Close-reading B-I-N-G-O!

Common weakness #1: Avoid "he says or "he writes." 
 In the excerpt from The Mezzanine  by Nicholson Baker, he writes with an elevated refinement that is both dignified and straight-forward. http://morgan-happygolucky.blogspot.com/

Common Weakness #4: Avoid referring to "the reader."
Also, the matter of fact way Baker describes the lobby makes the reader sense that this is somewhere to not be impressed with, its an everyday occurrence. http://skullandglossbones3.blogspot.com/

Common weakness # 7: Dont write in past tense.
The language that used is not over sophisticated, yet it is neither vulgar nor blunt.
http://bookworm-days.blogspot.com/

Common Weakness # 6: Avoid verbs "use" or "shows."
In the exerpt from Cather in the Rye, J.D. Salinger, utilizes a use of simple, but complex vocabulary.
http://barrellxc2012.blogspot.com/

Favorite Analysis:
In J. D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye, the coarsely low-level formality, barefaced connotation, and caterwauling sound convey the matter-of-fact attitude the character has towards his situation. Salinger describes the parents as "touchy as hell" but also as "nice and all" which suggests that the character cares for his parents but has to give reason for not explaining his childhood. He has no patience for small talk or background information referring to it as that "kind of crap." The skipping of details infers the apathetic regard and reluctance of speaking about the topic and telling people his story in general.
http://averagelifeofateenagebookworm.blogspot.com/

Practice Diction Analysis! (Mezzanine)

In the excpert from the Mezzanine, Nicholson Baker uses an intricate, buisness-like language which helps describe an everyday morning at the office. The connotative figurtive language assists the refined wording by adding descriptive variety throughout the prompt. With the use of his realistic descriptions, the promt was easily visualized. "Towering volumes of marble and glass" is what he saw as the lobby, which creates a clear, yet abstract vision. Writing with a language that is not quite fancy but is elevated, Baker also seems to have connotataion mixed in making his writing clinical, and elaborate.

Style mapping!

Anna Godbersen, the author of The Luxe, uses fancy, yet simplistic language which makes the story understandable. On the first page, she is introducing the life of the main character with descriptions that are simple, yet elegant making it seem more interesting. Leaning towards the denotative side, Anna uses her orante style to pull this story together. Jenny Downham, the author of the story Before I Die, is straightfoward with the way she writes the story by using a blunt, common language that is deep in description, yet easy to understand. Jenny's harsh writing style portrays a depressing, dull mood that makes the story seem realistic. Eliza minot, the author of The Brambles, has a a mature, sophisticated way of writing the story. Right away it starts out with dialogue, which is confusing, but that is probably because I only read the first page. She seems to be more connotative with her descriptions and word choices, but the story itself would more centered because it is not harsh, or musical like, it is just its own category in the middle.

Quarterly! (first quarter)

To be honest, i havnt exactly kept up with my reading! Reading is just not one of my favorite things to do, and usually i dont have time to read, most people make time to read but I struggle with just getting myself to sit down to even read a book. The challenging part is just being able to sit in one place and read a book, its just really hard for me to do that. If i do read (which isnt often), its at night because i usually fall asleep reading in my bed. The book i am reading right now is really interesting, but i still have a hard time sitting and reading it for a long period of time. The other challenging part for me is that i have to do that book project, but i have to finish the book first and i am only half way done and the sad part is that its really short (that just explains "how much" i read). I wish i liked to read though so i could get a better in this class, because this class isnt hard its just the whole reading thing thats killing me. Instead of reading. id rather watch a movie. I am more of a visual person so if there is a movie of a book i dot read the book i just watch the movie. Plus, movies are way more intriguing to me i just love watching movies! So if the assignment was to watch movies instead of read a certain amount of pages a week i would have an A+ (because i am a pretty good movie watcher)! Anyways, reading is just not my fortay (vocab word), and i just do not particularly like to read! Thats all i have to say! Have a Great day!(:
 PS:  my goal for this next quarter will be to actually try to read the assigned amount of pages!

.....this is the book i am reading!! in case you were curious on what it looked like, just your luck..its right here! enjoy the view!

Currently (updates/ sentences)!

my current updates:
books ive read : 0
number of pages i read for week 3 (quarter 2) :20
semester: 268 pages
(i don't read much..but ill work on it)

Sentences:
1. “I love you. It hurts more than anything ever has, but I do. So don't you dare tell me I don't. Don't you ever say it again!”
- Tessa is describing her love her adam, and she describes it so well that i practically fall in love with him myself. ;)
2. “Every few years we disappear, Zoey. All our cells are replaced by others. Not a single bit of me is the same as when I was last in this room.”
- Tessa knows she will die, its just a matter of when, and she pretty much accepts death.
3.“Keep breathing. Just keep doing it. It's easy. In and out.”
- Tessa has gone through so much, with the thought of death constantly on her mind, and usually breathing is to calm you down but this is the type of breathing to keep her alive.

