Literary Analysis
First paragraph: introduce your book. Include the author, title, genre, and theme. Include a strong thesis indication who you
would or would not recommend this novel to.
5 points.
Second
paragraph: introduce the main character
and describe him or her by recalling the plot of the book. What type of character are they? Why are they
this way? 5 points.
Third
paragraph: Choose one of the following types of conflicts: man vs. himself, man vs. man, man vs.
society, or man vs. nature. Which one of
these does your character go through in the novel? Explain the conflict, but do not explain the
outcome. 5 points.
Closing:
Analyze what the author of this novel did well and what he/she could have done
to make the novel more interesting.
Explain your position, and restate your thesis. 5 points.
*grammer,
spelling, and organization is important.
5 points.
Total: _____/ 25
In 1995, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure began its fifth serialization called Vento Aureo- or in English, Golden Wind. The author of this manga series is Hirohiko Araki who made sure implement many genres into his manga such as comedy, action, supernatural, and martial arts. Many themes were explored throughout this manga, but the most apparent one would be “family linage” as the series progresses through the different lives of the Joestars. Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Vento Aureo is perfect for those interested in anime or manga as Araki takes usual manga tropes and twists them humorously.
ReplyDeleteGiorno Giovana is the main character of Vento Aureo and is one of the two Jojo’s who do not have “Joestar” as a last name. Giorno strives to become a “gang-star” in Italy after joining a gang called Passione and plans to overthrow the current leader to do so. With a group of traitors within Passione, Giorno and his comrades battle against assassins with their Stands (a supernatural entity made of the person’s willpower that is used to defend themselves.) Giorno throughout the manga becomes quite the tactician, somewhat self-confident of his abilities, and has remained calm since the beginning of the series. This growth in character could be because of the bonds with his comrades. However, most would assume it came from the endeavors and conflicts with his enemies.
In Vento Aureo, Giorno and his comrades turn their backs against the boss of Passione. This ultimately leads to a man vs. man conflict throughout the story. A group of assassins that betrayed the boss previously go after the group once Giorno obtains the boss’ daughter, Trish. The group of assassins’ plot is to use the daughter to reveal the boss’ true identity, and therefore make planned attacks against Giorno and his comrades to steal Trish. Alongside of the assassins, Giorno also deals with the upcoming battle with the boss who desperately wants to protect his own identity and will murder his own daughter to do so. The conflicts in Vento Aureo allows it to be one the more interesting parts of the Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure.
Hirohiko Araki’s series has always been a fan favorite within the anime and manga community because of his comedic storytelling and wonderful characters he creates. Vento Aureo is one of the less popular parts of the Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure series due to the Japanese to English translation that made the character’s seem a bit bland. However, one of the most negative aspects of Vento Aureo would be the main villain- the boss of Passione. His Stand power is so confusing that even the author wasn’t able to explain it himself, and makes it somewhat difficult to read through. Despite the mistakes, Vento Aureo is a must read after reading the previous parts of the series and comparing them. Overall, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Vento Aureo is charming and enjoyable to read- anime, manga, and Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure fans should read this.
The book “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” by Ned Vizzini is a drama/romance novel. There are many themes in this novel. Some of the themes are “success is how smart you are”, “everyone has their own sadness and story”, and “being a teenager is rough.” I would recommend this novel to teenagers and young adults. I would also recommend this to people who struggle or have struggled with depression.
ReplyDeleteThe main character, Craig, struggles with depression. He is 15 years old and has just gotten into this private, academically advanced high school. He had been working so hard to get into this school and his friend Aaron also got in to. Aaron did not have to work as hard though which makes Craig jealous. Craig also falls for Nia, a girl Aaron is seeing. Craig has been struggling with depression and would not eat or sleep very often. He was always studying for school, but is being persuaded by his friend Aaron to go to parties and get high and just stop being by himself and studying. Craig’s depression eventually gets worse and he goes to a therapist and gets medication. He eventually stopped taking it and became very depressed he had a plan to kill himself. He then calls the Suicide Hotline and checks himself into the hospital. There he meets people like him and others who are struggling with their own problems.
Throughout the novel, Craig has an internal conflict. He is against himself. His depression takes over him and sometimes it got too hard to handle. In his head he has an a voice that sounds like an Army guy telling him to do certain things and it makes him crazy, but he listens to it anyway. He tells himself he’s not good enough and that he is just average, but he wants to be extraordinary and successful.
The author did a very good job on writing this novel. Ned Vizzini was actually in a psychiatric hospital himself and based that part of the story on his own experience. He could have made this more interesting by maybe adding an external conflict or conflicts as well. This was a great novel overall, and I highly recommend to teens, young adults, and people who have struggled or do struggle with depression.
