The Rise of Nine

In class we are reading Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare.  I noticed a few similarities between Romeo and Juliet and the I am Number Four series by Pittacus Lore.  In both stories similar themes occur but the ways they are portrayed are different.   The two lovers theme comes up but it's not a tragedy. Both books have connecting Ideas that are made different by the details. 

In Romeo and Juliet, two rival families were always bickering.  The daughter from one family, Juliet Capulet, and the son from the other, Romeo Montague fall in love.  Their parent's feud keeps them apart.  In the I am Number Four series Four, or John falls in love with a human named Sarah.  The reason why I say a "human named Sarah" is because Four is an alien from a different plant (Lorein).  Their difference in species and culture keeps them apart.  Some people on his planet have super powers and some don't.  The ones without are assigned to a kid with powers to mentor them.  John has powers and has a big job (saving the earth and returning to his planet) and can't be with her. Their differences keep them apart just like Romeo and Juliet. 

Romeo And Juliet is a tragedy and the I am Number Four series is not.  In Romeo and Juliet they are almost able to be together but a mix up keeps them apart.  In the I am Number Four series, It takes a while, but John and Sarah finally end up together.  It has a big happy ending.  If the I am Number Four series was a play it would be a Comedy because some parts are funny.  In this way both stories are different



In many ways the I am Number Four series is like Romeo and Juliet and in many ways It's not.  Two lovers, one thing keeping them apart, struggle to be together.  In Romeo and Juliet they both die and in the I am Number Four series they live and struggle together.  There are many books that are like Romeo and Juliet and the I am Number Four series are and example one way to make the story your own.

The power of Six

Today I picked up the book The Power of Six and I'm almost halfway done!  This book falls into the category of books that make you want to read more!  Each page is a page turner for me but It just goes nowhere.  The plot just keeps on building up and doesn't reach a climax.  I feel like The Power of Six is just the squeal to a book with a really interesting Idea that follows the same format.  

The books start out with something going on and introducing characters so you know what is going on.  Once that's over the plot builds and mini problems are woven in along the way.  Hints are really obvious to the reader and to the main character. For instance, the dog would be running with John and John would run ahead and sudden;y the dog would pop out of the woods right in front of him.  Then John thought it was strange but Brushed it off.  Turns out that that dog was a shape shifting pet.  If it was supposed to seem like a plot twist it didn't work.

 What pulls me into the book are those "I can't believe they aren't doing_(Insert obvious action here)_" moments (or vice verse).  John has a chest that contains his inheritance but a lot of the things in there he doesn't know ho to use.   You would think that he would think of the letter his guardian left him.  Nooooo!  He was so emotionally sad he wouldn't open it and then he forgot about it!  Moments like these make me want to read more and kind of had an "I told you so" moment with the book when he actually opens the letter.

The Power of Six Is just really annoying.  It makes you want to skip a few pages ahead to make sue everything will be alright and then go back to where you left off.  It's an addictive book like the Hunger Games.  It's also creative like Divergent.  But in the end they are very similar books except The Power of Six moves really slow.

Blog post Number 4 (not really)

I am Number Four by Pittacus Loreis a book about an alien race trying to survive and hide from enemies.  There are 18 survivors living on earth.  One kid and one adult to guide the kid.  They cannot be killed unless in the order of the numbers given to them.  3 and their guardians have already been killed.  This story focuses on the fourth.  This book strongly makes me think about trying to blend in in two contexts.   One was Maximum Ride by James Patterson.  I also thought about the connections between SCIFI and teen fiction. 

It's not that easy to hide.  The 9 kids have super speed, strength, and super scenes in general.  It also makes it harder when every time one of them dies the others feel a searing pain as a circular scar is burned into their skin.  In Maximum Ride, the book is focused on winged kids trying to blend in and run from an enemy.  In I am Number Four, its important that HE doesn't let people see his powers and its important that in Maximum Ride that their avian DNA changes don't show.  In Maximum Ride Angel ppretends to be a ballerina and jumps around and practically flies in front of her classmaes because of her hollow bones.  She is scolded for it.  John's hands began to glow and he had to wear gardeners gloves for the whole day.  Hiding is more important than comfort.

So many science fiction books follow the same pattern.  Some sort of main character with either superpowers or some sort of thing that makes them different from "normal" human is trying not to stand out.  That's the same way in teen fiction.  An outcast kid is picked on by the bully or enemy and tries really hard to blend in.  He/she shouldn't let love or anger get in the way.  In I am Number Four John needs to pick his battles and not let anyone know his strength.  In some teen fiction, the kid just doesn't want to get into fights.  John also has to be careful who he falls in love with because that could lead to him telling her secrets and his death.  In other books it could give the main character a black eye.  SCIFI and teen fiction are basically the same, just geared to different audiences.  
   
I am Number Four is a book that popped many thoughts into my head.  They all were text to text connections.  In a way all books are built from each other.  An author might read a book and like a section so they make that part their own.  In that way a book may be very similar to another.  Still, there are so many books about bullies in every genre from SCIFI to historical fiction to teen fiction that It ,ales me wonder how books can carry similar plots but stil be original and hard to predict..
 
 

Poems

Haiku
Thin, bare figures bend,
rustling in the cold wind.
The trees do yoga.




Sonnet
Sky yolk drips down into the hot pavement.
My eyes cling to the disappearing rays.
Sinking under -all my energy spent.
The world around me blurs into a haze.

