The Voices of Rape: Week of 11/17/14

Pages Read: Finished
Prompt: What made you read this book and What makes it unique?

Even though the topic is not very pleasing, I still love this book. It shows the reader how different people think of the topic. There were many storied that I really liked so it's hard to pick a favorite. I think the story I found the most interesting was one that was not told by a survivor or offender, but the conversation between high-schoolers. They had to fill out this survey and when they were done ask questions. After a few questions, the students got into a debate. It was interesting to see what each student thought. Not only to see their opinions, but also to see what people around the same age group as me thought. I was jumping into the debate in my head adding some points to defend what I think. I think I got a little into the whole debate thing, oops.

Not gonna lie, my lack of focus made me read this book. I was just sitting in excel trying to get work done, but kept getting off task. I got bored and started to look at other people's book. I picked up Athziry's book, this book, and the cover looked cool. I asked how she liked and all that kind of stuff, until I decided I would read it. It sounded like an interesting book to read, and it was. I guess sometimes off task is a good thing.

This book is unique in many ways. For one, it tells stories from different people who were connected with rape. There are stories from the victims, the offender, and police. The stories are all different, but share the same relation, which I found interesting. It also tells the reader the process of things when a rape victim reports it. These stories are from a judge, police, and two lawyers. I enjoy knowing multiple thoughts on the topic, it really always me to see the whole thing better.

Update!

I've been having fun while doing this project. I'm helping the world by researching the thing that I'm most "passionate" about, dogs. My project is going great. I have gathered information about the topic and have started to write about in the blog that I have created. I only have one post so far introducing the purpose of the website, but have researched enough to add a one or two next week. I need to email different places where they let people adopt abused animals. I found many places to email and plan on emailing them soon. I emailed one place called the Animal Welfare League, but they have not emailed back. I brainstormed ideas for to advertise my blog, but I don't want to start advertising until I get a response from one of the companies I have found.

Forget Me: Week of 11/11/14

Pages Read: Finished

I started to read this book when I was in the car with nothing to do. In fact, this is my sister's book that I didn't even knew exist until my phone died. I started to read this book with hope that I would like it, fortunately, it is one of the best books I would read. It has murder and mystery, one of the best kinds of books, in my opinion. I would suggest everyone to read this book. It is one of those books that when you pick it up, you won't want to put it back down.

The main character of this book is Morgan, a 16 year-old girl. Since the book is written in first person, Morgan telling the story, the word choice is one of the best things about this book. The author, Harrington, had to write this book using the words of a teenager. One example of this is, "It was a great smile-half cocky, half adorable-but it wasn't Flynn's." This is the first time Morgan saw Evan, a guy that looks like her dead boyfriend, but a teenager would totally say this. Harrington did a great job writing the job from Morgan's point of view because of the word choice.

Dialogue plays a major part in all books, but this one especially. Having it be told in first person, dialogue allows the reader to understand what other characters are thinking. It also affects the readers emotions. For example, the last two pieces of dialogue in the book are, “Don’t make me laugh, it hurts.” and “I’m your best friend. It’s my job.” These few short sentences actually made me cry. After reading the whole book and getting to know the characters, this makes you feel happy for them. Happy for their friendship, which makes you think about your own friendships after you put the book down.

Hugo: Week of 11/2/14

Pages Read: Finished
Prompt: Summary & How do pictures affect the book?

As you can tell, I finished "Hugo" in just one week. It is an easy book to read, but I still feel like it's for my age group. Hugo has many pictures in it, which play an important part of the story. The pictures really showed the story in an unique way. There were doodles and pictures taken by a camera, both adding much detail to the story. This picture to the right might have played the most to the story. It was Hugo's father's first movie he saw. Doesn't sound like much, but to Hugo, it was the world. Hugo's father had died in a fire and this picture is one of the things that remind him of it. The picture below, is the second thin that Hugo uses to keep memories of his father. The automaton was something that Hugo's father had found and was rebuilding, with some help from Hugo himself. These pictures show the reader (along with words) why they are important to Hugo. They also allow the reader to read the book knowing how these two things look. This helps the reader because there are many references, especially the top one, throughout the book.

