Journal Entry 14:

 

Journal Entry 13: Outline for Racism Research Paper

I. Introduction: Imagine a world which is being swallowed by racism. Annihilation. This world is being annihilated by the hate felt by the people who prefer to be segregated by the difference in their skin colors. This world is being completely destroyed by the views of the close-minded, by the views of the people whose eyes have been covered with lenses of black and white.

            Racism has just as many different types of effects on the world today, as it did in the past. However, organizations are forming that are made up of people willing to dedicate their time and effort in order to eliminate the growing problem we call, racism.

 

II. Body Paragraphs:

     1.) How Racism began

          a.) Events in history that may have helped create racism.

          b.) The first "big racist move."

     2.) The pyschological view of what causes racism.

          a.) Events that may have occured in people's everyday lives to make them become racist.

     3.) The causes of racism.

          a.) Tie in historical or current events that involved racism.

     4.) The effects of racism.

          a.) Show how racism began effecting the world, and how the effects have either increased or decreased.

     5.) How racism has changed (in terms of how much racism there is now, compared to how much there was before).

          a.) Find examples of some things that are different in the world today because of racism.

          b.) Possibly talk about our new African-American president and how he may have changed the idea of racism in the United States.

     6.) What is being done to reduce racism.

          a.) Give examples and information about certain organizations created to help decrease this problem.

          b.) Talk about some organizations that could be created in the future if the racism problem does not improve.

 

III. Conclusion:

         Tie all of the information together in a way that makes sense. Talk about the issue in a way that might make people want to get involved in taking care of this issue.

 

 

 

Journal Entry 12: Dynamic Workspace For Biography

 

 

Journal Entry 11: Studying the topic of Racism.

Topic: 

What is being done to decrease racism today?

 

Key Questions:

What are the biggest issues with racism?

What can be done to solve this big issues?

What are some organizations that have been formed with the goal to decrease racism?

How can more people get involved with decreasing racism?

 

Possible sources for research:

http://socialistworker.org/2004-1/491/491_07_RacismUSA.shtml

http://www.soundvision.com/Info/racism/statistics.asp

http://www.globalissues.org/article/165/racism

http://www.apa.org/pi/oema/racism/homepage.html

http://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/racism2001/orglinks.asp

 

 

Journal Entry 10: A non-traditional essay over the topic of "love" in MSND.

 

 

Representations of things on my glogster:

 

• Smiley face with flowers for eyes: represents the flowers that were put over some of the character's eyes to make them fall in love.
• "Stars in the sky" and "Any place except your heart" quotes: represent the way that Helena talked of Demetrius at the beginning of the story, and how much she admired him and wanted him to love her and accept her love for him.
• "Love Road-One Way Only" picture: represents how Helena loved Demetrius at first, but he didn't love her back.
• Will Ferrell holding a sign: represents that bravery in love can make you do crazy things.
• "Love takes courage" picture: represents the courage that Hermia had to have in the story to stand up to her father and tell him that she loves Lysander and not Demetrius. [Fits in well with my topic sentence].
• Forest picture: represents the vision I had of the forest where Hermia and Lysander planned their runaway.
• Lion picture: represents courage. [Also fits in well with my topic sentence].
• Valentine's day postcard: represents again, that love takes bravery and courage, something that Hermia had a lot of in the story.
• Songs: I picked the songs that I picked because I believe that they all fit in well with the concept of love.

 

 

Journal Entry 9: Topic and working thesis statement for MSND.

Topic: Love

Thesis:  Passion, Bravery, Courage; are the main aspects of love shown in Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare.

 

Things I need to get:

• More images showing passion, bravery, courage, etc. that can tie in with the notion of love.
• An appropriate song to fit the topic.
• POSSIBLY a video of some sort that has to do with love.
• Quotes from the book and other sources.
• Hyperlinks.

 

Things to do:

• Start working on the glogster website.
• Create a background for my glogster.
• Gather up all of my images, sounds, and text and figure out how i'm going to organize them on the page.
• Get my 2 peer reviews.

 

Journal Entry 8: Essay on Shakespeare

 

What are love and infatuation?

 

 

            In the book, A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare, we get to see his views on love and infatuation. Using his book as his technique, William Shakespeare is showing us how he feels about the two things by writing a play. He shows us in his story that you can fall out of love and move on, and any infatuations you may develop can change as well.

     Love can start a number of ways. It usually begins with the way you communicate with someone and the time you spend with them. It also begins with the way this person makes you feel as well as the way you make them feel. However, sometimes love can turn into infatuation, these are two different things. Infatuation is almost a form of obsession. Sometimes when you love someone too much, you become infatuated with them, much like Helena in the story. In the beginning of the story, Helena becomes obsessed with the fact that the man she is infatuated with is in love with Hermia. She becomes extremely jealous of Hermia and starts to wonder “how she does it”. “O, teach me how you look; and with what art you sway the motion of Demetrius’ heart!” (Helena, page 7.) This is a feeling that so many people get today as the notion of jealousy is on the rise.

     Infatuation can be both good and bad; it’s like a black and white picture, including no grey. It can either cause you to get hurt badly by the one you love, or it can make you happy and have a positive impact on your life. In the beginning of the story, we find that Hermia and Lysander love each other very much and may even be a bit infatuated with each other. This is one of the few times we find that infatuation can be a good thing. We can tell that they really love each other because they are willing to stand up to Hermia’s father for their love. “Egeus, I will overbear your will; for in the temple, by and by, with us these couples shall be eternally knit.” (Thesus, page 51.) Love can make you do crazy things, such as going against your own father in search for acceptance.

     I believe that by writing this story, William Shakespeare is also saying that it is just as easy to fall out of love as it is to fall into it. People fall out of love all the time for various reasons, some better than others. For instance, Demetrius was in love with Hermia. After a while though, we see that Demetrius falls out of love with her, “The object and the pleasure of mine eye, is only Helena. To her, my lord, was I betroth’d ere I saw Hermia. But, like in sickness, did I loathe this food; but as in health, come to my natural taste, now I do wish it, love it, long for it, and will forevermore be true to it. (Demetrius, page 51.) We've just learned that no matter what happens, the feelings we have for someone can be gone at any time.

