Reading Response: Plot Structure

I'm back with books! No more literacy narrative ideas or thoughts, I'm here to give you what you've been wanting(or not), a reading response on Feed. Well, sort of... We get to talk about its structure! Yay! Anyways, enough with the false enthusiasm, in this blog I'll talk about Feed's plot structure. Keep in mind I am currently reading  this; I have not finished with it.

When I read the first 100 pages of Feed, some parts of it were very basic and some bigger ideas were different. Part of the rising action was filled with the introduction of characters and some small events/scenes. The other side of the rising action I found interesting was the setting; it wasn't specific. We find ourselves on the moon, partying and talking, but soon we are in a hospital. Maybe the setting could be a time frame? It's obviously in the future; computer chips in head and colonization of the moon convince me so.

Unfortunately, I can't tell you too much more other than the rising action at the moment. I am still early in the book and look forward to the rest of it, because from what I've seen, it's a pretty good read. So hopefully next blog will consist of the climax and maybe even the falling action.

9/24 - 40 min., 9/26 - 30min., 9/27 - 40min., 9/28 - 40min.
Total - 150min., pp. 1-90

I am a writer who...

I am a writer who uses the variety of words to get across my topic. In my writing it's clear that word choice is one of my strengths. I always try to use unique words that will grab readers and pull them in. My goal in doing so is to put them in my shoes by giving them something to chew on. "The dog was an interesting blue that made it sparkle," is different from "The dog had an interesting shade of blue fure that glistened in the sunlight with every step." Yes, they are basically the same sentence, but one flows better and describes the dog  better.

However, I am also a writer who sometimes makes errors in ideas or organization. This mistakes could be two sentences controverting each other, or two sentences that may be ordering incorrectly. For example, in my recent literacy narrative paper my brother found a flaw. To summarize the lines, I was always scared of the WrAP tests, which had proven to be troublesome the years before, but I was prepared to end its streak. He said I was obviously not prepared if I was so nervous, which made sense to me.

I am a writer who has strengths and weaknesses, and I suppose many others do too. So I assume I am just among the other writers in my community, looking to strengthen my weaknesses.

Stuck Halfway

I'm currently stuck typing this blog in the cafeteria of a small hotel behind a dingy gas station. We have no access to transportation, nor do we have the comfort of  our house. The internet connection the manager very nicely let us use provided me and my sister with an opportunity to finish our blogs, both consisting of this  unique situation we are trapped in.

Right after school on Friday, we left for Houston. On a normal occasion, we wouldn't visit our cousins over the weekend. It was too short. But this weekend, our uncle from London was coming to visit. This was the impetus for our departure, to go out of our way to see someone I didn't know. In the end, I had a great time. We visited our cousins, and with those cousins, visited our other cousins, where Uncle Tiger was staying. We joined them for dinners, and late nights full of  fun and joy turned into early mornings.

At the end of the trip, I was sad to leave. It was so much fun; I'm so happy to know we'll be visiting next weekend as well. The fact we had school the next day made it clear that we needed to go. All the families exchanged farewells and my sister, parents, and I all piled into our old van. The five hour ride began.

Around two hours of sleep and gameboy games later, we heard a strange fizzle sound coming from under the hood of the car. Soon, the engine overheated, because the coolant water pump ceased to function. So we slowly made our way, stopping at fifteen minute intervals to manually wash the engine with our water bottles, until we were near empty. So we figured to stop at a gas station. We sent out numerous calls to various places: mechanics, brothers, sisters, uncles, etc.

After a few minutes, we had the problem solved; My brother in college was coming to pick us up. Until then, we decided to stay in the dining area of a high quality hotel, well... at least higher quality than the section of Lake  Charles we were in. So here I am, sitting in a cafeteria, rubbing my temple with my left hand, and writing a blog with my right.

Literacy Narrative Process: WrAPped in a Bind

Boy oh boy, do I have some news for you guys! Let me just start out by saying that the literacy narrative is working out better than expected. For those who read my last blog, yes, I am a liar liar with pants on fire (I will not be reviewing Feed). The reason I'm not talking about it is because the literacy narrative was a bigger challenge.

I actually didn't have much trouble developing the story, or coming up with the name. The title I used is the first one that came into my head; WrAPped in a Bind seemed to summarize the whole story pretty well, or at least the idea behind it, which was about my struggles during the WrAP. The story I made was very basic: "give vivid details in organization." When I say this, "vivid" refers to... well, being descriptive. Trying to make the reader  understand the position you are in is an important factor to writing. "Organization" could apply to order and sentence fluency.

Revisions were another joy to me. In the past, I normally had little written revisions, because I normally corrected my paper as I continued on the computer. This time however, was different. Instead of having a computer copy in front of me, I was prepared with a printed rough draft and a red pen. With the addition of Diamond and Emory giving me beneficial ideas to improve my work (Thanks to you guys if you are reading!), I succeeded in fixing many errors, whether they be conventions or vague ideas. If you compared one of my rough drafts from middle school and the one I made just a few days ago, you'd be surprised. Overall, I think my writing and processes have significantly changed in only a few months because of my fellow students and the teacher who developed this system. Thank you all.

