this is a topic I feel very strongly about, and I highly recommend checking out these articles! Who knows, maybe it will lead you to make a huge difference in your family life that will effect you for the rest of your life.

Article #1
Article #2
Article #3

Kayla

The Fault in Our Stars: John Green Research

 I recently began reading The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. I noticed he has a very unique and relatable gone while riding. His voice was something that really caught my attention while reading the novel. I decided to conduct some research on him and some of his other works and accomplishments. I found that he has written many other books and received numerous awards including:
New York Times best selling author for:
•Looking for Alaska 
•An Abundance of Katherines 
•Paper Towns 

Co-author of:
•Will Grayson, Will Grayson 

Recipient of:
•Michael L. Printz Award(2006)
•Edgar Award(2009)
•Los Angeles Times Book Prize(2 times)

Also, John Green embarked on a project in 2007 to help to educate the nations teenagers in a fun and interactive way. He has a youtube account that he shares with his brother. They make a combination of science and history videos. They talk about everything from biology to chemistry to ancient civilizations to current events. Their videos are extremely enthusiastic and make learning typically boring topics interesting. From the videos I have watched I have noticed that Green's tone in his youtube videos is very similar to that which he writes with. It is a very sarcastic time that helps in getting across a very serious message. After doing thorough research on Green, I would definitely recommend checking out his novels and his youtube channel. They are both really interesting and reliable ways to learn something new!

John Green Youtube Channel

Thanks for reading,
Kayla

Krista Ramsey "Children Need Puppy Kisses, Not Beepers"

In short, this column goes through the story of a young girl who is given a "beeper"(the equivalent of a cell-phone) for he birthday and wished to trade it for a puppy. Her request is denied by her parents, and enforces the message that we are forcing our children to grow up to fast, and taking away an important part of their lives they will never get back--childhood.




Read Column Here




The line I have chosen from the column that I personally believe to be the best would have to be the following: "She is of medium height and slight build, with hair that refuses to take orders from a barrette. She talks softly and hunches her, the kind of girl who hides behind others in school pictures." I absolutely love this line. It was the first line in the column, and matter of fact the first line I read in any column by Krista. I was drawn in immediately. Her diction and syntax are on point for her audience. She uses personification when she states "with hair that refuses to take orders from a barrette". This figurative language helps us to really visualize this girl in our head and even relate to her. Rather than just saying "the girl had messy hair" we get a real feel for not only the girl's appearance but also personality. Also, we see casual diction used to attract an audience of your normal day-to-day people who are skimming through the paper to see if anything catches their eye. We see other examples of figurative language and diction strategies in this line as well. Overall, it is very well-crafted!


Ramsey's writing style as a whole could be described as very casual and relatable. She is very persuasive throughout her stories, and really wants you adopt her viewpoint on any particular issue. She uses a lot of creative writing styles to make her pieces more interesting, and they are more like a narrative than a newspaper article. I think he way she writes about such relatable topics in such a down to earth way really draws in a great audience of readers.


Three Questions for Ramsey:
What makes you notice things like this little girl one day at Kroger? What prompted you to question her?
For the purpose of understanding the message better, was your childhood one like the ones you described as "useless, tail-wagging, double daring, bubble gum-blowing fun" childhoods, or was it like the "being trained at seven to attend an Ivy League" childhood?
If you could suggest one thing to make a difference in the way our society parents their children, what would you suggest?

New Book:Mindy Kaling's"Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?(And Other Concerns)"

(Video Showcases a little of the personality Mindy has throughout the book)

 About two days ago, I could barely tell you who Mindy Kaling was. Now I honestly feel like she's one of my best friends. I stumbled across this book kind of by accident, and ended up putting aside "Allegiant" to read this memoir I stumbled across at Target. It seems kind of lame at first, but I am confident that most females can relate to something in this book. It is basically just a bunch of hilarious stories from Mindy's childhood to now, each one showcasing what lessons came out of them. And did I mentions she's hilarious? She's something that's hard to find: a relatable, down to earth TV star, who is willing to open up about herself to teach lessons to others. She uses so many different comical devices throughout the story including satire, irony, word play found throughout her section titles, and just has a sense of humor about her voice and tone in her writing that makes you laugh out loud as your reading.

