Coming of Age Novel: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

The coming of age novel that I chose for this unit was Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Johnathon Safran Foer. This book is about a young boy, Oskar Schell, who embarks on a journey through clues that his dad left him just before being killed in 9/11. There are many factors that contribute to the unique coming-of-age of this boy, including the death of his father, how his mother decided to move on, and the irregular "support" from his family, or lack there of.

One of the reasons Oskar has had an unusual coming-of-age (so far in his life) is because of the untimely death of his father. Having lost him on the morning of September 11, it was a particularly tough time for Oskar, because his father hadn't even seen him grow up yet. Losing your father, or you mother, at a young age is sure to have a great impact on the rest of your life. I'm sure that it's tough for Oskar to have to live without his dad especially because it was his father. Oskar had a stronger connection with his father than he does with his mother because he got everything he knew from his father, and they were extremely similar in character and personality. Oskar is the kind of kid where he's extremely smart, so he always asks a lot of questions. His father was one of the single people in his life that could deal with him in a way that was playful and educational at the same time. For example, Oskar's dad is tucking him in at night when he suddenly has the need to ask random questions related to science: " "Obviously, but why is there gravity?" He said, "What do you mean why is there gravity?" "What's the reason?" "Who said there had to be a reason?" "No one did, exactly." "My question was rhetoriacal." "What's that mean?" "It means I wasn't asking for an answer, but to make a point." "What point?" "That there doesn't have to be a reason." "(pg 12-13). This is just one example of how Oskar and his dad really did have a connection that no one could replace.

Another reason that the last reason led to was Oskar's mom's moving on. Shortly after his father died, Oskar's mother started really being around this guy Ron. Ron would come to most of their dinners, be with his mom all day, go to Oskar's school events, and other things as well. Whenever Oskar asks his mother about Ron, she denies any suspected love life. For example, on page 35: " "True or false: you are in love with Ron." She put her hand with the ring on it in her hair and said, "Oskar, Ron is my friend." " But even though his mom shows no real signs of having a love life with him, I highly suspect that Oskar thinks she does, jusr because that would be the worst possible situation on her part. It was devestate Oskar if he found out that his mom was going out with another guy just after his dad had died. On one hand, you can give her a little credit for being courageous enough for trying (and maybe succeeding) to move on, even though it may not look good. But on the other hand, itd not right because it's giving Oskar the idea that she doesn't really care about his dad and doesn't think much of him dying. Oskar doesn't really know who to go to about his feelings for this because he knows that his mom won't necessarily tell him the whole truth. Oskar feels insecure about things like this so he goes crazy sometimes and doesn't make sense, or lashes out.

Im absolutely positive that Oskar Schell does not have the most pleasant experience growing up. His dad died not too long ago, and his mom seems to not care that much and want to move on (at least on the outside from Oskar's perspective). I hope that for Oskar's sake, he learns to cope with the things in his life, and I hope that he discovers what the clues have been meaning to lead him to...

Essay

"Why Trees Matter"
By Jim Robbins
nytimes.com

People may not realize how important some factors of our environment are to life. In the article Why Trees Matter, by Jim Robbins, there are many ways in which the author describes different reasons as to why trees matter.

One reason why trees are important is because they supply other animals with food. For example, something that not many people knew was that trees release an acid into the ocean that provides food for plankton. This leads to the whole food chain "thriving" more because all of the populations above the plankton are helped as well. Trees also give termites wood, and give all living things oxygen.

Another reason why trees are very important to the environment is because trees do things for our bodies. When you take a walk in the park where there are a lot of trees, the level of stress chemicals in your body decrease and the level of fighting cells in your immune system. Trees also release a lot of other chemical "clouds" that are good for you, chemicals that help the climate and our bodies. The main chemical in Apsrin comes from willow trees. Another chemical that comes from trees, taxane, has been a successful treatment of some cancers.

From this article, I've learned that we really should preserve our environment, because trees are very important to nature. People shouldn't be cutting down trees and building buildings, they should be thankful that we have such a reliable source to fix many of earths problems.

Plagiarism Questions

What did the student do wrong? What could he/she have done to include the source correctly?
The student plagiarized someone elses writing! They just copy and pasted someones work and called it their own without even citing any sources as to where they got it from. The student could have used the work they took from someone else as a quote, and then cited the website they got it from or who wrote it in the first place.

Write a sentence using the original source correctly; use a quotation or paraphrase.
"There is a peaceful essence flowing from the structures. Perhaps the cool dark colors and the fiery windows spark memories of our own warm childhood years filled with imagination of what exists in the night and dark starry skies. The center point of the town is the tall steeple of the church, reigning largely over the smaller buildings. This steeple casts down a sense of stability onto the town, and also creates a sense of size and seclusion.To the left of the painting there is a massive dark structure that develops an even greater sense of size and isolation." (A Breif Understanding of the Starry Night Paintings, unknown author).

What are at least three ways to avoid plagiarism?

