Free Choice Reading Cycle 4 Blog Post

Princess Ben, Catherine Gilbert Murdock. Cycle 4 FCR Response, 1- 62 (four chapters)

                 Brief Summary

Princess Benevolence, Ben for short, has been secluded from her stringent Queen and Aunt, for fifteen blissful years. Ben is spoiled by her father and mother as a princess, and is somewhat immature at the age of fifteen. She is what you might nicely call a chubby girl, hence her love for pastries and just food in general. Her life has been wonderful all up until one evening where everything falls awry.

 A simple head cold prevents her from accompanying her father and mother on their annual visit to her great, great, great grandfather's tomb. She awakes that night to realize that her parents are not home even though they should be.  She is shocked when she finds that the Drachensbett have killed her mother and uncle. To make things worse, they don't know what happened to her father; he has disappeared. The Drachensbett have always threatened Chateau de Montagne, which is a valley town surrounded by mountains. Only because of Chateau de Montagne's superior location and the will of the people have they evaded Drachensbett's rule. But now, with the assassination of their king, and the disappearance of their military leader her country's only choice is to go to war.

With no parents to care for her, she is basically an orphan. Ben is moved to the castle where she is put under the scornful eye of Queen Sophia. There she is taught the ways of castle politics, as she is the sole inheritor of the throne. She absolutely loathes these lessons. She goes from needlework, to penmanship, to etiquette but still doesn't know which one she hates most. To make matters worse, she does not get nearly the amount of food she is used to, and is slowly withering away. Her only comfort comes from a mysterious basket of food she finds under her bed that is routinely replenished. Though she doesn't know who leaves it for her, it helps cope with the hell her life has become.

                  Diction and Rhetorical Devices

The word choice and voice in this book is very good. Since the book is written from the perspective of Princess Ben, it has a good variety of words. This is because a princess would be well educated. The voice of the writing also is a touch medieval and proper sounding, like you would imagine as "castle language".  It is splattered with unfamiliar vocabulary but not so much that I don't enjoy it. I keep post-its on the inside of the cover so I can jot down words I don't know. I have come up with this list, which I did not realize was so long until I copied it down here:

Malaise (n): (A feeling of) vague, non-specific physical discomfort; absence of the sense of physical well-being.

             Abetted (v): To urge on, stimulate (a person to do something).

             Interment: The action of interring or burying in the earth; burial.

              Subterfuge (n): contextually: A means of escape (from censure, etc.); an excuse.

Catatonic (n): Characterized by catatonia (A form of insanity, characterized by epilepsy and catalepsy.) Hence as n., one affected by catatonia.

Stipulated (ppl. a.):  That has been specified in the conditions of a contract or undertaking.

Benevolence: Disposition to do good, desire to promote the happiness of others, kindness, generosity, charitable feeling (as a general state or disposition towards mankind at large).

Fastidious: That creates disgust; disagreeable, distasteful, unpleasant, wearisome.

Myriad: In pl. Countless numbers of people or things; legions, hosts, hordes of the persons or things specified.

Stalwart (adj.): Of persons (and animals): Strongly and stoutly built, sturdy, and robust. Of inanimate things: Firmly made or established, strong.

Variant: Of things: Exhibiting variation or change; tending to vary or alter; not remaining uniform

Trepidation: Tremulous agitation; confused hurry or alarm; confusion; flurry; perturbation.

Comportment: Personal bearing, carriage, demeanor, deportment; behavior, outward conduct, course of action. Formerly also in pl., Proceedings, conduct.

Tumult (n): Commotion of a multitude, usually with confused speech or uproar; public disturbance; disorderly or riotous proceeding.

            Ostensibly (adv.): Conspicuously, ostentatiously

            Sated (ppl. a.): Glutted, satiated; cloyed or surfeited by indulgence of appetite.

