Coming of Age Book-- The Perks of Being a Wallflower-- Blog Post 2 (spoilers)

            While reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky I learned a very important lesson. This book is about a boy who writes letters to someone, in a way that is almost like a diary. He doesn’t know this personal know the person, but he knows who he is. The boy, who is writing the letters, calls himself “Charlie” but you’re never really sure if this is his real name. While writing these letters he describes many things from, important to not important, and tends to loose track of what he was saying, and end up on a completely different topic. Although he is an outsider, he has managed to make some really great friends. While being with these friends, he learns a lot, and they help him to live his life. See, when Charlie was at a young age, he lost his Aunt Helen, who he was very close to. This loss seems to affect his life greatly and make him who he is. However, at the end of the book you learn something, but your not exactly sure what. Charlie becomes severely depressed, and has to go to the hospital. It turns out this has something to do with his Aunt Helen. Something she did to him, something Charlie never remembered until he got his chance to be with Sam, she molested him. The lesson that I think this book was written to teach is that although you can be coming of age, it is about becoming more mature, or gaining knowledge, or even becoming experienced at things it about finding out who you are, and how different events in your life got you there. Which is exactly what Charlie did by the end of the book.

            Towards the beginning of the book, you find out where the name The perks of being a wallflower comes from. Patrick calls Charlie a wallflower, and everyone agrees. He thing explains that it is when, “you see things. You keep quiet about them. You understand.” (p 37). This goes along with the message of the book that coming of age is about learning who you are, and how you get there. This is because Patrick is saying, although he doesn’t mean it in a bad way, that Charlie is never there. He is the person you want him to be, the friend you could use, not even the friend you need, but the one who’s there. He will do anything to help you, but in the end its not helping anybody. Basically, if Charlie is always just the person people want him to be (the wallflower) then he will never find himself, and learn who he really is.

            This message of Charlie just being on the outside, and not doing what he wants to do continues throughout the whole book. Another way this is seen, is that Charlie’s English teacher Bill, is always telling him he has to participate. Charlie and Bill develop a very close relationship, because Bill is one of the few people in the world who realize how amazing, and special Charlie really is. Bill tells Charlie that he has to “participate” multiple times in the book, and Charlie keeps going back to this. Saying how he tried to participate by going to the school dance, and he participated by going to the party with Sam and Patrick, and so on, but he learns later that he was never really participating he was just there.

            Charlie learns this when at the very end of the book he is talking to Sam. She is basically just straight up telling him all of these things. She says:

“It’s great that you can listen and be a shoulder to someone, but what about when somebody doesn't need a shoulder? What if they need arms or something like that? You can't just sit there and put everybody's lives ahead of yours and think that counts as love. You just can't. You have to do things…. Like take their hands when the slow song comes up for a change. Or be the one who asks someone for a date. Or tell people what you need. Or what you want… It’s like you can come to Patrick’s rescue and hurt two guys that are trying to hurt him, but what about when Patrick’s hurting himself? Like when you guys when to that park? Or when he was kissing you? Did you want him to kiss you?’

                        I shook my head no

                        ‘So why did you let him?’

                        ‘I was just trying to be a friend,’ I said.

‘But you weren’t Charlie. At those times, you weren’t being a his friend at all. Because you weren’t being honest with him… I’m going to be who I really am. And I’m going to figure out what that is. But right now I’m here with you. And I want to know where you are, what you need, and what you want to do.” (200-202)

This conversation between Sam and Charlie basically sums up the whole message of the book. To grow up you have to find out who you are, and to do that you have to do things. You can’t just be a wallflower, sure that okay sometimes, but you have to really participate. Not just hang out with friends, but ask them to hang out, and do what you want to do, because you want to. 

