As I read the coming of age novel A Separate Peace, the story focused on two characters that change throughout the story. The main character Gene was a quiet young man at Devon school. He was smart and did a very good job in school. As the story went on Gene started to get more jealous of his friend Finny. Also as he talked to people about an incident he did he seemed more of an angry person towards other members of his class. Finny who is very honest and athletic, he kind of stayed the same throughout the book. When people talked to him about Gene's incident he didn't want to hear it because he didn't think Gene would do something like that. Gene in parts of the story would tell him the truth but he would not listen.
       Gene experienced alot of jealousy in this story. He had a false view of his friend Finny who was a honest kid. Gene needed to be aware of what was going on in the situation. If he knew the truth about Finny he would have really regretted it. I can tell you that Gene learned alot from this experience. This was a very tough thing for somebody like him to go through.
       The author teaches us all a lesson to be learned. He showed that jealousy can do alot to you in the inside. Many people think that when they are coming of age they have alot of opportunities. Yeah there are opportunities but there are also responsibilities. When you are coming of age you are not a child anymore you learn to do things on your own like sometimes choosing the right friends.
         I think that this book was a very good one. It taught me lot about life in general. The story also made me want to keep reading. The story in the beginning was a little boring it really changed in the middle. Reading a story like this made  me change as a person.

     Jealousy happens everywhere you go. It can happen to kids in school and it can happen to adults at work. Usually when somebody is jealous they go through changes that you can easily notice in them. When people start to get older they get a little jealous of their friends and do things that will hurt them. Jealousy happens to everybody, and it can really damage a relationship between people.
     In the book A Separate Peace by John Knowles the main character, Gene, and his friend Finny are living in a school during a world war. Gene is great in school but Finny is great in sports. As you later read through the story Gene gets a little jealous of Finny. He gets a misunderstanding of his friend Finny and does something that is really cruel. Jealousy led Gene to anger and it effected his friendship with Finny. As you read through the book you can really see the type of person that Finny and Gene are.
     In the beginning of the book Finny was very smart and friendly as a person. He got along with all of the other kids and also Finny too. Later on he starts to notice things about Finny and gets really angry about it. He looks for revenge and does something that changes Finny's life. Some of the people that effect Gene's life are Finny and the other kids they play Blitzball with.
     I remember when I was jealous of my big brother for getting things that i couldn't. I said alot of mean things to him that I didn't mean too. Also as i got older i started to get jealous of some of my friends. I also got more angrier as a person towards people. Jealousy can easily change a person easily.
 
  

I, Too, Sing America by Langston Hughes

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.

Tomorrow,
I'll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
"Eat in the kitchen,"
Then.

Besides,
They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed--

I, too, am America.

          So in this poem it shows how somebody feels towards how they are treated. He also dreams about what he will do one day that will make him feel stronger. It does not seem like he cares but inside I know what he going through. That feeling of hatred and left out, it just makes him want to show them what makes him special. He wants to show those people how beautiful he is so they can be ashamed of all the things they did to him. I see how he going this way especially as a minority.

          This poem is probably a poem about a slave who feels like a minority without able to fight back. He is the darker brother which gives me a clue about the time period its in. Also it gave me the clue of what is happening in the poem and how he feel about it. The author started the poem with "I am the darker brother" to show the readers what is happening.

        I think that this whole poem had to deal with slavery. At first he is getting treated really badly and then he shows them what he really wants to do. At the end he says "i too am america" which shows us hes american. Hes trying to say as an american he should have the same rights as all americans. All he signifies is that he is the darker brother.

       I like the way Langston Hughes wrote this poem. He starts of saying that he was the darker brother which made the reader think more deeply. Also the way Langston Hughes writes about difficult times is usually narrating which makes it interesting. He also ends the poem by saying that he is american too which made it more deep and thoughtful because he is still a minority.

