The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks

Monday: 30 minutes
Tuesday: 30 minutes
Wednesday: 20 minutes
Thursday: 20 minutes
Friday: 40 minutes
Saturday: 20 minutes
Sunday: 20 minutes

TOTAL: 180 minutes

Turning Tables by Adele

Everyone knows Adele. They know the songs, "Rolling in the Deep", "Someone Like You", and "Set Fire to the Rain." One song that is rather out in the public is called "Turning Tables." This is one of my favorite songs. She is trying to explain that she is tired of fighting because she is losing. It is about someone changing their mind over and over again and her trying to stay away from it. The main lyric in the chorus says, "It's time to say goodbye, to turning tables." 

This song gives many examples of metaphors and consonance. One example of a metaphor is when she sings "under your thumb, I can't breathe." This is a metaphor because someone can't really be under someone else's thumb. She is trying to tell us that something so small can make her stop breathing. An example of consonance is in the chorus. She sings "iT's Time To say goodbye To Turning Tables." There is a repetition of the consonant "T". 

Obvious changes are in chorus to verse and verse to bridge, but there are a few other changes as well. In most songs, there is a contradiction in a lot of songs, but it this one, there isn't one. I didn't really see many changes in this song, I just saw many things being referred to. For instance, she refers to storms and thunder throughout the song. 

Crucial moments in this song include the bridge. The lyrics state "Next time I'll be braver, I'll be my own savior, When the thunder calls for me, Next time I'll be braver, I'll be my own savior, Standing on my own two feet." In these couple of lines, she is saying that she is going to be exactly the opposite of how she was before. 

Adele uses rhyme and rhythm to express her feelings. Every line in the verse has a rhyming pattern (AAAA). This means that the last word of every line rhymes. The choruses have repeating techniques as well. The last word of each line is the word "me," then the last two words on the last to lines are "turning tables" (hence the name of the song.) 


http://www.directlyrics.com/adele-turning-tables-lyrics.html

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Over the break, I read the sequel to The Hunger Games. I almost done with this book, and I will probably read the next one in a week or so. As of right now, Finnick (a victor from District 4), Peeta, and Katniss meet with Johanna Mason, Betee, and Wiress. So far, this book is pretty good. This novel is not as appealing as the first one. Dont get me wrong! I love it! But i just think that the first one is much better. I would most likely recommend this book to anyone as long as you read the first one. After the first one, I was really enthusiastic about reading it.

I also read five poems that were assigned to us over the break. These poems were very interesting. For instance, the one called "We Real Cool" is kinda confusing. It doesn't make any sense, but I guess that doesn't matter since it makes sense to the author of the poem. As long as we make our own interpretation of it, I think the author has done his/her job right!

Outside Reading: The Joy Luck Club

I am currently reading the Joy Luck Club. This is sorta a hard read so far. If you have never heard of this book, it is about a group of four Chinese women that moved to San Francisco. These women all are in the same position and soon become known to themselves as the Joy Luck Club. I have not read that much of the book, but will probably sooner or later stop reading it.

I can never finish a book even if I try as hard as I can. I like this book, but its just not my taste. It is pretty interesting at times, but there are parts that just get so boring that I dont want to read it anymore. I am trying to get through it and hope I do.

Monday: 25 minutes
Tuesday: 20 minutes
Wednesday: 15 minutes
Thursday: 30 minutes
Friday: 10 minutes
Saturday: 30 minutes
Sunday: 20 minutes

Poetry Analysis: The Whipping by Robert Hayden

Before reading this poem, I thought that it was about someone whipping someone or something. After reading it, I know that it is about an old woman, maybe a grandmother, beating a small boy, maybe the grandson. I can tell that is struggling and crying. He is sobbing because maybe he had done something wrong. I didn't understand some of the poem and what it was trying to say. I think it was some imagery that I couldn't quite decipher.

There were a few enjambments and caesuras here and there, but what I wanted to focus on was the imagery. There was a lot of imagery that I didn't exactly get. I think that the narrator is a neighbor who is watching this little boy get beaten up by an old woman. I liked this poem and would like to understand it better.

I didn't understand when it stated, 

"Wildly he crashes through elephant ears,

        pleads in dusty zinnias"

I also couldn't quite get the poem when it said,

"My head gripped in bony vise

        of knees, the writhing struggle

to wrench free"