1. Explain one or two ways my writing has improved (or not). Include a few examples from my posts over time, with analysis and links to the original posts, to illustrate how the improvement(s) happened.
          I feel like my writing has improved and changed since the beginning of the year when I first started my blog posts. Many philosophers have stated basically that if you have to do work, then you should choose to work on something you will enjoy and it won’t feel like work. I have done so with my blog posts. At the beginning of the year, I had little confidence, especially when it came to writing, and I never got good grades on past writing assignments and essays unless they were pass or fail essays. When I made my first blog posts, I didn't go into much description and could have written much better posts now that I look back. I only did the minimum of the blog posts, and now I feel  like an underachiever and that I barely did anything. Now I feel my more recent posts have been better. Even if I still did the minimum length of the blog posts, I still chose subjects that I found interesting.

At the beginning of the year, I remember wanting to be great at writing these posts, but I expected it to happen without me trying. At the end of the day, when I had to make my posts for the week, I remember just wanting to get it done a pick something randomly so I could watch TV and be lazy, which included one of my first blog posts, the one about Linguini’s. I even said that I was just picking a random topic because I wanted to get it over with. At the time, I thought that making blog posts were a bit of a drag, and it was just another homework assignment I had to get done. So I was a little surprised that I could choose whatever I wanted to talk about, and I couldn’t find anything to write.

“Well. I don’t really know what to write about or what to take about, so I’ll just make it         up as I go along... So maybe I’ll do that. I think one of the best pizza places I’ve ever been to is Amici’s so if you see it, immediately plan a time to go there, cause their pizza is awesome!”

Since then, I started choosing topics that wanted to talk about, or that I wanted to speak up about. I don’t exactly know or remember when I wanted to started to choose things I really wanted to write about, but I remember specifically that there was one topic that I really wanted to talk about, which was my post on the movie Food Inc.  

“I was looking at some recent posts made, and I saw something that I knew I could write a lot about in 14 minutes on Cristian's blog.

‘Sometimes it just hits me that we, humans, the animals that have an open         conscious and can feel love are the same animals that can a drop a nuke and comit genocide on a people because religious sterotypes. We are the animals that can make industries like Pixar and the Red Cross, but yet, we can also judge someone based on thier skin color or have rich and poor. Well, I think we messed up, big time.’

I was just watching a movie called Food Inc. and when I saw this post, I had to respond.”

I had always liked talking about documentaries like these, (i.e. An Inconvenient Truth) for whatever reason, so when I wrote this post, I felt like I had really accomplished something. It was one of those moments where you just realize something, and I realized that the blog posts served a purpose. It was to help you out in some way. For me, it helped me to improve my writing, because that’s what I wanted to do, be a good writer. So what I had to do in order to figure this out was write about the right topic. I’m not sure which topic it was where I really found the right one and started to love writing my blog posts, whether it was about food, The Kite Runner, or something else that I felt I talked a lot about. Whatever post it was though, I certainly found the right post and discovered that I the things I really wanted to talk about and found out how awesome blog posts were. So I would like to say that blog posts have helped improve me and my writing by knowing what I wanted to talk about and make a lot of ideas and comments on that topic.
    Another way my writing improved was in ways that I could make connections in books. In my blog posts, I usually made connections in books like Of Mice and Men, Unwind and The Kite Runner. I usually put in things like “maybe so-and-so happened”, or “what if the character’s intentions were to...”, so I felt by the end of the book Kite Runner, I had improved a lot. It was one of the blog posts that “changed” me, and gave me a different opinion of what I thought about blogs and the purpose they served. I felt like I did a very good job on the connections in the book Unwind as well.

“It is possible that something like this happened to Hosseni. Not all of this word for word, but maybe he did something small that he would never forgive himself for. Then he could have exaggerated greatly the amount of regret he felt and made it into a much bigger problem. Also, he may have based Amir on himself, maybe on the decisions he would have made as a kid: trying anything to please his father, being scared of bullies like Assef, and even making some decisions that may have seemed good at first, but later he realized that was the wrong choice. Then these may have affected his life. He may have even gone a long time in his life haunted by something he did, and every day wishing he could take it back.”

In this blog post, I felt like I kind of stated the obvious since it was a class discussion, and that was basically the only thing I talked about. I had, however, learned how to make starting steps to making these kinds of connections and ideas in books, starting with The Kite Runner (it was in my second or third post on The Kite Runner). In this next post though, for my Unwind book, I made many connections like this and  they were my ideas, so by then I felt like I gained some confidence through writing these blog posts.

