Final Blogger Reflection

Click hereto view my best blog post.

That blog post above shows how I can analyze the development of the theme. In that post I say that the theme is to not worry about what other people think of you so much, that you get yourself into trouble. I showed an example of how this emerged by giving an example. " But just in case, I lower my menu and gaze hopefully around the restaurant. Please, God, just once, let there be someone I recognize. It doesn't have to be anyone I like, or even know that well-just someone I can rush up to and go mwah mwah and shreik...(Kinsella 82)." I then went to explain how this is an example of how Becky is always trying to impress and be like everyone else. Another example of how I explained how the theme developed is when I said, "Becky worrying about other people emerged from her looking at magazines and going to the big name brand stores. It made her want to be those people that are wearing those clothes." Those examples show how I made the standards on the rubric.

I chose choice one for this paragraph. A goal for mine is to read atleast two good books next try. I think I will be able to fulfill this goal if I like the book I'm reading. I need to find a book that has more action in it and isn't so slow moving. An improvement for reading would be to read more through out the trimester. My goal for writing would be to be more into my blog posts. I think I would enjoy my blog posts more if I had a more interesting book, with more stuff going on. An area of improvement for writing would be to make my blogs more thorough, and to have more details to my text.

The theme of my book Confessions of a Shopaholic is to not worry about what other people think of you so much that you get yourself into trouble. That is exactly what Becky did. This has been the theme throughout the whole book, because the reason why Becky is in this trouble is because she is always worrying about what others think of her. "But just in case, I lower my menu and gaze hopefully around the restaurant. Please, God, just once, let there be someone I recognize.  It doesn't have to be anyone I like, or even know that well-just someone I can rush up to and go mwah mwah and shreik...(Kinsella 82)." That is an example of Becky wanting to be like everyone else in the group she is in. She doesn't want to be the weird one sitting out, and not table hopping.
Becky worrying about other people emerged from her looking at magazines and going to the big name brand stores. It made her want to be those people that are wearing those clothes. Also from people at her work having really nice, name brand clothes.

In chapter eight, Rebecca gets a letter from Luke Brandon saying thanks for repaying him. This letter wasn't for saying thanks, it was clearly because Luke is interested in Becky. Becky then makes food for her friend. The curry she made was really spicy and it upset her because she was trying to impress Suze. She broke down crying and confessed to being in debt to Suze. Suze then suggests to not cut back but to earn more money.

Becky just got herself in an even worse lie. When she was talking to Luke Brandon and his family, she was wearing the scarf that she bought for her "aunt." Luke noticed and commented on it. Becky then made up a lie saying that her aunt died so she got to keep the scarf. If I were Luke and found out that she was lying, I would be very mad.

I think that Becky's flatmate should help Becky out more with her shopping problem. Suze has to have an idea of what is going on. Especially since Becky is always borrowing money. If she doesn't I think that she will find out soon, and be upset with Becky. She will force her to stop more, even though Becky has been trying to stop. Suze would be a big help.

I think I am going to start a new book. Does anyone have any really good book recommendations?

Analysis

"This is getting embarrassing. I'm standing, marooned, being utterly ignored by the person I want to table-hop with."
What's happening at this time is that Becky is standing alone and Luke isn't responding to her greeting. It is really getting embarrassing to her because she is trying to fit in with everyone and "table-hop."
From this I can infer that Becky will embarrass herself even more trying to fit in with everyone else. It's already gotten her in trouble with money.

This book review of Confessions of a Shopaholic just helps explain what exactly is happening in my book. It talks how Rebecca is struggling and it hints towards her possible future love interest, Luke Brandon.

After reading many articles, I have learned that shopping addictions is a major problem for people. This article shows how addicting it can be. I even found out that Mary Todd Lincoln had a major shopping problem.

1. A tone in my book would be desperation. Becky is very desperate and wants to buy everything. An example of this is "'What do you need twenty quid for?' says Luke Brandon, from the front of the room.
'I.... my aunt,' I say defiantly. 'She's in hospital and I wanted to get her a present.'"
This shows how desperate Becky is that she would lie about her aunt in the hospital for her own scarf. A mood in my book is frustration. The readers get frustrated from Becky acting careless and selfish. During that quote I was very frustrated at how she was acting and other readers would be too.
2. "'She likes the fresh air,' says the woman thoughtfully. 'Walking in the countryside.'
'Perfect!' I say in relief. 'Why not try the travel section for a walking book?'"
This quote shows when Becky changed the lady's mind when she was trying to pick out a book that she didn't think the daughter would like. Becky's tone was caring, so it made the lady believe even more that it was the right choice for her daughter.

So far my book has been moving a little bit too slow in my opinion. I think that something major needs to happen, because the big conflict in the story is Rebecca's shopping addiction. It's an interesting conflict, but I don't think that it is enough to carry on through the whole story. I think that something really big needs to happen to make the story more interesting. I will continue to read this book though because I do wonder what will happen and if Rebecca will continue with her new lifestyle. I can predict that she will give up soon but then get back on it. I think this because Rebecca isn't that strong of a person, and I feel like she can break easily.

