The News is Crazy, Isn't it.

     Imagine an enormous contradiction. Now, multiply the size of it by 10. I bet it still isn't as big  as the contradiction in the article, "An Inmate and a Scholar", by Alison Leigh Cohen, which features Orhun Hakan Yalincak, criminal and graduate of Oxford University and Durham University. Pretty large contradiction, right? Alison Leigh Cohen captured the extent of it amazingly, and I am excited to tell you more.

     The article, "An Inmate and a Scholar" is about the story of Orhun Hakan Yalincak. This story starts at New York University, where Mr. Yalincak was in his fifth year. During this year, he and his family promised N.Y.U $21 million, which inspired them to start a hedge fund which was very successful, making $7 million. Of the $21 million owed, Mr. Yalincak only coughed up a tiny morsel of it, $1.25 million, which they had to refund to the investors that Mr. Yalincak stole it from. The next chapter of the story takes Mr. Yalincak to prison for 42 months for wire and bank fraud, though he only spent 17 months in prison because of time he had previously spent in a Connecticut detention center. He then turned his life around by graduating from Durham and Oxford Universities. Thus ends the roller coaster ride of this part of Orhun Hakan Yalincak's life.

     The craft moves Alison Leigh Cohen uses in this article are well used and help express the ideas of the article. One craft move she uses are metaphors. At one point, she compares the $21 million Mr. Yalincak owed to NYU to a feast, and the $1.25 million he gave NYU to a morsel. I believe she does this to empower the numbers to show how much trouble Mr. Yalincak really was in . Another craft move the author uses are quotes. She doesn't overuse quotes, as many authors do, and also uses them, when she does, in great places. I think she does this to help the reader understand just how contradictory his life is. These are some of the craft moves Alison Leigh Cohen uses in the article, "An Inmate and a Scholar".

     The author of this article seems to think that the bouncing-back of Mr. Yalincak was very improbable, and now that he has bounced back, he is trying to keep his previous problems hidden from view, as shown from an authors note in an article that he was part of writing. I disagree with the authors position. I think that he was just very influenced by his mother, who was a felon, and he just got off track for some of his life. I believe this article shows that anybody can get their life in order, no matter how messed up it is.    

Craig's Personality in, It's Kind of a Funny Story, by Ned Vizzini

     In the book, It's Kind of a Funny Story, by Ned Vizzini, the main character, Craig, is a depressed teenage boy, whose friends push him to smoke marijuana and drink alcoholic beverages. After  close reading for Craig's thoughts, emotions, and actions, I was able to figure out more about Craig's personality, which is helpful because Ned Vizzini keeps it relatively hidden from the reader.

     First of all, Craig  is not open about himself with his friends and family, which I think makes his depression worse. He keeps his feelings and thoughts to himself. This tells me that he does not have good friends . He hasn't told his friends he has depression I think because he fears they will make fun of him. This tells me that Craig also wants to fit in. It is different with his family. I believe Craig doesn't want to burden them with his thoughts, which is reasonable, but isn't healthy for him. I predict that the cause of Craig's recovery will be because he get's new friends and starts communicating with his family.

     Second of all, Craig has strange ways of coping with his depression. These methods include being sarcastic about it and thinking about it as ridiculous. these coping methods make me think that Craig believes that he shouldn't be depressed and it is a mistake. They also tell me that Craig has become a relatively laid back person, which is a severe change because previous to his depression, he had spent a year studying for the test to get him into his high school. Overall, it seems apparent that Craig's depression has completely changed his personality.

     Overall, Craig's personality is only clearly visible to those that look for it, and if you do find it, it is a very intriguing one. Craig's personality and problems could be applicable to real life . People suffering from depression might be able to find comfort in this book and how he ends up solving his problems and would be able to relate. Though some might not be able to relate, it is still a very well written book.

