FINAL BLOG!!!! Page #164

To be completely honest, chapter 31 is still my favorite part of the book but I've already posted about that so I guess I'll do one of my second favorite parts.

   "Dad, this is Willy, we can't go to the police station, we may not be home today, tell Mom, tell Jim's mom."
   "Willy, where are you?"
   "We got to hide. They're looking for us."
   "Who, for god's sake?"
   "I don't want you in it, Dad. You got to believe, we'll just hide one day, two, until they go away. If we came home they'd follow and hurt you or Ma or Jim's mom. I got to go."
   "Willy, don't!"
   "Oh, Dad," said Will. "Wish me luck."



   Are you a black hat? Are you a white hat? Are you willing to get pulled deep into the catacombs of an inescapable story full of mystery and magic, freaks and friendship? Do you often find yourself entranced by legends and lore dutifully and eloquently written and kept, locked up in as secrets in the pages of a good story?  If so, then I encourage you, please! By all means, pick up this book! But if not, I advise you, for your own sake and sanity, stay far, far away. For otherwise, something truly wicked will soon be coming your way.

CHAPTER 31

I'D JUST LIKE TO SAY: The fact that we have "free reign" on this post excites me more than I think it probably should on account of the fact that I've been finding most of the book as of late, very lengthy, drug out and unnecessarily wordy and figurative at all the wrong times.
That is, except for what I chose to blog about this time:

"Nothing much else happened, all the rest of that night."

   That was the entire chapter 31 of this book. I think it was an important aspect though. It clarifies that time did pass, things did happen, though things not worth telling and things we will never know. Life went on through all this madness. In a sense, I think it helped me connect to the story and characters a little more. Knowing that Will, in the midst of the chaos his life had become, still had those dull, everyday moments that we all have to suffer through. Now, this could have absolutely gone without saying, but the fact that the author did put this in here as an entire chapter (shorter than what I'm saying about it now) draws attention to the fact that this is the story of some (fictional) person's life. It makes it seem more real, more personal and more plausible.
   I also found it fairly amusing.

Page #113

Dead, dead thought Will. But live, alive! cried the machines, cried flame and fire cried mouths of crowds of livid beasts on illustrated flesh.

  So the old man's hair stood up in prickling fumes. Sparks, bled from his fingernails, dripped seething spatters on pine planks. Green simmerings wove shuttles through dead eyelids.

  The Illustrated man bent violently above the old dead dead thing, his prides of beasts drowned deep in sweat, his right hand thrust in hammering demand upon the air: Live, live.

I like how the author personifies Mr. Dark's tattoos here. It gives a sense of how many he has and how detailed they are without just saying that. Also, when he describes the electricity like that, it gives an eerie but fascinating feeling. Like Jim and Will probably felt while watching it.

#4- Pages 173-177

I'm not going to put the excerpt here because it's a couple pages long, but I'll sum it up. Mr. Dark is confronting Mr. Halloway in the parade looking for the boys. The boys are hidden close by, close enough to hear them. Mr. Dark is pretending that the boys are prizewinners and won free trips to the carnival, but Mr. Halloway's not stupid, so he pretends that he's never heard of a Will and Jim, or that they've moved to Milwaukee, or that the pictures (tattoos! Ew!) Mr. Dark showed him of the boys were of Milton Blumquist and Avery Johnson. Eventually, Mr. Dark leaves, not finding the boys hidden in the storm drain just below him.

I think this shows amazing courage on the part of poor Mr. Halloway. He knows full well that Mr. Dark can do terrible things to him if he doesn't comply, or if he finds him lying, but he still stands up for the hidden boys, even as Mr. Dark is torturing them via tattoo (again, eww!) Well done, Charles. Well done.

