My Sister's Keeper week 1 post A

vocab
1. embryonic- (pg. 8) ,adjective, meaning developing
2. promyelocytes- (pg.33), noun, meaning the predominant cell type seen in leukemia

figurative language
1." Anger glows around this kid like electricity." (pg. 21) This is a example of a simile because it is compairing the kid's anger to electricity while using the word like.
2."Acually, that's not quite true- right now she doesn't have it, but it's hibernating under her skin like a bear, until it decides to roar again." (pg. 10)
This is a example of a simile because Anna is compairing Kate's leukemia to a bear using the word like.
3. "I'm alone in the office long enogh to note that his desk is so neat, you could play Chinese football on the blotter" (pg. 17) This is a example of a imagery because it helps you picture what Mr. Alexander's office looks like.

Quote
"Normal, in our house, is like a blanket too short for a bed-sometimes it covers you just fine, and other times it leaves you cold and shaking; and worst of all, you never know which of the two it's going to be." (pg. 11) I think that this quote tells a lot about this book because with their sister, Kate, having leukemia their whole family revoles around if she gets sick and they really dont ever know when that is going to be and just like with the blanket sometimes it is no big deal but other times it could be more serious.
Theme
I think that the theme in this book so far is that you should always be ready for what life throws at you.

Dede- "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield

Dede inspires me because if I had four sister who had passed away I don’t think I would be able to talk about it all of the time. I am also interested about knowing more about her because I feel like we have not learned that much about her. One thing that really struck me about her is that she made a museum in memory of her sisters who passed away and tries to remember all of the good times with them and not the bad. I know if I had people asking me questions like they ask Dede I would not be able to handle it so I think it is really cool how she has the ability to do that. I picked this song because I feel like from part one of the book what stuck out to me must is how she was the only sister who survived and in the song it says “Feel the rain on your skin, No one else can feel it for you, Only you can let it in, No one else, no one else, Can speak the words on your lips, Drench yourself in words unspoken” and this is so true for Dede because she is the only sister to tell their story. Also in the song it says, “I am unwritten, can't read my mind, I'm undefined” this also explains Dede because unlike the other sisters she has not shown her opinions on very many things so it is hard to say what will happen to her in the next chapters compared to the other sisters. I also think the song title, Unwritten, explains a lot about Dede so far in the book because there is so much more to learn about her but we have not read it yet.

Top 10 list

1.The setting of this book takes place in Upper East Side of New York City. Constance is where the girls, Blair, Serena, Jenny, Vanessa, and some of their friends attend school. Constance is in the Upper East Side as well. This is a very wealthy community and all the girls are used to getting whatever they want. Jenny Humphrey on the other hand lives on the West side which is not as nice or wealthy.
2.The main Characters in the book Blair Waldorf, Serena van der Woodsen, Nate Archibald, Dan Humphrey, Jenny Humphrey, Vanessa Abrams, and Chuck Bass. Blair, Serena and Nate are all best friends. Nate’s best guy friend is Chuck. Dan and Vanessa meet at their first real high school party and start to have a relationship. Jenny is two years younger then all of them, but she looks up to them a lot and does whatever Blair makes her do. Dan and Jenny are also obsessed with Serena but she doesn’t know who they are.
3.This book’s narration is done in second person. This is so important that it is told from an outsiders view because the narrator bounces around to many different groups of friends and conflicts. If it were told by just one person’s view, say for example Serena, the book wouldn’t have anything to do with the Humphrey’s because they aren’t friends at all.
4.The plot of this book is that the narrator is following around a group of wealthy teenagers and observing what its like in their society with the peer pressure and influence of sex, drugs, partying, alcohol and more. It also follows the lives of the not so wealthy part of town and puts their lives into perspectives of how different their lives are.
5.The biggest conflict throughout the book is the conflict over Nate between best friends Serena and Blair. Serena and Blair have always been attracted to Nate since kindergarten but neither had ever dated him or even kissed him. Once Blair and Nate started dating, Serena get really jealous and Nate ended up cheating on Blair with Serena during their long summer apart.
6.The character that evolved the most would have to be Dan. In the beginning he was a really good kid and always did the right things. By the end of the book he was a big smoker and drinker. He was never irresponsible about it though. Dan didn’t party much and if he drank he would be at home with Vanessa or his dad.
7.How the book ended was that Nate, Serena and Blair had spent the whole summer away with their families and were all just ready to come back home. Nate got home form his house in Maine first, so he called Serena right when he arrived. Serena took a train to see him and they ended up hooking up at Nates house. Blair came home that day ( a week early) but Nate and Serena made up a story, then Serena left so Blair never found out.
8.The style of this book was very hip and present lingo. The intended audience would defiantly be for teenagers and young adults. The older generation isn’t used to everything going on in teenagers lives theses days, hence they are not the targeted audience.
9. The theme of this book is that money can’t buy you everything in life. Once Blair and Nate were dating Serena was willing to do anything for him and she thought that she had the perfect life and she couldn’t understand why she couldn’t just have Nate too. Serena did learn though that she wasn’t going to be able to pay off Blair to get the one she thought she loved.
10. The meaning of the book is to show teenagers what life is like for this group of people. Even though the story line is fiction, it still makes the readers realize what some people think is a glamorous life style, sometimes is not so great.

