Reading Log for the Month of March

Fifth Entry:                                                                                                                                            March 16, 2014

  

The Little Prince

 by

Antoine de Saint Exupery

Part 1:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

Connect:

       The novel is about finding out the essential since, sometimes, the eyes cannot see it.

       There are instances in my pre-teen age that i took the less important, choosing the things that are never worth specifically my relationship with my family. And as the prince found out what made his rose special, I also found out that those who stay close to my heart are the most important thing i could have. Even if i forget them, i have felt there warmth and concerns. That is because we are blinded with love. The same love that binds the Prince to his rose.

Question:

       The book is crafted for kids most especially, that is why events are a little superficial. But my only concern as to how the events are synthesized is how the prince traveled from planet to planet. I think, even if the events are too imaginative, there should be something like flying Porsche or floating cars to justify his travel. If it was present I think it would be totally different because of the presence of a flying machine that might run out of power or of gasoline. lol!

Reflect:

      In many things in life, we are influenced by many changes that surround us. Our decisions are merely influenced by things that reveal happiness when it’s already over.

      This novel gives us the idea about greater things in life. It will teach us the value of something that the eyes failed to see sometimes. It will teach us the value of things that has tamed us or we have tamed. That friendship or the process of either being tamed or taming requires different processes that will let you grow in fullest of your growth.

Predict:

      I think the Little Prince could have traveled so fast out of the things he was able to found out from all his encounters during his travel. There, he will take care of  all that he tamed. It would become better because of all the lessons he learnt and he shared among every planets he visited.His rose would become a different rose since the Little Prince already identified why it was special among all he that saw on Earth.

Reading Log for the Month of February

Forth Entry:                                                                                                                                        February 2, 2014

The Green Mile

by

Stephen King

Part1:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Reflect:

             One way or another, we are all on death row, just for the simple fact that we are living, since the surest thing in life is death. So, Stephen King wrote a very well metaphor for a reflection on people's motivations in life, and what may come from our dreams and nightmares, depending on what we are doing from and for ourselves.

This is a story about people who were condemned to death and the guards who took care of them in the big depression times (1929 and so on) - right at times when many people committed suicide after losing everything. A time of depression is also a time which carries a need for reflection: people under depression have to consider the value of things looking at their past and their present.

Connect:

                 In the story, the guards have to sneak out the so called criminal in order to help someone else. They did something wrong in order to do something good. Some time ago i was on the internet talking to one of my friends who was having a hard time with life and there family. Me being a good friend I wanted to talk to him about it so i could help them deal with their emotional pain. It was past one o clock and my mother decided to take the laptop. My friend was left all alone with no one to talk to. I didn't want to go to bed with out clearing things up with them. So I sneaked into my mother’s room to get the laptop and modem, and then I went back in my room to finish my conversation with my friend. Yes, I wasn't supposed to be on the computer, but I felt as if I had to finish talking to my friend, so that i could help them with their problems. I did something wrong in order to do something right.

Question:

                   Does the conflict ended by the unbalancing of the sides, when John Coffey heals her, ridding her of her figurative opponent? Does it resolved, by John Coffey, when he passes Mrs. Moore’s disease unto him?

Prediction:

                   I think the author’s message to the world is that a wonderful gift can be in a disguise and not to judge the book by the cover. John Coffey was a prisoner convicted of rape and murder. John had a gift of healing. He could take in the hurt and pain of something, and take it away from the owner of it. When the sheriff saw a large black man at the scene of the crime he jumped to conclusions. There was no physical evidence that john did what he was accused, but because of his size and race, it was easier to accuse John.

Part 2:                                                                                                                                                                               

THE GREEN MILE

Here I sit within these walls

Wishing like hell I could make some calls

Here I stand behind this fence

Wishing like hell I would have had some sense

Now here I am walking that green mile

And believe me it's not with a smile

Reading Log for the month of January

Third Entry:                                                                                                            January 1, 2014

The Old Man

and

The Sea

by

Ernest Hemingway

Part1:                                                                                                                                               

Reflect:    The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway is not only short at first glance but simple at first read. It tells of an old man, Santiago, who goes out to sea one day on his own, hooks a great, big swordfish, defeats it and brings it home. However, what makes this story much more compelling and complicated is its use of symbols. Since the novel has a full array of symbols, this reaction will focus on one that human beings, in general, have in their lives and take for granted most of the time, never knowing its true worth only until it is not beside them. 

Connect:  When i was in high school, I used not to wait too long because for me it is just but wasting my time in short i was an impatient person. But there was an instance that shifted me into being patient. And it makes me realized that patient is a virtue. Patient is a grace. Like Santiago he waited so long in order to catch a great big swordfish and it happened because of his being patient.

  

Question: I wonder what the reason of Santiago was in staying long days in the shore. I found it hard for him in staying long days in the shore without catching fish or having an empty skiff. But in the latter part i understand why Santiago did that. And is so, because he believes that a man is not made for defeat and he has that patient which is really powerful. 

Prediction: I think that when the old man wakes up, his dream of lion playing on the beaches of America will be come true. And i also predict that Mandolin his young apprentice will be the next Santiago. I hope so.

Part2:                                                                                                                                                

 “A man is not made for defeat.”

Santiago has nothing but a broken-down shed and a rickety skiff with a sail that is “patched with flour sacks” and looks “like the flag of permanent defeat.” The skin of his gaunt body illustrates his hardships and is marked with deeply-set wrinkles, scars, and blotches from the punishing sun. And because of his terrible misfortune, he is a pariah in his small fishing village.

