The Black Pearl - Scott O'Dell

Significance
Perspective
Evidence
Connection
Supposition

Significance
This book is an important book because it teaches responsability and ownership. The theme that the author chose to write about is that just because you become popular to some people, doesn't mean you won't have people that are not fans of yours. In this book, the boy finds the largest black pearl in the town, and most of the people praise him and like him, but there is one man who doesn't like him and threatens him with his life to show where he found the pearl. the boy leads him to where he found the pearl. In the end, the manta diablo makes a wave so big that the man and everything else get washed over board- everything except for the boy and the black pearl. I chose to read this book because I knew that I enjoyed reading two of Scott O'Dell's other books, so I assumed that this book would be good as well.

Perspective
This book was written by Scott O'Dell. He wrote the story from the boy's perspective. If I had to explain this book to a third grader, I would probably say something like; "There was this boy who worked at a pearl shop. One day, he went into the ocean to look for pearls, and he found a black pearl the size of a small soccer ball! There was a man who wanted to know where the boy found that pearl, that way he could find some just like it. He made the boy take him to the place where he found the pearl. The monster, that lived in the place where the boy found the pearl, came up and washed the man overboard. The boy and the black pearl were the only things that survived. THE END. :-)

Evidence
The argument that the author is trying to make in this story, is that just because you become popular to some people, doesn't mean you won't have people that are not fans of yours. The author supports this argument by adding in clues throughout the story.

Connection
This book does not apply to me because I have never had an experience like this before because I am not someone who ever goes pearl diving. I also don't know anyone else who can relate to this because I don't know anyone who is a pearl diver. (Iwill not write anymore because this book doesn't sonnectto me at all.)

Supposition
I predict that in the next book, the boy will go back and find a bunch more black pearls and even bigger than the first one. If this took place in the 1500's, than the situation would be much different. For example; Instead of living in a luxurious house, the boy might have lived in a cottage or something.

Tuesdays with Morrie - Mitch Albom

Significance
Perspective
Evidence
Connection
Supposition

Significance
This book is an important book because it teaches a few major life lessons. It teaches throughout the book that nobody is or needs to be perfect. Or a more familiar way of saying that is "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." Because of all the lessons in this story, there is a lot of advice in here for anybody who is willing to read the book and have an open mind about what the story is trying to tell them. The theme that the author chose to write about is that you can always teach a dog new tricks. In other words, just because you have been living a certain way for your whole life, you can always learn and adjust to a new way of living. It wasn't my choice to read this book, my dad made me read it. His goal was for the book to make me cry, and he succeeded because at the end of the book I was practically sobbing it was ridiculous.

Perspective
This book was written by Mitch Albom, but it is hard to say what perspective he was coming from. This is because it is a completely true story from his youth, and he wrote it by listening to the tape recordings he had from recording every Tuesday's conversation with Morrie. I would have also written it in this format, because it would make the whole story true, and it would be more meaningful because it was all true. If I had to explain this book to a third grader, I would say; "This book is a true story about an old man and one of his old students, who get together every Tuesday to talk about life."

Evidence
Morrie had been trying to make an argument throughout the whole story; to live life- not be afraid of it. There has been plenty of proof of this in the book. For example; Each chapter has been a different life lesson, like "family," "emotions,"
"The Fear of Aging," "Love," "Money," "Culture," "Forgiveness," "Marriage," and "The Perfect Day." In all of these chapters Morrie and Mitch talk about things that matter to them. They also talked about the influence of the media and the way it is brainwashing people. I completely agree with what Morrie was trying to say because I agree with him about most of the things that they talked about.

Connection
This book does not apply to me because I have never had an experience like this before because I have never known anybody like Morrie before. My opinion probably will not effect other people, but one way it may effect others is that they will read this blog entry and be inspired to read the book. Just like when you go to rent a movie, you don't buy it without reading reviews and ratings on line first. Or maybe if somebody already read the book they might agree with my opinion or disagree with it.This book inspired me to read more of Mitch Albom's books, and to try reading more books in this same genre.

Supposition
I predict that if there was going to be a sequal to this story, it would be about Mitch's life, and him teaching his children and grand-children what Morrie taught him. Or maybe it would be about Mitch turning his whole experience into a book. If this took place in a different time frame, things would change a lot. For example; they wouldn't be meeting at an aprtment, they would be meeting at a small hut if it was hundreds of years ago. Also, Morrie probably would have died more painfully, and faster because there wouldn't have been any medicin for him to take.

