Pride and Prejudice and Zombies 12/15/14

Blog reflection for December 15, 2014

Writing Prompt: Draw a picture for what you read

          The last time I read my book, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, they were talking about a new mystery man called 'The Master' and how he was teaching the girl in the dojo. The dojo was a dojo a long time ago. Then Mrs. Bennet somehow convinced Mr. Bennet to change his dojo into a greenhouse for Mrs. Bennet. Now that the "dreadfuls" have come back, Mr. Bennet is teaching his 5 daughters different things they need to survive in the upcoming days. Since this is happening Mr. Bennet is slowly changing the 'greenhouse' back into his dojo. I don't mean he works on it everyday and makes changes and adds things. I mean he finds his weapons, such as the nunchucks and the sword, and sometimes moves a few pots or plants that are in the way of something. I don't think Mrs. Bennet will mind much anyway. At least that's what Mr. Bennet thought. Or should I say knew.

          What I drew was a picture of a greenhouse. Since the greenhouse or 'dojo' is mentioned a lot and that's where I last left off. The picture also includes a few plants such as, vines and pots with flowers. There is also five visible mats on the ground where the Bennet girls go to practice their skills. In front of the 5 mats is one mat that is placed where Mr. Bennet stands when they are in the dojo.

Pride and Prodigious and Zombies - 2 12/8/14

Blog for week of, December 8, 2014

Writing Prompt: Summarize what you just read.

Pages Read: 30-60

          When I started this book it began at a funeral for a man named Mr. Ford. During the funeral Mr. Ford raised out of his coffin. This meant he was a zombie. Mr. and Mrs. Bennet and their children were the only people that stayed. Mr. Bennet seemed unfazed by the events that were happening. The reason he was not running away like everyone else was because a thing like this happened before and it was called Dawn of the Dreadfuls (there is a whole series of Dawn of the Dreadfuls books) and this 'zombie' was called a dreadful. Sometimes they refer to them as an unmentionable. After that Mr. Bennet then told one Mary (one of his 5 daughters) to go to the shed that was in the back of the church, and get he biggest pair shears she could handle. Though Mary was getting the tool Mr. Bennet really wanted the second eldest child, Elizabeth, to kill it. In the end Mr. Bennet was the one to do the job because neither Elizabeth nor Mary could force themselves to do it.

          Once that was over the family started walking home as Mrs. Bennet was talking away. Complaining about how the dreadfuls were back and how her daughters needed to get married before it was to late and a whole bunch of other things. I can tell that Mrs. Bennet is going to be doing that throughout the whole book. Or at least until she meets her end...however that may happen. Once the family get home Mr. Bennet takes his daughters in to what he calls his dojo. He trains them by teaching them different things that are going to help them when the dreadfuls start raising from the ground and attack the world. Since they are 'proper young ladies' they are not so good with swords ad nunchucks. This causes them to have many scrapes and bruises. Having these scrapes and bruises gives Mrs. Bennet another thing to complain about. As it says in the book, "Their parents were fire married to ice, and the strain always showed.".

        At the part I am currently reading at, Lord Lumpley has come over to talk with Mr. Bennet about the dreadful incident they had witnessed the day before. Lord Lumpley fancies Jane and Jane feels the same way. Well that's what I believe from what I have read. The two younger sisters, Kitty and Lydia, also liked Lord Lumpley. Once Mr. Bennet and Lord Lumpley finished their conversation they both came into the room with the 5 girls and Mrs. Bennet. Mary brought up  the dreadfuls and Mrs. Bennet immediately said that topic was not appropriate. Then Lord Lumpley said that was the reason came here in the first place, to talk about the dreadfuls. After they talked for a while Mr. Bennet came up with a polite way to tell Lord Lumpley to leave. He sad, ""I do not wish to be rude, Sir, bit I feel it my duty to point out the time. Soon enough, the roads of Hertfordshire might not be safe even in the daytime. At nigh, I fear, you already risk disaster.". Lord Lumpley then proposes that he stay for the night just in case of any danger. In the ned he ends up leaving and goes back to his house.

The next chapter begins with Lord Lumpley waking up and getting ready to do the 'work' he needs to do for the situation that they were dealing with. It explains how he is getting ready to go one some sort of hunt. He has his sockman, drawersman, and trussmen help him get dressed. A wile after he sends a letter saying, "Hunt today-- 3 o'clock--come!" to all of the 'important men' the men show up. Reverend Mr. Cummings was also there and he had a little chat with Lord Lumpley that had to do with the dreadfuls. When the hunting party gets ready to head out Mr Bennet, Elizabeth, and Jane come up to Lord Lumpley's house riding beautiful horses. Mr. Bennet say the girls are there to join the hunting party and Lord Lumpley and Mr. Cummings are shocked. Once everyone was outside and ready Lord Lumpley announced what they were going to hunt and it wasn't foxes. They were on a hunt for dreadfuls.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies- 12/1/14

Blog for week of - December 1, 2014

Writing Prompt: Why did you choose this to read? Give at least 3 reasons.

