Thursday, August 21, 2014

Connecting the dots (life of pi)

Storytelling can give you a perspective of things like the news. Everyone knows that when a story is a fact everyone will believe it. Religion can give you choices on rather if you know something good or bad or also give you a chance to know that something is true but into others people's perspective it's not true. I didn't quite understand about the 3.14 point but if I would have to make a guess I would say that 3.14 has an infinite meaning. Pi (3.14) can mean a lot of things when spoken of. Usually when you say Pi out loud, maybe there's gonna be a lot of hungry people wanting some actual pie, but if you say it possibly to a math nerd then maybe they will be interested in learning that topic. Life of Pi had a meaning to 3.14 like the thought of 3 meaning three religions and 1 meaning one person and 4 meaning four animals in a boat. 3.14 (Pi) can mean infinite things to different people. There came a point where we were suppose to question if the story was magical realism. The majority was a yes because everything that Pi was seeing out of the ordinary could of potentially just be fake but take place in the real world. That's what magical realism is, taking an illusion and putting it in a real setting. Then we asked is Richard Parker real? This is the part where things started to come together. Pi stands for fish and Richard Parker stands for thirsty. The moment life was at the shipwreck and stranded he had to adapt to new things that he doesn't usually do. That's where he entered the wild side, and that's where Richard Parker appeared in pi's life, he appeared when Pi mostly needed survival. Although once Pi got rescued Richard Parker vanished, that's because Pi was no longer in his wild mode, he was back to returning his original life. This means, Richard Parker was only in Pi's mind, Richard Parker was Pi's wild side. Life of Pi has a purpose for Martels writing in this story. The purpose for this story is that everybody has something to believe in but it's up to you on what you want to believe. 

Monday, August 18, 2014

Was Life of Pi a work of magical realism?

Judging by the scenes that has happened about the fishes flying out of the water, to help Pi and Richard Parker survive without hunger. Also when Pi was in the carnivorous island the pond or lake he saw was glowing and I think it was expanding too. Based on these scenes you could tell that the story of Life of Pi is a magical realism. Although magical realism saids that it can be true and then not true, this makes things a little confusing. However Pi claims that his story is a true story but the world thinks its a fake story. This makes it  magical realism because even though it can possibly be a true story it really may seem fake to others perspective. 

Sunday, August 17, 2014

Reader autobiography

    People read because reading takes them into another world. It makes them feel like they are in the characters shoes, rather its a romance, horror, or even a fairytale.  Usually people say that reading is like TV in your head but really its the imagery that comes in mind. Kind of like the teenagers who read the "Fault in our stars" all along I heard comments on how the book was better than the movie, I would know because I read the book too. Some people actually cried becuase reading the book makes you feel what the character is feeling. Maybe thats why people read
    A person to become a reader would have to have a passion for reading, spend there free time reading, basically use it as entertainment.  Trust me I've seen people who love to read and its beautiful though because you get to enter another world and get out of reality. To earn a title, it would have to take a lot of vocabulary knowing and maybe understanding what the text is really talking about. In order to be a good reader would be to really know a long list of vocabulary becuase reading includes a lot of words that you may not know, depending on the book of course.
    I dont really read much, which means I dont really have a long variety of authors but I would have to pick Dr. Seuss, Mark Brown and John Green. The reason I chose Dr. Seuss and Mark Brown is because there books were my favorite books to read as a child and I would never forget my 1st books I read as a child. Recently I read the book "The Fault in our stars" and its a lovely book. The reason for this choice is because John Green got a good idea of bringing a  idea of a love story/ a couple who is trying to survive their cancer sickness. Although John Green hit a really good twist in the book but enough of me spoiling the book.
    I dont consider myself a reader. Mostly because I hate the fact of beginning the book with such boredness and having to wait till the end for all the action to happen. Sometimes I just go to the very last page and read it or sometimes I tend to judge the book by its cover, I know not the best thing to do. As a "good" reader I would consider myself because if I wasn't I wouldn't be here by now although I do think that my friends are even better at it because I see that they can read a whole book on like 3 or 4 days, unlike me I take about a week or 2 just to finish one, although it depends how interesting the book is.
    Usually parents are the ones who help you read but my story is a little different yet sweet. My friend is the one who teached me how to read. It 1st started with me just looking at the picture and just making up a story out of the book. Although I started to notice that my friend could read a little so I asked her if she could teach me and she told me that the trick to beginning is sounding out the words by using the sounds of the alphabet. At 1st I always thought the ABC's was just a song for fun but then it turned out to be useful. I wasn't the best listener in class, so I probably missed the part of the ABC's being useful for reading and writing.
    I'm guessing that "blocked" means being very closed in what you read, meaning very picky on what I read.  Well I would say that I am a blocked reader because,  like I said I judge books by its cover. If I dont like what the title saids or what the cover looks like I won't read it! I would like to improve on my vocabulary, mostly because I can also use it on my soeaking and make me sound more of an adult. Also understanding the point of a text in a book. I'm usially really bad at digging deeper in analyzing a text although its not sething I really want to improve in, its just mayne an extra.
    I love romance books because it gives me that fantasy that may only exist in the world of books and movoes but for me once you read a romance book you feel like your in the characters shoes. Kind of like your in a movoe with your non existing dream guy. Believe it or not romance books actually makes me get butterflies in my stomach! Usually in school im required to read "classic" books and everyone knows that classics are OLD there out of date, who wants to read those! This is why I barely finish my reading assignments because there so boring and I cant take it but to fall asleep while reading. Although the only thing that I do care about are my grades and future. I fear of textbook like books because I take forever to finish a book. By the time I finish a book like those would be never.
    This homework actually made me figure out who I am as a reader and find out what I like also helps me reflect on what I need to improve on to catch up on my friends. I wouldn't say it was fun,  because its homework, and everyone knows that no one likes homework but I would have to say that it was a good exercise into finding my position in reading and what I want to accomplish in it.

