Blog 3
There are two main characters in my book. One of them is the spirit that is telling the story, Billy. The other is the main character who is being followed around by Billy is Eddie. The two characters go through hardship and losses together. They go through the good and the bad. They did almost everything together until the tragic accident that took Bill’s life away and brought him back as a spirit. Billy has been Eddie’s best friend for as long as he can remember. Billy was the one who helped Eddie become more active to help him be more quite. Also Billy was the one who had the idea of putting the electric dog color around Eddie’s leg. One day though when Billy was on a walk by himself he accidentally kicks a piece of sheet rock over himself and ends up killing himself. After this Eddie is the one who ends up finding him. After this Billy decides to stay on earth in his spirit form helping Eddie through the hard times that he has. At first it is hard for Billy to get Eddie to accept that he is real and allow him in his head. Finally by the end of the story Eddie accepts that it is real and they are back as friend.
The other main character in the story is Eddie. Right when everything seems to be getting better in his life it just becomes a whole lot worse. One day when Billy and Eddie are going on their daily energy ride to the hot mud springs and Eddie’s mom tells Eddie he should bring his dad his lunch. When Eddie arrives at the station at which his dad works at he finds his dad dead from an explosion. It was a stupid error that Eddie’s dad had told him never to make at least a thousand times before. After this incident passes over something else happens that makes it ten times worse. He is the one who ends up finding bill dead under the piece of sheet rock. Later on when he returns home he is so stunned from all that has happened that he goes mute. This causes his mom to go to the pastor and ask him to try to get Eddie to talk. The pastor decides that the best way to do this is get him baptized to “scare away the evil sprit” that is haunting him. The only catch to it is he has to give a speech in front of the church explaining why the book should be banned. The only thing is Eddie is for the book and hopes it will stay and not be banned. Eddie feels like he can really connect with the book. When the time finally comes to make his speech he gives a speech on why the book should NOT be banished and then he gets put in a mental therapy home for rambling on to much.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Blog 2
Blog 2
In the last two thirds of the book many things began to change with the main character. One thing is he learns to accept Billy’s ghost is real and it’s not just back to haunt him. I thought that this would be hard to do for a few main reasons. One reason is if there was my best friend “bumping” into me, or even talking to me I would get totally freaked out. Another thing is how you would be able to sleep long enough to accept that Billy’s spirit. For me I would just snap out of it and wake up.
The second thing is the banning of the book by the church. I feel that this book should not be banned for a few reasons. One reason is because kids should have free choice of what they read with help from their parents. If the kids think the book is to bad to read on there own then they could not just read it and not drag everyone else down with them. If that kids parents think the book is unacceptable for their kids to read then maybe they should just tell their kid they are not aloud to read it. There is a reason for the permission slip that came home. The permission slip was for the parents to sign if they wanted their kid to read the book or not. The teacher probably had another book for the kids that were unable to read the first book because their parents would not sign the permission slip.
Another thing I think about the book banning is why the church had to get involved with the church banning. The problem wasn’t affecting the church at all so why did it have to get involved with the banning. The church leader, the pastor, was head of the school board and was able to persuade people using god. This has nothing to do in my opinion with the book banning. Kids should not be disallowed to read a book because it goes against adult beliefs. They are not the ones reading the book and this stuff really happens in life. Maybe the church wants to try to protect them as much as possible but this happens almost every day.
Finally I don’t think its fair for the kids that really want to read the book. If the kid really wants to read the book, and its ok with the parents of this child, why shouldn’t the kid be allowed to read the book. It’s not fair to the kids or adults that want to read the book because a few parents that have almost all the power get the choice to either take it off the shelf just because it’s not “appropriate” in their opinion. If they really think its that bad then they can just ignore it and not have anything to do with it instead of bringing everyone else down just to make their kid feel good.
So overall I thought the book should not have been banned just because the church thought that it was offensive. The kids and their parents should get the choice and have their own say in it. Also there must have been some educational reason for the book otherwise the teacher probably not have chosen this book for the students to read in and out of class. This is my main reasoning on why I think this book should not have been banned.
In the last two thirds of the book many things began to change with the main character. One thing is he learns to accept Billy’s ghost is real and it’s not just back to haunt him. I thought that this would be hard to do for a few main reasons. One reason is if there was my best friend “bumping” into me, or even talking to me I would get totally freaked out. Another thing is how you would be able to sleep long enough to accept that Billy’s spirit. For me I would just snap out of it and wake up.