There are also a lot of valuable lessons to be learned throughout this book. I'm not quite finished yet, but I would say some of the more valuable lessons I have learned would be about friendship, and how it's better to have a couple of close friends, who can relate to you and you have a lot in common with, than to surround yourself with a lot of friends that you have absolutely nothing in common with and can't really find much interesting to talk about. The friends of the first type will be the friends who support you through everything you do and stay by your side. They will be a large part of your success in life. There is so much more I have learned and laughed about throughout this book, and I definitely, definitely recommend reading it to find out more! You won't regret it!

-Kayla 

Allegiant: Setting Description

    Today I would like to blog about the setting at the beginning of Allegiant. I have just begun this book so I don't know a whole lot about the plot, but the way the setting was brought forth in the first 50 pages or so is very clear. I would like to include some quotes from the novel to demonstrate this. These quotes also showcase the great imagery in the novel

•"It wasn't clean as it was in the days when it was the Erudite compound; now it is ravaged by war, bullet holes in the walls and the broken glass of shattered light bulbs everywhere. I walk over dirty footprints and beneath flickering lights..."- pg 4

•"This floor of the Erudite Headquarters is all glass, even the walls. Sunlight refracts through it and casts slivers of rainbows across the floor... A long narrow room with beds on either side. Next to each bed is a glass cabinet for clothes and books, and a small table."-pg 15

• "We reach the end of the lawn . The metal structure is larger and stranger up close than it was from far away. It's really a stage, and arcing above it are massive metal plates that curl in different directions, like an exploded aluminum can."-pg 26

•"Ahead of us is the Hancock building, and beyond it, Lake Shore Drive, the lazy strip of pavement that I once flew over like a bird. We walk the cracked sidewalk side by side, our clothes smeared with Edward's blood, now dry." -pg 41

•"I only find myself in a ransacked laboratory, beakers and test tubes scattered across each counter. Torn pieces of paper litter on the floor, and I'm bending to pick one up when the lights shut off."-pg 49

In conclusion, I think that the setting descriptions on Allegiant really help to enhance the story and I think that they are very visual to help you get an idea of what it looks like in this novel.

Read Book Reviews, author Q&A, and Summary of Divergent on Amzon

Theme: How Society Impacts the Individual in "Insurgent" and the "Divergent" Series(Sorry its really long!)

Since it has been quite some time since my last blog post, rather than jump right into the meat of the post I'd like to take a brief moment to reflect on what I have been up to reading-wise lately. During my Spring Break, I found myself with a lot free time on my hands and a lot of gross weather which definitely prompted me to do a lot of reading. After seeing Divergent the day it came out, I was reminded of my love for the book and decided to begin the second book, Insurgent. I could hardly put this book down all of Spring Break, and I found myself reading it whenever possible, whether it be while making myself dinner, in the car, or before bed. I ended up finishing the book in just a few days.This is the most reading I've had the time to do in a while, and I'm glad I was able to get caught up on some reading during Spring Break. I hope everyone else was too! Also, as a side note, if you are looking for something to read, I would DEFINITELY recommend the Divergent series.


But enough rave about the book, I would now like to begin to reflect on my true intentions for this post(as you can see in the title), I would like to discuss how Insurgent showcases how society impacts the individual. If you are unfamiliar with Divergent, some background information will be necessary in order to understand this post. In Divergent, throughout the novel there are five factions who value five different human qualities as the most important quality to possess in life. These five factions work together in life, although they are separated, providing different services based on their beliefs. These factions include: Abnegation(believe in selflessness and are leaders in the government), Amity(believe in happiness and peace and work in agriculture), Candor(believe in honesty and work in law) Dauntless(believe in bravery and provide defense and protection), and Erudite(believe in intelligence and work as researchers, scientists, teachers, etc.). Individuals get to choose which faction they wish to be a part of when they turn 16, and this is the system upon which society has worked for a very long time. The main character Tris, transferred from Abnegation to Dauntless at 16, leaving behind her family for a new way of life. At the beginning of Insurgent, the society is beginning to crumble. Erudite has overthrown the Abnegation government and murdered most of the faction through mind controlling simulations over the Dauntless faction. Now Erudite is "in control" with the help of half of the Dauntless,  half of the Dauntless faction as well as the Candor are against Erudite, and Amity wishes to remain neutral in the Conflict.


