Alaska's Labyrinth

Throughout the story, Alaska constantly brings up the idea of a labyrinth or a 'maze of life'. For example, the quote, "Jesus, I’m not going to be one of those people who sits around talking about what they’re gonna do. I’m just going to do it. Imagining the future is a kind of nostalgia. ... You spend your whole life stuck in the labyrinth, thinking about how you’ll escape it one day, and how awesome it will be, and imagining that future keeps you going, but you never do it. You just use the future to escape the present" (Green 240). Many instances in the story Alaska mentions the uncertainty of how to escape the labyrinth and even the uncertainty to understand what the labyrinth is. In my opinion, each character has his or her own labyrinth constricting their life. Each one must recognize the labyrinth and try to escape it. Not each character is able to escape it in a constructive way, for example, Alaska 'commits suicide' before she truly gets to discover her life's labyrinth.

Alaska's Smoking Habit = Suicide?

The main characters smoke cigarets as if it was a fountain of nutrition. This becomes a main "theme" in the book. The characters smoke when they are upset, happy, or just together having fun. It is an outlet for most of the kids - a way to channel their thoughts and emotions.

At one point in the story, Alaska says, "You smoke to enjoy it, I smoke to die" (Green 167). This posed a question for Pudge and The Colonel, after the death, because it made it seem as though the death was a suicide. However, there were also other traits that cause the death to appear as an accident.

The book never quite answers wether it was a suicide or accident - however I have my speculations. I am sure other people who have read the novel have different opinions. The ending is left up to interpretation which I thought was both good and annoying.

IR book post (12/8)

In the story of Looking for Alaska, one of the main character dies in a tragic drunk driving car accident. As I mention before, the event reminds me of One Bad Decision.

Besides the event of the death, the devastating aftermath of the death of a loved one is accurately portrayed in the book. When a loved one dies, it is difficult to concentrate on how the death affects others because you are overwhelmed with your own feelings and thoughts; however, getting an outside view of how each character reacts to the death differently helps me understand. Some people react very extremely to the death of a loved on, while others become withdrawn and reserved. The people who did not know the character, who died, very well gave their sympathy to the others but they soon forgot and moved on with their lives.

Next time something devastating occurs in life, try to think more about the others who were also affected along with yourself. If you all join together and help each other out and comfort each other, you will be able to remember, love, and move on more easily together!

IR book post (11/30)

I have finished reading the book. My overall opinion is that it is very interesting. The book incorporates drugs, alcohol, sex, and pranks. One of the main characters is a kid who lead a boring life in his first two years of high school. He did not have many friends and did not have fun. His junior year of high school he decided to go to boarding school. Here he meets new people and makes new friends. His life takes a dramatic turn, when he becomes involved in drugs and a group of kids who like to play pranks.

This main character reminds me of a friend. He was very innocent and worked very hard in school. However, once he got to college, he began to hang with the wrong crowd. Drugs, alcohol, and sex began to take its tole on him. In high school, he always used to tell me, "just have fun". I honored and respected that quote, however, you can't party too hard or else the consequences seen in Looking for Alaska may become a reality in your life too.

Ind reading post (11/24)

The book that I chose to read is called Looking for Alaska, by John Green. As of today, I am more than half way done with the novel and so far it is phenomenal. The story line is good and it is very well written. The book encompasses all areas of the emotion spectrum; one second I am laughing and the next I am hit with a bomb filled with sorrows. The twists and turns seem predicable, but then the story takes a nose dive in a direction I never saw coming. The plot keeps me "on the edge of my seat" and I am curious to see how it will all end.

In the story, the main character dies from driving drunk. This reminded me of the "one bad decision" story about a boy who was badly injured while driving intoxicated.

http://www.onebaddecision.com/onebaddecision/home.html

I strongly recommend the book to anyone who is looking for a story about a junior's journey through the social aspects of life in boarding school. It encompasses drugs, drinking, sex, death, and all the fun of being a teenager.

Ind reading post

Title: Looking for Alaska

Author: John Green

I picked this book because it sounds like an interesting tale of a boy who had a very boring life until he went to boarding school his junior year. There, he met a girl who he fell in love with and became involved in drugs and alcohol.

I do not necessarily anticipate LEARNING anything from it, however, it looks like an interesting read.

Google Reader Assignment #1 (cont.)

Article #2 Analysis:

Capitalism: A Love Story Greed Is Good? He Begs to Differ

Opening: The author starts off the article by portraying 'capitalism' as a person, by using the statement, “He might have had a crush on capitalism early on, yet anyone who thinks that the two have been on friendly terms for a while hasn’t been paying attention.” This allows the reader to related to the 'relationship' between Michael Moore and capitalism to their own experiences. In the opening, the author also mentions other films that Michael Moore has participated in. This allows the reader to get a background on what Moore is involved in and his person opinions. In addition, the purpose of this writing piece is to review on a new movie by Moore about his view on capitalism. By mentioning Moore's other films, it allows the reader to actively determine if this may be a movie that would interest him or her.

Word Choice: The vocabulary that the author uses in this article represent higher reading level. It gives the reader a challenge by introducing unique words, however the words are not at such an advanced level that the article is difficult to follow. For example, the quote, “His timing couldn’t be better, as the headlines and innumerable journalists, politicians, bloggers, tea partiers, talk-show bloviators and millions of unemployed, underemployed, fed-up and freaked-out citizens are making clear” easily paint a picture of how important and relevant the topic of his film is to ordinary citizens.

Closing: The author closes the article by wrapping up his thoughts as well as the point of the movie. In this, the author adds some quotes from the movie and from people who reviewed the movie. This makes the film seem very interesting and relatable. The movie deals with a common concern of today's people, and the author of this article did an excellent job of portraying the films importance. I for one, will definitely be purchasing a ticket for this film!

Google Reader Assignment #1

Article 1 Analysis:

SOLAR ENERGY

Opening: The author begins the writing piece with the quote, "From magnifying glasses to steam engines, scientists through the centuries have found innovative ways to harness the power of the sun. " An opening such as this, helps the reader easily relate something complicated and new-aged to items that he or she may handle or observe on a day-to-day basis.

Word Choice: " Solar power is more entrenched in European countries." - The author choses to use the word 'entrenched', instead of a common word such as established. This word choice makes the piece more interesting and unique.

Explanations: Because this article is more technical writing, rather than creative writing, there are many instances when certain word phrases are used which must be properly explained. For example the author explains what 'concentrating solar power' and 'photovoltaic panels' are so that the reader can easily follow along in the article.

Closing: I found it odd, but this article does not have a proper closing. The author ends the article with the sentence, "Solar energy is also used to heat water and pools — and of course a properly designed house will optimize the light and heat qualities of as it floods through the windows." I believe that any writing piece, no matter how scientific, should still contain a clever and interesting conclusion. Maybe the author could have suggested some ways that Solar Power could be our next major energy source.