Shadows and monsters pound my mind like sleet.
“Mamma, I’m freezing and I can’t see a thing!”
“Think of good thoughts and I’ll turn on the heat.”
She doesn’t hide from the same things that sting.

But, a young red wisp creeps into the sky,
it’s brightness blinding my drooped blinking eyes.
Yawning and bringing the new sun up high.
I know I’ll be fine, d’I breathe out a sigh.

Seeing warm light can make me brave.
Still, the night looms near like a dark, black wave.

nonfiction blogpost

Charles and Emma Darwin made an interesting couple.  They were very similar in many ways that brought them together.  For instance, they both had a large interest in books, specifically their favorite, Paradise Lost.  They both were very curious and interested in learning new things.  Still they were very different people.  Their personalities were very different and they both had opposing beliefs.  It's amazing that their love for each other kept the marriage together.  

Charles for one was and organized scientist.  Charles liked everything in order and where it was supposed to be.  He kept his writing and notes in neat little notebooks.  Each had a special category and each had it's own specific letter.  Charles was, "an organizer, a collector, and a list maker." (Heiligman 37).  Emma on the other hand was messy and unorganized.  She was even called Little miss slip-slop at times.  You would think that Emma's messiness would get on Charles nerves but it didn't.  Instead Charles's love drove him to, "give up all his natural taste for tidiness"(Heiligman 91) according to his daughter and that he would, "not allow himself to fell annoyed by her calm disregard for such details" (Heiligman 91).  Although they had conflicting viewpoints on organization, their love removed that barrier.  

Another way why they were different was their beliefs.  Emma was a good Christian and devoted one too.  Charles was and scientist who had other things on his mind.  Specifically he was questioning G-d's role in the creation of species.  He was exploring evolution and moving a way from Christianity.  This bothered his wife Emma.  She believed that she would go to heaven and he would go to hell so they couldn't meet in the afterlife.  She was, "in agony over her husband's lack of faith." (Heiligman 99).  Although he didn't change his mind, her letters begging him to pray moved him and he still loved her and they continued to have a good time together.

Although the Darwins may be different, their love held them together.  When her clumsiness clashed with his neatness he made himself more tolerant of it.  For a while when she was anxious about his faith he went to church to satisfy her.  They soon learned that he wasn't going to change and they accepted that.  Any problems they had were solved by their patience.  Fighting was never an option for them and that should be the situation for many couples.  They should read about Charles and Emma's relationship and try to be understanding of eachother like they were.  

Nonfiction Blogpost

If showers could kill!  "That Daily Shower Can Be a Killer" is an essay in the New York Times  by Jared Diamond about risk taking in life.  Who knew that I could have slipped and seriously hurt myself about 4 times by now (I'm 13) just by taking a shower?  If you have a 1/1000 chance that you will fall in the shower and you reached your 1000th shower,  It would take less than around 2.75 years to die.   Falling down is a big problem for elderly people.  It's one of the main contributors to death in elderly people.  Jared Diamond, the author needs to be careful because he is 75.  

Jared worked in the fields in New Guinea for a while when he was younger.  He and his New Guinea friends took a trip into a forest where they would set up their tents.  His friends refused to sleep under a big tree because it had a risk of falling on them because it was dead.  At first he thought that a tree falling on them was unrealistic.  Later he realized that since every night he heard a tree fall, that tree could fall on him.  He developed a sense of "constructive paranoia" for things which make sense to be afraid of.  We need to stop freaking out about burglars which we rarely encounter.  How many times do you encounter a burglar?  How many times do you take a shower?  You have more chances to slip in the bathroom than to be hurt by a burglar.  Instead, we should be more cautious about the hazard that showers and everyday things can create. 

We tend to overreact about things that aren't much of a potential threat while we underestimate the real dangers.   According to Jared Diamond, "my wife was nearly killed by a falling tree last year" (Diamond p2).  Who would have thought that a tree was a culprit?  Also, studies have shown that people "exaggerate the risks of events that are beyond our control, that cause many deaths at once or that kill in spectacular ways" while "we underestimate the risks of events we can control ("That wouldn't happen to me- I'm careful") and of events that kill just one person in in a mundane way" (Diamond p2).  You never hear about things like bathroom casualties on the news.  We need to be more careful about small things like putting our seatbelt on or crossing the street.  It makes the difference.   

Just because I read this article doesn't mean I'm never taking a shower again.  I'm just going to be more careful and not drip soap all over the shower floor.  As Jared sad, it's important to not let your carefulness limit you.  Do whatever you want, just think about it before you do it.        

Work Cited

Diamond, Jared. "That Daily Shower Can Be a Killer." Essay. The New York Times. The   New York Times, 28 Jan. 2013. Web. 30 Jan. 2013.

Octavian Nothing

I always thought that Revolutionary Boston was filled with poverty.  Poor people were everywhere and everyone wanted the King gone.  I never really thought about the loyalists.  In Octavian Nothing by M.T. Anderson.  An African American Boy is raised in a household of rich scientist/alchemists/philosophers.  All of them claim to be blood related to him so he doesn't know who his real father is.  He only knows that his mother is an African Princess who was sold to a rich family who has been studying him and his mother since he was a baby.  The way the story is woven into truth makes it hard to distinguish story from history.  The book was written in the style of many other books at that time period therefor the language is very confusing.  Most of the time I have no Idea what they are talking about.