Ms Evans' Reading Challenge (1)

Chapter 1 of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian written by Sherman Alexie is a great introduction to a (hopefully) great story. Sherman Alexie uses sarcasm and humour to entertain his audience and make his story relatable to everyone that reads it. Personally, I love how he captivates his readers with lines that make us want to read more. For example, the first line in the book is 'I was born with water on the brain.' Lines like this make the audience want to read more and really captivate readers. In chapter one we are introduced to a boy named Junior and the beginning of his story. We learn that he is a boy that was born with too much cerebral spinal fluid inside his skull. He is 14 years of age and lives on a Native American reservation. As a result of the 'water on the brain' he suffers from brain damage and is a prisoner to occasional seizures and poor eyesight among many other things. I love how Sherman Alexie doesn't give his characters perfect lives because it makes them more relatable and everyone has something in common with them. I am excited to learn more about Junior and his lifestyle. I think I will like this book even though it isn't the style I normally read.

Flanders Fields Poem Response

We have been learning how to write responses. We got to choose anything to write about. I choose the poem Flanders Fields. Here is my response.

Flanders Fields is a poem by John McCrae. It was written on May 3, 1915. The poem is about how the poppies (small red flower) blew in the field where the soldiers from World War 1 are buried. John got inspiration to write this poem after one of his friends was killed in the war and put to rest in Flanders Fields. Flanders fields is a real place located in Belgium and the red poppy is now a symbol of war remembrance.

This is a great poem that is very complex. It has a heartfelt meaning behind it.

The poem paints a good picture in the reader’s head. Although the poem is short it is straight to the point. It is like a story with scarce detail. It paints a great picture in the reader's head of Flanders Fields with the poppies and the crosses. ‘In Flanders Fields the poppies grow, between the crosses, row on row.’

The poem gives off lots of emotions. The overall mood of the poem is quite sad. In the second verse the line, ‘Loved and were loved and now we lie in Flanders fields’ means that they loved others and others loved them and they were killed in the war and buried in Flanders fields. This is one of the saddest lines. The poem is still a good poem just gives off a sad mood.

Overall the poem Flanders Fields is a fantastic poem that paints great pictures in the reader’s head. It has a sad mood but is still a remarkable poem. I think everyone should read this poem and other war related poems as most have very complex meanings.