Coming of Age Book-- The Perks of Being a Wallflower --Blog Post 1

While reading the coming of age novel, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, I’ve been paying close attention to how Chbosky narrates the character, and describes youth through him. This book is about a boy in high school, learning out to adapt and fit in, although at my current half waypoint, he seems to be a clear outsider. The boy “Charlie” (it is never clear if that is his real name) tells the story by writing letters to someone. He doesn’t know this person personally, and so far we don’t even know their name. Charlie doesn’t leave anything out, and describes his life in full detail, talking about whatever is on his mind. From the way he writes, to the way he acts in the stories he writes in the letters, it is clear that he is very different from everyone else. Although, shortly after starting high school, he does meet a close group of friends. While he does spend a fair amount of time writing about recent stories, he also puts some time writing about stories he remembers from his child hood, and just about important people that stand out to him in general. While reading it is clear to see, that Charlie just doesn’t seem to know when, its okay to do what, and seems to be very immature and ignorant (although he is very smart) for his age. However throughout the book he is gaining more and more knowledge on the ways to act in order to survive high school, and come of age.

            Charlie is a very emotional character that is not afraid to show it. He seems to have trouble knowing what is okay to see and do, and what is not okay to say and do, although he seems to be gaining knowledge on this subject. Charlie mentions two people who he was very close with that died. One of them being one of his closest friends from middle school Michael, that committed suicide (while in middle school, when they were close), and the other being his Aunt Helen, who he describes almost like a second mom to him, although willing to be more like a friend then a mom, who died in a car crash. Both of these people didn’t have very good lives. Michael was also an outsider, and people bullied and made fun of him a lot. Charlie was one of his few friends, so he had little support. Aunt Helen was raped as a little girl, and was also not supported, or helped. He talks about these people throughout the book, and is constantly explaining how these people made him feel. Because he does have problems knowing what is okay to do and say, he expresses the hurt he has from losing these people in strange ways. For example, he says that after his Aunt Helen died, his parents would find him passed out in strange places (98-100). As you can see the loss of these two people to whom he was very close with, had a very hard effect on Charlie. Some may think that these things might cause him to come of age. I think if anything these terrible losses seemed to slow down his coming of age, and cause him to act a lower maturity level.

            While Charlie’s maturity level seems to be very low, from the beginning of the book, to my current half way position, it is clear that he is really becoming his own. Although he still has some trouble knowing what to do and say when, Charlie has clearly gained knowledge on this subject, and seems to be growing up. He has met friends who are older, which probably help with this process, but also seems to be just an overall happier person. He has started to get over his losses, and I think this has allowed him to grow and expand. Although he seems to be far behind in his maturity level, not because he choices to be, but mostly just because he can be very ignorant, he is definitely catching up.

Chbosky has Charlie realize throughout the book a message; to enjoy and make the most of your youth. It is clear that although many characters that are in the book have had hard lives growing up, Charlie’s is pretty good. As he begins to realize that, he is learning to make the most of his child hood because it is short, and some people don’t even get a real one. This message is portrayed throughout all the parts of the book I have read so far. It seems that the author is almost saying that sometimes being a little less mature, and a little more ignorant can even work to your advantage. Even with these flaws, Charlie seems to be enjoying his high school life, and they may have even lead him to friends, people and experiences that will cause him to grow up in the right way at the right time. 

Article Response--- The Hunger Games

            While reading the article “The Hunger Games” by Peter Travers, I noticed how the author spends a great deal of the article relating the movie The Hunger Games, which the article is a review of, to many other movies, specifically the movies from the Twilight series. I think the comparison of these two movies really helps Travers to get his point across about this movie. I think it helps him to get his point across because both these movies have a lot in common. They were based of books, and the directors had to figure out where to make changes so as to keep the movie appropriate while balancing both the romantic and violence from the books.

            Both The Hunger Games and Twilight were originally books, that were turned into movies. This is not the only similarity they share. They are both about strong willed girls, who end up in a scary, violent situation, where they are put between to guys, both who they care a lot about. In the article, Travers mentions this, and noticed how although in the book The Hunger Games there is more of a focus on the love aspect, it as not as intense and as important to the situation as in both the book and in the movie Twilight. Travers mentions this when he says, “Are you Team Gale or Team Peeta? You might not care as much, since neither has the exotic allure of a vampire or a wolf.” While saying this, he is shortly saying that although there is romantic competition, it doesn’t not bring you in, like it does in Twilight between the wolf and vampire. He goes on the mention that he thinks this is one of the reasons that viewers and critics have rated The Hunger Games as the better movie.

