Follow and Respond

To Hannah:
I completely agree. When I tried to use sparknotes.com as a substitute for Scarlet Letter, I didn't understand the story very well. Not only did it ruin the book for me, but my grades showed my lack of understanding. When i looked up my book's summary online and got a similar site to sparknotes, it didn't even tell half the stroy. If someone read that as a substitute, they would have no understanding of the true meaning of the story. Overall, I completely agree with you, GOOD JOB! :-D

To Walker:
Walker, this really got me interested in the book. Also I was impressed by your depth of thought and use of a wide vocabulary in this. I know the feeling as well, the feeling to be impressed by your authors talent. It's amazing what someone can do with their imagination and a pecil! It blows my mind how they come up with such vivid images of a story they created, and can describe it in a perfect way to make you see it too!

To Micheal:
Michael, its interesting that you mentioned that blogging is harder. I don't agree. I think its harder if you don't try to use your time correctly. However, I completely agree that its easy to get lost behind. I was way behind on my blogs for a while. I also agree that I would rather write papers, because the formatting makes it easy to just not think about things and just write.

#21stCentury

The 21st Century English classroom is convenient and technological. Imagine being in a 1970's English classroom. Your assignment is to research Shakespeare and write down some of your favorite quotes on redemption. This is a pretty tough assignment for the 70's! You would have to go find a Shakespeare book and read until you found something on redemption, and then keep reading to find more. In modern day classrooms, I could go on the computer, go to google, and type in "Shakespeare redemption quotes", copy and paste the first few onto Microsoft word, and print. Now that's conveniently easy! Sometimes we don't realize how lucky we are.

Though blogging isn't something I particularly enjoy, I really can't complain about it. It is a good way to learn to use Internet resources, a book, and my mind to collaborate and come up with interesting things to infer in my blogs. Along with this, being in the 21st Century enables many types of communication. We can even work with a school across the state on blogging. Now that's pretty cool.

Blogging also enables us with the freedom to work at our own pace, and read at our own pace. If we read aloud in class, people would be drifting off, struggling to keep up, or just pretending to pay attention. With blogging, you have to read your own book on your own time and then talk about it. This helps shape personal responsibility in all of us and helps us learn to interpret the text individually, without the help of a teacher. Blogging makes students more independent.

Dear Mr. Silverwing...

Dear Oppel,

I have read many of your books, but most recently I read the book “Half Brother”. I admire this book not only because of my love of chimps, but that it shows the relationship that humans can share with animals. Your book takes the relationship a step further and adds communication to it. I enjoyed how you paralleled between Ben’s adolescent growth of character and maturity and Zan’s mental and physical growth. This mutual struggle to grow as an individual is part of what I think helped Zan and Ben become brothers who love each other. You did a great job showing that. Also you evaluate the average adolescent boy’s mind. I love how you make Ben’s quest to obtain the return of affection from Jennifer just another scientific project. You show how strangely he encounters his first crush, by keeping a log book. I also think his thoughts about her are hilarious. When the thought, “I had Jennifer in front of me, so close I could see the little mole under her left ear. I wanted to taste it,” I literally laughed out loud. I don’t know if you intended all of these weird thoughts coming from Ben to be comical, but they definitely made the novel more enjoyable for me. Ben’s struggle to live up to his father’s expectations was interesting as well. He never was quite sure about what to think of his dad, and they never were really on the same page. Your examination of human and animal relationship continues to impress me.

I am very impressed by your skills as an author. I have also read your “Silverwing” series and I am impressed that you can write amazing novels from such different perspectives. In “Silverwing” and the rest of the series, you took the role of Shade, the adolescent bat, took his character, and made his personality and character grow throughout the series. This made me think of you as a writer who strictly wrote from an animal’s point of view. Before reading Half Brother, I expected it to be another book from the animal’s perspective, but you surprised me and took it from the teenage boy’s point of view.  Your vast amount of imagination is incomprehensible to me in how you can come up with all of these stories, and still manage to show the connection of humans to animals. Your writing has made me think time and time again, “Do animals really feel this way?” As a result of this, I am kinder to all sorts of animals. When I found an opossum in my garage instead if thinking, “I’m going to kill this damn thing,” I thought, “He must be really cold out there.” Your examination of animal’s minds, making them more human, has led me to think entirely differently about anything that breathes. Never again will I look at an animal and think of it as just something, I’ll think of it more as one of us. Thank you for the insight.

