Frankenstein!

I think Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein, chose to lead into the stranger's story with Robert Walton's letters because it makes you wonder who is this Robert Walton person, what is his importance to the story, where is Frankenstein?, and how does it tie into the story? I think she also wants you to make connections. It makes you wonder and want to read on further. Though the language is hard to understand at some points, it does make sense. I have only read up to the end of chapter 1, and when Frankenstein starts his story it is pretty interesting!

My impression of the book so far is boring, but I'm sure it will get better. I don't particularly love or like this book at the moment, but I think I will once it gets more interesting. The reasons why I don't really like it at the moment because it's not fast paced or "mind-blowing", it's kind of slow. I think most books start out slow though because you need background information and all of that. I think I will end up liking it tho, I heard it gets good. I'm excited for that.

Missed Blogs

1) Informal Essays

Writing an informal essay was not hard for me at all. I like a lot better than a formal essay because ther rules are so strict. With informal essays you can use creative angles, talk to the reader, use informal language, and not have to worry about following the strict rules. When writing an informal essay, you can almost talk about anything. When its a formal essay, it's usually something about something important. I think informal essays are easy to write, and fun. Writing a formal essay is a lot of work because you cannot use informal language and that makes it really hard. Although, when you are finished it feels good. But when I think of an informal essay I think of funny, "easy going", and it could be about anything. They are fun to read and I enjoy writing them.

2) Frankenstein
I have never read Frankenstein before, but as we are starting to read it I'm having a hard time understanding what is going on. It is not that the language is extremely confusing, but it is kind of boring right now. I heard it gets better after chapter 5, and after reading chapter 1 which was slightly interesting, I'm excited to get to that chapter and on. So far, I know that Dr. Frankenstein is a scientist and he creates a monster. I also know that he was in love with his adopted sister. I have not watched the movie before, so I'm still a little blank when it comes to Frankenstein. I always thought Frankenstein was the monster.
I am excited to read further though because people say it is a good book and it does get more interesting. If it doesn't, I will be disappointed. I always thought it would be a good book and a good movie, but since I have never watched or read it before, the parts I have read are disappointing. I'm thinking positively about it though because, as I said before, I've heard it gets more interesting. Well, I hope everyone is right! I'm ready to read on!

Documentaries

The study of Roger and Me and Spellbound has not changed my view of documentaries for the future. It will probably not change the way I view other forms of media like the news, television shows, or newspaper articles. If I were to watch Michael Moore’s documentaries again, the only thing I would be thinking differently is "are the events in chronological order? Or did he change them for effect?" That is the only thing I would see differently in Michael Moore’s documentaries. Other documentaries I would probably watch and think exactly the same thing the documentary is trying to persuade me to. The only ones I have ever watched were persuasive ones with a lot of information, for example Sharkwater by filmmaker Rob Stewart. He is trying to show the bad effects of shark finning and trying to save the sharks. It is a very sad documentary and I was basically crying for half of it. But, after analyzing these other documentaries I still have not changed my views on them. The only opinion of mine that has changed is if they are leaving out very specific information against their topic in order to make their views on the subject better and for more people to "join" their side. Or if they have put the time line in a mixed up order for effect, but most documentaries I would believe were in the correct order and were not bias in anyway or else I wouldn't like the documentary and would stop watching it.

Book Talks!

BOOK TALKS!
I liked all the creativity the class came up with. Some of them were like motivational speakers and others were very lively. I thought most of the people would go up and just talk monotone because that's what most presentations consist of that I'm at. This time was different and I really liked that. I didn't like that some were so long. They were only suppose to be three minutes but they were like ten minutes. I understand that we were suppose to give a lot of information in three minutes, but it was suppose to be brief.. not in depth. I also didn't like how some people gave away the ending because if we were trying to get people to read our book, nobody would want to when they know how it ends. I tried to keep mine short, but the emoticons took a while.

If I could do it again I would probably have done my summary better. Whenever I get up infront of the class, I forget half of the stuff I'm suppose to say. I forgot a few things that I wanted to say and remembered once I say down but obviously I couldn't say them anymore. That upset me but I can't do anything about it. When I practice before I go up I'll remember everything but once I'm up there I'm like blank. Oh well. All I can do is practice!

Girls of Hedsor Hall

Previously on the Girls of Hedsor Hall, Jenna was asked to leave home. Or wait, was it Hillary? Lately I have been watching the Girls of Hedsor Hall on MTV. I don’t know what, but I really like this show. It’s about a bunch of American girls who party way to much, have behavioural problems, back talk to anyone, and may be violent and they are completely out of control. They go to England where they are to be taught to become a lady, and the girl who has changed the most wins the grand prize, $100,000!!

I have missed a couple shows, so last night I caught up online... except for the finale! I don’t know who has won yet and I’m really excited to see who will win. I hope it’s Brianna or Kim, because I really don’t like Samantha and I don’t think she deserves to be there over Hillary. Samantha has broken way more rules than any other girl, and the only reason she wasn’t sent home was because she had a "free pass" when she slept with one of the guys! Yet she is still here! I hope she is the third one out, and the other two win because I believe other than Hillary, Brianna and Kim have made the biggest changes and have overcome many of their old ways, yet Samantha hasn’t in my opinion. Oh well, I’m just excited to see who actually wins!

