Monday, December 17, 2012

In Cold Blood FInal

To start I am appreciative of the extension I was given due to the unfortunate cirumstances that happened the weekend before. In Cold Blood was a diffrent book. I am hesitant to say intresting because at times this non-ficiton novel felt like the most boring book I have ever read in my entire life. Truman Capote's writing style seemed entirely too detailed in creating the characters of the book and it was difficult to really get the ball rolling in terms of the first read. "Mr. Clutter cut a man's-man figure. His shouldrs were broad, his hair held it's dark color, his square-jawed, confident face retained a..."(6) I couldn't even finish this quote it's that painful to read. However once Dick and Perry start behaving suspicously the action picked up. I think the main disconnect from the book is I could never relate in any way to the characters. There was a dissconnect I never found a way to over come. I think it stemmed from the animalistic natures of Dick and Perry. Their personality conflicted with my own personality to greatly for me to gain any affinity toward them. I hope in future books I am able to overcome these diffrent obstacles and enjoy books better.

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

In Cold Blood #2

Im on page 163 in my book and I have a lot of catching up to do I learned so far that the Clutters had some enemies meaning some people held grudges against them. However none of these grudges warranted murder. I have also learned that Dick is an incredibly smart character. He orchestrated the Clutter murder. I think he seems detached from the rest the world however. Perry has a horrible temper but can keep collected when need be. Apparently he grew up in terrible circumstances. I don't think Dick and Perry are people worthy of me feeling sorry for or excusing their behavior by any means. They are murderers and I feel sorry for the Clutter family.

Monday, December 3, 2012

In Cold Blood Blog #1

I have been affected by crime. I have been blessed that it was only theft but it still is an unnerving feeling. I had my wallet stolen which had my credit card and ID with it. All i could think about the next few days was someone stealing my identity and was worrying constantly about it. When your the victim of a crime your sense of security is greatly decimated. You feel vulnerable. In my Novel In Cold Blood Dick and Perry kill 4 of the Clutter family. I can relate to the Clutter family only in the sense of before they were killed I can only imagine how vulnerable they felt. I felt like my life could be taken from me from a Identity standpoint whereas they felt like their life could be taken away from them in a very real way. It is sad that they were killed and i'm blessed nothing happened to me.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Life of Pi

This book was intense. At the end when the reader was given a choice between the two different stories, the one with animals and the one with the people. With the possibility that Pi made up the whole animals story and that all the horrors that happened on the boat happened to real people the reader is forced to chose the story they want to believe. This what a great book and I hope the movie coming out does it justice.

Friday, November 2, 2012

Life of Pi

So far the book"Life of Pi" has been a very interesting read. I love how the book is so philosophical in nature and how throughout the book I can actively think about Pi's different yet same religious views. I also enjoy all the comparisons and facts about animals stated throughout the book. Pi is a smart kid who seems to be knowledgeable about a great number of things. I'm excited to see how he fares as he is stranded in the Pacific Ocean with only Richard Parker as company.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

My Project

here is a hyperlink to my project. http://www.glogster.com/ksloan4/wide-glog-by-ksloan4/g-6l6oeil13ai45s47r16jma0

If this doesn't work go to glogster. the glog is    wideglog by KSloan4

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Final Quarter Reflection Blog

I think this quarter was a great learning experience for me. I started off without a good sense of time and a bad procrastination habit. I improved at that and I noticed when reading the second book I got right on it and stuck with a more diligent schedule in reading it. This gave me more time to put quality work into my project. I think I can still improve on that however. I believe that this is a double edged sword for me because as I improve my reading I put less emphasis on my writing. I need to improve on creating a more balanced attack towards my work and focus more. My goal for next quarter is to use my class time more effectively. I know if I do this my work load will be cut down and I will have more opportunity to do well in this class.

