Sunday, February 24, 2008

Class Work

I have really enjoyed the Odyssey.  It is the first actually language arts book in class that i have enjoyed since "Oh the Places You Will Go" by Dr. Seuss.   The whole battle with the cyclops and the sirens voices was amazing to read about.  I wish that we could read more books that have focus on greek mythology because i really like them.  Writing the essay on the other part is not so fun.  I struggle with writing, even when i like the book.  I guess i'm just going to have to put in a few more hours of work... sigh

Rant

I am reading a new book called Rant.  So far the story hasn't revealed itself, but my guess is that it's in the future because it talks about "the outbreak" of SARS.  This book is interesting to read because it's written as a oral biography.  

"Mary Cane Harvey (Teacher): If i wasn't still teaching, Lord, the tales I could tell you about Buster (Rant) Casey. An exceptional young man."
"Sheriff Bacon Carlyle: Don't forget how some folks, including the FBI, was saying his Grandma Esther was Rant's Victim Number One."
"Mary Cane Harvey: Buster (Rant) never got higher than a C in any language-arts course, but there was a sense that Buster could build you the entire world out of just sticks and pebbles and the few words he'd learned."

These two different give two very different outlooks on Rant.  The teacher talks about his smarts and the sheriff talks about how people believe Rant killed his Grandma.  This is important to the book because the author lets the reader choose which Rant s/he likes, the killer or the genius.