Theme Reading Response

Theme Reading Response

         I think that Joby is definitely experiencing what most people my age are going through. Many people his age (14) are dealing with issues like self-confidence and self-esteem. I think he is definitely going through this himself. Teen Angst is timeless. This changes over the course of the story though.

         On page 50, Joby says (thinks) “ Me, thought the boy, I got only a drum, two sticks to beat and no shield”. This quote definitely shows he doesn’t think he is an importance to the war. He looks at all he real soldiers and thinks he isn’t one of them. I totally understand where he is coming from. I haven’t dealt with wars, but whenever I see my brothers, they are both successful and make a lot of money I always think to myself “I hope I become like them”. In this regard I am definitely like Joby.

         The thing that snaps Joby out of this self-confidence issue is meeting and speaking to the general. The general insures Joby that he is important to the war. One time he says, “You are the heart of this war” I think this definitely helps Joby with this issue especially coming from a General.

         In conclusion this character undergoes serious change through out this story. I think that the change he went through is something many teenagers go through even now. Feelings and emotions are timeless.

Responding to Responses

Responding to responses

            I really like Emile’s Reading response. He used a lot of advanced terminology in his writing. Another thing I like was that his writing was very clear and articulate. He gave great examples and really read in between the lines. He went deeply into his own opinions and I think it is a good thing to be opinionated when writing a reading response. He even went into a brief but detailed history about the topic at hand (Steve Jobs). He explained how interesting his life was and how he wasn’t afraid to say what he thought. I really thought this response was very clear and well written.

            I really liked the way Anas went into great detail on what his book was about before going into his response. It informed us (the readers). One thing I think he could have improved on is getting to the point it dragged on a bit too long. But many pieces of this response are great though. His introduction was great because he included everything that he had to. I thought he overall did a great job.

Reading Response

Martin Drob 811

            In the book “Small Steps” by Louis Sachar, I think that one of the major characters, Kaira; is overreacting to what Armpit did. He sold a letter she had written to him to a ticket scalper. I think that if Kaira knew what the consequences were if Armpit didn’t sell the letter, she would understand, but she doesn’t give him anytime to explain himself.

            One of the Consequences that would have taken place is Armpit would go to jail and so would his best friend. I think if Kaira knew that she wouldn’t have stormed off and stopped talking to him. Another consequence would be that Armpit would have been fined. I do suppose that Kaira has a good point though. The ticket scalpers could sell the letter to a magazine or newspaper and expose Kaira.

            In conclusion I think that there are two different aspects to this story. But I think Kaira should have listened to Armpits story instead of running off like she did.