blog post # 8

http://www.npr.org/books/titles/148089288/the-hunger-games

In the book The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Katniss Everdeen was one of the chosen tributes from District 12 to participate in the annual Hunger Games. The other chosen tribute was Peeta, they had an unusual relationship before the games started, just because they knew the rules, only one could live. She was very unsure on what his intentions were after he declared his love for her in the interviews, she didn't know what angle he was coming from. Therefore an inductive leap was made when the games had started. She spotted Peeta with her other opponents, "I almost fall out of the tree. The voice belongs to Peeta."(Collins 160) She never thought that it could mean he wanted a stable way to live for the time being, she immediatly thought he's been planning this all along. "This teaming up with the career wolf pack to hunt down the rest of us. No one from district 12 would think  of doing such a thing!" (Collins 161)
"Obviously, the noble boy on the rooftop was playing just one more game with me. But this will be his last." (Collins 162) Turns out everything he had done was for her safety, and she was very wrong."But whatever he's done in thearena, he must have the audience convinced it was to keep me alive. Shaking his head to keep me from running to the Cornucopia. Fighting Cato to let me escape. Even hooking up with the careers mucst have been a move to protect me. Peeta, it turns out, has never been a danger to me." (Collins 247-248)

MLA: Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. New York: Scholastic, 2008. Print.

blog post # 6

http://www.curiousgood.com/?p=829

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

In the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, a poetic device that is used is symbol. Symbol is an object that is used to represent something else. In the Hunger Games, the solid gold pin is the item that represents it. The gold pin was given to Katniss earlier in the book, after the reaping when people come to each of the tributes to say their goodbyes. It was given to her by the mayors daughter, Madge. "I don't like that Gale took a dig at Madge, but he's right, of course. The reaping system is unfair, with the poor getting the worst of it." (Collins 13) Madge did know how unfair this was, her being the mayors daughter, her name would only be put in a low amount of times, leaving the poor in countless times. Knowing this, she gave this pin to Katniss, symbolizing sympathy, and hope. "I hadn't paid much attention to it before, but now I see it's a small bird in flight. "Your pin?" I say.."Here I'll out in on your dress, alright?" Madge doesn't wait for an answer, she just leans in and fixes the bird to my dress. "Promise you'll wear it into the arena, Katniss?" (Collins 38) After this, Katniss realizes that Madge had been her friend all along. Madge shows the hope and support she has towards Katniss, and it is all shown through this golden pin. "They let you wear one thing from your district to the arena. One thing to remind you of home. Will you wear this?" Something else that is symbolized by this pin is a reminder of home. Throughout the book Katniss wears this pin, and is reminded about what home feels like, how great it will be when she gets back home, all the happiness revolving her family, especially her younger sister Prim. This pin symbolizes happiness, home, sympathy and hope.

MLA: Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. New York: Scholastic, 2008. Print.

blog post # 5

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

The Hunger Games- Suzanne Collins 

Significant Elements:

1. The reaping 

2. The dress with flames

The reaping helps reveal character traits about one of the main characters, Katniss Everdeen. The trait that is revealed is courage, as well as bravery and protectiveness. Every year, representatives from the Capitol go to each district and hold the reaping. When a child is 12, they are eligible for entry in The Hunger Games and their name is put in the reaping bowl once (1st year - 1 name in bowl). When a child is 13, their name is entered twice to represent their second year of eligibility. This pattern goes on, so when they reach their final year (18) their name is entered 7 times minimum. However, if the child wants to purchase a tesserae (a one-person supply of grain and oil for a year) your name goes in one extra time per purchase of tesserae. Katniss had taken a tesserae for each of her family members, putting her name in the reaping bowl a lot of times, leaving her little sister Prim, only in the reaping bowl once. When the day of the reaping comes "Effie Trinket crosses back to the podium, smoothes the slip of paper, and reads out the name in a clear voice. And it's not me. It's Primrose Everdeen."(Collins 20) "I volunteer!" I gasp. "I volunteer as a tribute!"(Collins 22) By Katniss volunteering herself as a tribute, she is risking her life and putting her younger sister's before hers. The Hunger Games only has one winner, and by losing, you are dead. Even knowing this, she doesn't hesitate to put herself forward. This shows how much courage she has, as well as bravery, and the protectiveness she has towards her younger sister. 

