Sunday, September 29, 2013

I Am Here - Ema Toyama

Milan Castro                                                                                                                      Sept.29,2013 
808                                                                                                                                                     ELA
                                                                   RR. - Character

In the book "I am here!" By Ema Toyama, the main character, Sumino Hikagi changes in many ways because of her allies and friends helping her "get into the sun". The change I notice in her the most is that her friends help her get away from her loneliness and help get her noticed. This change happens throughout the whole book.

In the beginning of the book, Sumino tells about her past and how she saved a cat from getting run over by a car but then got run over by a motorcycle because the rider claimed to not have seen her. This accident sent her to the hospital for two months. And by the time she went back to school, everyone had made cliques. Soon the end of the year came and she still didn't have friends. She was “invisible" or that's what she says she is. The only friends she has are on her blog which she has two people who comment who try to help her. Their names are Mega Pig and Black Rabbit. They blog and encourage her to do things that will get her noticed. But she believes she doesn't have the strength to do it. Then she officially meets Hinata. He is one out of the two popular guys. When he has to leave he says "goodbye Sumino!" This is an example of her changing because someone out of everyone has noticed her.

Another example of her changing is in the middle of the book is when she is waiting for Hinata to go home so they can walk together, a girl looks at her and says "Goodbye!" Then her friend says who are you talking to? And she says the hamster game. This is another example because earlier, they were playing with personality tests and Hinata invited her into the class circle. This girl talking to her is another example of her changing because now since she was in the class circle, people are starting to notice her and she is starting to not be invisible anymore.

My last example is in the end of the story on page 272 when a girl named Aya spread a rumor saying that Sumino forced Hinata into a pity date. But everyone decides to believe Sumino over Aya because Sumino told them how she was always alone and had no friends until Hinata decided to tell her he liked her ever since he saw her save that cat. She also told them that e is really important to them. This also shows that she is changing because she has the guts to tell everyone that they never knew who she was until she started hanging out with Hinata.

In conclusion, Sumino needed lots of people's help to "get into the sun".

Sunday, September 15, 2013

The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

Milan Castro 
808
            In the book “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, there are many themes in this book that you can recognize while you are reading. One theme that I recognized was that you don’t know a person until you know their past. I noticed that this theme shows up three times in the story, in the beginning, middle, and ending.

            The first example was on page 49. When Nick Carraway is at Gatsby’s party, he starts talking to Gatsby. After Gatsby has to talk to some other people, some of the other party guests were talking to Nick about Gatsby. “I think he killed a man” said a woman at the party. This reflects back to my theme because since Nick had just met Gatsby, he didn’t really know his past. So hearing a comment like this makes someone feel like they might know more about the person.

            My second example was on page 86. Nick has just invited Gatsby and Daisy over for tea. “We’ve met before.” Gatsby muttered. This is another example of my theme because since he has collected even more of Gatsby’s past, thus meaning he is starting to know Gatsby as a person and as a friend.

            My third and last example is on 100. In this scene, Gatsby is telling Nick about his old friend Dan Cody. He told him the story of his friend and how he died on the boat inhospitably. This also connects to my theme because Gatsby is showing Nick inside his past and personal life. This proves that Nick know knows Gatsby as a person and as a friend because he shows him something he wouldn’t normally tell others unless they were close friends.

            In conclusion, you can’t completely know a person until they let you in on their past.