Text-to-Text

I can make a text-to-text connection to my book. I think that the Perks of Being a Wallflower can be connected to the other book I read this tri, the Fault in our Stars. The reason I can connect these two books is that both books are based off high-schoolers, with many problems. In the Fault in our Stars Hazel is dealing with cancer, and in Perks, Charlie is dealing with a lot of friend and family problems. Yes, they are different but they still connect in a lot of ways. Another connection of these two books is that as I've in a lot of my other blog posts, is that the books are very realistic. The authors tell you, the reader, how it really is for the characters. That is why I like the two books so much.

Final Assessment in English 1b

This is a revise of one of my blog posts: What Real Life Issues are Reflected in my Book

In "the Perks of Being a Wallflower" the author incorporates very realistic things that happen in the book, so it shows real life issues, especially in high school. Charlie doesn't "sugarcoat" anything in his letters or tries to make it sound better than what it is. That is one reason I like the book so much, because I don't want to read something that is fake all over.

The first real life issue that is in the book a lot, is the drinking and smoking of all of the high school students. Charlie goes to a lot of parties with his older friends, where they smoke marijuana and drink.This is an issue today with a lot of high school students. An example showing this is, "When summer came, Brad didn't have to worry about school or anything, so his drinking and smoking got a lot worse"(Chbosky 44). The author, Stephen Chbosky, tells how the parties are. He doesn't try to make everything more innocent or better.  Charlie doesn't really have an opinion on the drinking and smoking therefore he doesn't do it a lot.
Since teen drinking is mentioned a lot in my book here is some underage drinking stats.

Another real life issue that is in the book is the family issues that are in the book. Charlie doesn't have a perfect family. And I don't think anyone does. He feels guilty about his aunt's death, his siblings always fight, and his family doesn't always get along. This shows that Stephen Chbosky feels that no family is perfect. I agree with him. The real issues Chbosky incorporates makes it easier to relate to the book, and to really have a connection to the book.

Those are just some of the many real life issues that are in my book.

Conversation with a Character

I'm back to reading the Perks of Being a Wallflower. I am kind of sad though because even though its a good book, it's not going to be as good as the Fault in Our Stars. But, I hope I can finish the book before the school year is over.

If I could have a conversation with anyone in the book, I would obviously pick the main character, Charlie, because he has the most problems in the book. His life fascinates me the most. I would want to ask Charlie a lot of questions. Here are some that I would ask:

• Out of everything that has happened to you, what has impacted your life the most?
• Why do you feel like your aunts death was your fault?
• How different would your life be if your aunt never died?
• How many books did you end up reading and writing about?
• What was your favorite book?
• What would your life be with out Sam and Patrick?

 Those are just some of the questions I would ask Charlie, except I would probably have to leave out the part about his aunt because Charlie is really sensitive.

Book Review

I just finished "The Fault in Our Stars" and it was an amazing book. I recommend everyone for it. Especially if you like love stories, but when that's not what it is all about. There is other conflicts to make the plot more interesting. It isn't a big chick flick, so boys can read it as well. I give it 5 out of 5 stars.

Hazel has cancer that is slowly killing her. She doesn't want to make friends, because she doesn't want to hurt them when she dies. Her parents force her to go to a support group where she meets Augustus Waters. Augustus instantly starts flirting with Hazel. Hazel tries to push him away, but Augustus doesn't stop. They go on a big adventure together and fall in love. They have many problems and changes in their lives. I can't tell anymore because I don't want to spoil anything.

Why do you think the author wrote this book?

I haven't finished "the Perks of Being a Wallflower" yet, but I have started "The Fault in Our Stars." I think that it is a really amazing book so far. I have been reading it for two days, and I'm already on page 105.
I think that the author wrote this book to show that just because you have cancer, it doesn't mean that you can't be like everyone else. John Green shows this in the book because he doesn't revolve the whole book around cancer. It's about Hazel and Gus and their relationship. They act like any other teenagers, and John Green really shows that.
I really like this book so far, and I can't wait for the movie.

Krista Ramsey Introduction Activity

Here is a link to the article I read, by Krista Ramsey.
In this article Ramsey is talking about how when she saw the Opening Day Parade someone put there kid on a flower pot and then stood on them with his kid in order to see the parade better, and while he was standing on it the flowers went everywhere. She talks about how it makes her mad that someone paid a lot of money for those flowers, and someone works hard for them to look good, and then a selfish person would just ruin them.
The best line in this article would be "I watched your selfish action and felt a slow burn of insult and injustice." This line shows exactly how Ramsey feels about what the man did with his son. It shows how angry she felt, and how wrong she thought it was. Ramsey uses an elevated diction word choice, injustice.This word choice shows how angry and how wrong she thought it was.
Ramsey's writing style in this column is casual. Although she used some elevated diction, she was just expressing her feelings and she wasn't trying to sound fancy. A quote to show this is "And I stood there thinking of all the things I should have said to you and wondering why I didn’t." Krista Ramsey didn't sound professional or like she was talking about anything formal. It was like she was talking to one of her friends throughout the article.

Questions for Krista Ramsey
~What are the perks of being a writer?
~Do you ever have a hard time thinking about what to write?
~What is your favorite topic to write about?

