The boy who dared summary/reading strategies

After finishing up this book, I realized that this whole book wrapped up very good. Although it may be non-fiction, this book left you thinking. Continuing my latest summary, Helmuth and his two friends, along with his followers, get arrested by the gestapo. They are each charged with treason and each given the years that corresponded to their crimes they committed. After Helmuth spent over a year, he was killed in guillotine.
A reading strategy that I use often is the character analysis. By practicing this strategy, it helps me understand more and more about the main character and the side characters and how they feel about what is going on throughout the book. It also helps me make predictions about the book and how I feel the character would act in such situation. I like using this strategy when I read especially when reading "The boy who dared" because it really made me feel like I was in Helmuth shoe's and gave me a taste of what he was going through and the battles he had to face. Also let me have predictions on what I would think Helmuth would do in future situations.

The Boy Who Dared summary/signpost

The boy who dared starts off with him in a cell somewhere where he has flashbacks to when Hitler rose to power. It shows how Helmuth likes and enjoys practicing his religion but soon fades when he hear Hitler's convincing speeches and persuasive words to save the fatherland. Soon after he's out of middle school, he is forced to join the Hitler youth. Helmuth does enjoy the activities the youth does but still hate the idea and grows on hating Hitler even more. So much that he has had enough. He and 2 of his friends made small information pamphlets about the war going on, and what Hitler's real plan is. Inspired by the radio station Verboten, he buts these pamphlets all over town. Everything was going good until he gets caught by a secret agency to end any source or rebellion towards Nazism.

While reading this book, I came across many A-ha moments through out the book. When Helmuth was young around middle school, it shows how he really did like what Hitler had to say and what his idea was. When the A-ha moment came to place, and Helmuth realized and found out what Hitler's real plan was and real turned his mentality on Hitler and what he though of him completely changed. I realized that this was one of many Helmuth's A-ha moments because through out the book he explains that now he realizes what he has planned, and Helmuth actually does something about it. Which really leads me to the question of why he would risk his life and stand up for the jews and what injustice was happening. It really puzzles me because being a kid, with friends and people who love him, why would he risk his good life that he has to a problem that doesn't have anything to do with him, let alone affect him?

Holocaust blog post

I believe that people were bystanders because they kind of grew into it. Some of the part is maybe because it wasn't their problem and it didn't affect them. It is pretty easy understand that if it isn't your problem, then you shouldn't put much thought into it. Even if they didn't want to make a change, they couldn't because they were probably scared to or didn't want anyone to think something else about them. I also believe that those who did stand up was because they were fed up with the situation and didn't really care about what other people thought about them. Maybe they were inspired to do such thing because they saw someone else do it. I really don't know what I would do in a situation like this because I wouldn't think much of it if it wasn't affecting me, but if it was, I would try and do something IF I wasn't to scared to do so in the first place. Because some those who were affected by the Holocaust were scared for their lives because anything you would say that would sound disrespectful, the Nazi's wouldn't hesitate to kill a Jew.

Holocaust Paragraph

I believe that many people didn’t even realize what was happening and when they did, everyone else agreed in what Hitler thought about them and they just didn’t want to stand out and call a whole society wrong. I also think that those who did stand up to the Nazis were because they were tired of seeing all these injustices happening to the Jewish people. Honestly I don’t know what I would of done, because if I had a family I wouldn’t risk getting arrested. Only if the injustice was happening directly to me or any of my family members then I guess I would have to.

The Leanin' Dog Summary/Plot

This book is about a young girl around the age of eleven by the name of Dessa Dean. Starts off with her and her dad living in the icy mountains of Colorado. Just another normal day, she explains. Turns out she was a weird fear or phobia of being alone outside due to her mother's tragic death in a blizzard. After her mother's death, Dessa Dean was all alone. Her mother was her role model, and her best friend. Typical father who only stays at work, rips Dessa Deans heart when she needs him the most and he just stays at work. Dessa Dean was sure she would never be happy again. Until on cold day when her father was out getting fire wood, she hears scratchings at the door just to find out it is a chocolate lab starring at her. It took her another couple encounters for her to finally accept the dog. She has so much fun just like she did with her mother. Little by little the hole in her heart is filled with her dog's love.
Out of many interesting parts of the book, the part that really stood out to me was the part when Dessa Dean's dog is scared away by her father out of rage, the dog runs into the white snowy forest. Little did she know that there was a big blizzard about to start while her dog was still out there. Dessa Dean overcame her big fear of going out farther than her porch and even more because there was about to be a big snow storm. I really found this part interesting because it shows how much love Dessa had for her dog. The falling actions leading after this was also a big problem because after Dessa had found her dog, it was already to late and the storm was so strong he got lost in the woods. I have yet to find out the resolution but I am pretty sure that Dessa's father will find them because throughout the book the dog had always barked loudly. Maybe towards the end of the book, her dog will also bark out for help and they will be found.

