http://animoto.com/play/zi03J1XCa45tRLNuQjQJ3w
http://animoto.com/play/F4v9WxLJ4uJKTrAUkDrk0w
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Conclusion
This year's English class has been quite interesting. The blogs were definitely the most unique thing I've probably done in any English class in high school. I remember at first everyone was kind of weird about it because we weren't sure how it would go and didn't know what to do with a blog. As time went on, I think it all just flowed better. We were allowed to post practically whatever we wanted, and whether or not it worked, it was a pretty comfortable system for all of us. Exploring different parts of the internet for class was pretty cool, and as more and more people are getting smartphones, it's going to be easier and easier to do a lot of different kinds of activities in class.
Read for a Lifetime had a better list of books than I had expected it to. None of the books I read were what I would call bad. I was kind of disappointed with Hold Me Closer, Necromancer, but from then on I liked all of the books that I read. The Boy Who Dared was a really cool story about a teenager in Nazi Germany who could spot all the wrong that was going on around him. The combination of historical facts and implements of fiction made the story seem a lot more real. Five Flavors of Dumb was also really interesting. The concept itself was different as the idea of being deaf usually makes people think that music is out of the question. My own personal connection to music made this book even more interesting because I think that music is something that everyone can enjoy, even if music is simply vibrations to you. Rules of Attraction proved to be a good sequel and this assignment actually gave me an excuse to finally pick it up and read it. Of course, I think it'd be even better if we just got to choose our own books, but overall I believe that the blogging mixed with Read for a Lifetime worked out well.
Read for a Lifetime had a better list of books than I had expected it to. None of the books I read were what I would call bad. I was kind of disappointed with Hold Me Closer, Necromancer, but from then on I liked all of the books that I read. The Boy Who Dared was a really cool story about a teenager in Nazi Germany who could spot all the wrong that was going on around him. The combination of historical facts and implements of fiction made the story seem a lot more real. Five Flavors of Dumb was also really interesting. The concept itself was different as the idea of being deaf usually makes people think that music is out of the question. My own personal connection to music made this book even more interesting because I think that music is something that everyone can enjoy, even if music is simply vibrations to you. Rules of Attraction proved to be a good sequel and this assignment actually gave me an excuse to finally pick it up and read it. Of course, I think it'd be even better if we just got to choose our own books, but overall I believe that the blogging mixed with Read for a Lifetime worked out well.
Romance
The romance genre has been around for a long, long time. The romance novel was a literary genre that was developed in Western culture. In the traditional sense of the genre, these novels must have an emotionally satisfying or optimistic ending. This is obviously not always the case, but it was how it was set up. Romance novels are the most popular genre in modern literature in North America. In 2004, it was recorded that 55% of all paperbacks sold were of the romance genre. Romance novels appear in 90 languages, but English is by far the most common as most of these authors come from the English-speaking countries.
One of the earliest romance novels was Samuel Richardson's popular novel in 1740 titled Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded. It was a revolutionary novel, having focused entirely on courtship and throughout the whole story, told it from the point of view of the female. In the next century, Jane Austen expanded this genre with multiple books. The most famous and debatably most popular novel was Pride and Prejudice. It is often considered the epitome of the genre. Many more writers to come would increase and expand the genre, including authors like Georgette Heyer and Kathleen Woodiwiss. Woodiwiss's book, The Flame and the Flower brought forth the modern romance genre. It was also the first single-title romance novel to be published as an original paperback in the United States. The genre has further developed in the decades that followed, including all the works by Simone Elkeles.
One of the earliest romance novels was Samuel Richardson's popular novel in 1740 titled Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded. It was a revolutionary novel, having focused entirely on courtship and throughout the whole story, told it from the point of view of the female. In the next century, Jane Austen expanded this genre with multiple books. The most famous and debatably most popular novel was Pride and Prejudice. It is often considered the epitome of the genre. Many more writers to come would increase and expand the genre, including authors like Georgette Heyer and Kathleen Woodiwiss. Woodiwiss's book, The Flame and the Flower brought forth the modern romance genre. It was also the first single-title romance novel to be published as an original paperback in the United States. The genre has further developed in the decades that followed, including all the works by Simone Elkeles.
