Plot Structure for City of Bones

The plot structure of a story starts with an (1)Exposition, then, (2) rising action, next, (3) the climax, then, (4) falling action, and lastly, (4) the resolution. I just recently read, and finished, City of Bones. There is always a plot structure in any type of larger type of writing, especially in a novel. The City of Bones plot structure consists on all the elements.

The exposition of this novel starts out with a girl, Clary, hanging out at a supernatural club that's for humans. She's with her friend Simon when she sees an attractive man follow an attractive girl into a secret room. After she follows them, she realizes they, being the boy, the girl, and the girl's friends, are nothing close to humans, starting off the rising action. In the rising action, she learns about his new world, her new life and the new world she discovers. She, and her new friends, find out major news about the new world and starting planning for what is to come. Then, the climax in the book was when a major event happens and they realize that there is a new revolution about to begin and they need to find a way to save the future. Then, a main character gets taken and then Clary feels like she needs to be the savior in it all, leading to the falling action. The falling action consists of fighting, saving people, betrayal, lies, and truth. The resolution is the new normal. In this book, the new normal consists of the characters living a life like the past, but knowing the truth. This book doesn't have an exact resolution because this is the first book in a series, so the book just introduced what the characters' new life turned out to be after the found out the truth.

Reading times:
Literacy Narrative; by me; 36 min.
Literacy Narrative; by me; 27 min.
Literacy Narrative; by me; 42 min.
"To Build a Fire"; by Jack London; 48 min.

City of Bones is Officially Complete!

Yes, it is true. You will no longer have to read my blogs on City of Bones because I have officially finished it. The ending wasn't as I had expected, or wanted, but I wasn't fully surprised. It wasn't a necessarily strong ending, but I would assume that's because it is the very first book in a series. "A series?" you might ask. Yes, that means that there will be other "City" books that I will be describing about in the minimum amount that I can type. The series consists of five books, each one with a title beginning with 'City'. I'm so excited to read more into the series, and to finish them.

The fuzziness of the ending, I believed, was put as an ending to the book so that it will make you desperately want to read the next book, City of Ashes. Although the author wanted you to finish the book and then, by adding an unclear ending, make you want to read the next, I had already become fascinated when I reached the halfway mark. I was captivated by the first book enough to know I needed to read the next and the next. I can't wait to feel the thick binding of the next book and to read the first line of what is to happen to Clary and Jace, the two main characters. I want to learn what Valentine, the antagonist, will do. I can't wait to begin City of Ashes.

Reading Times:
9/17/12= City of Bones by Cassandra Clare; 10 min.; 8 pages
9/18/12= City of Bones by Cassandra Clare; 45 min.; 41 pages
9/18/12= City of Bones by Cassandra Clare; 32 min.; 29 pages
9/19/12= Literacy Narrative by me:); 37 min.
9/20/12= City of Bones by Cassandra Clare; 28 min.; 23 pages

Pressure and (AH!) No Time

School has been going on for a about 5 weeks, give or take a little. With these for weeks, I have no more time, but a lot more pressure. The weekends, I always thought, are my free time. But I don't think that opinion is a very valid statement anymore. I have homework up the wazzoo, church, and "family time." In this mix of all this crammed time, I have to fit in sleeping, eating, and going to the bathroom. My friends, from my church, always want me to go to the mall with them or hang out, but I rarely have time to see them at church let alone when I could be studying or writing blogs. Also, I have a babysitting gig with a family in my neighborhood, the parents going to the LSU football games or going out with some friends. I can't turn them down necessarily, one reason to that is it's rude and two, I get pretty good pay. So as this all piles up, I get absolutely no time during the weekend to enjoy self-time. Thank goodness my swim meets are spaced out quite far over this month and the next, but when there is a swim meet, I am there at 7:50 in the morning ready to sprint down the lane in the mildly cold water.

If you would like an example, two weekends ago, I was able to go home on Friday and get some homework finished and then get a bot of sleep, but the next day I had to wake up decently early for my sim meet that started at eight o'clock. Directly after that swim meet, I showered, got dressed, and packed my bag of homework for babysitting until about eleven. After doing my hair for the next day, I went to sleep. Getting only seven and a half hours of sleep, I woke up the next day for church. Heading into church I went to my youth group, then them service, and then out to eat with my family for lunch. After getting home at around one, I went straight upstairs to do what homework I could before going back out for some more time, if I even needed more time, with my youth group. After getting home at seven, I fished my homework and went to bed around ten-thirty.

I think this description of my weekend explains the pressure I have, and the lack of time I withhold within a crammed, short weekend.