     Overall, I think this story shows us that even if we think we’re going to love someone forever, those feelings can change quickly and we can lose sight of what once meant so much to us. I believe that William Shakespeare does a great job showing us what love and infatuation really are.

           

 

Journal Entry 7:

     What happened in Act 4, Scene 2?

 

 

 

 Journal Entry 6:

    "Lord, what fools these mortals be." Act 3, Scene 2.

     This is a quote from Puck in the book A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare. In the story, Puck feels that Demetrius and Lysander are being foolish and I believe that this is because they are fighting over Helena. In the beginning of the story, no one liked Helena and both of the men liked Hermia. But because of a mistake made by Puck, the whole "Love triangle" is thrown off and mixed up.  Now, Demetrius and Lysander are both in love with Helena and they have challenged each other to a "dual" to find out who is the better man for her. This is foolish because either one of them could get seriously hurt or even killed in the dual, all for one woman. I feel that Puck sees it that way as well, fighting is stupid for any reason, even for love.

 

 Journal Entry 5:

 

DEAR ABBY: My name is Helena and i'm stuck in the middle of a love triangle. You see, i'm in love with a man named Demetrius, but he loves someone else, a woman named Hermia. Hermia is considering marrying Lysander and so, Demetrius might be available but i'm not sure. Hermia and Lysander have a plan to meet in the woods and run away together and I feel like I should probably inform someone of the situation for the sake of both of them. However, if I let them go, I will have Demetrius all to myself. My main question is, to tell or not to tell? Abby, please. HELP!

 -HOPELESSLY IN LOVE HELENA

 

 

DEAR HOPELESSLY IN LOVE: It seems as if your situation is stressing you out. Fortunately, i'm here to help. The only advice that I have to offer is to go with your heart. If you feel that you truly do love Demetrius and that things may work out with him, don't tell. You have to stop thinking of everyone else for a minute and take your own happiness into consideration. Hermia doesn't love Demetrius so either way, they will not end up together. However, if you have doubts about your future with Demetrius, don't tell. If you do tell and things end up not working out with him, then you've caused problems with everyone for absolutely no reason at all. Hopefully this advice will be beneficial to you, good luck with whatever you decide to do.

 

Journal Entry 4:

          The viewing of the video clip from William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream was both an interesting and educational expirience.  While watching the video clip, i've noticed that the set design as well as the costume design were both made to look like the movie was taking place quite a long time ago. For instance, in the first part of the clip, we see that the characters are in a courthouse, dressed in an old-fashioned and sophisticated, but still stylish manner. In the second part of the clip, the men are gathering to find out what parts they will recieve for the play in an old, saloon-like area outside. The men are dressed in fancy suits and some of them have glasses, much like the men we would see in an old western movie. The set design almost always corresponded with the costumes in the clip. However, the actors themselves in the clip didn't look much like what I  had pictured from reading the book. For example, I  had pictured Demetrius to be a big, muscular man with a large amount of dark facial hair. He didn't look anything like that in the video clip. Also, I had pictured Helena to be a tiny-waisted but busty woman with long, curly brown hair. In the clip she was almost blonde and extremely thin. Seeing the play performed did help me understand the story more, I think that seeing the characters and watching it all play out was highly beneficial in understanding the plot and meaning of the story being told.

 

Journal Entry 3:

 

 

 Journal Entry 2:

     The men's attitudes toward the parts they recieve in Act 1, Scene 2 is funny. For instance, Robin Starveling is given the part of a woman and Quincy is afraid that Starveling will scare the women when they see the play. He says, "And you should do it too terribly, you would fright the duchess and the ladies, that they would shriek; and that were enough to hang us all." (Act 1, Scene 2, pg. 10) Also, in the story, Bottom would like to have the biggest, most fierce role in the play, the lion. When Quincy informs Bottom of his part in the play, Pyramus and Bottom asks whether Pyramus is a lover or a tyrant. Quickly after Bottom finds out that Pyramus is a lover, he  says, "Let me play the lion too: I will roar, that I will do any man's heart good to hear me; I will roar, that I will make the duke say, "Let him roar again, let him roar again." (Act 1, Scene 2, pg. 10) This provides humor because the man who wants the most vicious part in the play, ends up getting the part of the lover. This is both ironically funny and extremely unintentional.

 

Journal Entry 1:

     In A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare, we get an idea of the relationship between Hermia and her father, Egeus. Egeus seems to be a caring and respectable man who worries about his daugther's future. His daughter Hermia, has fallen in love with a man named Lysander, but her father doesn't agree with it. He believes that she should be with someone who he feels is better suited for her, someone who he believes will take good care of her and provide for her the things she will need to live a happy and successful life. Someone like Demetrius. Hermia's father believes that it is in her best interest to marry Demetrius because he feels that he is what she needs, not taking into consideration what she wants. So far, it seems as though Hermia and her father don't have a very good relationship. Egeus won't really listen to what Hermia wants, and he believes that his way is the right way. Although we see that Egeus cares about his daughter, he's not really giving her a chance to make her own decisions about who is really right for her. Egeus then proposes that Hermia make a decision on who she will marry. She has four days to make this decision but if she doesn't decide to marry Demetrius, she will either be put to death or made to become a nun. This is part of what shows us that the relationship between the father and daughter isn't very good, he is willing to have her killed if she doesn't pick Demetrius. If their relationship was a good one, Egeus would be willing to listen to his daughter and take into consideration her feelings and what will make her happy, being with Lysander. After being given the proposal to make her decision, Hermia discusses it with Lysander and he asks her if she'd like to run away with him. She responds with "I swear to thee, by Cupid's strongest bow, By his best arrow with the golden head, By the simplicity of Venus' dovesm By that which knitteth souls and prospers loves, And by that fire which burn 'd the Carthage queen, When the false Troyan under the sail was seen, By all the vows that ever men have broke, In number more than ever women spoke, In that same place thou hast appointed me, To-morrow truly I will meet with thee." (Act 1 Scene 1, pg. 6) I think that her response shows just how much Lysander really means to Hermia and I believe that if her relationship with her father was better, she wouldn't even consider leaving him. Overall, we've discovered that so far, the relationship between Hermia and Egeus is one of complications and temporary unhappiness.

