Thompson Brothers

If you don't follow lacrosse then you may not have ever heard of the Thompson brothers who play at Albany. You may not know that lacrosse is the longest played sport in America. You may not know that Native Americans played it in preparation for battle. Lyle and Miles Thompson are Onondaga Indians from upstate New York who grew up with a lacrosse stick by their sides. In native american tradition all buys grow up playing lacrosse, they recieve their first stick at birth, these sticks are completely hand-made by tribe members and are usually hard wood.

The Thompson brothers did not learn to play lacrosse like other kids around the country do. Their father Jerome Thompson Sr. played lacrosse on the reservation lacrosse team and decided to teach his children the game of their ancestors. They learned how to shoot very differently compared to other children do they used, "wooden sticks and a wooden box, about two-feet wide, with a round hole in the middle barely bigger than the ball itself. That was their net,"(Schonbrun). With this different technique of learning they became powerhouse attackers who could shoot extremely accurately. Below is a video that shows their amazing athletic ability. 

Syracuse University has historically been the college of choice for many native americans, Jerome Thompson the oldest son of the Thompson family did attend college at Syracuse. So the choice to play at Albany by Myles and Lyle, along with their cousin Ty was un expected. Their reasoning was that they wanted to be closer to home and that they wanted to be different like a black swan. With this family more native americans are opening the door to more colleges as options. They are the Beatles of the lacrosse world.

Most important line

The most important line in Scarlet within chapter number six draws on your emotions creating pathos within the chapter. The quote is from page 53 it says," Her guilt had been instantaneous. She didn't know what kind. Of effect it had on a person, all that brain manipulation." All this was said about Cinder who is from the moon. Those who are from the moon or who are Lunar are thought to have special powers, they supposedly have the ability to control human minds. Cinder helps to prove this myth by forcing Dr. Errand to help her to escape prison. 

This line helps to show that Cinder, unlike many other Lunars, is guilty about what she can do to people and thus can also be seen within the book Cinder. One of the most interesting things that I find about this phenominan is that Cinder is a robot so how can she be able to control people, or persuade them just by using her mind. Maybe the reason that Cinder can use this kind control is that she is partially human. But then on the moon can she control other peoples mind or are they stronger than her so in turn would they control her mind?

Scarlet, the best thing about my book is....

I really enjoy that my book is based off of beloved fairy tales because you think that you can guess what is going to happen next. But really when you guess these things then you are in for a huge surprise because those expected things don't really happen or there are big twists. For example in Little Red Riding Hood little red doesn't have parents or they aren't present in her life it is just her grandmother who cares for her. But in Scarlet Scarlet's mother is dead and her father is insane and homeless and Scarlet rarley sees him anymore. The main similarity is that Scarlet's grandmother does act as her main caregiver. 

Another twist is that the grandmother in the traditional story is sweet and innocent and she also has a baking business. And this is what little red delivers to those who order them from cookies to cakes to pies. But in Scarlet the grandmother was in the army and is a hero of war who came back to have a garden in which she grows produce. That produce is what Scarlet delivers to many restaurants within their city, Paris. She delivers this produce in spaceships, these spaceships are the ones that her grandmother piloted in the war.

Scarlet, symbols to represent characters

Within the book Scarlet the main character Scarlet can be symbolized by leather because it is both hard and soft. The hard because it cannot be easily penetrated by things and tends to be used as a protective item, Scarlet heavily guards her emotions and builds up a "wall" or creates a "shell" around herself so that people can't get in, she rarley lets her guard down. The soft is because some people use the leather as a blanket type thing to keep them warm and it also can take on many different shapes, when Scarlet actually lets her guard down then she becomes a happy, cheerful, kind person but she can also put on many phasauds when she is around different new people. 

Wolf, the street fighter/ bad boy can be represented by an oversized teddy bear because they might be intimidating at first but really they are shy and are big softies. Wolf is also a protector, which large teddy bears can seem like they can proctect you when you are little, so this is another reason that he can be represented by a teddy bear. He tries to protect Scarlet on many occasions eventhough he might end up being the one that hurts her the most in the end. 

