Important Quote: Speak

While reading, there is always that one quote that stands out among the rest. The one you keep going back to. Even if you don't know why you like it, you just keep on reading it. That's how I felt with the quote "We held it in front of an antique mirror at midnight to see our futures. I couldn't see anything" (Anderson 40).

I love this quote for many reasons. For one, it allowed me to further connect with Melinda. Her not seeing anything in the mirror symbolizes how she doesn't see anything positive in her future. She doesn't even think she will have a future. It's devastating. As a reader, my heart dropped. It shows how much Melinda has given up and that she doesn't see anything to live for. All her hope is gone.

Of course this makes the reader want to read on. You want her to be happy. For things to get better. For Melinda to smile again. Well where I'm at in the book, things are still looking pretty rough for Melinda. I hope things get better. It can't stay dark forever... right?

The Importance of Art

Painting, drawing, sculpting... art. It can be a powerful thing as Melinda descovers throughout Speak. Throughout Melinda's struggles (see previous posts) she finds a feeling of calm and safety in art. It is something she still finds hope in, even when she feels like giving up. Usually, Melinda is very quiet but her art expresses so much emotion that she hides inside. For example, Melinda's art teacher says "This has meaning. Pain" when he sees her project (Anderson 64).

In this way I can connect to Melinda. Art to me is a way to calm down and express my feelings. Being able to relate to Melinda in this way helps connect me to the book and understand what she is feeling. The way Anderson develops the sense of need Melinda has for art shows how powerful it is.

An example of how art can express feelings that may be hidden.

Speak: How Society Affects Melinda

Nobody understands. No one.
Nobody cares. No one.

This is how Melinda feels constantly. Every day. 24/7. But WHY? Well, like many things, this can be blamed on society. Melinda is surrounded by students that, to put it kindly, hate her. Normally when someone says, "OMG everyone hates me!" they are usually over-exaggerating. Not in Melinda's case. Well maybe they don't all HATE her but they all dislike her.

She made one choice: to call the cops at a party. And no one forgives her. She's an outcast. With her entire school acting this way, it greatly impacts Melinda. Her grades drop a lot and she starts skipping classes almost everyday to avoid the ineventable: seeing her classmates.

This conflict between Melinda and society creates suspense and emotion throughout the book. The reader wants to know how Melinda is going to handle it. Will her classmates ever forgive her? Why did she call the cops in the first place? So many questions spinning in the reader's head push you to keep reading. Emotions also connect the reader to the book. "I want her to get better! I hate seeing her so sad! She doesn't deserve this!" Common thoughts I have experienced while reading the book.

Maybe you can relate to what Melinda feels. Where nobody understands and nobody cares. Even if you can't, the way the book is written emotionally engages the reader because of how society affects Melinda.

Speak: Real Life Issues

Society. Problems. Two words you often see by each other because let's face it our society has several problems. In the book Speak there are many real life issues covered throughout the story: the main one being bullying. An issue often talked about but with no action really taken. The whole book is based off of this since Melinda is bullied by pretty much 99% of her grade.

As for what the author thinks...

The author takes a clear stance against bullying. Describing in details the struggles Melinda faces to show the effects of bullying. It's clear the author wants people to stand up for people being bullied, since this is what Melinda wants constantly.

Change. Change is needed, and this book proves that. Bullying is a growing problem that no one should have to go through, but so many people do. Change. That's one of Laurie Anderson's reason for writing Speak: is to inspire change.

Speak- Character Contrast

Do you guys have that friend that is so completely different from you and it's just like how are we even friends?? That's how it is for Melinda and Heather. I honestly did not think two people this vastly different could get along. Both of them are going through the same problem: not having any friends and not being like by most of the school. How they go about this problem is incredibly different.


First, Melinda: After having crashed a party last year, the entire, literally ENTIRE, student body hates her, well except Heather of course. Overall, Melinda is just overwhelmed and upset by the whole thing. She lost all of her good friends and is now left feeling extremely alone. She begins to withdraw, her grades drop, she skips classes to hide. Melinda has lost all hope at this point.


Heather: Being her first year in Syracuse, Heather is an outcast because no "group" will let her join and she is stuck alone on the outside. Whereas Melinda gave up, Heather is VERY determined to find a group. She makes plans to get into one group and climb the latter of popularity until she reaches the top. She's always coming up with new ideas and plans. Like when Heather says, "What should we do? What do you want to join? Maybe we should tutor at the elementary school." (Anderson 23) Her thoughts are constant and don't seem to stop. But when nothing seems to be working, she breaks down and slowly starts losing hope.