            ****All definitions taken from the Oxford English Dictionary ****

I       Creative Critical Reflection  
    Dear Diary,  

      I am famished. I haven’t felt sated since the day before my     arrival. It has been months since I tasted a real pastry, and I am slowly withering away. Though, much to my aunt Sophia's dismay, my girth hasn't lessened in the least. My only condolence is the mysterious basket of treats some kind soul leaves for me. I found it one day under my bed. The food brought back such good memories; it was almost too painful to bear. As I ate, tears spilled down my face. Sometimes I receive a pitcher of cider and a pork and egg tart; other times I find hot chocolate and buns. These presents were the only sliver of light that brightened the pitch-blackness of what my life has become. My aunt's horrible "curriculum" that rules my education in becoming a Queen is awful. But the most wretched part of the day is the formal dinners she forces me to attend in her company. She and Lady Beatrix conduct the most dry and uninteresting conversations I have ever heard. I am always scolded for not contributing. Aunt Sophia keeps on going on about how it's a very good skill for a Queen to make polite conversation, without actually saying anything. She despises me, and I hate her. We share a mutual feeling. I wish my father would return and save me.

Sincerely,

Ben

Found Piece

"A Dream Within a Dream" 

(By Edgar Allan Poe)

 "Inception" an idea that is deliberately planted into a person's head, which is not their own, but they think that it is. I went to see the movie Inception with my dad and two brothers, when my mom was on a business trip to Japan. The basic idea in the movie is that people can create dream worlds. These dream worlds are without normal restrictions like gravity and physics. The creators can then bring someone from the regular word into the dream world that they created. They do this by injecting them with a needle that was hooked up to a machine that holds the information for that dream world. In this movie Dom Cobb is a specialty thief. His expertise is in inception. He is a master of extracting deep secrets from dreaming people. But, actually planting an idea (performing inception) is a whole lot harder.

            In the movie Mr. Saito, a big shot company owner, wanted Cobb to implant an idea into Robert Fisher's mind. Robert Fisher was going to inherit his father's company, which was the only rival of Mr. Saito's organization. He wants Cobb to implant the idea that Fisher should break up his fathers company. He has done two dream levels before, a dream within a dream, but that in its self was very tricky. To do this Cobb will have to enter a whole new level of the Dream World: a dream within a dream, within a dream. . To create a three level of dream he will need a whole crew of people to help him, and a sedative that will last 8 hours. Not to mention the stakes of messing up; going into limbo forever, a place in-between dream world and reality.

            I loved the idea of creating your own dream world, where you are the architect, and can do whatever you please. You are not hindered by our earth's limitations, money, gravity, and physics. You are free to let your brain create whatever it can best come up with. I would love to visit this "dream world" but unfortunately it is fiction. I think that is why I like fiction so much; you can do things you would only dream about in fiction. Fiction is the only genre of books that I like to read. You can enter the dream of the book that is the dream of the author.

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Free Choice Reading Cycle 3 Blog Post

Unwind, Neal Shusterman. Cycle 3 FCR Response, pages 1 to 335 (the whole book)

     Short Summary

You would find Unwind under the category of Scientific Fiction in a bookstore. It is about three teenagers destined to be unwound. "Unwound" means to have a person's organs harvested from their bodies in order to save other more "worthy" people's lives. In the book, humans are so technologically advanced, they can divide a human into different pieces. However, the person is still in a sense alive. Alive, because they are still living in someone else's body. Unwinding is the product of the Second Civil War or Heartland War the war between pro-life and pro-choice sides. It ended with the Bill Of Life which said that all babies had to be taken care of since conception. But from the ages 13 to 18 a child's parents could decide to "get rid of" their child in a process called Unwinding. Conner, a teenager who has problems controlling his emotions, Risa ,a ward of The State, and Lev ,a tithe since birth are all bound by the same fate: to be Unwound. In a fight for survival and out of the need for companionship, they come together to attempt to escape a fate some would call worse than death.

