Weekly Reading Response

NAME: Jade Lao DATE: 2/18/2010
BOOK: The Lightning Thief
AUTHOR: Rick Riordan PAGES: 187 - 282
TOTAL PAGES THIS WEEK: 96

QUESTION 1:
Which character would you like to be like? In what way? Why?
RESPONSE 1:

If I could be any character from this book I think I would want to be Percy Jackson. I like him since he always thought of himself of a boy who just had problems in school, but learns that he is more than just an ordinary boy. I would want his strength and his power over water. I think controlling water would be really cool because then I could breathe under water just like him, and I could control the currents and ride those currents everywhere as fast as I want.

One other thing I would like from him is his determination. His determination is admirable, because he is so determined to make it to Los Angeles from New York, then back, to help his father, and to rescue his mother. If I have the determination he had, then I could do anything as long as I want to.

QUESTION 2:
What was one of your favorite lines (or sentences) in what you read today?
RESPONSE 2:

My favorite sentences from this week reading were this. “His meter machine started rattling. The lights flashed. Finally an infinity symbol came up next to the dollar sign. The cigar fell out of the driver’s mouth. He looked back at us, his eyes wide. ‘Where to in Los Angeles… uh, Your Highness?’”

This was my favorite passage from this week because I thought it was very funny. When Percy Jackson and his friends decided to take a cab from Las Vegas to Los Angeles, they came from a place called the Lotus Casino, which is my favorite place because they give you a Lotus Cash card loaded with enough cash to do anything you want in the casino. So when they used this for a taxi, it surprised me because I thought that it would only work for the casino. Also this was hilarious because the cab driver starts treating them like kings and queens because they seemed so rich.

Weekly Reading Response

NAME: Jade Lao DATE: 2/11/2010
BOOK: The Lightning Thief
AUTHOR: Rick Riordan PAGES: 92 - 187
TOTAL PAGES THIS WEEK: 95

QUESTION 1:
How did what you read today make you feel? Why?
RESPONSE 1:
It made me feel a bit excited since the book is getting more exciting every chapter. I enjoy things like when they fight creatures like Medusa or The Furies (Hades’ torturers). There is a lot of suspense in times when I know what might happen next yet the characters don’t know, and I feel like shouting at them what to do. I hate though that characters don’t do what I shout no matter what. Sometimes they also make decisions that don’t make sense, like going into a stranger’s factory and accepting food from this person even if they are suspicious of her.


QUESTION 2:
What advice would you give to a particular character? Why?

RESPONSE 2:
Don’t just enter a stranger’s place and accept free food. The reason I say this is because in the book Percy Jackson and his friends walk into a stone figure factory, with the statues being a bit too realistic. They realize that the person named Ms. M is Medusa, the creature who turns anything that looks at her head to stone. If they just stayed away from here they could’ve avoided a deadly battle with Medusa.

Weekly Reading Response

NAME: Jade Lao DATE: 2/04/2010
BOOK: The Lightning Thief
AUTHOR: Rick Riordan PAGES: 1 - 92
TOTAL PAGES THIS WEEK: 93

QUESTION 1:

Do you think you would read another book by this author? Why or why not?

RESPONSE 1:

I would read another book by this author because I find it extremely interesting. I like that it combines Greek Mythology with the places in this modern time. I find it much more fun to learn on the subject through stories like this. I’ve also been really interested in Greek Mythology and it was fun to read about it and learn a bit more. Another reason why I would read another book is because I find it action packed, and very addicting. To me, it’s as if I hooked on to it as soon as I started reading the first page.

Another reason I would read it’s sequel is because it’s very descriptive. I liked how Rick Riordan made it so that it is as if I was traveling along with the characters. The words painted my mind with the scenery and I can imagine the smells and the tastes of the food. “I was sitting in a deck chair on a huge porch, gazing across a meadow at green hills in the distance. The breeze smelled like strawberries. There was a blanket over my legs, a pillow behind my neck. All that was great, but my mouth felt like a scorpion had been using it for a nest. My tongue was dry and nasty and every one of my teeth hurt,” this was an example of how descriptive the author was, and I enjoyed reading this part imagining sitting in a chair looking at beautiful scenery.


QUESTION 2:

What other character(s) beside the main character is really important to the story? How and why?
RESPONSE 2:

One really important character to the book is Chiron. In Greek Mythology, Chiron was a centaur (half-horse half-man) who trained great heroes like Hercules. In this book he is the activity director for a summer camp called Camp Half-Blood. Half-bloods are people who had one parent that was human and the other one was en Olympian god, like Zeus. Anyway, Chiron trains people to fight with swords and shoot bows. Before the main character (Percy Jackson) reaches this summer camp, he knew this centaur as a Greek teacher in a wheelchair. “And then he did rise from the wheelchair. But there was something odd about the way he did it. His blanket fell away from his legs, but the legs didn’t move……it was the front of an animal,” I found this section interesting because I myself would be surprised if my favorite teacher turned out to be part horse.