**My favorite part was the ending so I'm going to skip the beginning of the story and go to the end.**

Hugo and Isabelle had finally got Isabelle's godparents to be okay with bringing up the past, after a series of unfortunate events. Hugo was running to get the automaton from his room in the train station. Since he had a broken hand he wasn't sure how he was going to mange, but he'll think of a way. He was relieved when he heard a knock on the door thinking it was Isabelle to help, but to his demise it was the station inspector. Hugo tried to run, but couldn't escape the tight grasp of the man. As soon as he loosened his grip, Hugo made a run for it.

Hugo ran as fast as he could to get out of the walls. He dashed through the crowd to get out, but soon he lose his sense of direction. All he could tell was where the station inspector was. To him, that's all he needed to know, until he fell. He didn't just trip, no, it's way worse, he had fallen onto the train tracks! Hugo looked up in confusion to see a train hurdling towards him. Hugo was panicking not sure want to do, when he was saved. He was grabbed a spilt second before the train would have hit him. He was relieved for a moment, until he heard the station inspector's voice.

Fall of Giants: Week of 10/27/14

Pages Read: 225 - 300

     I have been reading this book for awhile now. There some parts that I really enjoy, then, there are some parts that I dread reading. It's sad to say, that I have grown bored of this book. I want to finish it, but I'm growing weary and tired of it.. I usually have to put the book down after a few pages. I want to find a book that I can read for hours at end, so I have to put this book down. I'm not sure what to write about in this blog, so I might ramble on about why I'm putting the book down.

     One reason that I don't want to read this book anymore is because the pace is just too slow. I enjoy books with detail, but Follett puts too much detail in this book. With all the characters there is tons of detail that tends to make me not want to read. At first, I enjoyed reading all the detail, but as more characters come into play it gets distracting. When I'm focusing on the plot, I want to focus on the plot. When new characters get introduced, I get sidetracked when I'm just about to exactly get the plot.

     I feel bad that I had to put this book down, but I also feel good in the inside. Knowing that I could just put the book down for now and come back later in my life to finish it, makes me feel not so bad. I'm thinking I'll pick it up again over winter break to have another go at it. Even if I don't read it this year, I have the rest of my life ahead of me. I plan on finishing this book some time in my life. Heck, I'll even put it on my bucket list!

The Next Victim

It has been about 50 years since Fortunato went missing, only one person knows what happened to him. That person is Montresor. He had been satisfied with his work for all these years, but as he grows old and weary, he starts to see the reality of things. He dreams about the night he killed Fortunato, waking up every night thinking different of the choice he has made. He doesn’t want to carry around the guilt anymore, so he decides to do the only thing he could think of, confess his sin to a priest.

Montresor started walking to the church, he had his doubts about confessing, but he had to. There was a thousand dollar reward for anyone who caught the person who supposedly “took” Fortunato. Montresor wasn’t sure if he could trust this priest, but he didn’t care anymore. He had thought about this for years now, but the dream he had had never disturbed him like the one he had last night. It was to vivid, to realistic, besides Montresor was getting old. He had very little time to live, so he wanted to die a guilt-free man.

He entered the church and slowly walked to the confession box. He entered hoping someone will soon enter the other side so he can get it over with. He waited for a short time and froze when the priest entered. “Hello? Anyone over there?” the priest asked. Montresor tried to speak, but couldn’t. He needed motivation, from anyone, from the priest, from God, anyone. Then the priest spoke up, it was as if he was reading Montresor’s mind, “It’s alright to be nervous, many people are, but God will accept your apology, no matter what.” With this Montresor was ready to confess.

“Thank you, I needed that. I’m here today to confess one of my sins, that I can’t surpass.”

