The Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk: pages 251- 411

What an amazing turn events, I'll just say never get attached to a character. Everyone is unique in there own way but some characters are just different. With every event that happened in the story, it was always followed by the sound of coughing or sneezing, thanks to Miss Sneezy. But All she wanted to do is stay long enough to get a share of the money, while being able to tell one of the greatest stories of all time. (Spoiler) In the end Mr. Whitter, who is not dead, comes back to the group after three months, and opens the door. He says that the time is up, and that they can leave now. As he starts to leave with Miss Sneezy, who is in desperate need of medication, he is confronted with hostility from the group. They don't want to be let go, they want to be rescued that way there story will not be just fools put together in the same room. Being locked away from the world your morals start to go to hell, its almost like living with a bunch of pirates. Trying to stop Miss Sneezy from leaving, a character named Mother Nature, slips a knife into her back, and she died within a couple minutes. Now I don't condone this type of behavior but I understand it.

The Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk: pages 198- 250

Young Chuck a man of many talents and interest. He never shys away from a subject to talk about, everything is free game, open season. The way he leads the reader through plot changes and the evolution of the characters is truly amazing. Instead of normal conflict between two parties, people commit suicide, not so much as to the extent of killing yourself on purpose but rather through other activities. I wouldn't say the cutting off of your own ear falls under this category but definitely death by over exercising or over eating dried out foods would. With such events, I personally would be almost traumatized seeing any of the above, i don't see death that often and I want to it stay that way. With these events the characters all take the same approach and that is to be greedy. Now some people are affected, but most are just thinking of there own fortune and what they can get of this debacle. The earnings for the possible stories written, movies made and everything else from this will be off the charts, so everyone is just thinking about lining their own pockets. Maybe it's just human nature, but it seems we, as a whole race, bask in other peoples misfortune.

Summer Ball Blog #4 28-50

Where does it take place? Do the location and environment of the book color the telling of the story or are they merely a backdrop? Does the location change during the book or stay the same? If it changes, does this have any effect on the central characters?

The books main setting is on the basketball court, or in Danny's backyard. And then it gets into more detail like as they take the ride to Right Way basketball camp, then the setting starts to change more to a camping area, like cabins that are named after big arena's and stadiums such as Madison Square garden, Boston Garden, Staples Center, pauley Pavilion, and Gampel Pavilion. And then the rest of the cabins are named after college arenas. Around the cabins are all basketball courts in different sizes like full courts and half courts. I dont think the players changed at all they still are around the basketball surrounding.

The Outsiders, pages 1-81

Do the characters seem real and believable? Can you relate to their predicaments? To what extent do they remind you of yourself or someone you know?

In my book the characters seem very real and believable. the one kid ponyboy lives with his two older brothers who has to look out for him because there mom and dad died. i myself can not relate to his predicament with me having both of my parents and being a only child. It reminds me of my cousin she had to look over the little brothers at the age of 14

Blog #3

How do characters change or evolve throughout the course of the story? What events trigger such changes?

In my book Summer Ball, the characters seem to change as the book goes on because they seem to live with themselves the way they are and not what they want to be. Danny realizes that hes going to have to live with his height and dont worry about it when it comes to basketball he just needs to play the game. I think this is a good lesson for kids because many kids want to be something there not and just being themselves is whats the best. And if you want to be someone else work harder and become better then that person.

The Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk, pages: 45-198

Ah the book has taken an interesting turn. No longer are cast of characters inside a bus, but rather inside an old abandoned theater house. The only problem would be claustrophobia, which would take effect on me in all most no time if i knew i was not getting out of that confined space for at least 3 months. But then again with certain events, such as cutting the furnace wires, the food rations destroyed and the only man who knows where the key is just died. For some of the characters the phobia has set in and taken its toll on them. One character in particular, Lady Baglady, actually cut off her own ear as an attempt to be taken out of there. But even though she did this, Mr. Whitter did not comply and she died in plain sight of everyone. On the whole of the story, setting has played a big part. I don't think that it takes away from the story, but it enhances it. When faced with adversity, in living space, one most overcome and push through if he or she wants to be recognized as the most level headed of the group. A person who everyone can look to if something goes awry.

Technology Personal Essay

Starting around the age of 13, I've starting to get more into the technology era and notice everything that had came out that I wanted. I got my first cell phone at the age of 14, made my first myspace at 15, and recently got Xbox Live to play games with different people and friends in different countries and states. Since i started to get into all this new technology, it pretty much took over who I am today. It seems like everything i do evolves around technology and i cant do anything unless I'm using it. To get a hold of my friends I use my cell phone, I can either call them or text message them. I use Myspace or Facebook to meet new friends or even find friends that I haven't seen since middle school. If it wasn't for these websites i probably wouldn't have the friends I have today or at least wouldn't be as close to them as I am now that everyone has one.