8/17 - 40min., 8/18 - 35min., 8/19 - 40min., 8/20 - 35min, 8/21 - 30min.
Total - 180min., wrote 3 pages

Reading Response: The Housekeeper and the Professor

This week I finished reading The Housekeeper and the Professor. It is a magnificent book, from start to finish. It's surely going to be one of my favorite books of all time. Next week I'll be reading Feed, so prepare  yourselves for that. When I was reading this week, I found many interesting scenes that stood out from the other ones. Before I begin, I'd prefer that you read my first response if you haven't, as it explains much of the characters and story line.

One day, the housekeeper and her son decided to take the Professor out to a baseball game. They hoped it would relax him, but they didn't know he wasn't a fan of large crowds. After watching the game and making statistics, they are all ready for bed. The housekeeper shortly finds out the Professor is sick, and is in need of attention. She spends the night without telling the widow, or his sister-in-law, who then complains to the housekeeping agency. On the verge of losing her job, the housekeeper visits the Professor one last time, where she finds the widow with him at the time.

This is special because the widow immediately fires her, but the Professor stands up for the housekeeper and Root. The Professor, the man with an 80-minute memory "tape" stood up for someone he shouldn't technically have known. To me, this was exciting. They had surely developed some sort of bond between them, and surpassed his memory problem to some extent.

Another scene that caught my attention was probably the most exceptional. This scene was two days after Root's eleventh birthday party, when the Professor was put into a long-term care facility when his "eighty-minute tape recorder" broke. The widow said, "His memory no longer goes beyond 1975, not even for a minute." This was heart-breaking. After all they have been through, his head injury is too overwhelming and eventually comes out on top, leaving the Professor still in 1975, when it was clearly in the 1990s. I felt so sad after this, and I've never felt sad about a book before.

Nothing made up for that moment. Throughout the years they still visited him, even knowing they wouldn't have known them. Then he died. By then Root was twenty-two, and ready to become a math teacher. In mind my these were sad connections. Root had struggled in math as a child, but taught by the Professor, decided to major in it. The fact that Root wanted to become a math teacher just goes to show how much the Professor moved him and the housekeeper.

I don't know how else to close this. Well, let me just say that if you happen to come across it with nothing else to read, it's a great choice and a good read. Yoko Ogawa, the writer, has done exceptionally well in developing this book. She has a way with words that gives you valuable information concisely. Here I'm going to apologize for the huge post you read, it's just that there is so much in these 70 pages I read this week.

9/10 - 100min., 9/16 - 70min.
Total - 170min, pp.102-180 pp. 26-27, 564-570, 577-581

Literacy Narrative Ideas

Uh oh. Literacy narratives are back. I already know some people are excited, and the rest are sad. Unfortunately, I can't say that I'm  as happy as a clam. The reason I don't like writing is that I always manage to get stumped on the subject I should write about. Nevertheless, narratives or any types of literacy are important in my opinion. I'm sure you'd come across writing many times in your lifetime.

This blog I'm just going to throw some ideas at you readers. But first I have to develop a good foundation for my information, the subject. I thought about using a WRAP scene. I always struggled on them even with the preparation. I could write about whenever I did begin writing, how the pieces came together in my mind using strategies we learned beforehand. But I don't remember too much about the scene nor do I think it changed me in any way.

Other than that, I don't see much opportunity. I could talk about books, but The Housekeeper and the Professor hasn't really taught me anything significant about how I write. Fictional books like these are just fun reads; Stories intended for an entertainment purpose, not to deliver a specific reason. It has taught me something, but I think it isn't very important. The book adds flavor to its writing by putting in equations, something you normally don't find in books, but I found it a great aspect to the story, because the The Housekeeper and the Professor revolves around math. The math in the story may be a reminder of the main idea.

Another obvious idea that influenced how I write today is education. But of course I can't use it. It has to be a scene. To be honest, even this blog assignment left me speechless. I thought I had no substance, and I probably don't. You may say, "Whoa, four paragraphs! Akbar you overdid it!" but I disagree.

So from here I'm going to put it in your hands; Help from comments that could jog my memory would be fantastic. And of course, you are welcome to ask your usual questions and regular comments. Just for the record, I love reading my comments on all my blogs, so keep them coming! I'm off to go eat some pizza.

Comment Response

Hey guys! I just wanted to thank you guys for all the good feedback. In this post I think I may just answer a few questions I found on my blog, whether it be about my independent reading books or personal thoughts, in the form of a Q&A session.

1. "I am a little bit confused here about who is arriving where - you are at the cousins' house, but the cousins are travelers?"

