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.

Where's Polly?

I am currently reading the book, "The Magician's Newphew" by C.S. Lewis. When I looked at the top of the book it said, "The Chronicles of Narnia".  I have always watched the movie Narnia so I asumed the book was going to be something similar to the movie. I was completley wrong. So far, the book is about two friends. A boy named Digory and a girl named Polly. They find a secret passageway that allows them to go into different houses. To me, that would be very frightening. Just to sit on the couch watching your favorite show, look to the right, and see two kids going down the stairs of your house. The first two questions that would pop into my mind are who are you and how did you get here?
Polly and Digory decide to take advantage of the passageway and that's exactly what they do. They wanted to go and see who-if anyone- still lived in an old house that was a couple blocks down from Polly's house. They both believe it was haunted, but neither one of them started that conversation. When they thought they had arrived, they saw a door in the passageway that was suppose to let them enter the house. When they opened the door, they saw Digory's Uncle and realized that they were in the wrong house. Digory thought his uncle would be very cross, but he actually seemed very friendly. There was a table in the room, near Digory's Uncle that held two beautiful rings. Polly was so curious about the rings and Digory's uncle knew. Digory's uncle told Polly she could have one of them and her face just lit up. Polly touched the ring and suddenly vanished. Digory was so scared and he felt as if he was going to be next. He asked his Uncle Andrew where Polly went and he said he didn't know. Uncle Andrew began to tell the story of the ring. He said that a woman named Mrs. Lefay told him to get rid of the rings before she died by burning them, but he didn't listen. Uncle Andrew also said he had tried his before, but not with a human being. Where did Polly go?

Fahrenheit 451

Today, I started the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Just by looking at  the cover, I can tell that this book is going to be interesting since there is a book full of matches. I've read that this book is about a man named Guy Montag. Montag is a firemen , but this book is set towards the future so in the future, firemen start fires instead of stop fires. Why do they start fires? Don't ask me, I don't know yet. All I know is that in the future, firemen burn books and houses that held the books. Also, if people had the books in their house, they were marked as crazy, insane. As I continued to read, Montag meets this seventeen-year old girl named Clarisse McClellan. I , for one, think that she is a very smart and curious girl. Other people though, don't think the same. They think she is very, very strange. An example from the text would be on page 20, it states, "I've got to go see my psychiatrist now. They make me go."
Anyway, one day Clarisse says, "Is it true that long ago firemen put fires out instead of going to start them?" and Montag replies by saying, "No. Houses have always been fireproof, take my word for it." (page 6, paragraph 3 and 4).   Okay, not true. Don't take his word for it. How did their society all of a sudden go from preventing houses from catching on fire to set them all on fire if they have any books? The only main reason why people in this book consider people who have books insane because it is against the law. Another event that occurred as I was reading, was that suddenly, Clarisse doesn't meet with Montag anymore. This made me worried, where did she go? In order to answer my question, I have to keep on reading.

Wait for Helen

Last trimester, I read a book called, "Wait Till Helen Comes" by Mary Downing Hahn. It's about a twelve year old girl named Molly and her seven year old stepsister, Heather. Molly also has a ten year old brother named Michael. Heather will not get along with Molly, Michael, and her new mother. She didn't want a new family, she just wanted her birth mother. Sadly, her birth mother died in a fire when Heather was younger. Whenever Heather is asked a question from her new family, she will answer. End of conversation. The parents on the other hand, try their best to keep the family together. So Molly tries to be nice to Heather, and Heather tries to stay away from Molly. Heather also wants to get Molly in trouble whenever she has the chance.
One day, Molly's mother decides to buy a church out in the country, so she could work on her paintings. They had also bought a graveyard that came with the church. Heather, followed by Molly, venture into the graveyard to see who died there. All the tombstones look normal except for the one that is under a tree. On the stone, it had the initials, "H.E.H" The initials stood for Helen Elizabeth Harper but those initials were also Heather's initials. After that, Heather came to the graveyard just about everyday. She also would talk to Helen's grave, as if she were actually there. Molly hears Heather talk about Helen and asks who Helen is, and the only thing Heather said was, "Just wait Molly, wait till Helen comes. You'll be sorry then for all the things you've done to me.". Molly was completely frightened. Molly and Michael then go into town to see if they could find any information about Helen. They learned that not too far from the church, there was a house on a hill that Helen, her mom, and her stepdad lived in. The house caught on fire, killing Helen's mother and stepfather. Helen escaped, but not too far from the house there was a pond full of weeds. That's where Helen fell into the pond and drowned. I would recommend this book for young adults who like mysteries and ghost stories. This video is a trailer that someone made based on the book, "Wait Till Helen Comes". I hope you enjoy it!

