The book I just started.

           I just started to read a book called "Bang" by Sharon G. Flake and it is very interesting. The main character, Mann, who is only 13 is dealing w/ more deaths and life problems than most go through in their whole lifetime. His younger  brother was shot and killed and has been on Mann's mind for years. But his father is no help. He tells Mann not to cry about it and to "man up" because he is gone now and is never coming back again. 

What kind of father is he?!!! 

           I feel that, that is the thing that's some people don't understand. Just because  a person is dead does not mean that he is actually gone. My grandpa died about a year and a half ago and he is still always in my prayers and my family always remembers him and what we have been through together. 

           Even though Mann's father can't read this I would like to tell him to go kiss a tree or something because Mann is just 13 and he can cry if he wants to. Even I cry sometimes, especially if I get kicked in my leg, DEAD.! (you figure it out). Anyways, I think Mann should let his father know that Jason is important in his life, and he should be able to show his emotions and never forget him. Yes Mann's dad was in the army, and he had to be tough and "be a man", but that was his past. And this is his son. Why would you ever want to lose one of your own child? I would want to see my son or daughter and grow up to be some one. Because as Mann says, "little kids look funny in caskets." 
           Your life is important, whether it be to some one, or many people. And when you die, you should never be forgotten and gone.  
           Never.
           

A silly topic turns into a resisting topic.

           The book I am currently reading is called "The Devil Wears Pinstripes" yes it resembles "The Devil wears Prada" but that is not the point. It actually made me resist in the part when it said that everyone was happy that the Yankees were beaten finally. I know this sounds funny, but when you are a big baseball fan, you may find yourself getting emotionally at some points in the season. 
 
           To me, the reason why I think I resisted was because I really didn't enjoy the trash talking in the book. Even though I could handle it face to face with somebody else, it was kind of different coming from a book I guess. It's kind of like being bullied by a fictional character, and it's not that enjoyable. 

            It actually reminds me of a few incidents I had in my life (The trash talking). I remember one time, My friends started to make fun of me because of the team I liked. Thinking about it now, it makes me think about discrimination against my thoughts/ beliefs. It may be a silly topic, but if you really did deep, you may understand how it may feel.
 
             Resisting is something okay to do. Wether over a "silly" topic like this one, or a very serious topic. As long as you are able to find a deep meaning of why you resisted, it is perfectly fine.
            

Interrogation... Yes it solves the murder but does it really solve the murder

          In my book, The Rag and Bone Shop, Interrogation is starting to make me realize that it doesn't always represent justice. Sometimes it confuses others, and makes them say things that aren't true. Like in my book, Jason, the main character, is forced to say that he committed the murder of his neighbor. It seemed to me like he was being tortured by the interrogator just so he could end the case, taking credit of "solving" the murder. 

Torture,a method of inflicting pain, is one of the things that I think is a big part of the book. But it's not only in the book. Torture is something that is considered a "must" in alot of other countries (usually the result of a person's actions towards others). To me, torturing someone is not something that should be done, at all. It is cruel, mean- hearted, and just down right evil! 

Law & Order is a show I love to watch and when I read this book, I realized they do the same thing too... Most of the time, they make someone tell a lie and do not even realize that they have tortured them. They keep questioning the suspect, day after day, making their hair fall out, and making them force out a lie just so they could leave him/her alone. 

So the real question is. Interrogation... Yes it solves the murder, but does it really?    

There is always something hard going on in a book. Any, book.

      In every book, whether it be from Green Eggs and Ham to Romeo and Juliet has some type of hard thing that is going on in the book.
      I'm currently reading a book called The Rag And Bone Shop by Robert Cormier. I just started the book so I am not to sure what to think of it yet. But I do know that there is a 12 year old kid that is being questioned for the murder of his neighbor;  Alicia. I noticed that social issues is the hard thing that is going on in the book. 

