This novel, written by Dan Brown, is called Deception Point. It is a fictional story based on present times. There are many protagonists in this novel, which makes it difficult to follow sometimes, because Dan follows all of their lives at one point or another. The novel is about a presidential election about to take place in the States, between Senator Sexton and the existing president, President Herney. The plot follows the political battles between them, and the mystery of a NASA discovery that could save President Herney’s campaign. Since Senator Sexton’s main argument is that Herney spends too much money on NASA, NASA will be going to have to come up with something big to save their organization, as well as the president.
NASA ends up producing a massive fraud that will help President Herney stay in power to keep NASA in business. Rachel Sexton (Senator Sexton’s daughter) tries to uncover NASA’s fraud along with world famous oceanographer, Mike Tolland and astrophysicist, Corky, to stomp President Herney’s campaign and to throw her father into the White House. The actual fraud is that NASA claimed that they had found proof of extraterrestrial fossils imprinted on a meteorite found in the artic. This “meteorite” actually ends up being an ocean rock imprinted with an extinct sea creature. Although the trio finally uncovers this eccentric fraud, NASA hires secret assassins to make sure the fraud is never known to the world. It ends up being a struggle for survival, as some of the most highly trained assassins in the world attack the trio as they fight to let the truth be known to the world.
Although there are many themes represented throughout the novel, the main ones are deceit and violence. With the title of the novel being deception, it is not difficult to understand that the novel will be about deceit. This holds true with this book with NASA’s masterful plot to amplify their reputation, and how deceptive they are with keeping the truth from the media. Another big part of deception in this book is shown with how Rachel’s most trusted advisor named William Pickering, ends up being the leader of the assassins trying to kill Rachel. Obviously, when you are talking about assassins, there is a whole lot of violence, and that is why it is one of the main themes of the novel. From the time Rachel, Corky, and Tolland reach the artic where the meteorite is and discover the fraud, to the time they reach Washington DC, they are followed by extremely stealthy assassins out to do their job.
As explained in the plot summary, there are many protagonists of the story, which Dan switches to and from. This gets incredibly confusing if you’re focused on one character, and all of a sudden Dan is talking about someone completely different. Dan switches points of view talking from Rachel’s, Senator Sexton’s, President Herney’s, Gabrielle’s (Senator Sexton’s advisor), Senior Advisor Marjorie Tench (White House advisor), and William Pickering’s point of view. It is written in the third person from all of these people’s points of view. Although being very confusing at times, it was a fantastic book, which I finished in about four days.
Although none of the issues shown in the book pertain to my life, I can think of some loose connection to some of the things we have studied in school. In Deception Point, the media is a big part of the book. Whenever either candidate for President addresses the public, they will be speaking directly to the media in a press conference. Some of the techniques the candidates and the media use have been covered in class.
Anyone would know, having read Deception Point, that it was a fantastic book and that there wouldn’t be much else to make it better. The thing I liked most about this book was the very suspenseful action scene. An example of this would be when assassins in the artic corner Rachel and the gang and Tolland quickly hooks a parachute to the three of them and the katabatic winds carry them off to safety. The only thing I could possibly suggest to make it easier to read would be to make it more clear when Dan is switching which character he is talking about.
Like I said I really enjoyed this book, and I have talked to a few of my friends who have read it as well. All of these friends have loved it and have said Dan Brown is one of their favourite authors. I would recommend it to anyone grade eight and up as the reading level is not particularly high. This book has definitely been the best read of the New Year for me.