Still Reading... City of Bones Reading Response

So, yes, I'm still reading City of Bones, but I'm more than halfway done with it! The reason I'm still reading this (amazing) book is because, one, I'm a slow reader, and two, I'm very busy! But I've got in all of my 150 minutes and the book is very intense and incredible. I didn't realize how amazing this book was until I  have actually sat down and focused on this new, fascinating world. This book is a page-turner. You want to continuously read this book until you're done, but, sadly, that is also a fantasy. I wish I had WAY more time to read my new favorite classic. I would definitely recommend this to any fantasy lovers who want to be trapped in a new and unique world of history, beauty, and death.

The creatures in this book are described as beautiful, almost like you would want to meet them. The main character, Clary, seems to be torn, and, in my opinion, a bit annoying. She's confused about everything because she doesn't understand what's going on for the most part. I have pity for her because of her situation that she, and no one else, seems to know about. It's like her whole life has just been a dream and now she's waking up to reality. Throughout this book, there are battles between one certain creature and another. There is someone who dies in every battle, every death being quite gruesome, leaving me to cringe. I can't wait to see how this book ends, I have a few ideas on the ending, but I expect something major.

Reading Times:
9/11/12= City of Bones by Cassandra Clare; 8 min.; 7 pages
9/12/12= City of Bones by Cassandra Clare; 17 min.; 14 pages
9/14/12= City of Bones by Cassandra Clare; 22 min.; 20 pages
9/15/12= City of Bones by Cassandra Clare; 58 min.; 54 pages
9/16/12= City of Bones by Cassandra Clare; 48 min.; 45 pages

Ideas for My Literacy Narrative

The literacy narrative assignment was on a time when your opinion on reading or writing changed. So I sat in class wondering what I might be able to write about. Then it hit me, what about the time when I read my first "big book." I'm sort of free writing here, or as Dr. D calls it, writing my zero draft. I really hope this will turn out great and any input would really help out! So here is a part of my zero draft of my literacy narrative "Big Books".

I know it sounds stupid, but when I was little I had a fear of "big books." I was a very active reader when I was little, but all the books I read were small and wimpy. No matter how many times my mom would show me yet another fairly large book that I could read, I wouldn't read more than 70 pages. Until the third grade, I had read books like Junie B. Jones or Geronimo Stilton. Now, I know what you're thinking, "Those books are like less than 50 pages long. You've read those books in THIRD GRADE?!" But it is true. I was afraid of "big books." Then, for my seventh or eighth birthday, I had gotten the TV series Little House on the Prairie. It was a very enjoyable show that I loved watching, and when it came on a channel on the TV, I would freak out and have to watch it. So, as my mom was still trying to convince me to read books on a larger reading level, she had figured I very much enjoy Little House on the Prairie and recommended me the book. With this newly found love, I decided I should read it.

There was just a bit of my zero draft. There is most certainly more, but I don't want to give it all away. I hope you liked it and I can't wait to write more on the topic of my literacy narrative.

City of Bones: It Just Keeps Getting Better

My book, City of Bones, has been getting even more exciting than the previous blog post. Questions are being answered, mysteries are becoming solved, yet the author still throws in more questions and more mysteries. I personally think that although question are becoming answered, there's still a broader question yet to be answered. Clary's mom has disappeared, taken by her late husband, and, although we are figuring out way in which they could possibly find her, no one has actually attempted to look for her... I find this strange and unusual. Many mysteries, that are unanswered, are like this throughout the book.

I love this book because of it's fantasy world. There has been many fantasy world about wizards, vampires, werewolves, etc., but nothing of this sort. It has a new type of mythological creature invented in this story. A new mythological world has been created just by this story. It is interesting and different. It's a world no one's ever "seen" before. Me, being a lover of fantasy novels, quite enjoy this book, which is involved in a series, and it's whole new, unique world.

Reading Times:
9/4/12= City of Bones by Cassandra Clare; 12 min.; 9 pages
9/6/12= City of Bones by Cassandra Clare; 10 min.; 9 pages
9/6/12= City of Bones by Cassandra Clare; 5 min.; 6 pages
9/7/12= City of Bones by Cassandra Clare; 22 min.; 20 pages
9/9/12= Read like a Writer annotating; 60 min.; three literary narratives
9/10/12= City of Bones by Cassandra Clare; 45 min.; 42 pages

"In Defense of Sleep: A Sleeper's Manifesto" Take 2

Sleep is an important part of a growing teen's life, meaning that it's a very important thing in my life as well! There are four elements that improve in a child, or teen's, life when they get the right amount of sleep. Three of these elements were studied and proven by a study done at St. George, a private boarding and day school in Middletown, Rhode Island. The teens involved in this study, in ninth through twelve grade, started school later by thirty minutes. The kids were happier, had better concentration, their health improved, and their motivation increased.

