What's 812 Reading? discussion

What have you found most interesting in your text so far? Did you learn something or were surprised by a person's choice or event?

Make sure your topic sentence includes not only the title/author/genre but also the ANSWER to your question.

Topic sentence example: In Walter Dean Myers's memoir Bad Boy, I was most surprised to learn that Walter's father was illiterate.

Please consult your rubric and models to ensure that you are doing your best work!

For a “4”: Did I….
• Write a topic sentence that provided the title, author, and genre of my text?
• Provide context of what is happening in the text, so my reader understands what I’m talking about?
• Find a direct quote from the text that proves my idea?
• Thoroughly explain the significance of my quote/how it proves my idea?
• Check for correct punctuation and spelling?

In the book 100 Things You did'nt Know about lincoln by Brain Thorton the most interesting thing that i have read so far is the fact that Lincoln had two siblings and they both died at a yung age. Abraham Lincoln born 2/12/1809 during a thunderstorm in Hodgkins Creek, at Hardin County, Kentucky. He is also the 16 president and one of our founding fathers. He states "his yunger brother thomas died in infancy"(5)"his sister sara died in child birth"(5). This quote proves the significence of my quote because it is one fact that i did not Know until I read over it, also because that is the most interesting thing about Abraham Lincon that I have learned so far.

In the book Helen Keller by Lou Ann Walker, Helen is blind and deaf. The most interesting thing i've read is that Helen learned how to read Braille and write when she is deaf and blind. I think that is very crazy and I really want to know how she did it. I think Helen is inspiring to people because if she learned how to read Braille and to write I think a lot of people can a lot of things.

In the novel “SHIPWRECK AT THE BOTTOM OF THE WORLD” By Jennifer Armstrong. The story starts off by telling the reader the amazing courage in which Captain Shake ton and his crew had. Shake ton along with his ship crew set out into a unknown land keep in the Aortic on a boat named Endurance. Along the way the boat faces many tradities such as the boat being frozen in place then torn apart by the cold harsh unforgiving Artic winds. And how in order to survive they had to kill not only friendly human trusting Pungins due to such cold condition but mans best friend was later comsumed by the crew due to absolute hunger and will to survive in the worls colest temperatures.
Through the book I have learned things that I never though to be possible but as I continued to to flip the pages exitment grew inside me knowing some sort of adventuis exploration to about to unfold benath my very eyes. As I get closer and closer to the end of the book I found the most instreting piece of text so far was that the boat had hit an ice berg and caused the ice to then cover the boat within the next few miniuts lcoking the boat in place. I found this so intresting because within a few minuts of the boat crashing into the ice, the ice engolfed the boat and trapped it in place. Later on in the story the boat found nearly a few inches of space to move when the wind came along and tipped the boat on its side then imidley after that the bat was yet again traped in place for some time. I found this intresting because it shows that nature is ever chaging and that weather like this was never even to be though of.

In the non-fiction Q&A book, Do Fish Drink Water? By Bill McLain, the book is about the author answering the interesting facts that he has received, and he answers them with the research he has made. One interesting fact that I found that surprised me was the fact that King George III had blue urine! It might seem really disgusting because it sound gross that it is about urine. However, it is really interesting that he actually had blue urine! In the book, Bill McLain states, "Overproduction of porphyrins can cause the skin to turn red...and can cause the urine to vary in color from light pink to deep purple..." (83). This quote shows the reason it might have been the reason why king George III might have blue urine. It also tells us that king George might have had that disease too. It was really interesting to learn this fact because I never knew what porphyrins are, and what they can do to your body.

In the book Touching the Void by Joe Simpson the most interesting thing in the text so far was how these people actually live on a snowy slippery mountain which is very cold and how they sleep and don’t get bothered at all and how they can actually breathe. In the nonfiction book these two people live on a mountain because they are trying to find something out and every day they go out exploring. Also how they sleep at night when its freezing and they don’t get bothered I wonder how they sleep and go out and explore in the harsh weather. Also in one part in the text one of the people said that he was going to sleep and the other person asked him if he wanted a sleeping pill and the other guy said no its fine the cold doesn’t bother me anymore. In addition to that one of the guys said that the air was so cold and thick that he could barely breathe but still he wasn’t bothered by that at all. What I wonder is how these people actually survive these harsh things.