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Writer self-study

    People write because there could be some passion into writing and their mind generates so much ideas and vocabulary that they have to write it on paper. Unlike the people who are not passionate on writing, they are usually just obligated to write because of school purposes. I personally don't see a passion between me and writing. Mostly because I don't have a way of expressing myself on a blank piece of paper, and when I am obligated to do that I have to use some kind of vocabulary which makes it even a little more challenging. It's pretty clear that when you start school (pre-K) your given a workbook used only in class. Inside the book there are letters dotted out and they expect us to trace in the dotted letters, well that's how I started to learn how to write. As years past I was given small prompts to answer and yes I was not the best speller when I was smaller. As the teachers graded my grammar and spelling I always saw the mistakes I made and made sure that in the future I won't make the same mistake. That's  basically how I started to learn how to write.
    A person can have many qualities to be a writer, they need to know their proper grammar, proper spelling, structure, know how to get the reader engaged, mind full of ideas, and lastly a wild creativity. As always to be a great writer, you need to start at the bottom and work your way to the top and that's by practice, practice makes perfect. Like I said I don't really see myself engaged in writing mostly because I don't really have the qualities of being a writer. I may have a creativity, but I mostly intend to use my creativity into something more beautiful and happy, not on a piece of paper. If I had to choose one kind of writing it would rather be telling a story or writing in a persuasive kind of writing. The reason for a persuasive kind of writing is because I mostly see persuasive writing more as if your saying your own opinions meaning you can use your own kind of vocabulary, understandable vocabulary of course. Story kind of writing, I see more of an opportunity of letting you're creativity break free on paper.
    The kind of required writing in essays that school gives me is basically any kind of writing, the bad thing is that they add more into the essay. Meaning you need to add the correct format, even give us a big list of vocabulary words and expect us to add those vocabulary words in our essay, analytical essay, or even a report on a lesson we went through over a unit. Basically any kinds of writing scares me because it's just who I am. I hate the fact that I am obligated to write something that I don't want to talk about, rather it's an analytical essay or an informative essay, I don't like writing. Sometimes I feel like the essay threats me into doing it, and it uses the thought of getting a bad grade against me. Although the only thing that pushes me and motivates me to writing the essay is my grades and my future because without the good grade I end up not passing my grade level and not finishing high school leads to me not having a future.

Monday, August 11, 2014

snake or hat?

I personally think its a snake eating a elephant,  because my way of seeing it, is that this picture looks more cartoon like, and cartoons are meant to be fake, not real. Another reason its a snake eating a elephant is because this picture could be an x-ray of the elephant inside the snake and an outside perspective of the snake without the x-ray. It's obvious that a snake eating an elephant would be the most interesting, imagine hearing that story in the news, it would be mind blowing! Although depending on the writers creativity, a story about a hat can also be a bit interesting. Overall the snake eating a elephant would be a better choice to read. Although the picture with the most "lifeless factuality" would be the picture of the snake eating the elephant because its most likely impossible for a snake to eat an adult elephant or maybe even a baby elephant, because their still pretty big for a thin snake.