How Does the Author Build Suspense?

So far, The Revenge of Seven is a pretty good book. After some of the Lorien leave for the Sanctuary, Ella, one of the Lorien, is in space with Setrakus Ra. Setrakus Ra is the villain in the books. He is fighting Ella and Five, up in space on his ship, the Anubis. Pittacus Lore, the author creates a suspenseful moment at this point.

Five stabs a sword into Setrakus Ra and the quote from the book says, "The blade plunges into his [Setrakus Ra's] shoulder. I [Ella] scream" (Lore 291). This part in the book makes the reader wonder why Ella is screaming when Setrakus Ra should have been. Lore creates suspense by not giving a reason for an action, like Ella screaming. There is no reason stated for her to be. This makes the reader want to know more and more about what has happened to her. 

Later, you are told that Ella was stabbed. Even though she had not been actually stabbed. This only happened because Setrakus Ra used a Mogadorian charm. This is where any damage done to him is to done to someone else. In this case, it's Ella. So when Setrakus Ra gets stabbed, Ella is the one who gets the damage and she starts to bleed out. None of the Lorien have this power, only some Mogadorians. This also creates suspense because you want to know how Ella gets stabbed and if it's a power, why he has it. Why would he do it?

Overall, in the Lorien Legacies series, Pittacus Lore creates many scenes of suspense that will keep the reader interested and engaged. 

Below is a quote from Setrakus Ra, telling Ella that she will be the one who is hurt if he is.

Link for Photo

The Most Important Line from a Chapter is...: Revenge of Seven

I am still reading the Revenge of Seven by “Pittacus Lore”.  Although I have read pretty far in this book, I chose to do Chapter 18 for this blog because there is a moment which is very important. So far, after everyone decided that they would go to the Sanctuary, everyone opens their Chests. These are special for everyone. The Chests contain special objects that have a certain power. For example, there are beads that you can throw in the air and it creates a mini vacuum and sucks everything near it up. Then it violently shoots everything back out, causing death to people and the destruction of objects.

 As Marina (one of the Lorien), is opening her Chest, she gives Nine a pair of gloves that no one knows what it could do. It could be a normal pair of gloves or something magic. Marina doesn't know what they do. John starts to talk to Marina and says, “‘Can we be sure those aren't important? What if they’re a Phoenix Stone?’ ‘They’re gloves, Johnny,’ Nine says, not taking them off.” I chose this quote as the most important from Chapter 18 because it hints that there probably is a superpower with those gloves and it might drastically impact something.

 Later, in Chapter 19, Nine discovers the power of the gloves. Nine, John, and the FBI are about to attack a building when Nine gets excited and claps his hands. This causes him to discover the power of the gloves, “The concussion of sound that detonates from Nine’s hands when he claps isn’t quite sonic-boom loud, but it’s definitely close… all of the SUV’s windows explode outward, and the car even bounces a few inches into the air.” This quote shows how dangerous the gloves are but how they can also use them to their advantage fighting the Mogadorians. This can cause the Lorien to defeat the life-long battle with them.

 Below is what a FBI SUV looks like. You can see how strong the gloves would have to be to move the car back and break windows.

Photo:
http://all-chevrolet.info/wp-content/uploads/Chevrolet/Tahoe/155328450/Chevrolet___________Tahoe_Black%20metallic.JPG

The First Bird

Today, I was looking through National Geographic magazines when I saw an article that had intrigued me. It's titled First Bird. This article talks about the bald eagles. The author, Klaus Nigge, said in the article, "Photographers tend to portray the birds as these majestic animals, always soaring in a blue sky with their plumage perfectly in place." This shows that photographers tend to try and convince a theme of perfection.

But later in the article, the author says, "In the Aleutian Islands in Alaska I found bald eagles that were wilder and tougher than that. They were dirty, they were wet, and they fought with each other, which is not what we expect from our national symbols." This shows that if you would watch carefully, bald eagles are actually quite the opposite and aren't "perfection".

After reading this article I realized why the title is First Bird. Bald eagles are the "first bird" because they are the birds that get dirty and fight with each other. They go through more than what birds you see outside today probably do. I was interested in this article because it showed how people can convince totally different meanings just by pictures.