 

Indie Novel 4: Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

Indie Reading #37 p.183-213 5-17-09 Sun.

 

     With this being my last "Independent Reading" entry for this year, i'd like to end it with discussing overall how the characters in the book have changed from the very first book in the series, Twilight up until the book Eclipse. From the beginning, I have stuck with these books from the Twilight series and i'm really starting to see just how much the main characters have changed from the first book to the last. For example, in the first book, Bella was just a normal, average everyday girl from Arizona. Her character had already begun changing drastically in this book. At the end of the first book, Bella was wrapped up in life and love and she was just starting to find out what life is like when you leave everything you've ever known behind to start over with a distant family member. Now, being in the third book of the series, i'm seeing that Bella is now strong and extremely open-minded. She can handle just about anything now because of the things she has been through after moving to Forks. The second character i'd like to discuss is Edward. Obviously, he's probably considered the most important character in the whole series simply becaus e without him, there would be no Twilight. In the first book, Edward was kind of quiet, and shy and he mostly kept to himself and he always had a problem showing people how he really felt. Now though, Edward is deeply in love with Bella and would do anything to protect her from harm. He also has no problem voicing his opinion and saying whatever he feels like saying. The third and final main character i'd like to discuss is Jacob. When Bella first moved to Forks, she found out that her and Jacob pretty much grew up together and he was just a friend. However, as the story kept progressing, Jacob started to like Bella, eventually falling in love with her. We can see now, in the third book of the series, that Jacob would do anything and everything to be with Bella. It's kind of like his whole life revolves around keeping her safe and happy. Overall, I have been extremely pleased with how the series is turning out. Although i'm only about halfway through the third book out of four, i'm looking forward to seeing what happens and how the whole thing turns out.

 

Indie Reading #36 p.160-183 5-15-09 Sat.

 

     So, tonight's entry is mainly a lesson (of course).The main lesson i've learned from today's reading was all about knowing how to balance things in life. In the story, the main character, Bella, is having an extremely tough time trying to balance out the time she spends with her boyfriend and the time she spends with her best friend, Jacob. The main problem here is that Jacob and Bella's boyfriend hate each other and they both would do whatever they can to hurt the other one, mentally or physically. Not only have I learned from this section of reading but, I can connect to it as well. Without mentioning names, i'll have the reader of my wiki know that I was once in Jacob's shoes. I had a really close friend a while back who started dating someone and at first, I didn't think anything of it, everything was fine. In fact, I was even happy for her. But soon, she started hanging out with him more and more and hanging out with me less and less. It was really starting to get to me. To make a long story short, she eventually quit hanging out with me altogether and seeing as she's still with him today, we haven't spoken in over a year. Things just got to a point where I was sick of her cancelling all of our plans to be with him (and lying to me about it) and I couldn't seem to get along with him anyway, which just made things worse. Anyway, the moral of the story is, learn to balance things and try your hardest not to let a good friend go, even if you do find someone that you believe is better to take their place. 

 

Indie Reading #35  p. 145-160 5-10-09 Sun.

 

 

So, aside from doing my usual real-life connection or lessons learned entry, I've decided to switch it up a little bit. I forgot that we were allowed to use the "tools" for IR's and so i've never used them for this purpose. I have chosen today to make a "wordle". This is my favorite of the tools we've used this year. In this wordle, i've included words contained within the reading to describe mainly what the reading was about. These words were all big points or events i've found in the reading from today. Also, regarding my harsh entry from yesterday, I definately think that the book is picking up now.

 

 

Indie Reading #34 p. 130-145 5-09-09 Sat.

 

     So, being 100% honest, I didn't like this chapter much at all. I felt that the title was misleading, there wasn't a whole lot going on within the chapter whatsoever and the reading from today was just plain boring. I don't mean to be harsh but I feel like right now, the story line is just kind of going downhill and i'm not really sure where it's going. However, I don't plan on giving up on this book again just yet so i'll keep trying. I realize that this entry is extremely small but i'm extremely disappointed in the story right now so I don't have much to say. The one thing I really can say for today's reading though, is that I really hope it picks up quickly.

 

Indie Reading #33 p. 112-130 5-03-09 Sun.

 

          

So, as usual, I tried to make the best of my reading expirience by finding some sort of lesson in the story that I can use in my everyday life. Today, I learned a lesson from the reading that I think many people probably don't learn until they're much older, knowing when to keep someone in your life and when to cut them out. I'm learning about this with some of the main characters in Eclipse, Jacob and Bella. Bella knows that if she wants to make the relationship between her and her boyfriend work out, she must cut her best childhood friend Jacob out of her life. She will try to do this at first,however, she knows he's upset about it and that he misses her and loves her in many different ways and it becomes harder and harder for her to stay away from him. She gets more and more confused about the situation as I read.  However, does Edward have the right? Does he have the authority to make a decision like that for Bella? I don't believe so.  This may sound like a rant but truly, it's not, i'm simply stating the situation at hand so that you can understand why I  say whatever follows.

 

         Right now, i'm a bit unhappy with where the story stands because I believe that Bella should be able to make her own decisions and Edward should realize that he is with her, that he isn't her.

 

 

Indie Reading #32 p. 92-112 5-02-09 Sat.

 

     This chapter has made me think a lot about how people change themselves sometimes to adapt to the personalities of others. Sometimes when we're around different people, we tend to act a little bit like them so that maybe they'll like us more. I'm finding this taking place in this chapter when Jacob shows Bella that that is exactly what she does when she is with Edward. I've seen this happen many, many times in real life as well. People at school do it, members of my own family do it, and i'll admit that even sometimes, I do it. For example, if i'm around someone who is more shy and quiet, I tend to be more quiet. Of course, I do this without realizing it though, as i'm sure many other people do. I'm wondering if maybe this 'changing trait' happens to be something that we're born with as human beings or maybe we learn it as we make our way through life.

 

 

Indie Reading #31 p. 64-92 4-26-09 Sun.

