Allegiant- Characterization

     Tris is the main character in the Divergent trilogy. Allegiant is the third and final book, which focuses mainly on Tris and Tobias, the two lovestruck teenagers trying to save the world.

     In the beginning of Allegiant, Tris was trying her best to stay alive, and get out of the Erudite prison. Once she escaped, she had to make the descision of saving the people of the city or herself. This is when Tris's true colors and starting to come through. 

  Tris and Tobias have a conversation on page 38 discussing leaving the city, "I know for sure, then, that I can't be her ally, and I never could have. 
     "We have to go, " Tris says, and I know shes's not taking about leaving Michigan Avenue or taking Edward to the hospital; she's talking about the city.
     "We have to go," I repeat."

     Their conversation discusses leaving the city. It is now needed to leave the city because of the curiosity of what is outside. Tris tends to do random, unseen actions, so I can predict that she will end up leaving the city with Tobias and not telling anyone they have left. 

The Eternity Cure- Book Reccomendation

     The Eternity Cure is written by Julie Kagawa, and is the second book in the Blood of Eden series.       

The main character, Allison Sekemoto, is trying to find a cure to save the lives of everyone in the world. There is a plague that has caused humans (and vampires) to become rabids, which is similar to a zombie.

      In Allison's world, vampires rule. Every human has two choices: to either become blood cattle to the vampires and give blood in exchange for food, or to not give blood and not be fed. Allison herself is a vampire, but is in love with Zeke, a human. This is forbidden, because there is always the chance that Allison will lose control and kill Zeke. Zeke's grandfather was one of the original scientists that was alive when the Red Lung Virus first emerged. He had passed down all of the information about the virus to Zeke. With Red Lung spreading again, it is probably the most dangerous disease to exist. It can kill in a matter of hours, and spread to hundreds in a day. 

     The main conflict throughout the novel was a self vs society conflict of Allison trying to find a cure for the virus. Sarren is an evil vampire who has caused the spread of the virus, and plans to use it to wipe out everything and everyone. It is up to Allison to find a cure, and keep Zeke alive and safe, before it is too late.

 

     I would give this book 7 stars, and the entire series 9 of 10. It's a great read!

     The beginning: The plot develops fast, and has an early climax through the book. The climax appears at around page 100 of 400, but this is probably because there is soooo much to cover in the falling action. 

     The middle: The middle is slower than the beginning, and new information regarding character and plot appears. The plot completely turns around page 250. 

     The end: THE END. COMPLETE CLIFF HANGER. That's all I can say without spoilers.

     I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys vampire books, love stories, or syfy. It's a great novel with a new twist and turn on every page! 

Allegiant- Reading Skills

Predictions-

      Because Evelyn told Tris and Tobias not to leave the city, I predict that they will run away. I can predict this because on page 20, the text says, "But Evelyn hasn't liberated us like she thinks-she's just made us all factionless. She's adraid of what we would choose, if we were given actual freedom. And that means that no matter what I believe about the factions, I'm relieved that someone , somewhere, is defying her." Evelyn does not want people to leave the city because she knows that when they do, she will lose power. From this knowledge, I can predict that Tobias and Tris will leave becasue they want dictatorship to end, and for everyone to be free.

     I can also predict that people will come together, and learn to get along. On page 38, Tobias states, "The symbols of our old way of life, destroyed- a man dead, others injured- and for what? For nothing. For Evelyn's empty, narrow vision: a city where factions are wrenched away from people against their will. She wanted us to have more than five choices. Now we have none." From the text I can predict that the people will soon learn to come together and take down Evelyn and great a world without dictatorship.

Questions-

• What was the original purpose of factions?
• Why are people not allowed to leave the city?
• What is beyond the city line?
• Where is Marcus?
• Where is Tris' brother?
• Is there still a division between factionless and exfactioned, or is everyone factionless?
• Will Tris and Tobias leave the city?
• What has happend to Edith Prior?

