Hi, Everybody. Find a passage, a thought, a line, an image, for example, in an IR book that you read this year that really made an impact on you. Make sure to use parenthetical citation(s) if necessary. Explain why the highlighted piece of text resonated within you. I'm looking forward to reaading what you write, and I invite you to comment on each others' postings. Now that you're providing more details in your writing, let's working reaching out to others.
Y'all are fab.
Peace,
Mrs. Drance
Mrs. Drance,
ReplyDeleteI am currently reading BLONDE AMBITION, by Janet Fitch. It is the third novel in the A-LIST series. The book, like the GOSSIP GIRL series (which I absolutely love by the way), is all about the lives of a group of teenagers. Just as I started reading, I actually came across a vivid passage that really connects to my own life. Fitch wrote, "[s]he turned to see the red numerals on the clock radio. Six in the morning. She sat up with a start, heart pounding" (3). I found that this short passage related to the way that most teens feel when they have to wake up in the morning to go to school – I know that my heart pounds when I’m not quite yet in the mood to drag myself out of bed. It basically depicts the daily "wake-up" routine of the main character, Anna, using sparkling description. What do you think? The whole novel basically describes the troubles that teens face with their everyday life, which pretty much always starts with waking up for the day to come.
-Jenn
Hi Mrs. Drance,
ReplyDeleteOne of the many reasons that I loved THE BEACH HOUSE so much was because of James Patterson's great diction choice. For example, "From the window I could see ocean waves hitting the beach in the eerie light" (Patterson 254). This brief sentence is so powerful that it illustrates an image in the mind of the reader quite instantaneously.
Another vivid quote that I found relates to Jenn's quote. "I took out my starter pistol and nudged open Neubauer's door. My heart was thundering inside my chest" (Patterson 256). "Thundering inside my chest" not only creates an image but also seems to establish a sound to the passage. This helps in the overall understanding of the scene. I love Patterson's descriptive adjectives and vivid verbs throughout his work. It adds to the overall content of the story.
~Linda
Sorry Mrs. Drance, that is supposed to say Linda, not Mark. I'm on my brothers computer and his name is Mark and it signed on his G mail account automatically.
ReplyDeleteJen, I really like that. I have to agree that my heart too, does pound when I have to drag myself out of bed.
ReplyDeleteMrs. Drance,
Recently, I have finished the book NO LIMITS: THE WILL TO SUCCEED, by Michael Phelps. A line that really stood out in my mind from the rest of the book was, "But with hard work, with belief, with confidence and trust in yourself and those around you, there are no limits." (Phelps 6).
I agree with Michael about this because if you don't believe that you can do something, then you will believe you are not able to do it. Whatever you do, you have to go into it having some confidence and say "I can" instead of "I can't." You have to work hard to achieve your goals and when you add some passion into it, you will succeed and reach that goal. Sometimes you need the help of others to get you through challenges because we can't do EVERYTHING alone all the time. The message I get from this is: Have faith in yourself and never give up.
- Rebecca
Mrs. Drance,
ReplyDeleteI had a little change in plans, as far as my independent reading life is concerned. I have put off reading MAXIMUM RIDE, by James Patterson, until next because the book THE GAMES DO COUNT, by Brian Kilmeade, was recommended to me. It is a really neat book because it is actually a bunch of little biographies of famous actors, writers, singers, politicians, etc. who share their stories of how playing sports as kids influenced them as adults and taught them life lessons. They all played sports for a while, and then gave them up to do something else, but they still carried all the memories and the lessons.
Anyway, a quote I can relate to from this book is "Some of us are natural talents. I'm not" (Kilmeade 38). This quote was said by Oliver North, who was a marine colonel, author, and war correspondent. I can relate to this a few different ways. One way is that I also am not very good at sports. But, I can also relate to it because it explains later that if you want to get really good at something, you have to really commit to bettering yourself. I think this is am important lesson for everyone, no matter who you are or what you like to do.
