In my opinion, I somehow thought this book was boring already. It was like Hatchet but less detailed. I liked the part where he got attacked by the bear because that was like the only action scene in the book.

The book has no funny gestures or any exciting parts. It only talks about how he wants food so he goes out and hunts rabbits, comes back with food, eats it and done.

            I suggest reading “My Side of the Mountain” since it talk about how he connects with nature after running away from his home.

Falling through the earth is an incredibly readable, unusually objective diary portraying very real people.  Half a lifetime's undesirable traits and mistakes are acknowledged and discussed, but never, ever out of self-pity.  The fact the the author can communicate many endured hurts and wrongs so vividly without a "poor me" attitude is a testament to her strength and makes for beautiful, honest narration of a compelling family.

Are you happy by Emily Fox Gordon

Gordon shows us vivid snapshots of her life, my favorite being "the
two of us were like a pair of cats sitting on a windowsill.  At any
given moment, the dominant one might turn the other and cuff it across
the head, but our proximity made a kind of genetic sense."
Unfortunately, the whole book is presented as a life in Polaroids
pulled randomly out of a shoebox.  It is nostalgia, intimate instances
one might look back on with a close friend over coffee.  Gordon,
however, is not my close friend, and does not try to make me one which
leaves me uninterested and unaffected by what she has to say.

Girlbomb by Janice Erlbaum

Let's hear it for the unexceptional delinquent!  Girlbomb shows that a
life doesn't have to hit rock bottom and be filled with all sorts of
depravities to make it an interesting read.  Erlbaum shows herself as
she is--average.  Her circumstances remind us of all the places
average can end up.

In Girlbomb, Janice continually makes one bad decision after another.
With most books I have no patience for stupidity, but in this case I
found myself still cheering her on.  She doesn't always learn anything
from her mistakes, but neither do I.  This book will swallow you
because you know (even if you won't admit it) this character could
have been you.

Artemis Fowl II lives in Fowl Manor. The manor once was a castle, but was downsized into a mansion. Now, it is a Victorian manor. Fowl Manor is jam packed with security cameras. It also has many safes. The safes are hidden behind family portraits. Every safe is taped by a couple of video cameras. Fowl Manor is located in Ireland as we know it today.

Holly Short, a fairy elf, lives in an underground fairy city called Haven. Haven is unknown to humans. The city is close to the mantle of the earth, but just far away enough to avoid getting fried to a crisp. The only way in and out are through vents that release hot air into the surface atmosphere. Every vent entrance is shielded from human eyes by a holographic projection that matches its surroundings. Haven is connected to other underground cities by tunnels through the crust. Haven looks like any human city, except for the lights on the ceiling that release a light and heat very much like the sun. Haven is completely uncontaminated and has stale, recycled air. Elves, pixies, centaurs, dwarves, gnomes, and sprites all live in the city while goblins and trolls roam the tunnels that exit the city.

One of the main characters is Holly Short, an elf. She is a female captain in the LEPrecon Unit, which is sort of like a fairy police. Her boss is named Root, also an elf. Holly is short and always wants to do something. She uses very advanced technology in her job ranging from video camera iris lenses to mechanical wings. Both of these were developed by Holly's friend, Foaly the centaur.

Another main character is Artemis Fowl II. He has a brilliant mind which he uses for crime. He is only 12 years old, has black hair, pale skin, and is somewhat on the thin side. He has a loyal bodyguard whom he calls Butler. His dad was the multi-millionaire leader of an international crime ring. He disappeared on a business trip when his boat was sunk. Artemis' mother, Angeline, went insane after his father disappeared. Her bodyguard, Juliet, is a peppy, young teenager who likes to do things her own way.

The book Artemis Fowl has a plot that never ceases to entertain you. You never know whose side to root for! It starts when Artemis Fowl II comes up with a plan to restore his family's fortune. He first kidnaps the elf, Holly Short, and demands a ransom. However, he gets more than he bargained for! In an attempt to get out of paying a ransom, the fairies first try to annihilate Artemis with guns. Then, they try to "blue rinse" his house. That means using a special bomb that kills any living thing in the house. Artemis says that he can escape, but the fairies say that it's impossible! Will the fairies be tricked, or will this be the end of Artemis' scheme and life?

Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl is an outstanding novel! I recommend this book to all readers over the age of 10 because of the concept of ransom and the mild violence. It is a fantasy book, but it's very interesting to read. I rate this book all four out of four stars because of the never ending action! Definitely do not miss this excellent book!

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

Miramax Books, 2001

First, we are going to talk about is characterization, a literary element used by Daniel Keyes. Characterization is the description of the characters and how the author made the characters who they are. Charles Gordon is a huge characterization element in the story, He is mentally challenged, with a desperate thrive to be smart. Charlie's friends also have good characterization they are really mean to him and Ignorant and use Charlie. Miss kinnian is also a good characterization element, she is kind and caring to Charlie, very nice, loving and willing to help Charlie. Characterization shows that mentally treated people need to be treated equally.

Okay, so the next thing we are going to talk about is Mood and how it contributes to the Theme. Mood Is how the character feels and how the story vibe is. A example of Mood, is when Charlie Is always being picked on without his knowing. Also, when Charlie Feels like he is so smart that average people are stupid is another example. Last is when Charlie gets ditched by his friends at the bar and then they lie to him. Daniel Keyes used this element a lot in which we felt sorry for Charlie.

Next, We are going to talk about the setting of the story. The setting is where the story takes place and what it does to the story. first, a good example of it is where he is in miss kinnian classroom, everything is fine there and he is learning and having fun. Another example is when he is at the hospital he is getting fought over and being a lab rat. Also at his work he is not welcomed because of what he is and what he became. The setting I think has the most voice in book and it does in real life situations like this.