 

As I continue reading this book, i'm finding that it seems as though each chapter has some sort of theme or concept that it focuses on within the chapter. For example, the first chapter (as we've discussed previously) focused on the notion on opposites and the second chapter focused on the notion of freedom. So, to add to the list of concepts that i've been mentally forming, this chapter, the third, focuses mainly on the concept of 'an eye for an eye'. Now, if you've read the first book or even seen the hit film, Twilight, then you'd know that there was a trio of vampires who were against the main characters Edward and Bella, and Edward's family killed one of the evil vampires in the opposing trio. In this chapter, we find that now, the girlfriend of the dead vampire wants to kill Edward as sort of a mate-for-mate trade. After I read this chapter, I closed my book and I fell into a deep 15-minute thought about the whole 'eye for an eye' concept and it reminded me of the government and how the world would be different if we still did things that way. Would modern day 'eye for an eye' treatment be simply outrageous or could it help to make life more fair? I sat there asking myself this question, considering self-made examples as I worked my way to my own personal theory. I won't state this thory now because it simply doesn't have anything to do with the point i'm trying to make. However, I did find a way to connect my political thoughts of the concept to the book. I'm waiting to find out first of all if the evil vampires will be successful in their quest to destroy Bella but also, if they are, will it have an absurd affect on the situation or will it be justified? I guess i'll find out as I keep reading.

 

 

Indie Reading #30 p.34-64 4-24-09 Fri.

 

 

          The second chapter of this book is mainly about the notion of freedom. It speaks of freedom in a couple different ways. First, Bella talks about her newly gained freedom from being grounded for "the rest of her life" because she snuck out of the house for three days. The second type of freedom that is discussed is the freedom of graduating from high school. Since the two main characters, Edward and Bella are seniors this year, Bella says that "Freedom was so close it was touchable, taste-able."(Bella, pg.35) She says that she can see it filling the school with all of the talk of ordering graduation gowns and caps and she can tell that everyone is extremely excited about being done with high school. There is a great relation between what is happening in Bella's school and what is happening in our school right now as well. As the school year winds down, we can see the freedom in our hallways for the seniors and hear them talking about how excited they are about graduating. It seems as though our actual school is in almost the same exact place in the year as Bella's high school. This is a simple, useless relation that i've found that I just thought was interesting.

 

 

 

Indie Reading #29 p.1-34 4-19-09 Sun.

 

 

 

    As I read this first chapter, titled, Ultimatum, all I could think about was the word "opposites". Followed by a poem by Robert Frost (which will be shown below), this chapter is all about the notion of "day and night" and how some things just don't seem to match up no matter how hard we try. For you to completely understand what it is exactly that i'm trying to say, i'll first show you the poem printed between the table of contents and the "preface" of the book.

 

 

 

Fire and Ice

 

 

Some say that the world will end in fire,

 

Some say in ice.

 

From what i've tasted of desire

 

I hold with those who favor fire.

 

But if it had to perish twice,

 

I think I know enough of hate

 

To say that for destruction ice

 

Is also great

 

And would suffice.

 

 

Robert Frost

 

 

     After reading this poem and then reading the first chapter, i've found a connection between the two. Frost's poem as well as the first chapter, shows the reader two things that are completely different. In the poem's case, the two things are fire and ice. In the chapter's case, the two things are Jacob and Edward. The main character, Bella Swan's best friend, Jacob is a werewolf and the love of her life, Edward is a vampire. Jacob and Edward have a great deal of intense hate for each other, while Bella loves them both. We see this in the first chapter of the book. I believe there is a reason for Robert Frost's poem being at the beginning of this book and that reason is to kind of set the scene for the type of situation the book would contain. I like the fact that the poem was included because I feel that it added to the impact of the notion of opposites that we see right off the bat within the first chapter.

 

 

              Indie Novel 3: The Five People You Meet In Heaven by  Mitch Albom

 

Indie Reading #28-Sat.:

 

 

     I had intended to do an "IR" on this day. However, to eliminate the risk of sounding like i'm making excuses, i'll just tell you the truth. I completely forgot about it. I have also decided to abandon this book. Don't get me wrong, Mitch Albom is byfar one of the most talented authors i've come across, but unlike the other books i've read by him, this one is a bit too slow moving for me. I will be switching to Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer.

 

 

Indie Reading #27 p.45-76 4-12-09 Sun.

 

 

     During this section, i've learned yet another great life lesson from the well-respected author, Mitch Albom. This next part of my entry is (in no way) a summary, but information that whoever reads this, will need to understand where this lesson came from. When the main character, Eddie meets his first person in heaven, he finds out that he (Eddie himself) has killed the man. Eddie immediately thinks that the man wants to get revenge on him simply to be fair, but the man comes to him for a different reason. This is where the lesson comes into play. The "blue man" says,

 

 

     "Fairness does not govern life and death. If it did, no good person would ever die young." (The blue man, pg. 48)

 

 

     From this simple sentence, i've learned that sometimes when "life isn't fair", there is no reason to get even. Not everyone wants to get back at you if you've done wrong to them, if they did, the world would (obviously) be a much more violent, hostile place than it already is. This impact-filled phrase from the blue man has taught me that much. I realize that maybe what i'm trying to say here may not make sense to some people, however, I hope others understand for one reason or another. It's a hard concept to put into words.

 

 

 

 

Indie Reading #26 p. 25-45 4-10-09 Fri.

 

     Mitch Albom has once again, shown me that this is going to be another "Mitch masterpiece." By using the unique style of writing that he has chosen to use for it seems like, numerous numbers of novels, we're learning more than one thing about the main character at once. Today, I got a glimpse of another thing which makes the main character, Eddie, Eddie. I've noticed that most of the connectors in this novel are titled "Eddie's #th Birthday." This is ironic because the book is about a man who dies and meets 5 different people in heaven who were once a part of his life. Today, Eddie met his first person and it taught me quite a bit about forgiveness. You see, today I found that Eddie actually killed the first person he met after death and once he went to heaven,this man was the first man to kind of "introduce" him to heaven and guide him through the process. I'm extremely interested and I can't wait to continue reading and find out where "the blue man" takes Eddie next.

 

Indie Reading #25 p. 1-25 4-5-09 Sun.

