Blogpost #3: What are the thesis and main points of your book so far? What points did you find most effective. Give examples from the text. Do you agree with the author's arguments and conclusions? What questions would you ask the author if you ever had the opportunity to meet him/her? Completed by Friday, May 23
17 Comments
Leah Bodenstein
5/22/2014 01:44:55 pm
One of the main points of my book was that Walls (the author) grew up in a relatively poor and crazy family, yet manages to get herself through tough situations despites how she was raised. One of the most effective points she explains through the book is that you cannot choose who your family is. However, your experiences from those around you make you who you are. An example of how this was expressed was towards the beginning of the book when Walls ran into her mother digging through garbage. She hadn't talked to her in awhile and was embarrassed. She reminisced on how her childhood wasn't the best, but she grew from it. I agree with her points. If I ever met the author I would ask her how she survived living with such a crazy family.
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Jonathan Wohlfrom
5/23/2014 02:24:37 am
The thesis in my book is that the pursuit of our own happiness depends on a number of things, mainly dedication, perseverance, passion, and maybe even a little bit of being in the right place at the right time, or as the author refers to it, synchronicity. The author makes a point to use his experiences in working to become a pro golfer and his experience undergraduate pilot training to demonstrate how hard work, perseverance, and passion pay dividends in helping us realize our full potential and happiness. I do agree, I agree that all of these values apply to our happiness and success, even a little bit of luck is involved. If I met the other I would ask more about his time in Iraq and what kinds of things he had to do in undergraduate pilot training.
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Jared Meyer
5/23/2014 02:56:56 am
In Friday Night Lights, I thought the thesis was that a town can rally around something they all cherish, such as the Permian high school team in Odessa. The book then gives different accounts of how the players on the team had been impacted by their family and their family's choices that led them to Permian. The author seemed to argue that a town could all unite for one cause, which i think was effictive. Its like Cincinnati rallying around the Reds during the Playoffs or the Bengals. A question that I would ask the author would be "Have your parents ever influenced your decisions as a child, so that could help you relate to this topic."
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Molly Turner
5/23/2014 05:56:19 am
Scratch Beginnings
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Anna Makris
5/23/2014 08:19:28 am
The Zookeepers Wife
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Andrew Dupont
5/23/2014 11:24:25 am
Freakonomics reveals the hidden side of human decisions and incentives that urge people to act the way they do. The authors believe that there is always an incentive to act a certain way, such as why people would cheat a bagel business. The information the authors provide is very convincing and digs deep into motivation, incentive, and morality. An example that the authors constantly come back to is real-estate agents get their clients to sell their house as soon possible to get the commission fee quickly, and any extra work to get the house sold at a higher price is not worth the increase in pay. The effect of this is the clients getting thousands of dollars less for their house, but the real-estate agent is able to get back on the market and sell more houses. I agree with the authors with their point of everything having a hidden incentive to it, a hidden factor that causes the effects that happen. If I ever had the opportunity to meet both of the authors, I would ask them if they had any subjects that they wanted to cover in the book, but ran out of space, ran out of time, or didn't have enough information to prove it. I would love to discuss incentives and morality of people and why certain factors influence actions more than others.
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Katie Lincoln
5/23/2014 11:31:59 am
Blink
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Kaellie Korman
5/23/2014 12:25:36 pm
In cold blood, Truman Capotes main points throughout the novel are showing the cruel things that these murderers did to this innocent family. He shows the contrasting families at the part when describes Nancy baking a cake then goes into a description on Dicks tattoos and the lifestyle differences. I believe Capote does a well job on showing the cruelty of the murders and how they did them out of cold blood. He also does a well job on giving a strong details before the murder took place. If I had the opportunity to meet Capote I would ask him what gave him motivation to spend time researching this tragic event.
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Kaellie Korman
5/23/2014 12:33:42 pm
In Cold Blood. Truman Capotes main points throughout the novel are that the things these two murderers are very cruel. The way he does this is by describing how Nancy Clutter is a very well known girl and she is liked by many people in the community. Capote describes how Nancy was baking a cake then transitions to how Dick has many tattoos. Capote does a well job of giving depth in detail, he is descriptive on the contrasting lifestyles that they live. If I had an opportunity to meet Truman Capote I would ask him what motivated him to go through this extensive research on these murders that occurred.
