October 2014 archive
Happy Halloween, everyone!
Halloween is a special time of the year, where ghosts and creatures of the night roam in hordes down the streets…right? In State College, the only scary monsters out on the streets will all probably be costumed trick-or-treaters who are all thirteen years old or younger (but hey, if you are trick-or-treating as a college student, I applaud your confidence. Not many 18-year olds are wil
ling to run around dressed as Batman begging for handouts and free candy while sober). But if you still want to get into the Halloween spirit this year, try reading a spooky book. This Halloween, I recommend reading Revenge of the Witch by Joseph Delaney.
This book was published in 2006, and is the beginning of the Last Apprentice series. I picked this book up from a library shelf when I was in elementary or middle school, and was immediately sucked into this series. I continued reading the books in this massive series until the series finally completed in 2013. Yes, I read this series even as a senior in high school. Yes, it was written for children/young adults. But there isn’t anything wrong with reading a children’s book for fun, especially when it was as well-written and enjoyable as this series.
Why wouldn’t you read this dark fantasy book? It has:
-Witches, boggarts, and other evil (and some not-so-evil) creatures of the night
-Revenge (seriously, who doesn’t love a good revenge story?)
-A spooky front cover depicting a mysterious hooded figure
-A Spook named Old Gregory (a Spook is a job title. The job literally entails one keeping society free of evil demons and other monsters. Does that sound like a cool job, or what?)
-Thomas Ward, who is the last Spook’s apprentice. He is the last hope for the county (not to be dramatic or anything)
-A basis of folklore and other legends
-Simple yet amazingly descriptive and engaging prose
-Eerie scenes (which the reader is specifically warned no
t to read after dark)
-This book even includes illustrations sporadically throughout the book, showing in a very unique style of drawing exactly what these spooky creatures and situations look like
Did any of you blog readers read this series in middle school? It was quite popular among young readers for a while. If you have read this book, consider re-reading (and finishing) the series. I undertook that challenge in preparation for finishing the thirteenth book about a year ago, and I did not regret it! Plus, you have the perfect seasonal motivation to read- this book is perfect for Halloween! Take a journey back into your past when you read this book for the first time, or get into the spirit of Halloween and try this book for the first time if you missed reading it before.
So, again: Happy Halloween, everyone! Enjoy this Friday and spend the holiday doing something fun—whether it be going to Halloween parties, marathoning horror movies, hanging out with your friends, going trick-or-treating, or reading a creepy book. Stay safe (from the witches and ghouls and other evil beings) and have a fantastic Halloween!
I absolutely love creating art, and there is no place better for inspiration than at an art museum. When we visited the PSU Palmer Art Museum as a class, however, we focu
sed on viewing the art as not inspiration for art (although everything was still very inspirational to me) but as a way to see how artwork can reflect historical and social contexts and cultures. This different lens to view artwork through was an extremely eye-opening experience for me, and I really enjoyed looking at the various works of art in this way. I was particularly struck by this sculpture. It depicts a regal-looking woman who is standing tall. This work of art, or cultural artifact, tells viewers a lot about the context and culture of when it was created. For example, she is wearing decorative jewelry and clothing, which suggests that she is of the upper class. She also has tiny feet, suggesting that they were bound, as were those of many young women in this historical period. Her nails are also long. This shows that she was most definitely not a peasant—she had the luxury of keeping her nails long and not working for herself. Additionally, she is wearing yellow, which is the color of the emperor—only the emperor was allowed to wear yellow during his rule. All of these details about this beautiful sculpture paint a portrait of an upper class woman who was most likely a mem
ber of the emperor’s family. She might have had servants to carry her and do labor for her, and she was regal or royal enough for a sculptor to create this beautiful piece of artwork for her. Additionally, a large amount of clay was used as a resource to sculpt her, signifying her importance. This specific artifact not only shows the life and context of the woman who is depicted, but also reflects the culture she lived in. Her society was one with both upper and lower classes, and the peasants in this society were often servants for the emperor and his family. Cultural artifacts and pieces of artwork, such as those found in the PSU Palmer Art Museum, are reflective of the culture and society they were created in because of the way that they can depict members of society such as this beautiful woman.
