Blog 2

“He was just singing for the heck of it, you could tell. The cars zoomed by, brakes screeched all over the place, his parents paid no attention to him, and he kept on walking next to the curb and singing ‘If a body catch a body coming through the rye.’ It made me feel better.” This quote from chapter 16 when Holden was walking behind the poor family after church shows his compassion and observation of the things around him. “The cars zoomed by, breaks screeched” is onomatopoeia and draws attention to what’s going on around Holden. Holden is showing compassion and his caring side when he feels for the young boy whose parents are not paying any attention to him. This makes Holden feel better while he cares for the little boy.

Catcher in the Rye 9-10

Blogger option 1:

The author of Your Rattle No One Else Can Hear? uses the idea of a rattle that her car makes. She puts a greater meaning to the rattle, she compares it to a thorn in your side. “that thing that is the thorn in your side, that others can’t see or detect that you’re told to get over” (Your Rattle No One Else Can Hear?) The rattle is basically anything in your life that seems small or insignificant to other people but to it’s a big deal and a problem you need to take care of. The article is really about the burdens of your life that no one else sees as burdens. Holden’s rattle is his brother. Holden really misses his brother, we see this when he writes the story about his baseball mitt. Holden can describe Allie so easily and when he wrote about his baseball mitt Holden could easily describe it. They was Holden talks about his brother you can really tell that he misses him. “But it wasn’t just that he was the most intelligent member in the family. He was also the nicest, in lots of ways.” (Salinger 43) In a way I think Holden’s rattle is the fact that he wished he would’ve died instead of his intelligent, nice little brother. Holden doesn’t come out and say this but by the way he talks about him this seems as though this is the case. Holden doesn’t think of himself in a good positive way, he describes himself as a screw up and sort of worthless. The total opposite is how he talks about Allie, which leads us to believe that his rattle is Allie and what happened to him.

Summer Reading Entry 4

“The Eagle walked up to the podium and said, “Is everyone here?”

‘No,” I said to him. “Alaska isn’t here.”

The Eagle looked down. “Is everyone else here?”

“Alaska isn’t here!”

“Okay Miles. Thank you.”

“We can’t start without Alaska.”

The eagle looked at me. Je was crying, noiselessly. Tears just rolled from his eyes to his chin and the fell onto his corduroy pants. He stared at me, but it was not the Look of Doom. His eyes blinking the tears down his face, the Eagle looked, for all the world, sorry.

“Please, sir,” I said. “Can we please wait for Alaska?” I felt all of them staring at us, trying to understand what I now know, but didn’t quite believe.” (Green, 119)

In this quote all the students at Clear Creek Boarding School are ordered to the gym early in the morning on a school day. This is not a normal occasion and all the students know that something has happened. The night before Alaska left the campus not telling anyone why or where. Miles knows that Alaska left the campus the night before but had expected her to come back. That is why he wants to wait for Alaska. I choose this quote because it makes the reader want to know what happens next to Alaska and what The Eagle has to tell them. I know at this point in the book I did not want to stop reading and I hope this makes you want to find out too!

Summer Reading Entry 3

“The Eagle walked up to the podium and said, “Is everyone here?”

‘No,” I said to him. “Alaska isn’t here.”

The Eagle looked down. “Is everyone else here?”

“Alaska isn’t here!”

“Okay Miles. Thank you.”

“We can’t start without Alaska.”

The eagle looked at me. Je was crying, noiselessly. Tears just rolled from his eyes to his chin and the fell onto his corduroy pants. He stared at me, but it was not the Look of Doom. His eyes blinking the tears down his face, the Eagle looked, for all the world, sorry.

“Please, sir,” I said. “Can we please wait for Alaska?” I felt all of them staring at us, trying to understand what I now know, but didn’t quite believe.” (Green, 119)

In this quote all the students at Clear Creek Boarding School are ordered to the gym early in the morning on a school day. This is not a normal occasion and all the students know that something has happened. The night before Alaska left the campus not telling anyone why or where. Miles knows that Alaska left the campus the night before but had expected her to come back. That is why he wants to wait for Alaska. I choose this quote because it makes the reader want to know what happens next to Alaska and what The Eagle has to tell them. I know at this point in the book I did not want to stop reading and I hope this makes you want to find out too!

Summer Reading Entry 2

Miles is a new kid at Culver Creek Boarding School all his friends call him “Pudge”, Pudge likes to memorize peoples last words and he can determine what kind of person someone is by there last words. Pudge desperately wants to fit in somewhere and with someone. He keeps his expectations low because he knows that he won’t get hurt that way. For example his family threw a going away party for him and only two of his classmates came. He was not disappointed because of extremely low expectations. His roommate, The Colonial, puts up an act as the tough guy but really he is an accepting guy who sticks up for his friends. He accepts Pudge right away and takes him in. He also sticks up for Pudge when he gets thrown into the lake and wants to get revenge on Kevin (the guy who threw him in). Alaska is the girl that all the guys like, and she know show how to use that to her advantage. She is very moody and is very reserved; you never know what she’s going to do next. The theme that I am beginning to see is friendship. IT shows how all the characters are coming together and becoming fiends. For example The Colonial gives Pudge his nickname, which is like accepting him into his group.  This book has two chapters total. One called the “Before” and the other called “After”. I’m not sure what the significance of these two chapters are yet but I am excited to find out. 

Summer Reading Entry 1

I am reading the book Looking for Alaska by John Green. In this book there are four main characters. The first being Miles but all his friends call him “Pudge”, because of his apparent skinniness. Pudge has a thing about remembering people’s last words and can recite many famous peoples last words. His roommate, Chip, but goes by “The Colonial” because of his well-thought-out mischievous plans. The Colonial’s friend, named Alaska, is a very attractive girl that all the guys rave over, especially Pudge. She is The Colonial’s partner in crime and loves to live on the dangerous side. Next is Kevin, he is despised by these three because of the choice to duck tape Pudge up and throw him in the lake on his first night. The books major setting is ”Culver Creek Boarding School”. At Culver Creek there are dorm rooms that are unair-conditioned and very small. Many events occur at the lake in the middle of the campus. This is where the kids talk, hang out, and occasionally get thrown into. One of the major conflicts so far is the conflict between Kevin and Pudge and the rest of their friends. Mainly this problem has occurred because of Kevin’s decision to throw Pudge into the lake, where he could have died and that he peed in The Colonial’s shoes in the process. I predict that later in the book Pudge and Alaska will fall in love, even though Alaska says she’s in love with her boyfriend. You can see that she does like Pudge by her continual flirting with him. This book reminds me of another book by John Green called The Fault in Our Stars. The writing style is very similar and if you liked that book I suggest this book to you.