Rebecca started out as a very vein, careless person. She was very selfish and spent money all over the place. But as the story is progressing she is turning less selfish and isn't spending as much money. She's trying to start a new life style and save money to be more successful and get herself out of debt. At the beginning of the story Rebecca lied and said that she needed money for her "sick aunt" and took money from a coworker to go and buy a new scarf. Now I can't see her doing that because she wouldn't have wanted a $300 scarf, and also because she is now only getting things she absolutely needs.
Since Rebecca's change she hasn't really been around a lot of people. She's only been around her room mate so far and she hasn't acted any differently. But at the beginning Rebecca acted almost as she was better than every one else. She is changing for the better, into a better person.
Rebecca's change affects the plot because the main problem in the book is her shopping addiction, and she is now changing to get rid of that problem, which is major in the book.

I keep thinking about how selfish Rebecca was being when she took the money from Luke for her "sick aunt." That is one thing that really bothers me about the main character is her selfishness. I hope that by the end of the book she will realize what she has been doing and will change. If she stops being selfish, then she wont be shopping all the time, and will hopefully be focusing more on her job.
One thing Rebecca should do is get a job that she is interested in. She could maybe write for a shopping magazine or a fashion magazine, instead of for a finance magazine. She will be happier, and be a lot more productive.

One book that I highly recommend would be Ruined by Paula Morris.In this story the main character, Rebecca, goes to New Orleans to stay with her aunt while her dad is on a business trip for a year. She has a really hard time making friends with all the stuck-up rich kids she has at school. Finally in the cemetery Rebecca meets a new friend named Lisette. Later Rebecca finds out that her friend is really a ghost. Rebecca find out many shocking secrets about her and Lisette, leading to many conflicts, and it goes deep into both of the girls pasts. I really enjoyed this book because there is always something shocking coming in almost every chapter. You never get bored with the book. Also, the book is spooky, but it isn't too scary so it's enjoyable.

Confessions of a Shopaholic Movie Trailer

I watched the movie trailer for Confessions of a Shopaholic. I was shocked by what Rebecca looked like. I imagined her with blonde hair. The person playing who I am pretty sure is Luke, isn't what I imagined either. I imagined him taller and with darker, shorter hair.

From what I have read so far, I can predict that Rebecca will start to date the man that gave her $20 named Luke, because I can tell that he is interested in her because he "coincidentally" was at the same spot she was. I wonder if it will work out because he is really into his work, and Rebecca is the complete opposite. I can also predict that if Rebecca starts dating Luke, that her shopping ways will stop, because Luke does not seem to be the person that would let her be stupid, and buy unnecessary things. That prediction then makes me question if Rebecca will be mad that she isn't allowed be a crazy shopaholic anymore, which will ruin the relationship.
A text-to-self connection I have with this book is that I like to shop a lot, like Rebecca. Not nearly as close as Rebecca is though, because that would be bad. A text-to-world connection is other shopaholics around the world. This article states that 1 out of 20 shopaholics' habits affect their careers, just like Rebecca. A text-to-text connection is with the book Twilight. Bella knows that loving Edward is not good for her, but she can't let him go, like Rebecca knows that shopping is not good for her, but she can't stop doing it.

Suze, Becky's flat mate is also a shopaholic. I wonder if Suze will want to change first or Becky. I predict Becky will first because Suze gets money from her parents still.

The setting of my book is in London, England. It was hard at first for me to get used to the money system like "twenty quid" instead of dollars. I also keep imagining the book being set in New York, because that is what I would call an archetypal setting for a shopping movie or book (for America at least).
A big setting is in the press conference areas. In there a lot of the people wear big name brand, expensive clothing. This makes Becky jealous and it makes her want to go out and buy more and more clothes to be like them, even if she doesn't have the money. I think that Becky shouldn't pay attention to what those people are wearing because they have better and higher paying jobs than her.

 
The main character in the book Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella is Rebecca or "Becky." From what I have read so far I have learned that Becky cares a lot more about herself and shopping than her job and other people. She is in a lot of dept from buying things she doesn't need and used someones money to buy a scarf for her when she said it was for her sick aunt. Also during the press conferences she goes to she doesn't pay attention, she just thinks about shopping and draws in her notebook. From how Becky has been acting I can predict that she will get into some trouble with her job since she knows nothing about finance, and doesn't care for it, get fired, and go into more dept. She will be a round character in the book.

Many people are "shopaholics" like Becky. Being addicted to shopping is actually a serious problem for a lot of people which puts them into a lot of debt. This article talks about the many "shopaholics" including a man that has spent over $600,000 on clothes in three years.

Prompt B.

Jack is a five year old boy. He is like most five year olds: he plays games, he has friends, and he has a big imagination. But Jack doesn’t have real friends: his friends are objects are around Room, the games he plays are with his Ma and only Ma, and his big imagination is kept inside the tiny 11x11 room, he and Ma live in. They are held captive, but Jack doesn’t know. Jack was born in Room, and doesn’t know about the world around him. He is only used to Ma and being able to do pretty much everything he wants to in Room. Once Jack and Ma manage to escape, he has to learn how to live like other people. He has to respect the people around him and get used to change. An example of Jack getting used to other people is, “‘Now shush, there’s other people next door, remember, and you’re disturbing them.’” This was Ma talking to Jack, reminding him that there are other people in the building and that he can’t be loud in the middle of the night. This advances the plot because it adds a lot of conflict in the book. Jack doesn’t want change, but he is forced to, which causes him to fight with other people. He even wants to return to Room, which makes him fight with Ma. But as the book goes on Jack gets used to some of the change, and manages to cope with other people and everything around him.

In the Room Article, it talks about some of the choices Emma Donoghue made throughout the book. The writer talks about how she understands why Donoghue made those decisions and how it affected the book in many ways.