On Conner's first day on the run he makes an almost fatal mistake: he leaves his cell phone on. The Juvey Cops have him surrounded when he makes a rash decision to bolt. He runs his way across an entire freeway causing a massive pile up, which allows Risa to escape the bus shuttling her to harvest camp. He also drags Lev from the Cadillac taking him to his own harvest camp, and gets Lev shot with a tranquilizer gun. Conner escapes into the woods, and to avoid further decetion shoots a cop with his own tranquil gun. This action cements his legend as the Arkon AWOL with many Unwinds similar to him.

The next day Lev reawakens from the tranquil dart and is furious with Connor and Risa from keeping him from his destiny, his unwinding. Tithes are born to be unwound in the name of god. Lev has always been different from everyone else, more honored and connected with God. When the right moment presents, its self he betrays Connor and Risa to escape back to his normal life. He is shocked when his Reverend tells him to run away from his unwinding. His life is flipped up side down, and he doesn't know what to do. Since he was born, he has always been told that being a tithe was an honor and his destiny. Now, the man who has always encouraged and made him feel safe about his tithing is telling him to run.

Lev and Risa get into a system where the final destination is the "Graveyard". Upon arrival they meet the Admiral who introduces them to their new way of life and survival. His mission is to protect approximately 450 Unwinds. They are thrown into a hard life, but not brutal, and after all Connor and Risa still have each other. While they are there though, trouble starts to brew. Roland, Connors archenemy, is quickly moving through the ranks and is filling everyone's head with thoughts of revolt. Then Lev shows up, definitely changed from when they last saw him. He now has a creepy quality that Risa cannot quite put her finger on but it upsets her.

When the Unwinds find that their supervisors the "Goldens'" have been killed, their pent up frustration explodes. They attack the Admiral and his right hand man in a frenzy spreading chaos through out the Graveyard. Finally Connor calms them down, but not in time to save Cleaver, who was brutally beat to death.

 When Connor and a group of Unwinds fly the Admiral to the hospital Roland turns them all in. He thought that turning them in would make him walk away free, but he messes up and ends up going with Connor and Risa to the Happy Jack Harvest Camp. On the second day there, Connor discovers Lev has shown up as a tithe. There they are inspected and tested to see what price their organs will be worth; not knowing their harvest day draws nearer…

     Diction and literary devices            

Neal Shusterman is a good writer not at all on J.K Rowling's level, but definitely decent. One of the literary devices that I especially noticed was that he would mention a word (ex: tithe, clappers) that you didn't know, and then would wait to describe it. You would hear the word mentioned a bit in chapter one, and would start wondering what it meant. Then, in chapter two he would finally describe what it's meaning really was. I think this trick helped to keep you reading, so that you could find out what a "clapper" was.

I also noticed that he was very good and portraying a certain character's voice. For example this character CyFi; he was an older black boy that Lev met up with. He was very smart, but talked in an unsophisticated southern drawl. Neal Shusterman captured it perfectly, by changing some of the punctuation, and using slang words. Specifically talking about vocabulary, I would say his words weren't that rich. There are some books where every two paragraphs I need to look up a word (Ex: Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy); but I didn't actually finish the book because it was so tedious. I think that the vocabulary was absolutely appropriate for the targeted age group; which I would say is about 12-14. I'm not saying it was a childish book, I'm just saying that the dialogue was not that advanced. But, instead I think some of the ideas were quite intriguing.

Creative Reflection: The Sequel of Unwind: Rewind 

         After Connor, Risa, and Lev revolutionized the way people thought about Unwinds a new cult has formed. They call themselves Rewinds. Their mission is to put back together all the children who have been unwound, by locating everyone that has that specific person's organ in them, and extracting it and leaving the person to their own devices. Connor who has Roland's arm is the main target for the Rewinders. It turns out that their top priority is to rewind Roland, so that he can lead them.

Class Work

Riddle/Poem Assignment
I was born from the earth and grew,
Not 4, 3, or 2 legs, but many arms long and lean 
Grasping for energy, with fingernails black and strew,
My close cousin her nails grow a light green.