And in that way, they are similar. Melinda has lost all hope, and Heather is slowly joining her.

New Book- Speak

As of a few days ago, I started reading the book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. As for why I picked this book, I'm not really sure. I just happen to see it on Good Reads so why not give it a try.

Imagine this:

• It's the first day of high school
• You walk into the auditorium with all the other students
• All your old friends suddenly hate you
• No one offers to sit by you, so you sit alone
• The kids behind you start making fun of you and laughing
• Then comes lunch
• You have no where to sit
• And all of a sudden, out of no where, you are hit straight in the chest with... mashed potatoes

Sounds like a pretty awful first day in my opinion, not to mention that's only the first half. But this is Melinda's first day of school all because of an incident that occurred last year. The reader doesn't know much about what happened, but so far I know that: there was a party and Melinda ended up calling the police. Yes, she crashed the party. But why??? The reader is left wondering this as the suspense builds up and you want to keep reading.

The Fault in Our Stars: Final Post

Okay... I have read this book 5 times in a row now and have made so many posts about it that I have decided this will be my last post regarding The Fault in Our Stars. I would like to leave you with this note: give this book a try.


I've heard so many things about this book ranging from "this book is perfection" to "this book is cliché and like Twilight but with cancer".


Clearly, I disagree with the second one. This book has so much meaning in it and it's more then "just a romance novel."


John Green does such a great job creating characters that the reader can relate to. In every character throughout the novel, I can see parts of my personality in them. For example:


Augustus: I can relate to Augustus because of his fear of oblivion (being forgotten). I think that many people can relate to this, when you sometimes feel like everything you are doing is without a reason.


Hazel: I am similar to Hazel in how she thinks about other people. She believes that she is going to hurt others and to avoid that she tries to isolate herself.


Isaac: I think out of all the characters in the book I am most like Isaac. He believes in the goodness of everyone. That no one will hurt you. This is false, leaving Isaac hurt time and time again, yet he always remains believing that everyone is too nice to hurt anyone. Isaac also focuses on being the best friend he can. He puts everything into his relationships and friendships and is always there to help.


Hazel's Mom: I can relate to Hazel's mom a lot throughout the book. She hates seeing her people upset and would do anything to give them a time of happiness. She's trustworthy and always there to help when life gets rough.




I think no matter what your personality is you will be able to find a character you can relate to throughout the book. Overall, PERFECT book that everyone should read!

The Fault in Our Stars Quote Analysis

Analysis. Most high school students internally groan almost every time they see or hear that word. Analyzing = time and effort for something not going to make a huge difference in your life. Right? Well sometimes analyzing can be helpful. Like with this quote from The Fault in Our Stars: "The weird thing about houses is that they almost always look like nothing is happening inside of them, even though they contain most of our lives."

I'll admit at a first glance, this quote seems like an average sentence. As if I picked up my book and point to any random line on the page. I thought that at first too, but then I figured out a connection.

What John Green is implying is that you never really know what someone is going through. The houses represent our bodies, our outside looks. Someone could be having the worst day; everything is going wrong for them- but they still smile. A smile means they are happy... agree? Well a smile can hide so much. Just because someone looks happy doesn't mean they are. Just because someone laughs at a joke directed towards them doesn't mean it didn't hurt them. Just because someone appears confident doesn't mean they don't hate their self. Get the point? You never really know what someone is going through, or what they are thinking. So many people will judge someone, when really they hardly know anything about them. So be careful, you really don't know the person and their life. This is what John Green is saying when he wrote that line. It's so easy to assume nothing is wrong by looking at the outside of someone, but maybe they are hiding all their problems on the inside.

...........

On a side note...
I'm sure a lot of you are getting tired of reading posts about this book... but its just so good. Over spring break I started and failed to finish several books- they just don't compare to the perfection of The Fault in Our Stars! Hopefully I'll find another book soon to give you all something different to read about.

Cigarettes: Are they symbolic?

Okay we all have that fear. That one fear, that no matter what, you can't control. It doesn't go away-- and you can't fix it. Well for Augustus Waters, that fear would be cancer. Augustus is that guy that seems like he's tough, he's strong, and he's cool. At a first glance, Augustus has never feared his cancer. "He fights heroically" as most people say about cancer survivors. But reader let me ask you... do you go around telling everyone your biggest fear? Most of you probably answered no. So just because Augustus seems "tough" doesn't mean he doesn't have fears.

