My Books

Sierra's books

Wait Till Helen Comes
The Small Outsider; The Story Of An Autistic Child
Found
Ella Enchanted
Stargirl
Hoot
Holes
The Outsiders
The Magykal Papers
Darke
Syren
Queste
Physik
If I Stay
Magic Under Glass
Deep and Dark and Dangerous
Magyk
Flyte
Inkheart
Among the Hidden


Sierra's favorite books »

Sunday, May 18, 2014

C.S. Lewis


C.S. Lewis is the author of the book the Magician’s Nephew. C.S. Lewis’s name is Clive Staples Lewis. He was born on November 29th, 1898 in Belfast, Ireland. He died on November 22, 1963. C.S. Lewis was a novelist, poet, a broadcaster, and much more. He went to Oxford University and Cambridge University. He also married a writer named Joy Davidman Greshman in 1956. He liked to write fantasy novels. Some novels that he wrote are…

 

  • The Chronicles of Narnia
  • The Space Trilogy
  • Till We Have Faces
  • Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life

     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     


If you want to learn more about C.S. Lewis, go to this website. Enjoy!

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Blog Improvements



This blog post is about how I've become better at blogging throughout this trimester. Words that demonstrated my voice were words such as "imagine" and "I" because these words help show my personality. It shows that I try my best to place myself in other people's shoes and try to think,
"How would I react if that person over there was me?"
 For example, in my last blog post I wrote, "Imagine someone just standing on top of a car and saying that they were King or Queen." It helps the reader understand the situation a bit more and it also shows my voice and how I felt about the situation. I have also noticed that throughout my blog posts, I have improved on the use of diction and syntax.
 Diction can really make the writer sound as if they were having a regular conversation with the reader, or it can make it sound like the writer is having a very formal conversation. In my last post, I wrote, "So now how are they gonna get out of here?" This statement makes the reader question what is going to happen next and also makes it sound like the reader and the writer are having a normal conversation. Syntax can also grab the reader's attention because if the sentence length is unique in its own way, the reader will read it. My use of syntax in my 16th blog post, (the blog post under my last blog post) I wrote, "All the mannequins in the room stood still.
Or so they thought."
This grabs the reader's attention because their eyes go immediately to the sentence that is by itself. Since the words are, "Or so they thought." it also brings questions to the reader's mind. 'Or so who thought? What is going to happen to them now that the mannequins in the room are moving?'
When I first began blogging this trimester, I noticed that I did show my voice, but later on my voice slowly disappeared as I continued to blog. Blogs shouldn't just simply tell you what was happening in the book, they should tell you how each character felt and how you feel about what is occurring in the book. It should show what you think. In one of my older posts I said the words, "Digory thought his uncle would be very cross..." but I didn't show how Digory thought his uncle would react. Would his eyebrows move down to his face and would steam come out of his ears? I also noticed that even though I used pictures, I didn't use very many videos and I especially didn't use any links to other websites. I should have used links because it helps the reader understand the book or your topic more. I now use more diction, syntax, and I show my voice in my blogs. I have improved on blogging this trimester.

Sunday, May 4, 2014

The Rings

Digory found the witch! And so did the policemen...And the townspeople...And his Uncle Andrew. Polly was still in her room, grounded, because she was with Digory in the woods. Polly couldn't explain to her where the woods were so she had to stay in her room for two hours. Her mother called Digory "that Kirke boy"(pg. 91) because Digory's last name is Kirke and it seems that it was his fault Polly was late for dinner. Anyway, somehow Digory now has to avoid the townspeople, the policemen, and Uncle Andrew in order to take the witch to her world. He planned on placing the yellow ring on her so she can go back and enter her own world. He would then use the green rings to bring himself back to his world. It was even harder to reach the witch because she was riding a horse in the middle of the street. The witch told everyone that she was the Empress Jadis. Everyone decided to cheer for her, and then when they were done teasing, they decided to burst into laughter. I can't blame them, though. Imagine someone just standing on top of a car and saying that they were a King or Queen. Yeah, no man, this is not a monarchy. Get off the car. After Polly's painstakingly hours of sitting in her room, she met up with Digory. The Queen finally realized that they were teasing her and she took off one of the cross-bars of a lamp-post. She then began whacking anyone who came near her. Digory tried two times to grab a hold of her ankle and the ring so they could go to a different world. On the third try he had made it. But he didn't just bring himself. He brought the witch. And the horse. And Polly, and Uncle Andrew. and the Cabby, and Mr. Ketterly. So now how are they all gonna get out of here?