Now, giving all of this background information does have a point behind it. Understanding the state in which the society is in is the first step in understanding how it impacts its individuals. Throughout the course of the first two novels, Tris spends time in the heart of each and every one of the factions headquarters. Each time she goes to a new faction, she learns something new and important that she wishes to apply to her life. The society has taught its citizens that they must value and focus on ONE quality in particular and spend all of their time focusing on it and perfecting it. The citizens of the society choose to be content with this system of society for many reasons including that the majority seems to be content with it, and most individuals do not go against the majority. Also, a lot of the citizens feel that the five factions are solely the five personality types that exist, and they feel safe and comfortable and have a sense of belonging in their faction. Continuing these thoughts, there isn't a lot someone could do by themselves to go against the society even if they didn't believe in what it stood for. However, one of the major themes of the story and Tris's discovery through traveling through all of the factions is that all of these qualities are important for an individual to have and apply to their life, as well as many others. Part of her capability to discover this would be her Divergence, or having an aptitude for more than one faction. However, we see multiple times throughout the novel that people make decisions solely based on the majority whether it be due to fear, or naivety, or placing how others see them over their personal beliefs. For instance, we see this example from when Caleb, Tris's brother, betrays her due to his lack of suspicion, "I wouldn't judge him too harshly. Jeanine[leader of Erudite] can be extraordinarily persuasive to those who aren't naturally suspicious." This simple truth could definitely hold true in our society today. Going against the majority can be a scary thing, but it will be unavoidable at some point if you are ever going to get something that you truly want. Unfortunately, as seen in the novel, society often puts ideas in our head that often alter our ideas from what we truly want to what society wants. Society has a huge impact on individuals points of views and minds, and only a select few people such as Tris have the courage to stand up for what they believe in.


I realize the blog was pretty lengthy, and kind of a lot to read and I will try to make them shorter in the future, there was just an unusually large amount of ground to cover considering I was discussing an entire novel. As my link this week I would like to include something that I became particularly interested in over Spring Break, and it has a relationship to the novel and personality types. it is the personality type quiz( you may have already taken something like it if you had ECA) and scientific research states there are more like sixteen personality types rather than the simple five that the society convinces its members to believe. Feel free to take the quiz and read about your personality type through these links(If you already know your type you can read about it on the second link). Explore the websites and have fun with it. Feel free to comment your personality types or ask any questions you have about this blog post in general! I know it was really long and I could definitely see how you could get confused, and I would love to clear anything up for you.


Thanks for reading,
Kayla


 Personality Quiz


 Info about YOUR personality type(take quiz above first)

Final Blog Post

The growth within my writing on blogger throughout the trimester has evidently improved. For instance, in my first posts, I was not very successful in trying to connect with my audience, and therefore it made my posts kind of boring. An example of this is how in my older post, I simply ended the post at the end of a thought, without drawing a conclusion or making any kind of connection. Throughout the trimester I attempted to work on making my posts more interesting, so that people would enjoy reading them. In my second post, I ended with a connection to another novel, The Hunger Games, which is a novel that most people in this class have probably read. This would allow a reader to connect to my post more easily. Also, my vocabulary has improved throughout the trimester. In my first post, my vocabulary was kind of dull, and when describing characters I did not use very many effective descriptive words,       I only counted a total of two. In my second post, I highlighted the many examples of where I attempted to use more descriptive words, and tried to really go in depth about my impression of each character. Lastly, I believe that my transitions have improved. In my first post, I hardly used transition words, and went straight from one topic to the next. In my second post I used transition words such as so far, also, therefore, for example, etc. Overall I just believe that the general quality of my writing has improved.

