The Chosen

In “The Chosen”, a boy named Reuven plays a rough baseball game with a group of Hasidic Jews who are supposed to be “monsters”. Their best player, Danny Saunders, hits a ball directly into Reuven’s eye. His glasses beak and the glass wedges itself into his eye. His wrist is throbbing from another tough catch and his head hurts from the blow. While recovering at the hospital, Reuven makes some new friends. Some qualities about Reuven are unrealistic and make him seem like a perfect person.

One example of when Reuven is a little too nice takes place a few days after the accident. One of his visitors at the hospital is Danny Saunders. The first time he comes to the hospital, Reuven gets mad at him, which is understandable. But the next time he visits, they become friends. Reuven forgets about how angry he was and that his new friend could make him blind in one eye. How could he completely forgive Danny Saunders for what he has done after just one visit? Danny Saunders is known to hit the pitcher (as Reuven was) so it was not a complete accident. It seems almost as if he was never even mad because of how quickly he forgave Danny. This forgiveness trait is an unrealistic trait, because many people would hold a grudge for at least a week or so. I appreciate that he is being nice, but in my opinion, that is just not the way things are.

Another example was during the baseball game. Reuven is hurt first by a really high and fast ball which he was able to catch. Afterwards, his hand and wrist hurt a lot whenever he would catch a ball. His coach asked him if he wanted to stop playing but he declined the offer. First of all, because the book describes the throw as very hard and high, it is not completely realistic that he would catch it. Their team is a pretty good team and there is always a chance that someone would catch such a difficult ball. But I still think that it is not entirely realistic that he caught it. Second of all, how could Reuven keep playing if he was in as much pain as he says he was in? It is brave of him and showed good sportsmanship, but if it hurt so much that he was still complaining later in the hospital, than he should naturally take a little break. Even though some people would do what Reuven did, the majority probably would not.

If Reuven hadn’t become friends with Danny Saunders so quickly or caught the ball (and if he did, sit out for a little while), he would be a more realistic character. A lot of people do strange but perfect things, but the average person would probably not do these things. Maybe Reuven is not an average person. Even though his actions are unrealistic for an average person, they make him a better person. This may be the reason why Danny Saunders wanted to become friend with him as well.

The Beak of the Finch Non-Fiction

In “The Beak of the Finch”, Jonathan Weiner is trying to tell the reader that the theory of evolution was brought about in the Galapagos Islands where Darwin first saw the finches. He collected specimens and decided that evolution must have occurred. He explains that many scientists want to literally see evolution and it has therefore been proven my many groups of scientists. The finches are a popular way to glimpse this natural phenomenon because they stay contained on one island making them easier to capture and measure as well as stay safe because they are not being hunted. The book explains that Darwin did not even think highly of the finches when he first saw them, even though they led to the theory of evolution. Weiner proves the fact that people want to see evolution by following the story of the Grants, who, for generations, have measured and observed finches on Daphne Major, an Island. It says on the back cover that ‘’Peter and Rosemary Grant have spent twenty years proving that Darwin did not know the strength of his own theory.” They have been showing just how real evolution is and how it happens even in twenty years. Another way he proves his point is by following Darwin’s journey. He talks about Darwin first arriving to the Island and when he first saw the finches.

Jonathan Weiner wants the reader to feel how important evolution is and how it affects the world and the living things in it. He wants us to think that evolution is such a wonderful thing and the fact that Darwin had this theory has changed the world. His theory became so widely known that it was named “Darwinism”. Jonathan proves his point by talking about how all of the generations of Grants have been measuring and they are seeing evolution in progress. They are literally seeing species in the process of being changed. Just saying this makes me realize how special it is to see this. He also makes me feel how important evolution is not by a specific passage, but through the whole book. If he didn’t think evolution was important, why did he write a whole book about it? This makes me understand how no one would be here without evolution.

I think that the book tells the story of evolution astoundingly and mixes in facts about Darwin’s adventure with the story about the Grants.  I want to know more about how Darwin thought of the idea of evolution in the first place, but I am only partway through the book so it may still talk about that. I found the story very interesting and it definitely added a lot to my knowledge of evolution.  I think that to some people, especially kids, it might be a smidge slow and uninteresting, but it does alter the reader’s thinking about nature. But some people may not be able to see that, so I think that only some people can get a lot out of it.