Thursday, April 24, 2014

The Witch

In the book that I am currently reading, Digory rings the bell. All the mannequins in the room stood still.
Or so they thought.
The very last mannequin that was sitting in a chair rose and greeted Polly and Digory. The woman stood up and introduced herself. She said that her name was Jadis and that she is the last queen from her world. While she spoke, she paid no interest in Polly, which made her very furious. She also assumed that the two children were sent from another world to bring her there so she could rule it. Obviously, it wasn't true. To support my statement is on page 69 and 70, it states, "What else were you sent here for if not to fetch me?" asked Jadis. "I'm sure you wouldn't want our world at all," said Digory."It's not her sort of place is it, Polly?" This quote shows that the Queen, Jadis, is trying to rule their world and Digory is trying to persuade and talk her out of it.  In the end, it doesn't happen. Polly and Digory accidently take her with them to their world. When Uncle Andrew talks to the Queen and realizes that she wants to take over the world, you would think he would say, "Yeah, no. Sorry. You aren't ruling here, we are not going to become a monarchy." But Uncle Andrew is so caught up in her beauty that he decides to help her on her goal. So now Uncle Andrew and the Queen are outside, in their world, trying to find a way to rule, while Polly and Digory wait. Wait until they both, or at least one of them, comes home.





Sunday, April 20, 2014

The diffferences between worlds



In my book, the characters Digory and Polly have rings that take them to some kind of land/island. When they reach the island, there are millions and millions of mini pools. Each pool leads you to a different world. The world that Polly and Digory went to is completely different than the world that they live in. The world that they are in has a huge sun that is red and all the buildings are in ruins, basically. No one was out there to give them a friendly welcome. It was like a ghost town. The world that Polly and Digory live in is our world with the small, yellow sun and the people. The person that Polly and Digory met from that world wasn't too friendly either. On page 79, it states, "They are not interested in things or people unless they can use them; they are terribly practical." This statement shows that some people from this world have no interests in anything unless they can use them. The person they met also ignored people that wouldn't be able to give them what they want.


Sunday, April 13, 2014

Mannequin or Live Person?

You are n a hallway, walking towards a door. You slowly open the doorknob and you are in a circle-shaped room. In the middle there is a pillar/table that has a bell and a hammer. There are also people sitting in the room, but they are not moving. Or breathing. Are they even alive? This is where the characters in my book are in. Not only are they in this room, but they found a little note on the pillar. It said,
"Make your choice, adventurous Stranger;
Strike the bell and bide the danger,
Or wonder, till it drives you mad
What would have followed if you had."


Now, I don't know about you, but I would have been out of that room. Personally, it wouldn't drive me mad because I would have seen the word 'danger' and would be out of that room in ten seconds. Other people on the other hand, may have the guts to strike that bell. Who knows what would have happened? The people in the room suddenly come to life and try to kill you, the ground begins to shake and the building your in collapses, anything could happen. That is one of the main reasons why I like certain books, because anything could happen in an instant. But if I had the guts to strike that bell,  I believe the people in the room will come to life and there will be some kind of conversation. This is also what I think will happen in the book. One of the characters in The Magician's Nephew, will decide to strike the bell and the people will come to life.


Thursday, April 3, 2014

They're gonna burn my house down!!!

As I was reading Fahrenheit 451, something had shocked me just a little on page 106.What was occurring in the book was that Captain Beatty and his crew went to Montag's house to burn it. Montag was with them, but he didn't know that they were planning on burning his house because Montag has books. It states, "Why," said Montag slowly, "we've stopped in front of my house." This quote is showing that hen I read this, numerous questions were racing through my head. Well, what is he gonna do, is he just gonna sit down and let them burn his house down? They are firemen. Should you still do something about it because they have the right now to burn your house down? Are you going to fight with Captain Beatty and the crew? If you do, will you be arrested for fighting with the crew especially since you have books aroung the house? I mean, what would you do? I would probably talk to them and see if I can make an agreement so my house doesn't become ashes.
Before reading this page though, I already knew this was going to happen. Once I learned in the book that Montag was hiding about twenty or more books in his house, I knew that Captain Beatty will somehow figure it out and come to destroy the books. But after they destroy the books, what will become of Montag? Will Faber do anything about it if Montag is arrested? Or will he just sit at home and watch as every single book in that society vanishes? I'm going to start part three of the book today.