            In the book Crank, the main character has some really big struggles that she has to deal with. She does drugs, has alot of relationships, and most of all she cant even control herself. The drugs changed her life so much that you couldn't tell whether Kristina was Kristina before she took the drugs. She has a baby and cant even take care of it. Her taking drugs doesn't only effect her but it also effects her family. Her mother has to start taking care of the baby and it isn't easy its one more mouth to feed. Her having relationships with too many guys is not safe and it is also embarrassing her family. Kristina and Bree are not the same people they are very different.
           In my opinion I think Kristina just went through a really tough time which many teenagers end up going to. Her having relationships and doing drugs is something that teenagers do to fit in with the crowd. As a teenager I can now really see how drugs can effect your life. I like the way Ellen Hopkins wasn't embarrassed to write about her daughter instead she showed many teenagers the right thing to do. This book inspired me alot even though it did not have the happiest ending, which made the book more unique.
           Ellen Hopkins really shows me what to do because she really experienced it and wrote about it. She also never gave up on her daughter and she ended up taking care of the baby which was really nice. I like the way Ellen Hopkins wrote the book in the point of view of Kristina which was hard for her but made the book better to read for young teenagers. I think this book should be recommended for even 7 graders. This book is very deep and I think 7 graders would be able to handle it.
           In conclusion, this book was a very good story even though it was a teaching one. It taught me alot, and influenced me to not make mistakes. This book is more influencing then commercials and movies. When you are addicted to drugs it is really hard to overcome it. The way drugs change somebody is horrific and really hard to understand.  
 

             In the movie Romeo and Juliet I liked how the weather changed really stormy when Mercutio dies. It shows how the mood changes and how everybody was feeling at the time. It was a very serious moment for the movie. Also in the movie they used different colors to show the rivalry between the Montagues and the Capulets.
 The colors were red and blue, two opposite colors. Also on the boots of Tybalt, there is a cat and that may be because of how he acts and also his emotions. The person that plays Tybalt also kind of looks like a cat. Also in the two buildings that is separated by Jesus also shows maybe how Jesus is trying to show peace between these families. Also when Romeo sits in the beach all by himself it kind of shows they type of person he is. Mainly because of the colors in the background and the setting he was in. I liked the way that the director made the scene when Romeo goes to Juliet party that really nice hall also the scene where both of them die.

http://shadman1212.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-12-13T15:41:00-08:00&max-results=7

One thing that I like about Shadmans writing is, his ability to really give his opinions on the book. He also does a very good job elaborating his thoughts and really going deep. I like how Shadman used questions at the end of his paragraph to get the reader thinking. He also really stresses a fact that he thinks is true. He really believes in his opinions and it may want to make the reader argue.


http://aboringbook.blogspot.com/2010/12/power-over-intelligance.html?showComment=1297135457033#c4293170196016862636

Reading Adams bog really makes me think alot. I like how Adam really takes a big thing and breaks it up. He is showing power and intelligence and really using it as a big idea. Hes showing how different characters in his book react to these things. He also states examples of how the character shows power or intelligence


http://aregularguywiththoughts.blogspot.com/2010/12/ewwww-snape-hero.html

In Abdullahs post I really like the way he kind of questions us. He also does a question that many people don't probably agree with. Even the book author may not agree with him. He really is expressing his opinions about certain aspects of th book. This post really can start alot of conversation.

Dark Stormy days
Tree branches...
hanging down
no light
just the fog of mist
branches- evil souls
disappearance
remembering all the sad moments
Black leaves
torn fences
branches looking down at me
Dark

Mother To Son

Mother to Son

BY LANGSTON HUGHES

Well, son, I’ll tell you:

Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

It’s had tacks in it,

And splinters,

And boards torn up,

And places with no carpet on the floor—

Bare.

But all the time

I’se been a-climbin’ on,

And reachin’ landin’s,

And turnin’ corners,

And sometimes goin’ in the dark

Where there ain’t been no light.

So boy, don’t you turn back.

Don’t you set down on the steps

’Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.

Don’t you fall now—

For I’se still goin’, honey,

I’se still climbin’,

And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

The author is using visuable objects to show what his point is. He uses a mother and a son in this poem, and he makes the mother "talk" to her son. Life for me ain't been no crystal stair. Its had tacks in it, And splinters, and boards torn up, and places with no carpet on the floor. Those are some really powerful descriptive words. I can see these things in my brain, and they don't seem like good words. This poem is showing that life isn't as easy as some people may think. The mother is telling her son to never give up and that life isn't always going to go the way you want it to.

When I read this poem I really think of life. I think of all the things that I could have done right, but didn't. I also know that life isn't going to go the way I want it to. Langston Hughes is trying to tell the reader that life isn't easy. He uses the mother as someone who didn't have such a good life and she kind of tells the reader about it. She tells the reader that she never gave up and neither should we. The stairs in the poem kind of shows life as a whole. She tells her son to not set on the stairs and to keep going.

Knowing the time period of the authors poem writing it kind of says a lot. When the mother is speaking it isn't "real" English. It seems like she is not educated and that she was a slave in her time. I say this because of the way the poem is written and the point of view the mother is coming from.