A change in character...

      So in the beginning of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, the grandfather of the main character is presented as somewhat psychotic. He died in a mysterious way, thought to be the fault of his own insanity. However, as the book progresses, you see that maybe he wasn't so crazy after all. He left behind a letter for his grandson, telling him about an small island that hold the key to his unusual past. As he visits the island and learns more of his grandfather, you find out who he really was. It's a great change in character, revealing that he was very intelligent after all.

The Best Part of my Book

I'm currently reading Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. When considering the best part of my book, pictures definetly come to mind right away. A unique feature about this novel, is that through the story, the author places a small gallery of 4-5 photos. This helps the reader's visual and shows exactly what he was describing. I spend a lot of time analyzing the pictures and rereading the text to see how it matches up. Having the pictures adds to the creativity of the book itself and it's something i have really enjoyed throughout. This book already has a weird story and the pictures make it even weirder.

Below is an example of a picture you'd see in one of the small galleries:

Voice Assignment 5/13

3.  Oftentimes, we tend to think of imagery as simply creating a visual picture for the reader.  However, imagery includes any experience with the five senses.  Effective imagery is built on effective diction and detail, so as you can see, voice involves multiple building blocks all depending on one another.  Which of the passages creates the most intricate sensory experience for you, as the reader? 

Imagery is most profound in the second passage, Speak, by Laurie Anderson. Through her diction and sensory details you can imagine exactly what this scene would look like. She also uses dialouge to help you get a better understanding of how it would sound as well. When she says, "Rachelle:  [Snorts.  Stands back from mirror, turns head from side to side to admire the black mess that looks like goose poop across her cheekbones]," you can visualize how the mascara looks under her eyes and you can also hear it when she uses the onomonopetia "snorts". She goes into great detail about her movements and uses diction that we can understand.

6.  Tone is examined last because understanding the tone of a work requires an understanding of all the elements writers use to create it:  diction, detail, figurative language, imagery, and syntax.  Remember that tone is the expression of the author’s attitude toward his / her audience and subject.  There are as many different tones as there are feelings (i.e., serious, light-hearted, playful, sarcastic, accepting, bitter, anxious, forceful, harsh, humorous, sympathetic, nostalgic, detached, etc.). 

The tone in the first passage, Miss Nelson is Missing, is more playful and humorous. It jokes around with the stereo type of trouble-making kids and their relationship with their teachers. It relates to the reader because they understand what it's like to have a mean sub and miss your usual teacher.
The author is joking around in the passage rather than being very serious.
As for the second passage, Speak, it has a more bitter tone which you can see when she writes, "I don’t want to be cool. I want to grab her by the neck and shake her and scream at her to stop treating me like dirt. She didn’t even bother to find out the truth– what kind of friend is that?" From this you can she she has resentment toward her friend and it's creating a more annoyed tone.
 

7. Characterize or explain the voice of your creative non-fiction piece so far.  How do you know? How would we know it is YOUR piece? What purposeful choices have you made to create voice? Is this a strength or weakness of your writing?

I have created a piece that has a lot of passion and emotion. I've added a couple heart wrenching stories to make my reader understand how serious my topic of police brutality is. You can tell it's my piece because throughout my writting, I added questions to check my readers comprehesion. I really tried to connect and speak directly to whoever is reading my piece which I feel is a strength because it makes my them more entrigued and involved in my creative non-fiction paper.

Ashley Volpenhein         

Cronin

Honors English 1B

5/2/2014

How to Be a Quality Human Being

In the style of Benjamin Franklin

1.       Respect other’s interests. Even if they seem weird at first, understand that yours might too.

2.       Always be polite, hold doors and say please and thank you.

3.       Respect you elders. Seriously, you owe your life to them. If it weren’t for them who knows where you’d be.

4.       Offer favors to those even if they may not deserve them.

5.       Treat others with the same amount of respect you expect from them.

6.       Don’t ever have double standards. Follow the same rules as the person next to you.

7.       Love your partner with every ounce that you have, and show just how much that is every single day.

8.       Don’t refuse help from those who know more than you do.

9.       Give people you don’t know a smile. You never know how much it could brighten their day.

10.   Donate to charities. Remember how fortunate you are and help make the world a better place to live in for everyone.

11.   Recycle. Show the Earth your care for it!

12.   Never abandon a friend in need. A fair weather friend is really no friend at all, so be there for them when they need you the most.

13.   Don’t talk back to your parents. They know what is really best for you and in the end, they’ll never guide you in the wrong direction.

14.   Take school seriously because it’s the key to your future. If you don’t study hard growing up, you could be the bum on the side of the street.

15.   Speaking of bums, always take the time to spare a little change. Their homelessness may be their own fault, but then again, you don’t know the struggle they’ve gone through in their lives.

16.   Don’t be afraid to admit that you’re wrong. It’s okay to make mistakes, we’re only human.

17.   Going off of that, remember that others are only humans as well. If somebody slips up, understand that it happens to everyone at one point or another.

18.   Control your anger. Nothing is worth getting angry over especially little things.

19.   Don’t hover over those who have hurt you. They do not deserve you, so why ever let them slip into your mind.

20.   Be confident in your ventures. A confident person is a respected one as well.

21.   Show not only others love, but yourself too. Go out of your way to make yourself happy.

22.   Give advice to other’s going through the same situations you’ve struggled through as well. Your help will go a long way.

23.   Get a lot of sleep. A well-rested person is proven to be more focused and happier in life than someone who stayed up too late watching TV.

24.   Try your best to never procrastinate. You will ultimately disappoint yourself and others. It will also add an immense amount of unneeded stress into your life.

25.   Lastly, be the best version of yourself that you can be.