Blog #2

In chapter 2 of Always Running, we start to see the shift in Luis Rodriguez's personality and character. He begins to follow the wrong crowd, which he was accustomed to seeing, growing up around that environment. Rodriguez uses negative diction to emphasize how his education is lacking obedience and control. He attends Richard Garvey Intermediate School, which the reader can see, nobody takes their education seriously. However, can the fact that nobody is pushing them to follow the right path or their lack of materials or qualified teachers for the kids be to blame? Luis Rodriguez writes, "Most of the time, there was no pencils or paper. Books were discards from other suburban schools where the well-off students turned up,". The phrase "no pencils or paper", show how this school lacks the materials needed for a kid to be successful. Also, the books were "discards", meaning the other school books, that were thrown out or removed. If the kids at this school is aware of this, they may feel less than other students attending a school who has the materials. This causes a strain in a student's motivation to try because they see their surrounding, and they feel like they are at the bottom of the barrel. In addition, Luis Rodriguez uses words like, "well-off students" to show the separation of the two types of students and environments. He refers to them as being "well-off", because the kids who he's around are not for their education, instead,he sees and takes part of the chaos. He writes, "Gang graffiti on every available space of wall. Fires which blared from trash bins. Fights every day...Dudes who sold and took drugs...sometimes heroin which a couple of dudes shot up in the boys' room..". He uses negative connotation such as "gang graffiti", "fire", "fights", "drugs", and "heroin" to emphasize the amount of gang activity and lack of control this school has. This is what he witnesses every single day of school, and it may be the cause of his choices. Sometimes, our environment influences our actions and perspectives because that is what we are accustomed to and that's all we know of. There is no clear role model or authority to count on which makes these students act out. And like monkey sees, monkey do.

Always Running Blog #1

In Always Running, Luis J. Rodriguez uses imagery to describe the setting around himself. To begin with, he writes, " A 1950s bondo-speckled Dodge surged through a driving rain, veering around the potholes and upturned tracks of the abandoned Red Line trains on Alameda,". Luis J. Rodriguez uses phrases like "1950s bondo-speckled Dodge" to help the reader picture what the car looked like. The "1950s" shows the car is of used quality and "bondo-speckled" shows how the car may have rusted with the paint chipped off. Also, he described the type of weather that was occurring during his flashback of the move. He uses, "driving rain" to show how the rain was forceful, the type of rain that drops heavily upon the roof of the car. Toward the middle of this chapter, Rodriguez describes the atmosphere of the neighborhood around him. He writes, "On 105th Street the smells were of fried lard, of beans and car fumes, of factory smoke and home-made brew out of backyard stills. They were chicken smells and goat smells in grassless yards filled with engine parts and wire and wood planks, cracked and sprinkled with rusty nails,". Rodriguez fulfills the senses of smell and sight with the use of imagery. He uses imagery to accentuate the smell surrounding himself of, "fried lard" ,"beans", "car fumes", and "factory smells" to show how he lives in an area with a Latino culture influence. The "car fumes" can represent the smog that comes from the cars, with has a strong odor. Also, he mentions "factory smells", to explain how there may be a factory close by where they live which produces a lot of pollution. To accentuate the sight of his surroundings, he uses "grassless yards", to show how his streets yard aren't full of grass. To maintain a nice lawn, you need to water and mow it, and we all know that if you use high amount of water, your water utility bill will be high. The reader can infer that since the story takes place in a neighborhood of the working class, they may not water the grass to avoid a high water bill. Next, in those yards there is "engine parts" and "wire and wood planks" to show how these yards are filled with junk. I can connect to this scene because in my street, there's some sidewalks with wooden planks left by someone. Luis J. Rodriguez uses this setting to compare his neighborhood to the lavish neighborhood his mom works for. The reader can see the obvious difference between each setting. It is like two different worlds, those who are rich to the working class.

Blog #5

 One of the recurring themes that are shown in most John Green writings is the plot of self-discovery. Toward the end of the book, most of the characters recognizes the change within themselves from the beginning of the plot. John Green uses specific events and experiences to help the character grow out of their limited perspective. In Looking for Alaska, John Green sets the growth of Miles Halter by using external conflicts like "friends" and "death"to help guide him in his self-discovery, he was the character that showed the most self-discovery within himself. Due to the novel being written in Miles persona (first person), we are able to see this self-discovery due to the help of Mile's inner thoughts and perspective. John Green develops this theme of self-discovery by having the plot start off with Miles Halter as an awkward boy searching for his "Great Perhaps". Green then creates the setting of Culver Creek to be the place where most of the action leading to his self discovery takes place. With the help of external conflicts,which is his friends, he would then experience the events leading to him experiencing life which will help him grow. Most importantly, John Green throws in a climactic moment, when he decided that Alaska Young will die. This will create the discovery of Miles when he realizes that a new part of him is filled with regret, guilt, love, sadness, bitterness and he will begin to understand himself better by experiencing all these new feelings and thoughts. The message John Green is setting out to the readers is, life is all about searching for "Great Perhaps" and our "Great Perhaps" can be determined within our self and our experiences with life. 