To Kill a Mockingbird 3

In “To Kill a Mockingbird”, the plot continues to become thicker and thicker. At the beginning, Jem and Scout had fun with their friend Dill in the summer trying to coax Boo Radley from his house. But as the story progressed, more issues of racism came into play. The trial, as unfair as it seems, was a normal occurrence in the south. But Scout is a character that is against the racism, even just in her town and she knows what is unfair.

Scout’s Teacher, Miss Gates, teaches her class a lesson about Democracy and Dictatorship using World War 2 and Hitler as her example. But what made me physically angry at her was when she begins to talk about how because we are a democracy, we are fair to everyone. She says, “Over here we don’t believe in persecuting anybody.” Wait a minute there. She said that America does not believe in persecuting anybody while all of America and even herself are rude to African Americans all of the time. She lives during the civil rights movement! It is especially not right to say this after the trial that has just taken place. I do not think that it is right for her to be saying that then, but maybe she could get away with that now. But even saying this today would be risky because not everyone is treated fairly. This scene happens while the students are reading current events, but Miss Gates obviously doesn’t know about current events.

Because Miss Gates thought that it was right to say that America treated everyone fairly during the civil rights movement, it makes me think that she is not the only one. Maybe people didn’t include persecuting blacks as unfair treatment. The way I suppose the people think is “they deserve it so it doesn’t count.” But as we know, this is not only unfair, but also untrue. The fact that Scout catches this mistake and asks her father about it says that maybe Miss Gates is off her rocker, but at least some people have some sense.

Miss Gates is an angering character in “To Kill a Mockingbird”. Even before she said this, Scout never really liked her. Scout seems like she is opposite from the community in her beliefs and her style. She does not believe in persecution of blacks and she does not want to become what her society calls a “lady”. So in some ways, she is not a very realistic character, but I think she relates to girls in modern times.

Praise on Winston

This week, I read Winston’s blog post, “The Last Thing I Remember.” The post is very well written in style, and has a unique focus. I really like how Winston connects the story to himself and then relates the theme to what he already discusses. He also describes how even though the story is not that realistic, parts of it are.

One of the things that I love most about Winston’s blog post is the way that he summarizes it. The summary is explained in such a way that does not reveal anything, but adds suspense. He does this by creating short, dramatic sentences to make it mysterious. For example, he says, “He has no idea what is going on, but nobody will believe him. He wants to discover the truth. He’s on the run.” That is the very end of the summary. Doesn’t it make you want to find out what happens? The way he writes the summary is much like the back cover of a book in that it is secretive but very intriguing. I love this way of writing, and I think that it makes his blog post unique and all the better.

The content of his piece is also very interesting because he connects the story to himself. The way he does this is by saying that the book is not realistic, but the characters feelings are. I liked how he admitted that the book is not very realistic, which is exactly what I was thinking when I read the summary. But he acknowledges this and I think that shows that he is passionate about the book and is open minded to what it is really about. He further uses what he says about the character’s emotions being realistic by comparing them to his own life. But what I especially liked about this is that I could connect with what he says about his own life. “There are times when people don’t believe what I say, even though I’m telling the truth. This frustrates me.” Who can’t relate themselves to this? I know it is especially frustrating when someone doesn’t believe me and then I am so annoyed that I smile or laugh, which nudges that person even farther away from believing me. And then what I like even more, is how Winston uses his knowledge of what the character feels from his own experience to describe how he better understands the character.

Winston’s blog, “The Last Thing I Remember”, is well written and has great, thoughtful content. He uses what he says about feelings and relating the character’s emotions to his own to relate to the theme of the book. The way he makes the summary mysterious makes me want to read the book. It sounds unrealistic, but it also seems like an interesting story. Winston does not say the usual “I like this book because…”. Instead, he describes to the reader what makes the book stand out to him. But, we can see that he likes the book because even though it is not realistic, he can relate to it in a way that many other people can.

This is a link to this blog:  http://readingbooks2479.blogspot.com/