This is the cover of the book that i been reading and writing about i am threw with the book now and putting my last blog in for it. I really enjoyed this book it really touch me in a place that i thought it could not because i am not really a book reader but i would not mind reading this book over. Really bonded with the main character Martha she really made the hole book, and also her loving family that supported her with every thing that she went threw that summer, and school year even some her teachers was there for her, I don't think that she would have mad it in the world with out the support that they was giving her, but over all i really loved this book and hope many more people enjoy it like i did.

Jason and Kyra by Dana Davidson2

Yes, the experiences that the characters go through causes them to grow. for example the two characters don't really know much about each other but the get past their differences. One thinks of the other as a concieted jock who thinks he knows everything. The other thinks that one is just a weird nerd. They both let go of their wrong perseptions and become friends. That shows maturity and growth. They were both able to let go of the harsh things they thiught of each other.
Also the fact that they begin to become a couple and eventually becomes each others first love shows growth. Falling in love with another is a big step that takes mature people to do.

The point of view...

Each person has there own opinion on how the story is told thats there personal point of view.At the end each of there point is over powered by the consiquence.The main point of view is be careful what you do because you never know when it could get the best of you.


To me the story is baised because none of the characters never know whats going happen next, but it all falls in a sequence.The point of view seem to be note worthy because it was a lesson learned. The teens in the story charactics is what helped them get threw the story.

Martha has been doing good dealing with the death of the person that she was so deeply in love with every one has been so supportive and been by her side threw it all trying to make sure she gets threw it and not by her self, her sister loves her so much and would do any thing for her in a heart beat because it hurt ed her seeing her sister unhappy so she did everything in her power to make sure her older sister was OK and happy.Martha was just disappointed knowing that she had to move her life on with out him because they planed there future together and plan to be with each other for ever, but you have to think about it everything does not last forever she just did not no that it would have to end so soon and the way that it did hurt ed her the most.She is a very smart young girl and is going to make it far in life but them being to gather just made it so much better and the would have been so successful in life now she is thinking like what is she going to do now with out him, and how will she make it in the world with out the person her that heart belonged to.

GO ASK ALICE

Go Ask Alice was an excelint book to read i would recemend it to everybody be cause the writer put aloty of emotion and truth into it, i also recemend it because it also has to deal with what alot of tens are going on with today and what they might be going trew and what they might be thinking. go sk alice is a book that catches your attention as soon as you start reading it thats why i also think i liked it so much. my opinion on this book was that it was a teen that was trying to get attention from her parents from her parents and the world and thought that she could run away from the pain she gets from them by doing drugs. reading this book can also show teens what not to do cause it can ruin your life i mean she was a 17 year old girl doing drugs and having sex im her same age and nnot even thinking about doing those things and i dont think i would be thinking about doing hose things if i was treated diffferent matbe its because i have respect for myself and no what i want to do with my life. but as far as her doing drugs and having sex at a young age the book is very interesting and really recamend it to anybody just pick it up on ay and rad it youu might learn something ne i did .


, ASHLEY SMITH

Jason and Kyra by Dana Davidson

But he doesn't let that affect him with getting his school work done.
As far as Kyra, she isn't one of the popular girls in school. Alot of people call her a nerd because she is very smart. She is very close to her family. She is very into science and has entered a contest that would give her a full scholarship to any college she chooses.
Both Jason and Kyra reminds the reader of people they know because they are described as everyday, regular teenagers. You can think of any of your friends and be able to relate Jason or Kyra to them. for example one of my frinds is really into sports but really doesn't have a good relationship with his parents. I also have another female ffriend who is really smart and doesn't dress like everybody else in school. Readding this book you are able to relate the characters to any of your friends.

Does the characters experiences cause them to grow??