One of the many rhetorical devices found in this book are similes. The simile I decided to use as an example was during my favourite action scene where one of the assassins has a helicopter on a sinking ship trying to escape. Before his helicopter can get enough lift, it crashes into the guardrails of the ship and sinks into the ocean. “From the chopper’s armored cockpit, Delta-One watched his rotors tear into the sub’s cable like a giant lawn mower running over a steal chain. A blinding spray of sparks erupted overhead, and the Kiowa’s blades exploded.” (P. 416) Similes make literature more vivid and they make the reader feel more connected to the writing, because if you use them well, they will make the writing more interesting and create emotions. In the same section of the book I found the use of personification. “The whirlpool was hundreds of yards across and expanding fast. The ocean spiraled into it, racing with an eerie smoothness over the lip. All around him now, a guttural moan reverberated out of the depths. Pickering’s mind was blank as he watched the hole expanding toward him like the gaping mouth of some epic god hungry for sacrifice.” (Pg. 436) The italics in the quote actually contain a simile as well as personification because of course the whirlpool doesn’t actually have a mouth hungry for sacrifice. This whirlpool is actually called a mega plume, which is a sparsely known ocean phenomenon. A mega plume is where a hotspot is located under the earth’s surface, and heats the ocean above it. It is possible for this area to open up and act as a whirlpool as explained in the book. William Pickering is being sucked into the mega plume in this quotation. Personification is treating abstractions or inanimate objects as human, that is, giving them human attributes, powers, or feelings. This enhances your view of the scene in the novel, making it more vivid and more interesting to read.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
“The House of The Scorpion” Nancy Farmer
This novel is based on a genetically modified boy named Matt. Matt was born out of the womb of a cow by taking his first cell split and dividing it inside a Petri dish. He grows up as an outsider to the Alacrán Estate located in futuristic Mexico with only one friend, El Patrón. When he discovers that El Patrón has been using Matt for a mere experiment, his only chance for survival is to escape the estate. This ends up being quite a challenging task considering the fact that El Patrón rules all of Mexico being a powerful drug lord.
The most prominent theme of this book is rejection. This is represented throughout the entire novel with Matt being the different kid that he is. No one other than El Patrón accepts him for who he is, and even that changes when he finds El Patrón is using him. When he lives in the Estate everyone treats him as if he were some kind of monster, never making eye contact with Matt. For Matt, as one can imagine, this becomes extremely depressing and this is one of the reasons he tries to escape the estate.
This book is written in the first person viewpoint written through the eyes of Matt. It really is incredible how well the author catches the readers’ emotions and makes the reader feel bad for Matt who is treated like an animal. This shows how effective her writing style is because it captured my emotions and drew a perfect picture of Matt’s emotions. It was a very serious novel, which I normally dislike because I do like a few jokes here and there, but overall the style of writing was great.
The main issue in this novel like I mentioned above is the fact that Matt is rejected by everyone that he sees. Matt is extremely lonely in his tough life times and has no one to back him up. This pertains to many high school kids trying to find friend groups. These kids are usually rejected from them because they aren’t cool enough in the eyes of that friend group. You know you’re pretty similar to Matt when you are sitting at home on a Friday night playing video games by yourself.
This novel is related to nothing we have done in English thus far. It could loosely relate to Biology seeing how Matt was a genetically modified kid being born from a cow. Also in Business, we talk about some problems in Mexico including the drug wars going on over there. This book shows how powerful these drug lords are, and how little people can do against them.
The novel was a decent read for me. It had some really intriguing moments talking about how bad Matt felt sometimes, but also there were some boring sections of the book. One of the things that would have sparked a little more excitement in the book, would be to directly talk about how El Patrón came to be the powerful drug lord that he was at the time. I think this would help the novel because I find the drug wars an interesting topic. Also some comedic relief would be more than welcomed in a book like this. I would not recommend this book to others because there are so much better books out there.
The most rhetorical devices I find in any book are similes. One example of a simile used in this book is when Matt is trying to escape from the estate. He mentions that the sun was so hot, he felt as though he was thrown in a flaming crematorium. Similes make literature more vivid and they make the reader feel more connected to the writing, because if you use them well, they will make the writing more interesting and create emotions. In the same section of the book I found the use of personification. Matt uses this also when talking about the heat of the sun saying how it glared down upon him with burning eyes. Personification is treating abstractions or inanimate objects as human, that is, giving them human attributes, powers, or feelings. This enhances your view of the scene in the novel making it more vivid and more interesting to read.
The most prominent theme of this book is rejection. This is represented throughout the entire novel with Matt being the different kid that he is. No one other than El Patrón accepts him for who he is, and even that changes when he finds El Patrón is using him. When he lives in the Estate everyone treats him as if he were some kind of monster, never making eye contact with Matt. For Matt, as one can imagine, this becomes extremely depressing and this is one of the reasons he tries to escape the estate.
