Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Test Prep: Pretty Little Secret

    In my book the main conflicts usually come from secrets.  In my book there are many secrets but there is one big one that caught my attention.  One of the main characters Spencer has a big secret that is not going to make her parents so happy.  Not so long ago Spencer found out she was adopted and her real mother lives in New York.  Her parents have no idea but her boyfriend does.  Because of all the drama around the topic of her being adopted her relationship is hanging by a thread.  
    Spencer is not having a fun time with her boyfriend mad at her and her family mad at her to for a totally other reason.  If her parents find out what she is planning to do them her life would become a total disaster.  I think that Spencer in the first place shouldn't keep this a secret because when her parents find out that she was keeping it a secret for such a long time they would be more mad then they would if she had told them in the first place that she was looking for her birth mother.
    I wouldn't be able to relate to something like this but I know that you should not keep a secret from your parents because sooner or later they finally will find that secret out.  So you are better off just telling your parents before that huge secret turns into a huge problem.  Problems usually form from secrets.

Test Prep: Skyscraper

    In the song "Skyscraper" by Demi Lovato it shows that we can survive anything no matter what and that we shouldn't give up.  The skyscraper is used to show how we are like buildings rising is like growing.  I think that this song also says that you can over come any obstacle that is in our way.  Demi Lovato actually lived through it.  She went to rehab for reasons but she over came them and i think that is what inspired her to write this song to show that if she can go through things like that then everyone could overcome their obstacles.
    For example one line from the song that made me think that is "Go on and try to tear me down/ I will be rising from the ground/ Like a skyscraper..." This makes me think that because she is saying no matter what you do to me I will be strong and I won't let anyone make me feel bad about myself.  Another example that made me think that was "You can take everything I have/ You can break everything I am/ Like I'm made of glass/ Like I'm made of paper" This made me think that you can't let anyone bring you down because she is saying that you can make me feel bad about myself but she won't let the feelings take her down with them.
    This relates to life because there are many times in life when you feel insecure about yourself but you shouldn't let anyone or anything bring you down.  During those though times you should stay strong just like Demi did and you should never give up. 
     

Test Prep: Love

    http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/lost-love-2-3/  Is a poem about Love.  The poem is about a person that lost their only love and now they are alone.  In the poem it says how the person is crying and is all alone because their love is gone.  I think that the author is trying to say that loosing someone you love is hard but you have to be strong and can't loose hope of never seeing them again.
    I think this because in the first stanza it says "Void, empty hollow inside, My dreams have fled, my hopes have died".  It is saying that the person is lonely, and sad and totally lost hope in everything that is.  Also in the poem it says "The hurt is such no one should bear What's to life, why should I care?"  he says that because without her he is nothing and without her he doesn't care about life anymore because she isn't there.  This just proves that to some people love is every thing and that if they loose their love they fall apart.
    This can relate to life because everywhere around the world there are people that fall in love and then their heart is broken and they think that they have nothing to live for and that they have no reason to live anymore because they have no one in their lives to be with.   
      

Test Prep: People are awesome!!!!

     This article from http://www.good.is/post/people-are-awesome-hundreds-donate-to-buy-america-s-tallest-man-some-shoes/ is about Igor Vovkovinskiy.  Igor is the tallest man in the U.S.A.  Over the years Igor has been wearing shapeless clogs because his feet are to big for any shoe.  Because of the shoes Igor had to undergo 16 surgeries in the past 5 years which is a lot.  This article is mostly about awesome people donating money to help Igor get some shoes that cost $16,000.
   The author is saying that now at days people are really supportive of one another and that when they see someone who needs help they help.  For example in the article it said "hundreds of Americans have contributed more than $30,000 to the Vovkovinskiy shoe fund, allowing him to buy at least two pairs of quality shoes."  I also think that the author is trying to say that if we really put our minds to something then we can succeed.  For example in the article it says "Vovkovinskiy set up a website asking for donations to help him buy a pair of shoes".  That just shows that he didn't just sit there and do nothing he put his mind into making a website that would help him.
    I think the author is trying to say that if people really take action then they really can succeed just like Igor and that there are many people out there that would love to help.  Also I think the author is trying to say that you shouldn't be afraid to ask for help.    
        

Test Prep: Movies, Books...

    In the article From Page to Screen: Hollywood Targets Ya Fiction from http://www.npr.org/2012/03/24/149248062/from-page-to-screen-hollywood-targets-ya-fiction is about two books that a lot of people read the "Hunger Games" and the "Twilight" series.  This article talks about the greatest teen hit movies that came out over years.  It also says that The "Hunger Games", "Twilight", "Harry Potter" were the books and movies that really caught on with teen audience.
    This article is saying that over the years more and more books and movies come out that tend to be more for teens and that every year they seem to get better and better and people are spending more money on them.  For example in the second paragraph it says "$7.6 billion at box offices worldwide (and billions more in DVD and merchandise sales)."  was sold for Harry Potter.  Also they said "The Twilight books, Stephenie Meyer's girl/werewolf/vampire fantasies, were the next mega-hits ($2.6 billion worldwide, with one movie still to come)".  This just show how people were really into these movies.
    I think the authors purpose of this was to show how movies have impacted peoples lives and to show what teen audiences are interested in.  I think that with every movie to come the more people will be buying because as we get older the movies seem to get better and better.  

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Pretty Little Liars:Wicked

    Finding out your adopted can make you feel different things.  Maybe you feel sad or happy and sometimes even maybe confused.  One of the characters in my book is kinda going through something like this but, the thing is that she isn't 100% sure about it.  Anyway back to business.  Imagine that someone dies and everyone in the family was in the will except you.  If you were that person there might be a lot of things going through your head like "What have I done wrong or does this person just not like me" Over time you learn that only blood related family can be presented in the will so then you think maybe i was adopted.
    As I thought about what Spencer was thinking I understood a little of it.  I mean if I found out I was adopted I would want to know who my birth mother is.  On the other hand I wouldn't want to do that because there would be a reason if someone gave a baby up like that.  I would freak out even more if I went to this website that matches kids with their mothers and there would be a match because that would make it more real then it already is.  I learned that sometimes the mind plays tricks on you that sometimes you don't know what reality is anymore.  I think that Spencer is also confused about what is happening because maybe she wants to believe it but she can't.
    As your sitting there and reading this you should think about how you would feel in a situation like this.  Wonder about your feeling.  Would you have just left it alone or went away in search of your birth mother?  And think has the mind ever tricked you into thinking something is not real but actually is? 

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Romeo and Juliet the Baz Luhrman's version

    After watching the movie there was a lot to think about but I decided to stay with the topic music.  In this movie there are a lot of scenes that have music.  I noticed that the music would change according with the mood and the person's personality.  There were a lot of parts in the movie that had sad music and some had nice music.  Overall every scene had a song to go along with it.
    One example of where they used music was in the very begging.  They had a theme song to go along with every character when they where introducing them.  I guess this happened because they wanted you to relate more to the character and also to show what kind of person they were.  Another example of them using music to show something was with the scene of the fight and then when Romeo is sitting at the beach.  When Romeo was on the beach the music was much calmer then it was in the fight.  They did this to show that maybe the beach was a peaceful place but the city was much louder.  Another place there was a good use of music was when Juliet was thinking.  When she was thinking there was peaceful and right when she stopped thinking the music stopped.  I think this happened to show that Juliet was deep into her thoughts and then she got cut off.
    Overall the music was used in a very nice way and I love how the music always matched the mood or what was going on.