Peer Response #2

The City of Ember

(Aleksandra's Blog)

                Even though I have never read the book "The City of Ember" before I felt like I had after reading this novel study. Everything was very detailed and descriptive. It made me feel like I was reading the book, but at a different angle. I liked the way that you had added enough content to describe the novel perfectly, but rarely ever got off topic and that's a very difficult balance to uphold. However you did manage to do just that. Sometimes you did get a little off topic, but it is understandable by the amount of content that you had. Speaking of content, I can tell that you put a lot of work into this and you didn't finish this in a couple of days. The amount of content is actually quite astounding and the amount of focus that you put into each and every single post is as well.

                Another point that I really liked (this is beginning to sound a little biased, but  assure you it isn't) is the way you analyzed the plot and the characters. You really found a deep meaning for each and every aspect of the story, and found why each character was important. I believe that that is a very important part of understanding the characters as, knowing why they exist is crucial to understanding anything else. You did the same thing with the plot analysis as you extracted the key moments of the plot and truly found their importance.

                The main reason for this assignment was to identify the dystopian society in the novel. I feel that you did this quite well, especially because the problems of this dystopia are not as apparent as a book like "Uglies". You really had to work hard to fully analyze the dystopia of the city. Even though there were some immediately obvious points, there were also some very hidden ones and those were the important ones. By reading your blog I can tell that you have successfully uncovered the truths of this society and that is why I truly believe that your blog is a very good one.

Happy Blogging :)

Peer Response #1

Peer Response

Beauty Is In the Eye of the Beholder

(Avel Ivanov)

                This is blog is interesting one to read. I really enjoyed reading it and some of the points were really intriguing. I especially thought that your view on true beauty was very interesting. How you explained that beauty is not a set thing and that everyone has their own way of being beautiful and not everyone's beauty is the same was very well done and I truly enjoyed reading it.  I found your pictures very interesting as well. They all had a deeper meaning than what they appeared to be, just like many aspects of this book. They brought many aspects of the true moral of the story to life. I especially liked the picture of "New Pretty Town" in the bird cage because that is how the citizens of New Pretty Town were. They were trapped in their own pretty minded world unaware of all that was happening around them.

Your writing was also conventionally sound as I did not find any major mistakes in your writing, and there were very view spelling or grammer errors and the ones that were there you fixed. You obviously put a lot of work into this blog and I commend you for that. Good job :)

Glossary

Bubbly- adj. This term is used in Uglies to describe the sense of adrenaline experienced by Uglies after doing "tricks" or other acts of breaking the rules.  E.g. "That was an awesome trick! I'm feeling so bubbly right now!"

Pretty Making - This term is used whenever a socially acceptable thing is done by a Pretty. This expression often has to do with cosmetic changes that a Pretty receives. E.g. "Wow that tattoo is totally Pretty Making"

Rusty - A word that refers to the humans of the old age, before the operation was invented. These humans were very destructive and were the benchmark of what not to do in society. A Rusty is just one human however when the word "Rusties" was used, it was often used to describe the entire Rusty society. E.g. The Ruins are full of Rusty machines of destruction"

The Smoke - A small town established by a couple of runaway Pretties, that oppose the government and the operation. The Smoke was later destroyed by Specials, but they soon rebounded and created "The New Smoke". E.g. "I don't want to be Pretty! I'm going to The Smoke"

Specials - Group of highly trained Pretties, that act as police and enforce crime. They have a distinct intimidating face to scare all of their victims. The Specials were the ones behind the burning of The Smoke.
E.g. "The Specials destroyed the Old Smoke, but now the Smokies have set-up a place called The New Smoke!

Quote #4 Tally

"I'm Tally Youngblood, make me pretty"  -Tally Page 425

This quote is one of the more memorable quotes in the book. Being the last thing written in the book, and also being a major cliff-hanger this quote is very successful at captivating an audience. It definitely captivated me! If one had simply read this quote without reading the entire book, you would be greatly mis-lead. If you had only read that quote you would think that Tally betrayed everyone, and just became pretty, however it is the opposite. Tally wanted to test the cure for the lesions and the only way to that was to become pretty. So she was not being selfish but was actually putting her life on the line to help The Smoke. This is obviously a very important point that people might miss, as some people might flip to the back of the book just for a spoiler and they will end up thinking that the ending is completely different.

This quote can relate to me in a minor way. As it actually took me by surprise when I first read this book. I admit, I did flip to the back of the page and I did think that Tally was going to betray The Smoke. However when I finished the book I was caught off guard by what really happened and this was an interesting experience for me as I have rarely come across a book like that.  This connects to the world by showing what some people will do to be beautiful. Of course as I said before Tally did not betray The Smoke, but even if she did I would not be surprised. Considering what some people in today's society will do to look beautiful. People pay wild amounts of money of make a minor changes to their appearances and this just shows how superficial today's society is. You might even call it a dystopia!  This quote does not directly relate to any books, (well it does relate somewhat to The Hunger Games, but I promised not to use that) however it does relate to a newspaper article I read about a women who paid about $5,000 in weight loss programs and diets and such, and never actually lost much weight. This again shows how desperate people can be to lose weight and look beautiful. To be honest I don't there is any real miracle cure, the only thing you can do is eat healthy and exercise so all those ads about losing 100 pounds in a month are all bogus because the human body can't adapt to such drastic changes so quickly. But those are just my thought s on this highly debated matter.