This book is written in the first person viewpoint written through the eyes of Matt. It really is incredible how well the author catches the readers’ emotions and makes the reader feel bad for Matt who is treated like an animal. This shows how effective her writing style is because it captured my emotions and drew a perfect picture of Matt’s emotions. It was a very serious novel, which I normally dislike because I do like a few jokes here and there, but overall the style of writing was great.
The main issue in this novel like I mentioned above is the fact that Matt is rejected by everyone that he sees. Matt is extremely lonely in his tough life times and has no one to back him up. This pertains to many high school kids trying to find friend groups. These kids are usually rejected from them because they aren’t cool enough in the eyes of that friend group. You know you’re pretty similar to Matt when you are sitting at home on a Friday night playing video games by yourself.
This novel is related to nothing we have done in English thus far. It could loosely relate to Biology seeing how Matt was a genetically modified kid being born from a cow. Also in Business, we talk about some problems in Mexico including the drug wars going on over there. This book shows how powerful these drug lords are, and how little people can do against them.
The novel was a decent read for me. It had some really intriguing moments talking about how bad Matt felt sometimes, but also there were some boring sections of the book. One of the things that would have sparked a little more excitement in the book, would be to directly talk about how El Patrón came to be the powerful drug lord that he was at the time. I think this would help the novel because I find the drug wars an interesting topic. Also some comedic relief would be more than welcomed in a book like this. I would not recommend this book to others because there are so much better books out there.
The most rhetorical devices I find in any book are similes. One example of a simile used in this book is when Matt is trying to escape from the estate. He mentions that the sun was so hot, he felt as though he was thrown in a flaming crematorium. Similes make literature more vivid and they make the reader feel more connected to the writing, because if you use them well, they will make the writing more interesting and create emotions. In the same section of the book I found the use of personification. Matt uses this also when talking about the heat of the sun saying how it glared down upon him with burning eyes. Personification is treating abstractions or inanimate objects as human, that is, giving them human attributes, powers, or feelings. This enhances your view of the scene in the novel making it more vivid and more interesting to read.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
"The Final Warning" James Patterson
The novel that I decided to read for this month is called The Final Warning, by James Patterson. This book is the fourth book of a series. It is completely fictional and is not based on any factual content other than landmasses mentioned in the book. For example, the main character and her “flock” travel to Antarctica. I say flock because the book is about six mutant children who were genetically modified before birth to be stronger than humans, smarter, faster, and to have wings. The book is about the life and times of these six children and how other mutants created by the same scientists try to kill the flock. This book starts off where the third one left off. The flock is on the run once again from other mutants called, “flyboys” which are similar to the flock type but are bigger and stronger, but much slower. As the book progresses the flock encounters these flyboys more often and is offered protection by the US Government who will do this in return to study the mutants. After a lifetime of being stuck with needles with numerous tests done on the mutants, they refuse and turn back to the open air and sleeping in parks. The next majour event in the book is when they offered by a group of scientists to aid them in a journey to Antarctica to gather research about global warming. The flock ends up liking this group of scientists and in no time is in Antarctica helping the scientists who are in awe at the flock’s incredible abilities. In the end what the flock leader Max whished not be true happened. The scientists betrayed the flock and while the flock was performing a “mission,” deep inland they were attacked by hundreds of flyboys. The battle was gruesome and in the battle they lost their dog, Total. In the last hundred pages Max and three other flock members save the other two from the capture of the flyboys and all is well as they escape from Antarctica.
Some themes evident throughout the novel are hope, betrayal, and love. All of these themes are expressed in many spots throughout the book and are the main of many themes of this book. Hope is obvious because of the fact that the flock is hopeful that one day they will not be sought out to kill and they hope that they reach that day alive. It is clear that Max is always hopeful that her actions towards leading the flock are for the best. As mentioned in the plot summary, the flock is betrayed many times even by the scientists that seemed to be very friendly who ended up setting a trap for them. Love is the more subtle themes of the two because it is present in the few moments when the flock isn’t in mid-air battles. Love is present between the whole flock. They are practically brothers and sisters as they have lived and grown up together as a team.