I literally JUST finished YELLOW STAR about a minute or so ago, what a book! This poor girl, these poor people, I've read so many memoirs from Holocaust survivors recently and they all seem to have one major thing in common-brave souls. If it weren't for the brave Jewish people who were courageous enough to take a stand, be a leader and put their own lives in danger to help others than there wouldn't have been as many survivors as there were. One part that struck me as clever and heartbreaking was the chapter, "A Pile of Bones". All the kids are hidden in a cellar and Syvia exclaims: "After months and months of very little food or sunlight, we are weak and listless. I feel like a pile of bones lying in a corner" (Roy 143). She is absolutely right about what she says, all the children, all that's going through their heads is the fact cannot go outside or be of any help to the adults, that all they do is just occupy space and aren't allowed to interact with the outside world, just a mere "pile of bones", so sad. =[
ReplyDeleteHAHA Linda, I love how you just texted me asking me if I could post as Ryan[my brother], to make it seem like your post as your brother was okay. hahahahahahha. you kill me =p
adios!
Jenn, I don't know how many times I experienced the morning rush when I was your age as you so aptly captured in your connection to your found quote. It still happens to me now! (Some days moreseo than others, for instance, today re: the administration of the ELAs.) But, what I love even more, is how Linda connected to what you wrote! Do you see how similar we all feel?
ReplyDeleteWhat I want to know is how do we keep the anxiety under control? I mean, can we just trust that if we do our best that will be enough? Do you see how this thought connects both to Chris's and Rebecca's posts? Cool, huh? I mean, why are teens so judgmental? Why are PEOPLE so judgmental? What do you think?
Talk with you later, o, very excellent blogger!
Mrs. Drance
LINNIE! Fabu effort finding ANOTHER quote and using that as a response to Jenn's response. This is EXACTLY the kind of sharing I'm talking about...this is what writers do, readers do, thinkers do. You do yourself proud, Linda! Me, too! YAY!
ReplyDeleteO.K, do not fret about the Mark post, and thank you for letting me know that this is your bro., not Dannypants. MARK D., you need to post, precious.
And, LAUREN, what the heck was that about "outing" Linda. That text was private, girl! Do something about that...namely an apology. To her. O.k., precious?
Oh, and uh, Lin and EVERYBODY. Use just the word "diction," not "diction choice," as "diction choice" is redundant.
And, lastly, thank you for the polaroid snapshot bit of imagery, Linda.
Peace,
Mrs. D
REBECCA, thank you for connecting to Jenn as well. Boy, Jenn, you picked a powerful line.
ReplyDeleteVery visceral. Good for you.
So, Rebecca's quote...
What struck me as really important is the theme, TRUST. Trust in yourself, in others around you, in whatever it is that helps you to believe. What really makes any work good, including these very posts, is when we can open up and share truly what's in our hearts and minds without feeling as if someone is going to slash us into little pieces (I know, tough image, but I think it captures that feeling when one feels betrayed). So, Rebecca, thank you for reminding us how to stay strong when we are challenged and how persistence, self-confidence, and support are key elements to our being successful.
See you tomorrow,
Mrs. Drance
Chris, you are so profound. It's so interesting how what "hit you" about your book is an element that resonated with Rebecca. And, she sits right next to you, reading an entirely different text.
ReplyDeleteNeat-o. For real.
I never would have thought that Oliver North would have felt this way because he has always come across as so self-confident. Again, perserverance pays off.
On a side bar that is related...look at how you are achieving in the theatre as the man in command at the lighting board. And, how you are training underclassman. And, how you build a sense of community with the lighting crew. Not everyone can do that, but because you are interested in what you do and you do it well, you work hard at it and succeed. Also, I think it speaks volumes about you that you took a risk and wrote something true, something real about yourself, something that we all feel inside. You are brave, and I repect you very much.
And my connection to you about sports is this...while I can sing, I do not consider myself a singer. There are many more actors out there, performers out there that would kick my butt in a showdown. Do I care? I used to! Do I mind now? Much less, because I know that I can teach students how to excell in theatre and English and not everyone can do that!
So, belive in yourself, be honest with what you can and can't do, and carpe diem!
See you tomrrow,
Mrs. Drance
Lauren! That image TRULY disturbed me as well. I felt horribly for children, for their lives to be advanced to old age, to what appears to be imminent death.
ReplyDeleteThe saddest of all is that crimes against humanity like those that the Nazis commited against the Jews and other minorities occur in the world now.
