LITERATURE ANALYSIS #2

Jorge Garcia

Period 0

BOOK- The River by Gary Paulsen

Fiction Analysis

1. After hearing of the boy who survived almost 2 months in the wilderness using only a hatchet the government wanted to learn of these techniques of his. After some thinking Brian agrees to help them and head back into the wilderness along with a psychologist named Derek who goes to observe. They are placed in a remote Canadian location and Brian decides to only use a knife and radio from the entire emergency supply kit the government has brought them. After several days of being in the wilderness a bad storm arrives and Derek is struck by lightning and sent into a deep coma. Brian is once again alone and has to get Derek to emergency care before he dies of dehydration, there is only one way out. Brian has to build a raft and be able to defy odds and make it down the river in hopes of finding help. After heading down the river the raft had crashed and luckily he found help. Derek recovered and thanked Brian for saving his life, and Brian went back to his home safe and sound.

2. The main theme of this novel is to always have hope. Even when the toughest situations hit you always have to keep hope in order to get through and overcome it.

3. Overall the author had a tone of mystery most of the time, this depended on what or who he was talking about. For example when he talked in the beginning of the book he described the city Brian was in and how he was living his life after surviving in the woods. He went into great depth describing how Brian was not use to the regular world anymore. Also after leaving to go to the woods his tone picked up a bit and became more suspenseful. The constant tips Brian gave just added on to the suspense of something happening in the future. Then something did. Finally his tone was at the most suspenseful/courageous when Brian decided to go down the river with the unconscious Derek. The description of the river, the raft slowly falling apart, and Brian beginning to lose hope, the tone made the finale of this book a real page turner.

4. A literally element I mostly saw from the author was foreshadowing, I could in a way tell that Derek was going to have an accident because he wasn’t an army guy or anyone athletic or the outdoors type. He was merely there to observe and bring the notes back, a person like that in the middle of nowhere with a young boy and one radio does not exactly say “smart plan”. Also I saw a lot of rising action, where every little event just seemed to go together and the climax became very clear. From Brian agreeing to go out to the woods again to the thunder storm coming along we are able to see this turn of events a little easier and can expect that the next obstacle will be a really good page turner.  

Characterization

1. Direct characterization was used a lot, mostly when describing his characters. Brian was described as this boy who has matured greatly after being in the woods that long and also as a traumatized kid after all that. As far as indirect characterization goes it takes a bit to find, we are shown that Brian is very attached to the woods no matter how hard he says he won’t go back and also we see Derek’s intentions as only working for him and he can be in luxury only to observe what the skills are but not actually do them. The author uses both to give a sense of who these characters really are, to give characters life basically.

2. Overall I see that the author’s syntax/diction seems to change once. The only true change I see is the change in author’s diction when Derek is put into a coma after being struck by lightning. Gary Paulsen seemed to start using stronger words now that Brian was alone again, and it helped in building more suspense.

3. The protagonist, being Brian, is more of a dynamic character and a round character. I say he’s dynamic because at first yes he sticks to his old ways but after Derek gets struck by lightning he changes his motives and starts to think of any possible way to save his life. Also he is round because he starts thinking outside his own little comfort zone and begins to realize he and Derek are on the verge of death that can only be defied by his ability to get Derek down that river.

4. After finishing this short novel I did feel like I met 14 year old Brian this time. The one thing that made me feel like I met him was towards the end once again where Brian had gotten back on land after sailing down the river. I could see that image of him, sitting there in his ripped cloths, holding Derek’s unconscious body and crying telling the people he found to go for help. Being able to perfectly see that image I can say that I feel like I’ve met this 14 year old Brian. 

WELCOME TO MY NETWORK

Here I am looking for people who could help me under my topics of managing time, dance, and fitness. How all these tend to come together and i have found people that have the certain same taste as my topics here. So I am asking them to help me out and come join my network.

1. Carlos Serrano
2. Veronica Cavazos
3. Bobby Rucobo
4. Daniel Alvarez
5. Andrew Alcazar

MASTERPIECE ESSAY #1

Jorge Garcia

0

Masterpiece Essay #1

            I have always wondered what the future would hold for me, trying to come up with every possibility that could end up being my future. It was one of the things I’d constantly want to think about, and after a long time of thinking I have figured out that I wanted a career in business. This career interested me because I’ve seen how the area of business works, it caught my attention now instead of boring me like it used to. There has been a huge transaction in my ways of thinking, and thanks to this I know what I want my future to look like.

