All Is Fair In Love And Writing

6 books down

2009-12-08T11:27:00.000-08:00

These nine weeks, I have read a variety of books including Impulse, The Kite Runner, and The awakening. They are all way totally different books that caused me to think on many different levels, but also helped me escape from my real stressful life.

· (3)Impulse by Ellen Hopkins has been my all time favorite book. It makes me feel like I was really there with all of the kids that got thrown into this “horrid” watch hospital. This is one of many of Hopkins really good writes which include Crank, which I am reading right now, Burned, which I read last year, Identical, which I am still trying to get my hands on, and Glass, which I have but have yet to read. A good read for anyone that wants to experience a rough experience with teenagers one on one without actually being there.

· The Awakening by Kate Chopin has been by far my least favorite book that I have read these nine weeks. It’s not that it’s a bad book, I really enjoyed the story line, but I did not enjoy being pushed to have to think deeper than I can. I also don’t like being pushed to have to finish a book by a deadline, so I have actually read this book twice now, because I went back and read it after having to rush through the first time. A good read if you can think deep enough to get the main point.

· (2)Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini was a good classic book to read. It was a very slow start and made me want to give up on reading it, but I fought through the long slow beginning, and it was very worth it. It shows the life of two little boys in a different country that have to deal with struggles through everyday life problems, but they deal with them in a different way. A good read if you can bear to deal with the slow start to make it to the really good end.

Children and T.V.

2009-11-16T17:25:00.000-08:00

“The amount of television usage by children reached an eight-year high, with kids ages 2 to 5 watching the screen for more than 32 hours a week on average and those ages 6 to 11 watching more than 28 hours.” - Matea Gold

The time that children spend sitting in front of a T.V. is the highest it’s ever been, why? Not only are the children lazy, but so are the parents. The parents think it’s a good idea to stick their kids in front of a T.V. when they have nothing better to do with them. Not all T.V. is bad; some is educational and can sometimes help in the long run.

Not only are they spending time watching T.V. they are also playing video games. A lot of video games involve violence, which can sometimes lead to violence in the children’s behavior. The more they play and watch, the more they are expected to have bad behaviors.

“Kids ages 2 to 5 spent an average of 3 hours and 47 minutes a day watching television in the fourth quarter of 2008, up from 3 hours and 40 minutes in the fourth quarter of 2007, according to Nielsen. Older children watched an average of 3 hours and 20 minutes a day, up from 3 hours and 17 minutes.” This means that kids are missing out on everything else in their lives. 2 to 5 year olds should be running around outside as much as possible, or playing with their little toys. They are the most likely to follow whatever is happening on the screen. Older children are also missing out. This means there is less time to spend studying or doing homework, and if old enough, a stable job. I myself never watch T.V. anymore, although when I was little, I went through a stage of doing nothing but playing video games, violent video games at that. But the video games have not had a big enough impact on my life to where I’m a violent person.

T.V. is also shown during elementary schools. I recall having to sit in the cafeteria at a young age and having to remain silent so everyone could watch Reading Rainbow, which was supposedly an educational show. Also in restaurants, there is TVs. In Colton’s there are 6 TVs total, for the guests to watch while they enjoy their dinner. Also, while sharing the family dinner at home sometimes, the family comes into the kitchen just to get their food and then disperse out among the house to all watch different shows, not spending bonding time that they could together.

Spending more than a day a week watching T.V. is just a little bizarre. There are so many things that kids are missing out on that could be life changing to them. They just need parents and other help from friends to step away from the T.V. just for a few hours a day that they usually watch it, and do something productive.

The Awakening

2009-11-11T11:14:00.000-08:00

At that early period it served but to bewilder her. It moved her to dreams, to thoughtfulness, to the shadowy anguish which had overcome her the midnight when she abandoned herself to tears.

Check out the map below to see the diction Chopin uses in the sentence. Just click on the bubbles to read our analyses. If the map does not display, you can view it at Umapper.

Below is another umapper containing a tone thesis and a look into the imagery of our sentence. If this umapper is not working then please view it here.

Last but not least, we have a look into the syntax of Chopin's sentence in the novel The Awakening. Below is a view mapper and a regular jpeg to view the syntax. Once again, if this umapper does not work please view it here.

