Quarterly

So far this year I've read the first two books from The Hunger Games series and I'm in the middle of reading The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Before this class, I usually didn't read much unless it was for school because I never have the time. But now I feel like I have begun to read a lot more, especially books that I actually have an interest in reading, because of the weekly reading we have to do for this class. I hope after this class that I continue to find time to read for my pleasure while still juggling dance and school. Now I find myself reading mostly at night, since it is the only time I actually have to get in a few pages here and there.

I've really enjoyed the Hunger Games books. They books take a an unrealistic yet intriguing look on the future. The books have been a very easy read, but they are very though provoking. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is also a pretty easy read, but I love reading mysteries, so of course I knew from the beginning this book was for me. Overall, this class has helped me to find time and to start reading books that I actually find interesting.

Currently

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson
Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins

Pages This Week: 153
Pages This Semester: 1095

Sentences of the Quarter:

1."People always have secrets. It's just a matter of finding out what they are." The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

2. "Take that away and I'm not really sure who I am, what my identity is." The Hunger Games

3. "Kind people have a way of working their way inside me and rooting there." The Hunger Games
I have chosen these sentences as my sentences of the quarter because I thought it was interesting how they are all stating a piece of information that most readers could relate to. Everyone has secrets, no one knows what their true identity is, and kind people always seem to be a weakness for some. I thought it also was a good strategy used by the authors to do this because it pulls the reader more into the story since they can understand what the characters in the books are going through.

District 13?

During the final hours of the games, a major turning point happens in the plot. As Katniss, Peeta, and their other allies are setting up to kill the careers, the unthinkable occurs. As Johannah and Katniss are setting up Beetee's trap, Johannah all of a sudden knocks out Katniss and cuts her arm and then flees the scene. Katniss tries to regain consciousness and slowly walks back to their campsite. When she arrives there, she finds Beetee on the ground and everyone else has left. Katniss yells out Peeta's name numerous times before she hears him yelling back, but it is too late for him to reach her before she is picked up by the hovercraft.

When Katniss reawakens, she finds herself in what appears to be a hospital. She walks around a little bit and finds Haymitch, Finnick, and the head Gamemaker talking at a table. Haymitch proceeds to tell her that they are on their way to District 13 and that the head Gamemaker is actually a rebel who has had this planned for quite some time. The bad news: Peeta was taken by the Capitol and Katniss does not know if she will ever see him again. With this news Katniss begins to scream and attack the three men sitting there, but that won't wolve anything, what can they do?

I can't imagine hearing the news that one of your loved ones could be gone from you forever. If there is a reoccurring theme in these series of books, I would say it would have to be that. Characters continually are taken from their families with the possibility that they may never return. Thank goodness it isn't real life, I couldn't even begin to imagine the chaos our world would be in if it was.

The End

As the games continue on, more and more of the tributes are being killed, and at a noticeably quicker pace than from previous games. Katniss is sure to note this too, and she and some of the other tributes she has teamed up with have figured out what the Gamemakers have come up with this time: a clock. The arena is in the shape of the circle and each hour a different event takes place killing any tributes in the given sector of the arena. How they were able to figure this out amazes me. I guess two heads are really better than one. I have really enjoyed how these books tie the little things, such as the mockingjay, into the big picture. For example, the arena was constructed after the head Gamemaker's watch, which Katniss was shown at a party before the Quarter Quell even occurred. I hope the third book continues to do the same thing.

Dance All Around Us: The Art of Movement

Here are my video clips for my "Art Of" Project:

Swan Lake-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxgj4iMQLhU&feature=related

Chicago-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYmMagkfjfI&noredirect=1

Revelations-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWJzSP7irwM