The Final BLog Assessment

I have only read one book this trimester. I didn’t meet my goal. My goal was to read three or more books this trimester. Goodreads helped me find books that I might be interested in based on my favorite genres. I looked at some of the books that goodreads suggested and I noticed that I was interested and I wanted to read some of them. One thing that I struggled with was that the book I was reading was very depressing, and I have noticed that whenever I read a depressing or sad book, I tend to read slower than I usually do. When I read books that are not as sad, I tend to read a little faster. This book, I noticed, took me about the whole trimester to finish. But when I read a book that was more in a genre that I usually read, like the book “If I Stay” by Gayle Forman, it only takes me about three days. To prevent myself from reading slower, I decided to read aloud. A strength that I had with blogging was showing my opinion about the book.

            My writing has improved over the course of the trimester because I thought of a connection between myself and the text. On January 7^th, my blog post states, “Sometimes, when I think of allergies, the first thing I think of is a little girl explaining a long list of items that she can't have or even smell. This little girl would always remain calm and know exactly what to do in case of an emergency. David on the other hand, wasn't calm. As his mother was taking him to the doctor, he kept fussing until he took something that made the swelling stop.” This shows that I compared to what I thought to David’s problem.

            Another quote from my blog is on December 3^rd, it states, “The theme of this book was to always think before you do. Every little decision you make can impact your life. From what color crayon you want use, to which house you want to buy.” This quote also shows a theme being compared to everyday life. I have improved because I wouldn’t usually think of comparing myself to the text. I’ve learned a lot this trimester. One of the main things that I have learned is to pick a book that has a genre that I really like to read in order to achieve my goal.

The Small Outsider

In the book, David's mother reads an article about how to educate an autistic child. They would put the autistic child in one small room and also have a teacher. Whenever the teacher would try to teach the child a new word, the child would have to drop a ball into a container and say the word. If the child did something wrong, they would turn off the lights and put him or her in the dark for five seconds. If the child does something correctly, he or she will be rewarded. If the child continues to something wrong more than once, the amount of seconds would add on from five to ten and so on.

Blizzard Bag

In the book, The Small Outsider, David had just learned more about food. He learned that some food is edible like steak and celery, and then he learned that some things you shouldn't eat. On page 90, it states,"From then on he tasted everything he ran across. Wthin a few months he had eaten his way through an incredible number of unlikely substances. He ate the cuffs off his shirt, took off his socks and chewed them into tiny shreds, and within six weeks munched his way through an entire bedspread. He was like a moth. He chewed dozens of holes in our blankets and nibbled the bottoms off all the clothes hanging on the  line. He worried the pompoms on slippers, and chewed through the cords or blinds." But clothes weren't the only thing David chewed on. He also began stuffing dirt, bugs, nails, bottle tops, sticks, and stones into his mouth. David's mother believes that this is just a phase and that it will end soon, hopefully.




In Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare, I am learning that there are two lovers that immediately want to get married after meeting at the Capulet's Party. But I do have one question. When Romeo talks to Friar Laurence about him marrying Juliet, why doesn't Friar Laurence argue, even a little bit, with Romeo about marrying Juliet since both households are enemies?