An Inductive Leap Too Far

   

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Minutes

     In the book, Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult, an inductive leap too far ends up being a disaster destroying the lives of many friends and families of a whole school. Peter Houghton, the main character, is stuck in a position of being a victim to bullying...and more bullying...and more bullying. Throughout elementary school, Peter gets bullied for his appearance but his friend, Josie Cormier, backs him up and is a support system to him. But, when Josie leaves him to be friends with the "popular kids", his support is gone and he becomes more insecure. Then, the popular kids and Josie continue to tease him about his looks, him being gay and him not being "cool"in general. These small attacks each day add up to enough pressure and Peter takes the inductive leap in being the school shooter killing 10 and injuring many others. Peter kills many of the kids who had bullied him and after the shooting, while in high security jail, Peter realizes himself that this inductive leap was too far and wasn't the appropriate way to handle the situation. For Peter, the facts he collected were these small attacks that built up and hurt him physically and emotionally. The outcome of the deaths and injuries, overall Peter discovered (and the audience discovered too) that the amount of pain that he caused to the students and teachers, the families and the rest of the town was not worth it for Peter to feel better about himself.

     In all honesty, I can understand completely all of the factors that led Peter to make this inductive leap. When every single day you cannot go about your way without being mocked or made fun of no matter what you try to do to make it better, what other options would there be? Clearly, murduring people is not a reasonable answer for any dilemna someone comes accross, but to Peter it was all he had left. Peter didn't have a support system, he had already lost his brother to a car crash and no matter how hard Peter tried, being "cool" was something Peter simply wasn't. Overall, Peter was so insecure about himself that he was led to make this inductive leap too far.

     After reading the novel, I have a much more open eye to these people possibly suffering from bullying at my own school. These inductive leaps too far can lead to many outcomes which could be harmful to the victim or really anyone. People like Peter Houghton are very lonely and I think that students need to see this. That their words hurt and bullying needs to become a thing of the past.

Blog Post #7: The Secret Life of Bees

     


     The first significant element in my book, The Secret Life of Bees, is the setting of the story. "T.Ray and I lived just outside Sylvan, South Carolina, population 3,100. Peach stands and Baptist churches, that sums it up." (Monk Kidd, 8) This southern setting in 1964 was a time where there were many racial issues which creates the base of the novel. Black women and men were degraded and harassed often by whites even with the civil rights act coming into place. This made it a massive significant element of the story since if everyone was white in the story, many different problems and dilemmas would not have arose. We can tell this southern setting is significant through the line, "But she's white, August.", so we know that the colour of your skin in this setting is very significant. Also, this setting element effected the character's personalities. Rosaleen, the black nanny of the Owens family, would likely not have such a rebellious personality if she didn't need to go against the stream by getting her voting card. All of these elements make the setting very significant to this incredible novel.


     

Blog Post #8: The Secret Life of Bees

1. What is the purpose of your poem? What mood, message or point are you trying to make?
     The purpose of my poem is to express the feelings the main character, Lily Owens, is feeling. Lily Owens is a young 14 year old girl who's very lost with the people who are in her life such as her father who has been physically and emotionally brutal to his child. Also, she doesn't have a mother figure because of previous issues within her mother's life. Added to her parents, the few motherly influences she has on her are, as stated in the novel, Negroes. She doesn't exactly fit in with them at first glance especially in the 60s where there was huge racial tension. Many things are going through Lily Owens mind during the novel and this wordle illustrates these things.


2. What did you do to create this purpose? Discuss your word choice and your decision on the size of particular words in comparison to other words.
     To create this purpose, I put myself in Lily Owens shoes. I thought of what she would be thinking and the different influences she has. I decided that racism, Negroes and whites should all be larger then the other words because those are 3 things that are consistently throughout the novel, running through her head. Whether she wants to think of the racism of her setting or not, the world around her is trying to drill into her head that the Negroes are a lower class and she shouldn't be interacting with them. Then I wanted to add a few smaller words such as controversy, rights and sisterhood since these are a few more influences of the setting she's in that have effected her. 


3. Did you like using Wordle? Come up with other possible uses of Wordle inside and outside of English class.
     Yes, I really did like using Wordle! Personally, I'm a very visual learner and I've always liked organizing things in different ways with colour choices and different layouts. The wordle fits my learning style perfectly since I can layout all the words of my poem in an order that suits and I can also choose colours that change the mood and look appealing. Other ways a wordle could be used could be for a movie poster or team shirt! I thought maybe a movie poster could be cool since you could have the title of the movie in a bigger font then have many different aspects of the movie in smaller texts around the title. A wordle would make a team shirt pretty well too! You could have the team name, then everyone's name around the name with different parts of the sport included as well. Wordle's overall an unreal site!

