Reading Response: The Maze Runner

The book The Maze Runner is about this boy who wakes up in an elevator with no recollection of his past other than his name, Thomas. He finds himself in a place called the Glade which he soon figures is surrounded by a massive maze filled with these monsters who have obtained the name Grievers. Throughout the frustration of the lack of knowledge of your surroundings, the characters in this book have constantly shown the theme of persistence throughout the book.

The main character of this book, Thomas, obviously expresses this theme in the story. For example, even after he encountered his first griever in his first night in the maze he was still determined to become a runner. He wanted to further explore the maze because of his persistence helping everyone get out of that death trap, and back to wherever they should’ve been.

The supposed leaders of the rest of the characters in the book had a number one priority, and they surely had to have determination to it. Even after two years of searching for an escape, they still haven’t given up. Even with the pressure of a whole group of kids counting on them, they knew giving up wouldn’t do anyone any good. So they took that as their motivation to keep going.

As you can see, The Maze Runner clearly portrays the message of determination and persistence to further continue through the obstacles you’ll face in life. Even if they’re not as drastic as being in the middle of a gigantic maze with no way of getting out, you should always carry the strength of endurance, for that is rare but sacred in all life-choices.

Blog Review: Sophia's NF Critical Analysis

This week I read Sophia’s NF critical analysis on “The Hungry Self,” by Kim Chernin. I thought that it was very well-written and what I liked the most was how she really connected it to herself instead of just explaining the theme. She also explained how it inspired her to do even more research on the topic.

Sophia doesn’t just state positive feedback on the book itself, but I really liked how she went into detail about every good aspect of the book. She also didn’t forget to give the author credit for everything and linked every good thing back to her. For example, she explained the author’s purpose thoroughly and how the author really helps a lot of women with her book. Also, she also explains the importance of the real-life examples and how that complements the book’s overall structure.

Something that really enhances her analysis as a whole, is how she speaks about her personal perspective and opinion at the end of it. She goes into her personal experience while reading the book, and she highlights how she benefited from the text. For example, what she learned and of course what she was inspired to research even further.

All in all, Sophia wrote a very interesting response to this book. And the way she explains the benefits of it inspires me to read it or other books on this topic as well.

The link to this blog post is: http://sophiesblog33.blogspot.com/2015/01/non-fiction-critical-analysis.html

NF Critical Analysis: Rap Music On Trial

In “Rap Music On Trial” by Veronica Majerol, Majerol wants to inform her readers on this debate regarding the legal issues with violent and gory images in rap music and how they have been  used as confessions or criminal evidence in crime investigations. One thing Majerol does is start out the reader with a case of a double homicide that originally had no leads until a cop came across a rap song that described brutal murders in the same setting. Then Majerol explained how “the case is hardly unique” and went deeper into other cases similar to it. Thirdly she discussed how this use of rap ‘confessions’ was technically going against “the First Amendment’s free speech clause…[and had] a chilling effect on free expression.” These examples and pieces of evidence present an opportunity for the reader to form an informed opinion based on two sides of the debate.

Veronica Majerol intends to present an objective and very well informed response to this debate in order to give the reader a chance to form an opinion on the topic on their own. She does this by presenting two different cases where one person is actually innocent but leaves threatening comments on Facebook about “brutally killing” his ex-wife, and another case where someone is found to be a gang member and “convicted...on related weapon charges. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison.” This presents two different situations on this topic for the reader. She also brings the Constitution into the situation to express the seriousness of this debate including both ends of it (the cops using rap lyrics as evidence and the people supposedly committing the crime). Another thing the author does is bring attention to important points in the text to enhance the main idea in the article.

Considering Majerol displays an objective overview of this debate I would say that she achieves her supposed goal of presenting an unopinionated portrayal of two sides of a debate so a reader could build their own position by themselves. Therefore, this article has proven itself a good source. It has also helped me shape my thinking into being against charging someone of a crime solely based on the music they write, but with using rap lyrics as a lead if there’s a clear connection or as support for a claim that already has other pieces of evidence.

