Fall of Giants: Week of 10/21/14

Pages Read: 150 - 225
Prompt: Reflection on Book

"Fall of Giants" is leading up to be a great book. I've been reading it for roughly three weeks now and I'm almost halfway through it. This has to be one of the longest books I have read, and I can't wait for the end. I just want to keep on reading through the night. If I had time to read as much as I want to, this book would be done and half of the second. One reason I want to finish the book is because I want to discuss it with my mom. It would be like a little book club, in a way.

The first blog I did while reading this book, I said it was confusing. Now that I'm further in I'm starting to understand the book better. I'm not saying that it still isn't confusing. I don't want to spoil anything so I'll just say that some parts are still confusing. I finding that being confused a little is a good thing. I get more out of the book as I figure stuff out. I improve my skills by not realizing certain conflicts in the book, but then getting it all after I stop reading to think about it.

Going back to the little book club, I feel like my mom is going to forget some things about the first book. She started to read "Fall of Giants" over summer and finished it a few weeks within the school year. She then, got the second book two weeks after finishing the first. She had some free time and finished it in a few days. She is now reading the last book and is almost done with that. In total, she read all the books in about two months. I wish I had the time to read them all in that time. Sadly, I don't, but I could hopefully read them within four or five months.

Fall of Giants: Week of 10/13/14

Pages Read: 53 - 150
Prompt: Character Development

I'm really enjoying this book. Ken Follett does a great job describing things. All kinds of things, like the setting, character description, and character's actions. He describes things with such detail that I could imagine it in my head. I imagined the first character introduced, Billy, getting out bed in the morning, Follett states "It was the day after midsummer, and a bright early light came through the small window." I could imagine Billy's bedroom with a small window with the sun just barely shining through.

This book has many characters. In fact, the first couple pages is just a list of characters throughout the book. Not all of them have been introduced yet, but a few have. Out of the few I've been introduced tob, I could tell how they look and how they act within in a page or two of their arrival. Going back to the character, Billy, when he was talking to his sister, I could tell who she was. When Billy was talking to her. there was narration that said, "Her mahogany-colored hair was irrepressibly curly, and her dark eyes twinkled with mischief." It also said, "Ethel wore the plain black dress and white cotton cap of a housemaid, an outfit that flattered her." I could imagine a young adult with all of these qualities, as well as what she is wearing. Follett has many descriptions like this when a new character is introduced.

Another character, Billy's Dad, called Da, is also described, but not in the same way as Billy's sister. Da is described throughout his appearance in the book. One page has says some things, then another page will add on to it. For example, towards the beginning of the book it says, "Da was sitting at the table reading an old copy of the Daily Mail, a pair of spectacles perched on the bridge of his long, sharp nose." Here I can see see a man sitting at the table reading the newspaper, with glasses almost falling off his nose. Further on in the story, it states, "Da was stern and sarcastic," Here I can see a stick father, who wants the best for his son. The way Follett describes Da, it makes him seem like a normal, happy, father.

I'm Going Back in Time!!!

Format: Interview 

Q: Where would you go?

A: I would go back in time to where the first colonies were born in America.

Q: To which year or period would you travel? 

A: This would be around 1607 - 1610.

Q: Who would you want to meet or what event would you want to witness?

A: I would just like to watch and help our ancestors build their new home.

Q: Where would you find this person or see this event?

A: I would pretend like I was just a passenger on broad with them. They hopefully won't notice that no one knows me.

Q: Why would you want to meet this person or witness this event? 

A: I would want to watch our ancestors build their new homes because it would remind me how I got here. How I came to be.

Q: How might YOU change history?

A: Hopefully, I won't change history there, but if I do, it would probably be because I helped with the houses or helped the sick. I'm not sure if I help build the houses it would change history, I mean, I would make the process go faster so that might make history change. Maybe, I

Passion Project

For my passion project I would like to raise awareness about animal abuse. I think that I could make a blog or website and post information every day or at least twice a week. I could even maybe put an advertisement on an abused animal that needs to go to a new home. I could advertise the website by putting the web address on social media (facebook, twitter, youtube, etc.). I believe that this would take a couple of weeks to research some stuff and to make the web site or blog. Other than that, it would just be a weekly process.