Below are two pictures included in the article that show a wet and dirty bald eagle and then also two bald eagles fighting each other.

 

Link for article: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2015/01/bald-eagles/nigge-text

 

Fahrenheit 451 Theme Analysis Handout (Theme #3)

 

 

Theme 3: “In the wrong hands, technology can negatively impact our relationships and/or communities.”

Quote Part 1: “‘Mildred!!’..The small crystal bottle of sleeping tablets which earlier today had been filled with thirty capsules...now lay uncapped and empty” (Bradbury 9).

Quote Part 2: (Someone talking about their kids) “‘You heave them into the parlor and turn the switch. It’s like washing clothes; stuff laundry in and slam the lid.’” (Bradbury 93).

Quote Part 3: “The camera fell upon the victim, even as did the Hound. Both reached him simultaneously. The victim was seized by the Hound and camera in a great spidering, clenching grip. He screamed. He screamed. He screamed!” (Bradbury 149).                     

4. This theme is important to the understanding of story because it shows how technology limits our knowledge, and how with more technology, books become less important to society.

5. Our modern day society is becoming more and more reliable on technology, and this text shows what could happen if we use technology in the wrong hands.

 

The Revenge of Seven: Is the Author's Name Really Pittacus Lore?

Throughout the Lorien Legacies series, there has been one author. His name is said to be Pittacus Lore. But that is not the case. The first thing you think of when you read that name is probably that it is made up or fake. Well, that is the case. The author's real name is James Frey. He goes under the pen name of Pittacus Lore.


James Frey was born on September 12, 1969 so as of now he is 45 years old. He graduated college in 1992. Before his writing career started, Frey was studying at the Art Institute of Chicago and then moved to Los Angeles to become a screenwriter, producer, and director. In 1996, he started working on his first book, a memoir, titled A Million Little Pieces. This talked about Frey's treatments for alcohol and drug addiction. In April of 2003, his memoir was published. It soon became the Amazon.com book of the year. He soon wrote another memoir titled My Friend Leonard. This became the Amazon Editor's number 5 book of the year. Frey also started to have books published by HarperCollins, a world-known book publisher. These accomplishments jumpstarted his career of writing.

James Frey also founded the company Full Fathom Five and is currently the CEO of it. Full Fathom Five is a company who "wants to make the next Twilight". Although Frey is 46 years old, he wants young writers to be part of the company. This company is responsible for writing bestsellers for the  New York Times. This includes the Lorien Legacies series. James Frey has transformed his life from being an alcohol and drug addict to being the writer of a New York Times bestseller series.

Below is the logo for Full Fathom Five and James Frey.

The Most Important Line From a Chapter Is... : Revenge of Seven

Currently, I am reading the Revenge of Seven by Pittacus Lore. As mentioned before, this is the fifth book in the series. The prompt I chose to write about was, "The most important line from a chapter is...?" The chapter I chose was Chapter 17. So far in the book, Sarah (John's girlfriend) has left so she was not in danger if the Mogadorians were to attack. John has met up with other people that are like him and they took over a Mogadorian base. A Mogadorian that decided to help John, named Adam, hacks into the computers in his home at the base. From there they are able to watch interrogation videos of humans who knew about and/or helped the Lorien race.

In one of the videos, one of their allies is shown, Malcom. Malcom is Sam's dad and was interrogated by the Mogadorians but is helping John right now. In the video, Malcom tells the following, "When they are committed to the Earth in the Elders' Sanctuary, Lorien will live once again" (Lore 254). While they are watching the video on the computer, they realize that some of them will need to go to the Sanctuary so that Lorien can restart on Earth. They also realize that since the Mogadorians already were informed of it by Malcom, they will be there guarding it trying to keep any part of the Lorien race away from it. This is the most important line in Chapter 17 because it is a major plot event that will cause some of them to go to the Sanctuary and fight the Mogadorians. This could lead to Lorien restarting on Earth or result in being killed by the Mogadorians, a major "turn" in the book.

Below is the movie poster of the first book, I Am Number Four.

