Current Events #1

  Date: 10/30/11

Name: Joelle Ben-Nissan

Title: Will Steve Jobs' final vendetta haunt Google?

Author: Michael Liedtke
AP Technology Writer

Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/10/24/v-print/2469640/will-steve-jobs-final-vendetta.html and Steve Jobs Biography

·      The topic of the article is Steve Jobs affect on Google and Android companies.

·      The main idea of the article is (implied/stated): The main idea is that Steve Jobs believes that Google and Android companies are a threat to his business. Also, his death might have a great affect on haunting their companies. The main idea is implied because it is not clearly stated in the article.

·      The author’s purpose for writing this article is to inform the reader about the affects of Steve Jobs death on other companies.

·      The author’s perspective in this article is subjective because the author only states and describes only one side of the situation, so he is biased on Steve Jobs side.

·      The pattern of organization of the article is argument and support.

·      The reason the author chose to write in a form of argument and support in the article is because he takes a stand on the issue of the effects on Steve Jobs death and then supports it with details.

·       The text features included in the article are a picture, a caption, and quotations marks.

-The picture helps because it shows the reader a visual of Steve Jobs to demonstrate what he looks like.

-The caption helps by showing exactly what is happening in the picture, followed by where Steve jobs is at the moment the picture was taken.

-The quotation marks help by showing valid conversation that Steve Jobs directly said from his point of view.

·       This article is about Steve Jobs argument that he would pay all and any money he had to fight Google and Android companies for “stealing” his idea on technology. His death might really threaten and even haunt these companies because of doing something wrong and making money for it. Apples products are still selling but are getting much less money ever since Google and Android products were sold.

·       The significance of this article is that the reader can now recognize that Google and Android products are copied from Apple and should not be bought.

·       What I learned from this article is that Google and Android products had a huge affect on Steve Jobs. It really caused him to have frustration and nerves that he does not deserve. Also, I learned that Steve Jobs death might affect other companies.

·       What I liked about this article is that I learned a lot about Steve Jobs feelings towards other companies and the effects on Android and Google companies coping his ideas.

·       What I did not like about it is that the author was biased, so I did not get to read about both sides of the situation/argument.

·      I think people who are deciding to buy an Apple or an Android product should read this article because it will teach them that the Android product is copied and that it should not be chose over the Apple product.

·       A text-to-self connection I made was that I agree with Steve Jobs argument completely. He came up with the idea and it has been stolen and bought by many.

·      A text-to-text connection I made was to other articles on Steve Jobs and his biography because this article talks about many similar facts about Steve Jobs.

·      A text-to-world connection I made after reading this article was that there are many people buying Android products rather than Apple even though they are copied from Steve Jobs.


New Vocabulary I learned:

Word	Context Clues	Meaning
1. Disdain	Context clue #5 (inferred)	Look down on somebody or something
2. Exile	Context clue #5 (inferred)	Absence from own country
3. Vitriol	Context clue #5 (inferred)	Cruel and bitter criticism

 Reader's Journal-Fiction

#9                                                     Reader’s Journal                                             10/24/11

Dear Mrs. Zrihen,

            I have been reading the book Diagnosis Death by Richard Mabry. The genre of this book is mystery. Mystery is a subgenre, which falls in the category of fiction; it is a book that includes secrets or crimes to be solved. 

There were many passages that sparked my interest while reading this book. The passage I chose out of the many was located on the first few pages, in the prologue.“She stood by his beside and waited for him to die. Outside the room, the machines and monitors of the ICU hummed and beeped, doctors and nurses went about their business, and the hospital smell--equal parts antiseptic and despair— hung heavy in the air. With one decisive move she flipped the switch of the respirator and stilled the machine’s rhythmic chuffing. In the silence that followed, she imagined she could hear his heartbeat fade away. She kissed him and exhaled what passed for a prayer, her lips barely moving as she asked for peace and forgiveness— for him and for her. She stood for a moment with her head bowed, contemplating the enormity of her action. She pockets the empty syringe from the bedside table and tiptoed out of the room.” I chose this quote because it was the first thing I read when I first opened the book and it gave me a feeling of already being hooked! It also left me with an interest and suspense feeling, making me want to finish the book and find out what lead that to happen! The quote is significant to the book because it gives the reader a strong mystery to solve. Also, by reading this passage, you can already tell that the author is a good writer, who has dropped the reader into a scene in only the first sentence!