As most avid readers know James Patterson writes fantastic books and this one was no exception. These readers know James sucks you in from the first page. He sucks he in to the world of Max and the flock and you never want to leave. I finished the 300-page book in one weekend because of his amazing writing style. James tells the story from the viewpoint of the flock leader Max. This is the first person writing style.
In the book Max acts as a mothering figure towards the rest of the younger members of the flock making sure that everything and everyone is in line. I can relate to this in the way that I have three brothers and sometimes it is my responsibility to put them back into line. I can do this by being a good role model in front of them or by punishing them in some way, which Max shows throughout the novel. She is always scolding one of the members of the flock for one thing or another and always conducting her behaviour in what she thinks is the best way.
As the book was so fictional and did not express reality in any way there are no clear connections between anything I have studied at school or the novel. The only connection I can make is the fact that we are starting physics in Science now and physics is connected to everything. You could connect it to how the mutants fly and how they function on a day-to-day basis. With the nature of fantasy books it is almost impossible to relate to school and that is why it is so difficult to find connections for this book.
Since the book was written by James Patterson making the book better would be pretty impossible for someone to say other than James himself. He is such a fantastic writer that I never put down the book and that is what you want from a book. The only thing I could possible say to improve this novel would be to make it longer. Since the next question sort of ties into this one I’m going to answer it in the same paragraph. As I have said many times this book was fantastic and I would recommend it to people of all ages who enjoy suspense books. Even though it has a fantasized twist it is still appropriate for older readers.
One of the rhetorical devices used in James’ work is a symbol. Symbolism is used to provide meaning to the writing beyond what is actually being described. The plot and action that take place in a story can be thought of as one level, while the symbolism of certain things in the writing act on another level to enhance the story. The one biggest symbol in this book would be the flock’s wings, which symbolize safety. Every time one of the flock members is in trouble or needs to get away from a certain situation their solution has always been to fly. The other device that I found used in the novel was a simile. Similes make literature more vivid and they make the reader feel more connected to the writing, because if you use them well, they will make the writing more interesting and create emotions. The simile I used is when Max is frustrated and flies off the boat heading to Antarctic to take a breath of fresh air. “I stroked hard, down and then up, over and over, rushing into the cold night sky. Seconds later the Wendy K was as small as an ant.” When James says the line about the boat and the ant he is using a simile to enhance the writing making it more vivid.
Some themes evident throughout the novel are hope, betrayal, and love. All of these themes are expressed in many spots throughout the book and are the main of many themes of this book. Hope is obvious because of the fact that the flock is hopeful that one day they will not be sought out to kill and they hope that they reach that day alive. It is clear that Max is always hopeful that her actions towards leading the flock are for the best. As mentioned in the plot summary, the flock is betrayed many times even by the scientists that seemed to be very friendly who ended up setting a trap for them. Love is the more subtle themes of the two because it is present in the few moments when the flock isn’t in mid-air battles. Love is present between the whole flock. They are practically brothers and sisters as they have lived and grown up together as a team.
As most avid readers know James Patterson writes fantastic books and this one was no exception. These readers know James sucks you in from the first page. He sucks he in to the world of Max and the flock and you never want to leave. I finished the 300-page book in one weekend because of his amazing writing style. James tells the story from the viewpoint of the flock leader Max. This is the first person writing style.
In the book Max acts as a mothering figure towards the rest of the younger members of the flock making sure that everything and everyone is in line. I can relate to this in the way that I have three brothers and sometimes it is my responsibility to put them back into line. I can do this by being a good role model in front of them or by punishing them in some way, which Max shows throughout the novel. She is always scolding one of the members of the flock for one thing or another and always conducting her behaviour in what she thinks is the best way.
As the book was so fictional and did not express reality in any way there are no clear connections between anything I have studied at school or the novel. The only connection I can make is the fact that we are starting physics in Science now and physics is connected to everything. You could connect it to how the mutants fly and how they function on a day-to-day basis. With the nature of fantasy books it is almost impossible to relate to school and that is why it is so difficult to find connections for this book.