Payton the main character, has had alot of experiences since the time. First off she's had trouble figuring out who she wants as a boyfriend in college. Because of the fact that they both go to her college and they don't get along and they play on the same football team, she's been having some major difficulties. They also went to a party, the three of them together and she had some jealousy issues because they were both dancing with other women. So she goes and finds someone to dance with and tries to show off in front of them and make herself known to the both of them. She also has a roomate that lives with her who she wasn't so sure that she wanted to live with because she was a different race from her and she was scared that people were going to be talking about her because the majority of the people in the school was white and she was african american.

So after a while she stopped caring what other peope thought and he started praying everyday to God and asking him to kee[p her and help her not to focus so much on what people had to think or say about her and that she would stop focusing so much on her ex-boyfriends and start focusind on her school work before she started failing and missing classes. Her roomate on the other hand was having problems in gymnastics and so Payton would pray with her and I think that her motivation to strive and do good in her classes and praying is helping her do better and to help other people

"Smack", Melvin Burgess

What did you like about the book or dislike?

I really enjoyed the book I had chosen because now I can relate and understand what a user faces on a daily bases. It opened my eyes and mind to another world of life on drugs. I live on the lower west side and knew a tons of drugs users, some are even the parents of my friends or my old friends from elementary school. It bothers me to see that they have decided that weed or crack is the way to solve all their problems and now because of Melvin Burgess' book, I in a way comprehend why. A user was a person who was crying out for help and received it from the wrong person. It so happened that the answer to their cry was none other than a drug. Since no adult, friend or family member would be willing to help deal with the issue at hand the right way a person that is going through emotional stress and drama will be quick to aspect a drug instead. And weather it was weed, alcohol or heroin, that person is now trapped and it's a long road to recovery when now your issue is has multiplied and help is limited.


I wouldn't have even thought for a second that getting off drugs was as hard as the book showed me. I thought it was a users excuse, their way of getting someone off their back but I was wrong. I was also wrong about pressuring a person into quiting because all a user knows is that a drug will take it all away. I enjoyed this book because now I feel I may be able to help a user, with the do's and don't's this book has showed me. And that I may be able to make a difference now because of "Smack"!

Smack, Melvin Burgess

Did certain parts of the book make you feel uncomfortable? Why? Did this lead you to a new understanding or awareness of some aspects of your life you might have not thought about before?

I have to admit there were lots of parts in this novel that made me feel so uncomfortable and I could have grind down my teeth how shocked and in a way terrified I was in the situation the character's put themselves in. Maybe it's because I am a mother but when I was reading about Gems and Tar starting to shout up, in a way my heart dropped because the whole time I'm reading; I'm hoping they turn their lives around. I kept thinking ........ oh if I were their mother or all they needed was love. I feel for what they been through but also in a way I feel that two wrongs don't make a right. Everyone goes through situations that they feel they can never get through but, they do and life goes on with out having to turn to drugs as a way out.Knowing a teenager my age is shouting up heroin and making themselves think that they are in control, was a totally uncomfortable feeling, maybe because I was unable to help them. I'm the type of person that just can't sit back and watch something like that happen.
So reading all the different things they were doing to ruin their lives just made me cringe with discomfort.
Especially, when I read what Gems and her friends turned into to get money for drugs, prostitutes. All I could think was WHY? Teenage prostitutes and they still think that they are in control of the drug but in reality it was the other way around. It made me think....... wow this really happens everyday and to them it's life and that hurt. Even though I knew what was going to happen in the book but, I wanted to be proved wrong. I grown to understand and accept that everyone has to make their own choices in life and grow from them. That still doesn't mean that I approve or feel comfortable with it.

"Smack", Melvin Burgess

What was unique about the setting of the book and how did it enhance or take from the story?