            One thing that I struggled with through the blogging experience was incorporating technology, as well as keeping up on my reading well enough to publish as effective of posts as I could have. The reading was due to a busy schedule, but I did my best to find books that I enjoyed reading so that I would find myself reading during my free time. To incorporate technology I did my best to be on the look-out for external articles, media, and pictures that related to something I was reading so that I could incorporate it in my post and give the reader something to read or watch that may help them better understand the post. One strength I had while blogging was the content of my blogs. I felt that I was successful as far as meeting all of the rubric requirements which included characterization, analyses, book summary, etc. I believe that I found effective ways to connect with an audience while still reflecting these important elements of reading throughout my blogging experience. I am sad to say that I did not even come close to my reading goal, as high school presented far more time commitment than I had originally expected. I ended up 18 books off of my reading goal, which is something I would like to work on next trimester when I hopefully have more time. I updated Goodreads throughout the trimester by saying which books I had finished, liking quotes, and marking books that I wished to read. I have improved as a reader throughout the trimester overall by just beginning to enjoy and look forward to independent reading, and really working on finding novels that I was passionate about.

My plan for this trimester

I am only about a little half way through Divergent, and I am already looking for another book to read. I am considering reading 2 books at once in order to finish 3 by the end of the trimester. I am thinking about a lot of different books, so if you have read any of these, please tell me if you enjoyed them. I just watched the movie The Great Gatsby this weekend, and I really, really, enjoyed it. Possibly one of the best produced movies I have seen in a while. I am aware that this story was originally a 1920s novel, and I was wondering if anyone has read it and if it was any good, especially compared to the incredible movie. I was also considering The Notebook, because I picked it up the last time I was at the bookstore but have not read it yet. I'm not sure if I'm really into reading a Nicholas Sparks novel right now, unless it is extremely good. If I finish Divergent in time, I might just try to finish the series or start the next book. Lastly, The Fault In Our Stars has come up a lot recently, and I have kind of been wanting to read it as well. Also, if you know of any good Christmas time novels, please tell me, because I'm kind of already in the Christmas spirit:).

Divergent: Book Review/ Thoughts

I am only about half way through this book, but I really like it so far. I think that the plot line is really intriguing, and the way each chapter ends would make anyone want to read more. It is really sci-fi, which a lot of people don't like, but I think that this is one of those rare cases where a sci-fi novel can appeal to all, or most people. I think this novel appeals to people in a way similar to the sensation of the Hunger Games. The overall theme and message really tugs at you and makes you feel for the main character. I also know that this book is going be a movie coming out this Spring, and I've found myself really looking forward to being able to see this book produced on the big screen. It will be a different experience for me than the Hunger Games, because I saw the movie first in that series, so I am excited to get a different outlook on a big sci-fi production. I would definitely recommend reading this novel to anyone and everyone, and remember, don't judge a book by its cover. You will never know if you like it until you read!

Here's a sneak peak of the trailer for the movie, because my post kind of turned into my excitement towards it :).

Romeo and Juliet: Modern Versions

In class, we have been reading Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. Throughout the unit, I have discovered how many modern remakes of this plot line there have been. The play by Shakespeare was one of the greater works in history, and it is still being recreated today. I figured that I could add something a little more interesting to my blog by making a list of some of these modern remakes and discussing them. All of these remakes show the legacy and impact of Shakespeare's great love story.Who knows, maybe watching one of these remakes will help you get a better understanding of the play!

1. Romeo and Juliet(1968 film)- directed by Franco Zeffirelli- This film version of Romeo and Juliet sticks to the initial script and setting. It takes place in the original time period and is a director's take on the film.

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2.William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet(1996 film)- This film version of Romeo and Juliet sticks to the original script, but takes place in a modern setting of Verona Beach, and the characters are much more modern. This creates a contrast between the way the characters talk and the setting.

 

3. West Side Story- Believe it or not, West Side Story was actually inspired by Romeo and Juliet. Although the plot and the characters are not entirely the same, the general storyline is close enough to see the similarities. It is an American musical set in the early 50s in New York City

 

4.Gnomeo and Juliet- This is an animated film version of Romeo and Juliet. It is a modern and quirky take on the plot, and is meant to be a comedy version with the characters being garden gnomes.

 

 

5.Romeo and Juliet(2013 film)- This film version is the most recent and modern. It uses the original setting of Elizabethan Verona similar to Zeffirelli's adaptation, but does not stick to the original script.



 



 

 

6. Love Story by Taylor Swift- This final adaptation of Shakespeare's famous love story is a modern song by pop-country artist Taylor Swift. It is most definitely influenced by Shakespeare's play and shows the legacy of the story.