Assessment

• Paragraph 1: What was the argument in the article? What evidence did they give to back up this claim? What do you think about the issue? What did you learn that was surprising/interesting/upsetting?
• Paragraph 2: What was the argument in the poem? What evidence did they give to back up this claim? How was reading the poem different than the article? How did this form affect the meaning or your understanding of the poem?

The article I am reading is called "Don't buy Nike". The argument in this article is that the workers in the factory are being physically abused an they are being extremely underpaid for their work and their hours they put in. I know this because throughout the article, it explains how workers only earn 1.25 a day from a hard days work. They workers also state that they are working in very hot conditions in the factory. I really don't agree with the terms or the things that the workers have to go through in order to make this meager amount of money. What really upsets me is that the problem also comes and still exist is because the government doesn't do anything to help and prevent the problem. They can do many things to stop and prevent it by doing sweeps of suspicious buildings or make the companies have review or a paper to fill out about their workers.
 The poem I am reading is called "The Sweatshop". The argument of this poem is about the narrator working in the horrible conditions of the sweatshops the narrator is in. The narrator explains his/hers time in the sweatshops as hard, tiring, and make you so dreadful that you won't even know what you are doing anymore. The narrator also explains that after a while of working in one if these shops, you tend to forget who you are, and since you do the same movements over and over again, you feel like a machine working nonstop. It shows all of these problems the narrators faces in the poem time after time. Showing how the narrator feels while he/she is working. I think that the poem really did express more than the article because the poem used certain words that made you feel like you were the one working. Another thing that that made the article and the poem different from each other is that the article has more facts about the topic and has more opinions of the other people that were there. This form of the views on sweatshops really made me feel like I was the one working in the shop because the the narrator explained every single thing they feel when they are working in these horrible conditions.

"If your reading this" Summary/Reflection

I am about a little bit less of half of the book and so far everything seems pretty calm and chill. This book started off with Mike (main character/narrator) talking about his father and how he died in action somewhere in Afghanistan. Mike Is 16 and a Sophomore in High School. Mike is being encouraged by his coach Carter to join the Football team but Mike is having some internal problems with himself, and is sure wether to join or not. Mikes friend Ethan is also encouraging Mike to do something more with himself such as joining football or taking someone to Homecoming. Mike at this point isn't sure about anything. Mike ends up wanting to join but his mother is now telling him that she isn't sure that is the best thing for him at the time. Only a few days were able to pass until Mike got the devastating letters from his father's death that barely came to him now. The letters explained how sorry Mike's father was for everything and explaining how if he saw the letter then he had already died. Mike was extremely confused as his mother. A stack of unread letter came flowing to Mike and his mother. As Mike read and read these letters as they came in, Mike started to rethink a few of his doubts and choices.

I believe this is a realistic fiction novel. I really prefer this type of genre over other because reading a realistic fiction novel really has conflict and plot to it, but has a realistic setting and overall problem. In my book the realistic part of my book is that Mike's father was a soldier in Afghanistan but I'm not sure if the whole inner conflict happened with Mike. I have read several novels like this like "The story of Scott Pendleton Collins". Which was about a young man that was drafted into World war II along with his brother and a few friends of his. This novel had a realistic setting, but a fake storyline and fake inner conflicts. I would read realistic fiction novels again because I like reading book with interesting history facts, but without the boring documentary books. These books have historical information that doesn't bore you because at the same time it has an interesting conflict with the characters' inside the story.