I really enjoyed the setting of my story that I have read; it enhance my reading by far and was what really drew me into the book in the first place. I feel that the setting in the mid-1980's was perfect for the book and gave a factual element to the story because during that time period, use of heroin by teenagers was very popular even more so with runaways, like the main characters of the book. The eighties was a time of breaking free from your parents restriction and on to having fun.... which their(wild teens of the 80's) definition for fun was drugs, drinking and parties. The author used this facts of the eighties and really appealed that to the character's lifestyles. With this certain setting I was able to understand how easy it was for teenagers to get drugs and ways of getting the money to buy the drugs back then. Now a days if a police officer sees teenagers around the streets during school hours, they would pick them up, no questions asked. If the setting would have been in present time it wouldn't have been believable and ruined the story.

The story took place in Bristol and the author explains the place in such vivid detail that it feels that I have been there before after Reading the book. Burgess (author) tells the surroundings of the city and shops in such a way that I could picture myself walking in the streets with the characters. Burgess explains the things thing that are happening in the
story also in great detail so that the reader can go along with the story without getting
mixed up. For example, I never heard of the term squatting before and after reading the paragraph I knew that the term meant an a abandon building was going to be a home for the homeless. The details of the setting of the abandon buildings , enhanced my understanding of what the characters had to live in on a daily bases and made me more interested. Without the unique setting of the story,I feel the impact and powerful theme the author was trying to display would not have what it turned out to be.

Martha is the character name and threw out the book she was very sad because of her boyfriend's death,and what mad me feel for her is the fact that she took it will she sheaded her tears but that was it she was so strong about the whole situation.But what made me really identify with Martha is that the person that she loved and shared everything with the one she would have spent the rest of her life with just died out her life i would have been so hurt if anything happened to my boyfriend i don't think i would have took it so easy like she did.

The story is faced with many consequences not knowing whats going to happen next. This bring about conflict. The conflict in the story is the main impact. The conflict is they live they lives every day,but the guy that knows what they did last summer hunts they every move and any thing could happen. The characters are trying to end the conflict but time is running out. To be honest they have no idea of who has the fate to be the last person standing.My favorite character Julie has the strong charactics to make it through. She was the first person to receive the letter and you never know the last person to be standing. At the same time she afraid but every time she escapes.

At the turning point the plot begins to pull me in. This is because of the intensity of the story of how the guy is after them day by day.The story has horror and suspense which makes you more interested in the story.

The Allure of the West

<i>Into the Wild</i>, Jon Krakauer, pgs 144-207 (end)

<i>Death of a Salesman</i>, Arthur Miller, pgs 1-97

So, I finished <i>Into the Wild</i> and started rereading a book that I'm studying with my AP Literature class.  As I read the first act of the play I was struck by the similarity between Chris McCandless and many of the characters from <i>Death of a Salesman</i>.  The main character of this story, Willy Loman frets over a missed opportunity to accompany his older brother to Alaska to make money. Instead he is 60 and stuck in a dead end sales job.  Interestingly enough, Willy's father abandoned <i>him</i> as a child to also seek fortune in Alaska.  In a weird twist, Willy is disappointed in his son Biff because he is constantly seeking work outside of the norm of the day.  He's worked on cattle farms and other jobs that Willy does not respect.  Biff explains that he likes these jobs because he's not stuck inside at a desk and can be out in the open air.

In American culture the west has always been symbolic of the open frontier, a vast unexplored wilderness where a man could make his living outside of the realm of laws and societal constraints.  It's interesting that these two books, written 50 years apart, have such similar themes.

Does anyone else know of any characters who seek a life outside of society?  Anyone have a friend or family member who constantly wants to go out on the open road?  What do you think drives a person to feel like this?

__________________________________________________

<b>Dear Blogger:</b>  This is not a spam post.  I am mailing to publish this on all of my student's blogs in order to provide a sample and to engage in discussions.  Please call off the spambots.

Jason and Kira by Dana Davidson
this story is about to people who are from 2 different circle of friends. they really don't care for each other much until they have to work on a class project together.
One thing I like about this book is the author describes the way cliques really are in high school. I also like how the characters really seem to be like everyday high school students.

