Blog Post 9

During my reading of the fourth book in the Percy Jackson series, I have had a certain question that is dying to be answered, "Where can I find out more information about these Greek gods that are always coming up in many different places within the book. About 1.5 months ago, in my first hour Western Civ. class, Mr. Blystra was teaching about the Greeks and their many gods. Although I believe in One true God, I still found this to be an interesting topic. I looked into some good books, as well as online and found out much more than I could imagine about the Greeks and their religion. This also began to dominate my reading life. Since then I don't believe I've put down the Battle of the Labyrinth, (which is the fourth book in the series), down yet. If you go online to research about the gods, lots of junk will appear. The key is to find exactly what books have told you, while still staying on reliable sites. Even though the Greek gods have been so fascinating to me lately, I still only have One God, whom I love and praise everyday.

Amount of reading in the last two weeks: 180 minutes

Blog Post 8

The movies based on the Percy Jackson series are completely different from what the books say. As most of these things go, I've seen the movies first, and I am now reading the entire series. They have only made movies for the first and second book and I am on the fourth. The movies revolve around a more older version of Percy who seems more mature. Lots of things are different because that's just how Hollywood works. It's sad, really. When I read a book as good as The Lightning Thief I look for the similarities between the movie and the book. When everything was so different in the book I was shocked. It made me kind of wonder what the author, Rick Riordan, thinks about the producers of the movie series. You'd think he would be pretty mad. I know I would be. If you thought about all the work that he put into this amazing series, and how the movie business just took it away by changing them so drastically. I would like to hope that the third movie is much more similar to the third book than the previous movies have been.

Reading Time This Week: 120 minutes

Blog Post #7

As of now, I am on the fourth book of the Percy Jackson series; The Battle of the Labyrinth. Thus far, this book is as good as the others in the series. I have enjoyed a lot throughout it and they seem to get better as they go on throughout the books. One thing that I have found most interesting so far in this book, (and in the entire series for that matter) is the crazy amount of accuracy the writer, Rick Riordan, includes in these books. Personally, I think that it really secures the entire book and series. Throughout it, I've learned more than  I have ever known about Greek mythology. I always knew the basics of it, but now, I know just as much as the ancient philosophers knew. Obviously,  the whole "gods" scenario is not the least bit true, but it is occasionally fun to think about this alternate world that we may not know about.

Reading this week: 120 minutes

Blog Post #6

I have just recently started reading the fourth book of the Percy Jackson series; entitled, The Battle of the Labyrinth. It has truly been one of the best series of books I have ever read. It is so intriguing because of the action, adventure, humor and pure creativity that the author, Rick Riordan, puts into this series. The reasons I love these books all come from qualities that I like to read in all books. With the action and adventure elements, the story is very suspenseful. These also give it great dialogue and detail. The humor within the book keeps the book lightly enhanced with joy so that it is not all depression and death. Rick Riordan is a very creative author whom has wrote many books other than this series. I'd like to read more of his writings in the future. His creativity abounds within all the books I have read thus far. Thanks to him, these books and reading are very enjoyable to me.

Time read in past 2 weeks: 165 mins

Lesson 2: Compound Sentences

Psalms 1:1-2
Blessed is the one
    who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
    or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and who meditates on his law day and night.

1. Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked, or stand in the way that sinners take,.... 

2. ....or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight....

Blog Post:
Have you ever been to an art museum or gallery and thought, “This couldn’t have taken more than 10 minutes to make… What is it doing here and how is it art?” That feeling is what first motivated me to write, because like Ron Swanson says, anything can be art. And that’s all very nice and open-minded, but I’ve seen everything from literal trash to completely empty rooms in museums, and it just irks me because there’s so much substantive work out there that deserves love and appreciation!

1. That feeling is what first motivated me to write, because like Ron Swanson says, anything can be art. 

2. And that’s all very nice and open-minded, but I’ve seen everything from literal trash to completely empty rooms in museums, and it just irks me because there’s so much substantive work out there that deserves love and appreciation!

Lit. Book
Death by drowning has honor if the wind picked you up and slammed you against a mountain boulder, this would not carry shame but, to suffer a mango smashing your skull or a plantain hitting your temple at 70mph is the ultimate disgrace.

1. Death by drowning has honor if the wind picked you up and slammed you against a mountain boulder this would not carry shame but,
2. this would not carry shame but, to suffer a mango smashing your skull or a plantain hitting your temple at 70mph is the ultimate disgrace.



Paragraph of Analysis: 

All of these examples are great examples of compound sentences. You can find compound sentences in all of these great sources. The poem from the lit. book has tons because it is a poem. Poems are very good at including compound sentences. The verses from Psalms were also great examples. The compound sentences really give more detail and description to some of the different sources. Considering the compound sentences are usually two combined sentences, there is almost never a chance for a short sentence. This makes the writing a little more interesting, but it also causes it to drag on a little bit.