 

          As you can probably tell, I am really liking Mitch Albom's writing, which is why i've chosen yet another, Mitch Albom creation for indie reading. So far, the style of this book isn't far from the style of the last Mitch Albom book i've read, in that it also uses these sort of  "connector" pieces in between all of the small "chapters" of the story. What i'm getting so far from the story is that the main character, Eddie has died. Within the first 25 pages, we find out about how his last day on earth is spent and we learn a lot about the kind of person Eddie really was. It seems like although Eddie was usually quiet and didn't have much to say a lot of the time, he was a kind, caring man who (just like all of us) has the sometimes fortunate ability to feel love toward very few people. As far as the connectors go, they also give us small glimpses into Eddie's life and show us how he got the way he was. These connectors are short excerpts taken right from Eddie's past and I feel that they will be extremely beneficial to the readers as we keep reading. I'm looking forward to finding out more about Eddie and his life and I have a feeling this book, (like the others i've read by Mitch Albom) will be a well-written classic with many built-in messages that I can carry with me for the rest of my life.

 

     Indie Novel 2: For One More Day by Mitch Albom

Indie Reading #24 p. 178-End 4-4-09 Sat.

    

Today I finished For One More Day by Mitch Albom. As i've been saying throughout numerous "indie reading" entries, this book has most definately taught me a lot. However, I think that the ending of the book that I read today had the biggest impact on me just because there was an "Chick's Final Thoughts" section in it which give us a long list of the things that Charley Benetto has learned throughout his life and these are things that through this section, he has decided to share with us. Chick has learned these lessons by living them throughout his life, which means the pieces of advice he gives us here should be beneficial to us, should we decide to keep them and use them in times of need. The following is a list of things that I have learned from Charley Benetto throughout the story;

 

          

 

          -"You can find something truly important in an ordinary minute."

 

          -"Life is a precious thing."

 

          -"You need to keep people close."

 

          -"You need to give people access to your heart."

 

          -"Parents, if they love you, will hold you up safely, above their swirling waters, and sometimes that means you'll never know what they endured, and you may treat them unkindly, in a way you otherwise wouldn't."

 

          -"There's a story behind everything."

 

          -"Behind all your stories is always your mother's story, because hers is where yours begins."

 

          -"Make things right with those you love."

 

                                                                    (For One More Day by Mitch Albom, pgs. 193-194)

     Overall, i'm glad that I have chosen to read this book and I know that I will take every lesson that it has taught me through life, and use them as needed. I will also try to pass these important messages on and hope that other people choose to use them as well.

          

Indie Reading #23 p. 162-178 3-29-09 Sun.

     As I get closer to the end of this book, i'm learning one of the biggest lessons i've ever learned from a piece of literature. Charley went to visit his 70 year-old mother for her birthday and cuts the trip short to go play baseball for his father. He quickly regrets it because after he leaves, she dies of a heart attack. This isn't a summary by any means. I'm showing that I can relate to how Charley feels after he gets the news of his mother's death because his first thought is "what if things would have been different? What if i'd stayed?" Often times as human beings, even when we know that something is the RIGHT THING to do, we do the thing that is going to make us happiest instead. Charley knows he should have stayed with his mother, he intended on it before his father quickly changed his mind. This piece of the book was (in a way), a reality check to me and i'm thinking also opened the eyes of other people who have read the book. I intend on thinking more about my options when i'm given a big decision in life, by any means. I know that Charley wants to go back in time and stay with his mother, he feels like he could've saved her, had he been there. No one wants to have that weighing on them for the rest of their lives. This lesson will be remembered forever and used anytime i'm given a big decision. I'm extremely happy with how much i'm learning from "Chick" Benetto and I hope to learn more from other books by Mitch Albom after this one.

Indie Reading #22 p. 144-162 3-27-09 Fri.

     "When someone is in your heart, they're never truly gone. They can come back to you, even at unlikely times." (Charley Bennetto's mother, pg. 143.) 

     This quote reminds me of a quote that I heard this past summer at my great aunt's funeral. It was my first one and I remember sitting there beside my mother and holding her hand, both of us crying. The man who would be doing the ceremony stood at the podeum and gave his biblical speech about death and passing on in general, etc. He said something along the lines of, "don't ever let yourself forget her, and there she'll always be." He stood there in front of my entire grieving family and told us that even though she wasn't with us physically, spiritually she was. At the time, this meant a lot to me. 

     The real-life connection i'm making with this quote is my aunt's passing away, and how I felt the same way that "chick" felt when he talked to his mother about death and she told him this. Our feelings on the subject were almost exactly the same. At the time, i'm sure it meant a lot to charley to hear this from his mother because, she was dead (he talked to her ghost) and he felt like she was going to be gone forever.

 

Indie Reading #21 p.122-144 3-22-09 Sun.

    

One main word crossed my mind over and over again as I read today's section. Influence. This section shows how people can influence you to do so many different things, for better or for worse and change your life around. Some examples from the book are, "Chick's" mother influenced him to go to college, his father then influenced him to drop out of college to be a professional baseball player, his friends influenced him to drink at a party one night where he met his future wife, and his adult life and bad relationship with his daughter later influenced him to commit suicide.

     Reading about these people and things that have influenced Chick Bennetto's life made me think about the people who are influencing me to do different things, for better or for worse. It has made me think of my family, who have influenced me and (still are) influencing me to do my best in everything that I do and try to be the best person that I can be. It has also made me think of my friends, who are influencing me to be myself and make the right decisions in order to make myself happy. 

     It seems as though influence has a huge impact on the things that people do, i'm learning this more and more from this book as I read. I'm taking every lesson from it and attempting to apply them to my everyday life, as well as using them to help other people when I can.

 

Indie Reading #20 p. 106-122 3-18-09 Wed.

     I'm noticing more and more as I keep reading, that (as i've said before), this book is written using a very unique style. In a way, it connects with the biography project we're doing in class because we're writing a vignette sort of thing. The book is made of a great amount of short stories or "vignettes" and that is the style we will be using to write our 4 stories about our chosen family member. I feel that books that are written in short story or vignette format are not only a lot easier and quicker to read, but a lot more popular than any other type of writing simply because of the short lengths. Personally, these are my favorite types of books to read and i'm hoping to maybe someday, do one in class to explore that specific style. Also, you would think that since short stories and/or vignettes are shorter, they couldn't possibly hold a lot of meaning or make an impact on the reader in any way. However, I feel that shorter writings get to the point faster BUT depending on the type of words the writer used, can have a HUGE impact on the reader. This book makes me impatiently anticipate doing our own vignettes, i'm interested in seeing how they turn out compared to vignettes that have already been published.