            In the article, it is mentioned that although the movie is great, it is hard to compare it to the book because of the restrictions that were put on the movie. Since The Hunger Games is a young adult book, it would do extremely poorly in the box offices if it were rated anything worse than PG 13. Because of this, much of the violence that was included in the movie had to be toned down, to keep it appropriate. Although this is not one of the comparisons Travers makes in the article, his past comparisons make you think further. While making Twilight, I’m sure the directors were faced with very similar circumstances as The Hunger Games. Although, like earlier stated there restrictions were more romantically sided, as oppose to The Hunger Games, which had to be more careful with violence.

            Overall I think the article was very well written, and Travers did an excellent job writing it. One thing he did that improved the article was the comparison to the Twilight books, and movies. This made you look at the movie in a different way and really made you think about some of the challenges that went in to making this movie, or any movie based on a book for that mater. Considerations that take place go way further that just restrictions of violence. It also makes me wonder, if there were no restrictions, and it could be exactly like the book, would it be better or worse?


Article: http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/the-hunger-games-20120321

Plagiarizing Questions

·      What did the student do wrong? What could he/ she have done to include the source correctly?

The student plagiarized from someone else’s work, and stole their words. They didn’t quote it, they just took it, and they didn’t cite their sources. Instead of just plagiarizing, the student could have paraphrased the quote into their own words. They could have also taken parts of the quote, and cited it as the quote, not taking credit as it being their own writing.

·      Write a sentence using the original source correctly; use a quotation or paraphrase. Also, make sure to cite correctly. Consult my post on citing sources.

The painting Starry Night the background that contains many hills that go up and down, behind that there is a small little village, that gives of a calm vibe. I started thinking about how the town gave off that after reading the article “A Brief Understanding the Starry Night Paintings.” In the article, the author states: “There is a peaceful essence flowing from the structures.”

·      What are at least three ways to avoid plagiarizing?

1.     Quote directly

2.     Paraphrase

3.     Cite sources correctly

Blog Entry on Student Reading Responses

            I read both Gabby’s and Eliza’s blog posts. While reading Gabby’s blog post on Glass I noticed a lot of really great features of her blog, which really made in stand out. One feature I noticed in her blog was that she did a really great job providing examples, and when using examples she cited them clearly, and correctly. The text examples and quotes she used really helped her to prove her point and make the reader understand. Another great feature of her blog was that not only did she give you examples to support her thesis; she also did a really good job describing those examples, and explaining why they happened. She also included the lessons, and themes from the book, and gave some opinion on what she thought was happening without overdoing it.

            Eliza’s blog post on Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire was also extremely well written, and full of amazing features that made it complete. She had a very elaborate idea and thesis, which she supported well. Her post was way more than just a summary although she did provide enough background for it to make sense. She compared and contrasted many different ideas, further than her opinion. She provides important life lessons, not just from the clear focus of the book, but what she found analyzing the book, and really digging deeper into the themes, and reading between the lines. Another great thing that she does in this blog is that it doesn’t feel like an essay. Although it has everything that an essay should have, she writes it in an entertaining way. You almost feel like someone is saying this while talking to you.

            After reading these blogs I found a lot of really good elements that were included in them, that could help me to improve my blogs. One example of something that I saw in these blogs, that I think I could use in my blogs to improve them is using specific text examples and quotes. This is something I don’t usually put in my blogs, but Gabby’s blog was a good example of how they can really help to support your blog. Another thing that I saw in these blogs that could help my future blogs is providing lessons from the book. Whether they’re clear lessons that you can get from pretty much just reading the back cover, like Gabby’s, or more elaborate lessons, that you really have to dig for, and read between the lines to find, like Eliza’s. Those were just two examples of elements that I saw in these two blogs that I think can improve my blogs. Overall the two blogs I read were very well written, and provided me with ideas, and ways that can possibly help me to write better blogs in the future. 

Deadly Little Lies

I stare at you, long to hold you near,

But you look away, ignore me,

Then I follow your lead, and look in other directions,

And suddenly go back to the past, and look at me once I again,

Except I am gone,

Can I ever let myself come back?