Lance Armstrong's autobiography, Its not About The Bike, My Journey Back To Life, gave me a very big impact on how the way his life was shaped into. At first, he was born out of a single-parent family. Next, his mother remarried, and married a completely new christian guy whom believed in spanking little kids for discipline. But Armstrong found his talent in bike-racing. He raced a lot and claimed that activity for his career in life. But on one ordinary day, on a very unpredicable news, Armstrong found out that he had testicle cancer. At first, he was worried. He didn't think he would ever have a happy life again. His thoughts raced through his busy mind, and in the text, I read through a very interesting little phrase. "I drove very slowly. I was in shock. Oh my God, I'll never be able to race again. Not, Oh my God, I'll die......" (14). This little phrase on pg 14 really made me look up to him. He picked his occupation over his family and his life. That means he really values his bike-racing technique and talent. I admired that he stayed strong even when there is cancer all over his body. He didn't break down and cry like some other people would, he stood strong in his heart in a very internal way. I hope that there would be more people that would walk in Lance Armstrong's footsteps and achieve their goal in life.

In the non-fiction book Ophelia Speaks by Sara Shandler, The book is about girls 12 to 18 who struggle in their way to woman hood. It's ment to help teenage girls realize themselves in a different perspective in life. Also, helping them in life issues, and what's going on in their life as teens. states,''In these pages you will see your best friend, your daughter, myour sister-and yourself. At once filled with heartbreak and hope, in these pages Ophelia Speaks.'' This quote shows that the people reading this book would be able to have a connection with the people in their family and somehow notice what their going through to have a better understanding of there lives.

In the autobiography "Hawk" written by Tony Hawk, i was surprised to find out his idol was Stacy Peralta. He admired the fact that Stacy was still a skater who skate most tricks with a bunch of style. For example, Stacy competed in barrel jumping, slalom, and freestyle. Hawk states, "In 1977, Stacy Peralta was the skateboarding champion of the world... Stacy could do them all with style, He is still one of the most stylish skaters who ever stepped on a board"(47). This quote sho0ws that Hawk still idols Stacy and that he would like to follow in his footsteps. Also that he would want to try the things Stacy does if he wants a .
higher position.

In the non-fiction book Black Boy by Richard Wright i was surprised that when there was a fire in the house Richard was hiding in the chimney he wanted to stay in there he was the one who caused the fire he burned a broom stick. Afterwards he saw he's grandma lying there hopelessly on her bed and flames burning her hair. He' s mother found him hiding he felt guilty and did'nt want to come out.

In the non-fiction book "Rising Voices" by Arlene Hirschfelder and Beverly R. Singer the thing that I found most interesting was that alot of the poems were written by kids and how well the poems were descriptive while education was not good back then and I thought, why is it so good when education was not good and how did they learn to be such good writers at such a young age with such lack of experience. This shows that some adults or children can have a natural talent without having to learn or practice.

in the non fiction book Shipwreck At The Bottom Of The World by jennifer armstrong. i was shokced to see the kind of food they had to normaly eat. it was some kind of frozen mix of food. they cooked it and heated it and done. worsley(cook) explained, "that this mixture composed of lard, oatmeal, beef protein, vegetable protein, slat, and suger." if you try to put all these things in your mind and put it in a brick form and count it as a food. it dosen't sound very nice to eat for you. becuase of this and the fact they need to eat "this" to stay fit for the sail is very shocking to me.

In the book The Dream and the struggle separate but not equal the most important text that caught my eye was on page 4 when 6 kids chosen to be in the NAACP a big 9 of white lined the sidewalk across the street from Central High. National Guardsmen chanted "****** go home go back where you belong". This caught my eyes because that was just unbelievable and rude but I know if the national guardsmen didn't have guns the 6 kids would probably talk back instead of staying quiet.

In the book Asphalt Angels is a book about how the kids of Brazil are being treated by parents and adults. Such as Alex was a foster child who is black. His mother adopted him and his step father was a huge ass hole because he abused alex and his mother till his mother died and he kicked out the house to have it for him self. while alex was out he was able to meet new friends. As Alex stated in the novel "what are you guys gangsters." Some of his friends are gangsters from the streets who he meets from Duda that is where his struggles start.

In the book Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi what i don't get is why did get shot when demonstrating that struck me because it isn't fair for them to die when they are doing what they believe in what they fught for.

In the non fiction book Into The Wild, by Jon Krakauer the most important part of the book to me was when Christopher's body was found by a moose hunter, after he left to Alaska four months later his decomposed body was found. Also i think that the point of him burning his money and gave away everything because he wanted to start a new life in Alaska and he probably knew he would of eventually died in the cold.

In the non fiction book The Story Of Blima by Shirley Russak Wachtel the most important part of the book is when Blima had the special talk with her mom. Her mom comfort her and made her feel like she is number one because she thought she wasn't pretty and her mom gave her back up information that she was, and that she was the good child which made her mom proud.

In the story ''Touching The Void'' By Joe Simpson the most interesting part in the story is when Simon is hanging off the cliff and joe is trying to save him. This is interesting because someone's life is on the line and its the main event in the story. Also when joe gets back to camp to go tell others about the accident. They go on the search for simon and while doing this they think he is dead . They find out that he is still alive and conscious when they find him.