which all adds up to creating a wonderful novel. I can say this novel would make it high on the list of best books I have read.
Right from the first chapter the novel is quite intriguing. Over the whole novel, there are many twists and turns, and everytime you think you know something….you don’t! It gets your emotions running and you are just not able to put the novel down. There are many parts that make up a good novel and this particular one had most all of them: interesting characters, a unique problem, and a captivating plot. But overall this novel wouldn’t have been so successful if the writing couldn’t display all these aspects of the novel. Paula Hawkins wrote The Girl on the Train in a great way which allowed the audience to connect to the characters, create suspense, and develop many different parts of the plot. I thought having chapters told by different characters was a great choice, especially for this mystery/thriller novel. The different point of views allowed for unbiased opinions to be made on situations. As the reader I could try to logically try to sort through what really happened the night Megan was murdered instead of going solely off information I learned the the unreliable narrator of Rachel. Being able to gather information from different people made me as the reader feel as if I am trying to solve the mystery as well i’m not just getting one side of the story. I get to hear and see out different people and be able to study how each of them act in certain situations. Having insight into their different lives, made me as the reader feel as if i’m living the book and not just following someone else live it. As the reader I was also given the chance to connect to each of the characters because I was given a first hand look into their head. I got to live their side of the story and learn who they are as individuals. Rachel made out Anna to look like a madwoman who was out to ruin Rachel’s life. But once I could read some of the story through Anna’s point of view I could see she was just trying to protect her daughter and had legitimate reasons for her behaviour. This novel gives the opportunity for any type of reader to be able to make a connect to at least one of the characters. Are you going through a tough time? An alcoholic? Recently divorced? Just out of an unhealthy relationship or been cheated on? Rachel is who you can relate to. Are you a mom? A mistress? Or feel like you have someone wanting to harm you and your family? Anna is in the same position as you. Are you in a relationship that’s not everything you want? Looking for more in your life? Lost a child? Have a troubling past that’s following you around? Megan has all of those same feelings. There are so many important characters in this novel it was easy to connect to at least one of them. I feel it’s important to be able to relate to a character to make the story feel real and not as if it’s just a made up story. As the reader being able to see some else else struggling everyday and feeling as if nothing is going their way gave me a sense of relief because it made me feel like I wasn’t the only one dealing with a bucket load of problems. The relation to the characters made me want to keep reading because it makes the novel feel more realistic when the characters have relatable life problems. I also found the word choice was a good complexity as it wasn’t an easy read but it also wasn’t grueling. Especially in this mystery novel with many different ideas and solutions being thrown at the reader within the flipping between different time periods from many different characters, the simple word choice allows the reader to still be able to understand what is happening. The pace of the novel is quite quick with all the suspense created. As the reader I just wanted to keep going and find out what happens next. With straightforward words the reader can maintain the quick pace which is essential in a thriller novel like this one. Thriller novels are meant to play with your mind and make you think one thing before telling you you’re wrong. In my opinion Paula Hawkins wrote a successful thriller novel. However, this novel isn’t just about solving a murder. This novel has many underlying messages. With in the story there’s talk about broken relationships, daunting pasts, love, hate and self discovery. This novel isn’t just about solving a crime. It’s about life. It’s about the problems that everyday people face and how people get through them. How if you take life day by day things will eventually get better and things will work out for the best in the end. You may have your rough patches and get down, but as long as you get back up it will all get better. One of the simplest messages I took from this novel is: you just need to be like a train, and keep on going... .......................................................... Want to buy this novel? Click here .......................................................... Works Cited Hawkins, Paula. “The Girl on the Train.” By Paula Hawkins, www.goodreads.com/book/show/22557272-the-girl-on-the-train. Hawkins, Paula. “The Girl on the Train.” Barnes & Noble, www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-girl-on-the-train-paula-hawkins/1119671425#/. “Paula Hawkins.” Paula Hawkins, paulahawkinsbooks.com/.
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Students read Shakespeare because they have to, and not all of them even read it. Many students rely solely on Spark Notes, and some just say ‘forget about it’, never picking the book back up again. I agree that Spark Notes is a great resource to allow students to be able to further understand the play. But, when many students are using Spark Notes entirely to read the play instead of as a tool to aid in the understanding, I feel there is no point in reading Shakespeare's work at all. Instead of comparing the languages, and seeing what the modern meaning is, students only read the modern English side and never practice learning Shakespeare's original text. I don’t understand the point in reading Shakespeare if people just aren’t reading it in the first place. Of course, Shakespeare isn’t impossible to understand. The flow of the writing does make it complicated and a bit troubling to read. This tough read leaves students discouraged and ultimately not wanting to read Shakespeare at all. I find reading is something that must be enjoyable and captivating or there is no motivation to continue reading. I’m not an avid reader, but I enjoy being able to be reading and being experience a different life. I personally feel books are meant to tell a story for the reader to get lost in. Well in Shakespeare I get lost, and not because the book has pulled me into a different world, because sometimes I just have no idea what's going on. Countless times I have heard or read ‘Shakespeare is “the greatest writer that ever lived”’ (Przybys 1), or ‘Shakespeare is a genius’ or ‘Shakespeare’s writing will never be forgotten’. Well to be honest it’s hard to forget having to read a piece of work that’s in different type of writing than what’s learned now days. Shakespeare's writing is not used in the 21st century, at least not commonly so no one understands the writing. If schools are not going to teach students how to properly read Shakespeare, than they shouldn't be reading it at all. Schools should be teaching the reading and writing skills based off of a type of language they not only know, but will use in the future. article published by The Guardian it states, “Shakespeare's audience didn't know the meaning of every word uttered...but the sounds and pictures they created kept viewers enthralled for hours” (Powell 1). Reading this quote makes me wonder why educators are giving students the task of studying Shakespeare’s words. Teenagers being told to read a piece of writing that was never intended to be read. It’s like telling someone to go read the script of a movie instead of seeing the movie. The facial expression, tone of voice, and movement of characters add so much emotion behind the words.
