Final Blogging Assessment – English 1B

 1.    What specific words/phrases demonstrate your writer’s voice? How do these words/phrases showcase your personality as a writer?

There are many specific words and phrases in my blog post that demonstrates my writer’s voice. For example, in my blog post, I state, “I strongly believe that bullying should be eradicated nationwide so students can focus more on their studies and extra-curricular activities” (Paul). This shows my personality as a writer because it shows that I have a strong and straightforward voice. The post shows that I have a strong voice because I used elevated diction such as “eradicated.” It also shows that I have a straightforward voice because I state my opinion in a straightforward matter by stating “I strongly believe.” 

2.  What purposeful diction AND syntax choices did you make to enhance your writer’s voice? You must choose to discuss at least one diction AND one syntax technique from the list below. Make sure to include textual evidence from your post where you included the diction and syntax choices you discuss.

  There are lots of elevated diction and punctuation such as commas that enhance my voice in my blog post. For example, in my blog post, I state, “In Whale Talk, T.J stands up to Marshall, because Marshall discriminates him, as T.J. is not as athletic as Marshall. In both stories, the main characters stand up against injustice” (Paul). In my blog post, I used elevated diction such as “discriminates” and this enhanced my voice by making it sound more strong and serious. Using elevated diction made my voice sound more strong because elevated diction makes me sound important. In my blog post, I used lots of commas. Using commas enhanced my voice by making it sound straightforward, because using commas breaks up thoughts which make it easier to understand the text. For example, in the quote above, I used lots of commas to break up thoughts to make my voice sound straightforward.

The Best Thing About Rusty Comes Home

The best thing about Rusty Comes Home is that it shows the reader a lot about Indian culture in many ways. I think this is the best thing about the book because I am Indian myself. Since I am Indian, I can easily connect with the book. Any Indians reading the book will easily be able to connect with the book because the book takes place in India. Also, anyone who is not Indian will gain more understanding of Indian culture because the author, Ruskin Bond, explains Indian culture really clearly. Ruskin Bond describes the cities and towns of India really clearly. He also describes specific Indian traditions such as how a typical Hindu marriage is performed. Ruskin Bond definitely does an excellent job of describing Indian culture, which is why it is the best thing I like about the book.

The Most Important Line from Chapter 1 in Rusty Comes Home

After finishing Angry Management, I have started a new book called Rusty Comes Home. The author of the book is Ruskin Bond. The book takes place in India and it is about a young man named Rusty. Rusty is an aspiring writer who wants to become a professional author for a living.  So far, I have only read two chapters of the book, and I am already hooked with the book! 

The most important line from Chapter 1 in Rusty Comes Home is, "The town was a sleepy hollow, a great place in which to be educated, but a poor place to gain employment" (Bond 4). 

This is the most important line from Chapter 1 because it foreshadows the future of Rusty's life. Since Rusty is an aspiring writer, he probably wants a place where there are a lot of publishers and a lot of connections. Rusty has just finished college in the small town of Dehra, but now he wants to become an author. In Chapter 2, it is revealed that Rusty moves to New Delhi, the capital of India. Rusty moves to New Delhi because New Delhi has more job opportunities for writers. This proves that this is the most important line from Chapter 1 because it correctly foreshadows that Rusty is going to move somewhere else. 

Open Discussion Question: Would you rather live in a rural area, a suburb, or a big city? Explain your reasoning.  

Text-to-Text, Text-to-Self, & Text-to-World Connections with Angry Management

Text to Text Connection: Angry Management is strongly connected with another book written by Chris Crutcher called Whale Talk. I am not at all surprised  by the fact that Angry Management and Whale Talk are strongly connected because they are written by the same author. The strongest connection that Angry Management shares with Whale Talk is that the main characters in both stories are high school boys who are trying to stand up to the same high school bully named Marshall. Both stories take place in Cutter High School. In Angry Management, Marcus James stands up to Marshall, because Marshall discriminates him, as Marcus is an African-American. In Whale Talk, T.J stands up to Marshall, because Marshall discriminates him, as T.J. is not as athletic as Marshall. In both stories, the main characters stand up against injustice.

Text to Self Connection: I can easily connect with Angry Management because I also stand up to injustice, just like Marcus. When Marcus sees someone bullied, he immediately stands up against the bully and protects the person who is getting bullied. Just like Marcus, I also stood up against a bully in Mason Middle School. When I was in 7th grade, I saw a bully pushing an innocent boy's head against a locker. I immediately went up to the bully and told him to stop what he was doing immediately, or I would tell on him. He immediately stopped bullying the innocent boy and ran away. I immediately took the innocent boy to the nurse. I was just like Marcus that day, because I stood up to injustice.

Text to World Connection: Angry Management connects to the real world in many ways. The most important way in connects to real world is that the featured high school in the book, Cutter High School, has an anti-bullying program. Throughout the story, there are many anti-bullying assemblies held in Cutter High School, because bullying is a major problem in that school. Just like in Cutter High School, there are bullying prevention programs all over schools in the U.S. I strongly believe that bullying should be eradicated nationwide so students can focus more on their studies and extra-curricular activities.

Open Discussion Question: What would you do if you saw someone getting bullied?

                                                                             

                                                                               

                                                                              

Predictions and Questions for Angry Management

Predictions

I predict that Montana will run away from her foster parents' house because she is fed up with her foster parents.  

I predict Angus will start to go to the swimming pool and swim a lot to lose weight to impress Sara.

I predict that the relationship between Montana and her father will deteriorate because her father is not allowing her to publish an article about medical marijuana on the school newspaper.

I predict that Marcus will seek revenge on Marshall by slyly framing Marshall into a crime he did not do.

Questions

Why is Mr. Nak so kind to the short - tempered kids who don't deserve to be treated kind?

What causes these kids to be so short - tempered?

If these kids had better lives, would they be less short - tempered?

Would Montana have a better relation with her foster father if her father was not the president of the school board?

Setting of Angry Management

Angry Management takes place in present day northwestern United States. The characters live in Spokane, Washington but often times they travel around northwestern United States.

"We're shooting through the Palhouse, past rolling wheat fields, about a hundred miles south of Spokane, near the Idaho border where Washington State University and the University of Idaho play Dueling Universities just nine miles apart"(Crutcher, 37).  This quote proves that the book takes place in northwestern United States because it shows the reader that the main characters are driving at the border of Washington and Idaho and Washington and Idaho are located in northwestern United States. The quote also demonstrates excellent imagery by describing the scenery and the relative location of the colleges. It was a smart idea for Chris Crutcher to descibe the location of the colleges because then the reader will understand more easily where exactly does the book take place.

"I'll even let you plug your iPod into the radio"(Crutcher, 36). This quote proves that the book takes place in present day because there are iPods in the book which proves that the book takes place in present day because iPods are recent inventions.

Open Discussion Question: What is the setting in your book?

Why I Chose to Read Angry Management

The book I am reading now is Angry Management by Chris Crutcher. I am reading this book because I have previously read a book written by Chris Crutcher. The book's name was Whale Talk and I liked the book a lot. I like Chris Crutcher's writing because it is clear and detailed. I also like his writing because I can relate to it easily since all his books are about highschoolers and I am in high school myself. Another reason I chose to read Angry Management is because of the funny front cover. In my opinion, it is very funny because it shows a random guy making funny facial expressions while randomly jumping up in the air. I also thought the front cover was cool because it shows a heartbeat.  

Open Discussion Question: Why would you chose to read a certain book?