Short Stories Have Large Impacts

The short story, The Stolen Party, is a story about a girl named Rosaura, who is  the daughter of a maid. She wants to go to the birthday party of the girl, Luciana, whose parents are the people Rosaura's mother works for. After arriving at the party, she feels she is a guest, but realizes that the work she did to help Senora Ines, another maid, made her just the maid's daughter. Close reading has allowed me to see into this story more than i would have otherwise.

The first close reading lens I used was for word choice. While using this lens, I noticed that during the story, the author spent a considerable amount of time speaking about Rosaura's thoughts about her mother, which usually aren't good. My thoughts on this lead me to believe that Rosaura's mother criticizes her a lot, or has a generally upset attitude. Another thing that I noticed while looking for word choice, was that Rosaura doesn't read people's signals.  This happens during the party, while she is doing maid work. Because of her lack of understanding of other people, I have analyzed that Senora Ines was using her to either help Rosaura's mother prove a point, that Rosaura was just the maid's daughter, or just to help her. This is what I recognized while using the word choice close reading lens.

 The second close reading lens I used was for possession and resistance to power. While using this lens, I noticed that Senora Ines had power, especially at the end of the story, while she is handing Rosaura money for the maid work that she did. I have inferred that Senora Ines' power came directly from Rosaura basically handing it to her while working. Another thing I noticed, was that Rosaura resisted Senora Ines' power, by hesitating to accept the money Senora Ines was handing her. The reason this was such a large resistance of power, was because if Rosaura didn't accept the money, I believe she would be disrupting an economic hierarchy, which was very hard, and dangerous, to escape from. This is what i recognized while using the power and resistance lens.

Overall, this relates to the real world in many different ways. Many people are very different from their parents and have very unlikely hopes and dreams. I have this happen in my life a lot. I have disagreements with my parents on almost every subject, ranging from when I have to do my homework to how long I should spend on the computer. But after all these fights, we always realize that we love them, no matter what. In fact, recently, my uncle ended a feud he had had with his father for many years. This just goes to show the power of family.  

Cause and Effect..... in Our Books!!!

For the past week or so, my ELA group and I have been searching for examples in our books of characters being inspired by other characters' actions and what, specifically, motivated them to do these things. So far, I have found many examples of this inquiry in the books, Eragon, Eldest, and Brisingr, all book in the series titled the Inheritance Cycle, by Christopher Paolini, and I am excited to share them with you.

 My first observation was in Brisingr. I noticed that, near the beginning of the book, the author shows the reader the thoughts of Arya, one of Eragon's acquaintances throughout the series, who intends to go after Eragon as he is trapped in the Empire, and her reasons for doing this, most of which include paying off the debt of Eragon saving her life while she was captured by a shade. This brief look provides great insight, though, on how she thinks compared to humans, because she is an elf. This snipit was enough for me to understand just how logical elves are and how feeling don't have an effect on their actions for the most part. This look at Arya's mind also allows the reader to understand the extant of her affection for Eragon, which she cannot express verbally. Based on this event you can infer how much Arya's long time spent with humans has affected her mind.

 My second observation took place in Brisingr as well. In the beginning of the book, Nasuada, leader of the Varden, is challenged to the the trial of the long knives by a tribe leader, this trial is used to determine which of the two leaders is more willing to make sacrifices for their people. It includes each participant making incisions in their forearms, six on each, until one surrenders and can no longer do it. By participating in this trial and setting a record for most incisions ever made in the trial of the long knives, Nasuada proves her willingness to sacrifice all that she has for her people, even if that means her own blood. By doing this, one can predict that a different character in the book will be inspired to do something miraculous to save Nasuada's, or someone else's, life in the future.

 As you can see, characters are often inspired to do things they otherwise wouldn't by actions performed by others. These types of things happen in real life too. If you pay attention you might be able to find some good examples.