            There were many strategies I used before, during, and after reading this book. Before reading, I skim and scanned the covers, titles, and other text features that caught my eye. Because of doing this, I became interested in the topic and the cover of the book. Also, I determined if the book was “just right” for me by doing all 10 steps, located in mini lesson number five. While reading, I gathered literary elements on a sticky note so that it would be easier to write my readers journal when I was done reading. Also, I tried to visualize the text by making mental pictures of what I was reading. I was able to do so with the help of the vivid descriptions the author provided. After reading, I made inferences and drew conclusions about the information I read. Also, I critiqued and discussed the book with myself so that I can reflect on the book and write my readers journal.

The tone of this book was suspension and mysterious and the mood was also to feel curious and a little bit of depression. I’m not sure, but I think there is no theme or moral in this book, but it is possible for me to still be able to identify what it is when I’m closer to finishing the book. The author’s purpose was to entertain the reader with a fictional story and the authors perspective was objective, and unbiased because the author has no opinions. The point of view was written in third person limited. This means that the narrator only knows the thoughts and feelings of only one character. The pattern of organization is climatic order because the author chose to organize the book by taking the reader from the least important idea to the most important one.

            There weren’t many characters in this book but so far, Dr. Elena Gardner is the main character and she is a protagonist. Also, Dr. Elena is a round and dynamic character because she is described in detail with who she is and with everything she does. Two foil characters that were introduced so far was Dr. David Merritt, who was a protagonist and a resident physician in one of the busiest obstetrics programs in the southwest and Mark, Elena’s husband, who has passed away. These were the only characters that were introduced in the book and I hope to meet more characters after I finish it.

            The only settings that have taken place in the book so far were Elena’s house and her hospital: St. Paul Hospital. There were no social or weather conditions stated in the book yet.

            Since I didn’t finish reading the book yet, I am only up to the books exposition in its plot structure. The exposition is only a couple short chapters in the book. It explains how miserable Dr. Elena was because her husband has just passed away. For example, in the book, Elena says, “That’s me. I wanted to crawl into the coffin with Mark. At that point, my life was over” these few words describe how depressed Elena was and how much she loved her husband, Mark. The conflict is Man. Vs. Man. This is because Elena is really against herself because she has to really get over her loss and move on with her life instead of being depressed and ruining the rest of it.

            In my short reading, surprisingly, I identified many lines of figurative language! One out of the many I found was: “Outside the room, the machines and monitors of the ICU hummed and beeped. In this sentence, the figurative language I found was personification because it’s giving the machine a human feature (humming). Also, the cover of the book: “Diagnosis Death” is alliteration. “But after, I almost had a meltdown” I consider this sentence being a hyperbole because she is clearly exaggerating and will not actually have a meltdown. Also, a simile I found was in the following sentence: “the evening dragged on as Elena worried about the problem like a kitten with a ball of yarn. Finally, another personification, being “she closed her eyes and watched her eyes and watched the images march across her brain.”

All in all, There were many response starters I have used throughout this readers journal…this is great book so far and I hope it will continue to be as good as it is now throughout the rest of the book. So far, I recommend this book to teens and young adults because the book talks about mature situations that others might have a hard time understanding. Also, it uses a large variety of vocabulary words. So far I rate the book an 8-10 because it kept me hooked the whole time! Also, the book makes the reader want to read further and further into the book to solve the mystery! I’m looking forward to finishing the book!