It had to be you the gossip girl prequel pages 59-115 post B

So Blair and Serena’s plan worked out. Their plan was to not let Nate attend the debutant ball with L’Wren. So after the terrible news that Blair just found out about her father being gay and leaving the family, all she was interested in was getting Nate to take her mind off her father’s news. So at the pre-party Blair and Serena were in the hot tub and then Nate walked in and they made him get in. Nate was really interested in kissing Serena again but she new that she could not let Blair get any more bad news, so she decided to leave the hot tub for just Blair and Nate. Then Serena went and kissed Chuck Bass so that Nate and Blair would kiss and Nate would not be thinking about her. So Blair made the move and they kissed all night. Meanwhile Serena went home and cried herself to sleep. Nate realized that Blair was the one he loved. Blair told Nate that she loved him and he did not know how to respond but by the end he said it back to her. Dan and Vanessa kissed too. Not as much as Blair and Nate just a kiss on the lips. Dan and Vanessa had hung out that whole night and by the end Dan passed out and Vanessa had to put him into bed. Although Serena was just kissing Chuck to kiss him Chuck felt differently. The next morning Chuck went to Serena’s house with starbucks and flowers. Serena made him leave because she clearly still has feelings for Nate. So this section of the book was all about drama. Blair is really happy because she finally got Nate. Nate believes he is now in love with Blair but is still thinking about Serena. Serena is heartbroken on how she has lost Nate even though she knows it is the right thing. Dan is still obsessed with Serena and does not know how he feels about Vanessa. Vanessa is thinking that she is in love with Dan. Jenny is still very happy about her going through puberty. So there are many mix emotions going on still.

It had to be you the gossip girl prequel pages 176-214 post A

Figurative Language
1." Dan's brain flickered off and on like a TV set in an electrical storm." (page 199) I new that this was a simile because it it comparing something using the word like.
2. " Blair's entire body felt like wax after it had melted and then cooled." (page 193) This is a simile because it it showing the comparisent by using the word like.
3. " Dan didn't say anything, but his face turned as red as the lobster in his poem." (page 185) I new that this was a simile because the word as is showing the comparisent.

Vocab
1. ogling- (page 176) To stare in an flirtatious way
2. coyly- (page 180) to be shy or modest

It had to be you the gossip girl prequel pages 116-175 post B

So I am really started to get into some juicy details about all the characters lives. Blair finally reveals to Serena that she is in love with Nate. Although Serena new this Blair had never admitted it before so it was a big step for Blair. But the whole time Blair was telling Serena her true feelings Serena could not stop thinking about how she was in love with Nate and of course their kiss from the night before. Nate had finally got some new male friends, Charlie Dern, Jeremy Scott Tompkinson, and Anthony Avuldsen. Although the way he met them was not the best way, he seemed to enjoy himself with them. All of those new friends Nate meets are his new getting high off of weed friends. Once Serena and Blair remember that Nate is escorting L’Wren to the debutante ball they were determined to make sure that did not happen. Serena had a meeting with Dean Kaplan of Hanover which is a boarding school. Serena tells her father that she does not want to go to boarding school so her father says she does not have to if she does not want to. Then Blair found out that her father had left her mother. He gave her a kitten with a note, he did not even say goodbye in person. Once Blair realized this she binged. At the pre- party for the debutante ball Blair found out that her father was gay and had a partner. Blair felt so awful that she went into the bathroom and purged three more times. In all this was just a dramatic time period in the book.

It had to be you the gossip girl prequel pages 116-175 post A

Vocab
1. macrobiotic (page 145) - The theory or practice of promoting well-being and longevity, principally by means of a diet consisting chiefly of whole grains and beans.
2. aphrodisiacs (page 165)- Something, such as a drug or food, having such an effect; sexual pleasures


Figurative language

1." Dan flew across the room like one of those disposable bad guys in a James Bond movie." (page 174) This is a simile, and I know that it is because it is showing comparisent with the word like.
2. " The shiny, brightly colored packages with their bold brand names screamed at her like a lurid chorus." (page 170) This literary element is a simile and the reason it is because it is using the word like while comparing something.
3. " Blair giggled merrily, watching her bounce, oblivious to the gap that had already formed between them like a crack in a side walk." (page 120) This simile is a literary element because it is using the word like while comparing something.