The article "My 'Reprehensible' Take on Teen Literature", by Meghan Cox Gurdon, a writer for the Wall Street Journal, is written as a response to her previous article, "Darkness too Visible", which criticizes YA literature. She starts out by trying to explain why her criticism was justified. She continues by stating that the reactions of most people were over the top and that she was not the first one to write an article like this. Then, she recalls an excerpt from her previous piece, though changing the language in it so that it is less insulting to some readers. She closes her article by telling her readers that she was wrong and that these books can teach important lessons to teens. Meghan Cox Gurdon uses a lot of craft to write her piece. She uses a lot of words and ideas multiple times throughout the article, making it annoyingly redundant. She also uses a many loaded words to explain her points to the reader. Because she admits that she was wrong, it fills the reader with a sense of satisfaction which makes the reader want to know what she is going to say next. She clearly lets her bias fly, which weakens her apologie. She quotes librarians and teachers to support her point.

Eragon: A Story of Loss and Recovery

Meet Eragon, a 15 year old boy living in the land of Alagaesia, a make believe continent created by Christopher Paolini in the book, Eragon, riddled with war and death caused by the evil King of the empire Galbatorix. Eragon is just an ordinary farmer boy until he comes across a dragon egg in the mountain range the Spine and his whole life changes. He spends the next three years trekking around the nation with his mentor of magic and sword fighting, Brom. One of the themes I found in this book was that you should cherish what you have, because one day, it might all be gone. Eragon’s losses throughout the story shape what Eragon does. First of all, in the beginning of the book, when Eragon first finds the dragon egg, his uncle, Garrow, gets killed by servants of the empire called the Ra’zac. This causes a lust for revenge which sends Eragon on a journey from his small town in Palancar Valley to places so big he could never had imagined the size previously. The journey he goes on brings him to the Varden, the fighting force rebelling against Galbatorix and the Empire. Second of all, when Brom dies, killed by the Ra’zac, Eragon mourns him for much time throughout the book. With Brom by his side, Eragon would have made much better choices, probably preventing his arrest in Gil’ead which ended up good, but made Eragon a fugitive throughout Alagaesia, which was something Brom was strongly against. Also, Paolini brings Broms death up in the story many times afterwards, giving it a higher importance. Third of all, when Murtagh, a person that accompanied Eragon in the middle to the end of the book, who becomes a dear friend to Eragon as the story progresses, dies, Eragon becomes distraught that the last important person left in his life is gone and he has no one left to turn to for friendly advice on a good conversation, which Eragon had been lacking in the previous year. Murtagh had become an important character, like one that is so important that they technically can’t die, just like Brom. Without Murtagh’s death, though Eragon probably would not have stayed with the Varden. In my life, I have had to deal with loss. The first death was in 2009. My uncle Mark had a heart attack in June of that year. Over the next eight or so months, my uncle lay in a coma on a hospital bed, suffering, until he died. The second and third were my aunt and grandfather on January 18th and 19th of 2011, one day apart from each other. When these types of things happen, you have to find the adult that you have in yourself. This was especially hard for my sister and I, after all, we were only 10 years old at the time. I believe that this was the kind of predicament Eragon was going through, though he was 15. It gives us a chance to show that you can recover from anything, and this is what Eragon did.

Eragon: Dragons and Other Awesome Stuff

In the book Eragon, by Chistopher Paolini, the main character, named Eragon, is a teenager that is portrayed in many different ways. When he finds a dragon egg in the mountains, his whole life changes forever. With his life and other's lives always on the line, Eragon is forced into a situation he doesn't want to be in. One way Paolini portrays Eragon is as ignorant. When Saphira, Eragon's dragon, time and time again scolds Eragon for how he has acted, he does the same thing, despite Saphira's warnings and verbal punishments. Because of this trait, Eragon often gets in trouble, sometimes putting his and other people's lives in danger. At one point, Eragon made a foolish decision to venture into the cathedral that housed people that would cut off his limbs, and because he did, Brom died. Another way Paolini portrays Eragon is as mature. Though he is in such a dangerous situation, he never cries about how bad he has it or any other things. Instead, he uses his anger to power his hatred for the Empire that killed his Uncle Garrow. Though Brom never aknowoledges Eragon's maturity, you can tell it exists, even at the worst of times. This is how Christopher Paolini portrays teenagers, specifically Eragon, in the book Eragon.