Connections- 

     Text to Text:  
     This ruined world reminds me of the world from "The Immortal Rules" and "The Eternity Cure",  both written by Julie Kagawa. In the world created by Julie Kagawa, a plague has torn down all human civilization. Vampires have climbed the government ladder, and are the dictators of the Old United States. They give the humans within the city two choices: either become blood cattle and be given food, or starve. A girl named Alison, who is a vampire herself, is trying to stop Salazar, the ruler of the city she lives in.
     This world reminds me of the world of Allegiant because both of the humans are given a choice of where to go and live, and if they will have a safe or dangerous life. Also, both goverments are corrupted and ruled by dictatorship.

Text to World: 
     Our world is relatable to the word of Allegiant because the factions appear in our society. People with different interests will always divide into groups, just like our society today. The factions also represent different groups of people.

Text to Self:
      I am a lot like Tris, and I can relate to her when she chose to leave the city. This is like me because Tris is the kind of person that will put herself before others, and make decisions that regard everyone, and not just herself. When Tris decided to leave the city, she make the choice to let people continue having dictatorship in a corrupt society, or risk her life to find out what may fix her world. Tris made the decision that helped everyone and not just herself.

Uglies- Theme and Summary

     Uglies, by Scott Westerfield, is one of those books that makes you want to read cuddled in a blanket on a snowy day, or getting a tan on the beach. It's the kind of book that makes you want to sit down, and not get back up until you finish it.

     Tally is a 15 year old girl who lives in a world where when you turn 16, you go under an intense operation to become perfect. Your bones get stretched or shrunk, you have diffrent hair, you lose or gain weight- everything about you becomes ideal. One day Tally meets a girl named Shay, and Shay isn't so sure she wants to become pretty. She likes herself just the way she is, and theres a place where Tally can go to never become pretty. When Shay runs away to this place, Tally is forced to either turn in Shay or never become a pretty.  Tally chooses to follow Shay, and when she arrives to this new land she learns some things about becoming pretty that changes her viewpoint on her world, and her friends.

The theme of this book is, "Change is good, because it can lead people to places they would of never expected to travel."

      This theme is supported by Uglies because Tally takes a chance by traveling to a new place. Her entire life she has been hidden inside her city, and has never left. When she finally leaves, she is shown what the world actually looks like, and not of how it is depicted by others.

The Eternal Cure- Analysis

    Julie Kagawa is the author of The Eternity Cure. Above is an inteview with her about Kagawa's writing and books. In the interview, Julie Kagawa discusses:

1. How the original idea of The Eternity Cure started- She liked the idea of a post-apoctalictic world, and someone suggested if she added in vampires.  
2. If any of the scenes were difficult to write- Alison is first reunited with Kanin, because the emotions were hard to write, and the very end of the book.
3. The challenges of Alison throughout the book- Julie Kagawa says the more conflict, the better the story. 
4. Anything to tell to aspiring authors- Just keep writing! 

    

Dreamland- Theme and Summary

Dreamland

"By a route obscure and lonely,
Haunted by ill angels only,
Where an Eidolon, named NIGHT,
On a black throne reigns upright,
I have reached these lands but newly
From an ultimate dim Thule-
From a wild clime that lieth, sublime,
Out of SPACE- out of TIME.

Bottomless vales and boundless floods,
And chasms, and caves, and Titan woods,
With forms that no man can discover
For the tears that drip all over;
Mountains toppling evermore
Into seas without a shore;
Seas that restlessly aspire,
Surging, unto skies of fire;
Lakes that endlessly outspread
Their lone waters- lone and dead,-
Their still waters- still and chilly
With the snows of the lolling lily.

By the lakes that thus outspread
Their lone waters, lone and dead,-
Their sad waters, sad and chilly
With the snows of the lolling lily,-
By the mountains- near the river
Murmuring lowly, murmuring ever,-
By the grey woods,- by the swamp
Where the toad and the newt encamp-
By the dismal tarns and pools
Where dwell the Ghouls,-
By each spot the most unholy-
In each nook most melancholy-
There the traveller meets aghast
Sheeted Memories of the Past-
Shrouded forms that start and sigh
As they pass the wanderer by-
White-robed forms of friends long given,
In agony, to the Earth- and Heaven.

