Non Fiction and Genres

I think a book has to be non-fiction if it’s going to be sold as non-fiction. I know: it’s a profound thought. If you’re writing a book about your life you need to recall all the conversations and events to the best of your ability. You should not make up that you’re multiracial or that you were adopted, if you’re white and still living in your biological parents’ house. That’s called realistic fiction, not a memoir. Certain obvious things, like that, we shouldn’t even have to ponder. There are some grey areas (like conversations), but I think if we try to get them as close to the truth as possible, it counts as a non-fiction memoir. Oh and saying you were in a gang, when in reality you only saw a movie about a gang is not as close to the truth as possible.

I do think we need genres as a reader or we would quickly get confused as to what’s real and what’s not. Our world is confusing enough, thank you. It helps you pick out the book you’re looking for. For instance, if you need to write a paper for forensics and you say some people died because of Voldemort, because the Harry Potter series was under non-fiction at the bookstore, you probably won’t get a good grade on that. It is important distinguish what is what. It helps the reader more than it hurts the author. Genres are necessary. There are too many books to know what each is about, or if you might be interested in reading it.

Literary Fiction

I think we need literary fiction in our curriculums. Those are the classics that teach us some lessons and introduce ideas, but I agree it is hard to read and can be really boring. A person no longer has to read the book to pass the test (I used Spark notes for Lord of the Flies and passed with an A-). I think the problem is the way they are taught. Teachers seem to tie the book to a chair and force a confession out if it, pounding out any of its secrets, over-analyzing every word. They should allow students to read it through, unguided, giving them a chance to actually, God forbid, enjoy they book. Then assign a creative assignment, connecting an issue or idea from the book to a modern day issue or idea. Prove that the book still has relevance to today’s world. Teachers should read along with the students, as a look-I’m-reading-it-and-it’s-not-killing-me reminder.

There is no need for us to try to look for messages hidden within the text. The students who care will catch them without being told. The students who don’t care don’t care how many times you ask why he said the wagon was red. It was red. Move on with the story.

Some older classics have before so cliché they have lost their value and people automatically think they know everything about the book. Disprove them. Teach it in a modern manor, let them act out Romeo and Juliet (if there’s a Julia in the class do not, I repeat, do not, force her to play Juliet if she doesn’t want to). Let them translate the iambic pentameters in to English (because no matter what teachers say, that is NOT English). Make it fun, and maybe the class will actually read it and not dread Language Arts, and not use spark notes, and understand why they are being taught this, and enjoy reading. Reading is fun. Please teachers, keep it fun.

Book 2 Project

Here is our book 2 project for Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.

Film Adaptations

For Book 2, I'm reading Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. It would be a very challenging book to adapt into a film. It is all about the thoughts of the characters and is a stream of consciousness book. It would pose some difficulties in incorporating the depth of all the thoughts and emotions, and making the movie as deep as the book.

One of the scenes the movie would have to keep is when Oskar, the 9 year old boy whose father was killed in 9/11, is going through his dad’s bedroom in the beginning of the book. Touches the suit his dad had worn the night before his death, and he finds a blue vase on the highest shelf in his father’s room. The pretty blue color catches his eye and he climbs up to take a look. Oskar finds an envelope, with the word “Black” written on it, with a key in it in there and takes it out to closer examine it. As he does so, however, he accidentally knocks the vase down when he loses his balance. I think this scene is important because that is how he gets the key that starts him on a journey to find where it came from and what it unlocks. He meets many people and has many experiences along the way, but this is where the story really starts.

Another scene I think is important to keep is when he goes to the marker store to see if that’s where his dad got the marker that he used to write on the envelope with. Oskar searches through all the test pads of paper looking for his dad’s name to be scribbled on there while trying out a new writing utensil. Sure enough, he did find the name “Thomas Schnell” written multiple times in the little tablet of paper. This is the first step of his journey to discover what the key means, and he determines that Black is the last name of someone.

           

Another important scene is when Oskar meets Mr. Black, a wise, elderly man who lives just above him. Mr. Black talks extremely loudly at first because he had turned off his hearing aid for ages to save the battery. Jack asks him if he knew Thomas Schnell, and Mr. Black goes through his drawers and drawers of index cards with peoples’ names on them and a one word summary of their personalities. This is the first person Oskar tells about his mission to find the meaning of the key.

Two scenes I don’t think they should include is the scene where Oskar’s grandfather makes a nude sculpture of his grandma. It’s too graphic, rated-x, and doesn’t help the book along that much.

The scene about Oskar bashing in the boys head in Hamlet wasn’t necessary either. It is violent and scary. It showed the frustration Oskar felt with his dad dying a horrible death, Grandma embarrassing him, being bullied at school, and his mother moving on. However, I think they could probably invent another way to show his anger without smashing some boys head.