Divergenet: Questions/Predictions

I just recently finished Chapter 15 in Divergent. One thing that I have noticed about this novel is that the end of each chapter definitely leaves you hanging. After finishing chapter 15, many questions and predictions formed in my head. Chapter 15 is about the visiting day when Beatrice gets to see her parents. Only her mother comes, and her mothers reasoning of why her father didn't is that he had to "work". However, her mother acts very strangely toward the end of the chapter. She seems to know quite a bit about Dauntless, being an Abnegation. At the end of the chapter, Beatrice realizes that her mother was once Dauntless, before she chose to be an Abnegation at 16. Beatrice's mother also somehow knows that she is Divergent, and knows how dangerous it is. I believe that Tris's mother was also told she was Divergent at the aptitude tests. She seems to know more than anyone should unless they were Divergent themselves. A questions has also formed after reading this chapter and that is why has Four been acting so strange lately? He was particularly rude to Beatrice's mother when he met her, and has just been acting weird lately. That is the only updates I have for today! Once again though, this book is getting extremely exciting and I would recommend checking it out!

Romeo and Juliet: Comparison to Film Versions

As you most likely know, recently in class we have been reading and analyzing the famous Shakespearean play "Romeo and Juliet". After reading each scene, we have been watching two different film versions of the scene, which include a film version that is true to the Elizabethan Era in which the play was originally intended to be set, as well as a different film version which includes a more modern take on the play's setting, which affects great deal of the play, however, but sticks to the original script. In viewing all three versions of the play, I have noticed many differences. However, each take on the original script allows for a better understanding of the play. For instance, after reading only the script, some of the details about setting, as well as the characters actions can be somewhat foggy, because the script includes only their words. After viewing the film versions, I was also able to pick up the tone in which certain words were meant to be said, which I hadn't been able to do after just reading the script. For instance, I believed Lord Capulet to be a light-hearted, calm man when just reading the story, but after viewing the films, I realized that he was not calmly scolding Tybalt, but completely yelling at him. Therefore, the film takes also impacts characterization. Despite the differences between all three versions, they all have the same theme and true impact and meaning behind each scene, and viewing the films has greatly impacted my understanding of the story of "Romeo and Juliet." Therefore, I highly recommend watching each of the film versions if you plan on reading the play. Below, I have included the trailer for each.
Romeo and Juliet (1968 film version)

Romeo and Juliet Trailer(1996 film version)

Divergent: So Far/ Characters

After getting off to a slow start with Divergent, I'm actually pretty far into it. I've been able to get a sense of characterization so far, and I also have some questions and predictions. Starting with characters, I would like to first discuss the main character, Beatrice, or "Tris", the new nickname she gives herself when she joins Dauntless. For most of the characters in the novel, the faction which they choose reflects their character. For example, dauntless would be fearless, Abnegation would be selfless, Amity would be cheerful and happy, Erudite would be smart and witty, and Candor would be honest. However, Beatrice is slightly more complicated than this. This is shown towards the beginning of the novel, when she finds out during the faction placement tests that she is divergent, which is said to be very dangerous and means she has the traits of the factions Dauntless, Abnegation, and Erudite. Tris is unlike all of the other characters in this way. She is fearless, but responsible, selfless, but also thinks of herself at times, and witty but not overly book smart. I can predict that she will be a dynamic character, as she will likely discover who she truly is throughout the novelAnother two characters whom I would like to discuss are Four and Eric, who are the leaders of Tris's initiation into Dauntless. Eric is pure Dauntless, which isn't necessarily a good thing. He will probably also be a static character, since he does not seem very susceptible to change. He is fearless but also ruthless and violent, unlike Four, who is also fearless but is responsible, reserved, and composed. He knows the difference between doing something fearless, and doing something insane. There are a lot of different interesting characters in this book, and it really makes the novel more interesting and suspenseful.

I would also like to state a couple of questions and predictions I have in the novel so far. First of all, I am curious to why Divergent is made such a big deal in the book. So far, Beatrice's divergence hasn't really impacted the plot a whole lot in the novel. I predict that this will play a more important role to the plot as the novel progresses, because such an importance is placed on the idea. Also, I am curious as to why Four seems to like Beatrice so much and feel so much sympathy toward her. He seems to show some favoritism toward her, and gives her advice on fighting, as well as the decisions she makes. I predict he almost has some kind of romantic interest in her. That is all I have so far for today, other than that I would definitely recommend reading Divergent to anyone! I think that it is going to be really big, almost comparable to The Hunger Games and it is going to be made into a movie this Spring!