JUST BECAUSE

IHAVENT FINISED GO ASKED ALICE BUT I WOULD RECAMEND THIS BOKK TO VERY ONE TO ME IT IS VERY INTERESTING AND I THINK THAT ANYBODY WHO READS IT WOULD LIKE IT BECAUSE I DO AND I BAELY LIKE STUFF SO IF YOU EVERY SEE GO ASK ALICE IN THE STORE OR IN THE LIBARAY PICK IT UP READ A FEW PAGES BEILEVE ME YOU WILL EITHER WANT TO RENT IT OR BUY IT.

GO ASK ALICE

THE BOOK I AM READING IS ABOUT A 15 YREAR OLD GIRL
THAT HAS ALREADY BEEN BROUGHT IN TO THE WORLD OF DRUGS AND SEX. SHE IS STRUGGLING THREW DRUGS BECAUSE WHEN SHE SEEMS TO STOP THEY TEND TO COME BACK INTO HER LIFE. SHE RAN AWAY BECAUSE ON TOP OF THE STRESS OF DRUGS HER PARENTS ARE ALWAYS PUTTING HER DOWN WHEN SHE DOES SOMETHING TO HER SELF THEY NEVER CAN SAY ANYTHING POSITIVE ABOUT HER. RUNNING AWAY CANGED ALOT PUT THEN IN AWAY IT DIDNT SHE GOT CAUGHT UP IN DRUGS AGAIN AND EVEN GOT RAPPED WHICH MADE HER REALLY THINK WHAT SHE IS DOING WITH HER LIFE.TO ME SHE IS A TEENAGE GIRL TRYING TO GET ATTENTION AND DOESNT KNOW HOW TO GET IT ANY OTHER WAY AND THINKS DOING DRUGS AND HAVING SEX WILL MAKE IT BETTER.CAUSE WHEN SHE IS HIGH SHE ALWAYS SAYS SHE IS BEAUTIFUL. BUT WHEN SHES NOT SHE KIND OF PUTS HER SELF DOWN. WHICH I THINK IS WRONG.

ALICE AT THE AG OF 15 HAS DONE HEROIN , SPEED, WEED, AND ANY OTHER DRUG THATS OUT THERE SHE EVEN STARTED HAVEN SEX AND TO TOP IT OFF UNPRETECTED SEX. AND AT THIS AGE SHE HAS RUN AWAY FROM HOME WITH HER FREIND WHEN SHE SHOULD BE WITH HER FAMILY AND IN SCHOOL. IF I COULD ASK HER A QUESTION IT WOULD BE WHY WOULD YOU PUT YOUR SELF TREW THIS MUCH PAIN AND NOT JUST YOUR SELF BUT YOUR FAMILY. WHY WOULD YOU RISK BEEING A NOBODY BECAUSE OF DRUGS? IF I COULD ASK THE AUTHOR A QUESTION IT WOULD BE WHY DID YOU LEAVE THIS BOOK ANOMOUS ARE YOU HIDING SOMETHING IS THAT WHY YOU DID?

I CHOSE THESE QUESTIONS BECAUSE THEY SEEMED THE MOST RESONABLE FOR MY BOOK. I KNE WTHAT IF THIS WAS A REAL LETTER TO THE AUTHOR THAT MAYBE MY QUESTIONS MIGHT GET ANSWERED AND THEN I COULD UNDERSTAND ALICE AND WHY SHE MADE THE CHOICES SHE DID. MAY NOT MAKE SENSE TO YOU BUT IT DOES TO ME AND THATS ALL THAT MATTERS. AND THERE WERE NOT ANY OTHER QUESTIONS I THINK THAT COULD OF SATISFIED ME.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

ASHLEY SMITH GO ASK ALICE

1.GO ASK ALICE IS A TEEN GIRLS DIARY AND HOW HERE LIFE WAS. SHE STARTED DRUGS AT A YOUNG AGE BUT THERES A TWIST TO THAT SHE STARTED HAVING SEX. AND I THINK SHES DOING THIS TO MAKE HER SELF FEEL BETTER BECAUSE HER PARENTS TREAT HER LIKE CRAP THEY ARE ALWAYS LOOKING DOWN ON HER WHEN SHE DOES SOMETHING SO MAYBE SHE IS TRYING TO GET THERE ATTENTION HER OWN WHY.


