Informal Essay

I found the informal essay to be a whole lot easier then the formal essay. You can state your opinion, not have to worry about using personal pronouns or following a strict format. The one problem I did have was figuring out what to talk about. Once I had my topic choosen, I needed to find several relevant subtopics and summarize the main importance of each one. This was hard for me because I chose to do my essay on " Is our generation environmentally friendly?" You may think I am crazy finding this topic hard to talk about but that is not it at all. It is finding information that will portray each topic precisely and be kept short in 2 pages, double spaced. There was so much information on what our world is doing now to be environmentally friendly and how our world is researching and experimenting to become even more earth savy. I know that everyone knows alot about this topic because we are in this generation, so I decided to get the most interesting ways our world is discovering new technology. I was amazed at what I found. Scientists are genetically altering trees enzymes to soak up toxic waste in the ground! I never even knew trees had that power in the first place. I suggest, even if you are not doing your essay on being environmentally friendly, that you should look up some of the cool ways our world is changing day by day. I am still shocked to learn that even the unquestionable resources can benefit our world in some way.

Book Talks

I think the class did an excellent job on the book talks. I loved the presentions with movie clips, game shows and enthusiastic attitudes. The choice of books was great because you had different genres and stories to choose from so the book talks never became boring.
In my opinion, too many people used their author posters for props. I think they should have used props related to the plot of their books. Overall, I think some people could have summed up the author description more because I think the class is more interested in the book, not author.
For my seminar, I am going to add more fun activities to my presentation to get the class involved and get to learn my subject better. I also plan to do a slide show on my topic so that I can included info and pictures all in one.

Beginning to watch Marley and Me

Over the weekend, I rented the movie "Marley and Me". Sadly, I only got to see half of the movie. But I also started reading the book but also never got very far because it didn't catch my attention. To compare what I read from the book and saw in the movie, I like the book alot better. Not only does the plot start better but it gives alot more detail about Marley and John Grogan's life. The movie is very cute though. I LOVE THE PUPPY!!!! HE IS SO ADORABLE!!!! I can relate to this movie a bit because I had a dog for 13 years of my life and a new one now. I love my dog Tucker. I consider him my best friend because he is always up for a walk with me and he is excellent company. I think its funny how horrible Marley can be because Benny, my old dog, was just as bad. Even though puppies can be quite the hassle when they are little, their affection is ten times more rewarding when they get older. I also enjoy how realistic and truthful this story is about having a dog. You don't even need to read the whole book or watch the movie to get a sense of how much a dog in your life can mean to you.

Issue Problems on my ISU

The problem with my ISU is I need to change the topic of my essay. Instead I have decided to tell what the book says about love in relationships. As I am on my second reading of the book, I see more details about the story, that I missed earlier. Charlie says he doesn't love his brother or father and isn't sure he loves Rosie anymore after she sleeps with Spider. Relationships are a huge part of the story because even Anansi's stories tell about his bad relationships with others. The relationship topic even comes into play with Rosie, who isn't the main character. When Daisy kissed Charlie, I knew their relationship would snowball because Charlie said her kiss was passionate and it meant something. From this you know the author has to keep her in the plot because Charlie has feelings for her and the reader is interested to see where it will go next. This little affair helps you keep your attention on the book. It gets even better when she is the dectective and he is the suspect. I think the story says love is hard to find and can take a long time to realize but overall, there is always someone who loves you, you just need to be patient.

The Theme of Anansi Boys

I came up with a few theme options for my book which were love, family relationships and relationships with gods. Out of all these choices, the most relevant theme was family relationships. The book strongly emphasized Charlie's bad relationship with his brother and father. Charlie held a grudge against them for past and present events that occured. Once they were both gone from his life, he started to realize the importance they had. For example, after Charlie's dad died, Charlie came to say he loved his dad. This is totally opposite of what Charlie thought in the beginning of his father. He thought his dad was embarrassing and hateful towards Charlie. Later when his brother came into his life, Spider started to ruin his life by stealing his girlfriend, moving into his house and annoying him with his presence. Eager to get Spider away, Charlie went to the lengths of going to the land of Gods to find the "Bird Women", who made a deal with Charlie to get rid of Spider if she could have Anansi's blood line. After the deal was done but before Spider died, Charlie came to his senses and figured out he needed his brother even if he was a pain in the neck. This theme shows that we take family for granted and don't understand how much they mean to us until they are gone.

If you don't pay attention to someone, it might mean you don't care about them. If you go through alot for them, even if it means to get rid of them, they must mean something to you if your willing to spend your time on them.