 

Indie Reading #19- Didn't get done on time.

 

Indie Reading #18 p. 90-106 3-13-09 Fri.

     These parts of For One More Day, reminded me greatly of a movie that i've seen a million times,Coyote Ugly. There is a HUGE connection with these two different things, although their storylines are completely different from each other, there is one big thing that takes place both in the book, and the movie. The notion of senses. Senses are mainly what trigger our memories. Some examples of these things are taste, sight, feeling (mentally and physically) and sound. 

     In the book, Charley tells us about his first day of college and one of the times he treated his mother badly. She was saying goodbye to him because she wouldn't be seeing him for a long while and she wanted to give him a kiss. He was embarrassed of what the others would think, so he told her he wouldn't give her a kiss until the people around them had left. She hugged him and in this escerpt from the book, we find out exactly what it was like as he uses his senses to describe the expirience.

     "Once they were gone, I leaned forward, only intending a peck on the cheek, but she threw her arms around my neck and drew me close. I could smell her perfume, her hair spray, her skin moisturizer, all the assorted potions and lotions she had doused herself with for this special day." (Charley, pg. 106)

     This excerpt from the book correlates perfectly with a rather emotional part of the movie, Coyote Ugly.

 

     "I remember the first time that I heard my Mom play "Bridge over Troubled Waters" by Simon and Garfunkle, I remember exactly what she was wearing, and exactly how her hair smelled and exactly how I felt. And every time I hear that song I remember exactly what she was wearing and exactly how her hair smelled and exactly how I felt." (Violet Sanford, Coyote Ugly)

 

     The connection here is obvious, both of the excerpts show us how we use our senses in different ways and how these things can be remembered using them.

 

Indie Reading #17 p. 75-90 3-12-09 Thurs.

     (The first piece of this entry may seem like a summary, it's not though. I'm simply telling about what part of the book connects with a part of my life.)

    While reading this portion of the book, i've found a real-life connection between the section of the book and my own life. The book portion of the connection is when, the main character and his mother and little sister are having Christmas for the first time without their father. Charley knows that "Santa Claus" isn't real, but his little sister (Roberta) doesn't. The children's mother wants to make it a good Christmas for the children so she decides to dress up as Santa and put the presents under the tree in costume. While this is taking place though, the children come downstairs to see what the noise is and Roberta gets extremely excited. However, Charley knows it's their mother and tells the little girl that Santa Claus isn't real. This upsets the small girl a great bit. 

     The connection that i've found between that part of the story and my real life is that, when I found out Santa Claus isn't real, my dad told me and my older sister not to tell my little brother about it. I kept my mouth shut. However, one day, around Christmas, my brother and sister were having a fight and she got extremely mad at him and told him. She screamed, "You won't be get anything for Christmas because guess what, SANTA CLAUS ISN'T REAL!" My brother was confused at first, and then he was just disappointed. He hasn't believed in Santa Claus since.

 

Indie Reading #16 p. 60-75 3-8-09 Sun.

     This section of the book was filled with a lot of different types of emotion. Within a span of only 15 pages, I felt happiness, sadness, sympathy, strength and courage from the things that have taken place in this piece. I hear about a young boy who just wants to fit in and have a normal life, but can't because his mother is a "divorcee". As a child after the divorce, he feels constant pain and wants revenge on the people who point him out for being 1 of 2 children with divorced parents back then. Because of the way he is treated by these people, he is embarrassed of his mother and they way they live after the divorce, but when she "comes back to visit him", as a ghost, he realizes that things should have been different.  As a child, he felt as if he was nothing more than a burden to his mother, but taking a walk beside the lake that he visited as a child, she shows him differently. She shows him that he was simply "a wish granted."

 

Indie Reading #15 p. 40-60 3-3-09 Tue.

    

As I get further and further into this book, i'm finding that the way this novel was written is similar to the way you would a multi-genre piece. There are many different types of writing in this story such as; lists, excerpts, poems, song lyrics, short stories, and glimpses into Charley's [the main character's past]. I think that the different styles of writing put together are [so far] making this piece one of my favorites. As far as the storyline goes, it makes you want to keep reading as things get a bit more tense and we get a little more information with every page.

     In the piece that I have just read, i've found that as a child, Charley was kind of stuck in the middle of his parents as they created sort of a "parental hurricane",  mixing together two completely different types of people. His father tells him "you can be a mama's boy or you can be a daddy's boy, but you can't be both."  At first, Charley chooses his father, looking up to him and almost mimicking his every move. Later though, after his father abandons his family, "Chick" decides that he loves and respects his mother more instead. In my opinion, I don't believe that it was right for his father to give him such a defining decision to make at an age so young. However, I give Charley a great amount of credit for trying to stay strong for his mother and sister after his father decides to leave.

 

Indie Reading #14 p. 25-40 2-29-09 Sun.

     

     After reading this portion of the book, i've realized that ironically, there is a HUGE connection between this book and the book that we're reading in class, Maus by Art Spiegleman. The connection i'm seeing is that in Maus, the main character Artie is asking his father various questions about his past and how he met his mother. We see that an extremely similar situation is going on in For One More Day because the main character gives us his parent's background in many different aspects. He talks of his parents singularly, their lives without each other and the type of family both of his parents have come from. After that, he speaks of his parents together, as a couple and how they met and the type of combination they create together. We find that both of his parents were extremely religious but they both believed in two different things, creating issues in Charley's childhood home as he grew up. The last thing i've noticed so far about Charley's parents is that after they were married for a while, they started to become unhappy, affecting Charley in a negative way.

 

Indie Reading #13 p. 1-25 2-28-09 Sat.

    

          I have decided to switch books, simply because New Moon couldn't really hold my attention and it was just too hard to attempt to get through.