2.ONE THING I LIKE ABOUT THE BOOK SO FAR IS EVERYTHING IT IS VERY INTERESTING AND IT SHOWS YOU HOW SOME PEOPLE LIVE THERE LIFE TODAY AND THATS SAD THAT THEY HAVE TO DO DRUGS AND HAVE SEX JUST TO GET ATTENTION OR MAKE THERE SELF FEEL BETTER THERE SHOULD BE ANOTHER OPTION.

This book is about a pack a friends.....

whose try to keep a secret about what happen last summer.They made a pack that they would never say nothing. Little do they know somebody knows about the secret. Now they receive strang letters and try to get to the bottom of who knows.

I like this book because......

it gives off a suspense of whats going to happen. Another thing is I like how the characters draw you into the book to make you more interesting. Also because the movie was good.


Title:I know what you did last summer
Author:Lois Duncan

The characters in the story seem real because they are a group of young adults who like having fun like us. They took a turn after what happen last summer. After running over a man and then threw is body in the lake they made a pack to never say anything about it. Now college about to start and they are faced with what could be there last. Somebody knows what went on and now hunts them down. They begain turning on each other since it easy for one person to break the pack . The character I like the most is Julie because she trys to stay strong even though she knows somebody is watching her every moves. Now the turning point is when he begain going after them trying to kill them. The man looks like a fisherman wearing a long black cape and hat .He also walks around with a hook killing people.All of them dont know what the next turn is. At the end all of the puzzles of what is going on is coming together.Now Julie is the last one faced with fate. She ends up being the only one that survived.

This can relate to any pack of friends that does something thats an accident. What happen that summer was a mistake gone wrong they just happen to be drunk and wasnt watching where they were going. This can happen to any young adults involving in alcohol while drving .You might not ever know who knows. The pack made can hunt you forever. Also while this going on your friends can easly turn on you and be the ones behind it the whole time.Thats why its good to be careful what you do because you never know what can happen in the long run.

The realistic characterization in this story is how the author was saying how she felt after the accident with her boyfriend. The author was making sure that you felt what the character was feeling as if you were there and you were going threw it. I would like to meet one of the characters just to talk with her and let her no that she is not alone and its always someone else out there for you and i no that it might be hard to let go but it would e the best thing to do instead of waiting around making your self feel bad, and making your life harder. She is in high school so every day its something new to her because her sister has her own boyfriend and she is sad to see them together but his was trying his hardest to be nice and gentle with her knowing anything he say might offend her and set off a trigger and all her feelings about Stevens death comes back to her. Martha's family was very supportive of the whole situation her mom took a whole week off of work and sent her little sister to camp and Dottie to her boyfriends so that she can be alone with her and to let her no that she was her mother and she would always be there for her, she could not say much but just told her to get it all out and everything is going to be all right . Martha just got sick of crying and and came to the point that she new he was gone and never coming back that she could not cry no more it was just hurting her seeing her self cry so she cry ed and cry ed until she was all dried out.I did not hate Martha i actually like her because i feel were she coming from and i feel for her and Stevens family.

Upstream, Melissa Lion

In the book that I have read, the main character is a young lady who is about eighteen years old, her name is Martha. Marty as she is called, is a high school senior that feels she has been out casted by all her peers because of an event that took place over the summer. Her boyfriend died and she was the only person who was with him and knows what truly happened. The death has isolated her from opening up to others, in a way she feels vulnerable. She now keeps more to herself and lost contact with many close friends. The only thing shared between her and her old friend are only questionable "Hi's and bye's".

Helping Marty cope with the death and pain is her family. Her family consist of her mother and two sister's. All who love her every much and only want to see Marty get through this tragedy. But for Marty letting go came be the hardest thing she will ever face.