For the heart whose woes are legion
'Tis a peaceful, soothing region-
For the spirit that walks in shadow
'Tis- oh, 'tis an Eldorado!
But the traveller, travelling through it,
May not- dare not openly view it!
Never its mysteries are exposed
To the weak human eye unclosed;
So wills its King, who hath forbid
The uplifting of the fringed lid;
And thus the sad Soul that here passes
Beholds it but through darkened glasses.

By a route obscure and lonely,
Haunted by ill angels only,
Where an Eidolon, named NIGHT,
On a black throne reigns upright,
I have wandered home but newly
From this ultimate dim Thule." 

- Edgar Allen Poe

     This poem was written by Edgar Allen Poe, who is one of the most famous of his time. Edgar Allen Poe is describing throughout the poem his journey through his dreamland. "Bottomless vales and boundless floods/ And chasms, and caves, and Titan woods/ With forms that no man can discover/ For the tears that drip all over; / Mountains toppling evermore/ Into seas without a shore;/ Seas that restlessly aspire/ Surging, unto skies of fire;/ Lakes that endlessly outspread/ Their lone waters- lone and dead,-/ Their still waters- still and chilly/ With the snows of the lolling lily" These lines were used to describe what Edgar was looking at and seeing. What he saw was the exact opposite of a dreamland, it was more of a world of darkness. This is a form of irony used inside the text. Edgar Allen Poe is describing that this place he is in is called a dreamland, but it is more like a nightmare. The place that he describes is certainly not dreamy at all. 

     The theme of this poem is, "Seeing through your eyes is different from seeing through the heart."

This theme is highly supported throughout the poem because the main message is that when you open up your eyes and look with your heart, you can see the good things, and not only the bad. "But the traveller, travelling through it/ May not- dare not openly view it." This quote is saying that the traveller coming through this world is only seeing the bad and is not even looking at the good. 

     The theme impacts the text because it tells the reader that on the outside, you may only see darkness, but really, there is light. The reader may not understand this the first time reading, but I can be positive they will read it a second time. They would do this to understand the meaning more, and to fully understand what the author is trying to tell them. 

The Eternity Cure- Characters

     "I turned and saw the gleaming lights of the vampire towers, looming impressively over the tops of other buildings, closer than I'd ever seen before. I half closed my eyes, and the pull was there, drawing me right toward them.
     Kanin, I'm coming. Hang on." (Page 175)

     This quote conveys true personality of Alison because it shows how she never gives up. She has traveled across the country with her brother, who she hates, just to find Kanin. Alison is so close that she can see her destination. This moment shows a little bit of triumph towards Ali reaching her goal. Her character is revealed as the kind of person that once she has a goal, she will do whatever she can to make sure she reaches it.

     Over the course of the book, Alison has definitely become a person who realizes the power inside love. She loves Kanin, becasue he is her sire, and this definitely creates the point of hope inside this novel.

   

Book Recommendations- City of Bones

     City of Bones is my favorite novel ever written, hands down. Cassandra Clare is the writer of this book, and every book she has written is a master piece. Cassandra Clare is also the author of "The Clockwork Angel", which was mentioned in my blog post "Analysis-Clockwork Angel".

      City of Bones is about an ordinary teenage girl named Clary who goes to a teen night club and sees a murder. It appears to Clary that she is the only person who saw the crime, as nothing had changed after. Her best friend, Simon, does not believe Clary and thinks that she is seeing things. The next day, Clary again sees the kids who committed the murder, and Simon still cannot see them. This worries Clary, and makes her think that she is going crazy.
      The next day, Clary's mom mysteriously gets kidnapped, and during this time Clary is attacked by a Ravener demon. She is close to dying when she is saved by one of the boys in the group of kids who killed the boy. Clary soon learns that this boys name is Jace, and he is a Shadowhunter, which is a group of people who are trained to hunt demons and rid the world from evil. Clary then learns that she is Shadowhunter too, and that is why she was able to see the killing of the demon who was disguised as a boy.
     When Valentine, the evil of the Shadowhunters, is looking for the missing Mortal Cup, havoc comes  to the Shadow world. Clary's mother is the last person to have been seen with the Mortal Cup, and because she is no where to be found, a massive panic arrises. With the Cup, Valentine plans to create an army of evil Shadowhunters to take over of the Shadowhunter world. Clary and her new group of friends, must go on an adventure that could either save the race of the Shadowhunters, or destroy the world.
   