#3- Mirror Maze, pg 63-66

     "Never can tell-" Will could not take his eyes off the millions of blind glass- "what might be swimming around in there...."
     "Swimming!" Miss Foley laughed. "What a lovely mind you have, Willy. Well, yes, but I'm a very old fish. So..."
     "Miss Foley!"
     Miss Foley waved, poised, took a step, and vanished into the mirror ocean. They watched as she settled, wandered, sank deep, deep, and was finally dissolved grey among silver.
~~~
     "No," murmured Will. "But... anybody want to dive back in that maze?"
     Jim gazed fiercely deep into the bottomless sea, where now only the pure light glanced back at itself, held up emptiness upon emptiness beyond emptiness before their eyes.


This extended metaphor of comparing the mirror maze to an ocean works exceptionally well, because people naturally compare mirrors to water. Also, they talked a bit about how Miss Foley saw someone drowning in the mirrors, falling, sinking, someone who needed her help, and it just added to the overall ominous outlook on the story. It showed that everything is not what it seems; no, that nothing is what it seems, and everything has a darker side to it. And my friends wonder why I don't like carnivals!

Blog Post #5 (FINAL BLOG)

1.  Always title your blog post with the PAGE # (this will help others avoid reading spoilers).

2.  For your FINAL blog- you can choose ANY section from the book.

3.  Blogs will have 2 parts- Part 1:  passage from the book  Part 2:  commentary

4.  Don't forget to comment/interact with your peer's posts!

5.  You CANNOT choose the same passage as someone else- the first one to post claims it!

For your final blog, you can choose from ANY WHERE in the book.  You are going to do a sort of book review.  Your first paragraph should still be a passage from the book but your FAVORITE passage.  It might be a particularly well written section, or the most exciting part, or a great cliffhanger.  For your second paragraph you do not have to analyze this passage but rather write a paragraph long book review.  Let us know what this book is like and pitch it! If you weren't a huge fan, think about what kind of person might like to read this book.  This should be a STRONG paragraph- not a sentence or two!  

--
Ms. Melin

https://sites.google.com/site/mselmer114/

Blog Post #4 (THIRD QUARTER OF NOVEL)

1.  Always title your blog post with the PAGE # (this will help others avoid reading spoilers).

2.  You will have 4 blogs- each blog will be about a quarter of the book- this second blog should be from the THIRD QUARTER of the book.

3.  Blogs will have 2 parts- Part 1:  passage from the book  Part 2:  analysis of the passage.

4.  Don't forget to comment/interact with your peer's posts!

5.  You CANNOT choose the same passage as someone else- the first one to post claims it!

For your third blog, I'm giving you FREE REIGN.  You may post about ANYTHING.  Just make sure you pull a passage and then comment/analyze/question that passage.  Happy Spring Break!

--
Ms. Melin

https://sites.google.com/site/mselmer114/

Blog Post #3

1.  Always title your blog post with the PAGE # (this will help others avoid reading spoilers).

2.  You will have 4 blogs- each blog will be about a quarter of the book- this second blog should be from the SECOND QUARTER of the book.

3.  Blogs will have 2 parts- Part 1:  passage from the book  Part 2:  analysis of the passage.

4.  Don't forget to comment/interact with your peer's posts!

5.  You CANNOT choose the same passage as someone else- the first one to post claims it!

For your second blog, I would like you to analyze the author's use of figurative language (metaphor, simile, personification).  Some writers are extremely figurative  .  As you read the second quarter of your novel look for the BEST example of figurative language the author uses.  

In part one, write out the example of figurative language (include the surrounding text so that we can have the context of your example).  If your author uses NO figurative language in their writing- instead find a passage where the author could have used figurative language   Include the passage where the figurative language COULD have been.

In part two, explain why the figurative language was so effective.  Think about the feelings it creates in the reader, the picture it shows, or the idea it represents.  You also want to think about the figurative language IN CONTEXT.  How does the figurative language work within the scope of the story?  IF your author has no figurative language, explain how you would have incorporated it into the text OR talk about why his style works literally instead of figuratively.

--
Ms. Melin

https://sites.google.com/site/mselmer114/

White hat/Black hat Page Fifteen

"You need a white hat or a black hat book?"
"Hats?" said Will.
"Well Jim-" they perambulated, Dad running his fingers along the book spines. "He wears the black ten-gallon hats and reads books to fit. Middle name's Moriarty, right Jim? Any day now, he'll move up from Fu Manchu to Machiavelli here- medium-sized dark-fedora. Or over along to Dr. Faustus- extra large black stetson. That leaves white-hat boys to you, Will. Here's Gandhi. Next door is St. Thomas. And on the next level, well...Buddha."

This is by far my favorite part of the book so far. I know I've talked about it before but now, more in depth sort of.  What Charles Halloway means by white hats is people who tend to lean more towards the factual, peaceful, moderately exciting books and stories. (There's nothing wrong with this despite how it might sound when I try to put it into words). Black hat means people who are prone to adventure and attracted by the mystical, dangerous, and sometimes slightly mad aspects of stories. True, he describes them as specifically types of books but you can really widen it to people you know or narrow it to characters in books. I can safely say that this book is a black hat book that I am very much enjoying as of now.

I only mention breifly stuff from Chapter 3

I am a bit ashamed of myself. I forgot to set boundaries on myself while reading this and have kind of inadvertently... read the entire book. I'M SORRY! I will continue to blog as if I was still on the first quarter, though.

So, as for the author's style, I have realized that it is similar to the kind he uses in Fahrenheit 451. It seems very deep and thoughtful as well as descriptive. He seems to get into the characters' minds and makes them have thoughts that you wouldn't expect out of them. Thoughts and secrets. This is especially there in the character Charles Halloway in chapter 3. I think he proves to be my favorite character, next to the black hat wearing Jim, evil extraordinaire Mr. Dark, the menagerie of freaks... but I'm getting ahead of myself.