New Book: Divergent

As of Sunday, I started a new book, Divergent. I've heard some really great things about this book, and it was recommended by a lot of people. I'm not a huge science fiction fan, but I did enjoy reading Matched by Allie Condie, and heard it was similar to this. I know I recently mentioned that I would have liked to read another Nicholas Sparks novel, and I picked up The Notebook this weekend, but after reading the first couple of pages, I just wasn't feeling another Nicholas Sparks novel right now, after just finishing one. I plan to read The Notebook as soon as I finish Divergent, however.

Moving on from my current situation, I just started Divergent, and so far, it seems to be a fairly interesting novel. I am not far at all, but I have a general idea of what it is going to be about. I can tell that it is going to follow some of the general themes of the majority of the science fiction novels that I have read(The Hunger Games, Matched, The Giver,and The Uglies). For instance, in all of these novels, including Divergent, there is a society that controls everything people do. In all of the novels I have read so far, the main character has been part of some sort of uprising or rebellion against the society. I predict that this will happen in Divergent as well, because I can already sense that the main character is not content with the way she lives in the Society. The thing that is different about this book, is the way that the Society is divided. There are five factions; The Erudites, The Dauntless, The Abnegations, The Candors, and The Amities. What makes this book different, is that the factions are not divided by what people are good and skilled at, but what quality they feel is most important to honor in life. For example, the main character belongs to the Abnegations. The Abnegations believe that being selfless is the most important quality to have. The Dauntless believe that being fearless is the most important quality. Each of them have  their own special quality which they honor. Each child is born into a faction, but when they become adults, they are allowed to choose which faction they wish to be a part of, but if they chose to leave their faction, they must leave their family behind.  I found the whole idea of  the factions to be something  kind of interesting and different . Overall so far. I have a feeling that this is going to be a good book, but  I will keep you posted!
Amazon book reviews

I Need Book Reccomendations!

As you probaly know, I recently finished my novel Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks. It was only about two days ago, and I am currently searching for a new book. I really enjoyed reading Safe Haven, and I found it to be something that I could actually enjoy reading. For my next book, I want to read something similar, becuase I'm kind of into that genre right now. I was thinking that I would preferably like to read another Nicholas Sparks book, such as The Lucky One or The Notebook, and I have already read his novels The Last Song and A Walk To Remember. However, I am also always open to any good novel. I know some other authors like Jodi Piccoult and Sarah Dessen have novels like this as well. I also enjoy most other genres, including science fiction, historical fiction, realistic fiction, mysteries, and classics. If you have read a good novel recently, please let me know by commenting on this post! It would be very much appreciated:) I plan to begin a new novel by my next post, and begin to review it.

Safe Haven: Theme/ Summary

I recently finished my novel, Safe Haven. It was an all-together very great and well-written book, and it has a great theme and meaning behind it. However, before I provide my analysis of the theme in the story, I believe it is important to give a brief but complete plot summary first. This novel starts off with the very mysterious and reserved character, Katie, starting up her new life in Southport, North Carolina. She spends most of her time working at her job at a local restaurant, mostly because she needs the money but also to give her something to keep her busy because she doesn't know anyone in Southport. As the story progresses, Katie is slowly forced to creep out of the shell she has built for herself. She makes friends in her next-door neighbor, Jo, and the young girl whose father owns the convenience store, Kristen. Following Kristen, Katie becomes good friends with her father, Alex. Alex and Jo gradually become people that Katie comes to trust, and eventually ends up revealing her past to them, in bits and pieces. Katie reveals the fact that she ran away from her abusive husband, Kevin Tierney and that she has stolen her current identity from people that she trusts. She also reveals that she is in danger. As Katie and Alex's relationship becomes more serious, a number of things begin to jeopardize it, but it remains strong through it all. Katie and Alex both learn many valuable lessons throughout the course of this novel, and you will have to read the novel for yourself to find out just how strong this relationship is.