I urge all readers of this blog to take a chance and visit your local art museum and think about how artwork reflects culture—you won’t regret it.
Today’s book is a different type of book. It is a different book because it is not a novel. It tells a story not through only words, and the many pictures and drawings included make this book a fairly quick read.
Any of you readers a nerdfighter? If you are, you will know what I’m talking about. But most of you probably aren’t, so if you are confused already, just know that a nerdfighter is a member of an online community who would probably already have heard about this book that I am about to talk about. After all, the only reason I myself heard about this book was that it has been mentioned by nerdfighteria many many times. Anyways, back to what I was saying. If you’re a nerdfighter, you’ve probably heard of this book. If not, this is your chance to learn about this eye-opening and inspiring book!
It starts with a foundation. This star won’t go out (TSWGO) is a foundation that aims to “[make] a difference in the lives of children with cancer, one family at a time. By providing funds to help pay for 
travel, a mortgage or rent check, and other cost of living expenses, TSWGO frees up families to focus on their child who is in treatment. A gift of money is really a gift towards quality time as a family—and that’s a gift that is beyond value.” This foundation was established in 2011 in memory of 16-year old Esther Earl, who lived her life to the fullest despite her battle with cancer. This book is Esther’s story.
For more info, go to tswgo.org and read, donate, etc.
Any fans of John Green out there? If so, you will be excited to know that the introduction of this book was written by John Green. He was a friend of Esther and even dedicated his amazing book The Fault in Our Stars (don’t even get me started on any of John Green’s fantastic books—I could rave about them for ages) to her. 
While I usually do not like most non-fiction books (there is no competition to me. Why read a book that is real when you could escape the mundane world and read about dragons or wizards or robots?!), I loved this book. This book is a collection of journal entries, letters, sketches and drawings, photographs, essays, and fictional writing of Esther and her family. This Star Won’t Go Out: The Life and Words of Esther Grace Earl (whew, that title is a mouthful) is a beautiful story of awesome-ness! This book was amazing. It was eye-opening to the plight of young people with cancer, while also demonstrating the unfairness of a life too short. However, Esther’s short life provided inspiration throughout this book to live life day by day, to live your dreams, and to just be happy. This book was amazingly inspiring and breathtaking, and it was fantastic. I recommend it to EVERYONE!
Try this book. If you have a soul, you will love it. And just by buying this book, you are also supporting a great charity foundation. So think of it as community service, and go read this book!
Okay. So this week I am writing about one of my all-time favorite books. It is a bit long, but please stay with me. Give it a try- it is rated 4.55 out of five stars on Goodreads, which is ridiculously high (I rated it 
at a 5/5). Most really good books are rated above a 4, but not many go above a 4.50. Anyways, based on this high rating and by the amount of love I have for this book, you should really really try this book. Just do it. It is so worth it.
Not many people have read this book, but they should! It is fantastically written with a lyrical and brilliantly complex prose, and the plot and characters are so well-developed. As my friend Sarah says, this book’s only problem is that “once I’ve read [A Name of the Wind], nothing else seems to really hold up to its standard” (Elert). I wholeheartedly agree with this statement. A Name of the Wind is so amazing that for me, other books are constantly being compared (by myself) to this masterpiece.
Please. Give this book a try—it is worth it.
Go read The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle #1) by Patrick Rothfuss. It is so worth it.
(Please don’t get discouraged by the length of it—read it anyways).
