Catcher in the Rye Summary & Reading strategies

After a few days past, Holden was now with his friends that were going to go watch a movie but later decided not to go because Holden hates movies and half of his friends already the movie so they decided to go eat and then play pinball. After Holden got back from spending time with his friends, he started working on Stradlater's english assignment. Stradlater told Holden that he was supposed to give a description of something that is related or something that is in a room but since Holden couldn't think about anything to write about he wrote about his brother's baseball glove that his brother used to write poems on. Holden was very close to his younger brother Allie. Holden said how Allie was very smart for his age and was the smartest in his whole family. Holden then describes how he is still very emotional about Allie death from Leukemia. How he still vividly remembers Allie's death and how Holden went to his garage only to break out all of the windows there with his bare hands and get stitches later on.
A reading strategy that I use often is writing down notes for myself. I use it more often now for this book because this book has a lot of details and scenes that are later going to be important in the book. For example, Holden always talks about one thing or mentions one thing then later explains it in the book. It is important to keep track of everything that is happening because it really just helps you stay on track and focused on whats going on in the book. I like using this strategy because it personally helps me remember what Holden was going to talk about because if I don't use this strategy then I will easily forget on what Holden said about this person or how something went down. Then I will forget what is really happening then I will have to read back to really understand why or how Holden is feeling and why.

Catcher in the Rye Summary & Connection

Continuing from my previous summary, Holden is now at his former History teacher's house who is ill. Spencer's wife opens the door for Holden, and she greeted him. Holden then started talking to Spencer. In a deep conversation, Spencer then lectures Holden about his grades and why he flunked him. He says that life is a game and that Holden needs to start playing by the rules. Spencer only wanted to make Holden think about his future and where he was going to end up if he continued to act the way he did. Not wanted to be lectured, Holden decided to leave and go back to his dorm. After Holden returned to his dorm, his annoying next door roommate barges in. According to Holden, Ackley is an extremely annoying classmate that always walks into your room announced, has poor hygiene and is always thinking that everyone likes him or wants him to be there. Ackley then tops his annoyance by clipping his toenails to the floor which Holden was telling him to stop. As Holden's roommate walks in (Stradlater) Ackley leaves because he hates him. Stadlater then talks to Holden about his date with Jane but Stadlater always calls her Jean. Holden tries to hide is obviously strong feelings towards Jane. Holden then compares and contrasts Ackley and Stradlater. Although Ackley's lack of hygiene is obvious, Stradlater's is not. Holden later concludes that Ackley is an obvious slob and Stradlater is a secret slob. After Stradlater leaves, Holden is tormented because he was bombarded with thoughts on what Jane and Stradlater might do.
This story really reminds me of the typical cliche of when the one friends girlfriend is the other friends friends longest crush. I feel like it isn't going to end well for Holden because if Stradlater finds out then it will be very awkward for the both of them. I predict that in the book, that there will be a big fight between Stradlater and Jane, and when they break up, Holden is going to be there for Jane and they will end up together. I know that thee will be other big problems throughtout the story for Holden but I feel like this is going to be the side love story.

Tolerance

Tolerance: "The ability or willingness to tolerate something, in particular the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not necessarily agree with."

I can be more tolerant to others by just keeping bad or rude comments to myself. Keeping these comments to myself can save me from a lot of bad feedback and just save a big argument. For me tolerance means that you are able to accept someone or something that you don't really feel or agree with. Like I said I can live a more tolerant life just by keeping my bad or judgmental comments to myself. There are many times were I have tolerance because when I went to my friends church once, they had a different religion. So instead of speaking my mind, I kept to myself.

Catcher in the Rye Summary & Relfection

The Catcher in the Rye starts off with the main character Holden Caulfield explaining on how he isn't going to bore you by talking about his early childhood, but he wanted to talk about his "madman" stuff that happened to him around last Christmas. He then talks about how his brother is in Hollywood making loads of money and how he sold out for the fame. It also talks about how Holden got kicked out of Pencey Prep because he failed all of his classes except English. He then explains how he didn't plan to watch the whole football game against Saxon Hall because since he was part of the fencing team he had to get to New York so that he can carry the equipment over there but lost almost half of it on his way over there on the subway so they had to leave early. It was his last day until Christmas vacation started so after he left the football game, he went to go say bye to his old history teacher who is ill with the flu.
The beginning of this book was a bit boring but it started to carry out and started to become more interesting for me because I liked the way Holden talks about everything and the way he expresses himself. I don't like how Holden is very judgmental about everyone. I do understand where he comes from and why he would think that way but I believe that one should always see the best in one because always looking on the bad side of things can really mess a person up.

Graceling summary/reflection

After Katsa's friends (Giddon, Oll) are carrying the old lienid man (Tealiff), Katsa is trying to get back to Randa's Castle to safety. While Katsa is trying to clear the way of all the guards by knocking them out, she encounters a lienid fighter that has the grace (power) of fighting. After a battle Katsa eventually knocks him out. They finally reach the castle and Katsa takes Tealiff to her cousin Raffin, who is a expert in herbs and medicines. They then hide in a a secret chamber and keep him hidden to keep him safe. When that Lienid fighter that Katsa fought with earlier showed up at the castle Katsa then found out that the fighter was the grandson of Tealiff and that is a good guy. After Katsa has a meeting with the council they are very puzzled on why Tealiff was kidnapped, so Katsa and the Lienid fighter (Prince Po) set out on a journey to find out what is really going on, and all throughout the story Po and Katsa are getting really close and becoming this unstoppable team. All while Giddon is getting really jealous. Altho everyone knows about Giddon's feelings toward Katsa, Katsa seems blind to the fact that he loves her.

Overall, this book has been a challenge reading, due to the fact that there is big vocabulary such as words like formidable which means powerful and without fear. After you know what most of the vocabulary means than it becomes very explicit to what the author is trying to get across to the reader but at the same time the author is painting a clear picture. I really liked how Katsa was that even though she had the grace to kill whenever and however she pleased, I really liked how just because she could do it, it didn't mean that it was what she was supposed to do. For example, instead of killing every person that got in her way like many would, she would just knock them out or put them to sleep unless it was extremely necessary.