There are multiple themes present throughout this novel, and two of the largest ones I have noticed are as follows:

• One should never take the people they love the most for granted, because they can be yanked away from you in a second.
• One should always keep going no matter how hard things get, because you never know what happiness is waiting for you just up ahead.

The first theme is very present in many places in the novel, it seems to occur in different ways very often. Some of the major times in which I noticed it throughout the story include first when Josh falls off the deck when he is fishing towards the beginning of the novel. We don't really know Alex all that well and he is trying his best to be a good father, but we see that in one second his son comes very close to being taken from him. Another place in the novel where we see this theme is when Alex loses his wife, and he often thinks about all the time he wishes he could have had with her. Also, when Katie runs away from Kevin, we see how much Kevin regrets hitting her and wishes that he had been a better husband because now his wife is gone forever. I saw this theme twice more in some major spots. One is at the end when Kevin attacks Katie and Alex, and lights Alex's house on fire. Katie and Alex both come extremely close to losing each other, and have regrets about not telling each other how they felt before. After this happens, Alex gives Katie the letter from his wife, and this is another place where I see the theme present. Katie discovers while reading Carly's letter that her next door neighbor Jo, was only a figment of her imagination, and since she has figured this out, that she will never see Jo again and immediately begins to miss her and all the times she spent with her.

The second theme I believe to be present in less places throughout the novel, but is equally as important. We see this theme with both Katie and Alex throughout the entire novel. Katie was coming from a rough place, with a violent husband that abused her and threatened her life. She found a way to pull herself up and move on, and although she was tentative about having other relationships at first, she reluctantly accepted and it turned out to be perfect for her. She kept going and pulled herself out of a bad place into a good one. A similar thing happened with Alex. Alex was getting over losing his wife, and he wasn't really ready to move on yet. But when he pulled himself up and kept going, he met Katie and it turned out to be a great thing. This story reflects two people's extreme courage and shows how this can bring them together.

Safe Haven: Update/ Anaylisis

 I am beginning to become aware of the recent redundancy of my blogs. I have been reading Safe Haven for a while now, I do admit, and if someone logged onto my blog and didn't like the book Safe Haven or have any interest in it, I guess they would kind of be out of luck. This has occurred to me and I have been trying to read at a quicker pace, but in all honesty as much as I love to read and have tried to make time for it, when I face the facts I'm just a slow reader and lead a busy life style, and when I combine those two the amount of pages I read just isn't as great as I would like it to be. However, the good news is, I am almost finished with Safe Haven(finally). I plan to finish the book by my next blog and provide a great analysis, review, summary, etc.

 I have about 50 pages left and nothing has really struck me since the last blog I had that I need to blog about. I've decided to analyze author's style today, and include some good examples from the text since I feel like that is something my recent posts have been lacking. A pattern has become present over the last chapters that I've read. After I discovered Katie's story and about her husband, Kevin Tearney, I noticed that every other chapter was told to focus on Katie and Kevin. The two different chapters have a completely different mood to them as well.

Kevin's chapters:
Kevin Tearney(Katie's husband which she ran away from due to domestic violence) has a very depressed, run-down kind of mood about him. When the chapters are told to focus on him, you can clearly see how he spends his life drunk, and is always desperate and lonely. Not to mention the setting of his chapters is in Boston, which seems to be a kind of cold and gloomy place. Here are some textual examples to reflect what I am talking about:

• "Kevin Tearney didn't go to Provincetown on the weekend he'd told Coffey and Ramirez that he would. Instead, he stayed home with the curtains closed, brooding over how close he'd come to finding her in Philadelphia."(Sparks, page 193)
• "These were the questions that tormented him, and sometimes it was so confusing he couldn't stop crying because he missed her and wanted her to come home and he hated to be alone. But other times, the thought that she had left him made him dwell on how selfish she was and all he wanted to do was kill her." (Sparks, page 211)
• "He drank a third and fourth glass of vodka. It was all so confusing. The house was a wreck. There was an empty pizza box on the floor of the living room and the casing around the bathroom door was splintered and cracked. The door would no longer close all the way. He'd kicked it in after she'd locked it, trying to get away from him... He could no longer remember what they'd been fighting about."