I feel that today everything involves a little more technology then 1 to 2 years ago. Many people need technology to do half the stuff they do and even make a living off using technology. It kind of gets me mad because were getting surrounded by all of these new ideas and everyone has to have everything now-a-days. It seems everywhere i go there is a new product out that everyone is going to want and have, and in our generation everyone seems to want name brand clothing, or that new iPod Touch, or the touch screen phone. I mean I'm not going to lie if i could have that stuff id like to have it but its ridiculous the price someones has to pay to have something better then some body else.

I wish that my generation was a lot different. Every where we go something has to deal with technology and i don't really like it much, I mean I'm updated with everything I know how to work most of the new equipment. But its just the fact that every things isn't like what it used to be, it went from Big Screen TVs to Wide, Flat Screen TVs that you can mount on your walls, from using maps to getting GPS on your cell phones and having navigation systems in your cars. And also something new is in cars just saying what you want to listen to and it can hear what you say and play it on the radio.

Technology has changed me so much since i was younger and i think it changed everyone it a different way, i think that it may be a good thing because we have ways to get places easier ways to find our friends easier and can do things much more easier. I'm glad in a way but not to much because everything involves technology in a different way. But over all what can you do, its to hard to get away from it but we cant live without it.

The Allure of the West

<i>Into the Wild</i>, Jon Krakauer, pgs 144-207 (end)

<i>Death of a Salesman</i>, Arthur Miller, pgs 1-97

So, I finished <i>Into the Wild</i> and started rereading a book that I'm studying with my AP Literature class.  As I read the first act of the play I was struck by the similarity between Chris McCandless and many of the characters from <i>Death of a Salesman</i>.  The main character of this story, Willy Loman frets over a missed opportunity to accompany his older brother to Alaska to make money. Instead he is 60 and stuck in a dead end sales job.  Interestingly enough, Willy's father abandoned <i>him</i> as a child to also seek fortune in Alaska.  In a weird twist, Willy is disappointed in his son Biff because he is constantly seeking work outside of the norm of the day.  He's worked on cattle farms and other jobs that Willy does not respect.  Biff explains that he likes these jobs because he's not stuck inside at a desk and can be out in the open air.

In American culture the west has always been symbolic of the open frontier, a vast unexplored wilderness where a man could make his living outside of the realm of laws and societal constraints.  It's interesting that these two books, written 50 years apart, have such similar themes.

Does anyone else know of any characters who seek a life outside of society?  Anyone have a friend or family member who constantly wants to go out on the open road?  What do you think drives a person to feel like this?

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<b>Dear Blogger:</b>  This is not a spam post.  I am mailing to publish this on all of my student's blogs in order to provide a sample and to engage in discussions.  Please call off the spambots.

The Outsiders, pages 1-61

How realistic was the characterization?

I think that the author did a good job with characterization and making them realistic. I like how the main characters have real problems. Like how they are really close with each other and how they hate the "Socs" and the "Socs" hate them. I like how the one part when they where at the movies and they met the two girls they tough that they were really nice. I think that a lot of people can relate to the story. We all have at lest two friends that we are very close with. We all have people that we don't like.

Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk, pages: 1-45

Hey kids, I'm back for the second time trying out this blogger stuff, and you know that it is pretty interesting.
For the beginning of the book everything is very life like, well to me at least for me it is. In every situation, I do something different there is not one same interaction, besides dealing with the authority or your elders. Everyone knows you must be classy in these types of situations. Such as getting everyone together for the first time on the bus, which is going to the secluded island. When I meet someone for the first time, I have this city attitude about me. I don't know why, but it just there. I don't consider myself to be street thug, but i definitely feel that people and me don't see eye to eye because there noses are to far in the air. Personally, I never considered myself to take first impressions that serious, but i guess i do. The first thing i do when we meet would be to size you up, taking into account your attire, behavior, and how we are interacting. When Chuck started to size people up on the bus, he immediately started giving out nicknames. If I can't remember someone's name, I try to remember something about there dress, so i can tell someone else about them. Chuck gives names based on how they dressed, what they were carrying, or by behavior, like "Saint Gut-Free" eating habits. In one case, he describes one person as a military women, in full attire of a soldier: she became know as "Comrade Snarky." For the first time I met young (Mr.) Malley, I can remember just thinking wow this character is amazing. Just like Kelsey Grammer playing "Frasier Crane," smart but sarcastic. And I view Frasier as the pinnacle of society, on top of his game but still willing to take care of his family first, and in the process learn a lesson or two.