Sincerely,

            Dylan Bird

Linkin bLogs

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7942534-half-brother
This is simply a short summary of Half Brother. It tells how Ben has to chooose betweeen obeying his father and his moral beliefs. This will effect the rest of his "brother's" life.

http://www.readingrants.org/2010/09/05/half-brother-by-kenneth-oppel/

This writer examines the parrallel between Ben's teenage growth of character and maturity and Zan's mental and physical growth. This opened my eyes to a new outlook of the book.

http://www.myreadingfrenzy.com/reading-frenzy/2011/10/half-brother-kenneth-oppel.html

This gives a readers view of the novel. It gives a different take on the story. This insight slightly changed my view on the book.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/article1723966.ece

This is a great essay on the connection of the book to real life. It also compares the book to movies and other books. One of these examples is "Planet of the Apes".

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kenneth-oppel/writing-half-brother-love_b_710856.html

This essay, by Kenneth Oppel himself, realtes Half Brother to some of his other stories. He talks about how in the past he wrote from the animals perspective. However, he wasnted to stay away from that in Half Brother.

http://www.ourhenhouse.org/2011/07/book-review-half-brother-by-kenneth-oppel/

This woman tells how Half Brother is an emotional journey of the adolensent Ben. She talks about how his views changed from cold and jealous of the monkey into a loving relationship. It changed her treatment of her animal companions as well.

http://www.feelingfictional.com/2011/01/review-half-brother-kenneth-oppel.html

This is simply a general summary of the book. This would be good for someone who is interested in reading the novel.

http://www.teenreads.com/reviews/half-brother

The writer examines the pet/owner relationship in modern day house holds. He talks about how these relationships would change if there was communication. If this was possible, things would be more like the novel.

http://fernfolio.edublogs.org/2011/04/07/half-brother-by-kenneth-oppel/

This is another summary of Half Brother. However, this one has more emphasis on Ben's love affairs than the others did. Project Jennifer is a log kept in a scientific log book that he uses to try to impress his crush, Jennifer.

http://www.books.4ish.net/2011/09/30/half-brother-kenneth-oppel/

This is a summary followed with a personal critique of the book. The critique is not as positive as I expected, but i still understand it. It explains how the author should have done a better job with connecting the character with the reader.

http://www.edgeoftheplank.com/2011/06/half-brother-by-kenneth-oppel-book.html

This is a summary with pieces of personal thoughts of Half Brother throughout. The writer reflects on Ben's emotions and how well Oppel shows them. He also talks about the book cover and has a short reflection at the end.

http://beckylevine.com/2010/11/03/kenneth-oppels-half-brother/

This page is yet another summary of the book with personal feelings on it sprinkled about. The writer talks about how parts of the book have to do with dominance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet_of_the_Apes_(1968_film)

This is a summary of the movie "Planet of the Apes", which relates to the book alot. In the movie, apes are capable of all human skills, including reading, language, government, as well as war. They have taken over the humans. Is this the fate people who don't support Project Zan afraid of?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rise_of_the_Planet_of_the_Apes

This is a summary of the movie "Rise of the Planet of the Apes", which also relates to the book very much. This is a story of how experiments with monkeys turn into an uprise of mentally excelled monkeys. The evolution of monkeys to humans is far fetched, but have you ever thought of it to be possible?

http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=riseoftheapes.htm

This is another summary of "Rise of the Planet of the Apes". In the movie, many monkeys are capable of sign language, and one of them even talks. This is a lot like in Half Brother when they try to teach Zan sign language.

Blog Reflection!!!

As second quarter blogs came around the corner my procrastinating ways started to kick in again. I did decently well on the first quarter blogs, a high B isn't a failure to me, especially with something i had never done before (blogging). I kept my blogs organized well, but time management seemed to be my greatest obstacle. I did a lot of things right on my blog, but there's always room for improvement.

