For my blog post this week I have decide to write on the book bring down the house by Ben Mezrich. The reason that I even picked up this book was because it was recommended by my  advanced placement statistics teacher as a good read and it was, and could be used as part of an extra credit assignment. This book is about six MIT students who were able to make millions of dollars in Las Vegas by counting cards while playing black jack.

Since I was reading this book for math class I expected it to be quite boring but as I continued to read it, I found that I really liked the way that the book was written. The author made the book into basically one big flash back with a few glimpses for the present, talking about how he was able to acquire some of the information for the book. Alot of the beginning half of the book seemed to be  basically letting you know about the technical things behind card counting (all the math). But the beginning of the book also reveals all of the main characters of the book one by one in chronological order.

I liked how the book was separated into chapters by specific dates of important events in the main character's life. For example, his first time meeting the blackjack team, his first trip to Vegas, etc. and with each event the author made sure to give explicit details of the scenery and the thought and feeling for the main character whose name was Kevin. The whole book basically centered around and is told in third person except for the chapter when we as the readers are placed back into the present , and in these chapters the author is the one whose perspective is being shown and it is also shown in the first person.

I appreciated how the author made sure that the book was very action packed. There were lots of scenes within the book which were full of violence where I could also feel the fears of the main character jumping out at me because the great detail that the author gave when describing the set-up of the scene and the emotions of the main characters. The author also used dialogue to set the mood and tone of the chapter , showing rising tensions though arguments and witty banter.

A Short Story

For this blog post I am going to talk about a short story called the almost white boy by Willard Motley. This was within a compilation of short stories which are in the book the best short stories by black writers. Out of all the stories in the book I found this one to be the most interesting to me. It described a boy who had a black mother and a white father but was almost indistinguishable as black. A major conflict in the story was that he couldn't seem to fit into either the category of white or black. This is a common issue in society today because in our society we feel the need to put everything into a category. Whether it’s by race, gender, skin complexion or maybe even by ability.

The main character seemed to try to fit in more with his “white side” because he was not excepted by the black community because he did not have all the attributes that are most commonly associated with black people. The author was able to show this through describing interactions in which he had had with both black and white girls and his “friends”. Also the story gave a lot of negative connotations with describing the main character to show how society rejected him, such as saying “ his skin was white as slim peterson’s; his blond hair didn’t have a curl at all. His nose was big and his lips were big--the only tip-off.”.

The way that the author showed how the main character tried to brush of the side of him that was black really interested me because its something that I see happen today with people who are not even of mixed races. In the story he sits at a dinner table and listen to racist joke all evening without saying a word in the defense of black people for fear that the parent of his “girlfriend” would find out that he was black and be repulsed by him and even try to kill him. And even though the times have changed this still happens today, where people of color will change  the way that they speak and act in order to try to not be perceived as “ghetto” or unintelligent, even though the way a person talks is not an accurate indicator of their intellectual capabilities.

This story just reassures the fact that people are heavily influenced by what others think about them. In the story his parents try to instill in him that “people are just people” but still he tries to change himself to try to fit into one of societies categories.This is because as human beings we all just was to fit in and be accepted.

Victory

Since I have finished up the last book that I was reading I have decided to try something thing new and read a short story. The short story that I decided to do my blog on this time is victory lap by George Sanders. This was one of the three readings assigned to me by my English teacher for our short story writing unit and I must say that this one was my favorites. I believe that this story was my favorite because the ending was unexpected and abrupt to the extent that there was no way I could have guessed how the story would have turned out from reading the first couple of pages or even the first half of the story.

When I first began reading victory lap I thought that it was pretty boring and that there was way to much exposition. There also semmed to be connection between the first to characters at first other than the fact that they knew each other.I thought that it would be one of those stories where the author just tells us about to separate characters lives without haveing an important connection between the two, Turning to story into a compare and contrast ordeal.To be honest if I weren't reading it for class I probably would have ended up putting it down and not finishing it, but I am glad that I did.

The story is told in the third person and switches focuses between three characters which are all very different from one another. There was very good charaterzation by the author through the descriptions of how the characters were performing actions on this particular day. The author allowed us to step into a day in the lives of the characters and I also like how even though it was told in third person we were still allowed to know the inner thought of the different characters.

Also I appreciated how Sanders made the dialogue of the characters match with the character descriptions that she gave for them. It made the characters very believable which allows the reader to get a much deeper connection to the story. Also you could tell that this choice really worked for the author  because you could follow the character switches within the story without confusion as to what character is talking or being talked about. This is definitely an author that I would like to read more stories from.

An end to the games

As I’ve read further into the book, Mockingjay, I have found that it has really picked up speed as I have transitioned into part two of the book. Though I still do find that the actions of the characters not to be the most believable. Especially that of Gale who has seemed to have made a total turnaround as a character. Though I do like that we are getting more into the other characters thinking. The dramatic setting change of the book really kept my attention in the last book, I think that it was very clever of the author to pull such a big surprise near the end of the second book series. Just when I thought I knew what was going to happen, things took a complete turn. What surprised me even more was that Katniss managed to stay alive for so long. Also that she was always so determined to overthrow the government, even when she got what she wanted which was her mother and sister to be safe. I admire her for being selfless and always striving to complete a cause for the greater food.