I also think the whole white hat/ black hat thing is fantastic. I didn't really get it at first, but then Faith explained it to me (Why am I even referring to you in the third person? You're the only other person on this blog!) and I totally get it. While I'm reading other books now (and, yes, I finished this one while reading other books) I thought about whether they wear a black hat or white and the size. I am happy to say I wear my own black hat proudly!

Overall, I like this book and can't wait for you to finish so I can talk about the better parts.

Just some comments on the story so far.

1) I just have to talk about the "White hat" and "Black hat" thing going on here. I love this so much! To be completely honest, I've been comparing characters in other books or movies and trying to figure out if they wear black hats, white hats or if their somewhere in between.
2) The part about the theater was a bit...odd.
3) I also want to know how the lighting salesman is involved in the story. I mean really involved. Right now, he just sort of floats across the line of being there and not. He shows up every couple of chapters and does something and you gather facts about him but you still don't know who he really is.

Let me know your comments!
~Faith

Blog Post #2 (First Quarter of Novel)

Blog Quick Facts:

1.  Always title your blog post with the PAGE # (this will help others avoid reading spoilers).

2.  You will have 4 blogs- each blog will be about a quarter of the book- this first blog should be from the FIRST QUARTER.

3.  Blogs will have 2 parts- Part 1:  passage from the book  Part 2:  analysis of the passage.

4.  Don't forget to comment/interact with your peer's posts!

5.  You CANNOT choose the same passage as someone else- the first one to post claims it!

For your first blog, find a passage that capture the author's STYLE of writing.  If your author is descriptive with beautiful language, find a passage from the first quarter that shows that!  For your analysis, explain the author's style using examples from the passage.  (The passage and analysis should each be at least 1 paragraph- your whole blog post should be at least 2 paragraphs).

This right here? Yeah it's Faith's blog post.

     Hi people reading this book too! I'm Faith, I'm 14 and love reading/writing, swimming, and music. I'm terrible when it comes to picking favorites but I can safely say that Confessions of a Murder Suspect by James Patterson is up on my long list of favorites (really, its more like a 100-or-something way tie). It's narration is unique and mysterious in the sense that you never know if the narrator is the criminal or just a girl missing her parents. She admits that everything she says in the story could be a lie and she's really the murderer.
      Emily, I already know you're way ahead of me in the book by day 2 so coming up with a time goal is going to be difficult. I have a long bus ride so I could try to read extra during it. When we read, we should e-mail each other where we are so we can keep up the same general pace.
   
 So, yeah! I'm really liking the book so far and looking forward to reading it with you guys!

~Faith

My Intro Thingy!

Hello, peoples! I am Emily S. of Mrs. Melin's second period. You probably know me, but maybe not. I love to read and read annoyingly fast, so don't worry about me not doing my homework. I am not exactly sure what to say on this introduction, so... Onto the next paragraph!

Like I said before, I love to read and have way too many favorite books. One of them is Inkheart, because of the descriptions and fantastic figurative language that seems effortless (and I absolutely love Dustfinger, one of the characters). It also is about books and storytelling, and how the words on the page can come to life if you try hard enough. That book has been made into a movie, and the actor who plays Mo (the main character) is so perfect for the role it's scary. I also love The Book Thief, which is about a German girl in the Holocaust and is narrated by none other than Death himself! It is rich in figurative language and makes odd comparisons seem commonplace and normal. It is, to this date, the only book that was so sad at the end, it made me cry not once, but TWICE! Those who know me know that that is a grand feat indeed. I highly recommend both.

As for a reading schedule, you can pretty much do whatever as I will be done with this book in a week regardless. I read really, really fast, so you can expect me to fulfill whatever reading goals you feel like making. Afterwards, it would be cool if we stayed as a book club and read something else together, but let's cross that bridge when we get to it, shall we?

Happy blogging everyone! Ray Bradbury is an awesome author and I hope this book is as good as the last I've read by him. Bye!

First Blog Posts (Introductions)

Today you will begin your digital discussions with your peers.  Blogging is EASY.  It really is just like posting and commenting on any other social media website.  The first thing I must do is go over again my expectations on any digital forum.  First, I can see EVERYTHING you post.  Please be responsible and respectful with your posts.  You should not have ANY text slang.  This is not a place for LOL or OMG but rather for meaningful discussion on your novel.  

That being said, I would like your first post to be more of an introduction.  In your first paragraph, introduce yourself, tell your group members something you don't think they'd know about you.  Finally, explain your all time FAVORITE book and why you enjoyed it so much.  

In your second paragraph, pitch out a suggested timeline.  Remember our goal is to finish these books 4 weeks from yesterday.  As a group, figure out how much reading is reasonable.  If your group decides they need more time, I'll take that into consideration.  If your group finishes early, you can always choose another book as a group (I have some great book sets left to pick from).  If someone in your group has already pitched a timeline that you think will work you can just agree with them!  

Finally (this may end up as homework for some of you) engage with your group mates.  I'm not requiring 1 or 2 or 3 comments but respond to their posts.  Maybe they have a similar interest or like a book that you liked.  To make these book blogs work, you must not only post, but discuss!  This will get easier once you get into the novels themselves!

Happy Blogging!