I want to do this because I love all animals and I feel like it’s wrong to let the abuse they are getting be put aside. I want to help animals instead of people because animals don’t have a voice to speak up. I believe that they need someone to help them. I’m looking to achieve really only one thing, to help at least one animal. If I could raise awareness to at least a couple people, I’ve done my job.

First Quarter Reflection Blog

The first quarter was extraordinary. I never knew how school saves me from so much boredom. I found that this quarter flew by in a breeze. During that breeze, I learned and did many different things, like practicing time management, reading, and many more. I also feel like I'm going to enjoy the 40 book challenge a little more because I'm finding more books that interest me. I really hope every quarter is like this.

I feel that time management was one of the most important things I could of learned this year. I'm really glad that I learned it early on, for I could live this year slightly relaxed. Knowing that I have completed my assignments early or on time will allow me to feel good and secure. When I'm talking about time management, I'm talking about managing my time for everything, school, sports, and hobbies. I hope I could keep this up for the whole year, plus years later. I really enjoy not having to lug around extra stress.

My 40 book challenge is going pretty well so far. I have read a total of 5 books and I'm almost halfway done with my sixth (ninth if you include the 350 page thing). Which I am. My goal this year is to read at least 35 books. I feel like 40 is slightly to high for me, so I don't want to push it. I figure that I could read 35 books during the school year and then read five more by the end of July. I want to complete the 40 book challenge because I feel like it would be a great accomplishment. Like I said before, I hope every quarter is like this because if it is, I'm going to have a great year.

Man, I Was an Embarrassment: Reflection Blog

     At the beginning of last year I wasn’t sure how to write this type of blog. Eventually, I got into the mix and wrote some great blogs. Last year, I didn’t write like I do now. Nowadays, I write like I am a pen myself. I write whatever comes into my mind and then reread it. At the beginning of last year, I wrote what I thought was acceptable. I always counted my sentences within my paragraphs. I could tell that I wouldn’t really read them over, for there are many mistakes. For example, as I was rereading my blog from 9/30/13, I noticed a mistake, “The title doesn’t fit the story so far but could might change.” I realize that I meant to say, “that could change.” or “that might change.” I also forgot to add in a comma in when I said "but". Now that I reread my blogs, there a still a few mistakes, but not as much.

     I also notice that my blogs have gotten longer. I seem to have longer sentences and paragraphs. I feel as I got older I began processing the book more and enjoyed writing about it. When I was a beginning seventh grader, I mainly read because I had to, not for fun. As I was not reading for fun, I didn’t really want to write about them. I ended up writing short sentences to make the paragraph shorter. In the same blog as before, I end up writing, “Only a rich jerk lives there. He is barely in the story.” I feel like I could of made that one sentence and continued talking about this topic, but instead I end it. Plus, it was one of the worst endings ever, I’m even slightly embarrassed by it. It ends, “So that is why I don’t think the title fits the story.” I’m really about to cry, it’s like I wrote this in second grade.

Fall of Giants: Week of 9/29/14

Pages Read: 0-52

     So far "Fall of Giants" is an okay book. I starting reading this because my mom was talking about it. I remember her saying that the book is confusing if you put the book down and pick back up in a day or two. I have to be honest, and trust me I hope she doesn't read this and get an idea, but she was, for once, right. I put the book down for a day or two and forgot practically everything. I had to start over so I knew what was going on. This book is part of a trilogy, so I plan on reading the rest of them when I'm done.

     Ken Follett is a great author. He really knows how to be descriptive and tie the reader into the story. I started to notice more of the writing techniques as I got further into the book. For example, the style of his writing is spot on. The story takes place around 1914 and Follett has the characters sound like they are from the time period. He uses both dialogue and narration to tell the story. I believe that he uses exactly the right amount of each. This makes the story easier to follow and comprehend.

     Another writing technique I noticed while reading was the tone. The tone at the very beginning of the story was impatient, but in the best way possible. The main character, Billy, could not contain his excitement, while getting ready to go to his first day of work. Once he starts talking to his sister, the tone changes to respect. Billy loves his sister and looks up to her. Once Billy gets to his job, the tones changes to obsequious. Billy and his friend are taken to the boss, where both are extremely polite, trying to make a good first impression.