Divergent thoughts

I have finally finished the long book of Divergent. I really like how everything unfolded and turned out in the end as to resolving the conflict. Over all I would recommend this book to a friend because this book has everything to drama, to action and exciting parts of the book that made you feel like you where the one fighting for your life, and the one in love. This book ended with a semi cliff hanger. Although Trice and Four know how they feel about each other, but it gets me more curious about what they are going to when they reach the Amity. The story ended with Trice ruining Jeanine's plan to get rid of the Abnegation by using the Dauntless to kill them all. Jeanine's plan was to use and control the Dauntless to kill and get rid of all of the Abnegation. The plan was also supposed to find out and kill all who are the divergent. They where able to find out because if the medicine that Jeanine's workers gave everyone, was supposed to control them and those who didn't means that were divergent.

In this story there are many conflicts. I the obvious conflict is Man vs. Man. When Jeanine's erudite tried to end abnegation, and there was a huge battle. The conflict that stood out to me the most was the Man vs. Self. Trice was inner problems that explain in the book. This is a self conflict because after Trice finds out that she is a Divergent, she doesn't know wether to tell someone or keep it in. This struggle is similar to the one she later on gets. She ends up loving Four but fights herself to really find out that she really does love him and need him. I think there is a couple themes in this book but another thing that stood out to me was the theme of Secrets. Through out the book there are many thoughts that Trice was about other people and about herself. Even her own family had secrets. Just to find out that Trice's secret didn't seem so big anymore due to other secrets being released. Keeping secrets just hold everyone apart from each other. Telling these secrets will set you free.

Call of Duty Scope Review

I really liked Call of Duty because I could feel the strong connection that a man and a dog could have. Call of Duty was about a young man named Jose Armenta. He started off in a not so good neighborhood where there were many gangs and had problems with many things. In order to escape that, he felt that it was for the best for him to enlist in the Marines at age 18. As time passed while Jose was in the Marines, they saw that he had talent. Because they knew he had this certain talent, they knew being a dog trainer in the Marines was the best thing for him. Jose immediately took the opportunity and has been the most elite team with his new buddy Zenit. They work together and do wonderful jobs. But one day Zenit started to sniff. They found an IED but they were going to fast as they found one after another. Unfortunately Jose stepped on one of them and flew about 20 feet back. He lost both of his legs and was sent back home and separated from Zenit. Jose was getting very depressed and sad when he knew that he did not only lose both of legs but he had also lost is partner Zenit. Jose struggled a lot to find himself and come to terms with what had just happened. After a long battle with the paperwork and finding where Zenit was, Jose was able to adopt Zenit and take him to his home. After Jose was reunited, it had seem as if everything was back to normal. Jose was finally happy and Zenit was where he belonged.

I liked this story because it really showed the love and the connection that Jose and Zenit had as a team that made them inseparable. It kinda puts me down knowing that things have happened like this when the soldier is wounded and separated from their dog partner and never see each other again. This reminds me a lot of the time when I went on a trip with my family for about a week, and where we went, dogs weren't allowed, so we left my dog at a friends house. A week passed and when we came back and went to pick up our dog, she came running out of the house and jumped into my sister's arm and showered her in slime. I have never seen my dog so happy. I think the message or theme that the author was trying to get apart is that everyone needs a partner or friend in order to get rough times. 

Divergent

While reading my book, I have come to realize that one is always supposed to break free and expand as much as they can. I know this because at the beginning of the book Beatrice was very shy and not very loud as others, and always kept to herself. After she joined and met others in the Dauntless, she finally opened up and tried many new things. She learned how to fight, she was at the top of her class, and when zip gliding. All of these things she did shows that it is always the best to open up and be spontaneous because something good always comes out of it. Divergent is about a young women named "Trice" during the times of war ruins but far into the future. She started off in a small faction, but taking a test that everyone takes opened her eyes to choose Dauntless because she didn't want to get or choose a faction that felt boring for her. She knew and felt that Dauntless was the faction for her because she always felt like she wanted to feel different and feeling wild in doing things.

The POV (point of view) of this story is first person which is being explained by Beatrice. I know this because throughout the book she uses key words such as I, we, us, mine, and my shows that she owns something or proving that it is her own story. For example she said " I stare into my eyes for a moment.". There are many sentences like this therefor proving that this is a first person POV. I do like this type of POV because I feel like I am the one telling the story and I feel more intrigued into this book and any book for this matter. I would prefer any other type of POV because like I said the first POV really makes me feel like I am in the story and helps me feel everything that is happening in the book. I also like the 3rd person POV in a book because in the 3rd person POV of a book they know what every character is thinking or feeling during the story. I like this POV because when I know what everyone is feeling about the conflict then I feel like I know the solution and just gets me very anxious to find out the resolution.