Marijuana...legal? or illegal?

2009-11-04T17:04:00.000-08:00

“Doctors also warned against overuse of marijuana, believing that too much consumption caused impotence, blindness and ‘seeing devils’." - Patrick Stack and Claire Suddath

Everyone hears stories about marijuana and what’s good and bad about it, that’s all a lot of people have to talk about. But does everyone really know the good and the bad? Or do they know just the good or the bad to make their point look stronger? Marijuana does have good and bad side effects, if taken the right or wrong way. Someone can take it for medical purposes, good side effect, or someone cause just abuse the power they have for it, bad side effect.

13 states in the U.S. have legalized marijuana for medical uses. According to County district attorney Steve Cooley it is estimated that there are about 1,000 illegally operated marijuana shops in LA alone. So why can’t authority find them if they know that there is illegal marijuana business going on and stop them? Or better yet, legalize it and get tax money of it. Marijuana was legal until 1914 and only became illegal to try and get cocaine and other substances under control, but not all marijuana smokers did other drugs. People do other drugs just do to other drugs.

Birdseed producers are still allowed to use hemp seeds to put in bird food because they claim that “it gives their feathers an extra shiny gloss.” The only condition to them using the seeds is that they have to be treated so that they can not grow once they make it to the ground, but what would happen if the treatment happens to not work on some of the seeds? Would the person that owns the land that the seeds fell in get punished? That’s definitely something that hasn’t been well thought out.

Many argue that smoking cigarettes is worse than smoking pot, and vise versa. Smoking anything in general is bad for anyone, it doesn’t matter what it is. Someone could smoke paper if they wanted to and it’s still not going to be good for heath issues.

I understand that marijuana has been illegal now for awhile, but was also legal for quite sometime before that. Why only legalize it again for medical purposes when it is also still being sold illegally? That’s extra money that the government could have because that’s what they are all about. Should marijuana be legal or illegal? And if it’s illegal, it should all be illegal, not used just for special purposes in medical fields and bird food.

Sentence 12

2009-10-13T11:18:00.000-07:00

You are...honorable people...from distinguished and reputable families and...proud linage.
From Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

A compound sentence that sets apart the more important words by ellipsis to draw more attention to them.

I have...best friends...in high and low places and...wouldn't change that.

Sentence 11

2009-10-13T11:14:00.000-07:00

It was set, then. Three o'clock.
From Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

A simple sentence ending with a transition set apart by a comma followed by an individual sentence that describes when.

The day will come, finally. Tomorrow.

Sentence 10

2009-10-13T10:23:00.000-07:00

Lost her to a fate most Afgans considered far worse than death: She ran off with a clan of traveling singers and dancers.
From Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Starting with a verb, the first incomplete thought is set apart from the complete thought, that supports the imcomplete one, by a colon.

Played with the children a little too hard: Reptar stepped on and killed them.

Sentence 9

2009-10-13T10:06:00.000-07:00

Then, mercifully, darkness.
From Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

A transition followed be a descriptive word set apart by commas, followed by a noun.

At last, successfully, happyness.

Sentence 8

2009-10-12T14:40:00.001-07:00

I was 18 at the time...rebellious...stupid, and he was into drugs...
From Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

A complete thought followed by descriptors of the noun set apart by ellipsis followed by a conjuction set apart by ellipisis to complete another thought.

He was taken at the time...flawless...beautiful, and...I was in love...

Sentence 7

2009-10-09T11:21:00.000-07:00

Earlier that morning, when I was certain no one was looking, I did something I had done 26 years earlier: I planted a fistful of crumpled money under a mattress.

From Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

A phrase followed by two incomplete thought with lots of parallelism of prepositional phrases set apart by a colon.

Later that day, when they thought no one was around, I saw something I'd never seen before: I saw a group of people in the middle of a drug deal.

Sentence 6

2009-10-09T11:14:00.000-07:00

My heart shattered at the thought of her. Soraya Taheri. My swamp princess.

From Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

A simple sentence, followed by an incomplete sentence with just a name describing the pronoun before, followed by a sentence describing the person.

My fists cringe at the thought of her. Bobbina Lucifer. My worst enemy.

