Looking for Alaska writing craft

John Green has won many awards for Looking For Alaska such as:

Winner, 2006 Michael L. Printz Award
Finalist, 2005 Los Angeles Times Book Prize
2006 Top 10 Best Book for Young Adults
2006 Teens’ Top 10 Award
2006 Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers
A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age
A Booklist Editor’s Choice Pick
Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Selection
Borders Original Voices Selection

I believe he won these based on how he writes. He does an amazing job of using word choice, syntax, and imagery.

   While reading looking for Alaska by John Green I have noticed patterns in his word choice and his imagery. His diction seems to start off higher level than in the same sentence become very casual. In other words he tends to enhance his sentences with good words but also casual words to make it higher level yet relatable. His characters all have a different type of word choice, some more casual than others. A good example of his diction choice is "I stared, stunned partly by the force of the voice emanating from the petite (but God, curvy) girl..." (Green 15) John starts off with a formal good word choice, but adds in the very casual detail. This allows the reader to feel intrigued by the good words but also not turned away because of lack of understanding.

   I idolize John Green because of the way he writes. I really enjoy the way he writes because of how he changes up his formal and in formal diction. I learn great new words while reading his books, but at the same time fully understand them. I also enjoy his imagery in Looking For Alaska. He is very descriptive and I can get a clear image in my head. An excellent example of his imagery is "I began picking at the cracks in the couch's leather, digging my fingers into the foamy whiteness" ( Green 13) this line gave me a vivid image of the action the character was doing. It is hard for me as a reader to understand a book that is not descirbtive or doesnt ever use casual diction. John Greens books are perfect for me as a reader and probably appeal to many others reading intrests. After only the first few pages of Looking for Alaska I honestly can say i felt like i knew the characters and was standing there next to them. The words come alive and tease your emotions. I really enjoy John Green's diction and Imagery because of the way it makes me as a reader feel. I highly recommend Looking for Alaska by John Green!

 

Mildred in F451

Mildred is the type of person that wants to live in her own small bubble world and completly be oblivious to anything that would harm her shealterd life. She rather sit at home watching tv then go outside or test any kind of limits. Although her actions may make it seem as if she was born with this dreadfuly boring personalilty, I believe the way the society controls peoples minds and desensitized  people was the main cause. As children the people learn to not care about others feeling and to follow the society's rules in order to be happy. Tv strongly influenced their behavior too. Therefor Mildred really didn't have any other choice but to be raised that way. I believe she is lonely because of Montags time consuming job. Her solution to that problem was to make the tv her "family" because it made her happy. The tv put thoughts into her head and made her the way she is. I think because Of montages job he didn't pay enough attention to her so she became lonely. He didn't fall in love with her in the first place while she had this personality so Somthing must have changed her. Mildred also seems very self centered, she doesn't really seem to care montag or anyone but herself. Although Mildred just seems like a selfish ignorant person.. I believe society is what made her that way.

Looking for Alaska predictions

  I recently started reading Looking For Alaska by John Green. Just by reading the back I can predict that it is going to be really good. I chose this book because its a realistic type of book. I am the type of reader who enjoys plot lines that are realistic and not so far fetched that I will never be able to relate. I predict that Alaska and Miles will get to know each other than experience somthing that brings them closer togther. From context clues I already know Miles has a crush on Alaska, But what will it take for her to have feelings for him? Will she ever? Alaska seemed to talk to him in a friendly way, so I can predict at least a friendship for the future.  Miles seems to be a wallflower and not too outgoing. On the other hand Alaska is exciting, friendly, and rebelious. Can those to completly different personality types ever come together? Will one change the other to be more like them? I predict Miles will follow Alaska and become similar to her. The front cover seems girly.. from that i can predict that alaska is going to be a very important part of the stroy. Since Miles is pretty anisocial and never fit into his only school, will this school let him reveal his true self? Will it let him find friends who are like him? The front of the cover gives an impression that someone dies... I predict it will be Alaska and Miles will be involved. I have enjoyed the plot lines of John Greens other books so I hope I will enjoy thsi one too. I am very excited to see what happends as I read farther into the book. So far it is great even though I am only about 25 pages in!

My opinion on John Green and TFIOS

  After reading The Fault in our Stars I began to have a slight obsession with John Green and his work. I began reading that book mainly because it was very popular and i had heard great things about it. And although i may be considered "basic" for reading it, i did not read it because everyone else is. Its popular because its written so well and kept the reader engaged. Many believe its a typical love story and you could easily predict what would happen. yes, the plot line was slightly predictable but personally i didn't fall in love with the book because of the plot line. I fell in love because of how real it made the situation seem. John Green took a typical love story and advanced it with characters that were not considered normal. How many times have you met a teenager who puts a cigarette in his mouth but never actually smokes it? And not only did he make the character be different he made the character have a great reason for doing it. I feel like people over look this book now because of how popular it got. People think its just about teenagers falling in love just like very other book. But that is NOT the case in my opinion. If it was a normal typical not interesting book, it wouldn't be so popular. It seems when things are so well known and popular it starts to get a different image . So please if you haven't read it ( go read it now) don't judge it until you have. If you are not in John Greens writing, I highly suggest watching is History YouTube videos hes also an AMAZING history teacher too!! In conclusion what you should have picked up from this blog post was read The Fault In Our Stars, and that John Green is pretty much amazing at everything in life.

Tri 3 First Blog Post

  My favorite book that I read last trimester was The Fault In Our Stars by John Green. It allowed me to feel emotions I never thought I would with reading a fiction story. I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone looking for a good book. Warning, I did end up sheading a few tears towards the end. I fell in love with all of the characters within the first few chapters. The way John Green described the characters and situations made you feel a part of the story. He allowed the reader to make a strong connection to the characters. I enjoyed the book because of how engaged I became. I even spend most of my time on vacation reading it. It played with my emotions in a very good way. I love John Greens books because they are young adult and relatable. Hazel (the main character) showed me so many life lessons throughout the book. Even though she is a made up character, I feel as if she is a role model for me to look up to. I also enjoyed how the characters were close in age to me, so the way they acted was similar. Lastly my favorite part of the whole book was how the characters spoke. Gus in particular was only a teenager but spoke and reacted like a wise old man. He didn’t care what people thought and fought against the way things always seemed to be. The love story between Gus and Hazel in the Fault In Our Stars truly was phenomenal and therefor the best book I have read so far.

 

Independent reading: theme

Theme: There is a fine line between happiness  and despair. 

Within a short amount of time happiness can me transformed into great despair. This describes Light On Snow because it only took one night for the Dillion's lives to me completely turned for the worst. The theme is describing how One emotion can be turned to the opposite within a short amount of time. 

independent reading: book recommendations

The book Saving Zoe by Alyson Noel tells the story of Echo, a teenager who just lost her sister to an unexpected cause. Echo was lost and despressed after the loss, and her parents were not the same. Things start to look better when Echo discovers Zoe's journal. She reads everthing about her life up until the day before she died. The discovery of the journal allows Echo to know her sister as a whole new person. This book allows the audience to feel extreem emotion and feel how Echo felt. I enjoyed reading this book and I recommend it.

Saving Zoe is very similar to Light on Snow because both characters are suffering from a large loss. But with an unexpected discovery their view on life changed for the better.