Pages Read: 1-30

          The book I am reading is called Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. This book is about zombies, as you can probably guess form the title. Corpses raise from the dead and attack the living. Whenever I think about this book it always reminds me of my favorite TV show "The Walking Dead". This book has a setting of a long time ago. This setting causes the word choice in this book to be very confusing. I often get stuck on a word because I don't know the meaning. However this does not stop me from reading and enjoying this book.

          The number one meaning for me choosing this book to read would probably be because my mom suggested it. As I have said before I enjoy the show "The Walking Dead" so another book about zombies sounded interesting. I have seen this book many times on a book shelf located at my house, The cover of this book creeped me out at first. I would literally just stare at the book and think abut what it could be about. After staring at it many times it didn't really creep me out as much. It might sound weird but I actually find it amusing when people say "That's a creepy picture". I kind of smile to myself and say "I know" in my head.

          Another reason for me choosing this book is because I thought it was interesting. As I said before the cover creeped me out a bit. Not only did it creep me out but it also interesting me. I thought the book would be creepy and I didn't know weather or not I wanted to read. I also knew that I wanted to read it. That might sound weird or confusing but I don't really know how to explain it. I am not much of a reader s I had no plans to actually read this book.

          For quite some time I have wanted to read a horror book. This book seemed to fit in that genre so I thought "What the heck". Though the book can be confusing at times I am glad that I have chosen to read it. This books provides a a joyful experience while giving me a challenge. I hope that I will continue to find this book interesting until the end and I hope to read the other Dawn of the Dreadfuls series (which is where this book is coming from)

I Funny- Title Meaning CONTAINS SPOILER 11/17/14

Blog for week of: November 17, 2014

Writing Prompt- What is the title of what you are reading? How does it fit the story? If you

don’t know yet how it fits the story, what is your best guess?

Pages Read- beginning - end

          I have read a book called I Funny. This book is about a young boy in wheelchair who competes in the funniest kid comic contest. He is one of the winners in the first round and now gets to go onto the seconds round. His brother (technically cousin) starts a rumor that the only reason he won was because he is in a wheelchair. After that people start making fun of him and saying that he shouldn't have won and the only reason he did was because he is disabled.He then goes to the final round and then wins (now that I think about it I realize this is a big spoiler to the end).

          The main character in the book is named Jamie. Jamie often helps out his uncle at his café. When Jamie works the cash register at the café he tells jokes to the people that come up. There is one man who comes to the café often and he is German. Since this costumer is German and because he comes to the café often, Jamie tells him jokes from a certain German comedian. This man is obviously not fluent in English so instead of saying "You are funny" he says "You funny". Then Jamie starts saying "I funny" instead of "I am funny". I believe this is the cause of the title.

          All of the books in the are titled with the words I funny. Once there is a new book they add a word in the middle of I and Funny. For example, the second book is I Even Funnier and the word 'even' is added in with what I call a carrot. There is a part in the book where he is imagining himself in his school cafeteria while everybody is cheering for him and congratulating him and it's like they are have a party. He also imagines that the cafeteria workers have baked a cake for him and written on the cake is the words I funny. While you are reading and once you have read the book I Funny you realize that those words come up many times in the story.

Analyze City Of The Beasts 11/10/14

Blog for week of: November 10, 2014

Writing  Prompts: 1- Analyze the impact word choice has on the meaning or tone of a text.
2- Analyze how dialogue or specific incidents reveal information about characters.

          In the book, City Of The Beast, there are many different impacts the word choice has on the meaning of the text. In the book it says, "Alex was convinced that he had the dumbest dog in history...". This quote uses the word 'dumbest' and that is a negative connotation. Instead of saying 'dumbest' you can use the words 'not so smart' to make it have a less negative connotation. The quote also uses the word dog which has a neutral connotation.

          Another quote from my book is,"...interrupted to apologize for the prickly behavior of his daughter.". This quote uses the word 'prickly' and I believe that this word is neutral. If you were using a word such as 'stupid' then I  think that 'prickly' would have a more positive connotation in that situation.