My blogs could have had more creativeness, which is something I will be working on improving this quarter. Also, I need to learn to take advantage of class time rather than mess around. Blogs are much better done in class than at home. To be honest, blogging isn't my favorite thing to do. I would much rather write a paper on my book than have a whole series of blogs to work on. However, blogging is a modern and creative substitute.

I need to set my goals high for blogging this quarter. Time management, creativeness, and focusing on my work are all on my list of goals. Having these attributes would make my blogging days much easier. My book, Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel, is about a family who adoptes a baby chimp to use in an experiment, as the father is a behavorial scientist and is focusing on chimps learning a language. The son and main character, Ben, is conflicted with his feelings about the chimp at first. However, he learns to love the chimp as a brother throughout the novel. When Ben's father decides that the chimp is only an experiment, not a part of the family, Ben has to choose what he will do; listen to his father, or protect his "brother". Find out Ben's journey of moral growth and Zan's, the chimp's, fate by reading Half Brother.

NOT A SUBSTITUTE

www.goodreads.com/book/show/7942534-half-brother

This isn't a good substitute for reading the book. Reading this as a substitute doesn't let you connect to the story. The  summary lets you know about Ben's chimpanzee. However, it doesn't let you know how he feels throughout the story. It doesn't let you know how he feels about the chimpanzee, how he feels about his life, how he feels about school, or how he feels about his crush, Jennifer. All of these factors would not be known without reading the book.

The book also lets you know about things that the characters do throught the story. Without reading the novel, I wouldn't know Zan's, the chimp, first word signed in ASL. If I used an online summary rather than the book, I wouldn't be able to imagine Ben and Jennifer sitting in Ben's room listening to music. These situations both helped me better connect and understand the book. As a result, I have a better understanding of the characters and the novel in general.

Animotooooooo

Half Brother

Website list! WOHOOO

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/gatsby/

This gives an entire layout of all of the literary elements. It gives detailed explanations of all the elements

http://thebestnotes.com/booknotes/Great_Gatsby/Great_Gatsby_Fitzgerald_Study_Guide26.html

This is a "comparison of the corrupting influence of wealth to the purity of a dream." They say this is the main theme of the book.

http://www.gradesaver.com/the-great-gatsby/study-guide/major-themes/

This website gives the major themes of the book. This made me think more about the book's meaning.

http://www.shmoop.com/great-gatsby/wealth-theme.html

This explains the theme of wealth. It talks about how wealth isn't always fulfilling.

https://www.msu.edu/~millettf/gatsby.html

This is a professional complete analysis of the book. It came from a university, so it talks about advanced literary elements.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_main_theme_of_the_Great_Gatsby

This explains how the main theme of the book is the pursuit of the American dream. I disagree with this.

http://www.novelguide.com/thegreatgatsby/themeanalysis.html

This is an analysis of the theme.

http://www.enotes.com/great-gatsby/q-and-a/great-gatsby-what-theme-23121

This says the theme is the loss of the American dream and the loss of innocence

http://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1704218.html



http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090108100454AAY2iK5



http://www.online-literature.com/fitzgerald/greatgatsby/



http://www.shmoop.com/great-gatsby/dissatisfaction-theme.html



http://www.echeat.com/essay.php?t=26797



http://www.enotes.com/great-gatsby/theme-time-great-gatsby



http://www.shmoop.com/great-gatsby/gender-theme.html



http://yeetadee.edublogs.org/2010/12/14/the-great-gatsby-theme-analysis/



http://libguides.mpsaz.net/content.php?pid=98604&sid=751515



http://www.mannmuseum.com/great-gatsby-theme-and-character-anlysis-of-tom-and-daisy/



http://wjsn.home.xs4all.nl/tekst/greatgatsby.htm

Vlog!

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The Great Gatsby

Comments on Peers' Blogs

Dylan Bird said...

These pictures make the book seem like the main characters had hard lives. This and the fact that I love monkeys have interested me in your book. A family that has a rough life and a monkey can't be uninteresting. No wonder someone wrote a book about it. My only criticism is the small amount of pictures. There are enough monkeys on here to interest me, but someone without the same obsession of monkeys and a bigger attention span than me would probably not be as interested. However, nice choice of monkey pictures. The last one really captures the stress in their faces.. ha

Dylan Bird said...