Since the book was written by James Patterson making the book better would be pretty impossible for someone to say other than James himself. He is such a fantastic writer that I never put down the book and that is what you want from a book. The only thing I could possible say to improve this novel would be to make it longer. Since the next question sort of ties into this one I’m going to answer it in the same paragraph. As I have said many times this book was fantastic and I would recommend it to people of all ages who enjoy suspense books. Even though it has a fantasized twist it is still appropriate for older readers.
One of the rhetorical devices used in James’ work is a symbol. Symbolism is used to provide meaning to the writing beyond what is actually being described. The plot and action that take place in a story can be thought of as one level, while the symbolism of certain things in the writing act on another level to enhance the story. The one biggest symbol in this book would be the flock’s wings, which symbolize safety. Every time one of the flock members is in trouble or needs to get away from a certain situation their solution has always been to fly. The other device that I found used in the novel was a simile. Similes make literature more vivid and they make the reader feel more connected to the writing, because if you use them well, they will make the writing more interesting and create emotions. The simile I used is when Max is frustrated and flies off the boat heading to Antarctic to take a breath of fresh air. “I stroked hard, down and then up, over and over, rushing into the cold night sky. Seconds later the Wendy K was as small as an ant.” When James says the line about the boat and the ant he is using a simile to enhance the writing making it more vivid.
Monday, December 1, 2008
“The Wars” Timothy Findley
This novel written by Timothy Findley is called, The Wars. It is a fictional story based on World War I on the Western Front. It follows 19-year-old Robert Ross’ life as an officer in the Canadian army. The novel also speaks of the experiences of Robert’s family throughout the war. The events of the novel include the initiation of Robert Ross into adulthood as he confronts many challenges and hardships throughout the book. The challenges and hardships he faces include: death, love, lots of violence being in the war, and sexuality. Being a young man he also experiences love and relationships with woman for the first time. Some of the examples of the hardship he encounters throughout the novel include his nightmarish experiences in the trenches, the mud and smoke, of chlorine gas, and rotting corpses. He gains many friends throughout the novel, which end up being very tough for him, as he at some point in the novel, loses almost all of them to the deadly warfare. Robert ends up surviving the war but not without being heavily scarred by it. The end of the novel describes how Robert passes away in June of 1922.
Some of the themes presented in this novel include: love and death. An example of love being present in this novel is how Robert loves Barbara and how Barbara’s little sister Juliet also loves Robert. This also brings up another small but evident theme in the novel of jealousy. The theme of death is obvious throughout the entire novel being a World War I book, where eighteen million people died within the span of four bloody years.
For most of the book, a historian researching Robert Ross’s life narrates it. The story is told through the memories of the few living people who knew him, and the historian's reconstructions based on archive materials. The Wars utilizes first, second, and third person narrative, which is very rare in literature. I really enjoyed the narrative of the novel especially when it was told from Robert’s perspective on the war. When the story was told from the other characters perspectives I didn’t like the story as much because it wasn’t as action packed.
Many of the issues raised in the novel pertain to my life in some way or another. Some of the issues raised in the book are love, sexuality, death and violence. All of these issues are related or loosely pertaining to my life. In an adolescents life we are starting to have relationships with females, which relates to Robert, and his experiences with woman. Also on the issue of violence almost everyone experiences some degree of violence daily. In my life almost everyday there is some form of brawl between my brothers. Finally, the issue of death relates to everyone in life. Almost everyone that I know has been affected by someone they know who has died although this is not to the same degree of death that Robert experiences.
This book doesn’t relate to anything we have studied in English thus far, but it directly relates to what we have learned in History class. In History class, we have been studying World War I and some of the specific battles fought in the war. In history, we also learned of the horrors of trench warfare and chlorine gas used by the Germans. We also were told of the number of deaths in the war and how the soldiers lived in extremely harsh conditions.
Anyone would know having read The Wars that it was a fantastic book and that there wouldn’t be much else to make it better. The thing I liked most about this book was the very suspenseful action scenes. An example of this is when Robert’s party is stuck in the mud in a crater and the chlorine gas is creeping in on them. What I would like is if the author, (Timothy Findley) added more of these very exciting action scenes.
Like I said I really enjoyed this book and I have talked to a few of my friends who have read it as well who really loved it. I would recommend it to anyone grade eight and up as the reading level is not particularly high. This book has definitely been the best read of 2008 for me.