Last, Daniel Keyes' Flowers for Algernon is a great book with a very good lesson to learn. The theme of Mentally challenged people should be treated be equally, is a great one to learn but this wouldn't have been what it was in the short story if it wasn't for the literary elements used by Daniel Keyes. Characterization is huge, if Charlie wasn't mentally challenged the theme would make no sense, also his friends being mean to him shows how normal people act to mentally challenged people. Mood is a very crucial element as well, He used it to make us feel sorry for Charlie, and what he is going through, like we should. Setting plays a decently big part in the story as well, he is welcomed in some places and not so welcomed in others showing us that some people are very cruel. I learned that no matter how nice you are to mentally challenged people there is going to be mean people to them who will laugh and wont be nice to them, I also learned that they are people just like us and deserve what they want in reason.

The first striking fact about the 31 poems contained in "Short Talks"[1] as it appears in Plainwater[2] is their length, they vary from one line (p. 31: "On Gertrude Stein About 9:30") to 20 lines (p. 42: "On The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Deyman") while the majority consists roughly of about 10 lines. The poems further lack rime which could be intended to put stress on the content of the poems rather than the language. The very brief appearance of the poems in question underlines and supports the image of the author walking through an exhibition of paintings, works of art, or, more abstract, feelings and thoughts, while cogitating one piece at a time, paying full attention to the thoughts and feelings, connotations and associativities that this particular item provokes, but in the end leaving the scenery to proceed to the next item in line. Another supportive argument for the theory of the poems being intended as captions is the choice of the title scheme, all titles begin with the preposition “On”, followed either by the title of a painting (p. 37: "On the Mona Lisa") or by an expression or topic the author might have associated with a particular piece of art (p. 31: "On Trout"). In this case, the phrase “piece of art” also implies the artistic work of thought and idea.

Carson's language is unique, her style of expressing emotions (p. 41, "On the Youth at Night": “Terrific lava shone on his soul.”) and her metaphors (p. 43, "On Orchids": “We live by tunneling for we are people buried alive.”) underline the sensual and deep sensations that can be evoked when losing yourself in devotion to paintings, music or comparable works of the human intellect. Therefore, the caption theory seems probable.

The reader is witness to the inner monologue of an imaginary character (p. 39, "On Rain": “It was blacker than olives the night I left.”), sometimes possibly of the author (p. 37, "On Walking Backwards": “My mother forbid us to walk backwards.”) and sometimes it stays completely out of focus where the origin of the thoughts lies (p. 31: "On Disappointments in Music"). This stylistic device enables the reader to take part in the imaginative and creative process that lies behind the poems, to identify with the individual who took the chance to express ideas regarding the variety of paintings, to think, rethink and maybe even think on where the author stopped.

Furthermore, the occasional mentioning of philosophers' or artists' names (p. 30, "On Chromoluminism": “Seurat - the old dazzler - has painted that place.”; p. 31: "On Gertrude Stein About 9:30"; p. 31, "On Disappointments in Music": “Prokofiev was ill ...”; p. 32: "On Ovid"; p. 32: "On Parmenides"; p. 34, "On the Rules of Perspective": “These are the views of Braque.”; p. 35, "On Rectification": “Kafka liked to have his watch an hour and a half fast.”; p. 36, "On Sleep Stones": “Camille Claudel lived the last thirty years of her life in an asylum ...”; p. 37, "On Waterproofing": “Franz Kafka was Jewish.”; p. 38, "On the End": “Rembrandt wakens you ...”; p. 38: "On Sylvia Plath"; p. 40, "On Charlotte": “Miss Bronte & Miss Emily & Miss Anne used to put away their sewing ...”; p. 42, "On The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Deyman": “One wonders if Elsje ever saw Rembrandt's painting, ...”; p. 43, "On Orchids": “... , writes Emily Dickinson in a letter ...”; p. 43, "On Penal Servitude": “Dostoevski went in ...”; p. 43: "On Hölderlin"s World Night Wound') stresses the image of diverse individual artistic pieces, but it also depicts one of the central possible arguments against the caption theory. When taking a closer look at the range of the names on record, we can count four distinct painters, but 12 artists of a different creative section (11 philosophers and writers, one composer). This leads to the conclusion that either the author has intentionally or subconsciously made a large associative link between a painting and other artistic fields or the caption theory is no longer valid for the loosely connected context of painting and caption.

The most hindering factor in finding a final solution and, thus, a final answer to the question whether the caption theory is probable or not is simply the absence of the original paintings. The objective of liberating the poems from their visual counterparts is intelligible, yet it leaves the reader not the option to take a look at the paintings as well or decide to blank them out when necessary; one could argue that the reader's freedom is restricted for the sake of the purity of literature.

For interpreting Carson's feelings, thoughts, connotations and viewpoints, for following her train of thought, for sympathizing with the ideas that obviously struck her while viewing certain paintings and for finding a deeper appreciation by seeking Carson's link between canvas, mind and word the display of the corresponding paintings would certainly be helpful, but for enjoying 'Short Talks' it is rather irrelevant. Assuming Carson's ability to build bridges across all boundaries of genre, style or variety, in the end it remains quite certain that the caption theory still finds support even in the present text format which lacks the original paintings. The overall feel and look (in a broader sense) of her collected poems tells us so.

References

[1] Carson, Anne. Plainwater. 1995. New York: Vintage Books. First Vintage Contemporary Edition, March 2000. "Short Talks“, 27-46

[2] Carson, Anne. Plainwater. 1995. New York: Vintage Books. First Vintage Contemporary Edition, March 2000