Everyone has heard the saying ‘a picture speaks a thousand words’. So, It just confuses me as to why students are expected to look at such a small part of a masterpiece that Shakespeare created. Since Shakespeare didn’t write books, he didn’t always explain the emotions of the characters because the audience could just see them. After all, there is no point in explaining something the audience can see and/or hear. Which is a small problem as Shakespeare wrote for a different audience. The type of audience who can sit down and watch. Not an audience who sits down and reads the script. It’s in the human nature to base future experiences off of first impressions. So when students don’t enjoy the initial reading the play because it was difficult and confusing, when the time comes to watch the play they don’t give it a chance. They shut off the ability to enjoy it because their opinion and impression have already been made. Having a pre-existing opinion of dislike from the original reading shuts off the chance for the students to actually enjoy the play. This ultimately doesn’t allow them to see the greatness that Shakespeare has made. I think if education systems are going to continue to leave Shakespeare in the curriculum, there should be more talk about his impact. The purpose of his work. The importance of the themes he writes about. Allow students to analyze to topics opposed to just his words. Shakespeare’s words don’t allow for students to be motivationally touched. There’s a barrier that’s created between his English, and our modern English which prevents the emotional connection between the reader and the characters. Besides, what about teaching Shakespeare to students the way it was meant to be showed, in a play. Have students watch the play, then analyze it. If Shakespeare wanted to write a book, he would have. Instead, Shakespeare chose to write a play. So why not teach kids about what William Shakespeare wanted to share with his audience. Works Cited SparkNotes, SparkNotes, www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/. Powell, Mark. “Kill Bill: Why We Must Take Shakespeare out of the Classroom.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 17 Mar. 2014, www.theguardian.com/culture-professionals- network/culture-professionals-blog/2014/mar/17/kill-bill-shakespeare-classroom-theatre. REVIEW-JOURNAL, JOHN PRZYBYS LAS VEGAS. “400 Years Later, Shakespeare Is Still Relevant.” Las Vegas Review-Journal, 18 Feb. 2017, www.reviewjournal.com/life/400-years- later-shakespeare-is-still-relevant/.
In the article “8 Ways Technology Makes You Stupid”, by Rebecca Hiscott, from the Huffington post it talks about all the consequences of technology. However after reading the article I realized one thing; it’s not the technology which makes a person stupid, it’s the person who allows the technology to make them stupid.
For the most part when things are published on the internet, they don’t get taken down. The first point talks about how the blue light decreases the production of melatonin (Hiscott 1). Which is completely true...at the time it was published in 2014. Being 2017 now, in the 3 years that have passed, technology has advanced and there’s a night mode which turns the screen a warmer hue to minimize the effects of production of melatonin. People of this day and age need to realize that information they have access to can be out of date. Using false data with skewed information will, in the long run, just make you stupid. Seeing a fact written in a convincing way can cause problems. It seems like it would be legit but like everything you see on the internet, you need to analyze the information first to see if it makes sense. A topic mentioned in the article is about how people are always relying on a GPS which results in less activity in the hippocampus (1). It’s hard to compare the people of today with the people of the past especially since the world has changed immensely since just 2000. There have been hundreds and hundreds of roads and buildings that didn’t exist just a couple years ago so people rely on a GPS. I would expect our brains to be different because the world is a very different place than just a couple years ago. It’s like comparing apples and oranges. There are similarities, but there’s also differences. The internet has a lot of information that people need to assess to see if it’s true. If you don’t assess it at all, than that’s when you will become stupid. Finally, it talks about how technology poses as a distraction, especially to students. In this article, it states 87% of teachers agree that technology is a distraction (1). But have those teachers tried to prevent that? In my experience as a student, a lot of teachers don’t have a consequence when a student goes on their phone. It’s a ‘put it away’ or ‘focus on your work’. Never a ‘put your phone at the front of the class’, or a detention. I have a hard time believing this fact since majority of them are doing nothing to prevent it. The part that’s powerful about this point in the article is the fact to back it up. A fact makes it seem like it has been proven and is true. But you need to just use your brain and your previous knowledge to determine whether or not the information is good or bad. Just assuming everything is good is what’s going to make you stupid. However, what about how teachers that are integrating technology for the good? A lot of teachers are giving students access to the technology. This technology helps students expand their learning. Learn from different people. Learn about topics that aren’t covered in school. It allows them to simply learn more. Overall, the quote that stuck with me throughout this article is “technology makes you stupid” (1). Technology doesn’t directly make a person stupid. When the reader allows himself to believe anything and everything they see they will start to retain false information. They will no longer be teaching themselves about the world, a topic or a certain issue. They are just teaching themselves useless things and in no way are benefiting themselves. It’s just ironic that in an article about technology making people stupid, there’s many examples of proof as to how technology makes one unintelligent. Works Cited “Benefits of Technology in the Classroom.” TeachHUB, www.teachhub.com/benefits-technology- classroom. Chamary, JV. “Apple IOS 9.3 'Night Shift' Mode Might Improve Your Health.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 23 Mar. 2016, www.forbes.com/sites/jvchamary/2016/01/15/apple-ios-night- shift/#480ae87e264e. Hiscott, Rebecca. “8 Ways Technology Makes You Stupid.” HuffPost Canada, HuffPost, 29 July 2014, www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/technology-intelligence_n_5617181. |
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