Book 1 Project

Book 1 Project

By Julia Kraimer

The book 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher is about Clay, a high school student, listening to the tape recordings of Hannah, a girl who recently committed suicide. In the tapes, she tells her stories and the thirteen reasons why she took her life. He travels around town on the map she gave him. It showed the places where various significant event occurred.

One of the places on her map was Monet’s Garden: Café and Coffee House. Clay visits it after taking the city bus there. It was one of the last places Hannah felt safe and secure in, and after she stopped going there her life began to slowly crumble.  She says, “Monet’s Garden was our safe haven” (pg. 62). She had been new to the school, and that was where she met the two other new students. She became friends with them over the summer, so when school started she at least knew a couple of people. “If one of us had a hard time fitting in or meeting people, we’d go to Monet’s” Hannah explains (pg. 62).

I think we should recreate the small coffee house. New readers could be attracted there by their delicious hot chocolate and coffee. It could be a great place to read the book, as it is quiet, and new readers of the book can purchase it at the counter. This could pull in many new people, and keep people who already love the story interested.

Just as the café in the book was for Hannah, the recreation of Monet’s Garden should be a safe place for a heart-to-heart conversation. As Clay describes it, “around the garden, to keep the atmosphere relaxed, the lights are kept low” (pg. 73). This book is all about how much we can affect people’s lives, in either positive or negative ways, and how much that can sway how they look on their own life. The conversations people have in this café could help them put all of their struggles in to perspective. It could be a safe place for them in this unforgiving, cruel, fast moving world.  It could help them think through major decisions before they commit to something they can’t take back. It could help them develop a secure circle of people to talk to, a support group. It could help prevent suicide, just like the message in the book says.

Monet’s Garden would be a small, older looking, café. It would have an indoor area and an outdoor area (for people who are more comfortable outside). The building should be on a quiet road so that the patio doesn’t get too noisy from traffic. The main area, inside, would have a few small, round tables with 2 or 3 chairs at each. It would also have a couple couches and armchairs in the corner for a more comfortable conversation. The lighting should be just bright enough to read, but soft enough so that you don’t feel like you are constantly in the spot light and under peoples’ judgmental eyes. The courtyard should be enclosed by a little, black wrought iron fence, with vines growing on it. The little, round tables should be clear of all clutter, such as advertisements for various new items on the menu or flowers or condiments, as these can be annoying and distracting. Again, they should only have a couple chairs around them. There won’t be any large tables, as Monet’s Garden should be a quiet place, perfect for a deep talk, and big groups make too much noise. There should be some ample shady spots, but also some sunny areas.  

A Book is an Escape

A book is an escape. Sometimes life gets a little challenging or noisy or stressful. A book provides the perfect bridge into a new world (shame on me for using a cliché. Mrs. Bross would be horrified). A book distracts you from everything else that might be going on and allows you to solely focus on the little world of the characters with in the story. Sometimes it could teach you how to deal with some of the struggles in your life by showing you how the characters deal with similar problems. I’m sorry for the cheesiness. Other times the book might be totally different from your life and you get the opportunity to be taken away for that 45 minutes while you tear through the story. Not literary! Or librarians will hate you for life. Either way, you have a free ticket to another universe that you can use pretty much whenever you want. And who doesn’t love to travel?
I think books should actually *gasp* be on paper. Yes, I’m a little old fashioned. For one, it’s better for the environment. 40-50 books create the same carbon emission as 1 e-reader. Books: 1, E-reader: nada. Reading on a screen for extended periods of time gives me a headache. Books: 2, E-reader: still zero. The author gets more money from the book he/she spent ages writing. Books: 3, E-reader: 0. Fine, books do require the killing of innocent trees (Books: 3, E-reader: 1), but they are just more fun to read! Okay people?! Maybe I just don’t like e-readers because my grandma gave my sister one for Christmas, and I didn’t get one too. Or maybe book s are just plain old better.
In all seriousness, I love reading actual books instead of from a screen. It makes the temporary escape seem more real to me. This world is so filled with technology, we’re dependent on it. Sometimes, using paper and ink is the best way to go.

Post Numero Uno: Why I Read

Why do I read? I read for several reasons. For instances, if we're assigned a book in school, I will read it mostly because I have no intention of getting anything below an A in the class. No, Sparknotes do not work.

I love writing, and reading can help me improve it. Reading can broaden my vocabulary, and it can help me use more of a variety of words when I talk, and when I write. It can improve my grammar in certain cases, as it lets me see how people who get paid to write use them to grab the interest of the reader.

Reading can provide me with an escape to a different world, and it can get me to look at things from a different perspective for a little while, and teach me to have a respect for different types of people in different situations. I can get a peek inside cultures, different than my own and learn something about them.

How-to books can also teach you a new skill. They could motivate you do learn something that you wouldn’t normally try to pick up.

Books can touch you on a personal level. If they’re written well, it can feel like the author wrote it not to millions of random people, but to you.