            This goes back to around my junior high years, I was still young and looking for anything adventurous. Just the thought of being in a small cubical with thousands of others doing some paperwork that probably is nothing but “bitch work”. That is how I completely saw it and wanted nothing to do with it, in fact by my freshmen year in high school I wanted to become a doctor. This was my career choice because I liked the idea of being able to help others in a job that is a complete necessity on a daily basis. There was only one thing, the classes that had a lot to do with the career I wanted. In the first high school years I did take classes such as biology, although it was not a hard class I just did not get a lot of interest out of it. I took the classes, passed them with ease but found that I classified it as “bitch work” because I was not passionate about this in any way. I was only trying to get the grade and move on. This was not the end of my journey however, because one thing stayed in the shadows until I noticed it my junior year in high school.

            I have not noticed that secretly I had a passion, one I haven’t noticed but have complained about a lot due to the fact that it was a lot of work. Yet even after all of the complaining I still tried my best at it and did not notice it. This secret passion was numbers, mathematics, and I was good at this. Although I was not one of the students that was in an advanced placement class under mathematics I was still going through the years with ease. This alone got me thinking, I’m good with numbers so what can I do with this? Many different things came to mind, teachers, professors, but then it hit me. What about finance, there’s a lot of work with numbers, money, and more importantly get paid very well. There was still research to do however, and I realized what I now had an interest in. It ended up being the one thing I had hated, it was the world of business. At first I was shocked but then it all came together and begun to make much more sense. Also I realized that what I saw as business isn’t always true, it didn’t have to be the whole cubical scene. It could be just about anything, the office itself is almost guaranteed but it could be anywhere from a building to a school. That sounded pretty good to me because I could easily see myself doing this, and I was ready to try and make that my career.

            All-in-all I would say my way of thinking has done a complete 180. I have gone from not liking the world of business to realizing it is a pretty good idea for me because I found out I actually had a secret passion for it. However, although I have found out what I wanted to do with my life I have decided not to do more research on this for my senior project. I want to be able to manage time and not do so much with my future, I know what I’m getting myself into so I want to be able to master time management before I leave. My future involves me going into the world of business, but at the same time I would need more than just knowledge on that to be ready for the future. I’d need to know more.

MY VOCABULARY #3

development- a specified state of growth or advancement
The wings attain their full development several hours after birth.
authentic- of disputed origin; genuine
This letter is now accepted as an authentic document.
assess- evaluate or estimate the nature, ability, or quality of
The committee must assess the relative importance of the issues.
publish- of, affecting, or belonging to a particular person rather than to anyone else
Her personal fortune was recently estimated at $37 million.
finance- the management of large amounts of money
I have to think about how to finance my future.
balance- an even distribution of weight enabling someone or something to remain upright and steady
She lost her balance and fell from the tight rope.
satisfied- contented; pleased
She was very satisfied with her test results.
dexterity- skill in preforming tasks esp. with hands
His record testifies to a certain dexterity in politics.
manual- of or done with the hands
Manual hauling of boats along the towpath.
automatic- working by itself with little or no direct human control
An automatic kettle that switches off when it boils.
calendar- a chart or series of pages showing the days/weeks/months of a particular year
I always mark the important dates on the calendar.
frequent- done on many occasions, in many cases, or in quick succession
The showers will become heavier and more frequent.
planner- a list or chart with information that is an aid to planning
I tend to use a planner on a weekly basis.
procrastination- the action of delaying or postponing something
Your first tip is to avoid procrastination.
writer's block- the condition of being unable to think of what to write or how to proceed with writing
The one thing you don't want when writing something important is to get writer's block.

PEER REVIEW

I will review the following blogs based on overall content, look, and if they are up to date or not.
1. aarriagarhsexposcomp.blogspot.com: This blog had a great look, that is what first caught my attention. After that I proceeded in reading a few of the posts, from what I saw I could see that his content was overall good, does need a little work but is good and will get better. It is missing a few things but so far is getting up to date.
2. alfredoexporeadingwritingrhs.blogspot.com: To begin with this blog looked well organized, many little gadgets and widgets being used. Now the actual content was pretty good, had many meaningful posts that were not just simple assignments. Some posts were late however but he seems to be getting up to date.
3. cesiliosanchez.blogspot.com: He appears to be well up to date and continuing to do so. Actual content looks to be well written, but looked more school structured instead of him actually putting things into his own way of thinking. Looks great though.
4. valvaradorhs14exposcomp.blogspot.com: This blog had a very original great look to it and not only stopped there, its content was very well written. She appears to be up to date on just about everything and has been doing excellent.
5. mlunarhsenglitcomp.blogspot.com: Her blogs overall look was very decorative, yet still easy to be able to navigate around. This blog is very well organized and written especially considering she is doing both Expository Composition and AP English. As far as the Expos Comp goes I'd say she is pretty well up to date and has been doing a good job on this blog.
These students appear to be doing well so far in this course, however there is always more work to be done and based on what they've shown so far I'd say they're ready for the upcoming work.