Summer Ball, Mike Lupica. pg 1-87

Do the characters seem real and believable? Can you relate to their predicaments? To what extent do they remind you of yourself or someone you know?

The characters in this book seem very realistic. I think Lupica likes to put the characters in the book in real situations that may have related to him or situations that he witnessed with his friends. One of his characters are Danny Walker whose a 13 year old boy who loves to play basketball but he makes himself seem that he isn't going to grow any more. He wishes for a growth spurt but doesn't seem to get on any time soon. Hes going to be starting the 9th grade soon and the 9th graders are much more bigger then he is. I like this because many players today and kids now a days are very, very small. Some of the smallest players are the best players. Take Derek Roy for example he's 5'9and 188 pounds. Hes one of the sabres best players I think that the Buffalo Sabres had in a while. But just to think that someone at 5'9 playing in the NHL, that's not common.

Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer Pages: 1-144

So, the book I'm reading is about this early twenty something kid who
is pretty alienated. It's a nonfiction book, and since I haven't
summed it up yet in a previous response, it's about a kid who is
searching for meaning in life and seeks this meaning by exploring.
At the beginning of the book we find out that he ends up dying in the
middle of Alaska to exposure.

Even though I think I'm supposed to, I'm having a really hard time
identifying with the main character, Chris McCandless. I look at
the cover and there's this picture of Emile Hirsch portraying
McCandless. He's a good looking kid, and he's kind of sitting in this
"top of the world" type dominant pose. The author seems to really
identify with the character, and spends a couple of chapters relating
his own similar experiences. And McCandless is seemingly the rugged,
individualistic antihero that Americans celebrate.

But, I can't get into him, and I think it's because I'm a parent
now. I see the way this kid abandoned his parents, went off into the
middle of nowhere, took chances, didn't write home, and espoused his
theories on the way life works to whomever would listen, and I'm
like, "dude...call your mom, dad and sister. They're worried sick."
The kid is kind of portrayed as this spiritual, deep Thoreau quoting
prophetic figure, but he just strikes me as naive and self centered.
I don't know what I'd do if I was his parent. I would be devastated
if my son took off after graduating college and just disappeared.
It's really rather sad.

(By the way, if you're wondering, this response is to the 7th bullet
under character. The total length of this response is 279 words. I
summed up the book to start because I figured you'd need that
information, but then I really tried to stick to talking about
whether or not I identified with the main character and why.)

My book is a classy one, the actual name is Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk. As of right now, i don't even know if the book is a true story or a collection of thoughts from many different authors, all going to the same secluded island for three months. What I have encountered is there is no topic off the chart, every thing under the great blue sky can be analyzed. As for the beginning it starts with how the characthers, never called by there real names, are introduced to the story as they enter the bus to the island.
Well I have not read that much of book so far, but its possible capablities are amazing. the first short story deals with how chuck meets his co-stars in the book. Which is followed by a completely different story from "Gut-Free" about dangers of using yourself like an amusement park.

My book that I am reading is Summer Ball by Mike Lupica. Its about a 13 year old boy named Danny Walker and he seems to be the smallest kid on the basketball court for his age. But in this story Lupica makes it seem like size isn't the matter at all its just about showing off your skills and trying to make Danny's dream to make it come true.

One thing I like about this book so far is that it gives a good example of how size doesn't matter. That if your good enough in something that you do,go ahead and try to become something bigger then what you are already.

the outsiders

I am reading the outsiders by Susan E. Hinton. It is about a kid that lives with his two older brothers.Who is very close to his friends. Who lives in a poor part of town.

One thing I like about the book so far is...How he is close with his friends and how they all look out for each other. I like how there are two types of kids the socs and the gressers. the socs are the rich kids, and the gressers are the poor kids.i like how they dont like each other

Your 1st Post!

Today in class we will be posting to our blogs. To keep things simple, this
first post will be a kind of introductory thing. Here's what I'd like each
of you to write (make sure it is under your own display name):

1. In 2-3 sentences, give us a taste of the book. What is the title? Who
is the author? What is the "gist"? (It's about a girl who...)
2. In a separate paragraph of 2-3 sentences, finish this sentence: One
thing I like (or don't like) about the book so far is...