    What i'm getting from For One More Day by Mitch Albom as far as plot, storyline goes, it's about a man named Charles "Chick" Benetto, a man who commited suicide for many various reasons, a few of which we find out by reading the first couple chapters. So far, the book is sad, yet interesting and it has done a fairly good job holding my attention and making me want to read on. Mitch Albom is becoming one of my favorite authors because I love the style he uses when writing. For example, between chapters [i've noticed this in more than one of his novels], he puts some sort of poem, or outside source of information that relates to the story. This is shown, for instance, right after the first section [or chapter] of the book, he put in a poem that was found in Charles's belongings after he died. The poem is extremely beneficial in that, it gives us insight to the type of person Charles was. So far, I like this book a lot.

 

Indie Novel 2: New Moon by Stephenie Meyer

 

Indie Reading #12 p. 52-65 2-27-09 Fri.

   

  

 

          So far, this book seems to be pretty sad and it most definately holds a lot more negativity than the first book by this author. When I first started reading Stephenie Meyer's first book, Twilight, it was hard because I had nothing really to compare it to. However, now that i'm reading the second book in the series, I have the first book to compare it to. I realize that I keep talking about the quality of the book itself and not about what is actually going on in the book, but that's only because not much is happening in the story right now. I apologize greatly for not having much to say, but as i've heard from people who have read this book, it is extremely hard to really get into. For now, I suppose i'll just summarize what has happened so far.

     As we know from my first two entries for this book, it was Bella's birthday. Even though Bella didn't want anything from anyone for her birthday, Alice and the rest of the Cullens threw Bella a birthay party. At her party, she gets cut while opening a birthday present and this stirs up all kinds of chaos with the Cullens because as we know, they're all vampires. Of course when Bella cut her finger on the paper, she bled. This makes it extremely hard for Jasper, one of the Cullens who crave her blood the most. Of course, Carlisle [the doctor], was there to help fix up her hand while the rest of the Cullens left because they were so tempted to suck her blood. While Carlisle bandages her hand, Bella asks more about his past.

 

Indie Reading #11 p. 30-52 2-22-09 Sun.

 

     The section of the book that I read today relates to real life in a big way. This is because yesterday was my father's birthday and in the book, Bella wakes up on her birthday. She tells everyone she doesn't want presents and she doesn't really want anything to remind her of this "special day" because she doesn't like the concept of getting older. Yesterday, being my father's birthday, everytime we told him "happy birthday", he just kind of smiled and  rolled his eyes, we know he doesn't like the thought of getting older, but we feel that birthdays should be celebrated in a cheerful manner. My dad doesn't really like to celebrate but he let us take him out to dinner anyway, much like Bella not wanting a party or anything thrown for hers. However, Alice plans something anyway, like my family and I did for my father.

 

Indie Reading #10 p. 3-30 2-21-09 Sat.

 

     Today I read the first chapter of the second book in the Twilight series, New Moon. So far, it has been a little bit random and it seems like it jumps around a lot. Also, the first chapter of this book really has nothing to do with where the last chapter of Twilight ended, it just started in the middle of some kind of situation and i'm not really sure what's going on yet. I'm a bit confused with the book so far but i'm sure that as I keep reading, things might start to fall into place.

 

 

 Indie Novel 1: Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

 

Indie Reading #9 p. 404-end 2-20-09 Fri.

 

So, i've just finished Twilight and I will admit that with all of the talk about how good everyone said Twilight was, I had some pretty high expectations. However, the last chapter and the epilogue definately met my expectations if not going beyond them. I loved the last line of the book, it really gripped my attention and made me want to start reading the next book, New Moon. I will also add that the book wasn't really anything like the movie at all, the book was much more detailed and I feel that the movie left a lot of important pieces out. Overall, I believe that Twilight was extremely well written and I loved all of the characters as well as the storyline. It looks like New Moon will be my next book for "Indie Reading" and i'm looking forward to starting it. :)

 

Indie Reading #8 p.390-404 2-15-09 Sun.

 

     Chapter 19 was heartwrenching as the desire to protect Bella and to save her from the evil trio of vampires who wish to end her life increases. However, aside from being a bit sad while reading it, I thought of a connection from a movie to a piece of the chapter. This part of the story takes place on page 393 while Bella is "packing to leave her father".

"What happened?" he yelled. He was right behind me. "I thought you liked him."

"I do like him-that's the problem. I can't do this anymore! I can't put down any more roots here! I don't want to end up trapped in this stupid, boring town like Mom! I'm not going to make the same dumb mistake she did. I hate it-I can't stay here another minute!"

     His hand dropped from my arm like i'd electrocuted him. I turned away from his shocked, wounded face and headed for the door. (Twilight, pg. 393)

     Now, the movie that I have found a connection to this piece with is called "The Invisible." In the movie, a young boy, Nick loses his father [he dies of a disease]. And, Nick has this dream to go to London to take a writer's course and his mother doesn't want him to leave her. She refuses to listen and refuses to discuss the situation at all. With his goals in mind and a brave heart, Nick decides to book a flight anyway and go to London without her permission. However, his mother finds out about his plan the day before he is to leave. During a discussion with his best friend, Nick talks about his mother saying,

"Do you remember when my dad died? The first thing that she said to me was "Don't worry about it Nick, this won't change a thing for you." You know, i'm like 13 right? and all I want to do is cry and she's thinking about my future? She's always had it mapped out. You know, I stay here, I might as well retire and die. I mean, my dad didn't even get to retire, he was 46 when he got sick. I'm not going to let her do that to me." (Nick from The Invisible, 2007).

     The connection that I have made here is obviously the fact that Bella pretends that she doesn't want to let her father control her and turn her into her mother. Just as well, Nick doesn't want his mother to make him like his father.

 

Indie Reading #7 p.375-389 2-14-09 Sat.

 

     Things are definately speeding up and getting more intense with the storyline, leaving the readers wanting more. While Bella spends more time with the Cullens, things get even more dangerous. In the end of the last chapter, Bella goes to play baseball with the Cullens, a tradition for their family. The game is going well until an evil group of vampires who are almost enemies with the Cullens decide to show up. They came to the game and detected that Bella was human, one of them wanted to suck her blood badly. So, in this chapter, things get intense in the sense that Edward and the rest of his family have to hide and protect Bella while the opposers try to hunt her down to kill her.

 

Indie Reading #6 p. 348-374 2-13-09 Fri.