1. Make sure you cite all sources if you took writing from someone else

2. Don't try to copy other people's work in the first place

3. Type what you wrote in a search box and check if it was used by someone else already

2 Favorite Blog Posts

My two favorite blog posts out of everyone on the list had to be Gabby's and Eliza's. In Gabby's post about social issues in Glass by Ellen Hopkins, I really enjoyed how she goes deeper into the story than what's just written in the book. She makes a lot of inferences and backs them up well with elaboration and textual evidence. Another thing I liked about Gabby's post was how she took different elements of her main idea and broke them up into different sections of the post, instead of just cramming them into one big paragraph. This made it a lot easier for a reader to follow and understand. In Eliza's post, I really like how she analyzes the two characters and compare-and-contrasts them. It really shows that she has a true understanding of each individual character. I also like how Eliza asks questions at the end of the post. I admire the fact that she really wants to make a connection with the reader.

In my future blog posts, I definitely will make some changes, and take pointers from these blogs. I'm going to make sure to have textual evidence at all times, and maybe even include some quotes, like Gabby. I'll elaborate with much detail but make sure to get to the point and not go off topic. To improve my blog posts I'll also try and take little pieces of the book that I'm reading (like two specific chraracters) and compare and contrast them, instead of just doing a review-like post on the whole book, like Eliza. I'll also maybe even ask questions at the end of the post about what the reader thinks.

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

Reading Response- Girl, Inturrupted [SPOILER ALERT]

I recently finished the memoir Girl, Inturrupted by Susanna Kaysen and enjoyed it thoroughly while I was away. I'm going to try and elaborate on this single question throughout, though- Why is it called "Girl,Inturrupted"?

In the end of this book, Susanna Kaysen tells a story to the reader a couple of years after she gets out of the hospital about her and her boyfriend (at the time) going to the Alexander Frick Museum:

     "When we got there I recognized it. 'Oh,' I said. 'There's a painting I love here.'

     'Only one?' he said. 'Look at these Fragonards.'
     I didn't like them. I left the Fragonards behind and walked into the hall leading to the courtyard.
     She had changed a lot in sixteen years. She was no longer urgent. In fact, she was sad. She was young and distracted, and her teacher was bearing down on her, trying to get her to pay attention. But she was looking out, looking for someone who would see her.
     This time I read the title of the painting: Girl, Inturrupted at Her Music.
     Inturrupted at her music: as my life had been inturrupted in the music of being seventeen, as her life had been, snatched and fixed on canvas: one moment made to stand still and to stand for all the other moments, whatever they would be or might have been. What life can recover from that?
     I had something to tell her now. 'I see you,' I said.
     My boyfriend found me crying in the hallway.
     'What's the matter with you?' he asked.
     'Don't you see, she's trying to get out,' I said, pointing at her.
     He looked at the painting, he looked at me, and he said, 'All you ever think about is yourself. You don't understand anything about art.' He went off to look at a Rembrandt.


This final part in the book really moved me, and I finally understood why the book's title was what it was. Susanna related to the girl in that painting. She related to her so much that they had some kind of a special connection, and she had such strong emotions towards their connection she cried over it. The little girl in the painting didn't get put in a hospital for having a personality disorder, she got inturrupted at something not so important, like practicing an instrument. But it doesn't matter- Susanna felt that girl's pain, because she knew how it felt to be inturrupted while doing something you love.

Susanna Kaysen was put into a Mental Hospital for two years for a Borderline Personality Disorder. Something that can't really be cured by pep-talks for the day and pills with funny names that make you drowsy, something that Kaysen knew all along. Yet she suffered in that home. She suffered because not only was she stuck there for two years of her life, but because she was stuck there for two years and she didn't even really need to be. Yeah, she had some issues like not talking that much or throwing a tantrum once in a while [not that other people don't], but it's not like you can just go to the doctor and have that fixed. Those things are things that are going to stick with you for life. Kaysen needed priveleges like going outside of her room, or going outside the ward. She needed to be escorted around the hospital if she needed to go to the bathroom or go to the cafeteria to eat. She was banned from the basic things in life like having a boyfriend, or seeing family.

Susanna Kaysen was a girl, inturrupted at doing...life. She was a perfectly happy seventeen-year-old, satisfied with who she was and who she thought she wanted to become. She had a boyfriend, a good family, and a life. The hospital took that all away, in the blink of an eye. It's crazy how you can just go from waking up at noon every Saturday in your own home in your own bed, to swallowing Thorazine- or another crazy pill- every night at nine o'clock because that's the mandatory time for bed everyday.

