Lullaby: Outside Reading Quarter 2 #7

The book Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk is about a journalist who comes across a song that mysteriously kills people when sung. Couples would sing the lullaby to their children and in the morning they'd be dead in their cribs. The journalists goal is to destroy every copy of the deadly poem. All of the copies of the poem are in a book called Poems and Songs From Around the World and whenever someone opens the book it automatically opens to page 12, the page with the poem.

Quarter 2 outside reading #6

One night, Shot tells Echo that the night that the night he Rant kissed him he was infected with rabies. Echo told him that she knew, and Rant did everything he could for her not to dump him. He bought her roses and several cars. He bought her a Skylark, Lincoln Continental, LeSabre, Cavalier, Taurus, Cougar, Grand Am, Grand Marquis, and Lebaron. All of them she totaled in party crashing. Eventually, all of his party crashing teammates let it go that he had rabies, and he became really good at it.

Quarter 2 outside reading #5

Recently, Rant and Echo started to become intimate and romantically involved. Echo has no idea that Rant has been spreading rabies all over the city, so she kisses him all of the time. But, Echo is a prostitute, which Rant doesn't know, so she spreads it even more. One night during party crashing, Rant kisses Shot to prove some point he was trying to make. Immediately, Shot thinks "That tastes like rabies." He went to the doctor and sure enough he's infected. Most people when they're infected don't even realize until they're dead. Rant is spreading this disease like SARS in China.

Quarter 2 outside reading #4

"Party Crashing" is a type of demolition derby that takes place on the roads. Party Crashers play in teams and they use flags to let other cars know who's playing and who's not. Every night is different. In the spring, a common flag is to write "Just married!" on the bumper with shaving cream and pretend they're honeymooners. During hunting season, party crashers tie fake dead deer on the roof. Rant joined Echo, Green, and Shot's team when he became a party crasher. Each person has their own task. Echo drives, Green looks out the passenger window, Shot looks out the back window and right back window, and Rant now looks out the back window and left back window.

Obama announces Clinton, Gates for Cabinet

Barack Obama chose his democratic candidate rival, Hillary Clinton, to be his secretary of state. He chose Robert Gates, who was on Bush's administration, to remain as defense secretary. Obama chose Clinton and Gates to help him decide when the right time is to pull the troops out of Iraq. Also, Obama said he believes in having a cabinet full of strong personalities and individuals. Even though him and Clinton were running against each other, he says that most disagreements are magnified during a campaign and won't be a problem.

Quarter 2: Outside Reading #2

Rant Casey used to stick his hand into snake and rabbit holes to get bitten. When an animal bit him it apparently made him feel good. After a while, Rant contracted rabies. Rabies can be spread very easily, even through saliva. Since Rant was popular in his small town, it spread very easily. Also, Rant got involved in a game called "Party Crashing". It involved people who dressed up as soccer moms and brides and drove around hitting people. Each car has four people, and one day a few party crashers needed someone else to be in their car. So they pulled over to Rant and asked if he wanted to join.

Quarter 2: Outside Reading #1

In the book Rant by Chuck Palahniuk, it's told in the format of testimonies and memories of Rant. Buster "Rant" Casey is already determined as dead in the beginning of the book. He died at a young age but he impacted a lot of people during his life time. Irene and Chester Casey had Rant when they were teenagers so Rant grew up a little differently than most kids. Also, people say that Rant started a big rabies epidemic in their small town. Everyone in the town had to be very careful when going outside because there were frequent dog attacks. Friends of Rant said that he had a very good sense of smell and taste, better than any human they knew. Irene Casey noticed when Rant was little that he was different than other kids when she discovered his wall was covered with his picked boogers. That was the day that he stopped being her perfect child and his life changed forever.

Superheroines

Female superheros seem to all follow a similar pattern:
They always wear revealing costumes,
they are completely unrealistic,
but they mantain to be intelligent and strong women.
The male superheroes always think that the female women are weaker than they are in the comics but they are equally strong when they fight the villians.

The Invisible Woman, from The Fantastic Four, has always been seen as being intelligent and sexy. In the movies, Jessica Alba makes sure that the intelligent part is clearly shown.

This cover of Wonder Woman just shows that they are drawn with unrealistic body shapes and revealing clothing.



Batgirl, shows how strong a superheroine can look and be.


Robin: You're pretty good at this, little girl.
Batgirl: Well watch and learn, little boy
(From Batman & Robin 1997)
This quote shows how the male superheroes find the female superheroes weaker then them but the females always prove them wrong.


This video is the trailer for Supergirl in 1984. It shows Supergirl flying around in a short short skirt. Still, she is saving people and does portray being a strong woman.

Outside Reading #5

While Scarlett is living with Melanie and Charles' Aunt Pittypat, Scarlett is welcomed by Melanie. Earlier she said that Scarlett was like a sister to her but now she has a chance to really show that she feels that way. Although Scarlett is very jealous of her, Melanie doesn't realize it and continues to treat her as her own sister.
Before she was a widow, Scarlett would have shown how she felt but now she's not allowed to. In the 1800's women weren't respected as much as they are now. Now, if a woman's husband dies it's socially acceptable for her to remarry but back then if she did she would be seen as trashy. Back then, women were almost just property of their husband's. I think that since Scarlett's husband has died, she'll have to be nice to Melanie even though I don't think she'll ever like her.