            This poem basically sums up the relationship between Ben and Camelia in the book Deadly Little Lies by Laurie Stolarz. This book is a sequel to the book Deadly Little Secrets, and has a very similar plot. It is about a girl who is basically being stalked by someone, and receiving death threats, and she is trying to figure out who. While this is happening she is also figuring out that she’s a little by physic. She is a sculptor, and recently she has been sculpting random things like a pomegranate, or a horse, and then seeing them somewhere later. She is also hearing voices in her head, then actually hearing them later.

            While this is all going on she is madly in love with this guy Ben. Ben loves her back, but is scared to be with her, because he doesn’t want to hurt her, and he sort of accidentally killed his ex-girlfriend. Since Ben refuses to be with her, she starts to like this guy she works with, Adam. The only problem she sees though is that Adam isn’t Ben. Although, it turns out later that Adam Was Ben’s ex-girlfriends boyfriend before she died, and he came back two years after she died to get back at Ben by taking Camelia from him, although he actually starts to like her, even though she’s in love with Ben.

            So anyways, this poem relates to their relationship because Camelia is madly in love with Ben, which the poem represents by looking, but Ben refuses to acknowledge her, and like the poem, even refuses to look at her, so she gives up and moves to Adam, but then Ben realizes that he can, and wants to be with her, but she really likes Adam, and after everything she doesn’t know if she can even let herself be with Ben, especially cause she realized that he really can hurt her. Anyways eventually she realizes Adam was a jerk for what he did, and even 

Much to do About Nothing

                        Dear Friend,

            I really encourage you to go see the Shakespeare play Much to do About Nothing. It is highly entertaining and humorous, especially at the theater we saw it at. This play is about a girl and a guy who are in love, but all they do is pick on each other. They must be tricked into realizing their love. Along with this, the girl’s cousin falls in love with a guy. The guys friend’s evil brother tries to break them up, so she fakes a death, and then comes back to life, and they marry. This is one of the few Shakespeare plays were no one actually dies or gets hurt. This was a nice change from the normal moody, gloomy stuff that is usually incorporated in his plays.

           When I was watching the play I was amazed at how un confusing and clear a Shakespeare play could actually be. Of course the workshop I took before were I learned the plot of the story helped, but the main thing that really allowed me to understand this play was the acting. The actors, The actors did a great job of portraying their characters, and while watching it was almost always clear what was happening and going on, something that continuous to confuse me in Romeo and Juliet.

           

            I have to say if given the choice, I would rather read this, than Romeo and Juliet. This is because this play happens to be more entertaining and humorous. However Romeo and Juliet supposedly have all this hummer in it, but just reading it, it is very hard to find. Maybe if I were to watch a play of Romeo and Juliet I would think differently because the acting would help me to better understand it.

            In conclusion I highly recommend you go see this. It is very entertaining, amusing, and kept me attached through the whole thing. If given the choice I would definitely go see it, and even read it over Romeo and Juliet. I had an excellent time watching it, and think that the directors and actors were all amazing. The workshop also sincerely helped me to understand what were going on and the plot, even though it was a little confusing, it was still very clear.

                        You should definitely go see this,

                        Sincerely,

                        Becca

Romeo and Juliet--- Diary entry

            Dear Diary,

                        I am but o so confused. I was sure she was the one, that her beauty would be mine, that I could possibly want nothing more. But now, everything is foggy. I’ve meet Juliet. Rosaline looks like a crow compared to her. She is the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. For her, I would do anything. I now no longer need to feel the pain of love. I won’t have to weep over Rosaline, as she never wanted to contribute her beauty to the world. I won’t have to cry to Benvelio about her selfish ways. Yet my head will still be turning, spinning in circles, lost and confused by this thing called love.

            Juliet will soon be mine. I will make sure of that. I would do anything for her to feel for me, the way I feel about her, but I just don’t know if she does yet. Love has made me do some crazy things, but this sure has to be the craziest of all. Going after Juliet. She is filled with more knowledge, beauty, and kindness than any one I have ever let my eyes stray to. Two days I have known her, and already I’m head over heels. Soon I will not only be head over heals, but down on one knee, ready to propose.

            Diary please give me the power to get her. Give me the power to convince her to carry me inside her, for her to be mine forever. There is nothing I have ever loved more than her. There is nothing I have ever felt this strongly about. I know I would take a knife to the chest, if I just meant she would allow me to spend time with her. All I want is she.

