Reading Response- John Green [Due 1/27]

The two books that I have read by John Green were fantastic. (This post is about an author I like.)

The first book that I read by him was Looking for Alaska. This book was about how these boys (who were kind of dorks) went off to college and one of them met this girl that had an instant connection with him. It was a strange connection because she was some mysterious girl that he had just met yet the boy felt like he had known her his whole life. Her name was Alaska, and Alaska was this crazy girl with a messed-up family and a crazy outgoing attitude and strong passions for many unusual things. In the end, the boy ended up having to help her with something that's a bigger favor than anything else in the world, and the boy and Alaska end up caring for eachother more than any two people ever have. I liked this book mainly because I love how Green constructed Alaska. Even though she wasn't the main character she definitely had a stronger personality than any other character in the book. Green had her do crazy things like drunk drive and always want to take long road trips and make wax volcanoes from candles in her dorm. I thought that it would be cool to have a life like that, just freewilled and willing to do just whatever (except drunk drive, Ms. Galang!). I appreciated this because I know that it is important to an author to try and make the text and the characters somehow relate to the reader so they can understand the story better and more clearly.

The other book that I just finished for the second time was Paper Towns. This book was about something extremely similar yet so different! It was about how a boy (Quentin) and his friends were kind of nerdy in school and they all admired this one girl, Margo Spiegelman. This girl was basically Alaskas character, except she also had some insecurities about herself that she only revealed to Quentin. Towards the middle of the book Margo goes missing and leaves clues for Quentin to try and find her. Margo and Quentin too also have a strangely deep connection. The two are family friends and didn't really know each other before but after spending some time together they really "hit it off". This book was similar to Looking for Alaska in that they both have a guy main character who admires this crazy girl in a weird way, but in the end they both end up having really deep connections for eachother, and something bad happens, then its all better! (kind of)

Reading Response- Paper Towns [Due 1/6]

I just recently finished the book Paper Towns  by John Green for the second time. I had to have the story again- it was such a great read! This time I looked for something different besides the relationship between Quentin and Margo. This time through the book I noticed mostly things about Margo Roth Spiegelman and got a deeper look into her personality.

The first time I read this book I was more focused on the main plot in the story and what was going on with Quentin since he's the main character. This time around I focused in more on Margo because I knew that she's a secondary character and I wanted to pay closer attention to her and her role in the book. I noticed that in the beginning of the book when Quention and Margo don't really know eachother that well and Quentin admires Margo from afar, Margo seems like this stuck up-popular-cheerleader that always gets what she wants and has (of course) an amazing popular boyfriend who's the hottest kid in school. From far away, Margo seems like the kind of girl who would never want to be involved with someone like Quentin or people like Quentin's friends (Ben and Radar). It surprised me how weird it was between the two characters even though they had been some kind of family-friends since they were born. But Quentin totally got the wrong impression of who she was.

I think that Quentin got this wrong impression because he saw how Margo acted on the outside, but also because that's how Margo wanted to portray herself to the rest of the world. I think that Margo wanted people to think that she was this crazy outgoing girl that always gets everything she wants and has people waiting on her hand and foot because she's so pretty and popular and perfect. I'm not really sure why though. Maybe it's because she didn't want to show everyone who she really was.

I don't know the answer to this either- I don't know why Margo wouldn't want to show everyone who she really was, because personally? I like the real inside- Margo a lot better than the fake one on the outside. This "real Margo" really came out when she went missing and left clues for Quentin to find her. I think it was sweet of her to want only Quentin to find her, which he eventually does anyway. I like the Margo on the inside a lot beter!

Harlem by Langston Hughes

Harlem by Langston Hughes
 
What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over—
like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

I really like this poem by Langston Hughs because it shows different ways to think about topics that you wouldn't normally think about, like dreams. a dream is a really interesting topic to write a poem about because there are so many ways to express yourself in poetry, on top of being able to write many things about dreams. In this poem, Hughes describes what can happen when you put off something that you've been dreaming about for a while.

"Deferred" means to be put off, and not looked at for a long time. The beginning line in the poem is very good because it sets things up for the rest of the poem. What happens to a dream deferred? is also a very good opening line because it is a question, and questions make you think about a lot of things, and often bring you into the next lines of the poem.

In the first stanza, Langston Hughes gives examples of many things that a dream will do if "deferred". Hughes gives examples like "Does it dry up/ like a raison in the sun?" and "Or does it fester like a sore--/ then run?" Notice how both of these examples are also questions, like the beginning line. I think one of the techniques that Hughes used to draw the reader in was to ask the reader questions to keep them engaged and thinking. The examples from the text also have other literary devices such as personification and similes.

In the second stanza of the poem, things kind of calm down a little. He only states one this time, and its more general than the other components, so you can tell that it's more important. The fact that this line in the poem does not pose a question makes you wonder if that was the thing that the dream deferred actually does. Maybe it's what happens to a "dream deferred" in Hughes' eyes. This could keep me thinking for hours!

The last line of the poem is very mysterious, and I have to admit that it scares me a little. I've never really analyzed this line before because I didn't really think that it meant much, but from reading it over and over again I realized that this is the most important line in the poem. This line is a question again ("Or does it explode?") and it makes me wonder if dreams deferred actually do "explode". I think that this is a metaphor for that they do explode, in peoples minds. The dreams plot themselves in peoples minds when they're not thinking about them and then one day, the person realizes that they're still there, and suddenly cares when its gone, when they forget about it.

Letter to Erika

Dear Erika,

So far in Romeo and Juliet, I have to admit that I don't really understand that much. But from what I do, I can tell that there are a lot of interesting characters so far in the play (who may or may not all be considered "good"). Romeo and Juliet don't really have a big part yet, but their parents certainly do. The Capulets and the Montagues have been fighting constantly, because theres some fued that's been running in their blood for like forever. They'll flip when Romeo and Juliet are together. Besides them, people like Sampson and Gregory really disgust me, how they talk about "throwing maids against the wall" (which is reall bad in today-talk) and sound like perverts (ha). I can't wait for us to get to the Romeo-Juliet parts.

As for reading this text, I would say that it's pretty difficult. The language is all different and things can get really confusing with jokes and puns. Because I'm not familiar with most of what they're saying, it gets hard sometimes to follow along with the story line. Something that might help you is the left pages o the book- on each page it gives you a little description of words you might find hard to figure out or define. You should also try relating what's going on in the story to things that could happen today or in your life.

Overall, I'm really liking Romeo and Juliet, even though I'm only like 20 pages in. I'm sure that once I get into the story I'll enjoy and understand it even more!

                                                                                                                                   With Love,
 
                                                                                                                                         Sydney