Favorite Claims!:)

In this dance routine, the modern, pounding sound of the drums, the intence and piercing facial expressions and the alive, over the top arm movements creates a sense of fragile chemistry between two people that are desperate yet indecisive at the same time. (kelly)
      
In this Van Halen video, Right Now, their powerful and effective use of words, livelyness and alertness of the condition of the world, and the upbeat, melodic, sound creates a outspoken and thoughtful outlook on what the world has become. (morgan)
 
The Ground Zero Memorial in New York, where the Twin Towers once stood, is a sincere and gorgeous memorial for all the ones who died on 9/11. The beautiful waterfall is a wonderful and memorable idea to fill the empty spot where the towers once stood. People visit this touching, unique and magnificent memorial from all over the world.  (allie)

in this contemporary dance, choreographed by Mia Michaels, the varied confusion of the movement, pain and romance shown through the emotion, the regret expressed through the dull costume choice, and the dominating and agressive use of space create a sense of lighthearted passion between the two dancers. (Abbie)


In Bérenger's black and white photograph, his dramatic contrast and enticing depth of field draw the viewer into the picture with active negative space that elevates the shadows from the composition to illustrate an ominous and mysterious mood. (kim)

I really like kim's claim a lot because most people did a dance but she did claim on photography, and she really went into a deeper meaning of the picture along with a good description! visit her blog here at Kim's corner

Skittles

 adjectives-
size: petite, puny, miniature,
texture: smooth, solid, chewy
taste: tasty, yummy, delicious, fruity, sweet,
shape: round, circular,
quantity: numerous, abundance, light

The sweet tasing sensation of a skittle releases a flavor of fruitiness drowing all your taste buds in a pool of heaven. The numerous amount of these miniture, round, chewy candies create a rainbow effect in your mouth when devoured.

poems of my intersest!

i dont read poetry unless i am instructed to usually, but what i like about poetry is how some of the poems can obtain to your own life, knowing that your not alone in how you feel or that someone else has experianced the same situation you have! I dont have a favorite poet, so i had to look one up and i found joe mills who wrote a poem called "how you know." Its about how you know if your in love, which i mean at this age we dont even know what love is, and there will always be questions about it, just knowing is not the answer to all them either. In the poem it states that if you have to ask if its love or not then its not really true love its just infatuation wishing it were love. We are all lost in this world of wanna be lovers who dont really know what they are looking for, they just think they do. Once they find what they were "looking for" they are still as confused as they were before!

Book Switch (the new currently)

So i started reading the book that i was talking about above or below this post called "Lock and Key".The beginning wasnt very good and i am an impatient person so i couldnt wait till the exciting part, so i started a new book. This new book is called Before i die! I really dont know what it is about yet, but i know its about someone dying. Once I actually start reading it then i will be able to say what its about, but until then i can only say the title.
 Alright, so this book is quite delightful if i say so myself! It is about this 16 year old girl who does not have much longer to live because she has cancer and so she has things that she wants to do before she dies, but the main (big) one i wont mention cuz its sort of inappropriate so i will just let you figure that out. Anyways, i cant even imagine having cancer espeically at this point in life when you are growing up and getting to do new things, and just be a teenager. If i only had a few weeks to live i would probably go on a road trip or travel somewhere with friends and do things that i would never imagine doing such as cliff diving, or something daring.
Next on her bucket list is to do drugs. At this stage she is just kind of giving up, doing stupid stuff that she normally wouldnt do if she wasnt sick, and doesnt really care about anyone or anything and pretty much just wants to die. Also, she doesnt believe there is a heaven, she wishes she did but she just doesnt. Anyways, she meets this guy named adam and according to her he has dreamy eyes and denies her feelings for him. She tells him that drugs is what she wants to "try" next, so he provides her with mushrooms (a drug, not the vegetable). She takes it and then he takes her on a car ride, with her friend zoey.
Adam, the drug provider, takes tessa on a motorcycle ride even though he does not have a license yet. He promised her they would go, so that is just what they did. He took her to this part of town where there was a hot dog stand, and according to tessa it was where the "ordinary" people lived. After they ate lunch, he brought her to this secluded place on top of a hill that looks out above the town. The view was amazing (i would think) then they smoked as they just sat there and talked for a while.
 The list is moving along and she has accomlished the first 2 things on her list have been accomplished drugs, and sex. The next thing that she wants to do is steal. Now i dont know why she is doing all this bad stuff, but i guess she wants to experiance the bad things teens do without the punishment because she is dying anyways. So, she and her friend zoey to the store and she takes some random items and then on her way out she gets caught. They dont punish her though, because well she pulled the sympathy card. She told the lady that found her about her cancer and she didnt really feel sorry for her, but her dad helped her get out of it.
 Its been a while since ive read, so there is a lot to catch up on! The next 3 things on her list are fame, her mom and dad getting back together, and love! So far, she has accomplished everything! She was interviewed on  a radio show so everyone knows about her disease, and  according to her dad she is famous. It wasn't the exact type of fame she wanted, but it works. Next, her mom has been living with her and her dad, and they have been doing good, so you could say they are back together. Finally, you may think love cannot does not exist at such a young age, but she proves this wrong. She and Adam, her next door neighbor, have been spending a lot of time together, and he even comes over for Christmas. They really "hit it off" and well they realize their love for each other. Their relationship reminds me of a regular high school relationship because they are two teenagers and i think it is both their first real relationship, but its better than an everyday relationship.. He treats her well, and even though she may look bad because of her disease he still loves her for who she is.