Animoto!
Here's a quick little animoto trailer I put together!
http://animoto.com/play/G3JYd5OtEzTMi7w6NW28Dg
http://animoto.com/play/G3JYd5OtEzTMi7w6NW28Dg
Links!
http://www.simoneelkeles.net/oldsite/index.html
This is Simone Elkeles's site. Here you can read her biography, contact her, and check out all of her books.
http://www.simoneelkeles.net/oldsite/rules.html
This is the specific site for Rules of Attraction. It tells you were you can go to buy the book tells you all of the awards it received including being put on the Read for a Lifetime list!
http://www.ielanguages.com/spanish1.html
There's a lot of random Spanish in the book. It's all relatively basic, but here's a site so that some of the phrases can be easier to understand.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7137775-rules-of-attraction
This is a site that gives a basic summary and gives you links to buy the book. There's also a long discussion about the book and tons of user reviews saying whether or not you would be interested in the book.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhEx0kaUlrU
This is the book trailer. They've made trailers for each of the books in the Perfect Chemistry series.
http://www.bookchickcity.com/2011/02/book-review-rules-of-attraction-by.html
This is an online review of the novel. It's from a girl's perspective, so a guy probably shouldn't follow it. To be completely honest, a guy probably wouldn't enjoy this book.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Mafia
Gang violence is a big part of the issues that Carlos deals with. This page gives an overall history of gangs and criminal activity in Mexico and how it's affected different areas of the United States.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_food
Mexican culture is brought up a lot in this book. Carlos is very proud of it, including the food section. This site gives a history and overview of current Mexican cuisine.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automobile_repair_shop
Carlos and Kiara eventually settle down and run an auto shop together. This is a small page describing the different kinds of shops there are and specialty places.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8662836-chain-reaction
Here's a site to check out the next and final book of the Perfect Chemistry series. So if you read Rules of Attraction and enjoy it, looking at the next book in line will probably work out well.
This is Simone Elkeles's site. Here you can read her biography, contact her, and check out all of her books.
http://www.simoneelkeles.net/oldsite/rules.html
This is the specific site for Rules of Attraction. It tells you were you can go to buy the book tells you all of the awards it received including being put on the Read for a Lifetime list!
http://www.ielanguages.com/spanish1.html
There's a lot of random Spanish in the book. It's all relatively basic, but here's a site so that some of the phrases can be easier to understand.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7137775-rules-of-attraction
This is a site that gives a basic summary and gives you links to buy the book. There's also a long discussion about the book and tons of user reviews saying whether or not you would be interested in the book.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhEx0kaUlrU
This is the book trailer. They've made trailers for each of the books in the Perfect Chemistry series.
http://www.bookchickcity.com/2011/02/book-review-rules-of-attraction-by.html
This is an online review of the novel. It's from a girl's perspective, so a guy probably shouldn't follow it. To be completely honest, a guy probably wouldn't enjoy this book.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Mafia
Gang violence is a big part of the issues that Carlos deals with. This page gives an overall history of gangs and criminal activity in Mexico and how it's affected different areas of the United States.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_food
Mexican culture is brought up a lot in this book. Carlos is very proud of it, including the food section. This site gives a history and overview of current Mexican cuisine.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automobile_repair_shop
Carlos and Kiara eventually settle down and run an auto shop together. This is a small page describing the different kinds of shops there are and specialty places.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8662836-chain-reaction
Here's a site to check out the next and final book of the Perfect Chemistry series. So if you read Rules of Attraction and enjoy it, looking at the next book in line will probably work out well.
Pictures!
Cover.
The story's set in Colorado. Kiara likes the mountains and woods in Colorado.
Carlos is immersed in his culture. He teaches Kiara about real Mexican food.