Outside Reading #4

After marrying Charles, Scarlett has a baby boy named Wade. Shortly aferwards Charles goes to the war and dies. Back then, being a widow meant always dressing in black clothing and not having any fun at all. If Scarlett was seen laughing she was thought of as not grieving over her husband's death. She's no longer able to be the fun free spirt that she used to be. Scarlett is forced to stay at home with Wade, who she forgets is sometimes even her child. After a while, her mother Ellen thinks it'd be a good idea if Scarlett went to Atlanta to stay with Charles' Aunt Pittypat. Going to Atlanta might open Scarlett's eyes and give her a new view on things, but she'll still have to act as a widow.

Outside Reading #3

After Scarlett in Gone With the Wind is confronted about being rude with people, one of the men that Scarlett flirts with named Charles proposed to her. She agreed to marry in hope to make Ashley jealous again and leave Melanie. Despite her efforts, Ashely marries Melanie and Scarlett marries Charles. Immediately after, Scarlett regrets doing this since it got her absolutely no where and gave her less of a chance with ever being with Ashley. Even though Scarlett still doesn't like Melanie, they had a friendly conversation after both the weddings. Melanie was very nice to Scarlett and considered her now to be like a sister to her. So far, Scarlett has acted very hostile to women other than her mother but I think this might change in the future with Melanie.

Outside Reading #2

In this part of the book, Gone With the Wind, Scarlett tries to make Ashley jealous. Ashley is engaged to Melanie, but Scarlett of course doesn't think that Melanie is right for him. While everyone at the barbecue is resting, Scarlett confesses to Ashley that she loves him but he still says he's going to marry Melanie. One of the guests, Rhett Butler overhear their conversation and tells Scarlett that she's very rude and doesn't act like a lady. After, Scarlett hears women at the party talking about how she's not a lady. They talk about how she flirts with everyone. After, the news spreads about the attacks on Fort Sumter, all the men go to fight.

Outside Reading #1

I've been reading Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell and I've read about 85 pages. So far, I've noticed that the protagonist, Scarlett O'Hara has a very vivid personality. For one, Scarlett seems to think she can get anything she wants since she grew up in a rich family where she was very spoiled. Also, she is much more outspoken and opinionated than the other girls. At the time, girls were just supposed to do what they were told but Scarlett has an argument for everything. She's also much more flirtatious when it comes to guys. All the other girls are timid, but Scarlett plays around with them and teases them. Scarlett seems to take people and material possessions for granted and I think that things are going to change for her soon.

In the book Animal Dreams two sisters, Codi and Hallie, are different in many ways. Codi always has felt that people preferred Hallie over her for her entire life. Hallie and Codi are different in many ways and toward the end of the story Codi realizes that Hallie isn't superior to her. She also realizes that she has her own unique qualities. Codi has always thought that when her and Hallie were younger that Hallie was the one who was always protective of animals. When she's older, Codi talks to an old friend and his told that it was always Codi who was the one who wanted to save the animals. Hallie was the one who always followed in Codi's footsteps when they were little. A difference between Hallie and Codi is that Codi seems to never be at home when Hallie can make home anywhere she goes. When Hallie left for Nicaragua, Codi was a little envious that she could just make a home there right away. Also, Codi always felt that Homero liked Hallie better. Towards the end of the story when Codi took care of Homero, she realized that he might have always preferred Codi over Hallie. In one of Codi's letter to Hallie, she described Hallie as being Godlike. This apparently upset Hallie because she didn't see herself that way at all. Codi thought that Hallie was Godlike because she always wanted to save things and bring peace to the world. Even though Hallie and Codi were very close as they grew up, they both are very different and have their own good qualities about them.

I recently read...

A book I read recently was The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. A patient in a mental hospital tells his story of traveling around New York City and discovering that no one will catch and save the youth, but they have to develop and suffer on their own. The author proved this thesis by having the main character, Holden, talk constantly about how he wants to be the one who saves children from falling of the edge of a cliff while their playing. Holden realizes that he can't always be the one who saves them and they have to take care of themselves. I agree with the author's position how children need to learn some things on their own and that adults aren't going to be able to teach them everything. I really liked this peice because it always was interesting and I wouldn't be able to stop reading it.

Adjective Paragraph

Since I could remember, I have always been shy and my family moving around a lot made school difficult for me. With every new school came new classmates, but I feel very uncomfortable talking to new people so it took a while for me to make friends in each new place. Of course, when I did make friends we would move and I would have to start the process all over again. Fortunately, moving to Edina a couple years ago was my family’s final move. Knowing that we were staying longer than in past places made it a little easier for me to make friends. I know that I am still going to be a shy person but I think recently I have managed to come out of my shell.