Monday, October 15, 2012

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

I have thoughourly enjoyed the book "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time" Christopher has frequently portrayed such innocence throughout the book and the way this book was written allows the reader to see the simple desires of this boy as well as the complex and brilliant way his mind thinks. Its obvious throughout the book Chritopher struggles to interact with other people. This is becasue he cannot seperate his mind from other peoples minds. He thinks the world thinks the way his mind does. Throughout the book Christopher yearns to prove his ability in school and wants to go to University to study maths. Lots of people believed that he couldn't do it because of his Aspergers but people don't understand that his condition doesn't hinder his mental capacity at all. He also wants independence in the book and runs away from his father because he didn't feel safe. Despite never going to London before and his life and being scared beyond belief he gathered his courage and went to go find his mother of which he believed to be dead. This book has been fun and endearing throughout but has now become very exciting. I can't wait to finish it.

Monday, October 8, 2012

Blog 1

This book struck me as fantastic not even 5 pages into it. The way the author writes it from the autistic kids point of view is very funny and is very moving. I instantly was able to relate Christopher John Francis Boone to all the other innocent and good meaning kids that I've had the pleasure of interacting with. I also love all the little quirks Christopher elaborates on and his irrelevant tangents he goes off on are priceless. I think I already realize that Christopher shows through the book that everyone is a good natured and everyone is different which is what makes us all the same.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

2nd Blog

Morrie lived a life full of love. He emphasized that you don't get distracted by material objects in life but instead focus on relationships. In life I think it's very common to see people try to find happiness through material objects and I have yet to see someone be truly happy through those material objects. When looking at the relationships Morrie had you see the power of love and how it can pull people through the hardest of times. Morrie was dying and could still find joy in life because of his family and friends. I want to learn from Morrie and build the relationships around me because in a time of need material objects can't comfort you but close friends and family always will. Another thing Morrie did was keep an open heart. It didn't matter who he was talking to or when the conversation was he was always sincere and honest to that person. I think that is what made him such a relatable and nice guy. He didn't hold any of his feelings back no matter what. It's those kinds of people that have people that care about them and that is the kind of person that also cares about others. I hope i can learn to be more vulnerable with my emotions because then maybe the things that seem so hard in my life won't be so hard because people will be there to help me through it.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Morrie's Aphorisms

In the book Tuesdays with Morrie a man named Morrie explains some of his concepts of life as he is dying. "Accept what you are able to do and what you are not able to do." was one of his aphorisms. This aphorism has to deal with ability. So many people in the world today are focused on what other peoples abilities are and make competion over everything. I think Morrie is trying to express that people  should try and accept themselves. By accepting yourself you don't feel the pressures of others around you and can become a happier person.  "Learn to forgive yourselfs, and others." In our culture I believe that forgiveness is almost extinct. People hold grudges and hate and stay bitter. Its become easier to hate than to love and its become easier to hold grudges than to forgive. Personally holding grudges exhuast me and I don't have a good enough memory to remember why I'm mad at someone in the first place and by the time I remember again it doesn't matter. Im grateful for my memory or lackthereof because it makes it easy for me to forgive. "Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live." My Uncle Joe passed away the day after my birthday on August 24th 2012. I was crushed. Similar to the circumstances that Morriehad after learning that he had ALS the day was bright and sunny, people laughed and carried on with meaningless fights and drama and I finished the school day feeling horrible. I was amazed that people could go on like nothing mattered when in reality nothing did. After attending his funeral I realized that life doesn't stop for anyone except the person who died. A harsh reality but true. The world dosn't care that you lost a family member but if you care then you find ways of keeping that person alive. The priest at his funeral said that we can keep Joe's spirit alive on earth by portraying his values. He was a guy who had a great sense of humor. He loved to laugh and cared about his family. He loved all of his students and worked hard to make people happy. People like that need to stay on this world and it got me thinking, "If I die tonight, how I be remebered by my family, friends, and coworkers? What will they tell the people that never knew me what I was like? Will i remembered as a guy who put his neck on the line for the people he loved? Would I be remebered as the guy who would drop everything for his loved ones even when it wasn't nessecarry? Or will I be known as the guy who was selfish and a coward? Would I be remebered as the guy who was a liar and a cheat?" In realizing this I realized that legacys will last forever. If you realize how you want to be remembered when you die you will live the way you are supposed to live.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Test Blog

Hello. This is a test blog. Maybe it works maybe it doesn't. Either way I am done.