So now to talk about it. This book is a fantasy novel, focused around the life of Kvothe, one gifted in the art of magic- or sympathy- who will become one of the most notorious and well-known wizards his world will know. The book begins with Kvothe’s childhood in a traveling circus, and transforms to several years spent as an orphan in the crime-filled city of Treban before he is able to enter a legendary school of magic. His life as a fugitive, after the murder of a king, thereafter create this wonderful coming-of-age story. This story is high in action, suspense, and adventure. What makes it so wonderful, though, is the characters. It is impossible to not love the characters in this story- from
- Kvothe’s mysterious reputation- as a figure of mystery
- Kvothe’s future, where he has hidden himself away at an inn in the middle of nowhere with his apprentice Bast—we do not know why
- The Chronicler, who aims to record Kvothe’s story by recording exactly what Kvothe says over a period of three days
- Many adventures and mishaps
- A true epic fantasy- in size and quality
- Amazing character development, fantasy world-building, and plot
I am so impressed and so in love with this story. It is one of the best books I have ever read, and I would love for everyone to read this book. It deserves extra attention from everyone, because it is so amazing. I do not feel that I can adequately express how good this book is. But I tried, and this blog post is the result. So do yourself a favor and read this phenomenal story.
Chimamanda Adichie creates an intriguing character with an interesting personal response to civic life in the first chapter of her novel Americanah. Ifemelu has left her home in Nigeria to live in America, and ends up settling in Princeton for about 15 years, during which she writes a “lifestyle blog” called “Raceteenth or Various Observations about American Blacks (Those Formerly Known as Negroes) By a Non-American Black”. This blog is Ifemelu
’s way of coping with the racial differences and difficulties she encounters as a black Nigerian living in America, and also serves to gather followers and increase awareness of the way that Non-American Blacks are treated. Ifemelu is extremely engaged in civic life by writing this blog that has created “a space for real conversations about an important subject” (Adichie 5). In general, any blog that provokes thought or discussion allows the blogger and readers to become engaged with civic life by allowing these members of a larger online community to talk about the issues raised in that blog. When a blog is centered on a sensitive topic, such as Ifemelu’s blog about race is, this blog also creates a ‘safe’ online community to discuss these issues and provoke a change as well. When Ifemelu talks to the white American from Ohio, she learns that he has adopted a black child despite the fact that “nobody wants black babies” in America. This blog post received the highest number of comments for Ifemelu for that month, and this shows that Ifemelu’s blog posts are thought-provoking and allow her to interact with her audience, which is a unique way for her to be civically engaged (Adichie 5). Ifemelu’s immigrant “race blogger” perspective is shown through her unique blog, which is her way to be civically engaged within her online community of readers.
Apparently, I do!
Today’s book is not very well-known (to my knowledge), but it should be! I was enthralled throughout this entire book, and it is written about a not-so-typical character: an assassin.
For whatever reason, I love books which feature strong and badass (I said it online again! For another English assignment! I feel so daring!) heroines. But in this case, can an assassin be a heroine?
Today’s book is called Throne of Glass, and is the beginning of a fantastic series by Sarah J. Maas. This series includes several novellas, which are extremely quick but enjoyable reads. If you cannot bring yourself to read this 404 page novel, at least try reading the Throne of Glass prequel novellas, each is only about a hundred pages or so, which is a much more manageable read for the non-readers in this audience.
The book revolves around Celaena Sardothien, who is pretty but the best assassin ever. Although she is an assassin and kills people on a regular basis, and begins the novel as a slave being punished for her crimes, it is pretty hard not to love this main character. Throughout this book, Celaena goes through many fights, adventures, and risky situations, but is she able to come out on top?
My favorite elements to this book include:
- Prince Dorian, the Crown Prince, who offers Celaena her freedom from slavery in the salt mines- for a price
- A competition to determine the new royal assassin, with Celaena and many others competing- thieves, assassins and warriors from across the empire, each with a sponsor from the king’s council
- Court life that is extremely boring in comparison to the excitement Celaena finds when training with the captain of the guard, a man who seems to understand Celaena much more than anyone else can
- A killer… of assassins. Not exactly what is supposed to happen.
