A sprig of verbena and the gifts of a great teacher

     In Kathleen Parker's article "A sprig of verbena and the gifts of a great teacher", she is inspired by Obama's speech to students about teachers. Obama's speech resurfaced the memory of one teacher of Parker, named James Gasque. She wishes for her readers to have a similar memory come to mind when talking about one teacher who "[hit] the light switch" for her. Parker explains this more when she states that she suspects "thousands or millions think... person who held that distinction in their life".


     Parker wants her audience to remember how such a small event in her life; how such a small act of kindness from a teacher could affect her entire life. The small act of kindness she experiences is simply her teacher standing up for her in front a classroom full of laughing peers. Mr. Gasque stands up for Parker telling the class that they shouldn't laugh at a small mistake made by a fellow student because she doesn't make large mistakes where it counts - in her writing. Parker emphasizes the fact that she appreciated such a small deed by saying "I dangle even now, like those silly participles...", which further connects to how she feels about Mr. Gasque.


     The purpose of Parker's column is to show that Obama was right in his speech about students finding a teacher that really made them understand something. She simply used Obama's speech as a Segway to a personal experience that further supported the claim that the president. She did this by saying that his speech made her remember an event that happened to her in the past that really helped her and stayed with her for a long amount of time.


     Parker utilizes diction and syntax methods to her advantage, making the column more interesting and making the author seem more credible to be talking about this subject. One example was her use of dashes. This was used towards the end of the column when she writes "...he presented me with two lined pieces of notebook paper -- my essay on 'The Unvanquished'". Parker uses this method of syntax to give more specifics about her essay in an interesting way rather than just describing it right away. This makes it almost seem like a sudden realization. It seems as if Parker just believes it's regular notebook paper until she realizes what is on the notebook paper, almost like a side note.


     This column encourages teachers to be that person that clicks the light bulb on, that makes a difference in their students' lives, that does something that their student will remember. This also encourages students to go out and find that person that helps them realize something in their life. The column shows that teachers and students alike can make a difference in others' lives just by one small act of kindness.

Seeds of Yesterday - Book 1 and 2 Review

             
              V.C. Andrews' Seeds of Yesterday is split into 3 books. In this post, I will be reviewing books 1 and 2. I would give these two books a 2.5/5 Stars. So far Seeds of Yesterday cannot compare to the first book in the series Flowers in the Attic.


              Why would I give such a low rating? Well, the characters I feel are now unlikeable and somewhat annoying. The character that I find the most irritating is Cathy, who constantly changes from siding with someone to turning against them in the matter of pages. Her stance on certain issues changes so often that it's difficult to remember whether she was for or against an idea. The once independent girl that I enjoyed watching grow had turned into a character that couldn't make any decision without doubting herself 2 minutes afterwards.


              Another reason I gave this such a low rating is how some issues and topics are brought up and never addressed again. One example of this is when someone caused Jory, Cathy's first born son, to break his back during an accident. During the ballet he was performed in, pillars were supposed to fall on him and kill the character he was playing. As the pillars fell, a stage hand would release the sand in the pillars, causing the effect without any harm to Jory. Someone wet the sand and caused Jory to be injured. V.C. Andrews drops the issue of who wet the sand entirely in the second book, and it is not brought up again. Unless we find out who wet the sand in the third book, this will bother me to no end.


             But, on a positive note, Seeds of Yesterday contained some vocabulary that is used in the dancing industry that I did not know, and had to look up. Throughout the book, they use higher leveled diction more suitable for high school students and older. I do hope that the story improves in the third book and we find out more answers.


Seeds of Yesterday Goodreads Page

Seeds of Yesterday Chapter 1-6

                                                      Seeds of Yesterday Chapters 1-6

          Many years after the events of V.C. Andrews' If There Be Thorns, Jory and Bart have grown to be functioning adults and Cindy is in her mid teens. Cathy and Chris are now in there 50's and thought they had escaped their childhood and Foxworth Hall along with it. Much to Cathy's displeasure, Bart had decided to rebuild the mansion with the money he inherited. The two former prisoners of the attic must return to the grand building to celebrate Bart's birthday. Upon arriving to Foxworth, the met someone who they would have never imagined would appear. Cathy and Chris' uncle, Joel, had supposedly died in a skiing accident before they were born, but he appeared in Foxworth right before them. Joel explained he was hired by Bart to help take care of the mansion in return for a place to sleep and food to eat. He also explained monks had saved him from the skiing accident and he hid away, becoming a monk, and devoted his life to God.

          I find the entire story with Joel interesting. The fact that he could hide away from society for about 50 years in unbelievable. Andrews did an amazing job describing Joel and the way he looks at the other residents of Foxworth Hall.

"I stared at the lean old man who was bent forward so that his head projected unbecomingly, making him seem to be climbing hills even while standing on a flat surface. His hair was faded, not gray and not blond. His eyes were a watery pale blue, his cheeks gaunt, his eyes hollowed out, as if he'd suffered greatly for many, many years."

         Unlike his behavior in If There Be Thorns, Bart is no longer the violent boy he used to be.  Cathy claims the psychologists fixed his behavior, that his immature tendencies were in the past. But, the older he grows, the more he is starting to resemble the late Malcolm Foxworth in behavior. Bart is turning in to a manipulative man who will do anything to achieve the wealth that he desires.