     The theme of City of Bones is "Loss of a loved one is sometimes the greatest motivation of all."
The theme is supported throughout the book because  the main struggle throughout the book is from Clary trying to find a way to save her mother and return the Mortal Cup. Clary is motivation by the time limit of her mothers life and the destruction caused by Valentine.

     Every page is an adventure in this novel. It is packed with romance, darkness, and adventure. 11 out of 10 stars! A must read to those who enjoy fantasy as much as I do!

The Host- Analysis

     The setting plays a major role of the development of the text in the novel, "The Host", written by Stephanie Meyer. The setting is somewhere in Arizona, out in the open desert. Wanderer is with a bunch of humans who are trying to hide from Hosts. Wanderer herself is a Host, but has made a deal with the human inside her that she will not reveal where the other humans are to the rest of her species.
     If the setting was somewhere else, such as in a quiet town, the novel would be completely different. Because a desert is so vast, tension is created throughout the enviroment of the heat and lack of survival.
     This setting is important because it creates the emphasis needed to show how well hidden Melanie is from the rest of the world, because Melanie is not supposed to be alive. The picture below is the type of environment Melanie and Wanderer live in. Wanderer and Melanie live inside one of the giant rock structures, which is a hollowed out volcano, with caves surrounding the structure.
     Imagery creates suspense inside the text because it allows the reader to see the exact conditions and hardships of the main character. When a reader can identify with a setting, they can feel like they are with the characters, not watching them.

 

The Host- Reading Skills

Predictions-
      On page 148, I can predict that Jodi is someone who was once important to Kyle because Jeb says, ""If somebody found your Jodi on a raid and brought here, would you want me or Doc or a vote deciding what we did with her?"
"Jodi is dead," Kyle hissed."
I do not know who Jodi is, but using context clues I can figure out that Jodi was very important to Kyle.
     On page 98, the text says, "This is crazy, you know, I told her, throwing the car into park and twisting the keys out of the ignition. The whole thing. There can't really be anyone out here We won't find anything. And we're going to get hopelessly lost trying." This paragraph is mostly foreshadowing and irony used at the same time. I can predict that there will be someone in the desert, because throughout the book, whenever Wanderer says something will not happen, it ends up happening.

 Questions-
 Page 14- Whose point of view is this from?
Page 25- Why does this Host want to start as an adult? Did something happen?
Page 90- Why is Wanderer giving in?
Page 136- Is Jared still in love with Melanie?
Page 151- Why is Jared protecting Wanderer?

Connections-
     Text to Text-
"I ripped into the bread." (Page 140)
In the book, "The Immortal Rules" Allison Sekemoto does the same thing, when she had not eaten for weeks. This made me compare of how there is a different plot and situation, but both authors described the hunger when they explained how they "ripped" into the bread.

     Text to Self-
"You're afraid to fly?" The Seeker's voice was full of disbelief edging toward mockery. "You've traveled through deep space eight times and you're afraid to take a shuttle to Tucson, Arizona?" (Page 68)
I really appreciate the way that Stephanie Meyer wrote this. Wanderer made up a fear of flying because she is going to help Melanie find Jared, who is located in the desert. If Wanderer flew, she would of had to actually see her Comforter, and would of not been able to go see Jared. This is actually something I would of done. I like to figure out loop holes through things, just like Wanderer did here.


