Friday, February 3, 2017

Journal four By. Brandi

Part One: So far active reading is going pretty good! I feel like its helpful if you are reading a lot in your other classes and it helps you to remember what you have already read. If I wasn't recording what I have already read I think I wouldn't remember as much or pay attention or appreciate to the writing style of the author. I feel like I record more of the plot, writing at its best, and nutshell of the paragraphs. I also keep an eye out for metaphors, alliteration, and dialog.

The House On Mango Street, strengths in my opinion is how Cisneros describes things in the book with her creative metaphors. I also can appreciate how she uses good dialog. Also her strength is indirect dialog but at the same time its a weakness because it gets kind of confusing at times when you are reading some of the chapters.

I feel like A Long Way Gone has a lot of strengths when it comes to describing location, characters, and events.  Beah really takes you back to where he was when he was a young teen and it causes your heart rate to go up with each intense event that he faces. So far the only weakness that I see is that Beah leaves you hanging sometimes and forces you to assume what happens instead of just telling you. For instance How did Saidu die?

I honestly can't pick which book is my favorite. I like reading the House On Mango Street because its a shorter chapter book for someone who has A.D.D and I also like learning Cisneros writing style. I like reading A Long Way Gone because I feel like its very descriptive and I like learning about different cultures and the history.


Part Two: One of the most important survival skill I have noticed while reading A Long Way Gone is Beah and his group do not spend a long period of time for grieving and being depressed about their situation. Despite their disadvantage and life circumstances they don't give up and they keep moving and looking for a safe place. In chapter eleven Beah writes "we all knew we could grieve only for a short while in order to continue staying alive" ( Beah 89).

Works Cited
Beah, Ismael. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs Of A Boy Soldier. New York: Sarah Critchon, 
               2007. Print.





3 comments:

  1. Yes, Beah uses suspense throughout the book and this leaves me being unable to put the book down. The House on Mango Street, is a little confusing to me as well. I have trouble reading any of it and find myself re-reading some paragraphs at times just to get the gist of what is being portrayed. Yet the titles make sense in Cisneros where in A long Way Gone you have your opinion and imagination to make up a logical Title. I like it...

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  2. I agree with you on the fact that Beah sometimes just leaves you hanging. Sometimes I think to myself like should I keep going or try and guess what's going to happen or just put the book down for a bit, its some what frustrating. I think everyone can agree that the house on mango street is just a bounce house book, jumping around a lot. But as far as your second paragraph I couldn't imagine only having a few hours to cope with a death and just move on even though I knew I would have to. Its so sad):

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  3. I agreed about Beah being able to describe things well. It feels like you are in their position sometimes. It is such a descriptive book.

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