Blog #7

A true book in my opinion has to be a book that’s completely true other than dialogue. If a book has fictional events in it that takes away the thrill of knowing everything happened. If things in a non-fiction book aren’t true that defeats the person. Many people enjoy reading non-fiction because they know that they events taking place actually happened and can learn from the book. Since a lot of the times dialogue can be forgotten if you have to paraphrase or completely make something up, it’s fine with me as long as you are still conveying the same idea.

\Half-truths is not okay with me. It’s either the whole thing is true or nothing at all. If you’re reading a book about a story that is half true than how are you supposed to know what’s true and what’s not. I think to really get a feel for the main character of the book you have to know the things going on in the book are true or not true at all. When Frey lied about the contents of his book, I thought it was not only cynical but also unfair to the readers. If you can’t get your book published without lying; then maybe it was never meant to be published. I applaud Oprah and the things she says to him because I think she is speaking on behalf of the readers and the publishing companies. 5% of not being true is too much for me; it’s either 99% true or nothing at all.

Blog 6

Who gets to decide what good writing is?  Who should decide?  Why?

I think the reader and the reader alone should decide if the writing in a book is good. Everyone has their own opinion on a book and even though you make like a book doesn’t necessarily mean someone else will like the book. The adjective “good” is determined by the person reading the book. Good for one person may not be good for another. So when critics completely trash a book I think it’s not fair to the author or future readers because someone might have really enjoyed that book, but won’t anymore because of the bad review it has.

Should we add more genre fiction to the curriculum?

I think we should add more genre fiction to the curriculum so we can put the love back into reading. When I was younger and I could actually choose the books I read I would read all the time and actually enjoy doing. But since seventh grade the amount I read and the joy I get from reading and has dramatically decreased. If we introduced genre fiction into our curriculum I think kids would be more motivated to read. If kids are reading a book everyone else is reading I think they might be more motivated to finish so they can relate to the book and be part of that “in” crowd.

Are you good with swapping out Of Mice and Men for Twilight, for example?  Or Macbeth for Hunger Games?

Personally I’m ok with tit and I don’t see a problem with switching them out. When we do switch them out though, I think we should still study the message those books conveyed and how it relates to modern day. I don’t think we should completely get rid of the classics but I do think we should find a better way to mix modern day with the classics. I think the student should choose personally if they would like to read Macbeth or The Hunger Games and once the students are done, compare and contrast with a student who read the opposite book that you did.

Project 1

My idea is to make a Haunted House based on the home the children in the book lived in. Since at the end of the book the house is bombed they’re parts of the house missing and has an erie glow to it when, the main character Jacob, finds th house. The house would have synical feel to it because it used to be a children’s home so they’re childrens toys and spirits of the children in the house. In the day time it would be transformed into museum were the children’s toys would be put on display and the history of the house would be given out to the tourist.

The Haunted House would come from the scene in the book where Jacob is exploring the woods and comes across the house in the woods. Since the home is located it on a small, few populated island it was very obvious when he found the home. In the book the author describes this by saying “Trees burst forth from broken windows and skins of scabrous vine gnawed at the walls like anti-bodies attacking a virus-as if nature itself had waged war against it- but the house seemed unkillable, resolutely upright despite the wrongness of its angles and the jagged teeth of sky visible through sections of collapsed roof. The museum would come from the scene in the book where Jacob travels through a loop (a place that let’s you travel forward or backward to only one time period). When he enters the loop he is on the island almost 100 years before him. While he is exploring the island this time though he encounters a beautifully kept home were children are playing in the yard. The house is actually occupied and look very much alive. The museum would display pictures of the home before the bombs destroyed it and other sentimental things the house had. The museum would have a friendly welcoming glow to it just like how the house looked before it was bombed. The author describes the house by saying “I gazed at in wonder-not because it was awful, but because it was beautiful. There wasn’t a shingle out of place or a broken window.” Near the end of the book trouble comes to the children and Miss Peregrine and they aren’t able to reset the loop, so instead of their house never being bombed, it’s bombed. When the children return to the house there are parts of it missing and smoke rising from the house. Parts of their house is on fire and the backyard is destroyed. In the book they describe the house by saying “Once the children had said goodbye to theirhouse, some taking chips of brick or flowers from the garden as forget-me-nots, we made one last trip across the island: through the smoking charred woods and the flat bog dug with bomb holes, over the ridge and down through the little town with peat smoke”.

            I think my idea will work because it let’s the readers become more connected to the book by letting them experience a real life connection with the main setting. By opening a haunted house it wold broaden the audience by capturing people who enjoy scary and suspenseful books and also the audience who enjoys reading about children and the obstacles they have to overcome. By having a haunted house at night and a museum by day it captures both audiences in the same location. People who enjoy reading about historical fiction my also enjoy this because the setting is in the heart of WW1. This idea encourages fans to stay connected with the book because it allows them to put their ideas and images they imagined, into real life. The fans can have the questions they still had at the end of the book answered. The pictures throughout the book will have background information as to where they were found and the story behind them.