     Text to World-
""Jared,"she cried; through my damaged throat the sound was just a croak.
     She jerked me forward, much the same way as she had in the desert, assuming control of my frozen body. The only difference was that this time, it was by force." (Page 131)
      Melanie (and Wanderer) is in love with Jared. Melanie is forcing Wanderer to run over to Jared, because she loves him. Melanie has made Wanderer come across the country to try to find Jared, which has over time made Wanderer also fall in love with him. As love plays a big role in this book, many people in our world can also identify with love, and how they would probably trek across the world for their loved one.

The Host- Theme & Summary

The overall theme of The Host by Stephanie Meyer is "Fear of losing a loved one, especially in a violent situation, is the kind of fear that gives people the will power to keep seaching, even after they have lost." This theme is present because the main character, Melanie Stryder, lives in a world where these aliens have taken over, and she is one of the few humans left. She has been invaded by an alien race of people.who have planted another spirit living inside of her, who can access her memories and thoughts, and everything else about her. The spirits name is Wanderer. Wanderers main goal is to find out where the other humans are hiding. The problem is that Melanie is still alive and is trying to take back her body.
    Drowned in memories, Wanderer soon falls in love with Melanie's human boyfriend, Jared, and they both go across the desert in search of looking for him and her little bother, Jamie. Wanderer than makes an agreement with Melanie that if Wanderer does not tell anyone, they will go find Jared and Jamie. The theme becomes present at this part of the book becuase it shows how Melanie (and Wanderer) are doing whatever it takes to become reunited with who they love, even if it will cost them their lives. This theme was the most interesting to me because I saw it ironic on how Wanderer will go to drastic lengths to find Jared, even when Wanderer is supposed to find him and turn him and his friends/family in, not fall in love.

The Eternity Cure-Character

     Alison Sekemoto is a vampire in the book, The Eternity Cure, which is written by Julie Kagawa. Alison is having a self vs self conflict. She lives in a world where vampires rule and control the humans as blood cattle. As Alison is a vampire herself, she refuses to become the souless that she believes vampires are. She is on the search for her sire, named Kanin, who is being held captive by a psychotic vampire who has a vendetta to make sure Kanin is dead. Alison then meets her vampire brother who promises to help Alison find Kanin as long as she helps him find a cure to rabidism (closest thing possible to zombies). Alison starts out believing she can control herself, but as the book progresses, it becomes more and more evident that Alison is struggling to stay attached to her the mundane side of herself.
     She has changed as a person over the course of the book because she has learned that not every vampire is a soulless demon that kills for pleasure. Her major conflict is that she fights the natural vampire of herself to try and constantly do the right thing. Alison tries her very best to always do what she feels in right, even when she knows she is risking her life to save others. This shows that Alison actually is good and not evil. She is one of the few vampires that wants others to be saved more than herself. Selfless, you could say.

Analysis- Clockwork Angel

http://stpeter.im/writings/fire/horace4_7.html 

"The Snows Have Fled" (Diffrugere Nives)

(Horace, Odes IV.7)

translated by Peter Saint-Andre

"The snows have fled, already
The grass returns to the fields
And leaves return to the trees.
Earth is turning her changes,
The rivers flow less strongly.
Grace along with her Nymphs and
Twin sisters ventures naked
To lead her bands of dancers.
"Hope for immortality
Not", warn the year and the hour
That steal the nourishing day.
The Zephyr lessens the cold,
The Summer tramples the Spring
Only to be overturned
As soon as fruit-bearing Fall
Has poured forth its crops, and soon
Dead winter returns again.
Swift moons heal the heavenly
Damage — but we, when we have
Gone down where good Aeneas,
Where rich Tullus and Arcus
Have gone — we are dust and shade.
Who knows if the gods will add
Tomorrow's time to our sum?
The only thing that escapes
Your heir's grasping hands will be
What you've added to your soul.
When once you've died and Minos
Has given his distinguished
Judgment, nothing, Torquatus —
Not birth nor eloquence nor
Goodness — will restore your life.
For Diana can't release
Good Hippolytus from the
Darkness, nor has Theseus
The power to burst the chains
Of his dear Perithoös."

