jean's blog

The novel we were given to read was The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. The main theme in this book was love, as it was represented through the characters within the protagonist’s family. The protagonists in this story are Denny Swift, a racecar driver, and his dog Enzo, who is the narrator in first person, and the book is seen in his eyes. This family lives in Seattle with two others at the start of the book, those being Eve, Denny’s wife, and Zoe, their child. The book starts off with Enzo having trouble with his health and making the claim that when he dies, his soul will transform into a new human. This family is hit with some challenges as well as some trouble from Maxwell and Trish who Enzo likes to call “The twins”. The conflict all starts when Denny gets accused of rape and The twins plot his demise. This book would be a hard read for a kid as the story is told from a dog’s perspective and forces readers to use context clues and they’re own imagination. This writing...

    Fantasy books ever since I was a child have been a top 3 genre for me. I was always interested in finding a way to get out of the real world whether it was TV, Video games, or Fantasy books. Fantasy books were really the first books I ever started reading as a kid, they kept me entertained the longest from start to end and would even act like I was in the book sometimes. I wasn't the biggest fan of science fiction because it doesn't excite me as much, futuristic concepts don't really move me as much as Harry Potter and Voldemort fighting till the end. Fantasy has way more depth as well in terms of character development in my opinion because of the way the story is set up is for the protagonist to always go through a conflict and come up on top at the end or at least most of the time. Power systems such as Harry Potter's magic or i n the Mistborn series, Allomancy a genetic ability that allows a person to metabolize metals, ingested by the Allomancer, for magical pow...

View on Vocaroo >> I moved in with my grandparents when I first started high school, and I've been there ever since. At first, it was clearly a difference in the way that I carried out my daily life or interacted with my elders. I had to come to terms with the fact that even though this is family, they are doing me a really big favor, and I can't dishonor them for what they have done for me. I had to come to terms with this fact in order to move on with my life. Along the journey, there have been some ups and downs, as the old saying goes, teens grow feisty during those years of puberty. Now I think I have really experienced life through a different lens, which makes me believe that I need to build bonds and connections on this world. The realization of this was brought to light through senior service. Every year at UDJ, we hold a senior service day, during which seniors are assigned a site to volunteer and are given the opportunity to give back to the community in a vari...

Jean Konate  Mr.Davidson Contemporary Literature  2 Monday 2023 Have Curse Words Lost Their Shock Value Reflection     I picked this topic knowing that curse words are almost influential in today's world and are in almost everyone's vocabulary. I decided on this side of the argument as I personally can slip out a few curse words and know that as a teen almost everyone does it. There were a lot of counter-arguments, which can be shown as unprofessional which I wanted to argue against but it's better to not include any counterarguments. For the most part, though it was pretty easy to stay focused on the topic because I believe in this side of the argument I could find other people who believed in this side of the argument as well. I made sure to put some stats in mine as well because though it is mainly opinion statistics will really put my argument over the edge.  For the format and media on my page, I kept it pretty basic and put a censored picture and an emoji ...

    One narrator who seemed to be very interested to me and keep me entertained the whole way through is Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games Trilogy. In "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins is in the Dystopian genre and has lots of very vivid images. In a world where there is futuristic technology and different types of species and etc. Katniss does a great job of describing her environment and what is happening to other characters as well. I believe Katniss was especially great in her first person role as there was a lot of character development that was great to see from first person.      The story starts with Katniss a 16 year old girl who just wakes up on the day of the reaping, when the tributes who are chosen will fight in the annual Hunger Games.  The Hunger Games is a show for the Capitol and a reminder to the districts of the Capitol's power and lack of remorse or forgiveness for the failed uprising of the ancestors of the current competi...

Mr.Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore Book Review *SPOILER ALERT*  "Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore" by Robin Sloan combines old-world humor with the luxuries of the digital age. The world of books, codes, and secrets is explored in depth in Sloan's novel, She uses traditional books and modern technology to create a nice dynamic. The book is a fun look at how these two things that seem to be at odds with each other can live together in peace. The story introduces our protagonist and narrator Clay Jannon, a young man who comes across Mr.Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore. The bookstore is very outdated and full of many older books that seem out of place in today’s society. The plot starts to show, after learning of a secret organization that relies on these books to read messages, Clay begins to wonder about the limits of tradition and the value of new ideas. Sloan has an interesting writing style and is always full of insightful viewpoints.  When Kat, Clay’s girlfriend tries to ...