Flipped - Wendelin Van Draanen

Significance
Perspective
Evidence
Connection
Supposition

Significance
This book is about Juli and Bryce. Juli has had a crush on Bryce since he moved in across the street from her in the second grade. Bryce has never had anything close to a friendship with her because he really doesn't like her at all. This story is told from both Juli and Bryce's perspectives on how things happened. This is and important story because it teaches a lesson that there are always two different sides to a story, so before you go believing one story, you'd better listen to the other. It is also important because there are alot of situations in this book that everybody goes through at some point in their life, and this shows that when and if
you are ever going through something, there is always somebody else who is going through the same things as you and they know how you feel. Besides that, there are a couple more things that somebody could take from this book. For example; when somebody says something rude, and you know it is rude, always speak up for yourself because being truthful about how you feel is important if you want a guilt free relationship with somebody. Also because it is always the smarter choice when you are trying to be the bigger person. (And the better person.) (I couldn't chose wether to say bigger or better so, Mr. Strong, if you read this can you leave a comment on it and say if you think it should be "bigger" or "better")

Perspective
This book was written by Wedelin Van Draanen, and this book was written a few years ago. This book was written by a very specific perspective. That is because she writes from two different people's points of view, which causes her to have to be able to be open to seeing things from more than one perspective. Not only is she writing from two different perspectives, but she is also writing from the perspectives of a boy and a girl. This was probably a challenge to her because she is only a girl, and she chose to write half of her story from a boy's point of view. If I had to explain this book to a third grader I would say, "This is a book about a girl who has had a huge crush on this guy who does not like her. Throughout the book, the story switches back and forth from the way the guy sees things happening, to the way the girl sees things happening." (Or something like that.)

Evidence
The argument the author seems to be trying to make in this story is that even if one person is absolutely sure about something, you always have to listen to what everybody else has to say before you make any kind of decision. The reason I think this is because throughout the book it switches back and forth between Juli and Bryce, and as you read along, you notice that even though they are both talking about the exact same thing, they have totally different opinions on how it happened. I completely agree with the argument that the author is trying to make.

Connection
I can totally relate to this story. This is because I have had a few major crushes on guys, where they didn't like me back. I guess now that I think about it they probably thought of me the same way tht Bryce thought of Juli. While I thought of them like Juli thought of Bryce. This book has inspired me to read more books where it is written from two different perspectives. I also have been somewhat inspired to just read more books that aren't what I would normally chose. This is because I usually read books that are by one author and from one series, but trying something new every once in a while is nice.

Supposition
I can make a prediction about what might be in the sequal of this book. I think that now that Juli sees that she might have a crush on Bryce again, and Bryce pretty much has a crush on Juli, I think that they are going to get together and be girlfriend and boyfriend for a while and live happily ever after. If we applied this story to a different situation, everything would be totally different. For example; if this story took place in New York City, instead of a country town, maybe some of the main events would've happened in that scenery instead of 'by the apple tree across the way.' If this book took place in a different time period, like the 1500's, the way that everybody spoke would probably be a lot different, and the clothing would be different.

go to my Digital Portfolio!

students.htmma.hightechhigh.org/~efine

this link is for you to be able to see my DP. (DP- Digital Portfolio)

...........................

or if you want to go straight to my humanities class page, ...

http://students.htmma.hightechhigh.org/~efine/7th%20Humanities.html


enjoy!
~emily

Peeps - Scott Westerfeld

Significance
Perspective
Evidence
Connection
Supposition

Significance
This isn't any ordinary story about creatures and vampires, this book is about disease. Now at first you may think this book is about vampires, but get real, there is no such thing as blood sucking, reflectionless, shape shifting creatures. These are just ordinary people, except there are parasites living in them. These parasites live in the stomachs of infected people who are called peeps for short. Although this fact was proven wrong at the end of the book, the only way to spread the disease was by STD. (you get the idea.)
This book is important because it proves the importance of teamwork. It is also important because it shows a lot of situations where you need to not only be smart, but to be clever also, and you can't get through life only by being smart. This book could have advice for a lot of people because of those reasons, and also because it shows alot about dealing with certain friendships in some cases. The author's theme that he chose to write about is very interesting and probably took alot of creativity, and it also prbably took alot of time to write because of what a jurassic idea he chose. I decided to read this book because... well the truth is my mom made me so I was forced to read it.

Perspective
This book was written by Scott Westerfeld. The way the author wrote this book was from a very specific point of view. His point of view is more towards "the evil side should win" compared to most authors who try to make the good guys win. This point of view effects the outcome of the book because sometimes the bad guy was winning, but if the bad guy won completely, it would have completely changed the story. I have a bias against the character, Lacey. This is because I don't really like the way she talks, and she is also really bad at handling relationships.

Evidence
The argument that the author is trying to make is that peeps are not like some type of mysterious creature that lurks around at night sucking people's blood. They are merely humans that have parasites living inside of them, causing them to eat twice as much. Another point that the author is trying to make is that just because they are different, doesn't mean they should be treated differently than any other person. I can prove this because there have been some incidences where it shows this. For example: One time, Lace realized that Cal Thompson, the main character, was a peep, she left him just because of that. I agree with the argument that the author is trying to tell me in the story. This is because I feel it is important that people realize that everybody is equal and should be treated equal as well.

Connection
This book was written a few years ago. I think this effects the results of the story. (I will explain more in depth once I get into the "supposition" paragraph.) This is a fictional book, so it doesn't exactly effect our lives. This book does connect to us though. There are a few ways that it connects to us- one way is that many times a day we have problems to work out that we need more than one person to accomplish. That is where we mostly connect to the story; teamwork. In the future, this piece of writing might have inspired me to read more fictional books than I do at the moment, or maybe just to encourage that by reading more books written by Scott Westerfeld.

