8. The Ordinary World

      The protagonist in my novel is Percy Jackson. His ordinary world is not like the usual happy and comforting type usually seen in most media. Percy's ordinary world is in New York. It is more specifically in various schools that he has been kicked out of including Yahnze Academy and his apartment building where he lives with his mother and step-dad. Percy doesn't like the schools that he goes to and never does well in them so that is a bad thing about his ordinary world. Another bad thing about his ordinary world is his step-dad. Percy really hates his step-dad. He is always rude to Percy, he takes Percy's money to gamble and is a slob. The only good thing about Percy's ordinary world is his mother.



      I chose this picture to describe Percy's ordinary world because I think that he feels that the world is dull and grey and not in his favour. The only positive in his life seems to be his caring mother. This direct quote is when Percy gets home from the Yahnze Academy and his step-dad, Dave, gives him an unpleasant welcome.

      " 'Where's my mom?'

      'Working,' he said. 'You got any cash?'

      That was it. No Welcome back. Good to see you. How has your life been the last six months?" ( Rick Riordan, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, 31).

Corrin, Dwight. "Up the Alley - Black and White - Cityscape & Urban Photos - Life on the Prairie." Life on the Prairie - Photography from Wichita, Kansas, United States. Dwight Corrin, 10 Feb. 2009. Web. 06 Dec. 2011.

7. Novel Questions and Predictions



      I've just started a new book so I have quite a few questions. My biggest question is; is Percy Jackson (the main character) really who he seems to be? A lot of weird things have been happening to Percy. These things include him being attacked by his teacher that turned into a monster and strange knitting ladies staring at him. The second event doesn't sound serious but the characters in the book seem to be very afraid of the event. I'm thinking that Percy is like a demigod or is related somehow to an ancient hero because the story says that something happens to him at every one of his schools that forces him to leave. One of these school events was that a snake slithered into his crib in preschool and he strangled it to death. That story is exactly the same as the myth of Hercules. That is why I think that he might be a demigod or something of the sort and totally different than he seems to be at the start of the book.



Micheals, Wayne. "Masonic/Occult/ Monuments in Washington DC…." Avenueoflight on Xanga. Xanga, Fall 2011. Web. 30 Nov. 2011. <http://avenueoflight.xanga.com/582173123/item/>.

6. The Hero

    The hero in my book is John. He has a few qualities of a hero. These include being group oriented, a leader, clever, sensible, educated, encouraging, honest and he learns in order to grow. The following quote proves that John is clever and educated, " 'I thought all these advertisements looked odd." I took the brochures and spread them out on a nearby bench, flipping and rearranging them until all of the text printed in silver made a legible message."(Rob Payne, How to be a Hero on Earth 5, 111).

     

      I chose this picture because it shows a leader, like John, leading a group somewhere. This is much like my story where John is a main leader in the group of non-dimensionals on Earth 5. This picture shows John's leadership qualities and his other qualities like group orientation, and encouragement.

"Group Leader." Presenter Media - PowerPoint Templates, 3D Animations, and Clipart. PresenterMedia. Web. 19 Nov. 2011. <http://www.presentermedia.com/index.php?target=closeup>.

5. Character Archetype 

 

     I am posting about the character Nate in my book, How to be a Hero on Earth 5 by Rob Payne. I chose "the mentor" for his archetype. This quote proves that Nate has some of a mentor's qualities: "I wasn't even sure I'd get here in one piece, but I know I had to come for two very important reasons: to bring you a change of clothes, and to stress the gravity of the situation." (Rob Payne, How to be a Hero on Earth 5, 145). It shows that he is helping or aiding the hero, John, through his adventure first of all by bringing him clothes and second by informing him of his situation. Nate since the start of the book has been preparing John for his adventure, but leaving out some details for John to find out himself. That is much like what a mentor would do. At the start of the book, John didn't appreciate Nate's help until he really needed it. Nate seems to represent the wise old man and that is why he is the mentor in my book.

 4. The Protagonist



        "But who had time for pointless stuff like knowing the best way to enforce the two-ketchup-packets-per-customer rule? I had homework. I had a life." (Rob Payne, How to be a Hero on Earth 5, 4)

         From this quote I learned that, John, the main character, works at a fast food restaurant with rules that he clearly was supposed to learn but didn't. It also tells me that he would rather be doing other things than working, even homework. I assume that John likes to take the quick way out of work by cutting corners and not listening to rules.

         Based on the events so far in the book, I think that John will be sent off to his relatives and the plane will seem to crash but land into a parallel universe. Here he will have to find a way back to his dimension using some rare contraption or element that he must find by himself.

         I chose this video because when John arrives in London, England after his strange experience on his flight even stranger things happen at the airport. It feels to him almost like he is hallucinating because of the situation that he gets put into.

3. Text to Text Connection        

        This week, the book that I'm writing about is Shattered by Eric Walters. "As I got closer I saw a sign on the building-The Club. The lettering was in bight orange paint, crudely done and peeling away." (Eric Walters, Shattered 18).
         My connection to this quote is a text to text relation. The second text that I am relating to is Sketches by Eric Walters. The two books are both about street people and help centres for them in some way. The quote in Shattered describes the soup kitchen for homeless people, which is like the art studio that street kids can go to in Sketches. Both books have characters that play important rolls at these help centres  and they both take pride in running their buildings. That is why I can relate the quote from Shattered to Sketches.

2. First Book Response

        The first book that I read this year was The Landing by John Ibbitson. The main character is Ben. He lives with his uncle and his mother on the shores of Lake Muskoka. They make a living fixing cottages for the rich people. One of these rich people from New York inspires Ben to continue pursuing his dream as a musician. One November day, a tragedy happens on the Lake, changing Ben's life forever.

       This book, in my opinion, seemed very empty. Things happened slowly and infrequently, but I believe that the author wanted to portray Ben's life like that. The author made up for the little action with great descriptions for every small event in the book. This made the book more interesting, but only for someone with patience. It wasn't until the last few pages that the book hit its climax. Overall, the book was lesser than my expectations before reading.

1. Quotation Response

     

“To read is to fly: it is to soar to a point of vantage which gives a view over wide terrains of history, human variety, ideas, shared experience and the fruits of many inquiries.” ~A.C. Grayling

        I think that this quote means that reading is like flying in a sense. We get a wide view of man's thinking about history, ideas, experiences and thoughts from a single point. That single point is a book. And this book expands our knowledge greatly. This quote represents me very well because I feel that reading is like flying because we can look at all of mankinds past and all of the thoughts and ideas that we have imagined in a book. Just like you look at the landscape below you when flying. While we read, we gather all this information and it is like our knowledge soars above what it used to be. If we don't read, then we get lost in our knowledge of human's past. That is something that I wouldn't want for myself. I like to keep learning about new things and old.

http://www.readfaster.com/famousquotes.asp