Quote #2 (Narrator)

"When she awoke, the world was on fire." -Narrator Page 171

This is a very interesting quote. Even though it wasn't actually said by a character, it was told through Tally's eyes. What I mean by that is though Tally doesn't actually say the quote, the narrator is quoting what Tally is thinking in her mind. This quote is from the time when Tally had just woken up after taking a nap in the wild, only to find the world around her was ablaze. That is why in the quote the narrator says that "The world was on fire."

         This quote reminds me of many events in the world that are happening. Well not the quote its self but its context. During this part of the book Tally meets "the Rangers". They are a group of Pretties that try to stop a weed like orchid plant that threatens to weed out all other flora in that ecosystem. To stop the orchids, the Rangers use a big helicopter with a special flame-thrower to burn the orchids to delay them from taking over. However it is said that these orchids would be impossible to stop, and the Rangers were only delaying the inevitable. The reason these orchids are so prosperous is because a Rusty (or a modern day human) genetically modified one to reproduce more often because the flower was so beautiful. This obviously backfired and this shows how humans have a tendency to meddle with things too much. This never leads to good things as exemplified here. There are still many people today that are trying to do things like this "for science" but eventually something is going to go horribly wrong. This quote also relates to me by the way it ends a chapter. I often end things or paragraphs with a sort of cliff hanger so that the reader will want to read on and find out what happens. I think that this is a very effective way of ending a chapter or paragraph because of this. This quote reminds me of a quote in the book "The Hunger Games" (what a big surprise) this quote was in a time during the games (which is basically a fight to the death among children 12-17) and the Gamemakers (the people who organize  and create the arena, the traps and the games in general) made a trap where a large wall of fire moved towards the contestants, and fireballs were shot down at them. At this moment there was a "When she finally awoke, the ground around burst into flames". This is very similar to what had happened to Tally, however in different circumstances of course. Once again these are two very similar books, but I promise the next text to text will not be about The Hunger Games.

Journal Entry #4 (Reflection)

           This journal entry is written by Dr. Cable. She is writing right before The Specials invaded the Smoke. She talks about the reasons behind all of the lies that the government had told. She explains her feelings toward humanity, showing her hate for the way humans function and the destruction they cause. Because Dr. Cable is such a cold person, I tried to write like that as well. I find that trying to "be" the person you write as is a good way of shaping the character and mood of the writing. I did this with all of my journals and I got reasonably good results.

            I feel that Dr. Cable is vital to the story because without her... well there wouldn't be much of a story. She's the reason Tally had to go to The Smoke and also the reason The Smoke was destroyed. She was the main antagonist in this book and is even more important in the sequels (I'm not going to spoil anything however). I think Dr. Cable is one of the more interesting antagonists, as she does not directly intend to hurt Tally, but she doesn't have good intentions either. Maybe she has some secret that she hasn't revealed yet, or maybe not! \You have to read on to find out!



     

Quote #3 (David)

"What you do, the way you think, makes you beautiful" -David Page 279

           This quote is by David during the latter part of the book (the end of part 2). I feel like this is a very powerful quote as it really shows what this book is all about. David tells Tally what true beauty is all about, it isn't about how someone looks or how skinny they are, it is about who you are inside. David couldn't have said it better though, he worded it perfectly and said it at the right time. Or should I say, Scott Westerfeld did that. He portrayed this character wonderfully, and David happens to be my favourite character and this is why. He comes in like a hero and truly leads the way to what is right.

           David's quote reminds me of my feelings toward "beauty" and they are very similar to his. I believe that there is no set way of determining beauty. Beauty is something judged by the brain and everyone's brains all think differently. You can say the "Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder" but it is much deeper than that. Beauty is what you are as a person, not how you look. 90% of the time looks don't matter, who you are and your personality will be much more important than anything and David also says something similar. This quote also relates to the world, there are many organizations that help raise awareness to what real beauty is. Even though the media tries to force the image of "beauty" on people, there are still many people who know what real beauty is and they will stop the media from completely taking over. This quote also relates to "The Hunger Games" but in a different way. Character-wise David is almost the exact same as the character Peeta from The Hunger Games. They both are great with words, they are both great leaders and they both know what is right and what is wrong. Peeta and the other main character in The Hunger Games, Katniss lead the rebellion against their government and in this book, David leads the charge alongside Tally. In all I feel like this quote may be the most important one in the entire book.