Love,

Joelle Ben-Nissan

 Reader's Journal-Non-fiction

#8                                                     Reader’s Journal                                             10/17/11

Dear Mrs. Zrihen,

            I have just finished reading the book ANNE FRANK: The Biography by Melissa Muller. The genre of this book is clearly a biography. A biography is a subgenre, in the category of non-fiction; it is a book that is full of facts on an account of a person’s life, written by another person.

There were many passages that were in my interest while reading this book. The passage I chose out of the many was located on the last chapter of the book. It included a quote that Anne specifically said in her diary.

“There’s in people simply an urge to destroy, an urge to kill, to murder and rage” The Nazis and their silent helpers could take Anne’s life from her but not her voice. “I know what I want, I have a goal, have an opinion, have a religion and love... If God lets me live, I shall attain more than Mummy ever has done, I shall not remain insignificant, I shall work in the world for mankind”. In the end, the Nazi terror could not silence Anne’s voice, which still rings out for all of us, whom she had hoped so ardently to serve.”

I chose this quote because I really wanted to show how good the author wrote in detail, and that when reading this quote you can really feel the situations that innocent people had to face. Anne was one of those innocent people and you can see that after being in the holocaust, all she hoped for was to live and to make a difference by creating a goal. The quote is significant to the book because it gives so much meaning to both the book and Anne Frank. This quote really showed how courageous Anne was, even after having such a sad life while living in the secret annex and being captured for so long.

            There were many strategies I used before, during, and after reading this book. Before reading, I predicted what might happen next in the book, since I last read. Also, I asked myself questions so that I would be excited to read and find the answers. While reading, I gathered information and experiences on what I already knew about the topic to make it easier to understand what was happening in the book. Also, I tried evaluating the questions I asked myself before I began reading. After reading, I read the sticky notes I wrote for the last readers journal to see what literary elements might have been changed or been added to at the end of the book. Also, I wrote my readers journal and compare and contrasted the book with what I already knew about Anne Frank to the facts written in the text.

           

None of the literary elements have been changed throughout the book. The topic is Anne Frank and the main idea is on Anne’s life story during the Holocaust in the secret annex and out. The main idea is implied because it is not clearly stated in the text. If I chose to give this book another title, it would be “The Life of Anne Frank, a Story that should Never be Forgotten” I would name it this because I think it would catch many reader’s attentions. Also, by having this title, it would make it easier for the reader to understand the main idea of the book. Three supporting details were the title because it mentioned the topic is on Anne Frank, the description of the secret annex and what she did while living in there for so long, and finally, the description of the book, taking place in the time of the holocaust. All details were factual because they were stated in the book, being true. The essential message was that Anne Frank was a really important, Jewish, young girl that spent her life hiding in a secret annex for a large amount of the holocaust and ended up becoming one of the most known and most significant people in history.

            The pattern of organization is chronological order because the events occurred in the order in which they happen. The author’s purpose is to inform the reader on facts that are based on another person’s life (Anne Frank.) The authors perspective is objective and unbiased because Melissa does not have any opinions, she just states the facts about Anne’s life. Even though there are several quotes that Anne says in this book, the point of view is still written in 2^nd person because the narrator overall is telling the story.

            I can still compare and contrast Anne’s life to other Jewish people who were living in the time of the holocaust in many ways! To begin with, one thing they have in common is that both Anne and other Jewish people were most likely to be all in the same situation during the holocaust. They differ because other Jewish people did not hide in a secret annex like Anne did during this time. The cause and effect would be that if Anne and her family living with her in the secret annex made any noise while the soldiers were out searching, the effect on it would be that they would unfortunately get caught and get killed, which is what really ended up happening! The validity and accuracy I used was my background knowledge on what I already knew on Anne Frank.