      Alicia's brother is always trying to get her very emotional, and he successfully gets the most of her. This is what caused her to feel depressed before the day she died which is pretty odd to me. Jason, the 12year old kid I was talking about, has his problems too. He has been known of crying and being by himself alot. Not having any friends. And because of this, he has decided to never cry again. This is one of the reasons he is having trouble w/ the death of a special person to him(Alicia). If he let himself cry, it would be alot easier to talk about it. 

      The detectives aren't making it any easier from him too. They are constantly on his case suspecting that he might be the murderer of Alicia. This is putting A lot of pressure on Jason even though they know that he is still only 12 years old. 

      All books have one or maybe more, hard issue that is expressed in the whole entire book. So far, I find that social issues is something that is troubling the lives of some characters in the book. 

      Until I get further into the book, I won't be able to tell if there are any other issue that is troubling the characters. But so far, I am enjoying the book.

  

There is always that one character that really understands life.

              Chapter 9 pg 53: "Sure it will hurt. But so what? Pain is just a state of mind..."      "Life is Dangerous"
                                        

              Freak is the best person you could ever meet. He's smart, funny, weird (everyone is weird in their own way), and has his own personality. Note the boldness in the word own. But he is one of those people that really understands the way life works and takes advantage of what he has in life because he knows that one day, either tomorrow, tonight or even within the next minute, it will be his time.

              Its quite funny to me how Freak and I are both in the 8th grade and I'm not even thinking about life the way he is. Of course I know death is a natural part of life, but I',m not going to risk my life are to something that really isn't needed just because I know that death will eventualy come. This is why Freak is such an interesting character. Even though he is living with Morquio Syndrome which means he is never going to grow past 3ft. which is nothing to be worried about, he chooses to try and become the worlds first robotic man, making a very risky life or death situation. But hey, it is his decision.

              Charlotte from Charlottes' Web, reminds me of Freak. She understood life, and what her role in life was, and made decisions that helped others. The only thing that differs between the two of them, is that Charlotte did not want to put her life on the line. Instead she lived her life how she thought she should. 

              I guess I could understand why Freak wants to become the Worlds first robotic man, but to me, it's a bad decision. My mom and grandma are always telling me, always do the right thing  because tomorrow could be yor last day on earth and you will regret whatever bad decision. So live your life making good decisions. From "you will regret..." and on, is what I am really trying to get across. Freak should just forget about becoming the Worlds first robotic man and make good decisions so that he will be able to live his life as a kid.

              No one has two lives. Which is why we have to live our only one, as a good person who makes good decisions either to help someone else, or ourselves. Hopefully people understand that and live there life to the fullest.

             

             

Archetypes:Roles and Journeys

                During the whole entire book, my classmates an I were trying to figure out what roles did the characters play. Now that we have an understanding of the word Archetypes we were able to figure out thier roles and how their personality and actions had an effect on the type of journey the character took.
              
               Wilbur played the role of the hero. Even though it didnt seem like it at first, eventually his emotions, courage,  and reflection towards  the end of the book showed the hero inside of him. The journey he took is considered the "Loss of Innocence." This is basically a maturing story. In the beginning, middle, and most of the end you could tell he was still that helpless, fun, and immature pig that he was when Fern actually cared about him. But at the end of the book, when time started breezing by, Wilbur started to understand Life and the world around him. This was that point in the journey, where the mature part settled in.

               Charlotte had the role of the mentor. She assisted Wilbur in making him, "Some Pig." She also very much symbolized wisdom, knowledge, and experience. She also acted as a teacher, but not purposely, it was just something that happened when her use of strong vocabulary confused the mind of Wilbur. Her journey was the "Task." She had the assignment of making the web describe the pig with suitable words to stop Mr. Zuckerman from making Wilbur into bacon.

               Templeton had the role of the Shadow. He was always opposing Wilbur and at some points didnt care about if he lived, or died. The "Quest" was his journey, and did a lovely job of searching for the words that played a big role inn Wilbur's life. But nobody didnt seem to notice that he was a big part of Wilbur's life. (nobody being the animals)

               Before knowing about archetypes I didnt realize all characters have a journey or a role. I think all characters have some type of role but sometimes, its hard to figure out what it is. Before I finish this blog post, I want to add that E.B. White did a tremendous job of showing us the roles and journeys, of each,  Wilbur, Charlotte, and Templeton.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Templeton. Is he really that, bad?