“If I Stay” by Gayle Forman left the world on a cliff hanger contemplating Mia’s decision. “Where She Went”, which is the sequel to “If I stay”, shocked the world with Mia’s answer. Gayle Forman’s young-adult fiction story became a world known phenomenon. One of the largest themes in “Where She Went” is hope. I would recommend “Where She Went” by Gayle Forman to young adults, mostly high school students. I would recommend it to mostly females. I also recommend that you read “If I Stay” first or you won’t understand this book.
ReplyDeleteAdam is one of the main characters in the book. The book is told by his point of view. “Where She Went” is set in New York City where Adam, a striving musician, runs into his high school love Mia. The book is told three years after the car accident that killed Mia’s family and almost killed her. Mia is a cellist that graduated early from Julliard. Adam is a heart broken rocker. He is still trying to get over Mia after she asked him to stay out of her life after the car accident. Even though he has hooked up with many band groupies and have a celebrity girlfriend named Bryn, he still cannot get over Mia.
Adam has man vs man conflict throughout the book with Mia. They begin to reconnect and talk about their lives now. Adam explains about his band and how they are about to go on tour. Mia talks about Julliard and about how she graduated early. They discuss the car accident and all of their past memories together. The entire time they have conflict over Mia’s decision to have Adam stay out of her life. Gayle Forman has us wondering throughout the entire book if they will rekindle their love.
I think “Where She Went” by Gayle Forman is very well written. Every other chapter was a flashback and that filled questions that was left over from the first book. I believe that she didn’t need to use as many flashbacks in the book as Forman did. I wish she would have spent more time focusing on Mia and Adam’s discussions when they met again. I recommend Gayle Forman’s book “Where She Went” to young adults around high school age. It appeals to females more than males. “Where She Went” is very hard to understand if you don’t read “If I Stay” first, so I recommend reading that first.
“If I Stay” by Gayle Forman left the world on a cliff hanger contemplating Mia’s decision. “Where She Went”, which is the sequel to “If I stay”, shocked the world with Mia’s answer. Gayle Forman’s young-adult fiction story became a world known phenomenon. One of the largest themes in “Where She Went” is hope. I would recommend “Where She Went” by Gayle Forman to young adults, mostly high school students. I would recommend it to mostly females. I also recommend that you read “If I Stay” first or you won’t understand this book.
ReplyDeleteAdam is one of the main characters in the book. The book is told by his point of view. “Where She Went” is set in New York City where Adam, a striving musician, runs into his high school love Mia. The book is told three years after the car accident that killed Mia’s family and almost killed her. Mia is a cellist that graduated early from Julliard. Adam is a heart broken rocker. He is still trying to get over Mia after she asked him to stay out of her life after the car accident. Even though he has hooked up with many band groupies and have a celebrity girlfriend named Bryn, he still cannot get over Mia.
Adam has man vs man conflict throughout the book with Mia. They begin to reconnect and talk about their lives now. Adam explains about his band and how they are about to go on tour. Mia talks about Julliard and about how she graduated early. They discuss the car accident and all of their past memories together. The entire time they have conflict over Mia’s decision to have Adam stay out of her life. Gayle Forman has us wondering throughout the entire book if they will rekindle their love.
I think “Where She Went” by Gayle Forman is very well written. Every other chapter was a flashback and that filled questions that was left over from the first book. I believe that she didn’t need to use as many flashbacks in the book as Forman did. I wish she would have spent more time focusing on Mia and Adam’s discussions when they met again. I recommend Gayle Forman’s book “Where She Went” to young adults around high school age. It appeals to females more than males. “Where She Went” is very hard to understand if you don’t read “If I Stay” first, so I recommend reading that first.
The 5th Wave is the first book of a three book series. It was written by Rick Yancey and is a young adult or science fiction book. One of the most important themes of this book was that it does not matter how hard something may be, try your hardest to overcome it and do not give up. I would recommend this book to high school students because the book it written in more of a complicated format and takes a while to actually understand what is going on. Also, the book has some foul language in it. Overall, Rick Yancey has written a powerful book.
ReplyDeleteThe main character in this book is Cassie Sullivan. She is 16 years old and she believes that she is one of the last person to survive. The planet is under attack by "aliens" and there are drones flying everywhere shooting down the people that they find alive. So Cassie spends her days hiding and scared. She tries to find food and water to last her but it is risky outside. She is all alone, her mother and father have been killed, but her brother is still alive. The "aliens" have taken her five year old brother, Sam, to some boot camp and it is Cassie's mission to find him and save him before the Others do harm to him. Cassie needs help yet she cannot get any because she cannot trust anybody because she does not know if they are Others acting to be a normal person that has survived. Cassie is known as a strong character because she has to be strong and stay strong in order to save her brother because she does not want to just give up on him. Cassie is strong because she knows that she is one of the last few alive for a reason and she must use her strength to save her brother and stop human kind from extinction because of the Others.