                        I’ll let you know how things go,

                        Until then,

                       

                        Sincerely,

                       

Romeo

            I wrote this letter to show how romantic Romeo is. I wanted to capture is personality but at the same time show some sort of pot going on in the story. I also wanted to really prove how easily he falls for girls. I did this by mentioning that her wants Juliet more than Rosaline. This shows that just recently he felt similar to this about a whole different girl. I captured the plot in this entry by saying how they can’t be together. All though the timing in the book, and the entry is a little off, I think I do a good job showing all of this. This entry also captures Romeo’s personality. It shows how he really is just a hopeless romantic, by how he is writing how in love he is. I think this is important because he is known as a famous character all around the world, at every age as the big, nice, amazing guy character. He is also portrayed like this in the book, so it is important that in his own diary entry, it is clear how he is feeling, and that this known personality for him is in fact accurate. 

Letter to Friend on Romeo and Juliet

Dear Friend,

            I have recently just begun reading Romeo and Juliet. So far it is clear to see why this book is such a famous book. Shakespeare does an amazing job including details, and really giving a clear picture of what is going on, and who the characters are, and their personalities. Even though it is a play, therefore there are no details (main details) written by a narrator, it is still clear to see them, as if they were in book form. He is able to add humor into it without taking away from the plot, and the seriousness of it, but so you can still see the puns and word play. Less then twenty pages in, the plot is already clear, many characters have been introduced, and you can guess what the main problem is going to be.

            Although the writing style of the book may be a little confusing, the majority of it can be understood. Of course the definitions, and explanations on the side are helpful, I have found that just by reading slowly and carefully understanding the concept, and the idea of what is being said isn’t that challenging. The only Shakespeare I have read before is a paraphrase of Midsummer Nights Dream, which was when I was much younger. I thought it was very interesting, and I appreciated that I was able to read the story without all the confusing language, but I have to say I much prefer this. Although it is more challenging and time consuming to read, the language of the book really helps to make it what it is, and describe the scenery.

            So far in the book it is clear that there is a rivalry between the Montague’s and the Capulet’s. It seems to go even beyond their families but also to their servants. You also know that Romeo is upset about something. All you know that is love in cannot have, but you do not know why yet. It is also clear that the royal families do not appreciate the fighting between these families. I am wondering what the rest of the town thinks about this, and why this rivalry started. Also, the relationships between Romeo and his parents, and Juliet, and her parents.

            If you are planning to read shake spear I would definitely recommend reading some of the definitions from the side before you start, and to make sure you read slowly, and really pay attention to every word and how it is used. I also recommend trying to paraphrase the phrases or lines you are confused by, because missing one line can kind of throw the rest of the story off, because most things seem to relate to each other. One more thing I would recommend is trying to familiarize your self with the story before you start, because that can also help things make more sense.

            I hope you read some Shakespeare, and you are able to enjoy it as much as I am. Good Luck!

                        Becca

Poems

            As we discussed and learned about poetry during class, I began to make comparisons about all the different types of poetry there are, and how they relate and how they are different. When doing this I picked three of the poems that we read, or listened to in class. All very different, and all very unique. The three poems I picked are Harlem by Langston Hughes, My Mistress’ Eyes are Nothing Like the Sun sonnet 130 by William Shakespeare, and If I Should Have a Daughter by Sarah Kay. There are many reasons why I picked these three poems; they are all very different in many ways, including length, topic, and style, they are all very creative, and meaningful, and these were probably my three favorite poems that we read during class.

            Harlem is a what happens to poem, and has a ton of literary devices. This poem is about dream, and what happens when you ignore them. My Mistress’ Eyes are Nothing Like the Sun is about a intimate friend of Shakespeare, and how even though she is by all means not perfect, he still loves her. It is a sonnet, and follows the correct rhyme scheme and the iambic pentameter. If I Should Have a Daughter is a poem that was intended to be said out loud. This poem also has a lot of literary devices, and deeper meaning. It is about what a mother would do, and teach her daughter is she was to have one, one day.