SONNET

“Untitled” by Sydney DellaRatta

Nature surrounds me like a lullaby

Whispering in my ears and singing songs

When I’m out alone I feel I can fly

But I know that time alone can’t be long

Sometimes I sit and wonder about things

On a hill, or near a tree full of life

While the sound of perfect chiming bells ring

Ridding you of all of your pain and strife

                                                   

Sitting in the forest with none but you

In the unmasked silence that blankets land

I know that I can only be so true

To reach out and give this nature my hand 

When the bright sun goes down, just as it meant,

End the day with a feeling of content

3 Poems

1. What is poetry?
Poetry is thoughts
strung together by words
Imagine flying high in the sky
A swirl of colors
The rhyme and rhythm of
future and past
to make today.


2. What happens to a dream deferred?
The angry waves of despair
sweep it away into the sea of forgotten
It sits there forever
last in line for your thoughts
Drowning in that sea next to nowhere
and no one

It will float in the sky
and never come back
And you won't even know it.


3. Edgar Degas (told by himself)
The tiny little dancer
In her pointed shoes and dress
Looks up to meet my eyes
In a moment of distress

I wonder what she'd think of me
With painted eyes so wide
She'll come and ask me who I am
I'll reluctantly confide.

Edgar Degas- "The Little Dancer of Fourteen Years"

"The Little Dancer of Fourteen Years" Degas, 1881

Edgar Degas was born in July of 1834 in Paris, France as the oldest child in his family. Degas' mother died when he was only 13 years old. He came from a wealthy family who wanted him to go into law. Even though he listened to them and did go to law school, he would often skip classes and take art class instead. But not long after, Degas knew that all he wanted to do was paint. Later he became known for painting dancers and ballerinas. Some people say that he always painted young dancers because he had somewhat of an "amorous liaison" with them, always laughing at what they had to say and "excusing them for all they do." But others think he was mainly seen as a misogynist. Later in his life (around 1871) Edgar Degas' eye sight began to slowly get worse and worse. But while his eyesight got worse, he increased the intensity in his paintings and made his art with more passion, like failing eyesight had motivated him to do even more. Degas was near blind by the last couple of years of his life, and by then was very isolated from the world. Wanting his death to be "unnoticed to the world," Degas died in September of 1917.

The piece of artwork I chose was a bronze sculpture done by him in his mid-thirties or so. The sculpture is of a fourteen year old girl who dances, and I'm pretty sure she's actually in the middle of a dance. When making this painting, Degas decided he would try something different rather than just paint like he usually did. This sculpture is modeled in wax and dressed in a real body suit, tulle skirt, stockings, shoes, and a horse hair wig.

I really like this sculpture because of the unusual elements he used to make it. Degas really went outside the boundary line of what people expected him to do, using wax and horse hair instead of oils and pastels. I read somewhere that Degas made sculptures like these because he wanted to "strip the dancers of glamour and reveal them as scrawny adolescents." This is believeable because Degas was known as a misogynist. He felt a somewhat hatred feeling towards women, and I guess wanted to expose them in any bad way possible. Even though in most of his other paintings the ballerinas all look beautiful, these sculptures are rough and harsh on the eye, and bring out a different side to the dancers that you wouldn't see right away. I think that with this sculpture Degas is trying to say that even though he's painted all of these wonderful pictures of pretty ballerinas in shows looking all perfect, this is how everyone is in the real world. He's trying to say that this is the real thing underneath everyone. This little dancer still looks beautiful, but it's raw beauty.




http://www.infoplease.com/biography/var/edgardegas.html
http://www.mezzo-mondo.com/arts/mm/degas/degas.html
http://www.notablebiographies.com/De-Du/Degas-Edgar.html

Reading Response- Paper Towns

In Paper Towns by John Green, I've noticed the peculiar relationship between Margo and Quentin. I'm only in the beginningish-middle of the book so I dont really know how it will develope, but it seems like Margo Roth Spiegelman is out of Quentin's "league" even though he has a forever-lasting, undying love for her.

When I was at the very beginning, the author clearly showed that even though Margo and Quentin are nextdoor neighbors and family friends, from when they were little Margo has now moved on to bigger and better things. I also think that the author is trying to portray that Quentin and his friends aren't exactly popular, and that Margo is at the head of the list, always going on crazy adventures with her boyfriend. I like the fact that in the beginning Quentin admires Margo greatly, even though it may be from a distance, in school. A far distance.

After the very beginning, Margo comes to Quentin's window in the middle of the night and tells him he needs to come with her on some crazy adventure of excitement and revenge. So he agrees and they end up having a really great time. At the end when they both go back home, Margo tells Quentin that she really misses hanging out with him. I like how Margo is starting to be honest with herself in saying that it's fine to still hang out with Quentin. I also like that they're becoming closer and closer of friends because I predict that maybe in the end Margo will see that he loves her and finally love him back.

I think that throughout the entire book Margo and Quentin will develope a friendship that in the end will be greater than what they started out as. I think that Margo will realize that being popular and crazy adventurous is not always the best thing. Sometimes the best thing is just being with the one person you want to be with, whether or not everyone has to know. For Margo, that one person should be Quentin, since he is already in complete love with her. I think that by the end, when she's found (she recently went missing), she will realize that Quentin is the one for her.