Purdue


 * // __Reading journal:__ //**


 * // __Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson.__ //**

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// I chose this book because it was a book that was recommended to me by the librarian. It looked interesting and the back description was very deep, so I thought the book would be also. I just started this book and it is a book that meets my expectations. From the moment I picked up this book and read the first sentence “It was m first morning of high school. I have seven new notes book, a skirt I hate, and a stomachache” I was already attached. From the first sentence of the book I was given so much information. I new the summer had just ended and it was back to school, she was not excited about school because of all the work from her seven note books, she was not comfortable wearing what she had on, and that school was now a chore for her. In the first 16 pages I was so attached I did not want to put the book down. I think that if the book caught me from the very first line then it will last till the book is done. //======

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// 1. In this book Melinda Sordino does not have many friends. I think her that goal in this book is to make friends. In the summer she had called the cops on a house party and since then everyone has hated her and all of her friends are now her enemies. She misses her friends and wants to have them back, but that won’t happen. I think that she feels lonely, sad, left out and that she is an outsider. I think what motivates her to want friends is that she remembers good times she has had with her old friends and that she sees everyone else have friends and she does not and she’s just left out as an outsider. //======

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// 8. One of the ideas in this book that make me stop and think is when Heather says ”Why is it so hard to make friends here? Is there something in the water? In my old school I could have gone out of the musical and worked on the news paper and chaired the car wash. Here people don’t even know I exist. I get squished in the hall and I don’t belong anywhere and nobody cares”. When I read this it made me think about how different schools are, and how people treat you if you are new or don’t have as many friends as other people. It seems to me that people in Heathers school think that if you are not in a group then you have no purpose in life. That you don’t have any meaning to anyone. That your not of any help or capable of anything. But I think they’re wrong. Just because you may not have as many friends as someone else, that does not mean your less important. It could just mean that maybe you don’t like to have lots of friends or the peers around you are just not your type of people you want to have as friends, or vise versa. People in Heathers school are quick to jump to conclusions and I don’t think that is very fair the outsiders, they get no chance! //======

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// 12. This is my first time ever reading a book by this author, Laurie Halse Anderson. This author is a very good writer and I really do enjoy this book by her. The reason I have never read a book by this author before is because I did not know about this author until my librarian showed me and recommended me this book. I would like to read more books by this author when I am done this book, I enjoy this authors writing and work. //======

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// 4. The character I would want to be is Meline because in the book she is very down to earth and does not like causing conflict or problems. If I was the main character Meline there is one thing I would do different. Meline is very quiet and doesn’t speak up for what she thinks is right, so if I were her I would tell people what ever is bugging me and try to make my old friends like me again because she is having a pretty rough life at school with her having really no friends and not to mention her life in her house hold isn’t all that great either. Meline is a very kind person and in her head she is not shy, but out loud she is very shy. I think that if she over comes her shyness she will be better off and be able to get her old friends back. //======

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// 10. I have not really changed by reading the book but I have learned something new. I learned that if something is bugging you, you aren’t able to just do something to keep your mind off it you have to tell someone about it. I learned that because in the book Meline is at her house and it is Christmas time but it did not feel like Christmas to her, and her parents weren’t getting along and she just wanted something to do to get it off her mind and make it feel more like Christmas. So Meline went out side in her back yard and jumped into some snow drifts. Half way between jumping in snow drifts she gets a cold feeling down her back because snow fell down her back. The cold feeling reminded her of the cold feeling she gets when she knows her parents are fighting. But the only way to stop that cold feeling is if Meline talks to her parents about it, but she is too afraid to bring the subject up to them. //======

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// 7. In the book the speech is set up so that instead of just having quotations around it, it starts a new line. Because of that when there are a lot of characters at once talking it gets confusing and its hard to tell which ones talking and which one isn’t. For the most part this book is pretty clear, but when the author talks about the parents of Meline it gets confusing and I can never tell which parent is talking. The fact that it gets confusing through the characters does make the book more confusing and less enjoyable, but at the same rate it always keeps you wanting to read to find out who the author was talking about. //======

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// 2. I think the book gave me the feeling of guilt and sorrow. It gave me this feeling because in the book a girl named Meline was being excluded and it was very uncomfortable for her to be at school. I felt guilt because many times I have got in a fight with my friends and I will exclude them and not talk to them. I felt sorrow because it was sad for her and hard for her to go to school with everyone looking at her and her having the reputation of the “girl who called the cops”. //======

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//11. Yes. I think that my friends Dani, Dom, Jessica and Justice should read this book. I think they should read this book because all of them have gone threw something similar to this book and they would be able to relate to it very well. They know what Meline is going threw and why she is suffering. Also I know sometimes I will say something and realize what I just said to that person was offensive and I didn’t mean to hurt their feelings. All my friends have also done this before and reading this book helped me think before I were to saying something to someone and ask my self if it is offensive or not. It will remind my friends of that too.//======

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//6. The part I just finished reading it was telling about how Meline was afraid to express her feelings and she would not talk about them to anyone. The principal, the school councilor and Meline’s parents all sat down with her willing to talk about Meline’s issues and why she is letting her grades drop and missing school, but no matter what they did Meline would not say a single word. I want to know what is going on in Meline’s head and what happened at the party that made her call the cop’s and why it seems to be bugging her a lot now. I want to know why she is so afraid to tell someone or speak about her problems. I want to know what is holding her back from expressing her feelings. The person I would ask this to would be Meline because she is the one that is going threw this. I think that once I keep reading and get closer to the end she will tell someone about her feelings and what is making her feel this way! February 04, 2010 //====== 5. In the story the author named the main character Meline and the setting takes place in a high school. The setting I would not change because a high school is the perfect setting for lots of problems occurring and lots of drama, but I would change the characters name to something different. I’m not to sure what I would change Meline’s name to but I would like to change it because I get a whole different perspective from her name then I do from her personality. From her name she comes across to me as someone who is snobby, rude and thinks they are the best. But in the story the author explains her as a good girl who is shy to speak up for her self, and is afraid to speak her mind.

**//__Current events!!! Explorer’s century-old whiskey found in Antarctica:__//**
 * //__ http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/02/05/tech-scotch-find-antarctica.html __//**

//For a whole century an explorer’s whiskey has been buried in Antarctica under the ice and snow. There were five crates of whiskey and two crates of brandy in an old shack that was used about a century by the explorer// // Ernest Shackleton. ////Some bottles have been cracked due to weather conditions. Those bottles have been left there since 1909. Because of this find they may be able to replicate the whiskey that was found.//

//This could affect the company that made the whiskey in 1909 by giving them higher profit. Because of this prices on whiskey could raise then costumers now have to pay higher prices.


 * __The Giver__**:

1. After analyzing the books appearance, what clues does it give you? There is an old man in the book and he will teach a young boy about life threw experiences he has had in his lifetime. I think he will teach the young boy threw his old wise tales. He will teach him that life isn’t perfect and there will always be challenges to face.

2. The tone of the book after the listening to the first page? The tone of the book for me is worried. I got this tone because in the book they are so used to the same plane flying over the community, but this time is different. It worries me because there has to be a reason for it be different and why is it different? What causes the plane to change? There must be an explanation.

3. What do you think this book is about? Predict! I think the book is about a boy who thinks his life is so perfect, and then something happens to change is life from being so perfect. He meets a man who causes his life to not be perfect anymore, and now his life is becoming more challenging, more confusing and frustrating. The older man helps the young boy figure out how to get his life back to perfect and fix what has gone wrong.//