It is complicated to say which type of conflict occurs in the book because there are two types that are used. The first one is man vs. society. In the book, Cassie is battling life while trying to save her brother which is caught and in a boot camp that the Others has created. Cassie is against the society of the Others which are trying to take over the Earth. Cassie also has to try to protect herself from the waves and the dangers that come from them. This makes Cassie have to battle nature. She has to overcome no power, tsunamis, earthquakes, and many more natural disasters.
The 5th wave is a good book and I would recommend it if anyone asked me about how it was. It was written in a way that made me want to keep reading it but because of that it made the book less interesting. Yancey wrote the book in a pretty confusing way and in order to understand the concepts and chapters, you have to keep reading and have to pay a lot of attention to every word and sentence or it can get confusing. Even though it is written like this is still really enjoyed it and thought that it was a powerful book.
Pilot Down Presumed Dead
ReplyDeletePilot Down, Presumed Dead is a fantastic novel written by Majorie Phleger. Pilot Down is defiantly categorized under the genre of survival. This book has many themes, one that stands out more than the rest would be live to see another day. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who has an adventurous side.
The main character Steve Ferris has to make a crash landing on a lonely beach when a hurricane forces his plane down. Days pass, and Steve cannot understand why he doesn't see any rescue planes. Gradually he realizes he is on an uncharted island; rescuers will not be able to locate him, and soon they will think he drowned in the storm. With skill and determination Steve fashions equipment for survival, and he discovers that he can live quite well off the land and from the ocean. Steve is very gentle and kind hearted, bit oddly at same time he strong mentally and physically. Being in this survival situation he has to be tough, but he meets a special friend he has a soft spot for.
There are a lot of internal and external conflicts on this book. Man vs. himself and Man vs. Nature are the main ones. Steve’s stranded on an island obviously thoughts of death and struggling to survive are flying through his head. Being he is on a deserted island he faces obstacles in nature with finding food, shelter, and basic necessities.
The author really does an awesome job in putting the reader in the character shoes, along with providing great visuals. I thought he did an awesome job. There’s also a mini story of love in this novel. I loved this book, and it was the only book that actually angered me in the end. If anyone loves a little adventure with a love story this is the book.
Racing in the Rain is a heartwarming story about the relationship between a man’s best friend and their owner. Garth Stein writes this novel with the theme of adjusting to whatever life throws your way. I would recommend this book to an older and more mature audience because they would be able to relate to the story more so than younger readers.
ReplyDeleteThe main character of this book is Enzo. Enzo is actually a dog who lives with Denny, his owner. At the beginning of the book Enzo is looking back at his life and philosophizing about what he has learned from his years alive. This describes Enzo very well. He is a very intelligent dog that we, as readers get to look into the mind of.
Although Enzo is not a man, I would say he has a conflict similar to a man vs. man conflict. When Denny gets married to Eve, Enzo is confused at first but gets used to it. When Denny and Eve welcome a new baby into the household Enzo is completely thrown off by it. Enzo now has the conflict of deciding how to deal with the shift of the attention in the household.
The author did a very good job of connecting the reader with the main character. Because the main character is a dog it is typically not as easy to relate to something we never really relate to in the first place, but the author uses descriptive words and an almost human-like tone to make Enzo seem more relatable to the reader. I honestly don’t believe the book could have been written any better than it already is. Because of the situations that come about throughout the story it seems like it is directed more towards an older audience who could possibly understand the reasoning behind the events more.
The Host is a science fiction/romance novel written by Stephenie Meyer. One of the biggest themes throughout the book is "finding your identity". I would recommend this book to mostly high school students because they would be able to relate more the book, since the main characters are teenagers.
ReplyDeleteThe main character in the book is Wanderer. Wanderer is part of an alien invasion on Earth, where they are also known as "Souls". Wanderer is put into a human host body, named Melanie. Melanie is still conscious and Wanderer can speak to Melanie through her mind. Wanderer wants to follow in and do what the other "Souls" tell her, but she is a very kind and curious person, and Melanie doesn't help her one bit.
There are two different types of conflicts that occur in the book. One being Man vs. Man. Wanderer is trying to take over her new hosts body, but Melanie resists her body from being taken over. This is a constant battle for Wanderer. The other conflict is Man vs. Society. Wanderer wants to listen to her leaders, but also wants to be different and see the life of the humans. This is going against everything the "Souls" know. So not only is she having a battle between her host, but also her own society.
I think "The Host" is a well written novel. Even though it was a somewhat confusing plot, she wrote it well for people to understand. I wish the book wasn't as drawn out as it was, but other than that I think it was a very well written novel. Overall, I would recommend this book to kids who are in high school and enjoy reading science fiction.
Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link is a horror/fantasy novel filled with short stories that teach various life lessons. A theme that stood out through most of the stories was "things are not always what they seem". I recommend this book to teens and adults who enjoy being left with something to think about after reading a story.
ReplyDeleteThis book had many different main characters but one that stood out to me was in the first story The Wrong Grave. Gloria Palnick is a very mysterious character and the way she interacted with others in her short time being out of her grave showed that in the end she cared about the people she had left behind. Gloria is also kind of rude but she has a good reason to be. The best thing about her is the symbolism of her wild, untamed hair and her crazy snake tattoo which was a big definition of her character and of the story. Gloria had a lot of secrets throughout the story and they all were revealed in the end including the big lesson that was taught in the story.
In The Wrong Grave Gloria Palnick's conflict was man vs himself. Gloria struggled with trying to maintain her self control while she was back in the living world because she was around the people that had once loved her in life and now saw her differently. Gloria also was in a conflict with Miles. Miles tried to get rid of Gloria but no matter where he went she was always with him and he could not escape her. Gloria really wanted to stay with Miles but she realized that holding onto him was going to get him hurt by her because she was dead and he was living. Gloria's biggest struggle was facing that she was a monster to the people that were living and that although she taught them a lesson she needed to return to her grave.
Kelly Link did an amazing job with this novel. All of the stories were definitely well written and they all leave the reader with something to think about at the end. The stories really made me think and even though they are a little weird they are absolutely amazing once i got the meaning of them. I definitely loved the imagery and how the stories seemed to come alive. In my opinion this novel could not have been written any better. I would highly recommend this novel to teens and adults who enjoy stories that leave the reader with something to think about.
Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link is a horror/fantasy novel filled with short stories that teach various life lessons. A theme that stood out through most of the stories was "things are not always what they seem". I recommend this book to teens and adults who enjoy being left with something to think about after reading a story.
ReplyDeleteThis book had many different main characters but one that stood out to me was in the first story The Wrong Grave. Gloria Palnick is a very mysterious character and the way she interacted with others in her short time being out of her grave showed that in the end she cared about the people she had left behind. Gloria is also kind of rude but she has a good reason to be. The best thing about her is the symbolism of her wild, untamed hair and her crazy snake tattoo which was a big definition of her character and of the story. Gloria had a lot of secrets throughout the story and they all were revealed in the end including the big lesson that was taught in the story.
In The Wrong Grave Gloria Palnick's conflict was man vs himself. Gloria struggled with trying to maintain her self control while she was back in the living world because she was around the people that had once loved her in life and now saw her differently. Gloria also was in a conflict with Miles. Miles tried to get rid of Gloria but no matter where he went she was always with him and he could not escape her. Gloria really wanted to stay with Miles but she realized that holding onto him was going to get him hurt by her because she was dead and he was living. Gloria's biggest struggle was facing that she was a monster to the people that were living and that although she taught them a lesson she needed to return to her grave.
Kelly Link did an amazing job with this novel. All of the stories were definitely well written and they all leave the reader with something to think about at the end. The stories really made me think and even though they are a little weird they are absolutely amazing once i got the meaning of them. I definitely loved the imagery and how the stories seemed to come alive. In my opinion this novel could not have been written any better. I would highly recommend this novel to teens and adults who enjoy stories that leave the reader with something to think about.
Coraline by Neil Gaiman is a book about a young girl who discovers a whole new world just behind a small door that is strangely similar to hers. Coraline is a dark fantasy children's novel and one reoccurring theme in the book could be "curiosity killed the cat". Reading this book you'll find humor, mystery, horror, vivid imagery is spread throughout this book giving a perfect blend to a perfect book for any age.
ReplyDeleteThe main character in this book is Coraline. She is a girl that is satisfied with her life but unfortunately gets taken out of her world into a new house where curiosity gets her in trouble and her bravery saves her. She is an introverted girl that is simple and doesn't ask for much but a good adventure. Her whole life she kept to herself doing nothing but sitting back and observing. She is the way she is because her hard working family and very bland lifestyle.
Man vs man would be the conflict in this fictional book. The conflict in this book ends up being nothing like she thought it was. Everything she thought was good was a misconception and things turn out for the bad, making everything not like she thought it was. She comes in conflict with her "2nd family".
This is one of my favorite novels of all time, the imagery and words used to describe feelings/scenes is just incredible. I was blown away by the way the author got to me and how he really made me feel at times. So much adventure and so many interesting things happen it made it really easy for me to stay hooked on every page. The dark words he used and everything incorporated into making this book was amazing and I don't believe i could point out something he could have done better. This book contained a perfect mixture of many major elements a book should have: humor, mystery, adventure etc. making this book nothing but a perfect novel for any age and anytime.