     In the book, Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare, there is a quote said by a main character named Will. He says "Pulvis Et Umbra Sumas", which means "We are dust and shadows". I decided to look in deeper to the meaning, which made me find out that the quote is from Odes VII, which was originally written in Latin by Horace. I found this very interesting.
     Clockwork Angel is about a girl named Tessa Gray who moves to London after her aunt dies. When Tessa is kidnapped, she discovers that she is a shapeshifter, and that she is not mortal. Soon after Tessa discovers this, she is rescued by a strange boy who turns out to be a Shadowhunter- someone who fights demons. His name is Will Harondale, who says the quote, ""Pulvis et umbra sums. It's a line from Horace. 'We are dust and shadows' Appropriate, don't you think?" Will said. "It's not a long life, killing demons; one tends to die young, and then they burn your body- dust to dust, in a literal sense. And then we vanish into the shadows of history, nary a mark on the page of a mundane book to remind the world that once we existed at all." (Page 90 of the Clockwork Angel)
     I can infer that Cassandra Clare used this quote because it describes the truth behind the Shadowhunters.   Shadows spend their whole life fighting to save lives, but when they die, they become as though they have never existed at all. Shadowhunters turn to dust, then disappear into the shadows. The poem as a whole relates to Clockwork Angel because it shows how even though they may have fought their whole lives to protect others, there will always be darkness. In the book, the word darkness is used more as a being then a normal noun. It is used to show that there will always be terrors in the world, but the Shadowhunters just try to keep it from being overbearing. The poem, "The Snows Have Fled" perfectly describes the book "The Clockwork Angel". 

The Immortal Rules Book Recomendation

The Immortal Rules is a book that I would reccomend. The main character is Alison Sekemoto, who lives in the outermost part of a city that is ruled by vampires. She is trapped inside there, either forced to give her blood to the vampires in exchange for food, or to find food and not give blood. Alison is Unregistered, which means she doesn't give blood and she basically does not exist. When she goes out of the city wall with a gang of Unregistereds to find food, she gets attacked by a group of people who are known as rabids (pretty much zombies) who almost kill her. A vampire then finds her out in the middle of the night alone, where he gives her a choice to either become a vampire or die completely. Ali chooses to die and become a vampire, and she soon learns about the nature and habits of being this kind of creature. When Ali is separated from her Sire, and soon must learn how to disguise as a human as her a her new human friends take an adventure across the country.

This book is a fast, easy read, and is really enjoyable for anyone who loves fantasy books. It receives 8 or 10 stars.

The Eternity Cure Characters

The character I chose was Zeke Crosse from The Eternity Cure. Zeke develops over the course of the novel because at the beginning he was a strong hatred for vampires. Once he falls in love with Alison Sekemoto, the other main character who is a vampire, he realizes that there are some exceptions, as not all vampires are soulless killing machines. Zeke interacts with Alison by following her half way across the United States, and leaves behind his family for her. Alison interacts with other characters by spending her time with them, traveling or fighting them. Because Alison is a vampire, she is a really good fighter, which allows her to win battles against humans, and even other vampires. This develops the plot and the theme because it allows for these characters to interact both positively and negatively. It allows for a common theme to be shown throughout the book because of how these characters interact and their dialogue.

Text Structure

Along the lines of "Advice Gleamed on the Path of Life" by Craig Wilson, we thought that this text had a structure of a larger message, that is back ground information, then the point is shown. The message also ends with a really strong point.The technique benefits the reader because the reader can relate with the given back ground information, which helps the reader understand better. We think that the standard is "Using different types sources to identify a common structure and theme to allow a reader to understand the text more.

Summer Reading

I chose The Night Circus as my Summer Reading book. I would rate this book 10 stars. I think this becuase Erin Morgenstern does a great job of bringing the reader into another world. She creates a universe that every reader wants to live in. A Circus is the main setting, but this is no ordinary Circus. There are countless tents that show the reader diffrent aspects of this world on every page. The two main characters are Celia and Marco, who are in a competiton against eachother, with the Circus being the venue. The overall theme of The Night Circus is if you find love, go after it.