How are the Characters Doing?

Well since you are for the most part, intelligent people or you at least have a pulse, you can guess that this post is about the characters of Lord of The Flies. So who to start out with. hmmmmm. Lets go with Piggy. In the beginning he was very talkative to Ralph and he seemed very knowledgeable. the knowledge has remained the same but he is a lot quieter now since there are a lot of boys now. That is until Ralph calls him Piggy in front of the group. Then he just loses it and yells at Ralph. That's about it for him. Moving on then. Ralph. He appears to be a laid back character who doesn't seem phased by anything. But he slowly loses that aspect as he has to take charge and be a leader for the boys. This shows his serious side as he is intent in finding out the situation they are in. To round it all out I'm going to end with Jack. Personally, I don't like him. He is the leader of the choir boys and they are all a little snobby. Since he is the leader he is like king of the snobs or something. also he is a power hungry crazy person who tries to intimidate the other boys to vote for him as leader. When they elect Ralph, he gets upset so Ralph has to appoint him as a general or something to calm him down. Even though they are kids, Jack is like a toddler. That's about it for this blog I'll see you guys next time. Oh wait, there is no next time. Alright then I'll see you next year maybe? I don't know. whatever bye.

Lord of The Flies: About the Author

Well, its been fun but we are nearing the end of blogging for the year. So on a less gloomy(or happy if you are me) note, lets talk about the author. Sir William Golding. Yeah, that's right, he is a Sir. If that doesn't give you a hint then I will just ell you. He is British and he has knighted. He was born in 1911 and he died pretty recently in 1993. He was a pretty old dude. Even though he is dead there is still a bunch of his unpublished journals lying around to be well, published. I know one was published in 2004 so i guess its like he is a ghost writer or something. Budum tssss. Yeah I know, that was a pretty corny joke. Although he is known for Lord of the Flies, he has actually written a lot of other books including his first one at the age of 23. Reading about him I have come to realize that he is a pretty fascinating guy. If you want t look into him more just go to http://www.william-golding.co.uk/life.aspx for more information about his life and his works. That's all for this post so I will see you guys late.

More Lord of the Flies

     Just read more Lord of the Flies, and its getting better. Three of the children went off to figure out if they are on an island or if they are on a part of a tropical area. Jack, Simon and Ralph go to find a high place so they can tell.I left off Ralph said,"this place it's ours". This leads me to believe that they are on an island in the middle of no were. At one point one off the boys mentioned something about an airport being blown up by an atomic bomb. This is really confusing me because only a few of the boys remember. An airport being vaporized is something that I find hard to forget but apparently for a bunch of twelve year olds, it's not. Whatever maybe I'll find out later but for now, My mind is boggled.

So far in Lord of the Flies...

     Well I just got done reading some of Lord of The Flies by William Golding, and I am really confused. To start it off, the boys are stranded on the island because they were on a plane that crashed. The plane is no were to be seen and the only survivors are a group of school boys and a group of choir boys. It gets worse. There are no adults anywhere on the island and the choir boys all have knives. What kind of choir walks around with knives? unless they are going to some sketchy neighborhood in Detroit or something(no offense Detroit) then there is no reason for this. not to mention, how did they get on a plane with knives when they wont even let you get on a plane with a melted ice pack. Yes that has actually happened to me. Its OK when its frozen but if its melted, well, that's just a big no no. What do they think I'm going to do with it, drink it? Oh right, the book. Well anyway its good they have knives because that could be useful for survival. I mean I'm probably over analyzing the knife thing but hey, that's what I do. Anyway you are probably sick of listening to me go off on random tangents about airport security so lets just dive in, head first into a summary. People like summaries right? Consider it my version of Spark Notes. Jake Notes. No that is awful. Oh how about Jake's incredibly manly lumberjack summaries. Ya that's good.

     Anyway it starts off with this boy named Ralph walking through the jungle. specifically the big gouge the plane crash made in it. He is walking along towards the beach until he sees a rustle in the jungle. It turns out to be a non-stop talking, asthmatic, plump kid who the group calls Piggy. Piggy and Ralph start talking to each other(although it is mainly just Ralph ignoring Piggy's incoherent jabbering) until they find a conch shell. Ralph picks it up and blows it like a horn. all the other boys on the island come running including the choir boys and the leader Jack. They get along and they decide to decide a chief. Jack instantly tries to claim this position but the other kids decide to vote. All of the choir boys vote for Jack and all the rest vote for Ralph, making Ralph the leader. This is about were I ended so, uh ya. That about wraps up this blog. Feel free to check out this link to the author's website. I'm sure you will find lots of great books to read.William Golding's Website

New Book. Finally.