The dress with flames helps reveal the changed Katniss has experiences throughout her journey to the Hunger Games. The dress is worn for the opening ceremonies. Her stylist Cinna had designed it for her to "wow" the audience, give them something that wasn't the usual, and the crowd loved it, more importantly, Katniss loved it. It represents the new Katniss, not the poor young girl back at District 12, scavenging for food, trying to keep her family alive. Now she is "Katniss, the girl who was on fire." (Collins 67) Now she is someone memorable, someone unique. She is a courageous warrior, going to participate in the Hunger Games, fighting until death, to win the Hunger Games. 

MLA: Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. New York: Scholastic, 2008. Print.

blogpost # 4 :)

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

"I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear." 
-Nelson Mandela
MLA: "Courage Quotes." BrainyQuote. Xplore, 2001. Web. 02 Mar. 2013.
     I don't think courage is "not being afraid" of something, like in this quote, I do think its to overcome the fear, to take on challenges and show bravery towards fear. For example, in the short story "Just Lather, That's All" by Hernando Tellez, the barber as well as Captain Torres had shown courage in different ways. The Captain had revealed at the end of the story that he did know that the barber was a rebel, but went in for a simple shave anyway. "They told me you'd kill me. I came to find out. But killing isn't easy. You can take my word for it."(Tellez 127) Even though the Captain knew there was a chance of him getting killed by the undercover rebel, he had overcame that fear and went in anyways to challenge the barbers character, and was testing his courage at the same time. Also the barber had shown a lot of courage, he knew who Captain Torres was, and what he did..to innocent people. He didn't let that fear overcome him, he overcame it, stayed calm, and fulfilled his duty as a barber. While he was giving this man a shave, he has several thoughts of what he should do, and what that would make him, he had the courage to kill him in an instant, but also had the courage to stay true to his self and his own decision and restrained himself from doing something that he'd regret. "When I recognized him I started to tremble. But he didn't notice. Hoping to conceal my emotion, I continued sharpening the razor."(124) "Yes, I was secretly a rebel, but I was also a conscientious barber, and proud of the preciseness of my profession."(125) 

The book that I am currently reading is called The Hunger Games written by Suzanne Collins, I'm not to far into the book yet, but I can feel the suspense and the intensity building up. I think there is a lot of courage in one of the main characters, Katniss Everdeen. She shows a number of attributes, and courage is defiantly one of them. The day of reaping, her younger sister Prim, is chosen from District 12 to participate in the Hunger Games, and knowing that the Hunger Games involves only one person living at the end, she offers herself up for a tribute to keep her younger sister safe. In my opinion, that requires a lot of courage, to basically give your life up for the sake of a loved one. An easy choice for some, being so family-oriented, but looking in a general aspect, setting yourself up for death is frightening. "..as our yearly reminder that the Dark Days must never be repeated, it gave us the Hunger Games. The rules of the Hunger Games are simple. In punishment for the uprising, each of the twelve district must provide one girl and one boy, called tributes, to participate. The twenty-four will be imprisoned in a vast outdoor arena that could hold anything from a burning dessert to a frozen wasteland. Over a period of several weeks, the competitors must fight to the death. The last tribute standing wins."(Collins 18) " "I volunteer!" I gasp. "I volunteer as a tribute!" "(Collins 22) So Katniss is now the tribute of the girls category for District 12, but her sister Prim is safe. By doing so, I think Katniss is a very courageous girl, and shows other attributes such as responsibility, respect, integrity, compassion, and many more. 

MLA: Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. New York: Scholastic, 2008. Print.