Supposition
A prediction that I can make from this story is that in the next book in the series, there will be more peeps- maybe enough to fight back and kill the giant worm (the "bad guy").If we applied this book to a new situation, the product of the story would be much much different than what it turs out to be in this case. For example; if this book took place underwater, than the people/peeps would probably be mermaids/mermen, and the giant worm would probably be like a shark or something. If this book took place in a different time periiod, say, the 1300's, the clothing would be different and the way that everybody spoke would probably be a lot different.

The Secret Language Of Girls - by Frances O'Roark Dowell

Significance
Perspective
Evidence
Connection
Supposition

Significance
This book is about two girls named Marylin and Kate. These to eleven year old girls have been best friends for as long as they can remember- well, that is until the new girl moved in across the street. Flannery was a grade older than them, and acted as if the whole world revolved around her. Kate immediately realized Flannery was not her type of friend, but Marilyn thought differently. Marilyn started to hang out more with Flannery than Kate, and also started treating Kate is if she didn't exist.
This book is important because it's like a how-to book for when you are in that type of sutuation. And for a lot of people, this book could probably help them solve their problems. I chose to read this book for December because one of my friends read it and suggested that I should read it as well. It looked interesting so I decided I would try it out.

Perspective
The author of this book is Francis O'Roark Dowell. She wrote this book in 2005. If this book was written by a guy, then the story might be a little bit different because maybe the main character would have been a boy. If i had to explain this book to a third grader, then I would probably say something like, "Kate and Marilyn were best friends. They had always been best friends, until Flannery moved into the house across the street and ruined their friendship..."
The way that Kate overcomes her problem of Marilyn being friends with Flannery, is that she just tries to make new friends at school instead of only trying to be Marilyn's friend again.

Evidence
The argument that the author seems to be trying to make is that Marilyn made a bad dicision to be friends with Flannery, and Kate needs to realize that it isn't her own fault, but if she tries to be friends with her again, it wouldn't be the same. The author has shown her support for her argument by sneeking in small gestures from Flannery to Kate, showing how rude Flannery not only is her self, but how what she is turning Marilyn into. In my opinion, I completely agree with the author's argument.

Connection
I know that personally, I cannot relate to this situation. Even though I have experienced the opposite, which is when my best friend that lived down the street moved all the way to Colorado. But I do know that this book does relate to today's world because people move around all the time, and alot of people can relate to either when they were the new kid, or a new kid moved in This book has inspired me to read more books about real people and real things that happen to them. Or maybe just to read more books by Francis O'Roark Doewll.

Supposition
I predict that in the next book, there will bea new girl that moves in but she is nice. Then Kate and Marilyn will have a completely different situation to deal with. If this story was about two boys that were best friends and a new boy moved in, then the story would be completely different. For example, there might be more physical instead of emotional fights.

The Secret Life Of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd

S.P.E.C.S.
Significance
Perspective
Evidence
Connection
Supposition


Significance
This book is about a white girl named lily. Her mother died when she was very young. Her father, T. Ray, told lily that she killed her own mother. T. Ray never treated Lily well in the first place, so Lily decided to run away with her housekeeper, Rosaleen. (Rosaleen is a colored woman.) This is an important book because it sort of teaches a lesson abou racism. It also shows that people should not shape their lives around what they hear from other people. A reader could take a thing or two from reading this book. Those that I just mentioned, and that they should also "never judge a book by it's cover."

Perspactive
This book, The Secret Life Of Bees, was written by Sue Monk Kidd. It was written pretty recent times. This book was told first person. The author is a female, but I don't think that her gender would have effected her work. I mean I guess of the author was a male, then maybe the main character would have been a boy or something. If the person reading this book was a black person, then they may feel differently about the way the book is written because there is alot about white people being against black people. So if a black person were reading this, they may feel offended by the book.

Evidence
It seems like the author's argument is more on the side of not being so against black people. There are facts in this book that support her argument. For example; on their journey, there are people who are completely against Rosaleen, but Lily stays by her side the whole time. And then there is the fact that the people that Lily and Rosaleen stayed with were colored people as well, but they accepted Lily whether she was black or white.

Connection
This seemed to be a very common event around the time of colored people's slavery. This event still effects us today because there are still many poeple who are racist to not only black people, but all kinds of ethnicities. I fortunatly don't know anybody who can relate to this situation, and neither can I. In my opinion, just because you have different colored skin than everybody else, doesn't mean you shouldn't have the same rights as white people. I think people should be treated with equality and respect, no matter what you ethnicity is.

Supposition
The world, in this case, would be a completely different place if Martin Luther King Junior never came around. The world might still be a world against colored people White people might still be in power over other colored people in America. If this took place in the 1500's, then the circumstances would be alot different. Instead of the police officers who took Rosaleen to jail, there would be nights in shining armor taking her away on their valiant steeds, and she would probably be beheaded.