There were many text features that I was able to locate while reading this book. For example, titles, quotations, chapter’s numbers, italicized, and bolded words were some features that easily caught my attention. To begin with, the italicized and bolded words allowed me to easily catch important words or points while I read. Also, the titles gave me an idea of what each chapter was about, along with the chapter number, which allowed me to track where I was in the book. The quotations helped me view things from the characters perspective and sense on what they had to say.

Even though this book was “just right” for me, I still found a way to identify many vocabulary words that I didn’t know before. For example, the word dutifully, meaning to be obedient was identified by using context clue number five. Also, the word diminished, meaning to be less valuable was also found with context clue number five. The word console is when you comfort someone that is in a state of being disappointed or sad. Unlike the other words, I used context clue number four to understand the definition. Another word I found using context clue number four was with the word arrogantly, meaning exaggeration of when you describe someone’s importance. Finally, the word inchoate, which means to just begin something, was also found by using context clue number five. There was no figurative language written in this book because it is a biography.

While reading this book, I was able to make the same connections as I did before. A text-to-self connection I was able to make was with Anne Frank and myself. The book states that Anne was a very strong, brave, Jewish, smart and defendant young girl just like I am. A text-to-text connection I made was to Anne’s Diary and this book because this book mentions many events that Anne might have wrote in her personal diary. Finally, A text-to-world connection would be that Anne Frank was known as the "human face of the Holocaust.” This book really showed examples of how many similar and tragic lives others experienced during this important time in history and it can’t ever be forgotten.  

All in all, this was an amazing book and was defiantly worth reading! I used many sources of information like my prior knowledge to help me understand and really connect with this book. I recommend this book to anyone and everyone because it really opens your mind and heart on other peoples lives and makes you believe on how lucky you are to not have been in the situations Anne was in during her lifetime. I rate the book a 10-10 because it was extremely informational and kept me hooked! I was interested in reading it the whole time!

Love,

Joelle Ben-Nissan

 Reader's Journal-Non-fiction

#7                                                     Reader’s Journal                                             10/11/11

Dear Mrs. Zrihen,

            For this past week, I’ve been reading the book ANNE FRANK: The Biography by Melissa Muller. The genre of this book is clearly a biography. A biography is a subgenre, in the category of non-fiction; it is a book based on an account on a person’s life, written by another person. Since this book is nearly five hundred pages long, I’m only in the beginning and have not finished reading it yet…

There were many passages that were in my interest while reading this book. The passage I chose out of the many was located in the first chapter of the book and was honestly most touching, in my opinion.

“Hush. Be quiet. Whisper. Walk softly...take off your shoes. Who's still in the bathroom? The water's running. For God's sake, don't flush the toilet! After two years you should know better than to be so careless. Empty the chamber pots. Shove the beds back out of the way. The church bells are already ringing the half hour. When the workers arrive at 8:30, there has to be dead silence.”

I chose this quote because it starts the book off with a great choice of words that showed me a well-written description on how Anne and her family lived life in the time of the holocaust. It has significance to the book because it gives a good idea of what the entire book would focus on. Also, by reading this, you can tell that this book is written in great description, that uses vivid verbs and adjectives.

            There were many strategies I used before, during, and after reading this book. Before reading, I skim and scanned, looking and thinking about the title, and illustrations on the front covers of the book. I noticed that the book was going to be about Anne Frank and that the book was a biography, by reading the title. Also, I gathered my background knowledge on what I already knew about the topic, Anne Frank. While reading, I took in the new information I learned and compare and contrasted it with what I already know. Also, I wrote all the important on a sticky note so that it would make it easier to track down all the literary elements when its time to write my readers journal. After reading, I predicted what would happen later on in the book. I predicted that Anne would still continue to be hidden, and safely not found. Also, I critiqued the book to write my readers journal.