     Well I know it has been a while and I'm now behind on my blogs but I just started reading a new book. I couldn't get the one I wanted so now I am going to read Lord of the Flies by William Golding. Lets be honest, I'm a little worried it will be boring since it was a mandatory book to teach last year but hey, why not? I needed a book to read so I found one. I have absolutely no idea what it is about but I can't knock it till I try it. I should probably read the back of the book. OK, I'm back and a read the back. basically there is this group of boys stranded together on an island. To me it seems like they are going to form a society, but with them being young boys and all, it is probably going to fail miserably and turn into utter chaos. I'm surprised that it actually doesn't sound like that bad of a book. in fact critics have said "a dizzy climax of terror" and "beautifully written, tragic and provocative". with reviews like that it is hard to turn my nose up at it.

      In the video embedded above, Golding is discussing Lord of the Flies and why he wrote it. I found that this gives some great insight to the way his mind works and why he wrote this book. He seems like he was an intelligent person. Unfortunately this British author passed away in 1993. I hope this is a good book and I'm sorry I ended on sort of a bum-you out kind of note but hey, the weather is getting warm so that's pretty great right? go outside, shoot some hoops or something I don't care what you do but enjoy the weather. I see you in my next blog, that is, if I'm not chilling outside.

Finished Incarceron

     Well as the title suggests, I have just finished Incarceron. woo go team. Anyway, I know my last blog was a little harsh on the book but I now realize I couldn't have been more wrong. the last 60-ish pages are amazing. The separate story lines get closer and closer together until there is only one large story when all of the characters collide. It is petty cool to see all of the characters from two completely separate worlds come together and to see how different they are. And who can forget plot twists. The ending of this book has surprises a plenty and you will end up with your brain in a pretzel of awesome. Everything gets cleared up but not everything is wrapped up. And that is what leads me to my next point

     What am i going to read next? Well I am probably going to read the sequel to Incarceron, Saphique. I feel like after that ending, I have to read the sequel. Maybe then I can find out what happens to Incarceron, and to the outside world. To put it blatantly, I am pumped to read Saphique and I cant wait to get it. If i can that is. What with the library being closed I don't know if i can get it right away, so who knows. Anyway that's my blog for this week I didn't want to spoil the ending in case you want to read it so, uh, ya that about wraps it up for the day. Hopefully I'll have the book by next weeks blog. Adios.

Warning: Spoilers Within

     Well I just got back from reading Incarceron and my brain is hurting. I just got to the major plot twist in the book and all I can say is wow. A prison that is alive and moves all the time is crazy enough but this, is just flat out ridiculous. I just found out that Incarceron is actually microscopic. People are shrunk down and then imprisoned so even if they did escaped it would not matter because the criminals would be too small to cause any harm. Jared was looking at some metal he took off of a gate that was believed to be Incarercon's entrance and what he say was a tiny zoo full of tiny animals. Specifically tiny lions. I am not 100% sure how I feel about this but I'm leaning towards being annoyed. It is kind of ridiculous. I mean really, a world full of people forced to act like they live in the 1700's that has lasers and giant palaces of glass and also has a microscopic, self-aware prison that moves and shifts its interior as well as makes robotic animals and cyborg people. It is a little too much for me. Some people might like this but personally, I don't think I do. Oh, and if that doesn't bother you, the inmates have a giant silver flying boat.

     Up until this the book was pretty good but know it is just falling apart by just being to confusing and ridiculous. I am pretty bummed out because I was pretty excited to read this book but it ended up to be a disappointment. Sorry if you like this book but this blog is just my opinion about the book. My negative, harsh opinion. I don't want to be a pessimist so I'll say i hope it gets better. But it probably wont this late in the book. I'm going to keep reading this book anyway in hope that it gets better but I don't know if it will. By the way you shouldn't be deterred from this book based on what I think it is still a good book. If you need something to comment about, let me know what you think about the Micro-Prison.

Character Symbols Part 2

     Hey, I did this first trimester but now the book has more characters so why not right?

     To start things off on a positive note, here is a picture of a puppy.  Unfortunately, its not just here to be cute and to get people to look at it and go "Awwwww". So lets get down to business. The character Attia is very similar to a dog. While a dog is man's best friend, Attia is like Finn's best friend. Although they aren't actually friends, Attia is grateful to Finn for saving her life. In return she has joined them on there journey to escape Incarceron. She is willing to follow Finn to her doom as well as taste his food to prevent him from being poisoned. This is important because at one point Finn is almost poisoned but Attia tastes it for him and she almost dies from the food. Spoiler, I know. This leads me to the next character, Blaize, who attempted to kill Finn and his group. He is such a downer right?