But what does this have to do with symbols?

The most common, well-known symbol in the book is Augustus's cigarettes. If you personally haven't read this book -I strongly suggest you do- then you might be thinking something like: you just said he was afraid of cancer but now he's smoking which is likely to give him more cancer. Well, cigarettes only give you cancer if you light them... and Augustus does not. Seems silly right? Likes he's just trying to play "cool."

However... that's not the case.

As Augustus says, “It's a metaphor, see: You put the killing thing right between your teeth, but you don't give it the power to do its killing" (Green 20).

You might be confused still. I was when I first read the quote too. But what Augustus is saying is that he is trying to control his fear. Well you can't control cancer, and therefore can't control your fear, this is his way of taking something able to give him cancer, but not giving it the power to do so. He is acting "stronger then the cancer" in a way, like he is finally in charge of it.

This metaphor can be applied to almost every fear. And maybe it will help you overcome yours.

The Fault in Our Stars Fan Art showing Augustus with his crooked smile and cigarette
 

Monica's Lessons

Monica, a minor character when it comes to The Fault in Our Stars, has a bigger role then just playing the cliche girl who breaks a poor guy's heart. But first background knowledge. Monica and Isaac (a teenage boy about to go blind) dated for a long period of time. They were always known to be whispering "always" to each other, promising to stay together. Well lets just say that didn't last. A few days before Isaac has surgery, making him completely blind, Monica leaves him because she couldn't handle having a blind boy friend. This, of course, is followed by a long period of sadness, where even after Isaac becomes blind, he still thinks about her more than the surgery.

At a quick glance Monica is seen as rude, selfish, not really caring at all about Isaac. However, there are definitely more reasons then that to have her be a part of the story.

For one, she teaches the reader that nothing ever lasts, a common theme seen throughout the book. Her leaving Isaac shows that "always" doesn't necessarily mean forever. Everything ends, whether it's good or bad.

Second, while Monica can be viewed as selfish, maybe she was looking out for Isaac. As she said, she couldn't handle Isaac's disability. Leaving him, gives him the chance to find someone that can care for him even though he is blind. Could she have at least tried and stayed? Sure, but at least she was honest.

Also, Monica shows that you have to stand up for yourself. While leaving Isaac may have seemed like a "weak move", I believe it was actually strong of her. She did what was best for her, instead of allowing herself to get hurt in a relationship she couldn't handle. Even though Isaac was very upset, she went through with her decision. You can control your happiness, not others, and Monica's decision benefited her happiness. Isaac shouldn't rely on her as his only form of happiness, and the pain of her leaving will go away eventually.

These lessons that Monica teaches the reader are skills that everyone can apply to their life and they shouldn't be overlooked, even though Monica is just a minor character throughout the novel.

The Fault in Our Stars Review

The day after I finished The Fault in Our Stars, I started reading it again. It's just such a great book! It definitely deserves a rating of 5 out of 5. Every event that takes place throughout the story is meaningful.

The story starts out with a young girl Hazel, who is fighting cancer in her lungs. Every week she is forced to go to a rather boring and hardly useful support group, along with other kids with cancer. One week a new cancer surviver, Augustus, attends the support group. Right from the start, Hazel instantly found herself falling in love with everything about him. The two of them further connect over Hazel's favorite book, The Imperial Affliction. This leads them on a journey seeking to find the answers left unknown at the end of the book. But as Augustus says, "The world is not a wish granting factory," and this task is made nearly impossible by unexpected events that leave the reader in suspense.

Theme of The Fault in Our Stars

Okay, so this is probably already clear by how many posts I have done on this book, but I absolutely love The Fault in Our Stars. The book is so inspiring and has a great message. This book contains many themes dealing with courage, love, identity, and so many other topics. However my favorite theme has to do with thankfulness.

Being thankful for what you have leads to happiness.

This theme is present many times throughout the book. It is relevant because Hazel and Augustus don't know how long they will survive with their cancer, so it is important for them to be thankful for the time they do have.

Hazel states, "You gave me forever within the numbered days, and for that I am thankful."

I think this quote is really powerful. It shows that even though Hazel wants more time with Augustus, she appreciates the time she has. Hazel's strength teaches the reader to be thankful for everything that makes you happy, even if it only lasts for a short amount of time.