       

Blog #4

   During Looking for Alaska, we see a shift of tone from the beginning half of the novel, comparing to the last half of the novel. In the "Before"section of Looking for Alaska,the tone of the book John Green illustrated was adventurous, sarcastic, and happier. John Green uses a colloquial style of writing, however it is based on the teenage essence. The tone of these characters sought to be revengeful, and adventure seeking. The quote helps capture the tone of the first half of the novel,"The point of this evening's festivities is to prove once and for all that we are to pranking what the Weekday Warriors are to sucking. But we'll also have the opportunity to make life unpleasant for the Eagle, which is always a welcome pleasure,". John Green captures the essence of teenage mischief and thrill-seeking adventure which is the tone of the first half of Looking For Alaska. Green uses the term "making life unpleasant for the Eagle" which creates the joy of creating mischief on their dean. Green also uses the style of writing sarcastically and jokingly, to show how these characters personality is similar to each others. On the other hand, John Green creates the tone of grief once Alaska dies in the second half of the book, “I picked up a blue chair and threw it against the concrete wall, and the clang of plastic on concrete echoed beneath the bridge as the chair fell limply on its side, and then I lay on my back with my knees hanging over the precipice and screamed” . This shows an accurate reaction one may have if they had lost their love one. John Green portrays anger when he creates the image of throwing a chair against the wall. He also uses personification when he writes, "beneath the bridge as the chair fell limply on its side" It shows how John Green is applying human qualities to the chair as it is being thrown, I believe he uses this device to portray how the character is dealing with the grief showed by the death of a loved one. The tones in this novel is adventurous during the first half of the novel, and grief toward the last half of the book. 

Blog #3

  
Throughout the novel, the setting mostly takes place at Culver Creek. However, this boarding school has many areas inside and around the school, which the characters like to hang out at. With this in mind, John Green uses sensory detail to help differentiate between each event's setting. His excessive use of sensory details helps create a mental image of how the setting appears to be and the appearances of the characters. During this scene, Miles Halter is admiring the appearance of Alaska Young while they are smoking cigarettes at the lake near Culver Creek. Green writes, "In the dark beside me, she smelled of sweat and sunshine and vanilla, and on that thin-mooned night I could see little more than her silhouette except for when she smoked, when the burning cherry of the cigarette washed her face in pale red light. But even in the dark, I could see her eyes- fierce emeralds,". In this excerpt, we can see how John Green helps paint this mental image of how Miles saw Alaska. He uses the sense of smell when Green explains how she smelled of sweat and vanilla, which most people have smelt at least once during their lifetime. John Green sets the time of the day when he uses the term, "thin-mooned night", he uses the detail of how the moon look instead of stating that it was night. John Green also accentuates how the "burning cherry" of the cigarette, which is the light that shone onto her face from the silhouette caused by the darkness. Green also uses a metaphor to show Alaska's eyes as "fierce emeralds", this creates an image of how her eyes are a striking green. John Green uses devices such as sensory details and metaphors to describe the features of the setting or characters in the book rather than stating the plain,old obvious. 

Blog #2

Toward the beginning of Looking For Alaska, Miles Halter is hoping to find his "Great Perhaps" while attending Culver Creek. A brand new year for Miles Halter at a new school is a new chance to experience what he did not before. A chance to fit in or be noticed, perhaps. John Green puts a common situation of "following the crowd to fit in", during the beginning of this book. In this scene, Miles Halter purchases cigarettes for his roommate, whom he hopes to be his lifeline into the social net. Also, Miles Halter smokes to try to fit in with his roommate, and try to impress Alaska, if she came along. I believe that this scene can connect to our society amongst teenagers because they want to fit in with the crowd. They are willing to do anything they are uncomfortable to avoid being "alone". People want to avoid feeling left out, so they do anything in their power to feel apart of something. John Green picked the most common "peer-pressure" our society deals with, which is drugs. Green chose this topic to connect with his fellow young adult audience because it is a common occurrence that most teenagers are familiar with. They have either experienced it themselves or seen someone go through that experience. John Green puts this common motif of peer pressure among adolescents, to establish a connection with his young audience.

Blog #1

In Looking For Alaska, by John Green, the story begins with an insight of who Miles Halter was before he left to Culver Creek, which is a boarding school. Miles Halter was not "Mr.Popular", but his parents insisted on throwing him a going away party because his mother had hope that she would see that he had friends. However, like Miles predicted, nobody showed up, besides Marie Lawson and her boyfriend who did not seem interested and left early. Toward the beginning, it seemed that Miles Halter did not have any self-confidence in himself because he wasn't noticed at his last school, which the reader can infer was the reason to attend a boarding school. In the beginning, the reader can see John Green's use of similes to paint the image of the scene happening. For example, John Green writes, "Florida was plenty hot, certainly, and humid,too. Hot enough that your clothes stuck to you like Scotch tape, and sweat dripped like tears from your forehead into your eyes,". Through the use of similes, the reader can picture the heat of Florida's weather. Green compares Mile Halter's clothes to Scotch tape, because tape is sticky, and when it is humid, our clothes can stick to our skin due to the humidity and sweat. Also, Green compares the motion of sweat to tears, to portray how the sweat just falls down from your forehead to your eyes. Similar to how tears fall down from your eyes to your cheeks. John Green's use of a simile is to help the reader picture how hot the weather is during Miles Halter's move. He wants us to feel the setting around him. Living in California, I can connect with Miles Halter because there is days where it is over 100 degrees. Also, John Green uses imagery to show us how Miles Halter's dorm looks like. For example, he writes, "Aside from one luxury- a private bathroom- I got a box. With cinder-block walls coated thick with layers of white paint and a green-and-white-checkered linoleum floor, the place looked more like a hospital than the dorm room of my fantasies,".  John Green uses detailed explanations to describe Miles Halter's room, so we can see through the eyes of Miles Halter. This room is pictured to be plain, and not of the expectations of Miles. Instead of saying the room had white walls and checkered floors, he uses phrases, such as, "cinder-block walls coated thick with layers of white paint", to emphasize how the room is put together and how it looks. Also, he compares his room to a hospital, because he was disappointed he did not get the dream dorm room like in the movies.  John Green uses imagery and similes to refer to the senses of seeing and feeling, so we can picture the setting in our head.