The best we can do is "shout out" against this injustice and make others aware, aware enough to want to do something that would help make it stop. BTW, this is the idea behind the AEP projects you did in 8th grade.
So the question is, how do can we act bravely and courageously now? I mean, what can we do to help those in Africa, Tibet, and other parts of the world who suffer the atrocities of civil war and opression?
To this day the Holocaust unnerves me. Any crime against humanity unnerves me. I can't stand to see people suffer as a result of others' malicious, harmful behavior.
Anyway, I'm glad you enjoyed the book. Do you need another?
See you tomorrow.
Mrs. Drance
Mrs. Drance,
ReplyDeleteI picked up Bee Season by Myla Goldberg again after a 2 week break. The book is slow, but very intresting! I found one quote that doesn't particularly pertain to me personally, but maybe you Mrs. Drance! Goldberg wrote, "When Eliza studies it is like discovering her own anatomy. The words resonate within her as if rooted deep inside her body. She pictures words lining her stomach, expanding with each stretch of her lungs, nestling in the chambers of her heart" (Goldberg 44). I thought the quote was really deep, I ,myself, do not picture words as a part of my body. I mean words are words but I never had that 'intense' feeling from learning new ones. The quote is so descriptive yet so, i want to say, yet I thought it was kind of strange. I never really thought that words could have that kind of meaning to a person. I thought that was an interesting quote to share. =)
See you tomorrow!
Kaylee
Hey Mrs. Drance! I'm reading THE GLASS CASTLE, by Jeannette Walls. I think that it is great. The hideous conditions that the family lives make the book so much more interesting. The fact that this is a memoir also adds so much to the story. This seems to allow me to connect better with the characters.
ReplyDeleteOne quote that really stuck out to me was, "I wanted to be back in Phoenix, [...]. I wanted to feel the desert sun on my face and breath in the dry desert air and climb the steep rock mountains while Dad led us on one of the long hikes that he called geological survey expeditions" (Walls 145). This quote connected to a specific moment in my life. I was on a plane coming home from an amazing ski vacation in Utah. As the pilot told us we were approaching the airport, I looked out the window. All I saw was buildings and lights. My heart sunk. The only thing that I wanted was to be back on that mountain, fell the wind on my face, not have a thought in my mind. Everyone has certain snapshots of their lives that they want to last forever, and this quote made me remember mine.
Hey Mrs. Drance! I'm reading THE GLASS CASTLE, by Jeannette Walls. I think that it is great. The hideous conditions that the family lives make the book so much more interesting. The fact that this is a memoir also adds so much to the story. This seems to allow me to connect better with the characters.
ReplyDeleteOne quote that really stuck out to me was, "I wanted to be back in Phoenix, [...]. I wanted to feel the desert sun on my face and breath in the dry desert air and climb the steep rock mountains while Dad led us on one of the long hikes that he called geological survey expeditions" (Walls 145). This quote connected to a specific moment in my life. I was on a plane coming home from an amazing ski vacation in Utah. As the pilot told us we were approaching the airport, I looked out the window. All I saw was buildings and lights. My heart sunk. The only thing that I wanted was to be back on that mountain, fell the wind on my face, not have a thought in my mind. Everyone has certain snapshots of their lives that they want to last forever, and this quote made me remember mine.
Kaylee, honey, you are sooooooo thoughtful. When I acted, many of the words would resonate in my heart, mind, soul... they would sprinkle my mind awake with new perspectives. You are right...I LOVE WORDS. In fact, this morning, I was listening to a commentator use the word "salubrious," and I thought, "I should know that word. I've heard it before." So, today, I looked it up, because I couldn't quite get it from the context in which it was used. "Salubrious" means healthy, or having a healthy effect. The commentator was speaking about Obama's effect on the country. We shall see. What's interesting to me is that the word for health in Spanish is "salud," from the Latin "salus," which means "health." So cool how we're all connected!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, Kayle, when you find an image, a passage, a something that lights you up like the Christams tree at Rockerfeller Plaza, then by all means share it. You were so very thought to have considered me...I truly loved the descriptive language as you did, too.
Thanks for posting.
I look forward to hearing from you :p.