The Revenge of Seven: Setting

The book that I chose to read independently is The Revenge of Seven. The Revenge of Seven is the fifth book in the Lorien Legacies series. This book follows the main character, John, and his journey to find other people of his kind. John is an "alien" who was sent to Earth to protect it from Mogadorians. These Mogadorians had attacked John's home planet which caused him and nine other people to be sent to Earth so they could keep their culture alive. They had a spell cast on them that if the Mogadorians were to find them, they had to kill each person in number order. Each was split up around the world and had a number. #1, #2, and #3 have all been killed by the Mogadorians. John is #4. Throughout this series, John has been trying to find other "numbers" and successfully finds some of them. Some go off to hide in different places so they break apart. Each of these people have Legacies, meaning they have special powers. For example, John can talk to animals, heal things, and his hands can become lit up. Each has different powers but they all look like humans. They only way to tell them apart is if you see them use their Legacies or their scars.

Right now, in The Revenge of Seven, John is hiding in an old textile factory with Sam, a human friend, and Sarah, his girlfriend (also a human). This textile factory is described excellently with the quote I found. "We follow Sam down a rusty spiral staircase and onto the floor of the factory proper. The place must've been closed down in a hurry because there are still racks of musty, eighties-style men's suits pushed up against the walls and half-full boxes of raincoats abandoned on conveyor belts." This quote shows how old the factory is and how there is still clothes in the factory. This could mean that the people occupying the space before had to leave in a hurry because of a disaster. The line that says "eighties-style men's suits pushed up against the walls" really gave me a clear understanding of how old it was and how it was probably abandoned during the 80's. This means that no one has probably been in there forever which could lead to maybe someone living in there that could be bad. Possibly a Mogadorian.

Below is a picture of an old textile factory, which could show what it looked like in John's point of view.

LINK FOR PHOTO

A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah

The second memoir that I chose to read for this assignment was A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah. A Long Way Gone is about Ishmael, a child soldier, and his life in the army. He experiences lots of violence and deaths during his time as as soldier. This leads up to him eventually becoming violent also and having violent thoughts. The central idea in A Long Way Gone is: War and/or violence can change a person's life greatly.

This affects Ishmael because he used to be a normal kid who loved to play games with his friends. After he is forced to become a soldier, he is very violent and starts to think that this is the best thing for him. A quote to support this is, "When the young muscular rebel was captured, the lieutenant slit his neck with his bayonet. The rebel ran up and down the village before he fell to the ground and stopped moving. We cheered again, raising our guns in the air, shouting and whistling" (Beah 122).

The central idea that war and/or violence can change a person's life greatly can be seen throughout this world today. An example of this in the world right now is in Ferguson, Missouri. If you don't know about Ferguson, long story short, a white police officer shot a black 18-year old who was unarmed. This has caused many controversies over why the police officer shot him. Because of this, violence has broken out in Ferguson. An article by USA Today gives a timeline of what had happened after he was shot. One of these events highlighted in the timeline was that police had to fire tear gas because of violent protests. This supports the central idea because after Michael Brown's death (the one who was shot), the city of Ferguson, Missouri resorted to violent protests which changed their lives from peaceful to being violent.

Below is a photo from the USA Today article that shows police officers firing tear gas into the crowd. This shows the police officers also resorting to being violent because of the violent protests. Also, the link to the USA Today article is below.

 LINK FOR USA TODAY ARTICLE

The Color of Water: A Surprising Thing About James McBride

James McBride, the author of The Color of Water, is very talented in many different topics. One of those being a music composer. Yes, I said music composer. Not an author, all though that is one of his talents.  James was raised in Brooklyn. His dad was Rev. Andrew D. McBride, who was African-American and dies at 45 because of cancer. His mom had many different names, her most recent one being Ruth McBride Jordan. He is Jewish but also notes that his mom is converted to Christianity. A quote from him describing this is, "I'm proud of my Jewish history....Technically I guess you could say I'm Jewish since my mother was Jewish...but she converted (to Christianity). So the question is for theologians to answer. ... I just get up in the morning happy to be living" James is the 8th child out of 12. Two of his brothers, Dennis and Billy both have doctorates in medicine. James has a master's degree in journalism.