The second thing is the banning of the book by the church. I feel that this book should not be banned for a few reasons. One reason is because kids should have free choice of what they read with help from their parents. If the kids think the book is to bad to read on there own then they could not just read it and not drag everyone else down with them. If that kids parents think the book is unacceptable for their kids to read then maybe they should just tell their kid they are not aloud to read it. There is a reason for the permission slip that came home. The permission slip was for the parents to sign if they wanted their kid to read the book or not. The teacher probably had another book for the kids that were unable to read the first book because their parents would not sign the permission slip.
Another thing I think about the book banning is why the church had to get involved with the church banning. The problem wasn’t affecting the church at all so why did it have to get involved with the banning. The church leader, the pastor, was head of the school board and was able to persuade people using god. This has nothing to do in my opinion with the book banning. Kids should not be disallowed to read a book because it goes against adult beliefs. They are not the ones reading the book and this stuff really happens in life. Maybe the church wants to try to protect them as much as possible but this happens almost every day.
Finally I don’t think its fair for the kids that really want to read the book. If the kid really wants to read the book, and its ok with the parents of this child, why shouldn’t the kid be allowed to read the book. It’s not fair to the kids or adults that want to read the book because a few parents that have almost all the power get the choice to either take it off the shelf just because it’s not “appropriate” in their opinion. If they really think its that bad then they can just ignore it and not have anything to do with it instead of bringing everyone else down just to make their kid feel good.
So overall I thought the book should not have been banned just because the church thought that it was offensive. The kids and their parents should get the choice and have their own say in it. Also there must have been some educational reason for the book otherwise the teacher probably not have chosen this book for the students to read in and out of class. This is my main reasoning on why I think this book should not have been banned.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Blog
Blog 1
My thoughts on the first third of the book were very unusual. I didn’t quiet know all the characters to their fullest and it didn’t make since why everyone was dying. Another thing that I didn’t understand is how can Billy be telling the story if he is dead. I thought that it was extremely cool how Billy was able to go into peoples head and know everything about that person in a split second. Also it is wired how Billy is able to communicate with people even though he is dead.
There are some parts of the story that I toughly understand though. One thing that made since to me was how hard it must be for someone like Eddie to be quite. If I had heard the stuff that he was being told I would probably be questioning them two. Another thing that made since to me was how hard it was for Eddie to lose two family members in one summer. I also understand why he went mute and hasn’t talked. One reason for Eddie going mute is probably because he lost the only two people that he ever talked to. It said at the begging of the story that the only real person that Eddie ever really could communicate wit.
In the first section of the story there was more that I didn’t understand then I actually understood. The first thing that I really didn’t understand is how Eddie’s dad died. It says he forgot to make sure a certain part of the car was closed. Supposable if that certain part of the car wasn’t closed it would cause it to explode. The second thing that didn’t make since was why Eddie had so much energy. I wonder if he has ADD or ADHD. This makes no since because he always questions the teacher and he always seems to be bouncing around unable to sit still. Finally something that I didn’t understand is what Billy was doing when he killed himself. He was by himself on a walk when he kicked the piece of sheet rock over himself.
I thought that in this first section of the book that it was written very well and it was very easy to read. I could relate with the story very well because it was all things that happen at kids my age. Also the main character was about my age so that was very helpful for understanding it. I liked how I could relate to the story because it was kids that were my age.
Finally I am curious to learn some other things in this upcoming section. One thing I am anxious to learn is will anyone else get hurt or killed in this upcoming section? Will Eddie be able to comprehend with the inner voice he is hearing? Next I want to know is will Eddie stay mute or will he begin to speak again? Finally I wonder if Eddie will understand or realize that he is being followed around by Billy’s spirit.
My thoughts on the first third of the book were very unusual. I didn’t quiet know all the characters to their fullest and it didn’t make since why everyone was dying. Another thing that I didn’t understand is how can Billy be telling the story if he is dead. I thought that it was extremely cool how Billy was able to go into peoples head and know everything about that person in a split second. Also it is wired how Billy is able to communicate with people even though he is dead.
There are some parts of the story that I toughly understand though. One thing that made since to me was how hard it must be for someone like Eddie to be quite. If I had heard the stuff that he was being told I would probably be questioning them two. Another thing that made since to me was how hard it was for Eddie to lose two family members in one summer. I also understand why he went mute and hasn’t talked. One reason for Eddie going mute is probably because he lost the only two people that he ever talked to. It said at the begging of the story that the only real person that Eddie ever really could communicate wit.