          There is a man in the book that goes by the name of Professor Leblanc. Professor Leblanc is a man who is very narcissistic. He thinks he is the best and that he is always right. He is also constantly complementing himself on his greatness. Professor Leblanc is also very rich which I believe is another reason he is so self centered. There are many moments in the book when you realize that Professor Leblanc is this way. One is, "Leblanc shot at one one with his pistol, but César Santos managed to jar the professor's arm and spoil that shot." This quote doesn't show that Leblanc is narcissistic but it does help you realize that he doesn't mind shooting and killing animals. Once you read more of the story you will see that Leblanc has no problem firing his pistol for no reason and scaring off person or animal that might be near. You will also see how conceited Leblanc is once you read more of the story. This quote also shows that César Santos is a kind person who doesn't believe in killing animals if it is not needed. Once you read more of the story you realize the César Santos is a very kind man.

Reflections on Poe

          Before I began my research on Poe I already knew some things about him. I knew that Poe liked a not so great life when he was young. I also knew that he has written many poems and short stories. Thanks to my 6th grade Language Arts teacher, Mrs. Stamp, I am very familiar with the short story "The Raven". The things I knew about Poe are very few compared to the information that I have gained from my research. I had no idea that his parents died while he was young. Or that he had siblings. I have never really read of his stories because I didn't have an interest in them. After doing my research I am defiantly going to check that out.

         There are different ways that Poe's life could've affected his writing. Poe's early life was not  that great. Edgar Allan Poe has some dark or unhappy pieces of writing and that could be because of the rough events that he went through as a child and a young adult. An example would be "The Tale Tell Heart". "The Tale Tell Heart" is a short story about a man who kills another man because of his vulture like eye. This story doesn't give you a very happy or joyful feeling. In the first 3 years of Poe’s life his parents died causing him to live in Virginia with a rich tobacco merchant named John Allan and his Wife Prances Valentine. When Poe was 20 years old the only mother he ever knew, Frances Allan, died of tuberculosis. All of these deaths that he has gone through might be the cause of "The Tale Tell Heart".

          After doing my research on Edgar Allan Poe I have learned a lot about him. I've learned that he married his younger cousin. Which, let me just add, is weird and gross in my opinion. I also learned that he was once so poor that he had to burn his furniture to keep warm. Another thing that new that I learned is that Poe published his first book at the age of 18. Which is pretty cool if you ask me. I learned that Edgar Allan Poe Published 3 stories, “The Tell-Tale Heart”, “The Gold Bug”, and “The Black Cat”, in the same year as the first telegraph line. I knew that Edgar Allan Poe wrote those stories a long time a go and that the first telegraph line happened a long time ago, but I didn’t know they happened in the same year. I also learned that Edgar Allan Poe was in Richmond to give a lecture and see his friends in the same year as the Carolina Gold Rush. That is just a little bit of what I learned from all of my research. There is so much new knowledge in my mind it's unbelievable!

I Funny 11-3-14

Blog for week of: November 3, 2014

Writing Prompt: Describe the most important event. Give at least three reasons why you think it

is the most important event.

Pages read: beginning - end

           The book, I Funny, is about a young disabled man who wants to compete in the funniest kid contest and becoming the greatest kid comic. The young man's name is Jamie Grimm. He got in an accident when he was younger causing him to be in a wheelchair. The accident caused his parents to die which is why Jamie now lives lives with his mom's sister and her husband and son. The family he know lives with are the Smiley though they never smile. Jamie has an uncle that encourages him to compete in the funniest kid contest and Jamie does.

          I believe that the most important event in this story would be when Jamie wins the funniest kid contest and becomes the worlds funniest kid comic. One reason I think this is an important event is because the whole book basically is talking about this contest and leading up to the point where he won. First Jamie had to win a comedy contest that was held in Long Beach (which is where he lives). Once he did that he moved on to the competition is New York which was for all of the marbles. This part of the story is what it is all about and it's what you want to happen. After reading all of the things that happened before he won the contest you really have no choice but to vote for Jamie. You might find this hard to believe but the jokes in the book are actually kind of funny.

          Another reason why I think this is the most important event in the story is because it was like everybody against him and it is just nice to see (or read) that Jamie is so happy because he really has, and does, go through a lot of rough times. His brother (technically cousin) is a real bully to Jamie, in and out of school. He starts a rumor that the only reason he one the first contest was because he was in a wheel chair and the judges felt sympathy fro him. After that almost all of the kids in school were making fun of him and saying that he didn't win fairly. The only people that were not going along with everybody else in their school and were being nice to Jamie were Jamie's friends.

        A third reason why I think winning the contest was the most important event in the story is because it was the biggest event that happened in the story. The whole book was leading up to this event and if it wasn't big and/or important then it wouldn't have been at the end of the book. I also know it is the big and/or important even in the book because all throughout the book it talks about the contest and how great it is. It says how much Jamie and his family want him to win the big and important contest. Unless it is really bad they don't usually carry on talking about throughout the whole story. That's just one way that I think about it. In my opinion this and the first contest Jamie competed in was the only big events that I think are actually important. There is this one event that I think is more big than important, but due to spoilers I am not going. to name that one.