Another quote that implies the theme is: "Some infinities are bigger than other infinities."

This is by far one of my favorite quotes from the book. What Hazel means by this is that even though her time with Augustus is infinite, their infinite is shorter than others because their time alive might be cut short by cancer. But even with the time being shorter, Hazel still loves every minute of being with Augustus and she is thankful for it.

http://prezi.com/1drmf2wgefmx/the-fault-in-our-stars/

Augustus Characterization Changes

In the beginning of the book, Augustus is characterized as flirty and humorous. He often teases Hazel and jokes around basically all the time. As the author gets to know him more and as the story goes on, he transitions into a more supportive and careful person, although he still kept his sense of humor. I think that this character change shows the reader the positive and negatives to both being a more light-hearted person and a more serious, careful person.

As a light-hearted person, Augustus wasn't usually taken very seriously. However, his jokes and cheerful attitude raised everyone's spirits. Most people would come to him when they wanted to be cheered up.

Towards the end of the book, Augustus is more caareful and gives more advice. He doesn't take everything as a joke and in return, people come to him for support and advice.

The transition of Augustus's personality adds depth to the book.

Important Line from The Fault in Our Stars

“That's the thing about pain," Augustus said, and then glanced back at me. "It demands to be felt.”

This quote is one of my favorites from The Fault in Our Stars. It is realistic and I can relate to what it is saying. The quote is also important to the story line because it foreshadows future events yet to come. When Augustus glances away,along with his serious tone, it shows that he is hiding something from Hazel and the reader. It also creates suspense by making the reader curious about what pain Augustus is thinking about when he says this. 

Other than helping the plot and story line, the quote adds depth and a serious tone. It makes the reader aware of the truth in the quote. It is accurate and easy to relate to. I think everyone has experienced a time where they wanted to forget about something that was making them upset, but you can't stop thinking about it or feeling it. This is what Augustus is saying in his quote and it allows the reader to connect to the book and Augustus by feeling sympathy for him, because we understand what he is talking about.

This book has so many great quotes that really engage the reader and makes the book really exciting to read.

The Fault in Our Stars- Isaac

I started reading John Green's The Fault in Our Stars and I haven't been able to put the book down ever since. Usually, I'm the type of person who only reads when I have to, but this book is different. From the beginning, I was instantly hooked. The characters such as Augustus, Hazel, and Isaac are described so well that I feel like I know them in person. All three of them have been diagnosed with cancer, but all of their stories are very different. Along with different stories, their personalities are all very different.

Isaac is the most emotional character. He reacts based on his emotions and not based on the facts. Every negative event that happens, he takes it personally. While emotions are important to feel sympathy for others and to connect with people, Isaac's personality shows that sometimes being over-emotional can create further problems. An example of Isaac's strong emotions is after his girlfriend broke up with him.

"Isaac stomped on them and screamed while Augustus and I stood a few feet away bearing witness to the madness" (Green 107).

Most people over look Isaac since he isn't one of the main characters. However, he adds meaning and lessons to the book. From Isaac's experiences, the reader is taught about friendship. Isaac and Augustus's friendship is very strong. Isaac is always there for Augustus, no matter what. He is reliable and is determined to have strong relationships with all of his friends. Unfortunately, this can sometimes lead to Isaac getting hurt. Isaac put all of his love into his relationship with Monica. He supported her and cared for her unconditionally. He expected the same back from Monica, but this was not the case. Her love was not unconditional, and when Isaac became blind, she left him. The reader is left wondering whether this was from Monica being a bad friend or from fear.

Overall, Isaac is an important part of the book, even if he isn't the main character. He teaches us to be a true friend and the meaning of friendship. He also shows how acting only on emotions isn't always a good thing.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower- Structure

The Perks of Being a Wallflower, is written as multiple letters from Charlie to the reader. This creates a really interesting novel because most stories aren't written like this. Having the entire story written in letters allows the reader to know all of Charlie's thoughts on an event. As Charlie writes, he shares his opinions and thoughts and really allows the reader to understand what is happening in his life. In his letters, he includes advice from other characters, allowing the minor characters to be characterized also. An example of how Charlie describes his thoughts to the reader is on page 138:
"I know that I brought this all on myself. I know that I deserve this. I'd do anything not to be this way."
This unique plot structure distinguishes the book from others and makes is a great novel to read.