In the first section of the story there was more that I didn’t understand then I actually understood. The first thing that I really didn’t understand is how Eddie’s dad died. It says he forgot to make sure a certain part of the car was closed. Supposable if that certain part of the car wasn’t closed it would cause it to explode. The second thing that didn’t make since was why Eddie had so much energy. I wonder if he has ADD or ADHD. This makes no since because he always questions the teacher and he always seems to be bouncing around unable to sit still. Finally something that I didn’t understand is what Billy was doing when he killed himself. He was by himself on a walk when he kicked the piece of sheet rock over himself.
I thought that in this first section of the book that it was written very well and it was very easy to read. I could relate with the story very well because it was all things that happen at kids my age. Also the main character was about my age so that was very helpful for understanding it. I liked how I could relate to the story because it was kids that were my age.
Finally I am curious to learn some other things in this upcoming section. One thing I am anxious to learn is will anyone else get hurt or killed in this upcoming section? Will Eddie be able to comprehend with the inner voice he is hearing? Next I want to know is will Eddie stay mute or will he begin to speak again? Finally I wonder if Eddie will understand or realize that he is being followed around by Billy’s spirit.
Works Cited
Bibliography
“Books Banned in the United States.” A Public Service Report from Adler &
Robin Books. Online. Internet. 16 Jan. 2008. Available: http://www.adlerbooks.com/banned.html
Crutcher, Chris. The Sledding Hill. New York: HarperCollins, 2005.
“Books Banned in the United States.” A Public Service Report from Adler &
Robin Books. Online. Internet. 16 Jan. 2008. Available: http://www.adlerbooks.com/banned.html
Crutcher, Chris. The Sledding Hill. New York: HarperCollins, 2005.
Evaluation of Novel
The Traits That the Author Used Well
The First trait that the author used very well was word choice. He never mad it so that it was too hard to read but he never made it so it was too easy to read. He threw in words at times so that it was a bit more interesting to read. For example some words he used were bigotry, bigots, or even old words that he made contractions with like must’ve. I never knew that you could combine must and have to make must’ve. He never repeated a word to many times and he almost never started more then two sentences with the same word twice.
The second trait that Chris Crutcher used very well was Idea. He made his message very clear to the audience even though it was very opinioned. He had plenty of times in the book where he even came straight forward with the point in certain parts of the book. Always in the book it was interesting even though sometimes you had to read stuff twice it was always interesting and left you wanting more. This is why the author used the trait Idea very well in the story.
Another trait that he used in the story maybe not well but definitely used it was Voice. This paper was much written to sound like him. At one point in the book he even stuck himself in the story to stick up for what he thought was right. You could easily tell how he wanted the audience or the people in the story to feel because of how very opinioned he made the book. If I had to pick the part of the book that was probably the author’s favorite part was probably when Eddie got up in front of the Church to speak for what he thought was right. This part in the story was almost a full chapter long and the chapter that it took place in was probably longer then the usual chapters. Also there was a lot of detail in this chapter.
The next trait that the author obviously used well was conventions. The reason for this is you have to have an editor to edit the book any way before it can be published. Conventions are, are there spaces between the words, or is there a title, and even, is there correct punctuation. A few things that may not be considered good uses of convention in his book are is it easy to read my spelling, or could another person read my writing. The reason why it might not be easy to read his spelling is he used many contractions that most people don’t see or use regularly. The other convention, could another person read my writing may also be questionable because you have to be extremely focused to understand some of the stuff that he was writing.
The final trait that I think the author used well was sentence fluency. None of his sentences seemed to be run on sentences. At the same time Chris Crutcher had a variety of sentences ranging in length from long to short. Also in almost every paragraph usually no more then two sentences started with the same word. The only thing that may have been bad with the sentence fluency is sometimes the sentences did not flow smoothly but where rocky and hard to comprehend.
The First trait that the author used very well was word choice. He never mad it so that it was too hard to read but he never made it so it was too easy to read. He threw in words at times so that it was a bit more interesting to read. For example some words he used were bigotry, bigots, or even old words that he made contractions with like must’ve. I never knew that you could combine must and have to make must’ve. He never repeated a word to many times and he almost never started more then two sentences with the same word twice.