ISU Problem(S)!

I have 3 ISU problems. First, finishing my novel. Second, my book talk. Third, my seminar. I am almost finished my novel. The reason I am not finished yet is interruptions! The phone will ring, I’ll have to go to work, forgot my book at school, other homework due tomorrow. I only have a couple chapters left, but I will be done soon!

My book talk will be a bigger problem because I don’t like talking in front of my classmates. Well, my own work in front of my classmates. If it is not my own work, I don’t mind presenting it, but if it’s mine then I’ll be worried what they think. That’s my biggest downfall. Everyone judges everyone, it’s what people do. I will be fine and try my best, I just don’t have a good idea yet.

My third problem will be my seminar. Like I said in my last paragraph, I don’t like presenting my work in front of the class, well at least without a partner. I’m just not sure what I will do it on. It makes me nervous thinking about it! The book I originally wanted to do for my ISU, which I wasn’t allowed to do, I had a great idea for the seminar but unfortunately I could not do that. I’m sure an idea will come my way, and if not I can always ask my teacher for guidance.

"True/Lies"

For my ENG3U class, I need to write an essay for my ISU novel "Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time". For my essay, my theme may be about truth and lies. It will be tied into Asperger's Syndrome since that is the disability my protagonist has. Everybody has the ability to lie, but Christopher cannot. His disability will not let him because he does not "feel right" with lying. In the essay, I would interpret Christopher's descriptions of truth and lies. I would tell it in third-person and throughout the essay I may describe all the lies told by his father and mother. There are many secrets both parents hold and do not tell Christopher. Other people, like Mrs. Shears the neighbour, has lied as well. Almost everyone in this novel lies, but Christopher does not. I may explain how telling the truth is such a hard concept and ability to do and how it is much easier to lie these days to not hurt peoples feelings. But I would express the importance of truth and how Christopher shows this throughout the novel.

I might choose this theme because it is shown throughout the whole novel. It is also very clear that lying is the whole novel’s problem. The father lies about the dog and Christopher’s mother leaving and many others. I'm not exactly sure of all the idea's I will include and the exact theme of my essay but it is a working progress

The Lottery Ticket

I did not like this story. I think it was written well, but the plot was very plain to me. It was a good idea but it was really obvious where the story was going. I did not like how the man began to turn on his wife. Yeah, greed can do that to you but it was a little fast and necessary. It goes to show how pathetic some people can be, but I still did not like the story. There was not a lot of description in the story either. I like description. It was just the husband ranting on about what he wanted to do with the money, and then turning on his wife because it was her ticket. Then how she was going to turn on him and he had no proof of this! I think the story was boring too, not much excitement. There were good aspects to it and the beginning grabbed my attention, but not the rest. All in all, I did not like this story. It was uninteresting and plain, atleast to me it was.

SURPRISE MIDDLE!

I was reading my ISU book, "The Curious Incident of the dog in the night-time", and I read the most surprising twist I have ever read! I did not see this coming. Most books I read I can guess what might happen in the future, but this one threw my off!

First off, Christopher found out his mother is not dead! I was in shock! Christopher had found letters from his mother ever since she had left. I couldn't believe his father would have done that to him. I understand his father was hurt, but he should of Christopher the truth. It was very mean of him to do that even tho the father thought he was protecting him. It was unfair to the mother and Christopher.

Second surprise was Christopher found out who killed Wellington, that dog from the begininng of the story. It was his father!! When christopher found this out, he could not stay in the house with him. His reasoning was, if father could kill Wellington he could kill me. So he hid in the backyard behind the shed wondering what he was going to do and where he was going to go.

Third surprise was Christopher actually is leaving to go live with his mom in London. He has no idea how to get there and he hates crowds. Im really proud he is going to find his mother, but I feel bad for him because he could get overwhelmed and lost. I don't want to see that happen to him. I'm sure he'll be fine.

Now, I am really excited to finish the book. I wonder if he acutally gets to his mothers house. Does his father find him? Does he make friends on the trip? I have no idea how this book could end and I'm really excited to finish it.

The Cask of Amontillado

In our ENG3U class, we read The Cask of Amontillado. I found this story really creepy! Encasing people in walls alive! That's so freaky. I would be afraid to live back in those days. I felt really bad for Fortunato to have to die that way. Did he really deserve it? I'm not really sure. The story doesn't explain what Fortunato did, only that he "wronged" Montresor. What was that wrong!? I want to know. Makes me very curious as to why Montresor had to avenge himself.

I did find it funny and ironic how Forunato's name was Fortunato. Meaning lucky, and he obviously was not lucky! There were many ironic statements in the story. Example, "The cough is a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough" and Montresor replies, "True -- true" and it's funny because it is true, but Fortunato doesn't know what Montresor is truly planning. Unfortunately for Fortunato, he will die in the wall. That's a really scary thought.