The author does a great job in giving a complete and detailed description of all the capitals. Everytime District 1 was mentioned in the book the author made sure to emphasize their freedoms, superiority, and exuberance. The contrast between all the districts are so distinct, different and unique, it’s easy to picture them all in my head.

I was able to easily identify the connection between Katniss’ personality compared to her mother and sisters’. They are all similar in terms of their hidden strengths and secret talents. They all use their knowledge to help the community Her mother treats people who are wounded, and her sister is learning the same skill, while Katniss is good at archery and has a lot of other physical strengths. I can see how they all work together well, and how those strengths moves the story along.

I thought the plot was very exciting and kept my attention. I felt the suspense when they were underground and on the run. I could sense the fear when they found out that Snow knew where they were while they were making their way to Capital 1. The rumblings and explosion were so clear in my head when Katniss and her team were racing down an abandoned street, scrambling for their lives. The suspense was gradually built and sometimes unexpected things happened.

I really enjoyed reading the series and this last installment makes everything come together. Seemingly unimportant small details from past books in the series have come to the forefront and have changed the plot extensively The book seems to be ending on a very exciting positive note. Unfortunately, based on the unpredictability of the other books, I’m not too sure if they story will end with everyone still alive. Since the beginning, Katniss has been ready to die. First it was for her sister and now it is for her people. She has been destined to die since they proclaimed that she was “The Girl on Fire”. I’m not sure if Katniss will survive in the end of it all but I’m confident that she will complete her goal, and effectively take down the government.

The new games part two

After reading more of the book mocking jay I've noticed that the author uses a lot of discritive and visual language when laying out the story of the book. The author really makes sure to give you a complete discription of the setting and surroundings of the characters before jumping back into the story line.For example a scence that I felt really exemplified this was when the book said " I step through the curtain and my senses are assaulted. My first impulse is to cover my nose to block out the stench of soiled linen, putrefying flesh, and vomit, all ripening in the heat of the warehouse. They've propped open skylights that crisscross the high metal roof, but any air that's managing to get in can't make a dent in the fog below...". This made me feel like I was dropped  smack dab in the middle of the book by the another. Though I do find the reaction of the main character ,Katniss, not very bleviable due to all the other atrosities that have already happened to and around her previsoly in the book series. This visual language made me feel like I was connecting with the characters in the book. This is a quality that I love books to have ; when people read books they do so to try to escape their reality for just a moment; visual language and descriptions allow for the author to be able to do so. This is actually something that relates to the topic of "show not tell" which is something that we have been working on in class with our college essays. I definitely can see how descriptions allow for someone to connect with the story because they can picture in their mind the set up of the situation which gives them a better chance at forming a connection to what's going on in the book.

The authors use of dialogue also showed the rising tensions between the characters very well . This is good because as the reader you can get a deeper incite into the personalities of the other characters since the book is limited, which means you as the reader are only told out right the thoughts of the main character. I also feel that the author used the dialogue to break up big chunks of text in the book, which is something that I really appreciate  because I  believe that this allows for the book to be a quicker read.

The new games

In the book mocking jay katniss the main character and the narrator. Judging by the earlier books in the series and knowing all the horrible things that she has been though I feel the characterization of her by the author is very believable .She is limited to the effect that we as the reader do not have access to the thoughts of all of the characters in the book which is normal of this particular series. Though the author dose make sure that we know what the main charater thinks that the other character are thinking and she describes this in great detail.the author makes sure we get a complete image of the body language and facial expression of the characters around katniss. Also the author  uses dialogue in order for us to understand the thinking and or personality or the other characters she we can get on understanding of their actions in the book. In the section of the book that i have read so far it seems like the author is setting us up for an action filled ride, as if there will be a new game to replace the original hunger games. we get a heightened since of the emotions of all the characters ; we are getting more information about what happen to the charters since the ending of the last book which left us with a Cliff hanger. It seemed as if the author was wasting no time moving the story forward and has spent minimal space on flash-backs to what happened previously in the series . This is something that i personally like, there is no dragging on of unnecessary things; there is an immediate action and an reaction relationship for everything that has happened so far and the books has all these jaw dropping moments quickly followed by one another. Though I don't quite know yet if I like the indecisive nature that the author has shown in katnisss,when it comes to her "love-life".

This is definitely a series of books where you have to start from the first book to understand what is going on. also the main character katniss has seemed to not lost any of her spuck throughout the series and she continues to move the story forward. In these books I have found that the exposition or background knowledge is not necessarily at the begging but is spread throughout the book leaving more room for the rising action and and multiple turning points. But I must say that katniss has definitely been the catalyst for everything that has happened so far. I really have liked these books because it's like the pain and suffering of the characters in this book have allowed them to become somewhat stronger people. Though this is not the case for all the characters in the book.