The second trait that Chris Crutcher used very well was Idea. He made his message very clear to the audience even though it was very opinioned. He had plenty of times in the book where he even came straight forward with the point in certain parts of the book. Always in the book it was interesting even though sometimes you had to read stuff twice it was always interesting and left you wanting more. This is why the author used the trait Idea very well in the story.
Another trait that he used in the story maybe not well but definitely used it was Voice. This paper was much written to sound like him. At one point in the book he even stuck himself in the story to stick up for what he thought was right. You could easily tell how he wanted the audience or the people in the story to feel because of how very opinioned he made the book. If I had to pick the part of the book that was probably the author’s favorite part was probably when Eddie got up in front of the Church to speak for what he thought was right. This part in the story was almost a full chapter long and the chapter that it took place in was probably longer then the usual chapters. Also there was a lot of detail in this chapter.
The next trait that the author obviously used well was conventions. The reason for this is you have to have an editor to edit the book any way before it can be published. Conventions are, are there spaces between the words, or is there a title, and even, is there correct punctuation. A few things that may not be considered good uses of convention in his book are is it easy to read my spelling, or could another person read my writing. The reason why it might not be easy to read his spelling is he used many contractions that most people don’t see or use regularly. The other convention, could another person read my writing may also be questionable because you have to be extremely focused to understand some of the stuff that he was writing.
The final trait that I think the author used well was sentence fluency. None of his sentences seemed to be run on sentences. At the same time Chris Crutcher had a variety of sentences ranging in length from long to short. Also in almost every paragraph usually no more then two sentences started with the same word. The only thing that may have been bad with the sentence fluency is sometimes the sentences did not flow smoothly but where rocky and hard to comprehend.
Church vs. Reality
"Banning of Books" Books have been banned for centuries from schools, public libraries, and even bookstores. Many of the reasons for this are because it may offend people’s beliefs. For example it may be going against their god or gods or just their religious beliefs. The main reason people want to ban books for religious reason is because they are afraid it may convince their kid to go against the families beliefs or it may give the kid other ideas and may make them think their religion beliefs are wrong and they should switch their ways. This is not a usually not the meant point that the author was aiming for but sometimes it comes out that way and people take it very harsh. This is why books are usually banned for religious beliefs.
A reason why books have been banned from schools is because of inappropriate language. Many parents do not want their kids learning this type of language at such a young age. They are afraid that if their kids read about this type of language they will think it is ok to use. This is not something that the parents want. They may think the main character is cool and he may be disrespectful. The kid may begin acting or imitating the main character thinking that it’s right. This is why books have been banned from public and sometimes even private libraries.
Finally books have been banned from public places (for example libraries) is because they are racially offensive (because of someone’s skin color). Sometimes it may just be one thing said about a certain race that is rude or inconsiderate. Whatever is said one little thing could offend a certain race and cause them to ask for their legal rights. Back in the olden days just before the Civil War was started one lady wrote a book about how racialism is wrong. As you can probably imagine it was one of the lead triggers to the Civil War. The south banned this book because they did not want people getting the wrong idea on it so they banned it. When the north red the book the book most agreed with how just because people have different color skin doesn’t mean they should be treated differently.
There are ways to prevent this type of stuff from happening though. One way is teachers send home permission slips now days that explain what they want to read in school. If the parent does not agree with the book the teacher has chosen the parent can send the slip back to the teacher who probably has a more appropriate book chosen out for those students who are not allowed to read that type of book. One way to prevent the religious problems is just to look past the fact that it is a different religion and that it is just in the book to make it more interesting. Finally usually now days not much racism is put in the books because of the banning reasons.
A reason why books have been banned from schools is because of inappropriate language. Many parents do not want their kids learning this type of language at such a young age. They are afraid that if their kids read about this type of language they will think it is ok to use. This is not something that the parents want. They may think the main character is cool and he may be disrespectful. The kid may begin acting or imitating the main character thinking that it’s right. This is why books have been banned from public and sometimes even private libraries.
Finally books have been banned from public places (for example libraries) is because they are racially offensive (because of someone’s skin color). Sometimes it may just be one thing said about a certain race that is rude or inconsiderate. Whatever is said one little thing could offend a certain race and cause them to ask for their legal rights. Back in the olden days just before the Civil War was started one lady wrote a book about how racialism is wrong. As you can probably imagine it was one of the lead triggers to the Civil War. The south banned this book because they did not want people getting the wrong idea on it so they banned it. When the north red the book the book most agreed with how just because people have different color skin doesn’t mean they should be treated differently.