            There are many similarities between these poems, but also many differences. All of these poems have many literary devices. They use similes and metaphors mostly, to show the deeper meaning of the poems. Also, besides the sonnet, they all use their own rhyme patterns, and follow their own beats. All of these poems have deeper meaning; you just have to read closely, and carefully to figure out what they are, and what the poems are really about. However they are all about different things, one about dreams, one about love, and one about teaching. Still these poems are very similar. Although on the outside they may seem very different, but if you look closely they are extremely similar.

            Also, if you think about it, they are all wondering about something in the feature, although they really all know the answer. Harlem is seeing if you can really put of a dream, or ignore, and forget about it. You can tell the author has thought about doing this, but realized it is simply impossible. My Mistress’ Eyes are Nothing Like the Sun is kind of showing that he really doesn’t like the outside of this girl, and is probably embarrassed by her, but maybe he tried being without her before, and realized it was all worth it. If I Should Have a Daughter seems to be about what her mother did for her as a child, or what she wishes she had done. She is trying to relive, or maybe even remake her childhood, by making what she wants for something else. As you can see although these poems are different, they are all so incredibly similar.

            

Untitled---> Sonnet

You’re the same as you wake, and as you sleep

Your colors make you and show your beauty

You give light, and take it without a peep

Providing us with heat is your duty

Your colors are simply magnificent

Orange, red, and yellow and even pink

Together you are really excellent

As we wake and sleep you change in a blink

You try and get me up in the morning

And you try to put me to sleep at night

You really are never ever boring

Always trying to shine loud, strong, and bright

You are the sun, always in the sky

Without you our life would not be complete

Poems

Poem on painting:

This painting is you,
and even has you in it,
it is your childhood,
and your favorite stories,
it is your feelings,
and the people who caused them

This painting is colors,
and emotions,
and wonderful designs
it is swirls,
and words,
and the letters than make them

This painting is all of pollock and even more


What is poetry poem:

Poetry is you
Poetry is whatever you want it to be
it is the heart and soul of every human being
it is words

Words that for some people may be nothing
but is really everything
Emotions, feelings, and your own world wrapped up into one

Poetry is you
Poetry is whatever you want it to be
Poetry is everything


What happens to a dream


What happens to a destroyed dream

does it disapear

and never come back 

until its just forever gone

Or does it never truly go away
until it reforms
and build and build and build
until it is back to normal

What truly happens to a destroyed dream

Jackson Pollock-- Mural

            

             The first paining of Jackson Pollock I ever saw was at the Brooklyn Museum. It, like the majority of his paintings was painted with the splatter plate technique. I was unimpressed to say the least. I thought it was boring, not special, and took little to no talent. But as I found out more about Pollock, and where is paintings came from, and there meaning I realized how truly special all his paintings were. They are filled with emotion and elements, and moments in his life. Although the paintings may seem like there was no talent involved in making these paintings, if you look closely, there are all kinds of details mixed in throughout his paintings.

            Jackson Pollock grew up on a farm in a small town in Wyoming. He went to school for art in 1929, but had a really hard time with drawing. His brother was a famus artists, none for his drawings, so there was a lot of pressure on him. In the late 30’s he was introduced to the work of Picasso and learned that not all art had to be straight lines and pictures. He decided to try more surreal art, which he ended up succeeding with. Everything involved with Pollock’s work, was very untraditional. He used untraditional materials (not paintbrushes, and pencils), painted on the floor, and his final product was always very unique, he would even walk on his paintings.

            The painting a choose to look at is called Mural. It is one of Pollock’s more famous paintings, and is extremely well known. This painting comes from many different roots. Some if it being other artists, and paintings he was inspired by, and some of it being events from his past. One major thing that this is based on his Native American stories. When he was a kid, a Native American neighbor would tell them stories from her heritage. The color base, and other elements of the painting come form this. (Jackson Pollock)

            Although as many people look at this, all they see is a bunch of different colored squiggly lines, if you look closely there is much more in it. While I was first looking at this, I noticed that the majority of the colors were very natural and earthy. As I looked closer I noticed that there seemed to be bird shaped lines all over the painting. As I looked even closer than that I noticed I saw that the painting has letters all over it, and the letters spell out Jackson Pollock. I think Pollock personally hid his name in the painting, so as not to distract from the rest of it, but to make you look at it really closely. In order to even see his name in the painting, you have to look extremely close, so I think part of the reason he hid it, was so people looked further into it, and noticed all the other details. (Decoding Jackson Pollock)