But while nearly “everything about Santiago is old,” his eyes remain “the same color as the sea and are cheerful and undefeated.” Instead of throwing in the towel after 84 days of terrible luck, he sails farther out into the Gulf than he has gone before.

A man continues to do whatever he must do to the best of his ability, no matter what tribulations befall him. While challenges and setbacks can strip a man of all outward signs of success, still his spirit can remain undefeated. For it can will a man to never give up and to keep on trying.

Reading Log for the month of December

Second Entry:                                                                                                                                      December 29, 2013

The Adventure of Tom Sawyer

by

Mark Twain

Part 1:                                                                                                                                            

Reflect:

                   The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a story about the imaginative and mischievous twelve-year-old boy named Thomas Sawyer who lives with his Aunt Polly, his half-brother, Sid, also known as Sidney, and cousin Mary, in the Mississippi River town of St Petersburg, Missouri. The Adventure of Tom Sawyer is one of my favorite books. To most of the young boys, including me, leaving home and take adventures with friends is a fantastic thing. Reading the story of Tom Sawyer is like fulfilling my dream. However, a child is a child. Tom and Huckleberry still have to go back to their home, and they realize it, in spite of the fact that they have more adventures more. And Tom is no doubt a clever boy. What he impresses me the most is when he pretends painting the wall is a funny thing and makes other children give him gifts in order to give a try to paint the wall. I think it is a symbol. Mark Twin wants to tell people that children are creative and they sometimes figure out effective ideas that adults do not. The final climax to me is when Tome and Becky sucked in the cave, facing the bad guy Injun Joe. It is like a hero and a princes fighting against the evil thing. And it is a happy ending, which fits to my flavor. I strongly recommend The Adventure of Tom Sawyer, for those children who seek adventure through literature.

Connect: 

                    When I was a kid, I was as mischievous as what Tom was. I will paint my aunt’s walls with some colorful crayons or paints, destroying their garden, picking the flowers from its base. Way back then, I think of it as a fun way to enjoy my life. That is why most of my aunt hated me. But now that I am matured enough (I hope so) to think that, it was not good to do that such thing, because they effortly build their gardens and painted their walls. Maybe what I am before and what I am now are totally different, maybe that’s the effects of being matured. It is good to be child once, and we should not forget that when we are matured already.

Predict:

                      I think that Tom will be mature and be responsible in the future of the story.

Question:

            Why shouldn't Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn deal with their own band of undead along the Mississippi River?


Part 2:                                                                                                                                            

December 29, 2013

Mark Twain

Author

Sir:

My name is Ryan Mark L. Catanio; I am an AB English student of Mindanao State University, General Santos City, Philippines

I have read many funny stories but this novel entitled The Adventure of tom Sawyer is a special one yet. It inspires that impulsion to not stop reading until the very end. I am wowed after getting through less than a quarter of the chapters. It greatly impressed me with the funny little jokes and actions that occur. These two boys Tom and Huck Finn are so inglorious, they make me want to laugh out loud in the middle of prayer. They do things that strange to my eyes if I had the chance to observe them in my normal life.

The book is one of the most entertaining books I've ever read.

                   

God bless and more power to you.

Sincerely yours.

Ryan Mark L. Catanio

Reading Log for the month of November

First Entry:                                                                                                                                                      Nov. 29, 2013

The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn
by

Mark Twain

Part One: 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Reflect: "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" gives a visual look at the time in which the author Mark Twain lived. He explains how he felt about his life through the eyes of a young boy named Huckleberry Finn. Huckleberry Finn has many adventures that teach him life lessons we can learn from today. Although there are differing opinions on whether Huck Finn is a good role model for today's young people and I will explain why. Huck is a good role model for several reasons. He is, because he believes that slavery is wrong.   He believes in treating people equally regardless of color. When Huck sees the widow's runaway slave Jim on Jackson's Island, he has mixed emotions about what he should say and do.   He feels badly that the widow is going to sell Jim and separate him from his family. Huck decides against better reasoning to help Jim escape down the Mississippi River to Cairo. Another example of good role modeling is Huck's faithfulness to those he loves and cares for.   Huck lies to protect Jim on several occasions.   Lying is not the best thing, but to Huckleberry, the truth is not always a black and white issue.   He is faithful to his friends and chooses friendship instead.   He knows that Jim's family needs him. In today's language, Huckleberry's reaction to Jim's situation would reflect what Spock of Star Trek says, "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."

Connect: When I was in high school, I used to idolize those groups that are popular in our school at that time. It was so, because I think that it is cool enough to be a member of a particular group. I was so naïve at that time. But when I was in fourth year I’d realized that it is not the group that makes you popular but your own personalities and uniqueness. Just like Huck, he always thinks that their gang or group is the one that makes their adventures become more exciting. But in the end of the stories he realized that their own uniqueness is the thing that makes their adventures more exciting.

Question: I don’t know the reason why Huck Finn would really want join the gang. Would they really scarify the lives of their parent just to sustain the rules of their gang? I also didn’t understand why he offered mss Watson as his parent that will suffer the consequences if he will tell the secrets of their gang.

  

Predict: I think that Huck Finn would find a way to forgive his dad. And I think that the member of their gang will be a good citizen, in the future of the story.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Part Two:

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Movie Poster

#15. Pretend this book will be made into movie. Make a movie poster on large paper and put stars who will play the main characters on it. Must be very colorful, and follow other advertisements for movies.