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Nina Henderson
5/23/2014 12:45:27 pm
My book a child called it doesn't really have main points he reall is just describing what is happening to him as a child. The diction in which he describes the events that happen to him I feel is very effective parts such as when he describes hisself as a young boy looking for food through his own trash and when he describes the way his mother looks at him it really makes the reader feel what he feels. The only questions I would ask the other is how do you find the strength to write about all the horrible things that happened.
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Lauren Sprague
5/23/2014 01:11:46 pm
So far the main points and thesis in the Devil in the White City revolve around the idea that Chicago, even at its height as being the host city for the Worlds Fair, is a place with an ever present undercurrent of crime, violence and evil. I think this thesis is made effective by the story of the serial killer as a child and how he took up residency in Chicago and has managed to fly under the radar this far. This point is made on page 47 with, "As time wore on and the inquiries dwindled..." There doesn't seem to be much of an argument necessarily however, I do find the idea that Chicago is only clean and impressive on the outside, very intriguing and accurate for the time. If I were to meet Larson I would ask if he had visited Chicago for an extended period of time before writing the book and what his opinions on the city now are. Does he think it still has that dangerous undercurrent or does he think it is as wonderful a city as I do?
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Andrew Schille
5/23/2014 01:24:43 pm
The thesis thus far in my book is to always appreciate others around you because one day they might leave your life unexpectedly. This is displayed when Mitch first sees Morrie on a late night show to find out he is dying. Due to this, Mitch realizes he has to spend as much time with Morrie as possible before he passes. Overall showing not to take things for granted.
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Brett Glass
5/23/2014 01:58:42 pm
The Prince
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Kristina Wilzbach
5/23/2014 02:00:54 pm
The main points of A Mighty Long Way are that through LaNiers childhood the difference in the way children feel about the opposite race compared to how that changes as they get older. Another main point is that even when the schools were forced to desegregate they did as little as possible. When they are forced they build two new schools and only desegregate the ole Central High. A point is effectively made when LaNier stays with her aunt for the summer. She realizes the difference in the way the races are treated in the north and the south. This is shown when she describes the blacks in New York holding their heads up with such dignity. Another effective point is made when she comes back home from her aunts house and starts a baseball team. On the field the black and white children are equal but when they leave the field to get water that connection disappears. Shew is taught at a young age to respect everyone which is ironic since she lives in the south and no one shows respect to her. I could not find an argument yet but I do agree with her determination to be considered equal. If I could meet her I would ask her how she became the mother hen of the group. I would also ask what made her push through all the hard times while she was at Central High.
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Leland Hoffman
5/23/2014 02:02:52 pm
The thesis in my book, From Baghdad With Love, reflects the positive impact that a puppy can have on the marines. He first points out that he didn't know how to act when he found Lava, the dog. " I reach for my rifle even though I know its only a puppy". Next he explains how being able to take care of the puppy helped keep the marines minds off the stress of their situation. "The best part is how these Marines...become mere mortals in the presence of a tiny mammal" . Given the opportunity I would ask the author what made him decide let the marines keep Lava.
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Zach Hulsman
5/24/2014 03:00:10 pm
So far, the thesis of Columbine is that it is hard to tell what motives people may have for doing something without examining their lives up to that point and seeing what may influence them. I find the point that Eric and Dylan were not social outcasts, or otherwise loners to be especially effective. The author argues that it is hard to predict that someone could/would do something horrible if their circumstances don't show it, with which I completely agree. If I had the opportunity to meet the author, I'd ask him if he feels there are any warning signs he could think of that people should have noticed or taken more seriously that Eric and Dylan were going to commit the murders.
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Eric West
5/27/2014 12:02:10 am
The main point of "Endurance" is to have endurance and not give up. "They were all still crippled for the six days ...in the boats". This passage just shows that even after being beaten, frozen, cramped, and starved you have to just keep pushing on otherwise you will lose the struggle. If I would ever meet the author I would ask him if he personally thought that Shackleton was being an arrogant explorer who just wanted to be the big tough guy when he set out on his journey.
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