Aside from the story being outrageously odd, it was a good plot. It was interesting and kept me wondering what is going to happen. Always that question of "what's going to happen next?" I liked how the beginning of the story starts at a carnival, so Fortunato is in a jester's outfit. But it ends in the dark tunnels of the catacombs. Since Fortunato is drunk, he's oblivious to what's happening when Montresor chains him to the wall. Shows you how alcohol is bad. Don't get drunk if you've wronged a friend! I like this story though, even if it is scary.

So Curious

Asperger's Syndrome is kind of confusing. I should look up all the aspects of that syndrome so I can further understand this book. Christopher is always stating how he doesn't like strangers, the colour yellow means he will have a bad day, but red will be a good day. He does that with cars, yellow cars mean bad, red cars are good. But I don't understand why he thinks that way. Obviously it is a part of the syndrome, but why?

If I were Christopher I would be able to understand his situations. Like when he punched a police officer. He doesn't like to be touched, which is a part of his syndrome, and when the police officer touched him he decided to punch him to get him off. When Christopher was taken to the police station, his father was livid! If I were his father I would be livid too. I felt bad for Christopher because they were accusing him of lying. The reason the police officer was around Christopher was because the dog was murdered. They were blaming Christopher, but Christopher didn't! He hates lying.

Christopher also does not understand things that are not thorough. Like "Keep Off The Grass". He does not understand what grass it is. I would hate living life that way, but obviously Christopher cannot help that and its the only way he'll ever know. He thinks it should say "Keep Off The Grass Around This Sign" or "Keep Off All Grass In This Park". That is more thorough so people know WHAT grass to keep off of. There are a lot of situations like this one.

Fortunately, Christopher is very smart. He excels well in math and science and wants to go to university for them. In the book it shows some of his theory's and equations and I'm flabbergasted. I could never do that stuff. I guess that's an outcome of the syndrome. He's quite the character though. A good child too, except for his 18 behavioural problems. He listed them. But I am excited to find out who killed that dog and if Christopher can figure it out. He's off to a great start!

That Poor Dog - (Last Friday's Post)

My ISU novel is The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. I have not read much of this book, but so far it is quite interesting. It is about a boy who has Asperger's Syndrome which is a form of Autism. He is very smart with math and science, but cannot read facial expressions. He can tell the faces :) and :(, but not :S, :O, :P, : as the book puts it. He was told by Siobhan to write a novel. He decided to write a mystery, murder novel about a dog. It's a totally different twist to a mystery, murder novel and so I think this will be an interesting book. I can say I have never read a book about solving the mystery of a murdered dog.

I'm excited to read about Asperger's Syndrome. I have never heard about it until my teacher Ms. Hillier told me about it. I think it will be interesting to see the things he goes through. Since he doesn't like to talk to strangers and he's trying to be a detective he has to. That will probably pose some problems during the story. I'm excited!

The only thing I am afraid of is that the book is really random. I have read 47 pages and it seems only 10 pages are actually about the case. Other times he's talking about the galaxy, universe, or his mother's death. It seems so irrelevant to the plot of the murder, it makes me worried I may have trouble with my ISU assignment. Hopefully that doesn't turn out to be the case. Maybe that is some attributes to Asperger's Syndrome. I guess I'll just have to read on!

More Than You Can Chew

I finished reading More Than You Can Chew by Marnelle Tokio. While reading, I was unable to put the book down. It is a very enlightening book about an anorexic and all the problems she faces, especially the cause of her eating disorder. Marty views the world differently than most people and she likes to think that everything is her fault, especially when it comes to her parents. When her father left as a child, she assumes it was because of her. She is always trying to impress everyone but feels she is not succeeding. All she wants is to feel accepted. When she finally is accepted, she gets sick of being anorexic and decides to eat normally again.

I like this book because it informs you of what happens during rehab and what goes through anorexics minds. I can guarantee that after reading this book, I will never become anorexic! Not that I ever would have before, but this encourages me not to even further. I am a little disappointed with Marty's father because I feel he is always putting unnecessary pressure on her and blaming/accusing her for things he shouldn't be. I believe he is a big culprit to her eating disorder, especially when she tried to overdose on pills.

Marty is not the greatest person in rehab. She is always being difficult and mean to everyone. I suppose that is understanding because you do not want to be there but it takes her a long time to open up. When Lily, a new anorexic who is only 8 years old and 38 pounds, arrives she finally begins to open up. Lily dies while Marty is on Christmas vacation, and of course Marty believes it is her fault. It gets a little annoying throughout the book when Marty is always blaming everything on herself. Nothing ever was her fault and I wish she could have seen that earlier. Eventually, she comes around and begins to eat again. She beings to love herself and be happy once again. Marty's father also becomes a little nicer and they try to start over fresh.
I like the end to this book because it is a happy ending. Marty finally realizes what she is doing to herself and begins to be normal again. True stories do not always end this way, but I am glad this book did.