Mrs. Drance
Ellen, I can see you looking out the plane window, with a wistful eyes. Whenever I leave a place I love, depending upon how heartsick I am about returning home, I either glue my eyes to the mini-window with the same feelings in my heart, or bury my head in a book to get lost in another world other than my own.
ReplyDeleteI particulalry enjoyed your closing line and the "forever shapshot" imagery. Ay, me!
Thank you for sharing your picture with me.
And, THE GLASS CASTLE is one of my favorite books because the insanity in her life is true and because she lived to tell the tale of her exceedingly dysfunctional childhood with grace, humor and dignity.
See you tomorrow.
Mrs. D
"Life is a near-death experience"
ReplyDelete"What year did Jesus think it was?"
"If the bouncer gets drunk, who throws him out?"
"Honesty may be the best policy, but it's important to remember that, apparently, by elimination, dishonesty is the second best policy"
-George Carlin, Brain Droppings
Oh boy. Perhaps there was a bit of a misunderstanding Lauren. It was all a mere joke. I do not intend to "set the trends" and blog incognito as "Mark" when my name is Linda. Nothing confidential...it's all good. Haha, funny...maybe not...but that was all...nothing serious. =)
ReplyDelete~Linda
Mrs. Drance,
ReplyDeleteI believe our conversation was just about over on the other thread, so I guess I will continue on this thread, with the quote. One of may favorite quotes from THE LAST LECTURE is after he was denied working as a Walt Disney Imagineer. "The brick walls are there for a reason. They're not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something" (Pausch 51-52). This quote really stuck out to me because even if you don't excel at something doesn't mean your not trying; and I also think that he was trying to say we should put our best effort forth, if we really want to succeed, because in the end it will be you showing how great you can really be.
Another quote i found was "We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand" (Pausch); I am unsure of what page this is on, sorry. I think this quote means that you have to deal with certain things, but you can put them in favor of yourself if you try. With most of his quotes I think he is trying to say everything happens for a reason and if you try, you will succeed.
Jillian
Mark, I loved George Carlin and thoguht he died at far too young and age. I loved those soundbites...do you have any more? One that I'm remembering is his yelling, "Ma...where are the good scissors?!" Every day life humor that nearly everyone can relate to.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your weekend.
Mrs. D
"an" not "and" age. Oh, well..."haste makes waste," the aphorism of the day....
ReplyDeleteYes, Jillie, I also think all of these quotes, this wisdom, are the "fake out" he's talking about...the pieces of advice he can leave behind for his children (so sad!), but incredibly clever, too.
I LOVED THE BRICK WALL QUOTE! Yes, something seemingly impossible can be surmountable with commitment and effort. We are changed after an encounter with a brick wall, even if the brick wall isn't broken or climbed over...we hopefully change in the process of trying to surmount it, thereby making us better, stronger, more enlightened. When we make peace with ourselves or see a glimpse of ourselves during the struggle, we learn - THAT IS, IF WE TAKE A MOMENT TO REFLECT UPON OUR ACTIONS - more about ourselves, others and how we all work together in the world.
Regarding the last quote, well, he took a negative (terminal cancer) and tried to make something positive (his lecture, how he lived his last months on Earth).
Good job mining the text over...it's obvious he, what he said had an impact on you...on me, too.
Have a great weekend.
Mrs. Drance
My quote is from THE SNOWBALL, "Praise by name, criticize by category", i find this interesting because even though it is supposed to apply to stocks, i feel it iz funny how it is different then in real life. In life you should praise by name, and even though you shouldn't praise by category, you certainly shouldn't criticize by category
ReplyDeleteMy quote comes from Bleachers by John Grisham page 3, "“No piece of ground in Messina was more revered than The Field. Not even the cemetery.” I feel that this shows how in some cases sports can play a factor in brining areas together. Throughout the book they say how the whole town attended the football games. I thought that it was pretty cool how football played such an important role in the community and how one sport can have this much power. I would also like to add that the new mascot for this website should be Mr. P and i think people will agree with me on that.