I feel that this character seems very real and believable because I can relate to Martha and the things she has been through. First of all I am the same age as her, a senior in high school and can understand the pressure of trying to fit in after an event like that occurs. I to have lost a loved one during my second year of high school. It was devastating and I did not want to even to talk to some of my best friends let alone peers and teacher about what happened. I just wanted to try to get over it, not have to relive the moment every time someone asked what happened.

Also like the main character, Martha, I too had a lot of support from my family to get over the tragedy. My mom, dad, brothers and sisters all cried with me until we had no tears left to cry. My family helped me when I needed it most and are still very careful of what others and they say to I won't get upset. Their love for me and my feelings made them defensive, in the most helpful way.

Marty too cried on her mothers shoulder for weeks, until she had no more tears to cry but the pain never left. Her mother took off from work just to hold her daughter and wait until she was ready, when ever that may have been. Martha's mom did not want to pressure her in any way , that would just stop her from letting go the death. Her sister was also defensive when anyone questioned Marty about what happened and would answer for her with witty remark. All because they loved her.

So in many ways I feel me and Marty are every similar because of our experiences and the times in our lives that these events have occurred.

Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer Pages: 1-144

So, the book I'm reading is about this early twenty something kid who
is pretty alienated. It's a nonfiction book, and since I haven't
summed it up yet in a previous response, it's about a kid who is
searching for meaning in life and seeks this meaning by exploring.
At the beginning of the book we find out that he ends up dying in the
middle of Alaska to exposure.

Even though I think I'm supposed to, I'm having a really hard time
identifying with the main character, Chris McCandless. I look at
the cover and there's this picture of Emile Hirsch portraying
McCandless. He's a good looking kid, and he's kind of sitting in this
"top of the world" type dominant pose. The author seems to really
identify with the character, and spends a couple of chapters relating
his own similar experiences. And McCandless is seemingly the rugged,
individualistic antihero that Americans celebrate.

But, I can't get into him, and I think it's because I'm a parent
now. I see the way this kid abandoned his parents, went off into the
middle of nowhere, took chances, didn't write home, and espoused his
theories on the way life works to whomever would listen, and I'm
like, "dude...call your mom, dad and sister. They're worried sick."
The kid is kind of portrayed as this spiritual, deep Thoreau quoting
prophetic figure, but he just strikes me as naive and self centered.
I don't know what I'd do if I was his parent. I would be devastated
if my son took off after graduating college and just disappeared.
It's really rather sad.

(By the way, if you're wondering, this response is to the 7th bullet
under character. The total length of this response is 279 words. I
summed up the book to start because I figured you'd need that
information, but then I really tried to stick to talking about
whether or not I identified with the main character and why.)

"Upstream"

So far it is about this young girl who lost her boyfriend and she does not want to go back to school with all that happen because she nows every one will be lookin at her different and she did not want to go threw that and the fact that someone she loved with all her heart is gone and she is in her own state of mind right now thinkin about how she is going to move on in life with out him, so right now thats basicly were i am right now.

It's about a girl who...


is a high school senior in Alaska. Her name is Martha and for some reason she is depressed and feels like outcast because of an event that took place over the summer.

One thing I like about this book is...

that I enjoy reading about teenage drama. A couple pages into the book I realized that the main character, Martha, has experience something so terrible that it has changed her life completely. This drew me into the book and I found my self reading every chance I got.

Title: "Upstream"
Author: Melissa

Your 1st Post!

Today in class we will be posting to our blogs. To keep things simple, this
first post will be a kind of introductory thing. Here's what I'd like each
of you to write (make sure it is under your own display name):

1. In 2-3 sentences, give us a taste of the book. What is the title? Who
is the author? What is the "gist"? (It's about a girl who...)
2. In a separate paragraph of 2-3 sentences, finish this sentence: One
thing I like (or don't like) about the book so far is...