Independent Reading Book Choice

I decided that I will read the book "Lighting Thief" by Rick Riordan. I want to read this book because it is partly based on Greek Mythology, which I find very interesting.

Lord Of The Flies-Chapter 12 Cry of The Hunters
“End of Innocence”
Perspective: Ralph

Dear Journal,

Today was horrible. I could’ve been killed! I went to Castle Rock only to find out that Samneric were forced to join Jack’s tribe! They sent me away with a piece of meat, and I told them that I’ll hide in the nearby thickets. They decided they give me hints by ululations. It seemed like one of the twins was in trouble. They were being tortured and I could hear their screams. They found out where I was by torturing Sam or Eric. Knowing that it would be too hard to crawl through the thicket, they shoved rocks off Castle Rock. The rocks bounded, and I knew that I would die if I didn’t run. I thought running was good, but then changed my mind thinking they might want me to reveal myself through running out. I ran out after stabbing one of the savages. I don’t know if I killed him, but I had to run. They also tried smoking me out with fire, then I had to run again. I had to diddle them because their cordon of savages was going throughout the jungle hunting for me. Fortunately for me, I was saved. I saw the white drill and the shiny epaulettes on his shoulders. I saw distended bellies of kids behind me, and I was saved. I wept though, because I realized, I was no longer an innocent kid. We all revealed our dark side.

Lord Of The Flies; Chapter 11 – Castle Rock

1. In the beginning of the chapter, what does Piggy tell Ralph to do with the conch?

Piggy tells Ralph to blow the conch and call a meeting.

2. What reason will Piggy give Jack for the return of his glasses?

He will tell Jack that he should give the glasses back because it is right.

3. What does Ralph declare their appearance will be when they approach Jack?

He says they will go without paint or anything.

4. Who challenges the boys on their approach to Castle Rock?

Jack with a few other hunters.

5. When Jack appears, what has he been doing?

Jack was hunting.

6. What does Ralph call Jack that provokes a fight?

Ralph calls Jack a thief.

7. What happens to Samneric after the fight?

Jack has them tied up and forces them to join his tribe.

8. What is Roger doing during Piggy’s plea for a return to decency?

Roger is dropping rocks from Castle Rock.

I think that it is Roger who killed Piggy truculently. It was all Roger dropping rocks while being delirious. I think all of the savages thought of the conch as a talisman, because it reminded them of their time with Ralph and they hated Ralph. So I guess Roger couldn’t help but aim for Piggy since Piggy was just standing around, and was easy to hit. The cessation of dropping rocks happened when Piggy was hit, and the conch blown up.

Lord Of The Flies; Chapter 10 – The Shell And The Glasses


Dear Journal,

Simon’s death, there are many different perspectives on it. Like for an example, Ralph thinks it was pure murder. Simon agrees with him. He thinks that it was Jack’s fault. Simon thinks that Ralph has a good sense of what’s good and bad. Although Ralph thinks its murder, Piggy keeps saying it was an accident. How could it be? They stabbed and bit Simon for at least 5 minutes, enough to realize that it wasn’t anything else but Simon.

On the other side of the island, Jack was being a bit mean to his tribe. Although there is no explanation for why, Jack has had Wilfred tied up. They kept arguing about what happened at their feast. Jack kept saying that Simon was the beast in disguise. Simon though this was ludicrous. It was impossible that he could be the beast. Then he thought again about what the Lord of the Flies told him. He remembered the pig’s head saying that it was the beast and the beast was human nature. After thinking this through, Simon decided that Jack was partly right. The beast was in all of them, but like the Lord of the Flies said, “Fancy thinking the beast was something you could hunt or kill!”

He noticed Jack talking with Maurice and Roger. They were talking about fire, and how to make it. Jack started talking about invasion of Ralph’s tribe. Simon wished he could talk to Ralph and warn them about the upcoming attack. Unfortunately all he could do was watch. He watched as the three savages moved through the forest, stealthily, in the night. He gasped in horror when they arrived at the huts. Jack was grinning at the thought of disabling Ralph’s tribe to make fire. His goal was to snatch Piggy’s glasses then retreat. Simon was watching as Jack, Maurice, and Roger fought Ralph, Samneric, and Piggy. Simon was laughing and frowning as he saw Ralph beating Sam, because it was too dark to see who was who, and Jack and his group running away with a pair of broken glasses hanging in his hand.