Paper Towns Blog Post

***WARNING!!! SPOILERS!!!***

Over the break, I read Paper Towns by John Green. I thought this was an amazing book because it had a really intricate plot and also had a very meaningful message behind it. While I was reading the book I noticed that the book started off in a “weird place” and was wondering how the author would be able to pull the entire story together. As I got further into the book and finished it, I realized that the book ended in a perfect place, and the setting of the beginning and end of the story that seemed weird to me ended up benefiting the theme of the story.

As the story begins, Quentin Jacobsen is summoned by Margo Roth Spiegelman to play pranks on all the people who’ve hurt her recently. We didn’t get a lot of background information before the action began, so it was different from most stories I’ve read before when we just jumped into the rising action of the story after a very short exposition. As I was reading the rising action, (Quentin and Margo pranking people) I thought it was going way too fast to “fill up” the entire book. It seemed odd to me that they were done pranking by half of the book, and I had assumed that there was nothing after Quentin and Margo’s pranking excursion. I think I felt that way because John Green built so much suspense leading up to the final (and “craziest”) prank, that I felt like nothing could top it since it was supposed to be so huge.

Around the middle of the story, I started to see how John Green was going to tie up all the loose strings in the story. I envisioned different endings for the story, Quentin finding Margo, Quentin not finding Margo, Margo coming back to Florida to see Quentin, Quentin giving up on his Quest to find Margo, etc. At the resolution of the story, when Quentin finds Margo, I realized that the imperfect timing of the story fit the plot and theme to a tee. Quentin expects a perfect meeting when he finds Margo; that she’ll be grateful to see him and he’ll have saved her life. But it’s not the perfect meeting Quentin imagined, and almost nothing turns out as Quentin has planned. The end of the story is not really finished; it just ends with Quentin and Margo staring at each other. It’s not a typical perfect ending where you know what happens to the characters. I saw that the meeting wasn’t perfect, the ending wasn’t perfect, and the timing of the story wasn’t perfect- but the story is not about being perfect. The story is about wanting perfection, and realizing that in the end, perfection isn’t always the best thing. I think John Green made this point in the story, but also tried to slip it in through the imperfect timing of the story, to make the reader dig deeper and find how the theme can affect more than a story, but real life as well.

In conclusion, I loved this book. I connected with the characters, and the plot, and the theme, and it was all just so amazing! I think John Green tried to apply his theme through the story and through the timing of the story, helping the reader think about the theme more and about how it applies to them. Overall, this was a great book, and I really like the subtle ways John Green slips his theme in to improve the reader’s experience. 

The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict Blog Post 3

The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict Blog Post 3

            Well, I’m sorry to say that I’m still reading The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict, but I think I’ll finish pretty soon, since I don’t have too many pages left. I decided to focus on a topic that I don’t really understand in the book, the contract Violet’s family has with the mining company. Everything was going fine, until the mining company’s drill got stuck in an accident, and then they decided not to touch the drill to damage it. Since they couldn’t touch the drill, no progress was made, and no money was given to Violet’s family. The contract lasted five years, and expires in a week. Since Violet wanted her family to gain money, she tried to rescue the drill, and when she couldn’t, she protected it. Now, Violet thinks that meeting Nicholas and John is fate, because of the timing, and them hopefully finding the treasure before the contract expires. I decided to think of a reason why Violet would think this.

            Violet’s family is struggling financially, and Violet is mad at the mining company for “using” Violet’s family and making them lose money. I think that if the drill was damaged then the mining company would have to permanently have to stop mining on Violet’s land, and they said they should protect it so that in the future they could eventually continue drilling. I remember Violet saying that she was naïve when she was younger and actually believed the mining company. I think she wanted to protect the drill so that the company could someday continue drilling and her family could get more money, and she said she was naïve because she actually believed the mining company’s “lies”.

            However, I don’t understand how finding the treasure would help her family. The kids aren’t even sure what the treasure is, much less where it is and how to find it. Also, the mining company’s contract will end next week whether the find the treasure or not. Maybe Violet thinks that if she finds the treasure it will balance out the money her family lost in the mining deal, and she’ll be able to support her family and go to art school.

            I think the author is trying to involve very complex plot lines, but he’s not doing a very good job of balancing out explanation and details. As I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, he includes many unnecessary details that don’t benefit the story. I think that the author should include more explanation on complicated plot lines and exclude all the unnecessary details.

March Nonfiction Blog Post

            The overall main idea of “Puerto Rico hopes military can put dent in crime” by Arthur Brice, is that Puerto Rico has so much crime that they need to bring in the military to hopefully stop the crime. The article discussed why the military was being brought in, what the military is going to do, and what some locals thought about the crime. There were 807 homicides, which is a 10.5 percent increase since 2007. There are also very strong ties between the crimes and drug trafficking. Crimes have been committed for so long because the public doesn’t have much faith in the police department because of corruption with the department. These details discuss things that are happening in Puerto Rico that encourage crimes, and why military action needs to be brought in.

            The author wants readers to think that Puerto Rico is a very dangerous place where crime occurs very frequently. They also want readers to feel pity for innocent citizens in Puerto Rico who are in danger from all the relentless crime going around. The author uses quotes from people who live in Puerto Rico to make readers see what life is really like for people who live there. For example, ‘"It might help," said Tony Santiago, owner of Rent the Bike in Old San Juan. He questioned whether some of the Guard members are up to the task. "What do they do for a living," he asked. "Maybe they don't have the knowledge to handle the situation like a policeman would." No one seems to question that there's a problem and that something needs to be done about it.’

            From this article, I will take away the fact that crime is already alarmingly high in Puerto Rico, but that it seems to increase every year. I also learned that Puerto Rico’s location has a lot to do with the crime going on. My thinking has been shaped, because I feel bad for the innocent citizens of Puerto Rico who are in danger, but I also feel bad for the people committing the crimes because sometimes, the amount of crime is related to the location of Puerto Rico. My thinking has been changed, because now that I know that many crimes are related to drug trafficking, I think they can be avoided, and that people can know better. I’d like to if there’s more crime in cities than in the countryside, because they interviewed someone who lived in the countryside who said they weren’t really affected by it, yet they’re forming a neighborhood watch. Those things seem contradictory, and I’d like to find out more about that.