Blog Post #6: Marked

http://captivecreativity.blogspot.ca/2011/05/may-movie-coupons.html

     If I were hired to write the screen play for the film adaptation of Marked by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast, I don't think I would be able to cut out any parts in order to make the novel fit into the restrictions of the film. I don't think I could make any cuts because the storyline of this book already has a simple narrative structure with barely any mini climaxes and few characters. The novel has so far been about a girl who is marked by a vampyre so she has to go to vampyre school, but her boyfriend and best friend will be left at home then she meets new friends and her life has changed. There haven't been any other sub-plots which makes the novel not need cuts to make into a film. Overall, Marked would be a great novel to put into a film and with the hot vampyres being a large part of the film, I think this could attract many fans of the movie and attention would definitely be grabbed.

Blog Post #5: Marked

http://www.illustrationsof.com/74248-royalty-free-vampire-clipart-illustration

       

     A suspenseful moment in my book, “Marked” by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast, was when Zoey was visited by the Vampyre Tracker waiting for her at her locker. In my opinion, the authors created a very good moment of suspense in many different ways.

      First off, the authors made the moment so that the book was written in first person so the main character was the narrator as well as us being told her opinion on the setting and scene. So, while Zoey was walking towards the locker and first sees the tracker, Zoey thinks about him and in her mind is saying, “Then I saw him. The dead guy.”. This shows us that she's aware of what may happen and we slowly get fed details about what could happen in the story also. This adds to the suspense since we aren't fully shown what will happen.

      Secondly, the mood also adds a lot to the suspense when the authors describe what the Tracker looks like and the feelings being felt around the Tracker. Specifically when the authors write, “There was no mistaking what he was and even if I hadn't felt the power and darkness that radiated from him, there was no frickin' way I could miss his Mark, the sapphire-blue crescent moon on his forehead and the additional tattooing of entwining knot work that framed his equally blue eyes.” This one sentence describes that the mood has automatically deepened and felt darker and scarier which definitely adds to suspense of what will happen to Zoey, the protagonist.

      Finally, the suspense is created greatly by the placement of paragraphs and sentences. The final sentence before there's a large space in the text is, “He lifted one long, white finger and pointed at me. As my forehead exploded in pain Kayla opened her mouth and screamed. “ This sentence adds a lot of fear as the conflict escalates and therefore suspense is created because we still are not positively sure of what has happened to our main character. Since there is also a huge space in the text after this sentence, this creates almost an “ending” to a scene but still the ending is muddy and vague. This helps the suspense continue because of the muddy ending our protagonist could still be in danger but as readers we're unsure.

      Overall, the suspense in this novel is huge and created using many different factors. Falling asleep at night after reading this novel is definitely a challenge!

Cast, P. C., and Kristin Cast. Marked. New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 2007. Print.

 

Blog Post #4: Marked

     

     My novel, “Marked” by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast is told in first person. I think the authors chose this point of view because having the protagonist's (Zoey's) feelings being told along with what is actually happening physically in the story gives us as readers a better story to read and relate to. The protagonist shares their thoughts on each character and setting which gives us an insight to the character's feelings and moods which helps us overall relate to the character in different ways. An example of this is with Zoey's step dad. During the novel, her thoughts show us that she most definitely hates him with a passion. But without her thoughts, we would have only seen the way she speaks to him directly which would definitely not show the readers her true emotions which overall help the reader to relate once again.

     If i were given a choice to change the point of view, I definitely would not! I think having the protagonist writing as first person gives the readers a much better understanding of everything happening. If the author had chosen to write the novel in a different point of view, the novel would definitely lose interest more quickly because we would not be as attached and connected to the characters as we are with the protagonists thoughts being told to us. Overall, the novel has gotten me attached because of the way it was written with the character so I wouldn't change a thing!

Cast, P. C., and Kristin Cast. Marked. New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 2007. Print.

Blog Post #3: Marked

     

http://girliegossip.com/marked-by-pc-cast-and-kristin-cast/

     The novel I'm reading currently is called “Marked” by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast and the name of the protagonist in my book is Zoey. Zoey has just been marked a vampyre by what's called a Tracker and is unsure of what to do. Throughout what I have read in the first few chapters, I've thought that Zoey is a very angry protagonist. Especially when she goes off during these few lines of the story. “ “Shut the hell up! I've had a really bad day and I do not need this crap from you.” I paused to look from the now wide-eyed and silent Drew to Dustin and added, “Or you.” And as I kept eye contact with Dustin I realized something—something that shocked and weirdly excited me:Dustin looked scared. ” (Cast 14) You can definitely hear the anger in the mood and tone of her voice.

