Entry two

In my book, the main character is Virginia Shreves. Her number one goal is to lose weight.  She struggles as she has nobody to open up to without getting judged and eating is just a way of distraction.  I think that she would just enjoy a break in her life especially from friends and family. Besides Virginia there are no other main characters.  Her family's desire is for her to lose weight,  her best friend's is to come home to New York, and her boyfriend's desire is to get up her shirt. As I get further into the story the characters' complexity will grow and desires will be answered. As I am not at the end of the story it is harder to find the main theme of the story. So far  themes could be "Happiness should be the main priority" or "If you aren't happy, you have the choice to change until you are". I made these thematic statements because the main conflict is of Virginia not enjoying her life. The structure of this book is made so that it's easy to predict what is going to happen next in the book. I believe because of this structure the theme will continue throughout the book and she will achieve happiness.

Entry one

The book The Earth,  My butt, and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler is a fun, entertaining, and girl loving book. Virginia Shreves is a teenage girl that you could call unlucky.  Her best friend Shannon moved to Walla Walla Washington and absolutely hates the snobby, popular girls at her private school in New York. As so far she hangs out and grades papers for her English teacher instead of sitting at the disgusting lunch tables alone. Her so called "boyfriend" Froggy Welsh ignores her at school but finds a way to get up her shirt at home.  Virginia also lives as an outcast in her thin, beautiful, and blonde family.  Her mom, a fitness freak that would love to help her daughter out but never has the time, her dad that likes to look at thin women,  and Anais and Byron, the older well known siblings. If I would predict as any other book, I think things will get better for her.Questions I have for my future reading are,"Is anything going to happen in which her life gets better? "
"What will happen in her relationship with her boyfriend or friend?"
"Will she ever make friends at school? "

Final Blogging Assesment

1.  Some words I use in my blog are "sort of", "tad bit", "hip", and "dumb". Some phrases I use are " Like seriously?" and "I know the author is trying to be hip and wanting to connect to a younger audience but this is just dumb. I used these informal words and phrases show that I as the author I am laid back or casual, using these words to connect to the audience to help them understand my point of view better.

2. A diction choice I used was low and informal diction throughout my blog. "I am sort of close to finishing the book but I honestly don't want to because it's awful"(Rousseau). This sentence using the words sort of and awful show my non formal approach. A syntax technique I used was sentence and punctuation choice. "Like seriously?"(Rousseau). Using a short sentence draws the reader to it and gets them straight to the point on what I am trying to say. Using a question mark for a rhetorical question makes the reader see how frustrated I was at that point of the text.

Character

My character's name is Anna, a teenager that is sent to a mental hospital because her parents believe that she has issues. Of course she doesn't believe it, i'm sure all patients are indenial. In the beginning she is extremely shy and is more observant towards other characters. The beginning doesn't have much dialogue because it's mostly her thinking. As she gets involved in group discussions and is befriended by other patients her age, she become more confident. She is more comfortable with her body mentally and physically (physically because her parents believed that she was overweight). By the end I believe she has gained a little too much confidence. She finally goes home and stands up for herself by yelling and throwing an alarm clock at her parents. Because of this my opinion went negative towards her.  

Analyzing Conflicts

In my book there seem to be small problems inside of the mental hospital rather than her focusing on how she can get out of the hospital. In the beginning the conflict consisted of her getting out of the mental hospital in which she was in for 21 days. She slowly forgot about this conflict as she got to be involved in group projects. Towards the middle and the end her conflict was trying to get this boy to like her which was cute and nice at first but grew dry and all she could talk about. It almost made me sick. Both conflicts are resolved by the end of the book. These conflicts were both internal because these conflicts had to do within her; her problems that got her into the hospital and love. I hoped to have more conflict throughout the book but I didnt get it. With more and interesting conflicts I think that would have definitely benefitted the plot of the book.

Review

I am sort of close to finishing the book but I honestly don't want to because it's awful. I was waiting for something exciting to happen the whole time but it's basically just her talking about her countless encounters with this boy (which is creepy because they are both in a mental hospital). Her thoughts are kind of idiotic really. " On the elevator down to school, Justin finally stood next to me. We both stood really still, staring straight ahead. Nothing happened for the first few seconds (Minutes? Hours? It seemed like forever), but soon I felt a little tickle in the back of my right hand. At first I was going to jerk it up and scratch it, but as it became less tickly and more warm and smooth I realized it was Justin's hand." (Halpern 80). Like seriously? I mean I wouldn't blame her; being in a mental hospital you wouldn't have anything better to do I guess. I also think it's a tad bit inappropriate. The main character swears too much at times that can be said perfectly without dropping the F bomb every 2 seconds. She also talks about other girls and judges them which isn't a good message. I know the author is trying to be "hip" and wanting to connect to a younger audience but this is just dumb. Maybe this is for an even more relaxed teenager because this book is not for me.

Why I chose this book

At first, I hadn't even known anything about this book, truthfully it was a completely random pick. But as a did some research about this book, I started to get more interested. I love books that aren't formal, I like how it's from the character's perspective to really get into the story. I feel as though young adult books are successful at it because the author is trying to capture the typical teenage life. The cover only had a frowning face that said Get Well Soon. The title made me think that maybe somebody was sick and it would include a lot of drama. The description said that it was about a teenage girl that was sent to a mental hospital. I hadn't really known about mental hospitals but they've always intrigued me. What makes a person think and act differently that they are sent to a facility to rot as people think they are getting better? I think it's even more interesting that it's a teenage girl as oppose to a grown adult as many people believe that its the common age.