Blog Post #6

     So this week, I haven't gotten much further in Lets Explore Diabetes with Owls, but I have been wanting to blog about a different book. Over the summer, I read the book Will Grayson,Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan. This novel is about how two boys with the same name (Will Grayson) but very different personalities meet through a series of peculiar events. The chapters alternate between the two boys, Will Grayson, a relatively quiet guy who is just trying to get high school over with, and will grayson, a simple, depressed teen who similar to Will Grayson just wants to get through high school without killing himself.

     

      You may have noticed that I didn't capitalize the second will graysons name. In the book, David Levithan writes wills point of view in lowercase letters. In an interview in the back of the book, he explains:

      

     "The reason my will writes in lowercase is simple - that's how he sees himself. He is a lowercase person."

     I think this is an interesting method of characterization. A simple change in the format can really add to the character. This made me think: Am I a lowercase person? Or an uppercase person? I think that personally, I am somewhere in the middle. I don't really feel like I stand out in a crowd, but I also don't feel like I "blend in". Of course, there are a lot more layers to lowercase and uppercase people, but my question for you is: Are you a lowercase or uppercase person? Why? 

Blog Post #5

Book: Lets Explore Diabetes with Owls
Author: David Sedaris

     I'm about halfway done with this novel and I am really enjoying it! As I said in my last blog post, this book is a collection of narratives/essays about ordinary topics and events in the authors life. Going into this book, I didn't really know what to expect, as I had never read anything like this before, but I am pleasantly surprised! I was reading the reviews on the back and one of them really captured how I feel reading this book:
     "Quintessential Sedaris... Essays on everything from air travel to today's child-rearing techniques by a writer who's a master of pointing out the absurd in everyday life." -Craig Wilson, USA Today. 
      One reason I am really loving this read is because Mr. Sedaris is able to make mundane, everyday things comical and entertaining. He teaches his readers to appreciate the little things in life, and to pay closer attention to the world around them. I have discovered that there is a different theme in each chapter, as each chapter tells a different story. I like this because the reader can take away a countless number of lessons from this book and always finishes a chapter with a different thing to think about.

Blog Post #4

Book: Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls
Author: David Sedaris

     I have recently began reading this novel and it is unlike anything I have ever read before. This book is a collection of short narratives by Mr. David Sedaris. This is a perfect book for me to be reading right now because it ties in well with our narrative unit, and I can use the styles of this author to help make my narrative more interesting.
   
     The structure of this book is very interesting. Each chapter is a different narrative, and each one doesn't relate to the previous in any aspect. For example, by just looking at the Table of Contents, you see that the first five chapters are the following:

•  "Dentists Without Borders"
•  "Attaboy"
•  "Think Differenter"
•  "Memory Laps"
•  "A Friend in the Ghetto"

    I am very curious to see what kind of plot structure this book will have, or if it will even have a plot structure at all. So far, the book has been very humorous and I have really been enjoying this read. I can't wait to see how it turns out!

Blog Post #3

Book: Go ask Alice
Author: Anonymous


     I am nearly finished reading Go Ask Alice, and it was a very gripping novel As said on the inside cover, his book is "based on the actual diary of a fifteen-year old drug user."
     This novel takes the reader on a first-person journey of how a normal girl, who lives an ordinary, happy life with her family, who ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time, getting served a drink laced with LSD. As the story goes on, you watch as her life starts spiraling downhill as she falls into the clutches of addiction.
     There are times when I am reading this book when I find myself getting extremely frustrated with the protagonist (who's name we never learn), and times when I want nothing more than to help her. The diary structure really engages the reader and makes this book a true page-turner. My rating for this book is 4.5 out of 5 stars, and I would recommend this novel to everyone.