Style

     This week I was asked to identify, describe the style of the novel and explain the purpose of why it was used. I've just finished reading the Hunger Games and I chose to write about Symbols. This poetic term is used to represent something else, beyond itself's meaning.
A good example of the use of a symbol in the novel is the pin which Katniss wears the whole time during the Games.
     The pin itself doesn't mean anything very important. It's just a bird holding a flaming bow. However, to Katniss it means a lot more. Every time she looks at the pin, she remembers where she is from and who she really is and she feels even more motivated to win the Games.

Social Issues

     I'm current reading The Hunger Games and just like almost everybody does, I love it! In this book, Suzanne Collins aborts many social issues but the one I chose to describe here in the blog is the misuse of power.

"Don't be ridiculous, Katniss. How could you possibly know an Avox?" snaps Effie. "The very thought."
"What's an Avox?" I ask stupidly.
"Someone who committed a crime. They cut her tongue so she can't speak," says Haymitch. "She's probably a traitor or some sort. Not likely you'd know her." (Collins, 77)

     I think the quotation above shows how power is misused by the Capitol. Someone's tong is cut out for the commission of any crime and they are not even given a chance to defend themselves. This is just one of the lots of barbarities that the Capitol does to people. People in power doesn't measure how mean and cruel they are to district people, which are treated as if they were animals.
     The misuse of power is extremely important to this novel. If power were used properly, the Hunger Games itself wouldn't happen, because district people would be treated equally to Capitol's people.


Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. New York: Scholastic Inc., 2009. Print.

Describe the significance of elements of fiction

Westerfeld, Scott. Uglies. New York: Simon Pulse, 2005. Print.

     This week I've been asked to identify two significant elements of the book I'm reading and describe how they are so important to the story.

     I think one of the most significant element of Uglies is the existence of an organization called Special Circumstances, which is responsible for the city's security. This group of people, send Tally(main character) as a spy to the Smoke (illegal community), where the whole story happens. I think Special Circumstances is very important because if it didn't t exist, the story would take a totally different path. This fact is cited on
     "Then, I'll make you a promise too, Tally Youngblood. Until you do help us, to the very best of your ability, you will never be pretty." (Westerfeld, 110)

      Another element of the plot that is also really significant in my opinion is the Special Circumstance's invasion of the Smoke. This is a moment of conflict of man vs. man. That's when the story begins to get close to the climax, when the Smoke is destroyed.
      "The camp was a chaos of smoke and running figures." (Westerfeld, 288)

Define and Describe a Character

Westerfeld, Scott. Uglies. New York: Simon Pulse, 2005. Print.

The main character of the novel I am current reading is called Tally. The three characteristics that best describe her are:

- Unfaithful 

Synonyms: disloyal, dishonest

Antonyms: faithful, loyal

"She could hardly sit here enjoying the Smokies' admiration if she'd just betrayed them all."

Tally has made a promise to her friend Shay that she would never tell anybody where her friend was running away to. Tally breaks her promise to become beautiful for god. However, the exposure of Shay's secret, put hers the life of tuns of peoples in risk.


- Brave

Synonyms: courageous, fearless

Antonyms: fearful, afraid

"The wild around her seemed so much larger, the churning river full of power, the forest huge with the secrets hidden in its black depths. She allowed herself a long stare at the city lights before she stepped onto shore, wondering when she would see her home again."

Tally had to travel trough a scaring and empty forest all by herself to achieve her objective. Even tough she was going to betray her friend, Tally faced her fears to get what she wanted.

 
- Innocent

Synonyms: immature, childish

Antonyms: mature, wise

"Like a mirror, but in close-up, it showed Tally as she looked right now: puffy eyed and disheveled, exhaustion and  red stratches marking her face, her hair sticking out in all directions, and her expression turning horrified as she beheld her own appearance.
- That's you Tally. Forever.
- Turn it off...
- Decide.
-Okay, I'll do it. Turn it off."

She made a decision under pressure that putted the lives of lots of people in risk just because she wanted to pass trough a surgery to become beautiful. What in my opinion, doesn't really matter on someone's life.

Identifing elements of a good story

Some elements are extremely necessary to a short novel. The most important for me are:


Brevity - No many details, it makes the novel more easily to be read. Billie Letts's novel have a lot of dialogues, so the narrator doesn't show up very often, which avoids to many unnecessary information.


Theme - The story makes the readers believe that family is much more than blood relations, it is "where the heart is" as the name of the book mentions.



Obstacle - Part of conflict, when the character face problems. In the novel I am reading, Where the heart is, the biggest obstacle happens in the beginning of the story, when the main character, Novalee, is left by her own.
"She knew he was gone, knew before she reached the door. She could see it all, see it as if she were watching a movie. She could see herself running, calling his name-the parking space empty, the Plymouth gone." (Billie Letts, 15.)



Turning point - The point of the history in which everything changes, in which big decisions are made and can't  be undone.
"Her baby was coming... But she wasn't ready. Why, she wondered, had she waited until the last minute? Where had the time gone? Two months had passed since Willy Jack had dumped her - and she had done nothing. She hand't look for a place to live, hadn't figured out how to make a living." (Billie Letts, 75.)

Foreshadowing - the reader is given clues of what is happening next. At the novel Where the heart is, the story happens in two different places and then they connect together. But even before it happens, we can have ideas of what is going to happen, because we know what each character had done.

What makes a good book?

In my opinion, to a book be considered good, it has to:

- catch the reader's attention
- be touching
- have a positive message

The best book, actually the best saga, I've read in my life is Harry Potter. These books catche incredibly readers' attention, I couldn't stop reading even for five minutes. It also passes a beautiful message about how family's and friends's loyalty is important. They are capable to touch kids', teenagers' and adults' hearts.



Joanne, Rowling. Harry Potter. London. 2001. Print.

"I've never known any trouble than an hour's reading didn't assuage"

Arthur Schopenhauer