The kids in St. George were happier after getting thirty+ minutes more of sleep. Kids were happier to go to classes, and many sleep-related depressions had decreased. By a survey, the students who claimed they were unhappy or depressed dropped from 66% to 45% (a 21% drop). Also, the students' concentration increased during the school day than before the school time change. They ate breakfast and got to their first classes on time. To add to this study, many other studies and personal experiences, have proven better concentration after a good night of sleep. Another element proven to increase through this study is that the students' health increased. There were less student visits to the health center at the private boarding school complaining about fatigue-related issues.

This study also proved another element, yet slightly more minor than the other three. The teens were also more motivated to get the sleep they needed and wanted. Since they had a later start time, the hypothesis for the later start time for these students would be to stay up later, but after the kids understood what it was like to get the sleep they needed, they were motivated to go to sleep on time and wake up later. Since these results were so great and it improved everyone's life, the school decided to keep the later start time and henceforth increased the students' life by improving their mood, concentration, health, and motivation.

Me being a teen, like them, understand what it's like to get sleep, getting enough or getting less than required. When I get enough sleep, I feel awake. I know that sounds obvious, but it's true. Also, when I'm not tired throughout the day, I realize that I'm in a way better mood to everyone throughout the day. I am a nicer and more fun person with enough, or more than enough, sleep. I can hang out with my friends and enjoy myself instead of trudging through the day, exhausted. Also, I concentrate better with the right amount of sleep. During school, I feel like I'm alert and ready to focus. Even on weekends, I process things better then when I don't get enough sleep. I can understand what people are talking about, listen, and learn. If I were to go to sleep earlier while waking up later, I can eat a healthy breakfast which helps me concentrate. I think that our school could definitely use a later start time for school. It would help kids get the sleep, energy, and, even nutrition they need to start out their day.

I got the study from http://www.naturalhealthstrategies.com/teens-happier.html

The Storm

The hurricane was a positive and negative effect on my break. It was a bitter-sweet storm (more sweet than bitter). I had no school for a week because of the hurricane Issac. Although most of Baton Rouge lost power, I was one of the few who could enjoy cool air conditioning and funny movies while Hurricane Issac strolled by. I had a wonderful lunch and dinner while the rain pounded on my windows. I sat on the couch looking outside. It looked muggy, and my pool almost overflowed, but I didn't mind because I was watching the show Lost with my family while I wore sweatpants because they air was a bit chilly. I enjoyed unspoiled yogurt because my refrigerator was working quite properly. These were the good times of the supposed terrible Hurrican Isaac. The bad times of the hurricane were that I had no internet or cable.... for a day and a half. I couldn't go on the computer and check what everyone was up to, but I did have my iPhone, so I wasn't too devastated.

The conversation I had with my friends, when I saw them, was "You lost power?... That's terrible. I didn't!" I don't assume the enjoyed my playful banter. It was enjoyable to describe my time with power during the hurricane to my Youth Director because he had lost power, and he was very upset he lost it because he was very hot during the whole time there was no A/C in his house. I enjoyed my time during he storm, but i'm sure other people didn't.

City of Bones as of Now!

I'm reading the book "City of Bones" by Cassandra Clare. I didn't read as much as I would have liked during our long "break," but I did read a few chapters and it's getting pretty intense. A lot of questions are getting answered, and innocent people aren't as innocent as they were put to be. The main girl, Clary, is a tough girl who knows what she's talking about. She's also a bit stubborn too. This book is gonna turn out to end quite dramatically. I also think Clary is a bit confused and is being put through so many emotions right now. Her mom is captured and her mom's supposed boyfriend ends up to not actually care about her. Also her mom might not be a full human. Clary is meeting new people and creatures everywhere she goes.

I had started to read this book in seventh grade, but I found it a little boring,s o I stopped reading it. Now, it seem better than when I last read it. When I can sit quietly and just read, I'm very involved in the book and it's a great read. I would recommend it to anyone who likes the fantasy genre types of books. It's an easy read, too. Also, what I've learned from my book is to never trust any character. They all are not who they seem to be.

Reading Times:
8/17/12= City of Bones by Cassandra Clare; 10 min.; 6 pages
8/20/12=  City of Bones by Cassandra Clare; 32 min; 29 pages
8/22/12= Worksheet; 30 min.
8/24/12= City of Bones by Cassandra Clare; 37 min.; 34 pages
8/25/12= City of Bones by Cassandra Clare; 24 min.; 20 pages
8/26/12= City of Bones by Cassandra Clare; 28 min.; 26 pages

8/28/12= City of Bones by Cassandra Clare; 21 min; 20 pages
8/31/12= City of Bones by Cassandra Clare; 15 min; 16 pages
9/4/12= City of Bones by Cassandra Clare; 12 min.; 9 pages