ReplyDeletemuch love,
Stephen
soooo I just finished LONDON BRIDGES, by James Patterson, and I absolutley loved it. Lauren...you have to read this. So does anyone who loves suspense, violence, all that stuff. very involved, and disturbing (but in a good way). This story has soooo much going on I am not even going to try to summarize it. Many quotes to choose from, but I really liked it when Patterson says this:
ReplyDelete"Like supplicants entering a cathedral, we seemed small and insignificant as we passed through them. I felt small and insignificant, as well as at the mercy of higher powers, and not just God"(Patterson, 279)
I like this quote because it really shows the "Wolf", an extreme terrorist to say the least, has ultimate power, and had the influence on top notch FBI agents of making them feel "small and insignificant". Very twisted, this charachter. Just another reason to read the book, if you ask me.
see everyone in class tomorrow!-kelsey
Hi, John. I wholeheartedly agree with you -
ReplyDeletepraising by name is powerful because people love to be noticed. However, why can't "categories" be praised? And, I'm interested to read your thinking about why categories can't be criticized. Good job on putting your thought on the blog (where' the citation); now, dig deeper and explain your claims. You always do a great job of this in class. Go for it on the blog!
Oh, BTW, please do not use "iz"; you may use acronyms, but no corrupted English... or "textese." Also, use the word "than" to compare and "then" to denote time. You can remember this by concentrating of the vowels, meaning the word "comparison" has an "a" in it and the word "time" has and "e" in it.
Hope this helps.
Mrs. Drance
Steve, Babylon football has become a tradition, a place to meet, to gather, to belong because of the unbelievable support from its community. I love going to the games! They energize me because I really feel that we're all together joined in a common goal. Although, you, Steve and the other guys are out there playing the game. I always feel bad for teams who have very few fans out there....Anyway, Babylon has heart, just like Messina. Great quote. On which page did you find it?
ReplyDeleteSee you in class,
Mrs. Drance
P.S. If you can get a picture of Pello, and he's o.k. with it, I'd definitely put him on the blog as a mascot. Anyone or thing else in the meantime that is school appropriate?
Kelsey, I've heard other people recommend LONDON BRIDGES, too. It's supposed to be one of his best. I just finished 6th TARGET, and it reads like a TV show or a movie...I just couldn't put it down. It's interesting because I noticed that other authors write with him. I wonder how much of the book is his, and how much theirs? How did they meet? Etc. Hmmmm....
ReplyDeleteAlso, your quote reminds me of cathedrals...European, American, whatever kind you like. Over the year upon visiting some of the "mac daddys" so to speak (e.g. St. Peter's Basilica, Rome; Notre Dame, Paris; St. Andrews, London; the National Cathedral, D.C.; St. Patrick's, NYC), I've always felt tiny, but not completely insignificant. Somehow,all our little souls mattered, that collectively we made up or are connected to the grandiosity within. How amazing it is, though, how man built these wonders! How scary, though, for safe, sacred places to be connected to an evil power! That creates suspsense, I'll say!
BTW, NEVER put a comma in your parenthetical citation between the author and the page number. Thanks, honey.
See you later,
Mrs. Drance
Hey Mrs. Drance,
ReplyDeleteI'm ready my second GOSSIP GIRL book, and still enjoying them. I've been searching for the write line to pull from the text but most of them I love but I don't know how to describe it. The one i picked though is, " Heat blasted from the steaming radiators, and the sound of ambulance sirens and car horns wailed through the two open windows." This quote made me reminisce about the city, and made me miss it. Right when i came across it, I pictured myself standing on the sidewalks of NYC, getting thrown by crazy tourist. I remembered my Aunt Pat's tiny apartment, that was filtering hot air around and around.
-Catherine
Cat! You're a poet! I loved your line, "I remembered my Aunt Pat's tiny apartment, that was filtering hot air around and around." Your use of repetition and descriptive language made me SMELL that hot, stuffy air. I felt cramped and wonderful, too, because I adore the city.
ReplyDeleteGood work, girl.
See you Monday.
Ms. D
To add on to my original post, I will say that I feel ctegories can't be praised because more often than not there is someone who shouldnt be. Also, things such as racism and being bias consitute as critcizing by category. Assuming that as a fact you can definetely say it is negative to praise by category.