sentences of the week!

1.) "She herself resembled a gnome, with her small features and halo of white curls, like something made to put on a shelf." (Lock and Key)
-This sentence is the main character, Ruby, describing her new land lord for her house. I chose this sentence as my favorite because it compares her to a gnome and i like gnomes.

2.) "Unlike perkins day, the elite private school was known for its lacrosse team, stellar SAT scores, and the fact that the student parking lot feautred more luxury automobiles than a European car dealership."
-This sentence is Ruby talking about her new school she is going to attend, and she is not too excited about it.

3.) "The man blinked."
- It is an easy, simple, and self explanatory sentence!

~Okay, so it is a new week meaning new sentences! This sentence is from the new book i started reading called, "before I die"

1.) "I wish i had a boyfriend."
 -This sentence pretty much sums up what goes on in a single teenage girl's mind all the time. After i read this sentence it immediately grabbed my attention, and i cant wait to get further into the book.

2.) "looking at him cry is like being pulled from a mountain."
- This is tessa looking into adams eyes and describing the way she feels while she is looking into them. I think the description is so vivid and really portrays a deep feeling because looking into the eyes of someone of interest can give you that sort of feeling!

3.)"People pretend not to look at me, but i can feel their gaze."
- when she goes places she feels like she stands out because she has no hair so people can automatically figure out that she has cancer. She can sense the people trying not to look but also glancing at her and making a judgement about her in their mind when they see her.

week 6:

1.)"Even when i was a little kid, i recognized the signs-the butterflies that crisped up in jam jars, cal's rabbit eating its own babies."
  - This sentence is her talking about how tessa knew about the cancer since she was a little girl. It is just different and I liked the way she described the signs.

2.)"Theres a dead bird on the lawn, its legs thin as cocktail sticks"
 -This sentence is just random and straight forward stating an observation, and i like the fact that the legs were compared to cocktail sticks.

3.)"I give myself three points for the food colouring creeping along the child's veins."
 -Tessa is playing the so-called dying game, and she saw this boy at a resteraunt and apparently gave herself points, im not sre why but i liked the sentence anyway because of its strangeness!

What I am currently reading!

So, i will just be completly honest reading is not on my top ten favorite things to do, but i am working on it and hopefully all this reading we are required to do will help me appreciate reading more. As of right now i am reading a book called Lock and Key by sarah dessen. I am not that far into it but so far the main character is pretty much a typical teenage girl, confused, and just trying to figure life out. Once i get further into the book it might be easier to tell what i think about it knowing im only on page 10.
I got further into it and im still a little confused on what is going on, but the girl named ruby is sorta of like a rebellious teenager trying to release herself from being under a roof with rules.As of now she lives with her sister and brother in law (sister's husband) in a nice house, which is an upgrade from her apartment that was once called home with her mother. Also,She is going to have to attend a new school which she is not looking forward to at all. Ruby is a great example of a teen in denial of change, meaning simply that she doesnt like the change that she is having to go through.
     Alright, so there has been a book switch. The lock and key book wasnt really intriguing me so i found another book called "Before I Die" and i havnt started reading it yet, but i cant wait until i do!

F-R-I-D-A-Y!!!

So two weeks ago we we told to take a personality test. Who doesnt want to know what kind of personality they have? It is pretty interesting especially knowing that not all of us know who we are. When you are a teenager it is pretty hard to find yourself or even know who you are as an individual. I started to take the test but ran out of time, so i never got my results but knowing who you are is very important at this time and age because what you do and the decisions you make reflect who you are as a person!