 

     As the relationship between Edward and Bella gets more serious, people are really starting to notice and express their concern. For instance, in tonight's reading, Bella's father's best friend Billy shows worry and concern for Bella by trying to warn her of the danger she may be in by dating Edward. However, Bella doesn't seem to care what he says about Edward or any of the Cullens for that matter, this is a problem that gets so many teens in trouble today. In modern society, teens often get mixed up with the wrong groups of people and make the wrong friends. Although some parents or other aqquaintences try to warn them of the harm that these "new friends" could cause them, most of them choose not to listen. Most teens today don't care what anyone says, they believe that their way is the right way, no matter what the situation is. Often when they're mixed up with these bad people, bad things tend to happen to them. I can honestly say that i'm eager to read the next chapter to see if this happens to Bella.

 

Indie Reading #5 p. 334-348 2-8-09 Sun.

 

     In chapter 16, titled "Carlisle", Edward takes his new girlfriend Bella to his house to meet his vampire family. While she was very nervous, she was also extremely curious and eager to learn more about his family and their background.  After meeting his family and getting a tour of the house, Bella and Edward go to Carlisle's (Edward's father figure) in-home office to see the room and to speak with him. In his office, he has many pictures of scenes and places from his past and these pictures make Bella even more curious. Edward tells Bella almost everything there is to tell her about his father's past, seeing as he was the "main vampire" who brought the whole family together. This reminds me of a conversation I had with my grandfather because I sat down with him once and we started discussing his past and the places that he has traveleved. While reading Bella's descriptions of the paintings on the walls, I thought of my grandfather because he showed me photos of the places he has been and most of them were in black and white, much like the ones in Carlisle's office.

 

Indie Reading #4 p. 312-334 2-7-09 Sat.

  

  The whole time I read this chapter, one thing was going through my mind. Marriage. So many of the things that occured in this chapter and the qualities of the characters promote the idea of marriage. An example of this is shown below.

     "I love you," I whispered.

     "You are my life now," he answered simply.

     I asked, suddenly anxious. "Will you be really be here?"

     "As long as you want me," he assured me.

     "I'll always want you," I warned him. "Forever."    (Pgs. 314 and 318)

These excerpts show that the two main characters are really in love and that they plan on spending the rest of their lives together, much like the notion of marriage. The second big thing that occured in this chapter was when Edward took his new "girlfriend" to meet his vampire family. In relationships, people don't usually introduce their "girlfriends" or "boyfriends" to their family unless they are planning on taking their relationship to the next level. Overall, chapter 15, titled "The Cullens" focused mainly on the topic of "forever."

 

Indie Reading #3 p. 286-312 2-6-09 Fri.

 

     While reading this chapter, I realized that something in it was very similar to something we did in class. When we read the book Frankenstein, we found out that the "creature" was created and then abandoned by his creator. Well, in the chapter of Twilight that I read today, Edward tells Bella about his very unusual family and we find that none of them were actually born by his "parents". Edward tells us that his father figure Carlisle found him and saved him, and the rest of his siblings found them. However, one of his siblings was a bit different than the rest. His "sister", Alice, was created by someone, or something. We don't know where she came from because she awoke alone. This is much like the creature in Frankenstein, He was created and then left alone with no outside guidance from anyone. Even though she was abandoned, we find that she still found ways to keep herself alive until she found her family. This is also like the creature in Frankenstein, he figured out ways to take care of himself until he found the man who created him. Unlike Alice though, the creature wasn't exactly welcomed with open arms by his creator. Alice however, was taken in gladly by a caring, optimistic, educated doctor. She was then protected and came to be part of an extremely loving, interesting family.

 

Indie Reading #2 p. 260-286 2-1-09 Sun.

 

     In this chapter, the two main characters Edward and Bella are in the woods. Edward has exposed his skin to Bella for the first time in the sunlight to show who he really is. In the sunlight, Edward glitters and shines because he is a vampire. Bella is shocked at first but she also thinks his skin is beautiful and she admires him for being himself and showing Bella that he is different than other humans. Also, because Edward is a vampire, he can read minds. He knows what almost everyone is thinking, all the time. Everyone except for Bella. She is the only person whose mind cannot be read by Edward and in this chapter, Edward admits that he has read the minds of all of the people she has associated with in the past few days. He has done this to try and figure out how she feels about him. Bella doesn't understand why he does this at first, but he explains it and tells her how dangerous he is to her and how he knows he should stay away from her, for her own good.

     If I were to put myself in Bella's shoes in this chapter, I would probably react a little bit differently than she did when she saw Edward exposed for the first time. Bella wasn't afraid, she was amazed and she actually liked him more for showing her who he really is. If it were me, at first i'd probably be afraid and I wouldn't know how to act or what to say to him for fear he would suck my blood. However, I feel that Bella handled the situtation maturely and much like an adult and she felt more strongly toward him. I would try to distance myself from him if he warned me about himself and told me that he could cause me harm at any time.

 

Indie Reading #1 p. 236-259 1-31-09 Sat.

 

In chapter 11 of Twilight,  the main character Bella Swan goes to the beach with some friends from school, one of which is a family friend, Jacob. While taking a walk along the shore with Jacob, Bella finds out more about the second main character, Edward Cullen. Jacob  tells Bella of the Cullens and he informs her that they are not permitted on certain areas of land for various reasons. This makes Bella extremely nervous and curious to find out why. Although Jacob never actually comes out and says it, he implies that the Cullens are "different" and gives her evidence as to why. Curious as she was, Bella went home and reasearched the information that he has given her, only to find out that Edward is a vampire.

 

Indie Reading #1 p. 236-259 1-31-09 Sat.

 

   In chapter 11 of Twilight,  the main character Bella Swan goes to the beach with some friends from school, one of which is a family friend, Jacob. While taking a walk along the shore with Jacob, Bella finds out more about the second main character, Edward Cullen. Jacob  tells Bella of the Cullens and he informs her that they are not permitted on certain areas of land for various reasons. This makes Bella extremely nervous and curious to find out why. Although Jacob never actually comes out and says it, he implies that the Cullens are "different" and gives her evidence as to why. Curious as she was, Bella went home and reasearched the information that he has given her, only to find out that Edward is a vampire.