Dialectical journal #36: Mockingjay

Passages From The Text	Pg #	Comments & Questions
“Peeta’s physical transformation shocks me. The healthy, clear-eyed boy I saw a few days ago has lost at least fifteen pounds and developed a nervous tremor in his hands. They've still got him groomed. But underneath the paint that cannot cover the bags under his eyes, and the fine clothes that cannot conceal the pain he feels when he moves, is a person badly damaged.            My mind reels, trying to make sense of it. I just saw him! Four-no, five- I think it was five days ago. How could he have deteriorated so rapidly? What could they possibly have done to him in such a short time? Then it hits me. I replay in my mind as much as I can of his first interview with Caesar, searching for anything that would place it in time. There is nothing. They could have taped that interview a day or two after I blew up the arena, then done whatever they wanted to do to him ever since. “Oh, Peeta…” I whisper.	112	(R) I am done with you, Suzanne Collins. I am just done. Why would you create such a fantastic character just to have all these horrible things happen to him? Do you enjoy the pain it must be causing your readers? Are you some kind of sadist? I just want to let you know that you are sick! I will continue reading this book because it is very interesting and I kind of love this series. But I do not like you! Katniss (that horrible girl) gets tossed around here and there, suffers from a few injuries, then she’s back in the game, while Peeta (that wonderful boy) is being tortured by the Capitol!!! It’s just not right.

Dialectical Journal #35: Mockingjay

Passages From The Text	Pg #	Comments & Questions
·         “I’m hustled back to my place, and the smoke machine kicks in. Someone calls for quiet, the cameras start rolling, and I hear ‘Action!’ So I hold my bow over my head and yell with all the anger I can muster, ‘People of Panem, we fight, we dare, we end our hunger for justice!’ ·         There’s dead silence on the set. It goes on. And on. ·         Finally, the intercom crackles and Haymitch’s acerbic laugh fills the studio. He contains himself just long enough to say, ‘And that, my friends, is how a revolution dies.’”	72	·         (R) Haymitch is back! I’ve never held him in high esteem but since this woman ( Suzanne Collins) has decided to practically remove Peeta from the story by having him being held by the Capitol and permanently removed Cinna from the story( he gets killed during interrogation), I guess I’ll have to take what characters I can get. I miss the aforementioned characters with a passion (especially Cinna, he was one of my favorites!) so I’m glad that Haymitch has reentered the story - hopefully he can bring in some spice or something! Even he has been feeling some of Collins wrath! The reason he was out of the story for this long was because there is no alcohol consumption in 13, so Haymitch was forced to go cold turkey. Then again, Haymitch has never really had that great of a story line to begin with anyway.

Dialectical Journal #34: Mockingjay ( Hunger Games Book 3)

Passages From The Text	Pg #	Comments & Questions
·         “My name is Katniss Everdeen. I am seventeen years old.  My home is District 12. I was in the Hunger Games. I escaped. The Capitol hates me. Peeta was taken prisoner. He is thought to be dead. Most likely he is dead. It is probably best if he is dead…”	4	·         (R) I’m so angry at Suzanne Collins!!! Why does Peeta always get the short end of the sick? He is nothing but kind, helpful, loyal while Katniss is selfish and stupid and mean but does anything bad happen to her? No, she gets to be saved and shipped to District 13. Peeta, the good one, the one who is genuinely good, is left in the hands of the Capitol, having Lord knows what done to him. I don’t understand it. I just want to throw my book and have it somehow travel to wherever Collins is and hit her upside the head.

Dialectical Journal #33: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Passages From The Text	Pg #	Comments & Questions
·         “’She was really cut up when you ended it-’ ·          ‘So was I. You know why I stopped it, and it wasn’t because I wanted to.’ ·         ‘Yeah, but you go snogging her now and she’s going to get her hopes up again-‘ ·         ‘She’s not an idiot, she knows it can’t happen, she’s not expecting us to – to end up married, or - ’ ·         As he said it, a vivid picture of Ginny in a white dress, marrying a tall, faceless, and unpleasant stranger. ·         In one spiraling moment it seemed to hit him: Her future was free and unencumbered, whereas his… he could see nothing but Voldemort ahead.”	118	·         (R) I must say- it must be very awkard for all involved when the friends date their friends’ siblings. If I was Ron I would probably not be able to stand the sight of Harry, especially if I actually witnessed him putting his hands all over my sister.  Ron handles this situation with a whole lot more finesse than I would be able to. That being said, I feel so sad for Harry. There is so much weight on his shoulders. He can’t even get a moment of bliss without someone ruining it (though I definitely cannot blame Ron for his ruining).