This first question I came across was about the scene we had to write over the "hurrication." I wrote about seeing my cousins after a few months of school. During the passage when I said they were travelers, I meant that they often went vacationing all over the world in summer and other breaks, but they live in Houston, Texas. I just wanted to have that clarified.

2. "What type of stories did you and your family talk about? Where they fiction or non-fiction? What board games did you all play?"

Well, we talked about their experiences during their vacation. That summer, my cousins had gone to India and London, so they had plenty to share. When I said stories, I think the  types of stories were misunderstood; They weren't books, just memories. There was a variety of games to choose from, but the two main games we played were Apples to Apples and Monopoly.

3. "Also, did you choose this book? Was it recommended to you? Did your parents make you read it?"

Yes, I chose NoMansLand of my own will. I didn't really have a specific book in mind, so I just ventured the Episcopal library, and found something that I thought I would find good. I didn't have any idea or recommendation. I hope this answers your question.

I hope all my answers clarified everything related to my earlier posts. If not, post a question! Don't feel like you'd be judged if you thought you'd be asking a "stupid" question. Like I said before, I appreciate all of the feedback and replies I've gotten from all you bloggers.

Reading Response: The Housekeeper and the Professor

This week, I finished up NoMansLand, and began a new book, The Housekeeper and the Professor. When I was searching through our bookshelves for a good read, my brother recommended this book and many others like Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Slaughter-House Five, and Feed. Those books are on my list, so expect to hear about them in my later posts.

But this week I decided to read The Housekeeper and the Professor. The Professor, whose name is unknown, is an old, but brilliant mathematician who had a head injury, so his memory only lasts for 80 minutes. The young housekeeper, whose name is also unknown, is working to get pay to feed her small family, after her boyfriend left her. During the introduction to all of the main characters, I recognized these two didn't have names, which I found absurd. However, this may not apply to all the characters. Later on, the professor called the housekeeper's son "Root," because of the shape of his head. I said "may" because it was a nickname, not his formal name.

Each day, the same "formal" introduction was given but the housekeeper and son both played along. Yes, they had known him, but because of the professor's lack of memory everyday was a new day. They did it sincerely without any frustration or irritation. I thought it told me more about their personalities, that they were good people even to a man who wouldn't know them the next day. One day, Root had cut his hand trying to peel an apple, under the supervision of the Professor. When the Housekeeper came back from her errands, she found him pale and holding Root in his arms. Root himself was trying to calm the Professor. On their way to the dingy clinic that was still open, the Professor (keep in mind he's old), picked Root up on his back, and carried him to the hospital. I found this was a great act of friendship, driven by some source of friendship deep within the Professor's mind.

Root struggled in school, specifically mathematics, which was a great opportunity for the housekeeper; to get him tutored by a mathematician. But when she intended to have her son tutored, the whole family is tutored. She herself learns more and more about math, ranging from factorials to amicable numbers. I personally think  these equations are providing a foundation for a bond that is slowly creating, with the help of the notes pinned on to his suit. From the 92 pages that I've read, this book is magnificent, and is easily one of my favorite books.

9/4 - 5min., 9/5 - 25min., 9/6 - 30min., 9/7 - 30min., 9/8 - 40min., 9/9 - 20min.
Total - 150min, pp. 221-224, 1-92

Reading Response: No Mans Land

When I first began No Mans Land, by Lesley Hauge, I found it very slow and uninteresting. It mainly spoke of the Trackers' daily lives in their strict society. From page 118, the pace began picking up. The patrol group discovered a dwelling that supposedly existed before the great devastation. I found this interesting, to see them enthralled by items our society sees daily.

Because they found the place, a chain of events begin happening. All sightings of evidence of the past had to be reported, which was impetus. The book started covering more in a shorter time. The cleansing of the traitors, and chasing the escaped all happened in two chapters. I like these parts because they don't focus on details. Too much fluff is bad, but too little is bad. The later parts of this book satisfied me, giving the perfect balance.

8/26 - 30min., 8/27 - 30min,. 8/29 - 40min., 8/31 - 30min., 9/2 - 20min.
Total - 150min., pp.118-221

Cousins

My pupils shifted as I opened the heavy car door into the bright sky. The sky was a clear blue one, the grass a rich green, and the trees swaying with grace, unlike the recent scenery of Louisiana. Stretching my legs for the first time in five hours, I noticed three figures bolting across the driveway, each with huge smiles on their faces. We were graciously welcomed and began talking right away, knowing there's much to be covered since the last time we've met. But before we settle down, it was clear unpacking was necessary. My sister heaved open the backdoor, and everyone grabbed a bag. In just a few minutes, we were all arranged.

The tiled floors slipped from underneath us with each step in our socks. Each step along the way was spent updating on how life was since the last visit. Up the stairs was the kids' territory: soft carpeting, fluffy couches, three computers, a big TV, a table, board games, and a bathroom were all the special elements that made the upstairs what it is for us. Each person made themselves comfortable (which wasn't difficult), and we talked. We expected much from the travelers our cousins were. The stories began.