    “A few chapters before this happened, a kid named Cyrus Finch (CyFi) was introduced in     the story. He was kind and was always in good humor, but later on, he stole gold necklaces, Christmas ornaments, and other valuable items. Later on, we find out that CyFi had been given a part of someone else's brain when they got in an accident. That someone stole valuable items, so at certain points, CyFi would be controlled by that piece of mind and start to steal things and talk differently. This could have been what happened to Conner. Maybe he had been given part of someone else's brain, and that person got in a lot of fights or had mental problems where they couldn't be around      crowds. This could have been why Conner would have sudden impulses to punch someone because they were being too loud.”
    So all in all I found a purpose for blogging this year. It helped me improve my confidence in writing as well. For example, I used to be unsure of what I should write, and when I was writing my first blog posts, I was constantly deleting what I wrote and changing it. Now though, I have confidence, in writing my blogs and I realize what a big help blog posts are to me and how much they may have affected my life. I think I will be writing blog posts for a long time.

Alex:
I think it's good that you give a setting to the story and sum up what happens (or has happened) in the beginning, so the reader has a basic idea of what the story is and what to expect. It's also good how when you talk about reasons for teenagers to read the book, you back it up with evidence and comparison to real life.

Melissa:
I agree with the previous comments on the TAGS, but othwer than that, it's a good post. The TAGS though is just the main thing, so make sure you add a descriptive one.

Roksor:
I think this is a good book review, but it could be helpful by putting the question down.

The Dead and the Gone Book Review Final

4. How would you describe the author's style of writing? What's your opinion of the style?
                     In the novel The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer, the setting is in New York, and a nation-wide blackout has just started. Everyone goes into panic, and the main character Alex, along with his little sisters, Bri and Julie, must all survive with little food, water, and supplies until it ends.Thus, they must all stick together and ration themselves on food, but even then there is only so many resources they have to live. The only way they can get out of the mess is by leaving New York, but they would need passes for that, which is only for VIPs in New York. They can only rely on hope. There is not only a sense of hope that gives Alex, Bri and Julie have the will to keep on trying to live, but there is also a style that Pfeffer uses that makes the reader think they will all get the usual happy ending in many books. However, just as the reader and Alex think that it will happen, something prevents it and they are in a much worse situation than before.
                       This is shown when Alex sends Bri off to a kind of summer camp that trains her to become a nun. At first, this is for the benefit of all of them, so there will be more food to spare among each of them, but Bri is forced to come back and is in a bad condition.

"Alex recognized it as an inhaler. But Bri wasn't asthmatic.

'The doctor said I have adult on-set asthma,' said Bri. 'I have to stay indoors and not exert myself or get too excited.'"(p.178-179)

       Bri came back with asthma, so now she can't go outside to get her own food, or walk to school and get food, so Alex and Julie have to split their's with Bri, and they don't even get much. After about a month, Bri is running out of cartidges for her inhaler and needs more soon, or else she could die. Alex is then given an offer by a man named Harvey, who trades food for other valuables, to get two passes out of New York, but he wants Julie as payment. For a split second, it seems as though things look better, until Harvey says want he wants, so Alex declines. Then, a few weeks later, Alex is given three passes by a friend of his to go to South Carolina, and Alex, along with Bri and Julie, to the bus that is supposed to pick them up. But the bus has been canceled, and is rescheduled for another two weeks. He can't go with his sisters, since he turns 18, and they don't accept legal adults, and Bri and Julie feel the need to stay since Alex has caught the flu. More events happen, and in the end there is a "happy ending", but it comes at a great price.
          Another example is in the beginning of the story when the blackout has just begun and everyone (except Mami, Papi and Carlos) are home. For days, Alex, Brianna and Julie don't get any word from their mother or father. Their mother could be at the hospital still looking after patients and the blackout wouldn't let her call, or she could have died along with many others in a subway accident. Their father also could have died in a tsunami that hit some of Puerto Rico, or just had a flight delayed and the blackout wouldn't let him call. (They are sure Carlos is safe though because he sent a postcard and called.) However, they receive a call and everyone is sure that it is their father, but Pfeffer doesn't make it certain that he even called.
"'The phone rang when you were gone. I think it was Papi but I can't be sure...I'm sure it was Papi's voice...he said something about Puerto Rico', said Briana". (p14)
Though at first Brianna says she isn't sure, she speaks in a way that implies certainty that it was her father calling, but it could have been someone else trying to tell the family something about Papi, if something happened to him.All they can do however is hope that their family is okay, but they all know it would take a miracle.

The Dead and the Gone Book Review Final Draft

4. How would you describe the author's style of writing? What's your opinion of the style?
                     In the novel The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer, the main characters are Alex, along with his little sisters, Bri and Julie, are all put in a situation where there is a massive, nation wide blackout and there is a fight for food and survival in New York. Thus, Alex and his sisters have to stick together and ration themselves on food, but even then there is only so many resources they have to live. The only way they can get out of the mess is by leaving New York, but they would need passes for that, which is only for VIPs in New York. They can only rely on hope. There is not only a sense of hope that gives Alex, Bri and Julie have the will to keep on trying to live, but there is also a style that Pfeffer uses that makes the reader think they will all get the usual happy ending in many books. However, just as the reader and Alex think that it will happen, something prevents it and they are in a much worse situation than before. This is shown when Alex sends Bri off to a kind of summer camp that trains her to become a nun. At first, this is for the benefit of all of them, so there will be more food to spare among each of them, but Bri is forced to come back and is in a bad condition.