There are ways to prevent this type of stuff from happening though. One way is teachers send home permission slips now days that explain what they want to read in school. If the parent does not agree with the book the teacher has chosen the parent can send the slip back to the teacher who probably has a more appropriate book chosen out for those students who are not allowed to read that type of book. One way to prevent the religious problems is just to look past the fact that it is a different religion and that it is just in the book to make it more interesting. Finally usually now days not much racism is put in the books because of the banning reasons.
Book Information
"The Sledding Hill"
This young adult novel is a story about a boy who loses two of the most important people in his life in one summer. The story takes place in Bear Creek a very small town where everyone knows everyone. The two main characters are Billy and Eddie who are both fourteen years old. Eddie is a boy who can’t stay concentrated for to long and always questions what people say. Billy on the other hand is a pretty reserved boy who only hangs out with Eddie. The two find ways to stop Eddie from talking so much. One thing they do is put an electric dog collar on his ankle and then Billy shocks him whenever he begins to question the teacher. They finally realize that one thing that keeps Eddie from talking is movement. So every day they either went out on a bike ride or went for a run or some days they even did both.
One day when Billy and Eddie are on there way to the mud springs to go and roll around in the mud Eddie’s mom tells him to bring his dad his lunch. When they get to Eddie’s dads gas station they find him dead in the garage. This shocks Eddie so much that when he finally gets the nerve to move they go straight to the mud springs and sit there trying to let it all absorb in. Not to long after this when Billy is alone he accidentally kicks a piece of sheet rock over himself killing himself. The person that surprisingly enough finds him is Eddie. Eddie then rides his bike right back to the mud springs and tries to let it all absorb in.
After this incident Eddie goes mute. Billy is still there in the story telling the story but Billy is a sprit. Billy is able to “bump into people” or talk to them inside their head. He follows Eddie around and visits him in his dreams and on his runs. Eddie becomes more and surer of it and he gets more aware of it. When he finally believes it Billy is the only person Eddie really talks to. This makes Eddie feel more comfortable.
In school Eddie is in a L.A. reading class where they have to read books by authors that are still alive. The book that they choose is a book that is inappropriate for school. The church tries to bane the book from the school and it ends up becoming this all out war. Eddie is secretly for the book but is faking that he is on the churches side. When he goes in front of the church to give his speech about why the book should be allowed on shelves he gets thrown in a mental institute. When it finally comes down to it the book is banned only because the church comity has more people and so much more power.
This young adult novel is a story about a boy who loses two of the most important people in his life in one summer. The story takes place in Bear Creek a very small town where everyone knows everyone. The two main characters are Billy and Eddie who are both fourteen years old. Eddie is a boy who can’t stay concentrated for to long and always questions what people say. Billy on the other hand is a pretty reserved boy who only hangs out with Eddie. The two find ways to stop Eddie from talking so much. One thing they do is put an electric dog collar on his ankle and then Billy shocks him whenever he begins to question the teacher. They finally realize that one thing that keeps Eddie from talking is movement. So every day they either went out on a bike ride or went for a run or some days they even did both.
One day when Billy and Eddie are on there way to the mud springs to go and roll around in the mud Eddie’s mom tells him to bring his dad his lunch. When they get to Eddie’s dads gas station they find him dead in the garage. This shocks Eddie so much that when he finally gets the nerve to move they go straight to the mud springs and sit there trying to let it all absorb in. Not to long after this when Billy is alone he accidentally kicks a piece of sheet rock over himself killing himself. The person that surprisingly enough finds him is Eddie. Eddie then rides his bike right back to the mud springs and tries to let it all absorb in.
After this incident Eddie goes mute. Billy is still there in the story telling the story but Billy is a sprit. Billy is able to “bump into people” or talk to them inside their head. He follows Eddie around and visits him in his dreams and on his runs. Eddie becomes more and surer of it and he gets more aware of it. When he finally believes it Billy is the only person Eddie really talks to. This makes Eddie feel more comfortable.
In school Eddie is in a L.A. reading class where they have to read books by authors that are still alive. The book that they choose is a book that is inappropriate for school. The church tries to bane the book from the school and it ends up becoming this all out war. Eddie is secretly for the book but is faking that he is on the churches side. When he goes in front of the church to give his speech about why the book should be allowed on shelves he gets thrown in a mental institute. When it finally comes down to it the book is banned only because the church comity has more people and so much more power.
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