MY VOCAB #2

postpone-cause something to take place at a time later than that first scheduled
The visit had to be postponed for some time.
effective- successful in producing a desire or intended result
Effective solutions to environmental problems.
important- of great significance or value
It is important to avoid monosyllabic answers.
nutrient- a substance that provides nourishment essential for growth and the maintenance of life
Fish are a great source for many important nutrients such as protein, vitamins, and minerals.
health- the state if being free from illness or injury
He was restored to health after having the flu.
productive- producing or able to produce large amounts of goods
The most productive employees tend to get more respect.
declutter- remove unnecessary items from an overcrowded place
There's no better time to declutter your home.
link- relationship between 2 things or situations esp. when one thing affects the other
Investigating a link between pollution and forest decline.
hazard- a danger or risk
There is a huge hazards of smoking.
enjoy- take delight or pleasure in
Joe enjoys reading Icelandic family sagas.
cause- a person or thing that gives rise to an action, phenomenon, or condition
The cause of the accident is not clear.
future- the time or a period of time following the moment of speaking or writing
People tend to think of their futures a lot.
regret- feel sad, repentant, or disappointed over something that has happened
She immediately regretted the words she just spoke.
resources- available assets
Nowadays there are so many resources on any topic found on the internet.
manifest- clear or obvious to the eye or mind
The systems manifest fallings.
courage-the ability to do something that frightens one
She called on all her courage to face the ordeal.
humility- a modest or low view of one' own importance
He suffered many humiliating moment but regrets nothing.
valuable- extremely useful or important
My time is valuable.
integrity-the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles
He is known to be a man of integrity.
control-the power of influence or direct people's behavior or the course of events
The situation was slipping out of her control.

LAUNCH

When this project was first announced I was puzzled, not fully sure what I wanted to do. All I really knew was that I was sick and tired of having to constantly think about my future, thinking why I couldn't think about the time I have now instead of wasting it thinking about the future. That's when it hit me, I have total control of this project so of course I was going to steer it into the direction I was thinking. Why not start a project that helped me take extreme advantage of the present and only look into it instead of looking into my future like every other class is trying to get me to do. I know what's waiting for me after I graduate, but while I'm still here I want to use my free time and get it to a point where I go off into my future having absolutely no regrets because I actually did the things I wanted to while I had the chance. In order to do this I would need to organize a few things. First off I would need to be able to manage my time in a way that I could do anything I wanted to but still get my school work done because I can not slack on it. Secondly I would have to prioritize the things in my life to make sure that I was putting the main priorities first instead of overlooking one thing because I didn't see it. I started seeing a pattern in the sources I was finding, and this ladies and gentlemen is where I can say my project took off.

MY VOCABULARY #1

budget- an estimate of income and expenditure for a period of time
I tend to keep within my household budget.
responsibility- the state of having a duty to deal with something
When a child is born the parents are left with a huge responsibility.
limit- a point where something does not or may not pass
Everyone has their limits in their abilities.
predict- say that something will happen in the future
Its too early to predict the next superbowl champions.
consequence- result or effect of an action or condition
Many have been laid off of work as a consequence of the administrations policies.
choice- an act of selecting or making a decision when faced with multiple possibilities
The huge choice between good and evil.
management- the process of dealing with or controlling things or people
There is always management in the workplace.
doubt- a feeling of uncertainty or lack of conviction
They had doubts that they would be selected for the scholarships.
systematic- done or acting accordingly to a fixed plan or system
A systematic search of the whole city.
motivation- the reason(s) one has for acting or behaving in a particular way
Escape can be a strong motivation for travel.
temporary- lasting for only a limited amount of time
My job is only temporary.
priority- a thing that is regarded as more important than another
Housework was not on my priorities list.
time- the indefinite continued progress of existence and event in the past/present/future regarded as a whole
MLK was one of the greatest men of all time.