Time Bomb by Nigel Hinton COA # 2

                   After reading the second half of my coming of age book, I started to see a lot of emotional changes within the main character Andy. There were choices made that were intentional and had meaning to coming of age. It was a lot of betrayal from the adults in their lives like for example their favorite teacher Ms.Carver, The Vicar, Cap, and even their parents. It shows how the 4 kids fought back in their ways with rebellion. First they didn't want to go sing for their teachers at their wedding in the town's church which got the vicar angry at them forcing them to be banned from the choir. Eventually the parents found out and they all got in trouble.

                   Rebellion is a important moment in childhood whether it is bad or good. It is like a initiation to adulthood. That wasn't the only thing Andy did. The 4 boys discovered a unexploded bomb from WWII near the big hill that they played in. It was a choice to not tell anyone about it and especially the betraying adults. The only adult that could relate to Andy and his best friend Eddie was Cap but in the end it was another betrayal. The bomb exploded seriously injuring Cap and it was so severe that he could not recover. He died and his death stayed in their mind for the rest of their lives.

 

                   Even after Andy found out about Cap betrayal, he still wanted to forgive Cap and get along like they use to but the rest of the gang thought otherwise. That was one of the features about Andy that I noticed the second half of the book. He never forgave other people like his dad for going off with another woman and making Andy keep his mouth shut. Only Cap even the horrible things he did to the other 2 gang members.

Romeo+Juliet Film Study Response

          Romeo+Juliet in the modern version was amazing. It was different than Shakespeare's original play yet it still uses the old language even though most people wouldn't exactly know what everything meant without looking it up. I noticed the hate/rivalry between the Montagues and the Capulets just from the first couple minutes of the movie with the street fight at the gas station. I think that was put there so people would get more into the movie. Baz Luhrmann included things like the lighting colors that people might not noticed like for when the camera is on Romeo, Mercutio, and other Montague side the background is usually yellow and red. For the Capulets it is usually blue like their car in the beginning. At the party the same thing happens when Romeo is at one side of the fish tank and Juliet is at the blue side. It symbolize how they are separated by the different houses.

          I think that Romeo acted too fast in the beginning. First he was depressed about Rosaline but then one look at Juliet and then he's in love again. This is just love at first sight which I believe is really dumb because how would anyone know what someone was really like, just by their appearance. He didn't even talk to her until later on. He already began kissing her not even after 10 minutes.

          

Black and White

            I just finished a book called Black and White by Paul Volponi. It is mostly about two boys Marcus and Eddie in high school that are of different skin color but they are still best friends. They are the stars of the school basketball team but in need of extra money for their senior year so they decide to rob people but Marcus was eventually caught by a man that was accidentally shot who caught a glimpse of his face. Does it mean taking the blame together or keeping your mouth shut and letting your friend walk away free? That was what Marcus had to think about.

            I think that the theme of this book is that you make a lot of heart breaking choices in life and that sometimes you regret doing it but it is too late. This story discusses the differences in how African American and Caucasian people are treated in the court system. Both of them experiences the justice system differently and that shows the line that separates those too.

            Many people could connect to this book. There may have been a time when a friend took the whole blame when you got away or maybe the other way around. This has been an inspiring book especially for teenagers.

Best 3 Blogs ( at least that's what i think )

http://mmpcorparation.blogspot.com/2011/01/starry-night.html

           Malik did a great job expanding on the painting of Starry Night in his poem. He included all the details in it and how he structured the whole thing. Each stanza was a different color than the other and it represented what it described. Like for example in his poem it said something about whirlpools and it was in blue text. It isn't just that the poem is good but he can make a good poem from just looking at the painting.

http://shadman1212.blogspot.com/2011/01/poison-tree-poem-response.html
          
           I really liked Shadman's response to the poem The Poison Tree. He used the 4 poetry strategy of Observe, Infer, Interpret and Extend. Shadman really unpacked the meaning of each stanza one by one and explained it. What was interesting about his response was that he said what the apple symbolizes in the poem. One thing Shadman does is that he pushes himself to write more then the minimum standards like writing only 3 paragraphs but in mostly all his responses. That is why he deserves to be in the top 3.

http://dunkkiid37.blogspot.com/2011/01/be-more-chill.html

           Paulo's blog post are good so far. He keeps a minimum of 3 paragraphs that gives a brief summary, messages, and connections. In this response to the book Be More Chill he connects it to a poem we read and  I found that interesting. Both the book and poem were similar in a way because of how both people felt about their personality. That was a good connection and I would have never thought of that.  

Poem to a painting

                                                   Starry Night

The moon lies high in the sky
It's crescent shape pierce the night
The wind swirls near the stars
Round and round the spirals go
Never ending
Gazing over
Watching

Yellow stars shining above
Night sky dark and blue
The tree towers over
In control
All is calm in the Starry Night

Poetry Response: Stopping by woods on a snowy evening

Stopping by woods on a snowy evening
by Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.   

His house is in the village though;   

He will not see me stopping here   

To watch his woods fill up with snow.   

My little horse must think it queer   

To stop without a farmhouse near   

Between the woods and frozen lake   

The darkest evening of the year.   

He gives his harness bells a shake   

To ask if there is some mistake.   

The only other sound’s the sweep   

Of easy wind and downy flake.   

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.   

But I have promises to keep,   

And miles to go before I sleep,   

And miles to go before I sleep.

I chose this poem because it was one of the poems Robert Frost wrote that I found interesting. Like his other poems it can be viewed differently by different people. He uses a regular rhyme scheme that gives it a rhythm. I've observed many things. I like how it had a meaning every line of the poem and that it was interesting that he keeps rhyming the words with the word sleep in the last stanza. I think his meaning was to say that even though the view of the woods are nice, he still has miles to go because he had promises to keep. In the first paragraph it is a bit confusing since it saids that " he will not see me stopping here " when we don't know who " he " is.

This poem saids that you should not stop and give up like he did to stare at the woods because he had promises but a long way to go. There is a deep meaning to the last 2 lines in the last stanza. I think it means that his sleep is his final sleep so he should do it before his time has gone.

Promises are easy to make but hard to keep. This poem has taught me that no matter what is standing in your way to keeping that promise, you must tried to keep on moving forward. I also think the little horse is  symbolic telling the person that it isn't time to stop yet and has to finish what he started even in the darkest evening of the year. 

Mockingjay: Do you trust? ( Spoiler Alert )

I am currently reading Mockingjay the final book of

the Hunger Games series. It is about how Katniss and 

the rebels are trying to overthrow the Capitol which is 

basically the powerful government in the city. Her home 

has been burned to the ground and that was when she 

knew she had to be the " Mockingjay " a symbol of 

rebellion to unite all of the 13 districts to fight. Everything

was going to plan until Peeta her lover was kidnapped 

by the Capitol and brainwashed to think that Katniss was 

the enemy and destroyed everything.

I think that the book's theme is loyalty. In the book Katniss

must deal with betrayal and violence against enemies, 

friends, and people who you would never think of 

doing betrayal. Even though violence, war, and surviving

is the main theme of Mockingjay, the real focus is on the

effects war has on the characters and their relationships

with one another. That could be cause of betrayal because

they know that they won't get it easy if the rebels lost.

I can connected to both sides but more to Katniss since I

have felt how it is to be betrayed by someone you care 

about. In some cases I have betrayed someone and it does

not feel good especially when you regret it.