One of the rhetorical devices used in the novel is symbolism. One of the symbols in this book is the bird who sings which saves Roberts life. When the German was reaching for his gun to shoot at Robert, the bird sang and convinced the German to let Robert and his remaining party members to go free. This bird symbolizes peace and how in a time of chaos the goodness in people still shows through. “He could have killed them all. Surely that had been his intention. But he’d relented. Why? The bird sang.” (P.131) Symbolism is used to provide meaning to the writing beyond what is actually being described. The plot and action that take place in a story can be thought of as one level, while the symbolism of certain things in the writing act on another level to enhance the story. Another rhetorical device found in this book are similes. The simile I decided to use as an example was during my favourite action scene where Robert and his party are in the crater with the gas closing in on them and Robert finds a way to save everyone’s life. ‘Finally, Bates let go. His muscles gave away like bits of yarn and he fouled himself as he peed.” (P. 125) Similes make literature more vivid and they make the reader feel more connected to the writing, because if you use them well, they will make the writing more interesting and create emotions.
Some of the themes presented in this novel include: love and death. An example of love being present in this novel is how Robert loves Barbara and how Barbara’s little sister Juliet also loves Robert. This also brings up another small but evident theme in the novel of jealousy. The theme of death is obvious throughout the entire novel being a World War I book, where eighteen million people died within the span of four bloody years.
For most of the book, a historian researching Robert Ross’s life narrates it. The story is told through the memories of the few living people who knew him, and the historian's reconstructions based on archive materials. The Wars utilizes first, second, and third person narrative, which is very rare in literature. I really enjoyed the narrative of the novel especially when it was told from Robert’s perspective on the war. When the story was told from the other characters perspectives I didn’t like the story as much because it wasn’t as action packed.
Many of the issues raised in the novel pertain to my life in some way or another. Some of the issues raised in the book are love, sexuality, death and violence. All of these issues are related or loosely pertaining to my life. In an adolescents life we are starting to have relationships with females, which relates to Robert, and his experiences with woman. Also on the issue of violence almost everyone experiences some degree of violence daily. In my life almost everyday there is some form of brawl between my brothers. Finally, the issue of death relates to everyone in life. Almost everyone that I know has been affected by someone they know who has died although this is not to the same degree of death that Robert experiences.
This book doesn’t relate to anything we have studied in English thus far, but it directly relates to what we have learned in History class. In History class, we have been studying World War I and some of the specific battles fought in the war. In history, we also learned of the horrors of trench warfare and chlorine gas used by the Germans. We also were told of the number of deaths in the war and how the soldiers lived in extremely harsh conditions.
Anyone would know having read The Wars that it was a fantastic book and that there wouldn’t be much else to make it better. The thing I liked most about this book was the very suspenseful action scenes. An example of this is when Robert’s party is stuck in the mud in a crater and the chlorine gas is creeping in on them. What I would like is if the author, (Timothy Findley) added more of these very exciting action scenes.
Like I said I really enjoyed this book and I have talked to a few of my friends who have read it as well who really loved it. I would recommend it to anyone grade eight and up as the reading level is not particularly high. This book has definitely been the best read of 2008 for me.
One of the rhetorical devices used in the novel is symbolism. One of the symbols in this book is the bird who sings which saves Roberts life. When the German was reaching for his gun to shoot at Robert, the bird sang and convinced the German to let Robert and his remaining party members to go free. This bird symbolizes peace and how in a time of chaos the goodness in people still shows through. “He could have killed them all. Surely that had been his intention. But he’d relented. Why? The bird sang.” (P.131) Symbolism is used to provide meaning to the writing beyond what is actually being described. The plot and action that take place in a story can be thought of as one level, while the symbolism of certain things in the writing act on another level to enhance the story. Another rhetorical device found in this book are similes. The simile I decided to use as an example was during my favourite action scene where Robert and his party are in the crater with the gas closing in on them and Robert finds a way to save everyone’s life. ‘Finally, Bates let go. His muscles gave away like bits of yarn and he fouled himself as he peed.” (P. 125) Similes make literature more vivid and they make the reader feel more connected to the writing, because if you use them well, they will make the writing more interesting and create emotions.
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