Hey Richard, nice job with the video. The mood of The Great Gatsby is really dramatic and you portrayed that well in this video. I read the book as well and I think you did a great job mixing in the plot with your comedy. My only criticism is that you could have actually cried in the end. It seemed to be a painful enough memory to bring the tears out. I hope you find your Caroline, no matter her relation to Michael.

Dylan Bird said...

Well guys, you did an alright job. The entire concept of adapting a monkey into a human lifestyle interested me in this book. Michael, you did a decent job at explaining things and trying to keep everything in order. Walker, you added the comic effect to the video that made me want to keep watching. To be perfectly honest, I was laughing the whole time this was being made. I think I will be reading this book next quarter, so this vlog was not at all a failure to sell the book to the audience. You know what they say, everything's better with a monkey.

Blog 3- Music Blog!

http://www.classicalconnect.com/music/3239

Domenico Scarlatti

Sonata in D Minor K.266 K.517

The song really captures the dramatic and ironic mood of The Great Gatsby. All of the characters seem to have many mood swings and changes of heart. For example, Tom was always cheating on Daisy at the beginning of the book, but after she cheated on his he changed his mind. He was all about Daisy after he saw that he was losing her. In the song, there is a back and forth change in the key. This reminds me of the back and forth fighting and cheating between Daisy and Tom. They both try to escape from each other by going to other people, but in the end they run away together. This is just one example of how ironic The Great Gatsby is.
The title "The Great Gatsby" is ironic by itself, because Gatsby really isn't that great. An evident reason of this is that he bootlegs his money. His obsession with Daisy is ironic as well. He makes her out to be the most amazing woman in the world, but really she is selfish and avoids any blame with her wealth and social standings. Gatsby reached his goal of achieving wealth, yet he was never satisfied. His ultimate goal was always to win Daisy. Ironically, after he spent all of his life and time chasing after her, it ended in the death of Gatsby. The day before he died, Daisy professed her love to Gatsby. Incredibly enough, she didn't show up to his funeral, or even call to send her condolences. Irony and drama were the main moods of The Great Gatsby, and "Sonata in D Minor" captured these moods well.

Blog 2- Picture Blog!

Nick Carraway graduated from Yale.
Gatsby attended Oxford.Tom break's Myrtle's nose.

 Daisy cheats on Tom with Gatsby.
 Tom cheats on Daisy with Myrtle.
 Myrtle is hit by Gatsby's car.
 Gatsby throws huge parties
 Two islands that the main characters live  on.
 Gatsby owns a mansion
 Characters spend a lot of time in New York
 Mr. Wilson works on cars
 Young love between Gatsby and Daisy
 Gatsby smokes cigarette, which was frequently mentioned throughout the book.
Nick used the train for transportation to work.
The song played when Gatsby and Daisy reunite.
New York's bay that separated the two islands.
Pool where Gatsby was murdered.
Jordan Baker golfs.
Gatsby's yellow car.
Few people attended Gatsby's funeral.

Blog 1!

Hello, my name is Dylan Bird. I am blogging about a book I am reading for my English class. I've never read or posted a blog before so this is very new to me. I also don't read very much so this assignment may test me a little bit.  My previous classes have made me read books, but never blog about them for anyone to see. I prefer reading books where there is always something going; that way the book doesn't bore me. I like a book that will make me think about what will happen next, a book that will keep me in suspense. I don't like books that have corny or original endings. My future blogs will tell you if the books I read are up to my standards.

The purpose of this blog is for a program called Reading for a Lifetime. My school used this as a chance for extra credit in the past. However, this year my English 3 class is doing it in class. The idea is that you whoever participates reads four books, one for each school quarter. You choose out of a list of 25 books issued out by the Illinios State Library. If you finish the program you get a certificate of completion from Jessy White. The book I will be reading is called "The Great Gatsby". I chose this book because the storyline, from what I was told, sounded interesting. I am looking forward to reading this book.

Over the course of this year, I will be blogging over a few topics. One thing i would like to blog about is baseball. Baseball takes up a lot of my time and is a big part of my life. I think it would be a easy, fun topic to blog about. I would also like to blog about school. For example anything thats big news or anyhting that is going on around the school would be fun to blog about.