Identical #2 *Spoilers*

          I have just finished reading Identical by Ellen Hopkins. This book is about two girls, who are identical twins. Their mom is never around, and their father sexually abuses one of the girls. Throughout the book they mention an accident, making it clear something serious has happened but your not sure what. The twins in the book are completely different people, but somehow at the same time very similar. At the end of the book, what is really going on becomes clear. This is only one sister, the other twin died in the accident that was being mentioned. However she had a disease that made her think that there was two of her. One moment she would be Kaeleigh (who she actually was), and then the next moment she would think she was her twin, Raeanne. I noticed that although you know there is something the author isn’t telling you, and you don’t really noticed anything that peculiar about the situation, if you go back throughout the book, there are things throughout the book that were almost like clues, that this was happening.

            For example some obvious ones that I was actually wondering about throughout the book were that they never seem to be together. The other twin would always be somewhere else. At rare points in the book, they would both be at home, or at school, but they never talked or interacted. Also, when they were with other people, they would never call them by name. Sometimes, people would call Kaeleigh (the actually twin) but never Raeanne. Another thing is that other people never talked about Raeanne, although they did talk about Kaeleigh.

            Some less obvious, and more specific moments in the book where the author kind of shows that there really aren’t two people, is when Kaeleigh is talking to Ian, and he is saying how she is always with other guys. Kaeleigh thinks this is Raeanne doing this, not realizing it is actually herself, and of course the other characters know it’s her. However when she is talking to Ian she really doesn’t understand what he is talking about, and something comes up, and they say they will talk about it but they never do. I think this was Hopkins trying to give you a little clue, but not actually give it away, because if they were to talk about it further, she would have said it was Raeanne, and Ian would have told her there wasn’t a Raeanne, making the truth come out too early in the book.

            Another not so obvious clue is about the relationships they have with people, two that help show there is only one person. The first one is with a girl at school named Madison. In the book Madison doesn’t get along with either Raeanne or Kaeleigh, but she has no real reason to hate Kaeleigh. Raeanne is going out with her ex boyfriend, so she is extremely mean to her, but in Kaeleigh’s eyes, there is no reason, for the way she acts. Obviously it is Kaeleigh who is actually dating him, explaining the way she treats her. Another relationship is with her father. Kaeleigh’s father is very protective of her. She has to come home straight home after school, and he has to know about everything she does. In the book Kaeleigh is the perfect child, Raeanne however is the opposite. While reading you wonder how Kaeleigh will get in trouble for the smallest things however Raeanne can do whatever she wants. Their father doesn’t seem to even notice Raeanne, which of course would be because she isn’t alive. This I think was a big clue in the book.

            One last thing in noticed is that Raeanne is always talking about Kaeleigh, and the things she does. However Kaeleigh never mentions Raeanne. I think this may be because when she is Kaeleigh, she knows that Raeanne is dead. However I don’t think she knows that she thinks she is Raeanne sometimes. This is another big clue. Concluding that, although it isn’t obvious that these twins end up being one person, after finding out, it is clear to see that the author left many clues throughout the book.

Identical

I am currently reading the book Identical by Ellen Hopkins. This book is about two identical twins Kaeleigh and Raeanne, and is written from each of their perspectives. Their father is a famous judge, and their mother is running for office, and is constantly on the rode campaigning, and doesn’t seem to care about them. Their father one the other hand is the opposite. He is very controlling especially of Kaeleigh. He also happens to not be a very great person, not only is he controlling of Kaeleigh, but he also sexually abuses her. Kaeleigh being just like her mother who isn’t around, seems to attract her father in very unnatural ways. Raeanne on the other hand is almost jealous of the attention that Kaeleigh is given, which promotes her bad behavior.

This book like the rest of her books is written in poems, which vary very much depending on the text and what is going on in the book. Some are structured very simply and read more like any other novel than poems. Other are more complicated and creative and express the text, and what the characters are thinking. For example on page is about finding a long lost love, and the poems are shaped like hearts (page 198). Or another page is full of questions and the poem is shaped like a questions mark (page 290).