            The topic of the book is Anne Frank. The main idea is on Anne’s life story during the Holocaust in the secret annex and out. The main idea is implied because it is not clearly stated in the text. If I were to give this book another title, it would be “The Life of Anne Frank, a Story that should Never be Forgotten” I would name it this because I think it would catch many readers attentions. Also, the original title is very bland and should have a new title that would well describe the book. Three supporting details were the title because it mentioned the topic is on Anne Frank, the description of the secret annex and what she did while living in there for so long, and finally the indication of the book taking place in the time of the holocaust. All details were factual because they were stated in the book, to be true.

Sadly, I have not read far enough in the book to figure out the essential message.

            The pattern of organization is chronological order because the events take place in the order that they occur. The authors purpose is to inform the reader on facts that are based on another persons life (Anne Frank.) The authors perspective is objective and unbiased because Melissa does not have any opinions, she just states the facts about Anne’s life. Even though there are several quotes that people say in this book, the point of view is written in 2^nd person because the narrator is telling the story.

            I can compare and contrast Anne’s life to other Jewish people who were living in the time of the holocaust in many ways! To begin with, one thing they have in common is that both Anne and the Jewish people were most likely to be all in the same situation during the holocaust. They differ because other Jewish people did not hide in a secret annex like Anne did during this time. The cause and effect would be that if Anne and who ever lived with her in hiding in the secret annex made any noise while the soldiers were out searching, the effect on it would be that they would unfortunately get caught and maybe even get killed! The validity and accuracy I used was my background knowledge on what I already knew on Anne Frank.

There were many text features that I was able to locate while reading this book. For example, titles, quotations, chapter’s numbers, italicized, and bolded words were some features that easily caught my attention. To begin with, the italicized and bolded words allowed me to easily catch important words or points while I read. Also, the titles gave me an idea of what each chapter was about, along with the chapter number, which allowed me to track where I was in the book. The quotations helped me view things from the characters perspective and sense on what they had to say.

Obviously, since I am not so far into the book, I haven’t reached a point on finding any figurative language or any vocabulary words, even though this book was “just right” for me.

While reading this book, I was able to make many connections. For example, a text-to-self connection I was able to make was with Anne Frank and myself. The book states that Anne was a very strong, brave, smart and defendant young girl just like I am. A text-to-text connection I made was to Anne’s Diary and this book because this book mentions many events that Anne might have wrote in her personal diary. Finally, A text-to-world connection would be that Anne Frank was known as the "human face of the Holocaust.” This book really showed examples of how many similar and tragic lives others experienced during this important time in history and it can’t ever be forgotten.  

All in all, this was a great book! I used many sources of information like my prior knowledge to help me understand and read this book. I recommend this book to anyone and everyone because it really opens your mind and heart on other people’s lives and makes you believe on how lucky you are to not have been in the situations Anne was in during her life time. Even though I’m not finished reading the book yet, I rate it a 10-10 because it gave me a huge variety of new information and kept me hooked and interested in reading it the whole time! I am really looking forward into finish reading this book!

Love,

Joelle Ben-Nissan

Reader's Journal-     Fiction

#6                                                    Reader’s Journal                                              10/4/11

Dear Mrs. Zrihen,

            For the past two weeks, I’ve been reading the book, CLOAKED by Alex Finn. Since this book has a total of three hundred and forty one pages, I just finished reading it after already doing a readers journal on it last week. The genre of this book is fairy tale. Fairy tale is a type of subgenre, which falls in the category of folktale. It includes many magical elements such as a princess, a prince, and a bad guy/girl. This book was written to be a contemporary fairy tale of many books and stories. I can relate this book mostly to another fairy tale known as “The Frog Prince.” Also, I noticed that the author included many quotes from other fairy tales at the beginning of many chapters. Most of those quotes were written from the fairy tales: The Elves and the Shoemaker, The Frog Prince, The Valiant Tailor, The Six Swans, The Golden Bird, The Salad, The Fisherman and His Wife, and The Firebird and the Grey Wolf.

