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.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Friday, May 8, 2009
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.
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.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
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.
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.
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