The blog I best exemplified my ablility to analyze development of theme is http://mattdreadingblog.blogspot.com/2014/02/a-man-named-dave-summary-and-review.html. In that post, I summarized the book without giving away the ending and stated what I believed the theme was. From the post, I said, "I believe the theme is to never give up because like good things, bad things come to an end also." I came up with this theme conclusion based on the observations I had while reading A Man Named Dave. The summary and review post meets the requirements of the rubric because I stated the theme and I analyzed the book with the summary I created.
Choice Two:
One thing that I struggled with through the experience was keeping up with the pace of a blogpost every week. I fell behind and never felt like doing them. I overcame my slacking by bearing down and getting to work, finishing all 10 posts in time with the correct requirements. Next trimester I will try to do my blogposts on time so at the end of the trimester, I won't be bombarded with work and it will make my life easier. One strength I had while blogging was that I was short and straight to the point. I believe in quality over quantity because if you overload the blog with too much information, it becomes hard and boring to read. I am also proud of myself for getting to work and finishing the blogs on time. Overall, this was a good experience and it really teaches students how to analyze books effectively upon reading them.
Monday, February 24, 2014
Sunday, February 23, 2014
A Man Named Dave, Summary and Review
Summary:
A Man Named Dave is about a boy that is searching to find his inner self. Brainwashed by his mother, Dave Pelzer believes he is waste of space and shouldn't be here. After being placed in foster care at the age of 12, he begins to find his true self. Dave wants to continue in his father's footsteps and become a firefighter, so he decides to joins the Air Force. He believes it will toughen him up and make him more ready to be a firefighter. While in the Air Force, he overcame hurdles that would halt an everyday citizen. He later meets the love of his life in the Force and rushes into marriage, later having a son named Stephen. The marriage later fails and adds to Dave distrusts in people. To find what happens after his father dies, you will have to read the book. I belicve the theme is to never give up because like good things, bad things come to an end also.
Review:
Overall, A Man Named Dave was a great book, just like A Child Called "it". If you are into an inspiring story of courage and bravery, read this book. I would give this book a 9/10 rating because I loved it so much!
A Man Named Dave is about a boy that is searching to find his inner self. Brainwashed by his mother, Dave Pelzer believes he is waste of space and shouldn't be here. After being placed in foster care at the age of 12, he begins to find his true self. Dave wants to continue in his father's footsteps and become a firefighter, so he decides to joins the Air Force. He believes it will toughen him up and make him more ready to be a firefighter. While in the Air Force, he overcame hurdles that would halt an everyday citizen. He later meets the love of his life in the Force and rushes into marriage, later having a son named Stephen. The marriage later fails and adds to Dave distrusts in people. To find what happens after his father dies, you will have to read the book. I belicve the theme is to never give up because like good things, bad things come to an end also.
Review:
Overall, A Man Named Dave was a great book, just like A Child Called "it". If you are into an inspiring story of courage and bravery, read this book. I would give this book a 9/10 rating because I loved it so much!
Vocabulary in A Man Named Dave
A Man Named Dave is a great book and has very good, challenging words, one of them being mononucleosis. In the book, it says, "After a quick examination at the base's clinic, I was rushed to the hospital and admitted for severe mononucleosis." (Pelzer 98) After looking up the definition of this word, I now know it means the presence of an abnormally large number of mononuclear leukocytes, or monocytes, in the blood. I have never heard of or seen this word before so it challenged me when I came across it.
Characterization of Mother in A Man Named Dave
Dave Pelzer's mother is concluded to be a terrible human being. She attacks Dave for no reason and makes him do beyond awful things. In A Man Named Dave, she is most definitely the antagonist for obvious reasons. The weirder thing is that she has another son and treats him perfectly fine. I would also be scared if I was David's brother because this monster might turn on me any second.
David's mother eventually passes away after her kids were separated from her. Dave says now that his mother's actions were caused by her own childhood and how she used to live.
David's mother eventually passes away after her kids were separated from her. Dave says now that his mother's actions were caused by her own childhood and how she used to live.
Update in A Man Named Dave
So far, I have finished the book but I am behind on my posts so I want to give you a midway update. There are 15 total chapters in the book so I will give an update up to chapter eight.
Shortly after the beginning of the book, Dave is separated from his mother and becomes a foster child. He sees this as a huge relief because all the horrifying things that his mother did to him. In chapter four, we find out that Dave's dad has cancer. The doctor's tell little David that there's nothing they can do and that his dad isn't going to make. Dave doesn't want to and can't believe what they just told him. This is truly traumatizing for David who is just a young boy. Dave spends many hours with his terminally ill father because it all he has. He can't talk to his brother because his brother is nearly the same age as himself so his father is important to him. His father finally passes and David is depressed.
Shortly after the beginning of the book, Dave is separated from his mother and becomes a foster child. He sees this as a huge relief because all the horrifying things that his mother did to him. In chapter four, we find out that Dave's dad has cancer. The doctor's tell little David that there's nothing they can do and that his dad isn't going to make. Dave doesn't want to and can't believe what they just told him. This is truly traumatizing for David who is just a young boy. Dave spends many hours with his terminally ill father because it all he has. He can't talk to his brother because his brother is nearly the same age as himself so his father is important to him. His father finally passes and David is depressed.
Characterization of Dave in A Man Named Dave
Dave Pelzer in A Man Named Dave is a spacious and lost individual. He doesn't know who he is because his mother has brainwashed him to think he is simply a waste of space. Dave doesn't want to be on Earth and he thinks God hates him. I know this because way back in chapter one, Dave explains, "I close my eyes as tightly as I can and mumble a quick prayer, even though I know God hates me."
Dave Pelzer now travels the country inspiring others because of his childhood. In Dave's declaration of independence to his mother, he says, "All those years you tried your best to break me, and I'm still here. One day you'll see, I'm going to make something of myself."
Dave Pelzer now travels the country inspiring others because of his childhood. In Dave's declaration of independence to his mother, he says, "All those years you tried your best to break me, and I'm still here. One day you'll see, I'm going to make something of myself."
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