Chapt.6 pg.46 "The rat had no morals, no conscience, no scruples, no decency, etc."
Chapt.9 pg.57 " Yes indeed" said Templeton "No trouble at all. Anything to oblige."
               
                According to all the animals on the barn, Templeton is the worst little creature you could ever meet. I'll try to keep the description of him, short and sweet. He has no kindness, no consideration towards others, no heart, nothing good to say, nothing to care about,(besides hurting others and his "wonderful" persona) a terrible and mean-looking expression on his face eeeveeeeery day, and never helps anyone, even if they were dying or going to die. But these are the only things that the animals think of him. They never really notice the good things about him, even if they are small. 

                All bad guys, whether from a comic book, a kids book, (Charlotte's Web) or even a Superman movie have a bit of good inside of them. Knowing this I tried to find that bit in Templeton, and I did. In chapter 9, i noticed that Templeton got out of the way of whatever he was doing, and helped Wilbur without any problem. It's funny because I remembered(while I read this part) what the animals said about him and thought they really don't see that Templeton is a good animal deep inside. Very deep inside. I also noticed a smile on his face. E.B White has been cautious of when to put a smile on his face, and when not to. The two times there was a smile on his face was in the only parts he has been helpful(besides when he helped Charlotte out). 

                This kind of reminds me of when my parents tell me, "You only hear what you want to hear." The same thing goes for the animals. They only think what they want to think, which is the reason why they don't notice those small helpful things that Templeton does.  

                The thing I have a hard time understanding is how the other animals don't realize that Templeton is one of the main reasons Wilbur is able to live another day in this unknown world. If he doesn't find those scraps and help Charlotte make a new word, Wilbur is just some nice meat and bacon. So I think Templeton is not so bad after all.   

                                                                   -Isaiah J. Russell 808

Charlotte's Web is not as "kiddie" as you think it is

Chapt.7 -"Well, I don't like to spread  bad news, but they're fattening you up because they're going to kill you, that's why."

                   I am starting to think that Wilbur does not want to be sad anymore. After all the loneliness and sadness he has been through, referring back to chapter 3 when Wilbur was sold and placed in a pile of manure to cry himself to sleep each day, he does not want to be without that person to make him feel good when he is down or upset. A Charlotte. 

                  No one wants to be in a situation where nobody wants to be your friend or nobody really cares about you so I know why he wouldn't want to be in that spot again. Like when your the new kid in school and everyone treats you like crap. All you want is someone to talk to, not to be treated like something that goes in a toilet. But if there is that one person that says things that would put you down all the time, You will be sad for a big chunk of your life. Like the goat. I went absolutely nuts when I read the part where she said they are going to kill you you know to Wilbur. Wilbur just started to feel at home, I mean, he just met Charlotte for God sakes and then she had to ruin the rest of the day with that one silly comment. Even though it does save Wilbur's life in the end, it really isn't necessary especially if you know that he is still being welcomed into the new barn and getting to know the others pretty well.It is also very clever of E.B White to add a "mean" expression in almost all the pictures with the goat in it. Just like Templeton, you can tell what kind of animal they are by the pictures. Not just the words. 
                 Right now there hasn't been any sadness in Wilbur's thoughts and conversations. Maybe because he doesn't want anything to get in the way of his happiness, and friendship with Charlotte? I'll just have to read more of the book to find out I guess.
                So far, this book has proven to be a deep book.Wilbur has shown a great character with all the expressed emotions he has shown me and my classmates, E.B White on the other hand has done a great job of telling us reader/writers that it's not a book just made for kids, it is a book about emotions, feelings, and other deep discussable topics. Which is why, Charlotte's Web isn't as "kiddie" as you think it is.




                                                                                                                                    -Isaiah J Russell 808