James McBride is also talented in music, not just being an author of books. James plays the saxophone for the Rock Bottom Remainders. The Rock Bottom Remainders are considered an American Rock and Roll band. The members of the band are all authors of books, newspapers, etc.
According to Wikipedia, " The band's members have included Dave Barry, Stephen King, Amy Tan, Cynthia Heimel, Sam Barry, Ridley Pearson, Scott Turow, Joel Selvin, James McBride, Mitch Albom, Roy Blount, Jr., Barbara Kingsolver, Robert Fulghum, Matt Groening, Tad Bartimus, Greg Iles, Aron Ralston and honorary member Maya Angelou." James also writes songs for artists including Grammy winning Anita Baker. James McBride also has won many awards including: the 1997 American Music Festival's Stephen Sondheim Award and the 1996 American Arts and Letters Richard Rodgers Award.

Researching James McBride allowed me to know many things about him. Some things were already known because of the book. Some things were surprising to me like him writing songs for a Grammy winning artist. Overall, James McBride is talented in many ways and has been very successful in his life.


Below is a picture of some of the members in the Rock Bottom Remainders.

Full Black: The Impact of Setting

Setting can really affect a plot of a story, especially in Full Black. With what I have read, there are two main settings. One is an apartment complex in Sweden where the terrorists reside. Sean Chase gets into the apartments because the terrorists think he is Mansoor. One of the rooms in the complex is described clearly enough to make it seem like you are there. "In the first room, Chase found multiple mattresses, only one of which was covered by a sheet. There was a milk crate for a nightstand and atop it a table lamp with an exposed bulb and no shade. A small TV, DVD player, and cushions scattered across the floor completed the makeshift dormitory cum rec room... he made his way across the room. The closet was partially open and he stole a quick glance inside. Nothing. Only shirts, trousers, and a row of cheap shoes" (pgs. 106-107). This quote describes the room well and how Chase was observing all of the details until he gets to the closet where there could be guns. The suspension is built by saying, "the closet was partially open". This makes it intriguing for him but also scared if there could be guns in the closet. When he looks inside, he finds no weapons. Only clothes.

The other main setting is Larry Salomon's house in Hollywood. When Ralston enters the house, it is described as being grand but being bad for Ralston. "To get there, he had to pass through the entry hall with its wide double staircase. There was nothing for cover and Ralston used the darkness and shadows as best as he could. The living room, with its floor-to-ceiling glass windows and ambient moonlight spilling from outside, was even worse, but he made it through both without incident" (pg. 21-22). This quote shows that since the house was big, there could be many places people could be and he could get spotted because of the light shining in on him. The suspense is built when the rooms are described and the conflict of him being clearly visible are described. It makes you think about what could happen to him if he is seen by anyone. He could be killed, captured, tortured. Anything could happen to him if he is seen.

Overall, setting can impact the suspense and plot of a story greatly. This was only two different paragraphs but the setting had still greatly affected each one by creating suspense for the reader and characters.

Below is a video of Brad Thor describing how he came up with the idea of Full Black.

Full Black: the beginning of a thriller

Full Black is a thriller novel by Brad Thor. Brad Thor is also known as "The Master of Thrillers," according to Bookreporter.com. I chose to read this book because one of my friends recommended it to me because he knew I liked these kinds of books. When I first read the summary on the inside of the page, I was instantly hooked. An ex-Navy SEAL is trying to stop a terrorist group while at the same time, a movie producer's house in the hills of Hollywood is broken into. The book starts with Scot Harvath (the Navy SEAL) making a car full of terrorists run into a tree. Scot replaces Mansoor (one of the terrorists) with an American, Sean Chase, that looks like an Arab to Arabs but also looks American to Americans. He answers a phone call for Mansoor and gets told to meet up at a gas station.

The book then switches over to Hollywood. Luke Ralston pulls up to Larry Salomon's house and drops a drunk Larry off. Luke is a "technical consultant", meaning that he shows the actors in Larry's films how to properly use weapons in action scenes. Luke starts to pull out of his driveway but notices tire tracks leading to the service drive of Larry's house. He turns the headlights of his car off and goes down the road. When he gets to the end of the drive, there is a car with its headlights on. He tries to call Larry but his phone was disconnected. Luke goes into the house and sees a group of dead people that have been shot. He hears a creak from the floor and turns around. A man is standing there with a pistol pointing at him.