For my independent reading assignment I chose the book Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, a classic love novel. This novel tells the story of and english family in the early 19th century. The Bennet family is composed of Mr and Mrs.Bennet and their five daughters, Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty, and Lydia. Mrs.Bennet wishes of getting her daughters married, and the thought of marriage becomes more real when a new gentlemen arrives to a near town, his name is Charles Bingley. Mr.Bingley is a young man who fills the prospects of a good husband for any of the Bennet girls, so Mrs.Bennet immediately starts searching for ways to arrange a meeting where he can meet her daughters. Soon after Mr.Bingley arrives the Bennets attend a ball where they meet Bingley, and he shows great interest in Jane. Mr.Darcy, one of Bingley's friends, refuses to dance with Elizabeth at this ball, but as time passes and they meet in different occasions he starts feeling really attracted to her as well as Bingley towards Jane. But Jane and Elizabeth aren't the only ones with love prospects in the book, for later on Lydia also finds herself in a situation involving love. The main theme of this book, as you can see is love, in the 19th century things weren't the same as today, many people got married really young and many marriages were arranged, but what I liked about this book is that it shows true love and how it evolves, in some cases from hate, to become love. This is a really different and interesting narrative, it challenged me to go beyond what I read every day because the year it was written in changes a lot of expressions and other details in the writing, it is old school and I learned a lot from it, it is a great book.
All Summer in a Day is a short sci-fi story in which we can see how no matter when or where we are we will always be human. The story is narrated in the future, in which a community is living in the planet Venus with only rain and they only get to see the sun once each seven years. The characters in the story are all nine year old kids who bully one of their classmates out of jealousy because she remembers the sun and they don't, but at the end of the story they feel guilty, showing how us humans are always sensitive and empathetic. The story uses techniques like description - "It's like a penny", "It's like fire, in the stove" - which helps us imagine the setting and have more background on the story; and reflection - "Hey, everyone, lets put her in a closet before the teacher comes" - which helps us feel more empathetic toward the main character and draws us more into the story. We can see how these techniques and circumstances show us that no matter what we will always remain human. In my opinion this story is different from others written by Ray Bradbury because it doesn't revolve so much around technology and it's influence on us, but more around human behavior and emotions and that is why I found it more entertaining than the others.
In my opinion the book version of the story was better because it was more classic and less violent. The movie version of the story is actually really realistic because it shows how kids our age can live in a really violent environment, but it doesn't show us that violence is not the only way to solve our issues. An example of the violence portrayed in the movie is the way the characters carry guns around, in my opinion kids my age, or even a little older, shouldn't be carrying weapons like that around. Even though in the book there is violence, it is also something less harmful and maybe even a way to show us the whole drama and culture of the time period in which the story happens. Another example of violence in the movie is the way Romeo lives; the story is also about a family feud, but his lifestyle is more one of someone in a gang than just a teenager. In both the book and the movie there are ways that violence is portrayed and it can make up a big part of the story, but I think that the movie is way more violent and maybe this can cause the play to lose some of its drama and make the story revolve around violence and not.
2014 was a great year full of experiences and memories. Of course this year was also packed with hard moments and problems I had to get through but life is made up of moments and it's always better to enjoy the great ones and learn from the bad ones. People usually say that a new year is a new a start in which we can change but most people don't actually care about these goals or use the opportunity. Maybe it’s better not to care that much, after all things will happen when they do and that is the thing with life, everything happens when you least expect it to. I think 2015 will be hard but what's important is all the memories I will gather and the moments I will experience yet I will try to change, become better, and grow as a person no matter how hard it is because I know I can always be better. When most people think of the word grow they think quite literally and don't see what the word can mean besides physical growth. Right now I think growing is a great word for what I want to reach this year, it is a way to express all the ways I want to be better and all the ways I am open to change. Even though last year I did change a lot I know there are things I can get better at. I know I am happy, I have everything I need, but I also want to be better with myself. The most important thing for me to grow at this year may be my confidence and trust level because this is something I have always struggled with, I overthink everything too much and end up worrying myself more than I should, I have to learn to trust myself and stop thinking so much about what others think, in the end the only opinion that matters is mine. I also want to grow into being more outgoing, meeting new people, and always having faith, never stop believing that everything will come out right, that's the way it's meant to be or at least it'll make me feel better. It is important to me to look back and remind myself how much I have changed and all I have been through, this year I either change a whole lot or I actually don't. I don't have that much goals but I do hope that everything will be alright and maybe even getting better slowly. To grow is a great objective for a new year, it may not be a new start, but it has so many positive meanings, small things I can reach in time. I don't hope too much for 2015 but if anything I hope to grow as a person and become someone I never imagined or maybe don't even change that much but open myself up. My objective is not only to grow but also to enjoy and just live, because like someone once said "Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans". Coordinating Conjunctions Corrlative Conjunctions If I Stay is a young-adult novel by Gale Foreman. This book talks about something we see every day, a car accident, in which a 17 year old teenager called Mia has to struggle through. Mia is a smart, focused girl who lives with her crazy family made up of her parents and little brother. After this car crash Mia discovers she is now an orphan and basically alone since her brother also died. Mia finds herself in a state of coma in which she can see everything that happens around her, but can't actually be seen or interfere, and the choice to stay or die is up to her. This girl finds herself in a hard situation but she knows that she has a lot of caring people that still love her and support her, of course choosing is still very hard for her. I really enjoyed this book, it is inspiring and made me grateful to have everything I have. Even though this book is sad it is really well written and even though it is actually a short novel in my point of view every page dragged me into the story. To me this book just seemed eye opening as to how lucky I am, and to how happy I actually am. People like my mom would say, "Wow, that book is just too sad" but sometimes you just need a little emotion Interjections Adjectives Adverbs When I think about this question I realize this is something I've wondered and will wonder my whole life. This question just makes me curious and there are so many things that I don't understand and I probably never will, so what I am doing here? Is there a purpose for all everyone goes through? I like to imagine that everything I go through has a purpose and will make sense eventually, but I don't know what to do with my life besides living one day at a time. It is hard to imagine the long-term results of everything I go through, life is tough, and most of the things we learn from are not fair, so I question myself, what will happen? It is hard to imagine how my life will be when I grow up, it is also hard to know that I am just 14 and even though I may already feel tired of everything there is much more to live. I don't really understand why some people are just sure of what they want and who they are, for me I'm just lost, and I don't know when I'll find myself. But life isn't just about finding a purpose and a place to fit, life has much more to it, and there are still too many moments I want to experience. Life isn't the same for everyone making a part of it, life is just hard. It is hard to find a place to live, and to question everything we don't understand. In my point of view life does have a purpose, but it may just as well be to enjoy life while we came. We don't know what came before or what will come after, but like I said before, I like to focus on living one day at a time. I would like to focus on all the good and sweet things and learn from all the bad and bitter, and that is why even though I may think about this a lot I don't want to be scared or stressed out. Some times what we all need is to stop and look around for a while, and just concentrate in the present, on what we have.
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