Dialectical Journal #32: The Blind Assassin

Passages From The Text	Pg #	Comments & Questions
·         “Richard’s friends are even older than Richard, and the woman looked older than the man… Her husband sat silently while she talks, his hands fisted together, his half-smile set in concrete; he looked wisely down at the tablecloth. So this is marriage, I thought: this shared tedium, this twitchiness, and those little powdery runnels forming to the sides of the nose. ·         ‘Richard didn’t warn us you’d be this young,’ said the woman. ·         Her husband said, ‘It will wear off,’ and his wife laughed. ·         I considered the word warn: was I really that dangerous? Only in the way sheep are, I now suppose. So dumb they jeopardize themselves, and get stuck on cliffs or cornered and some custodian has to risk his neck to get them out of trouble.”	243	·         (R) I am stunned. I know in those times, marriages were more about money than love, but how could Iris’ father ask her to marry Richard? He’s so old compared to her and they barely even talk to each other. Iris did not even have a chance; her Father backed her into a corner, making her seem like Chase families’ only salvation - which I guess she was… but still! I don’t like Richard; he’s so strange and seems to need his sister to help him make every little decision. I can’t believe her Father had the audacity to give her away to a man like that- he barely knows Iris. Yet she’s had to carry so much on her shoulders on his behalf.

Dialectical Journal #31: The Blind Assassin

Passages From The Text	Pg #	Comments & Questions
·         “’All right,’ I said to Laura, once they were gone. ‘I know you’ve got him in this house. You’d better tell me where.’ ·         ‘I put him in the cold cellar,’ said Laura, her bottom lip trembling. ·         ‘The cold cellar!’ I said, ‘What a stupid place! Why there?’ ·         ‘So he would have enough to eat, in an emergency,’ said Laura, and burst into tears. I wrapped my arms around her, and she snuffled against my shoulder… ·         ‘We’ve got to get him out of there. What if Reenie goes down for a jar of jam or something and comes across him by mistake? She’d have a heart attack.’… ·         Then I said the attic would be better, because nobody ever went up there. I would arrange it all, I said… ·         Was it my belief that I was doing this only to spare her- to help her, take care of her, as I had always done? ·         Yes. That is what I did believe."	211	(R) I was happy about Laura finding a man to love her but now i'm a bit leery about the whole thing. First of all, the guy is at least six years older than her and she is currently 14 or 15. That is not OK Margret Atwood! Secondly , this dude allowed a young girl to stow him away in her house. That guy is either very desperate or very crazy. Most likely both  considering the way he's portrayed in 'The Blind Assassin' book that Laura wrote. I'm very curious as to how this whole thing will play out though. When Alex was over for dinner, Iris was acting kind of jealous!

Dialectical Journal # 30: The Blind Assassin

Passages From The Text	Pg #	Comments & Questions
“’It must be terrible’ I said, ‘not to know who you really are.’            ‘I used to think that’ said Alex, “But then it came to me that who I really am is a person who doesn't need to know who he really is, in the usual sense. What does it mean, anyway- family background and so forth? People use it mostly as an excuse for their own snobbery, or else their failings. I’m free of that temptation, that’s all. I’m free of the strings. Nothing ties me down.’ …           Was that the beginning, that evening- on the dock at Avilion, with the fireworks dazzling the sky? It’s hard to know. Beginnings are sudden, but also insidious. They creep up on you sideways, they keep to the shadows, they lurk unrecognized. Then, later, they spring.”	190	(R) Is Alex the mystery man? I think he is! I would be happy about this, except that he is about 22 and Laura is 14. So now I’m mostly creeped out by this whole situation.            I’m very curious as to what “beginning” Iris is talking about that would make her be all gloomy like that. It’s strange how people usually portray beginnings as things that are happy and should be looked upon with joy and what-not, yet here it’s being described as something almost dangerous, like a mugger.