             The characters I have encountered while reading are Victoriana, Bryan, Meg, Philip, Bruno, Todd, Fox, Sieglinde, and Johnny. Victoriana and Johnny are both protagonists and described as round characters. Johnny is the main character who is seventeen years old and is poor, working in a shoe repair shop that his parents own. He lives in a small apartment with his mom; his dad disappeared when he was little. Victoriana is a princess with a French-like accent and is one of the main characters. Bryan and Meg are his best friends, being foil characters. Philip is Victoriana’s brother, who is turned into a frog by a witch named Sieglinde. He is a protagonist and a foil character. The witch, named Sieglinde is a foil character and is the books main antagonist. Bruno, Todd, and the Fox are all foil characters.

            A quote out of the many that sparked my interest most is located on page 75.  “I’m still wearing the cloak, so I wish myself back home. As soon as I do, I’m there in the kitchen. My mother sort of starts when I appear. She stammers, unable to speak. “ It’s real,” I tell her, “All of it.”                                                                                

I chose this quote because it really amazed me that the magic cloak ended up being real! When this passage stated that the cloaked worked, it really made a difference in the book! After this, he now believes the princess and doesn’t think she’s so crazy anymore. This has significance to the book because now that he knows magic is real, he accepted the quest the princess gave him and agreed to find her brother that has been turned into a frog by the witch.

            The setting of the book is in Florida and mostly takes place in South Beach, Key West, the hotel, and Zalkenbourg. The weather conditions are hot, humid and sunny, since the books setting is in Florida. The social conditions are that magic is real even though no one believes in it. The tone is to be worried and suspenseful. The mood is mysterious and curious. The theme is to always believe in the impossible and that love conquers everything/everyone. The moral is to never give up and to try your best! The point of view is written in first person, in Johnny’s perspective. Also, the pattern of organization was chronological order because all the events took place in order of time. The author’s purpose was to entertain and the author’s perspective was subjective and biased on fairy tales! The conflict is man vs. man and external because Johnny is against Sieglindle while completing the quest of finding Victoriana’s brother, the prince. Sadly, there was absolutely no figurative language I could find while reading this book. I was very surprised of not reading any because this book was so good and I was able to locate everything else!

            The plot structure was extremely interesting throughout the book! The exposition started off with Johnny working at the shoe shop. He later bumps into princess Victoriana at a hotel and plans on meeting her again. The rising action is when Victoriana tells Johnny that he needs to find her brother, which has turned into a frog. Then, Johnny gets convinced that magic really exists and he went to Key West to find Phillip. The climax, kept me concerned when Sieglinde (the witch) traps Johnny so that he could not help the princess turn the prince back into “human form”. Surprisingly, Meg comes to rescue him and they succeed in a crazy mission. In the falling action, it ends up that in order for the “frog prince” to be transformed into the prince again is if someone kissed him. Later, Meg ended up kissing him so that they can go back to Florida and give him to Victoriana. Then finally, in the resolution, Johnny changed his mind about marring/ being with Victoriana and he ended up having a relationship with Meg!

            There were many strategies I used before, during, and after reading this book. Before reading, I asked myself questions on what I thought the climax and resolution would be. Also, I determined if the book was “just right” for me and my conclusion is that it was. While reading, I reread parts I was confused about. Like for example, at times in the book when Victoriana spoke, she had a French accident, saying the words, “bruzzer” “wiz” “Oui” “zat” etc. so I paused sometimes and reread, trying to figure out what she means. Also, I answered my questions as I got closer and closer to the end of the book. After reading, I thought about the literary elements that might have changed or got added to. Also, I gathered all the story’s literary elements and used them to write this readers journal.

            All in all, this book was truly amazing! I rate this book a 9-10 because it kept me interested and turning the page! It also gave me different emotions as if I was a character in the book! I am so glad I ended up choosing to read this book for my readers journal instead of any other. Finally, I would defiantly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in fairy tales!

Love,

Joelle Ben-Nissan