Will Celaena survive th
e competition and avoid the killer long enough to win her freedom from Prince Dorian? And what else will she discover along the way?
This is a fantastic young adult fantasy novel that I recommend to everyone reading this blog post. Not only does this book provide you with a great read, but this leads to an ongoing series of books that just keep getting better! I began this series and it opened a new door to the other excellent books written by this author. This book is definitely a fantastic read.
If you are looking for adventure, a bit of mystery, assassins, and a wild adventure, then read this book (or one of the preceding novellas!)! It will draw you into a great series that is sure to leave you a satisfied and happy reader.
Can you help me out? Do myself and yourself a favor. Read this book.
I promise, this book is so worth it.
It truly is a fantastic book that is both entertaining and thought-provoking.
So, you may be thinking, “What weird book is this girl raving on about now?” It is actually a pretty well-known book, and it has actually been made into a movie (although you have GOTTA promise me that you read the book BEFORE you see the movie- although the movie is good, the book is so much better because it provides a whole other layer to the story, and you should just read the book first because─ okay I need to stop before I start ranting about reading books vs. movies first; but seriously in any case, you should read the book first).
Anyways, the book: the Help.
If you haven’t heard about this book, it is set in the south in the sixties, where society was very segregated because of race. Most well-to-do white families had personal maids or nannies, usually black. They were known as the ‘help’. This story focuses on three women who work together on an extraordinary project (and no, I will not tell you what it is. Read the book! It is a really exciting project, though!). Anyways, this project has the 
potential to cross the deep racial divide that is suffocating these women.
There are many amazing parts of this book, but some of my favorite parts, and the more interesting parts of this book are:
- Skeeter, who has just graduated college, yet will not satisfy her mother until she gets married
- The mystery of where Constantine, a beloved childhood nanny/maid, has disappeared to
- Aibileen, a maid who has raised 17 white children for other mothers
- An incident involving a lot of toilets
- One of the sassiest women of all times- Minny- who cannot hold down a job because of her tongue
- A fascinating perspective on the civil rights movement, which erupted in response to the racial tensions and conflicts in southern America in the sixties
- A variety of emotions in the complex relationships between white and black people: love and hate, attachment and mistrust, dependence and abuse
- A very……special……. chocolate pie
- You will understand what I mean about the pie once you read the book
This book is so well-written; Stockett brings the many different characters to life with a fascinating plot line and story. It also brings to light the horrible relationships between the races, and makes the r
eader wonder about the conditions of live before the civil rights movement. Personally, this book brought up a lot of interesting topics and issues, and continues to make me ponder the complex issues and aspects of race and civil rights.
And aside from being a wonderful book because it is so thought-provoking, this book is also wonderful because it is very funny and entertaining as well. So help yourself to this book, you will love it! And if you have read this book, let me know what you thought of it in the comments!
This is a rough draft of my rhetorical analysis essay, which I chose to write on JFK’s Inaugural Address. Please let me know what you think of my essay so far!
Here is a link to the speech if you have not read it: http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres56.html
On a cold day in 1961, John F. Kennedy delivered a speech to the citizens and peoples of both America and the world. After the end of a close and competitive election, he used this speech not to celebrate his victory as president, but to unite the audience. He addresses the audience with a speech that would be remembered for years to come, as its call to duty is a powerful one. A strong appeal to ethics─ not only his ethics, but our ethics as a country united through common values─ and powerful emotional and logical arguments are used to convince the audience to take a stand and make a difference. Additionally, he appeals to the rest of the world by referring to different areas and countries of the globe while also connecting all human beings together as one population. In this inaugural address, Kennedy connects Americans together as one country and humans together as one population with a call to duty that relies on a heavy appeal to the ethics and morals of himself and the audience. Additionally, the use of a structurally and logically sound argument with powerful imagery and emotions used throughout the speech allows this call to action to be so effective in uniting Americans and the human race together.
