Blog Refelction

After having blogged all trimester it’s finally come to an end.....Until next tri. I think that my best blog post was my post about analyzing/sharing my opinions on the eight chapters I read through in Mocking Jay (http://jcsreadingblog.blogspot.com/2014/02/mocking-jay.html). In this post I talk about how I've read the first two books in the series and how I like how the characters have developed such as Katniss, who in the first book was a scared girl making a sacrifice so her sister, Prim, didn't have to go into the games and most likely die, to being the face of the rebellion in district 13. After that I went through what happened in Chapter 1, which was going through why I thought it was ironic that Katniss was standing in the ashes of what was her house that was destroyed by firebombs and what President Snow's warning said, which told her she could set the world aflame with what she'd done. After that I talked about how I was shocked to read about how Flavius, Octavia and Venia (Katniss's prep. team) where treated in District 13 because they were beaten and then thrown in prison. Katniss seeing this was outraged and demanded they were released. Then towards the end I talked about how Katniss was going to film the propo for TV. A propo is short for propaganda; the propo TV clips are used to make the capital look bad and the rebellion look good. After Katniss told everyone what she was going to say Haymitch said it was terrible then they decided to film it during battle and they could make Katniss look amazing. She was also given a few tactical advantages over her opponents like a bow that reacted with her voice and special body armor.

Even thou blogging helped me expand as a reader/writer, I struggled with it. The main thing I struggled with was keeping up with my posts and my commenting. I overcame this a couple different ways. One way I overcame this was by writing down "post on blog" in a couple different place to remind myself when we didn't post in class like if we had a snow day or had a Monday off, or I would just take an hour or so to just go through all my school work and get caught up with whatever I needed to get caught up with which made me remember that I needed to do a blog post or two. One strength I had with my blogging was going over detailed analysis of what I read, which are my strongest posts, also I think I did well with explaining where I am in a certain book and what’s going on during that time in the book. Overall I think this was a positive experience and sort of look forward to doing this again next trimester.

The Characters in the Trilogy

There are three main characters in the Hunger Game. Katniss Everdeen, the main protagonist, Peeta Mellark, the main tribute for district 12 and Katniss's future husband, and Haymitch Abernathy, Peeta and Katniss's trainer/mentor.  Katniss and Peeta were in the tributes for the Hunger Games in the first book. They have been quite the dynamic duo and ever since then they have been in an act of "true love" but really its not. Haymitch has been there the entire time mentoring and giving them advice the entire time. There is also another character that are not as important but still vital to the story his name is Gale, Katniss's best friend since childhood but their relationship was messed up when the hunger games started.

Mocking Jay

So far I really like this book. The characters have really developed after reading the first two books and parts of the third book, which I’ll have a separate post about. So far I have read to a little after chapter 8. Since this is the first post I’ve done since I started the book I'll start at chapter 1 and then skip around to parts that I liked and parts that are important. In chapter 1, I found it interesting that she stood in the ash covered runes of her house that was destroyed by firebombs and then remembered President Snow warning, who told her she could set the world aflame with what she'd done. I find that ironic that her home was burned down and what President Snow said. I was surprised to see how Flavius, Octavia and Venia where treated in District 13, but since Katniss had power she demanded that they were released. A little bit after Katniss told everyone what she was going to say during the propo, “People of Panem, we fight, we dare, we end our hunger for justice!” She said this on camera and no one reacted and Haymitch broke the silence by saying it was terrible. After conferencing and mending up all the feelings that were hurt and such they decided to film the propo live in battle so Katniss was given a bow that reacted with her voice and special body armor and a special pill that was like poison that she would use if she got captured. So far I like where the book is headed and can’t wait to read more.

A New Beginning

I finally finished reading Catching Fire, it was an awesome book and I enjoyed reading it. Now I am going to read the third book in the series MOCKINGJAY by Suzanne Collins. Since I haven't really read the book besides the first couple of pages here's a brief general summery about whats going to happen in the book.   After Katniss is rescued from the arena by the rebels she agrees to be the symbol of the rebellion.  When the rebels rescue Peeta and the others from the Capitol it is quickly learned that Peeta has been brainwashed into hating Katniss when he tries to kill her upon seeing her.
    After the rebels take back the districts they start attacking the Capitol itself.  Katniss and her team make their way through the booby trapped city.  Losing several of their team as they go.  After awhile Katniss is pushing toward Snow's mansion, which has many human child shields.  Afterwards, supply packages rain down from a hovercraft onto these children and a rebel medical team, which includes Katniss's sister Prim, but instead of supplies there are bombs and all the children die and so does the entire medical team. 
    After Snow's capture he is tried and found guilty.  During a conversation with Snow before his execution is supposed to take place, Snow tells him that the final bombing that killed her sister was not ordered by the Capitol, but by Coin, the leader of the rebellion.  At the execution of Snow Katniss kills Coin instead of Snow because she knows that he was telling the truth.  That it was Coin that ordered the final bombing.  After the riot that issued, Snow was found dead, having either choked on his on blood or being tramped by the crowd.
    Katniss is tried for the murder of President Coin, but is found not guilty because of her "obvious" insanity.  She returns to District 12 with Peeta, who has recovered a lot since his brainwashing, and they become a family and have kids. Can't wait to read this book!

Catching Fire

I'v been reading Catching Fire. Right now I'm around page 150. I think it is very interesting how Peta and Katniss went through that whole cerimony since they won the hunger games to then get put back into the Hunger Games. I also like that lots of the main characters for the first book are brought back into the second book but then there are also the new minor characters like the new people who Katniss and Peta have to fight. Before all of the new Hunger Games stuff I was suprised about what Gale said to Katniss about about loving her and wanting to stay and join the rebellion, But Katniss wants to run away and start a new life before the capital finds them and kills them. I plan on reading alot of this book and getting to the end before my next post.

The Final Chapters of Catching Fire

This week Im very close to finishing this book. Im on chapter 25 so I only have to read two more chapters till the end of the book. I'm really excited to see what happens at the end of the book. I'v been really impressed and satisfied by this book. Even thou I think that the frontish-middle of the book was kind of boring the end got me re-hooked and I started to get more interested into reading the book again. Overall I like the book and would recomend it to anyone looking for a good read or anyone wanting to read a great predecessor too an equally great first book.