Lemon Brown

I really liked this novel because the author made very explicit details about Brown, but still had us thinking more. I felt very sad when the author described Brown in raggedy clothes. This book was really connected to what we were learning about homeless people. It shows how Brown was dressed in old ripped clothing, and smelly. I liked how the author had the reader infer this. It described him in raggedy clothes, and he was living in an abandon building. So I inferred that Brown was homeless and poor. What I really found surprising was Greg's reaction to him being homeless and when he found out that Brown was poor. The most important thing about this story that stuck out to me is the way Greg changed just by being in that building with Brown. It showed how Brown treasure was something Brown loved dearly. And that changed Greg because he rethought about his past things and found himself again.

Divergent summary

So far I don't really feel like I'm in the book Divergent like I always do for other books. So far the book is pretty dull, but can be exciting at some points of the book. Divergent is about a young women named Beatrice. In her world/time, there isn't anymore outcasts or anyone that doesn't do anything. In her era, everything is run very tightly. There are 5 factions. There is Abnegation, Erudite, Dauntless, Amity, and Candor. Each one has it's own meaning and job. Abnegation is supposed to be selfless, and supposed to forget about themselves, in order to help others. Erudite is supposed to research and find new cures, and are very intelligent. Dauntless are ruthless, and protect the city and society. They are basically the army. Amity is a whole different side because they are all about peace and love. They are like hippies but they work in farms. They do mostly farm work and protect nature.  Candor is the honest. They can't lie, and they are kinda like Abnegation, because they also help a bit in the government, but still different. In the beginning of the book, Beatrice is in the Abnegation faction. She was well known by others, but not until she took a test that officially decided were you belonged. It was up to the person wether that should listen to it or not. She took her test but despite of it, she decided to become part of the Dauntless. It was a life changing experience for the shy girl in Abnegation. She went from being a shy girl to being the most brave and ruthless soldier of the Dauntless. She then came around a few conflicts, but managed through like always. She found out that one of the factor's are trying to take over other factions, so she fights for freedom.
Beatrice start as a shy quite girl in her faction. Always found with her brother Caleb who is the type that is well trusted and responsible. He was a bit like Beatrice but he broke out more. When Beatrice finally joined the Dauntless, she broke free from most of her worries. She was finally fearless and ruthless. Beatrice didn't take anything from anyone. She was respectable and she was respectful but she was still always on the top to be her best of her class. Tobias was Beatrice's couch or leader of her group of newbies. He on the other hand is also fearless. But he has trust issues. Later on throughout the book, Tobias opens up to Beatrice which reveals everything and shows why he is so overprotective.

Twisted Summary

Twisted was a very confusing but interesting book. This book has many conflict, it has self vs self and man vs. man. The main character of this book Tyler. He has a sister. a mom and dad. Tyler has an average difunctional family. His dad is very strict on him and his mother has the first stages of being an alcoholic. I really liked the titled of the book "Twisted" because it really explains the book and fits the story perfectly.
Tyler began as a nobody. No one noticed him and no one knew him. It wasn't long until he tagged swear words and thing about the principle in spray paint. As he did that he was angry, and crazy, explaining later on in the book. Unfortunately Tyler a a tad to late so the police was able to arrest in at the scene. He had to do community service throughout his summer break. As soon as Tyler came back to school, everyone knew him instantly. The bad boy and the rebel. Finally everyone noticed him, especially his biggest crush Bethany. But it still didn't work out because Bethany's older brother Chip, has been Tyler's bully and arch enemy. This has been a continuous struggle for Tyler, and it seems as it will never end for Tyler. Throughout the book everything seems to work out but then suddenly goes back to the worst. It is a constant roller coaster for Tyler, for example when Tyler had his first chance with Bethany to meet her at a football game and maybe later hangout, Tyler's father had to ruin it by not letting Tyler go due to some attitude and disrespect. It was a hard battle for Tyler to keep up because with what was going on in his family to what was going on at school was too much for him. I really admired how hard Tyler tried to make things right. Thats why, at the end the the book everything had it's way of working out, and had a clever ending. Although a few disappointing point in the book, this book really made you think. Overall this book had many murals and lessons.