Blog Post #5

1. http://hdw.eweb4.com/wallpapers/2172/


This picture represents the scene in the book where the half-bloods and hunters are voyaging through the god's junkyard. While going through it, they know that they shouldn't bring anything out of the junkyard because it is somewhat "cursed". Knowing this, one of them still tries to steal something and a giant robot/metal statue attempts to stop them from leaving the yard. The person, (who will go un-named for the sake of the book) ended up supposably dying while exploding the machine from the inside. 



2.http://www.swordsdirect.com/percy-jackson-movie-swords.html


This picture clearly represents the sword that Percy Jackson, the main character, uses throughout the series of books by Rick Riordan. This sword is actually a pen that turns into the sword that you see when it is uncapped. In the third Percy Jackson book we learn more about the origin of the sword and who made it when.

Time Read this week: 135 minutes

Blog Entry #4

During this past week I have been reading from a book by Rick Riodan called The Titan's Curse. It is the third book in the Percy Jackson series and all that has led up to it has been amazing. Although, a lot of what is said in the books does not correspond with my Christian beliefs. The whole series goes along with the idea of the Greek gods, (lower case g) and how they have a kid with a mortal. This child is called a half blood. Now, I obviously belief that Jesus went to cross to die for our sins. This series believes otherwise. The characters have a parent who they pray to and receive gifts from. The Big Three are the main gods in the book. Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades make these gods. The main character, Percy Jackson, is a son of Poseidon. In the book all these gods and magical myths are true. In real life however, we don't believe in such things. There is one true God whom we love and adore. His name is Jesus Christ.

Amount of time I read this week: 125 minutes

Blog Entry #3

At the moment, I am reading the third book in the Percy Jackson series. This book is titled The Titan's Curse. It is very good so far and I am enjoying it a lot. I have learned many things throughout this series of books. The first moment most importante is that you should never give up. Percy goes though a bucket load of troubles throughout the three books I have read so far, yet he never gives u up. Another Important life lesson that I have learned from this book is that it helps to have friends who will always have your back no matter the situation. Percy can always rely on his best friends Annabeth and Grover for help whenever he is in trouble. Finally, I learned to go out of your boundaries just a little. Percy is told to not go on a quest to save Grover and retrieve the Golden Fleece in the second book of the series, The Sea of Monsters.  HE Cruise Decides to go anyway with a little help from his friends and the gods. You will have to read the book to find out if he succeeds. 

Time reading this week: 140 min

Lesson 1: Simple Sentences

Finding Simple Starting Sentences:

1. "I yelled."(21)
2. "Nobody answered."(53)
3. "Annabeth grumbled."(114)
4. "'You're insane!'"(130)
5. "'Oh no.'"(151)

All references above are from The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

Finding Simple Action Sentences:

The god pursed his lips. He stuck his caduceus in the sand like an umbrella pole. "'Luke's father.' Normally, that's not the first way people introduce me. God of thieves, yes. God of messengers and travelers, if they wish to be kind.

Comment: Whilst describing the way that Hermes acts in this scene, the author uses primarily all shorter sentences. This helps in a way that shows that the god wants to introduce himself with a title almost, compared to a simple comment from the main character Percy Jackson.

Blog Post #2

     Something I found very interesting in the book that I am reading called the Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan is how many troubles that Percy Jackson and Annabeth face along their journey to the sea of monsters. A lot of these troubles are stories that can be found in the stories of the Odyssey and other Greek books. The two kids come upon many beasts and people that are mentioned in the Odyssey. People like Circe, and beasts like Scylla are in the book and in the Odyssey. This really strikes me as interesting because I like the Greek feel to the story. With these twists and side-routes to the main story, a lot can be learned from the characters that you have come to enjoy while reading the book.

Amount of time read in first two weeks: 233 mins

Blog Entry #1

Recently, I finished The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan. I have been urging to read this book for a while now, so that I may start this entire series. I loved it very much and I am glad to have begun reading this book. This is the first, of the five total books in this series and it focuses on a boy named Percy Jackson that isn't always the brightest. I can't give anything away, because that would ruin the book. A lot of interesting thoughts and feelings that I had never felt before came to me while reading this book. Since this was a book of my choice, I got to connect with it better on my own time. Lots of adventure and actions scenes occurred in the book. This made for an overall better experience while reading it. At times, the book made me feel startled, engaged, and finally satisfied by the end of this great read.

Reading Reflection and Goals

If I like a book, it is because it grabs my attention. I don't LOVE reading, but it isn't the worst thing in the world. I like most books, but I especially like books that involve adventure and action sequences. I do not believe that I have ever come across a book that I absolutely can't stand. I think that reading can help you grow your imagination as well as learn new ways of writing and the words you put into your writing. Reading is a valuable tool and it is important to use it well. My goal for reading this year is to read five to seven books. I want to read five to seven because that seems like a decent number range that is not to heavy or to light. Five to seven books shouldn't cause a large amount of stress compared to an outrageous number like 27,203,491 books. Okay. That was a bit exaggerated. I also want to read these books by spending around 20-30 minutes a day reading. Weather or not this is in school or out of. This should help me to finish with good timing for the end of the year.

Goal: About 2 hours a week

# of books: 5-7 books

Book

Word-to the word word...words