"Alex recognized it as an inhaler. But Bri wasn't asthmatic.

'The doctor said I have adult on-set asthma,' said Bri. 'I have to stay indoors and not exert myself or get too excited.'"(p.178-179)

       Bri came back with asthma, so now she can't go outside to get her own food, or walk to school and get food, so Alex and Julie have to split their's with Bri, and they don't even get much. After about a month, Bri is running out of cartidges for her inhaler and needs more soon, or else she could die. Alex is then given an offer by a man named Harvey, who trades food for other valuables, to get two passes out of New York, but he wants Julie as payment. For a split second, it seems as though things look better, until Harvey says want he wants, so Alex declines. Then, a few weeks later, Alex is given three passes by a friend of his to go to South Carolina, and Alex, along with Bri and Julie, to the bus that is supposed to pick them up. But the bus has been canceled, and is rescheduled for another two weeks. He can't go with his sisters, since he turns 18, and they don't accept legal adults, and Bri and Julie feel the need to stay since Alex has caught the flu. More events happen, and in the end there is a "happy ending", but it comes at a great price.

Book Review for The Dead and the Gone

            In the novel The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer, there is a sense of hope being the only thing that keeps all the main characters going. In the beginning, the family is separated from each other when the nationwide blackout hits New York: the mom is at a hospital in Queens, the dad in Puerto Rico, the oldest brother Carlos serving the Marines in California, and the remaining characters, Alex (whose is 18), and his sisters Brianna (16) and Julie (12) to stay at home and look after themselves. For days, Alex, Brianna and Julie don't get any word from their mother or father. Their mother could be at the hospital still looking after patients and the blackout wouldn't let her call, or she could have died along with many others in a subway accident. Their father also could have died in a tsunami that hit some of Puerto Rico, or just had a flight delayed and the blackout wouldn't let him call. (They are sure Carlos is safe though because he sent a postcard and called.) However, they receive a call and everyone is sure that it is their father, but Pfeffer doesn't make it certain that he even called.
"'The phone rang when you were gone. I think it was Papi but I can't be sure...I'm sure it was Papi's voice...he said something about Puerto Rico', said Briana". (p14)
Though at first Brianna says she isn't sure, she speaks in a way that implies certainty that it was her father calling, but it could have been someone else trying to tell the family something about Papi, if something happened to him.All they can do however is hope that their family is okay, but they all know it would take a miracle.

Response to Vignettes

I was looking at my fellow classmates vignettes, and I saw quite a few that interested me and I thought had a very good style of writing. One of them was on Cristian's blog.

I leave to you this thought of sadness and depression; of my mom so
terribly sick. She could catch a cold and die, and my brother could have
a seizure and go into a coma and die. We have been manipulated by life,
and now it is our turn to manipulate life, and live our own happy life.
We all have our stories to tell, and we all have our memories. We use
these memories as tools to discover ourselves and to define ourselves as
well. We use the past to shape our future and the hope for the future
to shape our present.

I think the way Cristian ended the story by saying how we define who we are by using our past, present and future was an excellent way to cap it all off. Though it was very sad indeed throughout the whole set of vignettes, the way the last few sentences are put it kind of makes it seem like there was kind of moral to the story, like whatever happens life goes on and the events that do happen will shape who we are and that is the key to finding out. It's like even though this is a very dreaded future, it would still make you find out more about yourself and make you a better person in some weird way.

Esperanza's Future

           Esperanza's future sounds like it holds a good one for her. I think Esperanza will become a teacher or some kind of job around other kids so she can devote her life not only as a teacher but to also helping out people that want to escape their lives like she did.  Esperanza was told by the three ladies that her house on Mango Street would always be a part of her, and that she couldn't just forget about it. She would however be happy in life, but in return, she would have to help other kids like her that wanted to change their lives and have a home somewhere else or be happier with their lives in any other way. She was also told that when Esperanza felt happy about her life, that she had to help other people who wanted desperately for their lives to be better but wouldn't have such a lucky turn of events that Esperanza had at the end of the book. Esperanza, at the end, seems happy with her life and seems to like her house on Mango Street instead of hating it. This, therefore, is evidence that she will stay near her house and help others who were in the same situation as she was.
            Esperanza is obviously going to keep her promise to the three ladies and make sure that many others in need can find a way to make their lives better and help "those who can't escape" as the ladies put it. She'll be there for them and be kind of like a mixture of a mother and a counselor. She'll give those kids help and stuff and try to give them more confidence so they can have better futures. Then she'll tell those kids in need to come back for the others like the three ladies told Esperanza, so that a chain reaction can start and continue and everyone will help each other escape their terrible lives and make a better one.