ReplyDeleteTo Mrs. Drance,
ReplyDeleteI just finished AIRMAN by Eion(pronounced Owen) Colfer. When I mean just, I mean literally 30 minutes ago. It was a nice change to his fantasy novels, and this one was just as exhilerating. This is possibly the best quote I could find was the last three sentences of the entire book."Other men look up and down, left and right,"[Linus] said. "But men like us are different.We are visionaries"(Colfer 412).I thought this was very profound.Most of the book is about pioneering to becoming the first to fly. The story takes place in the 1890s, and the Wright Brothers are only a few years away.
The quote from the book I am reading The Firm (underlined) can connect to something that has been going on in this country since 9/11: "His room was wired, of course, as was the limo and the phone and everything else" (Grisham 39). This relates to the controversial Patriot Act because the government is able to set up wiretaps almost warrant-less (search warrant on possible cause over wiretap warrant on probable cause), as well as other things that most people would consider privacy infringement in order to hamper terrorist attacks and objectives. In this case, the firm set up these bugged rooms on their workers, in my opinion as of the time I read this, in order to control their lives and thwart any plans against this law firm. This is also ironic since law firms should have higher ethics.
ReplyDeleteHi Mrs.Drance its sean and I no i havent answered the blog in quite a time, and that is solely due to my terrible computer. I am now using my moms labtop so its all good. The quote that i have is from my favorite book of all time, GO ASK ALICE. I like how i can really relate to the book because it has a very human element to it if that makes any sense. When the main character in the book says "If there were medals and prizes for stupidity and gullibleness i certainly would recieve the half-assed one"(55) it really shows how reall the book can be, and not only that but the way that the character describes herself as imperfect and a screw up really helped me get into the book and make me feel like i was part of it. I just like when books are based around things that i have experienced or that i can somewhat relate to, what about you?
ReplyDeleteMrs. Drance-
ReplyDeleteMore Carlin quotes for you...
"If it's true that our species is alone in the universe, then I'd have to say the universe aimed rather low and settled for very little."
"If you can't beat them, arrange to have them beaten."
"When you step on the brakes your life is in your foot's hands."
I'll leave you with a great rant
The Baby Boomers: whiny, narcissistic, self-indulgent people who's simple philosophy: 'GIMME THAT! IT'S MINE!'...these people were given everything, everything was handed to them, and they took it all, sold it all; sex, drugs, and rock and roll and they stayed loaded for 20 yrs and had free ride, but now they're staring down the barrel of the burnout, and they don't like it, they don't like it so they've become self-righteous, and they wanna make things hard for young people, they tell em abstane from sex, say no to drugs, as for Rock and Roll they sold that for television commercials a long time ago, so they an buy 'pasta machines', and 'stair masters', and 'soy bean futures'.
you know something, they're cold, bloodless people. It's in their slogan 'no pain, no gain', 'just do it', 'play it hard', '***** happends, deal with it', 'get a life!'. These people went from 'do your own thing!' to 'just say no!', they went from 'love is all you need' to 'whoever has the most toys, wins!', and they went from 'cocaine' to 'rogaine' and you know something, they're still counting grams, only now it's fat grams! and the worst of it is we have to watch the commercials on tv for levis loose fitting jeans and fat ass docker pants because these degenerate, yuppie, boomer ***** suckers couldn't keep their hands off the croissants and the 'Haägen Dasz' and their big fat asses have spread all over and they have to wear fat ass docker pants. ***** these yuppies, and ***** everybody now that I think of it"
-George Carlin
John, so happy to hear from you. Your explanation clarifies the points you were making in your previous post. Thanks. I agree with you, by the way. Praise, when given too liberally, negatively impacts people as they continue to have or gain a false sense of self.
ReplyDeleteSee you later,
Mrs. Drance
Cat, I'm a nut; I saw your post; obviously...I commented on it.
ReplyDeleteSean, books that I really love are the ones where I can imagine myself either actually being in the story with the characters like Michael Devlin in SNOW IN AUGUST, reading about characters either my age or coping with situations that I am in my life, and learning about characters who just seem like interesting people.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was your age, I really, REALLY connected with GO ASK ALICE because I was curious about "the druggies" as we called them and then terrified to learn how lonely Alice was, how badly she felt about herself, how "regular" she seemed, and how she turned to drugs to help her. Actually, the book was a great didactic (learning...it taught me) tool. So scary, drugs.