“Then tell your story, I will not interrupt till the end. First, please state your name, age, and your sin before you start, then God will here you out.”

“Ulisse Montresor, 76, my crime, killing a man.”

“Start you story, we do not judge here.”

“Oh my, where do I begin? Umm... It all started when Fortunato and I were in fifth grade. He was the school bullying, everyone feared him, I especially. He always chose to pick on me when ever he could. The teachers never noticed and when I told, they didn't believe me. Fortunato would steal people's lunch money, but he never would touch them. Until, I said no to him, I stood up for me and the rest of the kids at school. In return, I became Fortunato's punching bag. Teachers saw this, but was scared of his father, so he got away with it. Can you believe that, just because he was rich, I got beat up?"

"It is awful, I know, but yes, sadly I do believe it. Teachers were always scared of rich parents, it just happened that way. Anyway, continue with your story."

"I started to get used to the whole beat up thing, but when we entered high school he started to insult me. I can take a good beaten by him, but when he insults my, he insults my family."

"Sorry to interrupt, but what was he saying?"

"He called me names, said that I would never be apart of my family. I couldn't take it anymore, I started to fight back, but he was stronger. We went our separate ways after high school, but the scars he left me, both emotionally and physically, still stayed. When I saw him at the carnival, it brought back memories. Memories that made me want to kill him in the first place, but didn't have the power to. When I saw him, I knew I was stronger than him, I knew I could destroy him on the spot, but I needed it to be stealthily."

"So you didn't want to get caught?"

"Of course not! I knew Fortunato liked wine, so I would just have to trick him to come into my cellar. This wasn't hard, just by the mention of Amontillado, he wanted to come. I kept telling him no, but he insisted, so I didn't push him away. We walked through the catacombs of my family, giving Fortunato many opportunities to drink and get drunk. I, of course, did not need to force him to that, he did it himself. We walked until we reached the spot I had prepared,"

"You said you met Fortunato early that day, no intention, so when did you prepare this place?"

"You see, I planned to kill Fortunato for many years, but I couldn't find him. I set a spot, all I needed was to find him and get him to come with me. When we got I chained him up, and built a brick wall around him. Ohhhh, did I enjoy him struggling, trying to get out of the chains like I trying to get out of his powerful grip back then. When my work was done, I simply carried on with my life.

"Until now."

"Until now, fifty years later."

"God thanks you for building up the courage to confess this dreadful sin."

"I hope so. What do I do now?"

"You may leave, your burden has need uplifted from your soul."

"Thank you Father." With that Montresor left, feeling better than ever.

Five years later, Montresor was on the verge of dying. He was sick and weak, but decided to go the carnival one last time. There he saw a boy picking on another boy, just like Fortunato did to him. This enraged him, he ran over told him to stop and come with him, he had what he wanted. Of course, Montresor had no idea what this boy wanted, but the boy thought he did. Once they got out of sight, Montresor knocked the boy out, and brought him back to his place.

The boy awoke tied up and facing a decaying body. Montresor sense the sudden moment and said, "You see him, he is what you will look like when I'm through with you." The boy started to scream, but realized there was no hope. He was chained to the wall and Montresor was building around him, just like Fortunato in front of him. There was a few more tiers when sudden Montresor stopped. He sat down and started to question himself.

"Why am I doing this? I did this once before and I felt guilt, I confessed wanting to die with go sins on my back. I need to end this now."

Montresor lifted a pistol and a knife from his cloak. The boy started to struggle as Montresor closed in on him. When unlocked the chains, the boy fell to the ground confused  He will always remember what the last thing Montresor said to him before he shot himself in the head, "I would say I'm sorry, but I'm not. You are the only one who should be sorry. I want you to go to anyone you hurt, even if it's only the slightest cut, and apologize to them. Can you do that?"

The boy just nodded and ran away. Montresor will never know if that boy did what he told him to do, but the people who suffered from him will. Let's just say, for all those people who they hurt, many felt better after the boy was released.