Kennedy aims for his speech to be used as a call to duty to unite all of his listeners. There were many pressing issues─ threats to freedom and liberty, existence of poverty and misery, and lack of peace and civility─ that he felt should be rectified. He states that his inauguration should be a beginning of renewal and change, and goes on to connect Americans together. He appeals to the shared background of this proud and disciplined generation of “heirs of [our] first revolution” and asserts that this generation will prove their patriotic loyalty by leading America to join in the effort to assure the “survival and success of liberty” (Kennedy). All Americans, born here or not, are members of the great American ‘melting pot’. While we may have different ethnic or racial backgrounds, all who live in this proud country are all people who believe in values such as liberty, freedom, and justice. We are all descendants or supporters of the brave patriots who fought in the revolutionary war to stand for these same principles, and by referencing this shared heritage, Kennedy is able to further unite the American people. Additionally, Kennedy further connects the audience through a call to duty directed at each and every listener. He tells his “fellow Americans” to “ask not what your country can do for you” but do what they can for their country (Kennedy). While it is a big responsibility, he acknowledges that we can do this and if each American citizen helps the country in their own way, we will be able to make a difference. Through a combined effort, our country will be able to change the world for the better, as a nation of united peoples is much stronger than a nation of disconnected peoples.
Aside from the similarities in backgrounds, Americans share a set of core values as well. Kennedy uses ethical appeals in his speech to further unite the country while also adding to his credibility as a newly elected president. He swears the same oath set by “our forebears” in front of the country to show his commitment to the survival of basic human rights “because it is right” (Kennedy). As a people, we are committed to the promotion of human rights and peace as well, and by showing his commitment to these ideals, he is able to prove his credibility through a shared set of ethics with the audience. Kennedy’s impressive credibility parallels the same credibility that is ideal in the American nation. This connection between the president─ who has the ability to make an impact on the world─ and the audience shows that the people have the same ability to make an impact on the world. This increases the audience’s desire to accept this call to action, and results in an effective speech as well.
Along with uniting the American populace as one, Kennedy unites the human populace as one. He refers to allies whom we share “cultural and spiritual origins”, our sister countries, and the United Nations, and makes a pledge to the many different societies of the world (Kennedy). By referencing the common cultures, borders, and goals we share with countries throughout the world, he continues to develop his theme of unification. This ties together people from around the world as “citizens of the world” (Kennedy). As one people and one race, we can work together to accomplish our shared goals. Throughout his speech, Kennedy uses shared ethics and backgrounds to unite citizens of America and citizens of the world to accomplish the same goals that also unite us together.
In this speech, Kennedy aims to accomplish two main objectives: unification of Americans and humans, and to call his audience to duty. His use of shared backgrounds and ethics is extremely effective in connecting the country and world as one, while also working to strengthen his call to duty. This call is also based on an argument of logical and emotional appeals. The entire speech is structured in a logical way that flows from point to point, and makes sense overall. Stronger than the appeal to logic, however, is the appeal to emotions. Feelings such as pride and hope are contrasted with emotions such as fear and pity, and this contrast works to evoke powerful emotions in the audience. Negative sentiments, such as the pity felt for people in “huts and villages” attempting to cast off “the chains of poverty” are used to propel the people into action (Kennedy). These unwanted feelings create a desire among all to eradicate these emotions─ and their causes. Additionally, when contrasted with the sensations of hope and pride created through the unification of American and world citizens, this emphasizes the desire for increased pride and hope. And this can only be accomplished through rising to Kennedy’s challenge and answering his call to duty.
Strong appeals to morals and emotions are important aspects of Kennedy’s inaugural speech, which was aimed at uniting the people of the world as one by referencing their commonalities− such as shared backgrounds, cultures, and values. Kennedy creates connections between the different societies and groups of people in the world to emphasize his powerful call to duty, which serves to further unite the audience together with a common goal to ensure that we can all live in a world of peace and stability, where basic human rights are protected for everyone.