Dover Beach

Where ignorant armies clash by night.




An unfamiliar trail of wetness ran down Mrs. Phelps' cheeks and fell to the paved ground beneath her. She walked down the path, her nose scrunched, eyebrows furrowed, and hair flying as a car whipped down the street.  "No tears..." Mrs. Phelps hiccupped, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. Why was she crying? What was wrong with her?


Pete had said it would be a quick war. He would be home by next week. But what would happen if a week had passed, without a word from her husband? Pete said no tears and that she should move on and get married again quickly. Shouldn't it be difficult to "just move on"? If you truly loved someone, shouldn't it be devastating to say goodbye? Mrs. Phelps had so easily said goodbye in her last two marriages and felt she could easily say goodbye in this one too. Had she ever felt love in any of her marriages? She already knew the answer. No. "No tears," she whispered, stopping in her tracks, "No love."


Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas Review

                         
                                            

                                                The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

     
       I recently finished John Boyne's The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. I would rate this tale of two unlikely friends 3/5 stars. When choosing to read this book, I did not know what to expect. I hadn't even heard of it before. I was surprised that I enjoyed this book at all because I usually read more stories about horror and fantasy rather than historical fiction.

        I thought the book had a great concept and a unique point of view. Many people don't think about what the Holocaust would be like from a child's perspective. Although, this caused some confusion for me. Since the main character, Bruno, didn't know what all was going on at the time, the author was forced to be vague about some events to keep in character. This confused me because it was difficult for me to pick up right away what was going on during certain parts of the plot. One example of this is when Bruno first finds out that he's moving to somewhere close to "Out-with". As the reader, I did not know what "Out-with" was and didn't make the connection that Bruno was referring to Auschwitz until later in the story.

       Another part of the story that I did not like is how little we know about some of the characters. One of the characters I would like to know more about is Shmuel. His story was never directly talked about, only hinted at. I feel as if this would be confusing to readers that have little knowledge about the Holocaust, and didn't know many of the events that happened during that time period.

      Overall, I enjoyed this book but I would not recommend it to high school students for anything but pleasure reading, it being an easier to read story that doesn't challenge your knowledge of vocabulary.

Goodreads Description and Reviews

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

                 My current independent reading choice is The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne. The story takes place during World War Two while Adolf Hitler is in power and the holocaust is taking place. The protagonist is a eight-year-old German boy who's father is in an important position as a soldier. One day, after coming home from school, Bruno finds his possessions packed and is informed that his family will being moving to a new home in a place called "Out-With".




                  Bruno believes that he will never create any friends at his new home, seeing no other houses around and no other children until he sees people in the distance. These people are always wearing striped pajamas and wander around in an enclosed area. After speaking with his father, Bruno was told not to worry about the people in the fenced in area and that they weren't considered people at all. Against his father's wishes, Bruno decides to visit the fenced area and meets a boy his age from Poland. Why does this boy always wear his pajamas? Why can't he come to the other side of the fence? What exactly does his father do for work? These are all questions that Bruno have throughout the story up until this point.

If There Be Thorns - Review

                                                       If There Be Thorns
                                                           V.C. Andrews




     In the 3rd installment of V.C. Andrews' Dollanganger Series, the central plot focuses around Cathy's life now that she is an adult with children. Although Cathy is still a main character, Andrews never tell the story from her point of view. Andrews writes from the perspective of J

Jory, a fourteen-year-old boy who whishes to follow in his mother's and late father's footsteps and become a well known dancer, and Bart, a ten-year-old boy with an active imagination who seems to be blamed for everything.

      Although telling the story from the children's point of view is an unique way of seeing how certain events affect someone other than Cathy, it caused some areas of the book to seem slow. Some parts of the book focused on Bart imagining that he was hunting in his backyard or pretending to be a dog. These events seem strange at first, but after a while, seem repetitive and quickly lose your interest. Other areas include Jory and Cathy dancing or practicing in there home.

If There Be Thorns book cover
Amazon Summary

     Another area in which the book could have been improved was how little recap they gave you from the last novel. In some stories, no recap is necessary. But in If There Be Thorns, you must remember a large amount of events from Petals on the Wind. For example you must remember that Cathy has been married four times; to Julian Marquet, Bartholomew Winslow, and Dr. Paul Sheffield, and Chris Dollanganger. Something else to keep in mind is that Julian, Bartholomew, and Paul have all died in various ways, Julian by car accident, Bartholomew by a house fire, and Paul by a heart attack. But what makes it more confusing is the situation with the children. Jory was the son of Julian and Bart was the son of Bartholomew but believed he was the son of Paul. Overall, I would not suggest reading this book before reading the first two due to the lack of information given of the other two.

      Other than some confusing areas and some slow areas, I would highly suggest this series and this book. Although some areas in the plot did not have a lot of action, I felt they were important to the reader's comprehension and to the plot nonetheless. If you enjoy horror and suspense, you may enjoy the Dollanganger Series.

      The channel Lifetime will also be creating a television show based off of this book later this year.

                                                Lifetime Cast List