Cinder, who was the main character from the previous book in the series, Cinder, is a Swiss Army knife because she is very versitaile and can be a huge advantage to whoever a team she is fighting for. She can also think on her feet as well as function without any problems. Cinder has many different sides to her just like the knife has many different types of tools. 

Krista Ramsey Column

1.) This column is written about a high schooler who was involved in a robbery and how people say that it is because he grew up without a father but his basketball coach says that it's because these kids don't know that they matter.

2.) http://www.cincinnati.com/story/opinion/columnists/krista-ramsey/2014/03/29/krista-ramsey-desales-market-robbery/7071067/

3.) "To realize if they're gone – to incarceration or to violence – they've left a hole in the fabric of something."
This line impacts the reader because it makes a statement about how things really are not how people think they are. The use of dashes separates the specific change in thought but then allows the author to revisit the subject. I also like the use of words like incarceration to stress the situation of the high schooler. The use of figurative language also adds to the feeling of the piece.

4.) In Ramsey's writing she asks a lot of questions that are directed toward the audience, this helps the writing to become sort of interactive with the reader, making them more connected to the writing. She also like to say "you" so that she can give a sort of situational feeling so that she can put you into the shoes of someone else, " When you're one of the three teenagers facing charges for donning Halloween masks, walking into DeSales Market in East Walnut Hills on March 13 and robbing the owner and a customer at gunpoint (even if it was a fake gun), it tends to fill a courtroom." This quote from the article Coach stands by kid charged in DeSales Market crime is an example of the use of "you". She also uses facts that are surrounded by opinion so that she can more easily sway your thinking to be like hers, " Whatever the factors behind the finding – perhaps the benefits of sunlight versus indoor lighting, the influence of vitamin D, the visual benefit of viewing objects at a distance outdoors, a reduction in visual stress – it’s left Zadnik, associate dean of Ohio State University’s College of Optometry, believing “there’s something magical about the out-of-doors.”" That quote was from For better vision, kids need time outdoors it shows how she believes while also being followed by evidence. And finally she realities the topic to everyday life, in Super Bowl QBs score points for great style she mentions, "It’s a hopeful sign in a nation that now accepts flip-flops and jeans as appropriate wear for weddings, graduations, awards banquets and funerals. At work, “Casual Fridays” have morphed into sundresses and golf shirts every day."

4.) How does a columnist choose what to write about next? Is there ever a call for society to change as a whole or is it just individual groups? Is it hard to find different subjects to write about every week? 

Scarlet, Setting

The setting of Scarlet set very far into the future where many people are very poor while very few are wealthy. It is kind of Asian influenced with a lot of red this is because the leader is an empress and she is very much in control. The technologies are present with the people of the lower classes but it isn't as new as the ones owned by those of the upper class.

 I learned in the reading of Cinder that the lower class repairs the robots and the other computers and things while the upper class would flounder with out their technology. Below is what I invision the upper class les part of town looking, it is very traditional with touches of new things, it is very pristine and tidy. While the lower class's part of town is dirtier and grimy with a lot of people in the streets and it is over crowded and people have to scrounge for everything they have.

Scarlet, Sarting a New Book

I recently started the book Scarlet written by Marissa Meyer this book is the second one in the Lunar Chronicles. It follows the acclaimed book Cinder. Each book is loosely based on the tales of princesses and their journeys but it is set in the future where things are very different. In Cinder the main character is based on Cinderella but Cinder is part human part robot which makes things a little more complicated and she does find her prince charming and she also goes to the ball. But there are many more struggles that she has to deal with, more than Cinderella.

After starting Scarlet I have come to the realization that Scarlet is Little Red Riding Hood who is searching for her grandmother. The twist is that she seeks help from Wolf who is a street fighter who she meets along the way. From the back cover of the book I predict that Cinder will help Scarlet find her grandmother and Scarlet will help Cinder by taking Prince Kai from the Lunar Queen. I am very interested in finding out if what I predict will become true.