I'm pretty far into my book, and I already have a book planned out to read next. I want to read "The Fault in Our Stars." Everyone that has read it before said that it was a really good book. I also really want to read it because the movie looks amazing. I definitely want to read the book before I watch the movie, which comes out in June. Shailene Woodley, who was in Divergent, is going to be the main girl character, which makes me really excited because she's a good actress. I hope that I enjoy it as much as other people that have read it did.


Here is the movie trailer.

What Real Life Issues are Reflected in my Book

In "the Perks of Being a Wallflower" there are a lot of real life issues that happen, because the book is so realistic. Charlie doesn't "sugarcoat" anything in his letters or tries to make it sound better than what it is. That is one reason I like the book so much.

The first real life issue that is in the book a lot, is the drinking and smoking of all of the high school students. Charlie goes to a lot of parties with his older friends, where they smoke marijuana and drink a lot. This is an issue today with a lot of high school students. The author, Stephen Chbosky, tells how the parties are. Charlie doesn't really have an opinion on the drinking and smoking.

Another real life issue that is in the book is the family issues that are in the book. Charlie doesn't have a perfect family. And I don't think anyone does. He feels guilty about his aunt's death. His siblings always fight, and his family doesn't always get along. This shows that Stephen Chbosky feels that no family is perfect. I agree with him.

Those are just some of the many real life issues that are in my book.

The Most Important Lines

The most important line (or lines in this case) would be the poem that Charlie read aloud at his friend's Christmas party. Charlie didn't write the poem, and nobody knows who did, but it does mean a lot. (more after poem)

Once on a yellow piece of paper with green lines
he wrote a poem
and he called it "chops"
because that was the name of his dog
and thats what it was all about
his teacher gave him an A
and a gold star
and his mother hung it on the kitchen door
and read it to his aunts.
that was the year Father Tracy
took all the kids to the zoo
and he let them sing on the bus
and his little sister was born
with tiny nails and no hair
and his mother and father kissed alot
and the girl around the corner sent him a
Valentine signed with a row of X's
and he had to ask his father what the X's meant
and his father always tucked him in bed at night
and was always there to do it
 
Once on a piece of white paper with blue lines
he wrote a poem
he called it "Autumn"
because that was the name of the season
and that's what it was all about
and his teacher gave him an A
and asked him to write more clearly
and his mother never hung it on the kithcen door
beause of the new paint
and the kids told him
that Father Tracy smoked cigars
and left butts on the pews
and sometime they would burn holes
that was the year his sister got glasses
with thick lenses and black frames
and the girl around the corner laughed
when he asked her to go see santa claus
and the kids told him why
his mother and father kissed alot
and his father never tucked him in bed at night
and his father got mad
when he cried for him to do it

Once on a paper torn from his notebook
he wrote a poem
and he called it "Innocence: A Question"
because that was the question about his girl
and thats what it was all about
and his professor gave him an A
and a strange steady look
and his mother never hung it on the kitchen door
because he never showed her
that was the year Father Tracy died
and he forgot how the end
of the Apostles's Creed went
and he caught his sister
making out on the back porch
and his mother and father never kissed
or even talked
and the girl around the corner
wore too much make up
that made him cough when he kissed her
but he kissed her anyway
becuase it was the thing to do
and at 3 am he tucked himself into bed
his father snoring soundly
 
That's why on the back of a brown paper bag
he tried another poem
and he called it "Absolutely Nothing"
because that's what it was really all about
and he gave himself an A
and a slash on each damned wrist
and he hung it on the bathroom door
because this time he didnt think
he could reach the kitchen---- 

This poem is extremely powerful in the book. It is very important for Charlie especially since his friend, Michael, killed himself. After Charlie read it, Bob told him that it was someone's suicide note. Charlie said, "I really hope it wasn't because then I don't know if I like the ending." Charlie's friends don't know how close Charlie was to Michael, so I don't think that they know how much this means to Charlie.

Best Thing About My Book

I'm on page 42 of my book (Perks of Being a Wallflower) so far, and  I really like it. I think that one of the best things about my book is that the whole story is told by letters that Charlie is writing to an anonymous reader. I feel like I really know Charlie even on page 42 because he doesn't hide anything in his letters. He is really honest and tells his feelings about all of his friends and some of the scarring things of his past. I think that the other best thing about my book would be that it's real. Chbosky really went into the life of a teenager and put them in this book. He adds all of Charlie's struggles and very lonely moments. In a lot of other books, it never is like how highschool goes. That makes the book relatable and really fun to read.

CNN even talks about how the book is relating to a lot of teenagers in this article.

Author of my Book

The author of my book, The Perks of Being a Wallflower  is Stephen Chbosky. He was born in 1970 in Pittsburgh, Pennslyvania. Stephen Chbosky graduated from  the University of Southern California's Filmatic Writing Program. Not only did he write the book, but he also produced the movie of The Perks of Being a Wallflower. His first movie he produced is The Four Corners of Nowhere. He also prduced Jericho, a movie about a postapocalyptic world, and the movie Rent.

Here is a link to an interview with Stephen Chbosky about how The Perks of Being a Wallflower became a very controversial book. It got banned from some schools because of the drug, alcohol, and sexual things happening in the book. Chbosky defends his book in this interview, and also shares the good things coming from his book. Including stopping some suicides.