I have been given as a gift from ancient Greek gods,
Every part of me used for smooth-skinned family survival
Today I live as useful as ever, facing my odds,
Sometime I am jarred in my fluids, dried and shriveled


I can be used for your energy, shelter and lubricant
What am I?

Free Topic 1st Blog Post

The Ripple

            In my ISS class we are learning about Historiography.  A couple of nights ago we were assigned Historiography Reading 3&4.  One of the main points the reading focused on was the causation of historical events. It stated that modern day Historiographers, "…hold that the causes of historical events are complex. Events are not due to a single cause." This may be true for "historical" events, but in my case there was one cause for a great change in our family. This event was the stone that dropped into our family pond, and left ripples after it has already sunken to the bottom. The change I'm talking about wasn't a tragic, dramatic, breathtaking change. It was a slow and steady change, which overtime shaped my brothers and me to be the health kids we are today.

            The event that changed our family was when our Uncle Rick (our father's friend and family friend) had to have triple bypass surgery. Back then my mom was the stay-at-home parent, who grew up with slightly cooked bacon as a teething toy. After he was through with the surgery, part of the recovery/prevention therapy was a change in diet. My dad went to meet their nutritionist who literally turned our lifestyle upside down. At the time she was almost a pure raw foodest, but my dad wasn't ready to do anything that drastic.  He asked her for a place to start, and she told him to just eliminate drinking milk. This was when we were going through approximately a gallon of milk a day; so it was a big change.  That’s how it all got started.

            The second ripple in the pond was when my cousin Ashley came to visit. My dad was talking and talking about how raw food was so great. So my cousin challenged him. She egged him on saying; "Oh come on Uncle Shawn lets go raw for a month. Come On! Lets do it! Ohhhh you not to scared are you?" My dad got thrown into it. To make a long story short, my cousin only lasted 24 hours. The next afternoon she made herself a huge plate of scrambled eggs and brown rice. As she was gobbling down as much food as possible she told my mom, "You know (chewing pause) it's just like communism. It sounds good on paper, but the reality is just so awful." Although the beginning was grim, it wasn't actually that bad.  The point is, she helped to push my dad to actually start eating raw food, not just talking about it.

            After my Dad got a couple raw cookbooks and utensils the taste improved immensely. Some of the food was actually pretty good. By then he was really starting to get into the health food world. He did independent research about milk, meat products, and GMO farming. One of the books I remember him talking about was called The China Study, evidently the most intensive study on animal protein to ever have been conducted. My Dad was also very smart about introducing it into the family. Now that I look back on it, he slowly weaned us off all red meat and milk. And, as he made more and more healthy food (since now he was the stay-at-home dad) our taste buds did change. Suddenly, I found that drinking apple juice was like drinking sugar water, and it kept on going from there.

            The final event or ripple that cemented this healthy life style of ours, was when my father discovered Green Smoothies. Green Smoothies are basically regular fruit smoothies, but with vegetables added in. He read about a, "Green Smoothie Challenge" and decided that it was perfect. The challenge was to do was drink a quart of green smoothie everyday for a month. You didn't have to change anything else in your diet, and eventually, over the month your taste buds would change. He got a lot of people started on it, some stayed with it and some didn't. But, when he introduced it to our water polo coach Ken Smith, it reached a whole new level. People listened to Coach Ken, and since Coach Ken was totally a,Green Smoothie Convert" he got  a lot of people interested in it. At one point, he had the whole girls varsity Water Polo team drinking 80 quarts of green smoothie a week.

            My friends have dads who have a couple hobbies: fishing, football, and cars. I can say my dad has a health food "hobby". Because of him, our family is the healthiest family I know. The way I have described things, it may seem like we are health extremists, but it really isn't that intense. Since, I do have two hungry, growing brothers my dad will make chicken every once in a while. Also, he eats only raw when he can; it's more like a summertime thing when he has more time. But, if you ever see me at lunchtime with a canister in one hand and a plastic cup in the other, you will know green smoothies are still my lunch and life at 12:00 o'clock in the afternoon.