Reading Response: Peak

The book Peak is about this 14-year-old, Peak, who illegally scales skyscrapers as a hobby ever since he’s moved away from the suburban area in which his father lives. When he gets caught, his father presents the idea of him moving in with him until the publicity of his stunt buzzes down for a while, which he soon figures is an invitation to climb Everest with him. This book is Peak’s perspective on what happened on that climb. I think this story clearly presents the theme of choosing what’s important in your life and choosing what to invest your time in. And I don’t think Peak is the only one who learns that lesson.

One way this theme is portrayed is through Peak’s mother’s life choices. For example, the whole reason she quit climbing was because she realized she wanted to focus on Peak once he was born. This shows how Peak’s mother analyzed what were the more important things in her life, and if the risks that came with climbing for a living were worth it.

The central way this theme was portrayed was through Peak’s big decision while climbing Everest. When he decides to let Sunjo finish the climb instead of him, he really tests his morals right there and realizes the true purpose in the climb, and what he truly wanted. He realizes that Sunjo needed to be the youngest boy to climb Everest in order to support his family, and Josh’s climbing career, and that he wasn’t really needed there.

All in all, this book is a great example of how someone should choose what’s the best way to live their life, and where they’re really needed. And Peak shows that by choosing to be with his family in the city, where he was truly needed.

Reading Response: Where She Went

The book Where She Went is the sequel to the story of a girl, Mia, who had to chose whether she wanted to join her family and give up, or stay and work with the problems her life has become. The sequel, though, is in the perspective of Mia’s boyfriend and how he deals with the loss of Mia and what his life has become. I think the author, Gayle Forman, does a really great job of portraying how it’s okay for people to be somewhat vulnerable in terms of their lives being an utter mess.

Forman represents disasters through Mia and Adam’s lives throughout the book. Now she does this by having the story evolve around Mia, but has the perspective of the book be with Adam. For example, she shows how Adam’s life was a mess with, “I have the kind of life a lot of people would probably sell a kidney to just experience a bit of [his band went to fame]. But still, I find the need to remind myself the temporariness of every day.” This very clearly represents his place in the book since this was in the very first paragraph of the book. This shows that the condition in which he lives in doesn’t cause this depression of his, but it’s what happened in his past with Mia. Now, obviously Mia had to deal with her family’s death, but the way she described it, like how she momentarily forgot her parents were dead every morning, really showed the depth of the situation. The depth in the pain of the experience in the end.

Now after this part of the book is revealed as they reunite, Forman shows how Mia and Adam give up and start arguing, but the thing is they start spilling all that was bottled up for 3 years, and are actually vulnerable for once. In the process, it’s shown to be for the better. For example, Mia confessed that, “I need to tell you everything. I just think I need some coffee before I can get it together enough to explain.” This shows that even though it was hard for her, she knew that sooner or later she’d have to explain what happened in their past, and that meant being vulnerable to him for the first time after her family died. In return Adam does the same stating, “I don’t remember the last time I’ve cried but… the floodgates open and I’m sobbing now...in front of the whole damn world.” And this goes for the better, as all secrets are out, all the grudges that were held are slowly resolving, and now there’s an actual chance for them to be in each other's lives now that the problem has been confronted.

All in all, Gayle Forman does a skillful job of expressing the step-by-step process of dealing with loss, shutting out the people you love, confronting the problem as a whole, and losing the fear of being vulnerable throughout the context of this story.

Argument Essay: Should YA Fiction Have Limitations?

         Did you know that books, including Captain Underpants, have been challenged in 2013? Decisions like this sparked an ongoing debate on whether or not young-adult fiction should have restrictions. But many articles have validated my point and have brought me to my clear position. This includes multiple perspectives on the profane content in blurbs, the questionably realistic circumstances within a YA novel, and the surprising changes between previous books and the ones we read today. The following evidence will clarify that it is not up to a ‘gatekeeper’ to try to challenge books and interfere with a person’s reading life by influencing their opinion on books.

         Admittedly, YA books seem extremely intense and gruesome, when they’re talked about or summarized by critiques in their articles. For example, Meghan Cox Gurdon’s “Darkness Too Visible” states that Shine involves, “the protagonist [16 years] once a close friend of the victim…recover[s] from…sexual assault…[Also,] assorted locals [are] in the grip of homophobia, booze, and crystal meth.” These ‘assorted locals’ aren’t important characters in the story and her relived ‘sexual assault’ was a small portion of the book (as she investigated suspects). As you can see, books may involve intense events and tend to normalize dangerous issues to set a certain setting, but these aren’t large components of a book. In other words, David Levithan is paraphrased in William Porter’s “Teen Fiction Plots Are Darker And Starker” saying, “a book’s… blurb often makes it appear grimmer than it is.” Therefore, YA books may often have summaries that look more profane without the context of the entire book, so they don’t deserve to have limitations.

