Metacognitive Blog: And Then There Were None

            In my previous draft on the And Then There Were None essay, I didn't include how the character felt when handed the exam, while taking the exam, and after the exam (reaction). I also didn't compare the character to myself as to how we would both react. When I was given feedback from my peer editor, they underlined what I did nicely and what I forgot to include. I tried to attempt to have a similar writing technique as Agatha and make my character (Vera) act like themselves like in the actual book. I didn't feel comfortable with the conclusion, so I went back and tried to rewrite and add more to the end to explain what writing styles I chose. 

            The written feedback on the essay helped me the most, and so did the peer review checklist. I liked having the essay read by another person to see if they understood the concept that I was trying to present. I didn't share my essay with an adult, so I don't know if that would of helped, but I tried to make the essay so anyone reading it could understand it. The review checklist was most help full because I could go back on my own, and read the essay and check off the steps that i've already done. Then, I could go back later on and see what I was leaving out and add it in the essay. Written feedback on the timed writing helped me a lot too because it showed me what you were looking for, and to have it reviewed by an actual person was nice. 

            Over the year, I will try to make myself a checklist if it's not provided and go through and proof read my essay to see if I included everything needed. Looking at a rubric would also be very helpful and writing the essays slowly would help because I would take the time and see for anything i've missed. I will try to see what others are doing to see what their strengths are as writers and learn from my peers. I will definitely read it to an adult to see if they understand the point I was trying to get across. Hopefully over the year, I will improve as a writer and find new ways to write an essay to the best of my ability.

           Some of my weaknesses are that I tend to state the same thing over again in an essay to try to get my point across. I don't add a lot of commentary and have a hard time finding quotes that match what im trying to say. I could try to mark important quotes while i'm reading so later on, I will have an easier time understanding the story. One important goal I would like to achieve is to use bigger words and improve my vocabulary so the words would flow better when i'm writing. Again, I hope to set high goals and achieve them and improve  as a writer and reader this year.

Looking For Alaska redo: summer reading choice book essay

Looking For Alaska redo

For my choice book, I read Looking For Alaska. Throughout the book, Miles (the main character aka Pudge) develops a strong relationship with Alaska, The colonel, and Takumi which ends up to be his closest friends at Culiver Creek. The theme of this book represents love and hate, more so you should appreciate something before it’s gone. The first detail that explains the theme is when Miles tries to find individuality at Culiver Creek and so he manages to start over. When Pudge decides to go to boarding school (high school), he searches for “The Great perhaps” and to “escape the Labrynth”. This means Pudge is confused with his life and he doesn’t know where to go. Pudge doesn’t fit in, so he tries his  best to fit in with the other people at his school and truly find himself. This is significant to the story because it shows Miles personality and where he is in the beginning of the book. When Miles gets to Culiver Creek, he meets his roommate, Chip, but Chip prefers to be called the Colonel. Then Miles meets “the hottest girl in all of human history”(Green 14) which is Alaska. Lastly, he meets Takumi, a Japanese friend of The Colonel and Alaska and their friendship starts there. When Pudge says he meets the hottest girl, Alaska, it is important to the story because it shows he likes her and his opinion on her before they become close friends. Miles tries to find individuality, so he hangs out with them to see if he can find himself or who he really is. Mainly though, he tries to meet new people and fit in, so this is another reason he hangs out with them. This ties in with the second detail which is building a bond and pressure from society. Miles starts smoking and drinking because his friends (the Colonel, Alaska and Takumi) do it. He’s being pressured into doing things he wouldn’t consider doing and he feels the need to do what they’re doing because he wants to fit in. Alaska states that the Colonel, Miles and Takumi smoke to enjoy it, but she “smokes to die”. This quote is important because this shows that Alaska is a deeply unhappy person and maybe inside she feels suicidal everyday but acts fine on the outside. She’s unhappy because of her moms death and regret is building up inside of her. This also portrays that Alaska has the courage to tell her friends she’s a deeply unhappy person because she trusts them and this shows how close they are. This is also when truths, secrets and the past starts to come out slowly. The third detail that explains the theme is how lives affect you and guilt/depression. Alaska’s mom passed away from a seizure when Alaska was little. They were at home and her mom passed out on the floor. Alaska didn’t do anything about it until her dad came home and her mom was already dead. Alaska feels a lot of guilt and bashes on herself because she thinks it was her fault that her mom didn’t survive and she would still be living today if Alaska saved her. In another sense, Alaska starts to impact on Miles life and changes who he is, his life and his way of thinking. Alaska said she regretted not appreciating her existence until she died. The last detail is when it all ties in together and it is heartbreak and love. During Miles time at Culiver Creek, Alaska bursts at 2 in the morning, crying, she drives off while Miles makes sure she doesn’t get caught and she gets in a car accident, and dies. She was also awfully drunk but Pudge, The Colonel and Takumi felt there was a stronger reason than just being drunk to die so easily. At the end of the book, they find out Alaska forgot about her moms death date, passes it and gets incredibly upset and drives off trying to go to her grave while her friends distract the Eagle (principle). Miles feels it was his fault she died and he let her go even though she was drunk and out of her mind. He feels guilt and heartbreak because he loved her so much. There was a quote at the end of the book by Thomas Edison that Pudge said and it was, “ It’s very beautiful over there. I don’t know where there is, but I believe it’s somewhere, and I hope it’s beautiful.” Thomas Edison’s quote was significant at the ending because it ties everything in the book and shows that even if Alaska is dead, Pudge will still pull through and everything's a new beginning everyday. When Pudge says “there” as in “I don’t know where there is, but I believe it’s somewhere, and I hope its beautiful.” Maybe he was talking about heaven and how Alaska went “there” after her death and he hopes it’s beautiful because he loved her so dearly. All of these details summarize the main theme which is to appreciate something before it’s gone. Pudge had a talent, knowing people’s last words before they died but he’s sad and regretful that he will “never know Alaskas”. This quote was important because Pudge knew every last words of a lot of people and yet he will never know Alaska’s which says he’s regretful and sorry that he let her down and couldn’t save her nor be there when she got in the accident to know her last words. This is because he loved her and wanted to cherish every moment left with her.