Reading

I have grown as a reader in my 9th-grade year. I have learned how to read faster. I have even learned how to read deep into a book. This has allowed me to unlock certain parts of books that I could not access anymore. I was handed the key to the interworking of books. I have read The Bean Trees, Lord of the Flies, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Purple Hibiscus, The House of Hades and I finished The Mark of Athena. I am currently reading Macbeth as well. On thing that is most defiantly an example of my improvement in reading is my Literary Analysis that I wrote this year. This was a piece that needed my new skill of reading deep into a book, hence the Analysis part of the name. Another example of my improvement in writing would be my Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian discussion posts. These need to compare the book to the outside world and the need for piecing out why the topic affects the book in the way that it does. This also utilized my newly found key to the depths of any book.

Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Discussion Post:

I chose to analyze the cartoon on page 57 of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. I chose this because it is very appealing and tells a lot about how Arnold is feeling. This cartoon depicts how a white kid at Reardan looks and how Arnold looks. This is a very clear image. The white kid had a “Ralph Lauren shirt” (57) while Arnold is wearing a “Kmart T-shirt” (57). This shows Alexie’s readers that Arnold is much poorer than the standard white child. The reader can also see that Arnold has very little positive role models while the white kids have some in their life. This all contributes to the fact that Arnold is less fortunate than most of the kids at his new school.

This picture also show us that Arnold is not really happy with the situation he is in. The reader can interpret this because Arnold is being very sarcastic. He uses sarcasm to emphasis his message. For example he draws that the white kid has “the latest Air Jordans” (57) and also describes that the white kid has an “ Ergonomic backpack (with cell phone)” (57). All of this contributes to the fact that Arnold does not like have less than the other kids. This picture illustrates what point he is make through just a few words, but Arnold’s choice of words makes all the difference. 

Excerpt from my Literary Analysis:

Samneric are the working force of Ralph’s faction, and they spend the most time building and tending to the fire. This is a very interesting connection that Golding makes because this is not a concrete setting, but a mobile setting instead. In other words, the fire moves from the mountain to the beach, and, eventually, to Castle Rock. Samneric never leave the fire whether it is by Samneric’s own choosing or someone forcing them to tend to the fire. They are up on the mountain when Eric says, "'We'll only have to fetch more firewood'” (97). Then Sam and Eric converse and Sam replies “‘I’m cold.’ / ‘So’m I.’ / ‘Besides, it’s’ / ‘dark. All right, then.’ / Eric squat[s] back and watche[s] Sam make up the fire. He built a little tent of dead wood and the fire [is] safely alight” (97). Samneric do not want to get firewood because it is cold and they are afraid of a beast in the forest. However, they risk their safety by getting more wood, and this exemplifies their obedience to and passion for their work. The fire, while useful to alert passing ships of their presence, will become wild if not constantly suppressed. Samneric take on this daunting task while having to suppress their own urge for wildness that is eventually alleviated by the killing of Simon within the circle.