          Secondly, YA literature shouldn’t have limitations because some teenagers may find them very helpful in terms of normalizing and coping with the real problems in their lives. This is actually a very popular opinion that hasn’t failed to come across in many articles for this debate. In Sherman Alexie’s “Why The Best Kids Books Are Written In Blood”  he bases this entire article mainly on this point, and how it reflects his hardships as a teenager. For example, he implies that teenagers, “read because they believe…that books-especially the dark and dangerous ones- will save them.” This was a little opinionated but at the same time led to some really informative and eye-opening points, that held some truth to them. Although YA fiction could somewhat disturb a reader, limitations would only, “protect the [seemingly] privileged children,” continues Sherman Alexie. In simpler words needing and not having a coping mechanism for something disturbing in your real life is far worse than simply being disturbed by a novel, which you can easily stop reading if you wish to. All in all, this isn’t a reason to put limitations on YA fiction.

  It’s certainly not a lie that teen fiction has gotten darker over the years. And many critiques haven’t failed to mention this in their articles. For example, Gurdon quotes, “40 years ago, no one had to contend with young-adult literature because there was no such thing.” This brings up how YA novels have gotten more graphic over the years but fails to address why. For example William Porter starts out his article by showing the similarities between “headline news…[and] plotlines from recent novels.” This proves that if our daily news is getting more intense everyday, it’s only fitting for YA literature to do the same. Therefore, books getting darker isn’t a valid reason for limitations on young-adult fiction.

  In conclusion, there are many valid reasons as to why young-adult literature shouldn’t have restraints of any kind. This includes the exaggerated graphics within blurbs, the necessity of normalizing gruesome events in a teen’s life, and the expected darkening of YA fiction over years. Considering young-adult fiction is, after all, intended for young adults, the only control people should have over kids reading YA books is parenting of your own child, not others. But that’s exactly what limiting books does, if you think about it. So instead of choosing what’s appropriate for someone’s child, don’t you think we should give the parents an opportunity to raise their children the way they intend to?

Reading Response: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

This book is written in the perspective of Christopher Boone, a 15-year old with Asperger’s syndrome, who tries to figure out who stabbed his neighbor’s poodle to death. With the complicated relationship between his parents and the truth behind the dog’s murder, the author, Mark Haddon, doesn’t fail to incorporate the importance of simplicity and knowing the truth throughout the novel.

For a guy like Christopher truth is so important that the fear of not knowing can cause physical pain and sometimes illness. For example, Christopher always has a wristwatch on him because it gives him comfort to know what time it is. This shows how maybe it’s something as little as the time, but it still reflects how it’s better to know the truth than to go on an assumption or lie. This comes into play with an even bigger lie, further into the book. As Christopher is looking for a book of his in his father’s room, he finds proof of his father telling him something that doesn’t add up with what he found. He then figures out that his father has been lying to him for a very long time, and just the very thought of that makes him sick, literally (he vomits right then and there). Although his syndrome makes the scene go to extremes, it still expresses the same lesson when you tell a lie and make someone cry. It still shows the importance of the truth, and the often unnecessary act of lying.

This book also shows that when you keep things simple there’s less room for drama or problems. For example, towards the beginning of the book, Christopher states, “I like dogs. You always know what a dog is thinking.” This shows how when things are simple you don’t feel that drag of knowing you have to figure it out, therefore it goes without saying that simpler is better. Christopher then follows that statement with, “dogs are faithful and they do not tell lies.” This shows how if something, like a dog, was unnecessarily complicated it would most likely lead to things like lies, and that will eventually lead to trouble. And nobody wants trouble. So Asperger’s syndrome or not, he still makes a good point in wanting things to be simple.

All in all, truth and simplicity in life is the way to go, even though the author had a unique way of portraying it in this story’s circumstances. This motto could save someone from lots of difficulties in life. But you don’t need me to tell you that. You’ll eventually figure it out.