     Also, I think Zoey is a very rebellious protagonist. I think this is a really good thing because it makes the story much more interesting and there's more suspense to whether she will get caught in the act. This part of the story shows really well how an ordinary teenager keeps her rebellious character. “Good thing I've always been “the bad kid” and was well prepared for a situation like this. Okay, i wasn't exactly thinking about escaping from my house so I could run off and join the vampyres when I put a spare key to my car under the flowerpot outside my window.” (Cast 28)

     Zoey is definitely not only rebellious but very determined. She's especially determined to get to her Grandmother's house after she has been marked. This is very simply shown when the author writes the sentence, “I didn't even glance in the rear view mirror.”(Cast 29) Which is in Zoey's perspective. Not glancing in the back mirror shows that she is determined to get away and won't look back on the things that could stop her from getting to her Grandma's.

     Finally, I think Zoey is very clumsy. This very long paragraph, definitely shows how clumsy Zoey is as she stumbles through the pathway around her Grandma's. “I didn't see the root that broke through the hard ground of the path. Completely disoriented I tried to catch myself, but all of my reflexes were off I fell hard. The pain in my head was sharp, but it lasted only an instant before blackness swallowed me.”(Cast 36)

     Overall, Zoey is definitely an evolving and interesting protagonist that has kept me interested throughout the novel.

Cast, P. C., and Kristin Cast. Marked. New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 2007. Print.

Blog Post #2: Mean Girls

     

KAREN SMITH

     The stock character I have chosen is Karen Smith off of the movie Mean Girls. The audience assumes that she is a stereotypical "dumb blond". The audience assumes this because she has blonde hair and she has a dazed look across her face with wide eyes which shows that she's a bit slower than the rest of the characters when it comes to understanding fully right away. Also, the audience can tell by the clothes she wears that she is very centered on how she looks, which also falls into the "dumb blond" stereotype. 


     Further into the movie, the audience is shown and told that in reality, she basically does fall into the "dumb blond" stereotype. Karen Smith says things that show that she processes things much more slowly like when she says, "It's like I have ESPN or something." Which is her actually wanting to say ESP for extra special powers. Also, she falls into that stereotype because we get told she is very centered around looks when she introduces the "days of the week" and what to wear on those days such as "on wednesdays, we wear pink".


http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi345571609/

Blog Post #1: Mockingjay

Collins, Suzanne. Mockingjay. New York: Scholastic, 2010. Print.

(http://booksunderthecovers.blogspot.com/2010/11/mockingjay-by-suzanne-collins.html)

     I think the mood created in the opening of my novel is a mixture of depressed, drained and gloomy. I think this mood is created because of the word choice and the image the descriptions are creating.  

     For example, there's a gloomy and depressed mood when the author writes, "The bricks of the chimney, which collapsed in the charred heap, provide a point of reference for the rest of the house. How else could I orient myself in this sea of grey?". The narrator, Katniss Everdeen is showing us that the remains of her house is a sea of grey. Which personally, I take as very gloomy. Also, when she says that the bricks of the chimney provide a point of reference for the rest of the house, Katniss is saying the bricks of the chimney are practically nothing. Which shows us the house is practically nothing aswell.

     A second quote from the book that helps to show the drained and gloomy mood is, "A month ago, the Capitol's fire bombs obliterated the poor coal miners' houses in the Seam, the shops in the town, even the Justice Building". The setting of the coal miners' houses in the Seam, the shops in town and the Justice Building is described as destroyed with fire bombs. With a setting that is ruined like this, a drained mood is reflected since the houses, shops and Justice Building have been drained and destroyed.

     Finally, the quote, "I stick to the road out of habit, but it's a bad choice, because it's full of the remains of those who tried to flee. Some were incinerated entirely. But others, probably overcome with smoke, escaped the worst of the flames and now lie reeking in various states of decomposition, carrion for scavengers, blanketed by flies." truly shows a gloomy and depressed mood. Katniss is walking around the dead bodies of all her lost friends and neighbours that she lost because of her unintended actions. Surely that would get any person  or story in a depressed and gloomy mood.

Collins, Suzanne. Mockingjay. New York: Scholastic, 2010. Print.

(http://booksunderthecovers.blogspot.com/2010/11/mockingjay-by-suzanne-collins.html)