Danny Blakeman                                            Blogger           

This trimester I have learned a lot throughout the blogging experience. I have begun to read more and get really excited when I find a good book or understand a new word. I have been reading slower then I used to, I believe that I have learned to slow down and take all the details in. I have enjoyed those 2.5 books much more then I would have if I had just flown by. Also I have been remembering the details in the stories better and creating my own text to self-relationships.  Reading wise I almost reached my goal for amount of books, I read a total of 2.5 out of 3. Even though I haven’t reached my goal quite yet I hope to by the end of finals. My goal for the year is to read 12 books. If I read 3 books in 3 months I should be able to finish 12.

 I unfortunately really struggled with using goodreads, no matter how hard I tried I just didn’t pick up on it. Next trimester in English B I hope to understand goodreads better. I have always had trouble finding good books that stick to me and make me want to read. When I do find a book that I love I just can’t set it down and I love that feeling. Having pleasure when reading is fantastic because it is like TV but a healthy stimulant.  I think goodreads will help me find more good books to enjoy and embark on. 

 Throughout blogging every week I have noticed that I use a lot of my own opinions on the story rather than facts. I wanted to insure that I had plenty of opinions so people decide for themselves if it is worth reading. I find it better to look at how other people view the story, anyone can make a summary sound good, but the real matter is if the story really is good. My goal when blogging was to get readers excited about reading the story and want to find out what happens.  I think I also did very well trying to improve my vocabulary each week. I have gained a great deal of words that I use everyday. I have even started to do “Word of the Day” trying to advance my knowledge.

The quality of my blogging has vastly improved since the beginning. In the beginning I used very little text to ….. Referencing and my vocabulary was very poor. Throughout the blogging my vocabulary has exceedingly increased and my writing elements have become common. You can tell I have improved because I use much larger words and I compare text to text in this sentence: “This element that she incorporated is very similar to what they do in the book “BZRK” compared to my older versions of “The best thing about this book is the intense action scenes that are described so well.” Those examples show that I have improved. 

Recently I have started the book “Allegiant” by the author Veronica Roth. This book differs from the other 2 books in the trilogy because it has more than one protagonist that you read as. By this I mean each chapter is a different person that you are reading as. I find this element that she chose very revealing, it brings out the inner thoughts of characters that you had wondered about. At the same time I feel that it makes the story hard to understand due to the fact that the two characters are very different.  This element that she incorporated is very similar to what they do in the book “BZRK”. I did a review on the book “BZRK” and only gave it 3/5 stars.

 This story plot so far is very fluctuating, it can be very mellow and then complete chaos. Personally I like it when a plot fluctuates because it leaves you on the edge of your seat anticipating what’s going to happen next. Also the main character is very bipolar, she is so unpredictable which is why I love her, I think she acts a lot like me.

 The vocabulary in the novel is very straight forward and uses a decent amount of slang. The slang I think just shows how all of the characters are still young and even though they live in a different time they speak similar. On page 77 it says “Learning about factories. I can’t wait” he smirks” This just shows how similar they speak because of the sarcasm he used. So far I think this book is very well written but hard to comprehend the transition between characters. 

Today I am blogging about concussions. I decided to do this after having a very severe one during my football season this year. I got illegally blindsided resulting in an immediate concussion. This changed my life because I was taken out of football for 3 weeks, I have trouble concentrating, and my grades have lowered. I was extremely lucky though; I continued to play that game and continued to get hit. Usually when you continue to play you get something known as second impact syndrome. This is when you continue to play and you get a concussion on top of a concussion. This can lead to severe permanent brain issues and even death. I read a blog on the effects of concussions and read about how to prevent them and how the national drug association is trying to limit them as much as possible. Check it out!

 

Article on Concussions:

I have just finished the book Insurgent which is the 2^nd book in the Divergent Trilogy. I am about to start reading the book Allegiant. This is the third book in the trilogy. I decided to read it after reading the first 2 books and completely loving them. 

 I predict that in this book Tris (the man character) will end up dying or she will find out go to the outside world and discover something very serious. I also believe that the outside world will capture her and perform tests to try to discover how to make more people divergent.

 I think the entire colony will leave and go after the outside world either causing serious chaos or death of all of them.  I am a little pessimistic about the book after hearing some of the reviews.  About 45% of the reviews said it was a terrible book and it isn’t worth reading. Im reading it anyways and i will post agin to keep you updated.

Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life;
Whose misadventur’d piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents’ strife.
The fearful passage of their death-mark’d love,
And the continuance of their parents’ rage,
Which, but their children’s end, nought could remove,
Is now the two hours’ traffick of our stage;
The which if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.

Romeo and Juliet is a fantastic play/story written by the famous Shakespeare. So far from what we have read I have liked it and found the way they spoke during that age quite entertaining. The story itself about how love at first sight brought them together seems pretty cheesy, but at the time it is very touching. I like a lot of the elements used in the book including the rhyming, onomatopoeia, and personification. Overall I get confused about the differences in the households (who is who). But watching the videos on it is helping me. I cannot wait to continue reading this play. So far i give it a 4/5.

Insurgent; this is without a doubt in my mind one of my top three books I have read. I just finished it and all I can say is wow. Veronica Roth wrote this sequel to the book “Divergent”. I thought the first book in this series was fantastic, until I read this.
 Insurgent is about the main character “Tris” who battles herself and the crazed super genius of a mastermind “Jeanine”. Jeanine is trying to use simulations to create a substance to brainwash humans. Tris is one of the only people able to stop her, she has to risk everything to save anyone. That’s not it, there is some huge government secrets being held that the people should know. One secret so big, it leads to a third book! Read the book to find out.

The book is full of twists, crazy cliff hangers, and action. Overall I would rate this book a 5/5! The reader that would enjoy reading this book would be someone who loves romantic action books with a hint of sci-fi. But seriously anyone would love it. 

I have been reading the amazing book “Insurgent” by Veronica Roth. This book is just as good, if not better than “Divergent”. I started reading it and instantly got hooked on this amazing book.

 I read close to 620 pages in one week, which is a lot more than it sounds like. The best thing about this book is the intense action scenes that are described so well. When I’m reading I feel as if I’m in the book, in the character. 

The author describes every scene and character so well which just adds on to the amazing story. If I had to pick one bad thing about this story it would be the romance. The book is made to lean towards both genders, but I think it has too much romance. Also the character is so bipolar it is hard to make the switch with her emotions. Overall this book has many more ups than downs. It’s a must read! I cannot wait to finish it.