     Now there is Blaize. He is quite the shady character. He lives alone in a tower that is so high, the oxygen is thin at the top, similar to Mount Everest. Also, he owns a giant, flying, silver, pirate ship that he uses to travel in. I know, its ridiculous. When Finn and his friends were in danger of falling to their deaths, he showed up out of nowhere and saved them. Not only that but he also took them to his tower to rest and eat. This is the blue lens of the glasses; the nice side. But of course, when he finds out that Finn has the key to open Incarceron, he shifts to the red lens. The group was suspicious of him to begin with but now they are almost certain he is after the key. When they are preparing to leave Blaize has cooked them a feast and tells them they can eat what they want before they leave. Then he exits the room. This seems like a pretty nice thing to do right? Nope. Not even close. They all let there guard down and relax and then, Blam! The food is poisoned and someone is dying. So he is kind of a jerk. "As he jerked forward and caught her she crumpled, her fingers tearing at her throat. 'The apple,' she gasped. 'It's burning me!'"(Fisher 328) This is when they realize that Blaize is a murderous psycho who wants to kill all of them. So in a way he is like that thin, pasty weird guy in Lord of the Rings that makes you uncomfrotable whenever he shows up. Whats his name? Oh never mind I'm having a brain fart and I cant remember. GOLEM!! His name is Golem. Sorry got a little out of hand there. Quick, on to the next one before I lose my train of thought.

    

     Finally, there is Queen Sia. She is just like the bunny from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail". (If you haven't seen that movie, trust me you should.)  There is this cute, fluffy bunny that this wizard named Tim refers to as The Beast. The knights think it looks like a harmless bunny so they go to slay the beast and when they get close the bunny goes flying at there faces and starts biting there necks and all kinds of gruesome stuff. Its hilarious. So back to Queen Sia; she doesn't look terrifying and vicious, in fact she is small and frail. but don't let that fool you. She is a 100% power hungry, crazy person. She will do anything to trample anyone in her way and maintain her seat on the throne. In fact her family has made the kingdom or country or world that she rules (I am almost done and I still don't know) act like it is the 1700's. They dress in those weird frilly clothes and the guys were wigs with ribbons. They still use technology such as the highly advanced candle as well as the absolutely innovative "Horse and Buggy". Not to mention they even limit medicine. No joke, people die from like, the sniffles. To Sum her up, she is a dangerous control freak like the Red Queen from Alice in Wonderland. Always shouting "off with their heads!" and things of that nature.

     Well that is it for this post. I'm going to make a new one after spring break (which I am pumped for), so I'll be back then. Have fun making snow angels for those of you staying in "warm" and "exciting" state of Ohio.

My Opinion of Incarceron

     As you know if you read my blog from last trimester, I am reading Incarceron by Catherine Fisher. For those of you not in my English class last tri, I am still reading Incarceron. This book is basically about two separate story lines. One is of Finn who's is some guy who has no memory and just showed up in the prison one day. This is puzzling because nothing gets in or out of Incarceron.(if you are confused Incarceron is a prison.) The other story line is Claudia. she is the daughter of the warden of Incarceron and she lives on the outside where everybody is forced to act like it is the 1700's or something around that time, and they all dress like Benjamin Franklin and drink tea and ride horses. Claudia wants to see what is inside the prison and Finn just wants to leave. eventually their paths cross(but i cant explain how because I don't want to be a jerk and spoil it in case you want to read it) and Claudia is trying to help Finn and his friends escape the prison while also planning a government take over to over throw her soon to be mother-in-law of doom, Queen Sia. So yeah, she has a lot on her plate. I like this book. its full of conspiracies and mysteries that keep you reading so you can find out how one ends. But as soon as you do, another one appears. That's how they get you to keep reading it. It's diabolical.

     Wow I get off topic fast. Anyway where was I? Oh yeah my opinion. I think this book is a great book to read but for every set of pros there has to be at least a few cons. The book is confusing. Really confusing. There have been many times in which I find myself re-reading pages one, two even three times just to understand what just happened. Also the story is choppy. By this i mean the perspective the story is focusing on switches in like the middle of a chapter with your only warning being a fancy gray squiggly line that pretty much says, "Hey! Guess what? New story time. Oh you liked reading the other one? Well that is to bad." This can be a major bummer when something exciting happens and the story switches right as it was getting good and you have to read the boring stuff. Whenever there is action or suspense in one viewpoint there is literally nothing going on whatsoever in the other one. All in all though I would have to give this book a 42 out of 60. If big numbers hurt your head like mine, then its a seven out of ten. 42 out of 60 justs gives the illusion that I am a wizard of math or something. Anyway see you in my next blog.