Sentence 5

2009-10-09T10:16:00.000-07:00

What...what did he tell you about us?

From Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

A question word set apart by ellipsis followed by the same word to get the point across stronger about the question.

Why...why would someone say that about me?

Sentence 4

2009-10-07T10:16:00.000-07:00

Then, Baba and I drove off in his black Ford Mustang - a car that drew envious looks everywhere because it was the same car Steve McQueen had driven in Bullitt, a film that played in one theater for six months.

From Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

A complete thought followed by a descriptive phrase about the pronoun.

After, I walked away with my best friend Carisa - a person that got constant attention by many because she was the most beautiful person of all and everyone wanted to talk to her, just to be a friend for a day.

Sentence 3

2009-10-07T10:10:00.000-07:00

Baba burst out in gales of his deep-throated laughter - a sound not unlike a truck engine revving up - and, when he could talk again, explained to us the concept of voice dubbing.

From Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

An incomplete thought with a descriptive phrase set apart by dashes and then continued to finish up the sentence.

Mariah yelled out in her ear-piercing yelp - a sound not unlike a police siren zooming by - and, when she could breath again, exclaimed that she had saw a spider.

Sentence 2

2009-10-07T09:57:00.000-07:00

"You liked it?" I said, getting my second taste - and how sweet it was - of a positive review.
from Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

A question followed by a complete sentence interrupted by a incomplete thought set apart by dashes, ending with a prepositional phrase.

"You like her?" I asked, reassuring his answer - and how upsetting it was - of a depressing rejection.

Sentence 1

2009-09-25T10:46:00.000-07:00

Baba met Hassan's wary -- and puzzled -- eyes.
From The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Simple sentence with a conjuntion phrase, set apart by dashes.

I was walking through the drafty -- yet humid -- park.

A picture is worth a thousand words

2009-06-18T12:33:00.001-07:00

After reading Pink's A Whole New Mind, I decided on the story chapter, and from there I decided to play photo finish. In doing so, I found a picture to tell a story about. But not only can i tell you the story about what you see, I can tell a story of meaning and thought that you would never see otherwise.

In this picture, I see not only vandalism, but also peace. But of course, that's pretty obvious. I also see freedom, the freedom to get to express feelings. I see lots of people, mainly teens, that are either looking just to have fun, make their mark on the world, or maybe could even be troubled and they just want to get away. Art, a special kind of art, that takes lots of talent to achieve. Special people, that spend a lot of their time devoted to being sure they write or draw the right things, because there is no erasing.
What do you see? Do you see what I see, or do you see more?

Impulse

2009-03-09T19:00:00.000-07:00

“Act on your impulse, swallow the bottle, cut a little deeper, put the gun to your chest…” Ellen Hopkins’s Impulse swallowed me into the world of three teenagers with very different problems. I love Hopkins’s way of writing, in the sense that you feel like you are there when everything is going on.

The style of the book makes you feel like you see everything that is going on. It shows everything from three different view points from three very different teens. Everything that goes on seems so real like it could happen to anyone in the real world. “By the time I was ten, I knew to hide when Mama started talking to the air. ‘Don’t worry, Nessa, He’s an angel. Can’t you see him, standing just there?’ I figured if someone was there, invisible and all, he must be more demon than angel.”

The characters of Impulse are Tony, Vanessa, and Connor. They are all staying in Aspen Springs together because of their problems. Tony pops pills, Vanessa cuts, and Connor shot himself…three very different problems that all relate together.

The setting takes place in Aspen Springs, a mental institution, kind of like a rehab, where teens go to take care of their different problems, very severe problems. I know a place very similar to this one that I have once had to visit, so I can see everything just as it would be. Hopkins takes you on a virtual tour of this place, so even if you have never seen a place like this, you feel like you are right there with everyone else. “An orderly escorts me down spit–shined corridors, past tinted Plexiglas and closed, unmarked doors. Mysteries.” “The glass doors swing open, in perfect sync, precisely timed so you don’t have to think. Just stroll right in.”

I recommend that every teenager read this book just to see what other teens are dealing with in the world. Even if not a teen, you should also read this book, because Hopkins's writing style is so unique.

666 pages