Katie's Chapters:
In contrast, the chapters where Katie is the main focus provide a much more light-hearted, joyful mood for the reader. They are often about the many care-free summer days that she spends with Alex and his children, and the chapters are much more enjoyable to read. Below are some textual examples to reflect this:

• "Wanting to do something unusual. Alex took Katie and the ids to see the rodeo monkeys in Wilmington. Much to Katie's disbelief, it turned out to be exactly what it sounded like: monkeys, dressed in cowboy outfits, rode dogs and herded rams for almost an hour before a show of fireworks that rivaled the fourth of July."(Sparks, page 233)
• "The third week of June was a series of glorious high summer days. The temperature crept up over the course of the afternoon, bringing with it humidity heavy enough to thicken the air and blur the horizon."(Sparks, page 202)
• "That night, Alex took her to dinner in Wilmington. Afterward, they'd walked the downtown streets holding hands and browsing the shops. Every now and then, she saw Alex regarding her with amusement."(Sparks, page 219)

To wrap all of this up, I would like to make a prediction based on the evident pattern that Sparks has used for the past few chapters. I believe that this pattern is foreshadowing that Kevin and Katie will eventually somehow cross paths again because if they would not, there would be no point in the author including the chapters to focus on Kevin's perspective and what is going on with him at the same time as Katie.

Again, for my next blog  post I plan to be finished with Safe Haven and to start a new book soon!

Safe Haven: Book To movie compare and contrast

As I am nearing the end of Safe Haven, it has occurred to me that a lot of people might be interested in hearing some of the differences and similarities to the novel and the movie. I'm not entirely finished with the novel, but I only have a couple of chapters left, so I think I have enough info to do this. I also just re-watched the movie last night for the third time, and after reading the book I realized how much was different for the first time.*SPOILER ALERT*(If you plan on watching the movie or reading the novel, I recommend stopping here) I'd like to start out with some of the differences I noticed in the book and the movie:

• First off, I noticed that Alex's daughter's name is different in the movie. In the novel her name is Kristen and in the movie her name is Lexi. Although this minor difference didn't have much of an impact on the plot, it was enough to leave that wondering in my head of why the producer felt the need to change her name.
• Also, in the novel Katie goes from being blonde to brunette when she runs away and in the movie it is switched. This once again had no real impact on the plot but just left me wondering.
• This difference I actually do feel impacted the plot. I remember my first time watching the movie, and you don't know why this police officer is chasing her and what she did until the very end, when you find out that he is her husband and she ran away from an abusive relationship. This is teased throughout the movie, and it adds a sense of suspense. In the book you find this information out in the very beginning yet you don't begin to see Kevin's point of view until towards the very end. I personally like the way the movie teases this, because I felt it built more suspense and kept me on the edge of my seat, giving me the need to finish the movie to find out what happened
• In the movie I found Josh to be more tentative to Katie's involvement with Alex, while in the book he seemed to welcome her with open arms. I feel like once again this was a good call by the producer because I feel like it reflects just how hard it's been for the family to get over the loss of their mother.
• In the movie, Jo turns out to be Alex's deceased wife in the end, and she has been almost a ghost following Katie around the entire time. In the book, however, I'm not sure if this is going to be the case, even though I'm not entirely finished with it, because already, Alex's wife has a different name(Carly) and the idea that Jo knows Alex and his family from being their grief therapist has already been brought up. I like the way this unwinds in the book just a little better because it keeps the book realistic but the movie plot twist does add an element of surprise

These are only a few of the major differences I noticed between the book and the movie!
Some similarities include

• Katie's initial tentativeness at the thought of welcoming someone new into her life
• Kristen's(Lexi's) particular fondness toward "Miss Katie".
• The way that Katie used a fake identity to hide from her husband and that her old name used to be Erin Tearney.
• Kevin's insanity and obsessive drinking of vodka is reflected in both the book and the movie, and I definitely feel this is an extremely important part of the plot

Personally, I have liked the book better so far because there is just so much more information and you get to hear what Katie and Alex are thinking, and get tiny details that are unable to be reflected in the movie. However, the movie is also fantastic and I would actually recommend seeing the movie before you read the book if you would like to do both because the elements of surprise in the movie could be ruined by reading the book.

Below is a link to a cast  interview for the movie which reflects their thoughts on the movie versus the book!
Cast Interview