Predictions for the Future, The Bone Season

I believe that in the future of the book after Paige has been drugged, kidnapped, taken to Oxford, and assigned to Warden, one of the Rephaite/alien race. I think that she will go along with what Warden tells her to do but she will develop her ability and will be able to escape his restraints.  But she will start to trust Warden even though they are natural born enemies they will bond during her training and I believe that they will realize that they are fighting against a common enemy. And I think that they will fall in love and they will fight together against the Republic of Scion.

This is some fan art of Paige at the top and of Warden I don't really like the interpretation of the 2. I imagined Paige as being brunette and with more of a Katniss kind of look but without the bow and arrows and I pictured Warden as looking more like he was from another world and less like a human. 

Setting of Bone Season

The Bone Season is set in the time period of the future specifically 2059 so they have very advanced technology and they have found very interesting things out about the world and the human body. Like the main character is a clairvoyant so she is like a dream walker. The book is set in London and is near Oxford which does not exist now, it is a place that is like a criminal underground network that is illegal.   The things who rule this underground place are called  the Rephaim, they are much higher than the Scion who run the city completely. There is also a setting that is quite different from that of the underground criminal network and that is at her parents house, her parents are very normal and her home life was very simple at her parents house. Her parents don't know what she is doing with the criminals they have no idea and if they did they would stop her immediately. 

A lot of people are very confused with the changes of scenery but I actually really enjoy it because it changes the mood and it chafes the pace of the story a lot. 

About Samnatha Shannon

I decided to research my author, Samantha Shannon, so that I could understand her writing. She is British and was born on November 8,1991 in Hammersmith, she is now age 22. Shannon grew up in west London and began writing in highschool. The first book that she ever wrote was at the age 15 it remains to be unpublished but it is called Aurora. Shannon attended Bishop Ramsey School, she studied English and Literature, but she manly specialized in Emily Dickinson and the Principles of Film Criticism at St. Anne's College, Oxford. And graduated in 2013 from Oxford University. In 2012 before graduation she signed a six figure book deal with Bloomsbury publishing so that she could write the first three books in a seven book series starting with The Bone Season. Film rights to The Bone Season were sold to Andy Sekis, another writer, and his company The Imaginarium Studios in the fall of 2012 but later the rights were acquired by Twentieth Century Fox and Chernon Studios in the fall of 2013. 

In 2012 while she was attending college the Women of the Future award short listed her as a contender for The Young Star Award. Her first novel The Bone Season has now been sold in over 27 countries worldwide. This book recieved even more hype than the last book in the Divergent series so I hope hat this up and coming new author can live up to the hype of her first published book. 

Why I chose my book

I chose the book The Bone Season because I have heard a lot about it and it was recommended to me by a lot of people. Goodreads also recommended that I should read it. I also really like books that have strong female characters and this book seemed to have one, and it does. I looked at this book on Goodreads and it received really high ratings and a lot of people in my family have read it and they all really enjoyed it so they all recommended it to me. I really like futuristic books with a utopian like society that the main character must over come so that they can succeed. And this book seems like it has this so far, with the main character being a clairvoyant and her government not liking her people, so she must figure out a way to be herself and find a way to do what she can do without the fear of her government lashing out at her and her having to fear for her life.

Letter to the author

Dear Mrs. Veronica Roth,

I have been an avid reader of your Divergent series and I have really enjoyed them all and I am really looking forward to the movie this year. I really like the writing styles that you use to create a lot of suspense and you really make people think about your work, and I think that not a lot of authors do that now. I also like how much your characters developed over the course of the books and how complex they became even when the characters themselves didn't know that they were changing. 

I would like to know why you chose the ending of the series, for those people who haven't read it I won't give it away. But I would really like I know what process you used to decide to end the book on such an extreme way. In some ways I like how the series ended, at a cliff hanger and leaving the mind to process all of the events. But I don't really agree how the book ended because it left a little bit of an ache in the pit of my stomach, and it made me feel like the ending was a joke, so I was expecting a different ending. But I am really looking forward to what you will do with the rest of your career.

Thank you for your time,

Rhys Green