While reading, one big thing I noticed about the set up of the poems is that right before the character narrator switches to the next character, and the first poem of the new character, the poem is always set up the same way. There are around three to five small paragraphs to the side, and after each paragraph one word to the opposite side. If you just read the single words on the right they actually make a complete sentence, which is usually a very poetic summary of the last section, or poem. The first poem of the next section has the same thing as the last poem of the section before. These poems can have different meanings for the different context there in though.

One example of one of these sentences is “Death near calls to me from the shadows” (316 and 317). In the first poem it is in (Kaeleigh’s) she is very upset and is talking about how hurt she is and how the only way to escape is death. She even tries to cut herself. In Raeanne’s poem she finds the cut on Kaeleigh, still relating to how she is talking about death.

In conclusion I think that this shows how the set up of this poem really brings out the more poetic side of the book, and the deeper meanings of the poems. Hopkins does a great job explaining what she means through her poems and their structure. Also she finds way to describe inner character thinkings in abstract very abstract ways, where you literally have to read between the lines. 

Fallout

The book Fallout by Ellen Hopkins is about three different kids who have the same mother, none of which were raised by her. Kristina, their mother has different relationships with all of these kids, who also have different relationships to each other, and were raised by different people. While reading this book I realized that all the characters have many physical, emotional, and psychological problems. All of them have a whole left by Kristina, that they fill with these big problems.

Hunter was Kristina’s first child and she raised him for about the first year of his life. She then fell back into her old ways, and basically abandoned him. However he was probably the luckiest one. He was left to be raised by his grandparents, Kristina’s parents. He also gets to see Kristina often, as she comes for holidays. Autumn, Kristina’s next child was raised by Kristina and her father, until she about two, when Kristina pushed them out. Her father ended up going to jail and she went to live with her Grandfather and her Aunt. After she moved there, she never met Kristina, or any of her siblings. She didn’t even know she had any. The youngest character in the book, but still not Kristina’s last child is Summer. She lived with her father’s parents until she was about two, when they died. She then moved in with her father and his girlfriend, who abused her. As people found she moved in and out of many foster homes, and sometimes back to her father, until his home was once again considered “unsuitable.” Kristina comes to visit her ever so often, and she goes to Kristina’s parents occasionally on holidays, so she knows Hunter.

All of these kids have some sort of void in there life that Kristina left for them, and all of them seem to react differently to it, and have different problems that she left them with. For Hunter, his big problem is anger. He is angry. Angry with Kristina, angry at, angry with his father (who he never met), and most important he is angry with himself. The anger in him is what brings out all the anger to other people, and it is what triggers another problem, which is the lack of self-control her has when he is angry- which is often. He as angry at Kristina, for not being a mother, for caring more about herself then him, for bringing out the anger in him. He is angry with his father, because he rapped Kristina, and that’s why he’s here. And he is angry with himself, for being angry, and for letting him take it out on the people he loves. For letting his anger control him, and mold his life into what it is. All he wants is for the anger to go away, to not take over him, for the trigger to stop triggering it. The trigger, which is Kristina.

Autumn doesn’t know Kristina, doesn’t even know her name until the end of the book, but Kristina still makes her angry. She makes her not full, which Autumn fills with her major problem, OCD, which happens to come with panic attacks. The trigger of her OCD is anger, and the trigger of that it of course Kristina. Her OCD controls her back, and holds her back unimaginably. She has no friends, she can’t even really be around people without literally having a panic attack. The only person she can talk to is her aunt, who is loving and gracious, but just doesn’t understand it. Doesn’t understand that she has this hole in her life that needs to be filled, and can only be filled with what left it there, Kristina. Not even necessarily knowing her, just knowing who she is, which Kristina denies her.

Summer’s big problem is that she is too much like Kristina. She is impulsive, and not always in a good way. Like Kristina she is very smart, but just doesn’t show it. Her boyfriend has anger problems, just like all of Kristina’s did, and she is very close to drugs, just like Kristina. She just happens to have enough strength to pull away from them, unlike Kristina. Summer’s way of filling the whole for Kristina, is to be her. Like all the other characters Summer doesn’t like or mean for this to happen. But she has no control. The control was taken, when the hole was filled, and the hole would have to filled by Kristina actually being there mother, something that will never happen.