What I am planning to Read Next

     After I complete the book Incarceron by Catherine Fisher I am planning to read the book John Dies at the End. I would like to read this book because a lot of my friends have read it and they have recommended it to me multiple times. it is about the story of two teenagers and as you can guess, one of them, John, dies at the end. Even thought the ending to this book is spoiled by the title the story leading up to it is supposed to be engaging as well as a little bit out there. Based on my brief knowledge and friend recommendations I cannot wait to start this book and I hope it lives up to what I have been told.

Character symbols

This cake represents Finn. I chose this because he lives in a dull world full of criminals but he has a good sense of what is right and what is wrong. He is a very complex character with multiple layers while most people are static and simple. The cake is the same way.

This classy penguin represents Keiro because he is a show off who enjoys fancy clothing. He is like this penguin because he wants to be free and fly but he just cant. he is stuck trying to join the hopeless power struggle in the prison.

Jormanric is like a tyrannosaurus because he is a large, powerful, terrifying person. he has lots of power in the prison because he intimidates anyone who doesn't support him. like the t-Rex he is the bully of his environment.

Claudia is like Rambo because has the capability to be dangerous like when she broke her father's office. she can also blend to society like when Rambo came back and lived in a town.

My Predictions

     Finn, along with his oath brother Kiero and a wise man named Gildas have opened a door that they believe leads to the exit. they have set up camp just inside of the door in a large forest of metallic trees. I believe that through the door there lies a series of challenges and tasks that will begin the long, perilous journey to the outside world. I think the metal forest will contain evil robotic woodland creatures that will get into there stuff and eat all of there food. they will probably have to overcome some challenges to escape and I believe that the prison will attempt to stop them by turning off the lights and sealing off hallways. I think this because the book previously stated that only one other person has ever escaped incarceron and that they were named Saphique who is considered to be a god among the inmates. Also more animals and people have been showing up with robotic parts instead of flesh. this suggests that the prison has a set amount of organic materials that it uses to create animals and inmates in the prison. eventually the entire prison could be full of robots. As for the other story line, I think Claudia will join the group of rebels who want to assassinate the queen because she wants to find out what happened to the people in her life who just randomly die and the leader of this group will have the answers. that is my predictions for the next couple of chapters.

Snowday Blog Post

     So far in my book Incarceron, Finn has found a crystal that he believes to be a key. they have talked to a wise person in there group of thugs and have discovered were the keyhole might be. they have fought the winglord Jormanric, who is sort of like there evil boss, and defeated him. they then traveled to the keyhole and inserted the key. As for Claudia who lives on the outside, she has snuck into her fathers office where she discovered a control area for Incarceron and a key shaped crystal that lets her see through the key that Finn has obtained. her father is unaware that she has taken the key but he is aware with the fact that she broke into his office. Claudia meets with a man named Lord Evain who appears to be a fat, awkward, noble man but is actually a member of a secret organization plotting to overthrow the queen of the nation because she is believed to have secretly had her stepson killed so her actual son could inherit the throne.

     As for Romeo and Juliet i find that a lot of the language is hard to understand and that they tend to speak an entire paragraph for something as simple as, "Hello. How are you?" this is causing me to need to read the same exchange over and over again. However i do like it when we translate a scene because it is both enjoyable and it helps me understand what is happening in each scene. I hope we continue to do these throughout the unit or at least go over what is happening in modern English. as a whole i think this is an okay unit and i am fine with continuing it.

About the Author

I am currently reading the book Incarceron by Catherine Fisher. Catherine Fisher is an award winning author and poet who has written a New York Times Best Seller. She is originally from Newport, Whales and she graduated from the University of Whales.She is known for her stories about fantasy and mythologybut she has recently started writing futuristic novels that are topping the charts around trhe globe. She currently still lives in Newport and is continuing the best selling series with Saphique, the sequel to Incarceron.

     I personally think she is an outstanding author who uses excelllent diction that makes you feel like you are there and characterization that never seems direct, but more so implied by the actions of a character and the reactions of others. She creates a unique seting for her books, one that is both futuristic and old fashioned all in one. there is the era law in the book Incarceron which makes people dress and use technology from the 1700's. She uses two main characters and two viewpoints to show the life inside the prison and outside the prison. Chapter by chapter the ywo characters get closer to discovering each other's world. all of this demonstrates her ability to create novels that dominate thier field. all in all i highly recommend that you pick up a book by Catherine Fisher because you will be in for one of the best stories of the decade.