Carlos runs into issues with gangs. This is a Mexican gang sign.
Carlos proves to be a very skilled soccer player, giving entertainment to Kiara's little brother.
Kiara's dad was in the military, and in the end Carlos decides to join the armed forces to be worth something.
Kiara is a big fan of hiking. She brings Carlos hiking once when he decides to follow her because she's ignoring him.
Love is obviously the major plot to this story. Carlos and Kiara pass racial and cultural boundaries in this process.
Both Carlos and Kiara share a love for cars. In the epilogue they show that they have an auto shop of their own.
The third book of the series is already out. I have not read it, but here's the cover.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Rules of Attraction
Rules of Attraction is the by Simone Elkeles. It's the sequel to Perfect Chemistry but with different main characters. Perfect Chemistry's main characters are still involved in the beginning of the story, but Alex's little brother and a girl that works for Alex are now the center of the tale. I was a pretty big fan of Perfect Chemistry so more stories about the Fuente boys sounds like it could have potential. I went into this book with a lot hope, thinking it would be pretty good. It was yet again a romance novel, with the same kind of hispanic and gang conflicts as in the first book.
After reading the book, I have decided that Elkeles is an author that I would be interested in reading in the future. Rules of Attraction was definitely not Perfect Chemistry. It's hard to beat the original, but it was definitely a good read. At first I wasn't too sure about it because I found the main character, Carlos, to be much too irritating. I was glad that Elkeles changed the personality of the main characters though. I was a bit wary that it was going to be practically the same book. In the beginning, I found Carlos to be nothing more than a brat. He's given all these opportunities that his brother, Alex, didn't originally have. His mother sent him up from Mexico to for better education and a better chance in life in general. He just acts like he doesn't care and wants to leave. He's disgusted with his brother for being chained down to his "gringa" girlfriend and leading a steady life. Alex is no longer the cool, rough member of the Latino Blood that he remembers. He feels disappointed and betrayed, as if Alex had given up his roots and forgotten about his family.
While you grow to understand Carlos, this all proves to be very frustrating as his attitude seems unnecessary. The main girl in this book has good potential. Unlike in the last book, this girl isn't exactly popular. She's more of an introverted nerd. Kiara has a stuttering problem and has one real friend. She proves to be surprisingly daring though. Throughout the book, Kiara manages to bring out the true Carlos. While at the beginning, Carlos is determined to be a jerk so as to not get close to anyone, he later learns to open up a little more and let Kiara see how he really is. I don't want to give any spoilers away, but the book was a good read, and I hope that the third book she's released is just as good.
After reading the book, I have decided that Elkeles is an author that I would be interested in reading in the future. Rules of Attraction was definitely not Perfect Chemistry. It's hard to beat the original, but it was definitely a good read. At first I wasn't too sure about it because I found the main character, Carlos, to be much too irritating. I was glad that Elkeles changed the personality of the main characters though. I was a bit wary that it was going to be practically the same book. In the beginning, I found Carlos to be nothing more than a brat. He's given all these opportunities that his brother, Alex, didn't originally have. His mother sent him up from Mexico to for better education and a better chance in life in general. He just acts like he doesn't care and wants to leave. He's disgusted with his brother for being chained down to his "gringa" girlfriend and leading a steady life. Alex is no longer the cool, rough member of the Latino Blood that he remembers. He feels disappointed and betrayed, as if Alex had given up his roots and forgotten about his family.
While you grow to understand Carlos, this all proves to be very frustrating as his attitude seems unnecessary. The main girl in this book has good potential. Unlike in the last book, this girl isn't exactly popular. She's more of an introverted nerd. Kiara has a stuttering problem and has one real friend. She proves to be surprisingly daring though. Throughout the book, Kiara manages to bring out the true Carlos. While at the beginning, Carlos is determined to be a jerk so as to not get close to anyone, he later learns to open up a little more and let Kiara see how he really is. I don't want to give any spoilers away, but the book was a good read, and I hope that the third book she's released is just as good.
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