Reading Response Two; Looking for Alaska by John Green

Looking For Alaska by John Green

"I may die young, but at least I'll die smart." This is a quote from the book looking for Alaska by John Green. This is from the character Alaska. Alaska is a young girl who is sent to a boarding school and is very educated and also popular. Alaska shares a love for books and education. She views herself as someone that isn't very important. Throughout the story you start to understand how her mind works. She is a very free spirit and also very stubborn. Alaska only wants to do the things she wants to do with no regard to anyone else. She only does what makes her happy. Alaska sees dying as a doorway to escape. At one point she says the answer to the "labyrinth of suffering" is straight and fast. This means that the only way to really stop suffering is to die in a way that doesn't take much time at all and is instant. During the story Alaska forms a very close relationship with the main character Pudge and makes him experience new things that he had never even dreamed of before. They had many adventures together and at one point filled bottles of shampoo with pink hair die to get back at the rich kids at their school. Alaska has a very free soul and doesn't like anyone to get in her way of things. She loves to pull pranks on people and wanted to create one of the biggest pranks ever pulled at her school. She could never even start the prank because she died in a car wreck with the motto straight and fast. She thought that she was very well educated as had a love for books, and dying didn't scare her. She embraced the idea of dying from the first few lines of the book. That's why the quote "I may die young but at least I'll die smart" is so relevant to the story. Because she does die at a very young age. But she thought of herself as achieving the ultimate knowledge by taking her own life.

Reading Response One: An Abudance of Katherine

An abundance of Katherine by John Green, is about a boy named Colin who wants to do something bigger with his life than the normal and he wants to make himself known to the world by achieving an outstanding accomplishment. He was a child prodigy because he could read before he could walk. He graduated from high school the top in his class. Colin also knows more than four languages and he can speak fluently in all of them. He has a great desire for words and creating anagrams. Unlike most people who look for a specific hair color or eye color in people they want to be romantically involved with Colin prefers girls with the name Katherine. He has dated 19 girls with the first name Katherine. Colin is determined to prove that names can predict the future of relationships. He has concluded that guys with the name Colin are the boys who get dumped and girls with the name Katherine are dumpers. He dated nineteen Katherine's and he was dumped every single time. Throughout the book he is searching for the love of his life with the name Katherine, and also to live an outstanding life that everyone will remember. I can relate to this story because I don't want to die and be forgotten about just like what Colin is afraid of. Making a difference in the world and having my name known would be an outstanding yet very hard achievement that I want to strive for. Everyone wants to make their life significant in some way, but very few people actually strive and make that an accomplishment. Also, I can relate to the story because people have types or specific things they look for in a romantic interest. Typically their type is things like eye color or hair color. Colin has a thing for girls named Katherine, that is his type. In the process of trying to find his great calling in life he takes a summer road trip with his best friend instead of learning a new language and attending college. I can connect this with myself a lot. Everyone wants to graduate from high school and then attend college. I think it is good that you take some time off before you go to college and just explore your options. That's what Colin does, and in the end he found out exactly who he was and where he wanted to be in life. 

101 things about me

1) I play softball for Parkview, and I am the varsity left fielder.
2) I do speech and debate at Parkview, and I do public forum debate, oratory, and duet acting.
3) I also do DECA and FBLA at Parkview.
4) I have four dogs, Big Paw, MaryAnn, Gabby, and Bastian.
5) My favorite animals are giraffes and penguins.
6)I am employed by McDonalds.
7) I love to sing, and I am involved in concert choir.
8) I love country music, and I like rock music.
9) I want to go to Missouri State and major in Business Law, and marketing.
10) My favorite sport to watch is football. GO CHIEFS!
11)My favorite season is fall because I love how beautiful it looks outside.
12) My favorite subject is history. I wish I could just only take history classes.
13) I love politics, well I love watching the news and learning about current events.
14) This summer I attended Missouri Girls State, and I learned so much about politics and the election process.
15) I enjoy writing. I don't like when people read my work, but I like writing.
16) I love movies, but especially comedies with Adam Sandler, and Jim Carrey.
17) I was born in Springfield, Missouri, but was raised in Marshfield, Missouri.
18) I attended 4 different elementary schools, Hubble, Disney, Eugene Field, and Mark Twain.
19) My parents got divorced when I was 5 years old.
20) I have two sisters, Jade and Mariah.
21) My favorite place to be is in Florida.