So scary.
Great to see you writing as much as you have.
One small, tiny request...PUH-LEEZ capitalize the "i" when you write. Thanks, precious.
See you later,
Mrs. Drance
Ethan, great job citing and GREAT quote. It just inspires you to do something as fantastic, as seemingly impossible, as challening as flying. How interesting that Colfer switched genres and how wonderful that it was equally as good!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing.
Mrs. Drance
Llyod, good job catching the irony in the quote. Actually, as you know, wiretapping, bugging, etc. have been employed by the government, legally and illegally, before 9/11 - probably as soon the technology was made available.
ReplyDeleteGood job citing.
See you later,
Mrs. Drance
Sean, I loved the quotes and the rant because in sarcasm lies elements of truth. Excellent points, Carlin makes, one after the other. I loved listening to him. You know, he went through some stints at rehab himself...anyway, he has an acute sense of self-awareness and honesty.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the levity...I needed it as of late.
Mrs. Drance
HEY MRS. DRANCE!!
ReplyDeleteSorry this took me so long my other link wasn't working but then i asked lauren for the website and it was working. Anyways, i just started the book 19 Minutes by Jodi Picoult. You simply couldn't describe the book in one word. Heres a line from the very first page of the book: "In nineteen minutes, you can order a pizza and get it delivered. You can read a story to a child or have your oil changed. You can walk a mile. You can sew a hem. In nineteen minutes, you can stop the world, or you can jump off it. In nineteen minutes, you can get revenge (Picoult 1)." The 1st couple paragraphs of the book instantly pulled me in. Picoult uses repetition to inform the reader that a very serious event is going to happen within the short span of 19 minutes. She is trying to make a first impact on how such insignificant things can happen in 19 minutes, but then goes on to say that something so somber can take place in 19 minutes. Oh, and i also have my witch question from Friday. I'll share it with the class tommorow. Goodnight!!!!
-Kate
Kate, great observation of Picoult's use of repetition. You got it! I love the last sentence; it's a punch...drives her point home, just like you said. Good job posting.
ReplyDeleteTwo reminders: capitalize the letter "i" and put in caps or boldface book titles.
Thanks so much!
Mrs. Drance
I just started reading Cross by James Patterson. My dad recommended it to me since he knew how much i loved Double Cross. Patterson has a great way with words. He paints an image in your head with words, i think thats what i love most about him. "In addition to his charm, though, Michael Sullivan was a looker, and he knew it-slim but nicely toned, six one, longish blonde hair, a smile that could dazzle anybody he chose it on."(Patterson 17) I loved Patterson's descriptive language, i could picture exactly what Michael Sullivan looks like as i was reading this.
ReplyDeleteAshley, I can see Michael Sullivan clearly from your quote. Yes, Patterson has a way of writing that makes it seem as if you are watching a TV show...that's how descriptive he is. On another note, I'm really pleased to read how much you enjoy his books. Quite a few of you do, and thanks for telling me why.
ReplyDeleteCouple of pointers to help us all with our writing:
1) Whenever you have two independent clauses, use a semi-colon instead of a comma to link them.
(see sentence #3 and the last sentence).
2) Capitalize "i" and the titles of books so it's easier for the reader to pick out since we can't underline them.
3) Use words to introduce quotes (see below):
For instance, "In addition...
Hope this helps and keep on talking to your dad for good reads!
Take care,
Mrs. Drance
Hey!
ReplyDeleteWhile reading The Color Of Water, I remember a couple of sentences that made me emotional. On page number 63 James McBride wrote, "He got bar mitzvahed when he was thirteen. They put a picture of him and Tateh in the paper and Mameh was proud of him. That was the only time I ever remember seeing him smile, because he made his mother happy." and it continues, "then a couple of years later he ran off... He just left home and never came back." These quotes from The Color Of Water made me a little depressed. The fact that the character, Sam, was never happy; never smiled, made me feel sympathetic. Plus, I feel like Sam was truly good at heart and that he was not selfish in the least bit, because the one time that he did smile, it was for his mother. Moreover, Sam's depression was so unbearable that he resorted to running away from home, this also made me upset. :(