The Final Post

The Soloist definitely, was one of the best books I have ever read. Im so glad this was chosen for our class. The reason why I think I enjoyed this book so much was the fact it was a current story. For some reason current books seem to interest me a lot more. I made a connection with Nathaniel Ayers, and I understood the love and compassion he had with music. Although, it was a good story it also taught me a lesson. I learned about a disease I was not familiar with, schizophrenia. I never really considered the effects this can play on a persons dreams or goals, which was the case in Ayers' life. This book taught me a value of life as long as their is someone who cares for you, you can get through anything. 

13 -22

For my previous post I brought up three questions I wanted to ask myself. I asked myself, “What does he like to write about?” “Who does he like writing for?” And, “Does he see something in these people we cannot see?” I just basically wanted to know what kind of person Lopez is.  I think that Steve Lopez is not your regular or average joe. I definitely think he has something in his soul that everybody does not have. How does someone have the time and dedication to spend with a homeless man. What type of person does that? I think that Steve Lopez has a reason for writing this book. He might have written this book to tell his readers about the disease schizophrenia and the effects it can have on a persons life. In his story this person is Nathaniel Ayers, a man who was musically talented but his gift was taken away by his disease. This should not be an issue and that is what I feel Lopez portrays through his novel. Never let anything get in the way of your dream.

* Let me know if i was to drawn out about what i think Lopez feels, thank you..

The Soloist 7-12

For this weeks reading, I really took into consideration Steve Lopez as a person. I asked myself these questions, " What does he like to write about?" "Who does he like writing for?" And, "Does he see something in these people we cannot see?"

During this week in school we talked about these questions and issues. It really made an impact on my personal thoughts. In class we read a short article by Lopez. It was about a girl by the name of "Sweets" who played basketball. I was very glad we were able to read this article. It was very relevant to me and to my questions about Lopez. I found that Lopez likes writing about people or certain individuals who he feels have a "hidden talent" or "had to overcome obstacles through their own power." In the Soloist this image is Nathaniel Ayers, a poor, schizophrenick man playing the violin. "Sweets" is this image in the article, a young girl from a poor backround who has a gift in basketball. These two readings are very similiar. I came up with the answers to my first two questions, but really cant find one to my third. Lopez must see the inside of these people, even though it might sound preposterous. I also think Lopez is a very unique individual because he met this poor, streetman Nathaniel and is not gving up on him. I wonder how much longer Lopez will continue to help him. When is he going to stop? And what is going to happen? This is what makes Steve Lopez such a unique individual.


Focus: Take a look at my questions and see if you can come up with your own answers to them, especially the third.

The Soloist 1-6

The Soloist so far, is an easy fun read, that makes my unfocused mind stay glued to the pages. The reason why I like this so much is because of Steve Lopez's unique style of writing. This is not the way I am use to reading, he writes more like an article then the structured novel type. I also enjoy this because it is a real life situation, and is based on someone living in our society.

Nathaniel Ayers is a poor, homeless, schizophrenic living in the slums of Skid Row, in downtown LA. A local newspaper journalist, Steve Lopez comes across Ayers. He finds this young man playing a violin, and notices two odd things. One, he is making some progressive noise, for a man living on the street. And two, notices a small disadvantage, his violin only has two strings.

After his first meet with Ayers, he becomes so amazed. Lopez periodically visits Ayers trying to find some personal backround information on his life. After a few more visits, Lopez Finds out that Ayers was a student who studied at Julliard, lives in Skid Row, and has a mental dissability, schizophrenia. This led to the dropout of the world known Julliard. I really enjoyed every page in the first six chapters, and looking forward to the rest of the book.

Focus: I know this might be boring to do, but can you closely check and see if I made any grammatical errors. I really think that I should start paying atttention to my writing as a whole, rather focusing most on the information. Thank you.

Catcher in the Rye

In the novel, “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger, the main character Holden is a teenager who refuses to grow up because he is stuck in this childhood life. Throughout the novel, Holden struggles through teenage life because he cannot accept the responsibilities that are given with growing up. Holden is in this state because “he chooses to be trapped between the world of innocence of children and the complex world between adulthood.”

In the beginning of the novel I feel that Holden makes a comparison between what the reader wants to hear, and what he is going to tell you. Throughout the novel he really avoids mentioning his parents and also avoids telling the truth about anything too personal or boring. This is probably the reason why I thought the novel was such a hard reading, to me it was more a like a journal entry. When I was reading this, I kept on waiting for a turning point, climax, some action to take place, and it just never happened. These points in the story are what keep my easily distracted mind focused. The structural form I am familiar with just wasn’t their. I am not taking anything away from this book, thought it was a great novel. I think his signature style of writing is what makes him unique.

*I would like whoever comments my work or just reads it in general to pay attention to the first short paragraph and especially the words I put in parenthesis. Think of what this means.

Death of a Salesman

Going into this book, I knew it would be difficult. In the previous year I saw the play “Death of a Salesmen,” which was quite confusing. I found it this way because I was very puzzled about the hallucinations, and at first had no clue why these were occurring. One of my reasons I found it complicated was probably because it was not one of the best arrangements. This now being the second time, I went into it with a more open mind and had a different appeal on things. When Biff found his father cheating on his mother, I realized it made him give up on everything he lived for. This major point in the book I did not get in the play. Watching the movie was definitely a bonus, it made vague points clear. It allowed the audience to consider the time period and also put emphasis on Willy Loman’s stress, at work and for his son. This time I really enjoyed “Death of a Salesman” and thought the movie was a great asset to the book.

* When commenting on my post please pay attention to my grammer and let me know if I made any mistakes with my spelling, sentence arrangement, etc. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to add them in to. Thank you

Third Quarter Reflection

Blogging for me so far has been awesome; I really enjoy this new feature. The main reason I like it so much is because we get to look at our classmates writing and ideas as well as the other 11th grade class. Throughout my 11 years of being a student, I never really got to see how my peers write and think. This is a very interesting, and lets me view other classmates writing and I can compare my opinions to theirs which is actually really cool because I can have something to write about. This, also allows me to have a week of thinking and gathering my thoughts together in preparation for the weekends blog. I was never really a fan of English but this whole new feature is very beneficial. One more thing I forgot to mention is responding. It is an easy way to gain points for your grade and at the same time you can look at peoples writing you never viewed before and comment, agreeing or disagreeing in a respectful way. This is a very new and great aspect in our English Class and definitely should be continued throughout the year.