I thi 

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blogpost # 3

                           http://abookadventure.blogspot.ca/2010/11/candy-by-kevin-brooks.html 

Rebellion, in my opinion, is going against something. It could be your own values, your own beliefs etc. It could be the refusal of obedience, and basically being a "rebel." "She stared at me, her eyes wide open, shaking her head in disbelief. "Let me get this straight- when you rang her up, you knew she was a prostitute, didn't you?" "Well, yeah...I suppose.." "And this guy who was with her before, the one who threatened to cut your throat- you knew he was her pimp?" "She said he was just someone she knew-" "What- and you believed her?"(Brooks 143-144) In this part of the novel Candy by Kevin Brooks, this is a conversation between Joe, the young boy, and his older sister Gina, involving the mysterious girl Candy, and who she really is. Joe, knowing the love of his life, his addiction, is a prostitute. In my opinion, that is going against your own values, your family values, and just going against the rules of the majority of society. In a general aspect, loving a prostitute, while she is still is one, is a negative thing in most peoples eyes. By knowing this and still doing everything in his power to be with her, shows he is rebelling his sisters wishes, his fathers wishes, and a number of other people in this story. I think Joe is just blinded by his obsession with Candy, he doesn't really realize what he's doing. He's just focussing all his feelings towards her and basing all his decisions off that as well. Also he shows he is a very easy-going kid, always listening to his father, and caring for his whole family, but I think that is only because he never got to make a decision that his father or anyone would really have a problem with, until Candy came along. Now he is showing he doesn't care about what anyone thinks, or what Candy does, or is. All he cares about is his feelings towards her, he is rebelling off the values he has been taught throughout his life and "following his heart" in theory. 

MLA:

Brooks, Kevin. Candy. New York: Scholastic, 2005. Print.

blogpost #2

1. + 2.
-few characters(5)
-suspense(1)
-immediacy(2)
-conflict(4)
-trap/obstacle(3)












http://abookadventure.blogspot.ca/2010/11/candy-by-kevin-brooks.html

Suspense

The element suspense is used a lot in the book Candy by Kevin Brooks. The book contains so many thoughts and feelings, building up within scenes, always leaving you wanting more. It always has you wondering what's going to happen next, or what does this mean etc. Along with suspense comes mystery, especially with the one of the main characters whose name is Candy, secrets keep piling out as the story goes on. One of the scenes I've most recently read is at a club where Joe, the main character, is with his band performing, while an unexpected fight between unexpected people unfolds. "At first I thought it was just another fight, and I wasn't particularly worried about it. You get them all the time in places like The Black Room- drunken scuffles, a few punches, arguments that get out of hand.." "Just then, the scuffle at the back of the club got louder again and my eyes were drawn to the noise. A gap appeared in the crowd now, and I could see some of the people involved. The first person I recognized was one of the black guys I'd seen earlier in the pub. Then- with growing unease- I noticed another and another.. and another. They were all there. Half a dozen of them, standing in a semicircle with their backs to the door, facing down another black guy. This one had his back to me, so I couldn't see his face.. But I knew who it was.."(Brooks, Kevin 133-134). This book always goes very into detail, and always keeps questions entering your mind. Why did a fight occur? Who was it between? Did it  have something to do with Joe? With Candy? Is Joe in danger? etc. That's the best part of suspense, it gets you thinking, it gets you into the book your reading and really makes books all the more interesting. 


MLA:

Brooks, Kevin. Candy. New York: Scholastic, 2005. Print.

blogpost # 1

http://abookadventure.blogspot.ca/2010/11/candy-by-kevin-brooks.html

     In a good book, the three qualities I think it should contain is suspense, adventure and emotion. I like books that are suspenseful and leave you wondering "what would happen if..?" or "what is going to happen next?" etc. I like a book that actually gives you feeling throughout the whole book and actually lets you get in to the book your reading and lets you imagine what is happening. Another quality I think should be included in a book is adventure. I love when characters are exploring, and the books setting as changed, the idea of what is happening is expanding etc. I think adventure just makes a book all the more interesting. Another quality I believe should be included is emotion. Not exactly the very sad, tragic kind of detail, but something that gives you butterflies, or gives you a weird feeling, so you know your into the book your reading, as well as making personal connections.

     The book I am currently reading is Candy, written by Kevin Brooks. So far all that has happened is a routine being explained in a teenager by the name of Joe, just information about him, his family, etc. Then a trip to another city for a doctors appointment leads to him meeting the love of his life. Her name is Candy. She is very open and up front about things, but at the same time mysterious. A run in with a very scary man named "Iggy" exposed the truth about her, she did leave out one key piece of information about her, she is a prostitute. So far the book is filled with a lot of emotion, all the feelings are being explained that Joe has towards candy, all the questions he asks himself, basically all his thoughts. I am quite early on in the book so there hasn't been much suspension just yet, and I can feel the adventure starting.

     An example from the book that shows emotion is: "It's hard to imagine life before Candy. Sometimes I sit here for hours, staring into the past, trying to remember what it was like, but I never seem to get very far. I just can't see my self without her." (Brooks 1)

Works Cited MLA 

Brooks, Kevin. Candy. New York: Scholastic, 2005. Print.