Feed

Reading Anderson’s Feed was kind of hard for me.  I have never been a huge fan of dystopian novels.  They just do not really appeal to me personally I think because I struggle relating to them.  I have never lived in a life like the one that is described in most dystopian novels so I have a really difficult time relating to them.  I do though understand that dystopian novels are very popular with readers today.  For this reason I was able to analyze Feed as a novel that I would teach in a class in the future.  This novel really plays on the idea of an unhealthy governmental take over.  These people are imprisoned by their “feeds” which only allow them to think to a certain extent.  It is almost as if they live part of a life because of the effect that the governmental “feeds” have on them.  As the story progresses and the characters lose their “feeds” they are forced to live full lives which is difficult because of how they have lived their whole lives.  The way that adolescents are portrayed in this novel is very interesting.  It is interesting because it is a dystopian novel so the teens are completely different from teens today.  While the teens are different because they are part computer they are the same because of their actions.  They question authority, they fall in love, they struggle with everyday things that a lot of teens struggle with.  I think that this would be a fun book to teach in a high school class.  I think students would really enjoy it because dystopia is such a topic of interest in society especially with the rise in technology that continuously changes our environment.  This book does pose a number of challenges though.  I think one of the biggest challenges that a teacher will face when implementing this novel in the classroom will be with explicit language and how parents will respond.  There are so many curse words in this novel that I think parents will really struggle with allowing their children to read it.  I think this is an argument that parents should rethink though because I think that students would argue that the novel really portrays their language and dialect.  High school students use offensive language and I would argue that it is their way of trying to find themselves.  Also, when parental supervision lacks I think that kids tend to act differently.  Overall I think if a teacher really wanted to implement this book they would be able to, but it would take some dedication and great preparation.  I give this book a B on a grade scale because I do not enjoy dystopian novels but I was able to analyze it as if I would like to teach it to a class.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie is one of my favorite books ever.  I grew up in a situation similar to Sherman’s, and Jr.’s.  I grew up on a reservation, but I was never enrolled so I never really fit in, and once I started Jr. High School in a different town where the main race was Caucasian I didn’t fit in because I was from the reservation.  When Jr. describes himself as a “part time Indian,” I have a pretty good idea of what he means.  I think this text was written for a very particular audience, youth who have felt othered.  For youth who have felt like Jr. did in the novel it is a very relatable work.  Much of what Alexie wrote is exactly what young people feel when they move schools or encounter many other ordinary difficulties.  I think that Rowdy’s character develops incredibly throughout the story.  When Jr. first moves schools Rowdy is not a very good friend.  He resents Jr.’s choice to leave even though deep down it seems like he just wants to go with Jr.  Eventually though he forgives Jr. and opens up to him about why he was really upset and how he hopes that Jr. goes on to succeed in his life.  The way that Alexie developed Rowdy’s character was very similar to how I have seen people develop.  When I was younger and older kids would leave the reservation they would be resented, but now they are almost praised for trying to make more of themselves.  I do think that this novel leaves out adolescents who have never been through a change in their lives such as moving or divorce or other experiences similar to these.  I think this text does put young people in a very real life situation.  Often times youth in areas of poverty struggle to leave which is exactly what happens in this novel.  Also, it shows how young people in new schools are treated by students who have already established their relationships.  I think it is a novel that most high school can appreciate even if they have never gone through a life changing event like Jr. did in this novel.  I think this is a very teachable novel.  In fact I recently designed a 5-day unit using this book to teach students the importance of identity.  By showing students how true to his identity Jr. stays even with the hardships that he faces we can show them how important it is to stay true to themselves.  I used activities in which my students reflected on their own identities in order to see the importance of staying true to themselves.  I give this book an A+ on the grading scale.  I relate to this book in so many ways that I can completely submerge myself into it.  I love reading this book, even though I have read it over and over again which is out of the ordinary for me.  Normally I read a book once and then don’t read it again because I cannot stay focused when I know what is coming.  This is a great book that I will continue to enjoy for the rest of my life.

Looking For Alaska--Part 1

I am so happy to be reading “Looking for Alaska” again!  I read it once in high school, but that was a long time ago.  As I read it is all coming back to me, and it was so hard to stop at the first half but I had other homework to attend to.  Anyway, I really think this book is great for a number of reasons.  I love the vagueness that lies within the characters.  None of them really know each other that well, but for some reason or another they are all great friends.  I think this book, in terms of literature, is pretty average.  It mostly follows normal plot development thus far, though I am not sure what happens in the second half.  I think it is interesting that John Green doesn’t give much background information on the characters.  He allows them to develop as themselves with no historical influence on the reader.  I think this job does a decent job of including the different types of young adults.  It deals with the smart kids, the racial minorities, the rich/jock kids, the stoners at least on a basic level.  One thing I am surprised by is that there is no homosexual character.  I don’t know exactly how I would have put that character in this story but I think it would have been one more idea that the author could have tied in somehow.  I think this is another story that positions adolescents in reality.  These kids are doing things that I think a lot of young adults do; drinking, smoking, having sex, playing pranks.  I do think though that the level at which they do these things is a bit dramatic.  I don’t think, in today’s society at least, that so many high school students are smoking that the campus has to patrol for them.  I also don’t think they are drinking wine in excess like the characters have to this point in the story.  I just think that the author might have tried to make them a little to rebellious.  I can clearly see why parents would challenge this book.  It almost argues that all high school students are drinking and having sex and smoking while I think that there are far fewer students taking part in this than the author makes it seem in this story.  Also, there is some very graphic language.  There are a great number of instances where profanity is used in the first half of this book and I can see why parents would not want their children reading this book.  I do think though that the dialogue in this story is very real.  I think that young adults do talk much like the characters in this book regardless of how their parents want them to talk.  I’m not sure how I would incorporate this book into the classroom yet because I am not sure of the conclusion, but I think it would be interesting to try.  I give this book an A.  I give it this grade for a number of reasons, but the number one reason is that because it kept me up at night when I should have been sleeping simply because I needed to know what was going to happen next.