Text Connections in Shattering Glass

There are many text connections in Shattering Glass. A text-to-world connection in the book is that every high school has nerds or kids who aren't popular. Other students pick on these kids who aren't "cool" to make themselves feel better. This happens in the real world as well as in Gail Giles' Shattering Glass. The weird thing about the book is that some of the most popular kids in school decide to help Simon Glass change his image. He goes from scrub to pub with the simple help of four high-end boys. This doesn't happen often in the real world.

A text-to-self connection I made to Shattering Glass is that there are many kids who aren't "popular" in my high school. They occasionally get picked on also, just like Simon Glass at the beginning of the book. Something I could do to make a larger connection to Shattering Glass is to introduce myself to these kids who are shy or not "cool".

Characterization of Simon Glass

With Shattering Glass, I have not been finding time to read therefore, I have not kept a good pace with my reading. However, I have enjoyed the book! I am on page 76 out of 215 and a lot has happened so far. Up to this point, we have learned a lot about Simon Glass: His parents are extremely wealthy and not engaged in his life at all. All they do is work while he just rides the bus to and from school. Simon also does not have his license because his parents have no time to take him to Driver's Education. Readers find out that he is surprisingly funny as well.

While finding all of these things out about Glass, readers also experience Simon's feelings and input on things as he talks a lot more now that he is more comfortable around his peers. He is more comfortable because of the makeover Bobster, Coop, Rob, and Young have given him. He feels like a new man, or atleast it seems this way. My thoughts on Simon Glass is that he has made a complete change from the beginning of the book to now. He is a completely different person. I am excited to see how this "popularization" of Glass is going to work out.

Worst Thing and Best Thing about Shattering Glass

The worst thing about my book, Shattering Glass by Gail Giles, is that it is hard to follow at times. Occasionally, the narrator will jump around to things that have not been mentioned in awhile or at all in the book. Speaking of the narrator, who is it? I am unable to decipher who is telling the story. This can take a huge toll on the reader's feeling and emotion towards the book. If the person reading the book doesn't know who is talking, it is then extremely hard to follow the piece.

The best thing about this book is the whole plot or concept. The overall meaning of the story relates to so many people because most of the population goes through high school at one point in their life. Not only going to high school but that almost every high school has kids that get picked on. However, it is not often that jocks would help out a kid that isn't as popular as them. This is truly an extraordinary plot that people need to read about.

Krista Ramsey Columns

Click here for Krista Ramsey's column. A summary of what this column by Krista Ramsey is about is the concussion prevention system at the University of Cincinnati is truly unbelievable. Concussions are caused not by the power of hit but by the player's knowing of what's about to hit them. In 2010, UC players acquired just 1.3 concussions the entire year. 

The line that I think is best written is, "Even a slight improvement in timing, for example, can mean seeing an approaching opponent more quickly and preparing the whole body to absorb the hit." The effect this line has on the reader is that it's a very informative sentence. It can also motivate athletes to improve their timing. An example of abstract diction in this quote is timing. It is abstract because the word timing is hard to explain or visualize. The sentence length in this quote is medium because it contains 25 words.

 I believe Ramsey's writing style is factual. She likes to incorporate factual evidence many times in her writing. An example of this from Ramsey: For better vision, kids need time outdoors is, "In the U.S. alone, the percentage of people ages 12 to 54 who are nearsighted – meaning unable to see things clearly at a distance – rose from 25 percent in the early 1970s to 42 percent now." An example of factual writing from KRISTA: Super Bowl QBs score points for great style is, "Manning is a Southern-bred gentleman..." A third and final example of this style is from See the hit, save the brain gameplan at cautious UC, "Since 2006, UC's football concussion rate has dropped by 80 percent. From 2006 to 2009, UC players sustained an average of 8.75 concussions per year. From 2010 on, the number dropped to just 1.3."

Questions: 
1. How do you come up with what to write about?
2. What would you describe your writing style as?
3. How do you get started in a career of writing?

Vocabulary in Shattering Glass

Thus far, I have read five chapters in Shattering Glass by Gail Giles. The book has been very thorough and overall, a very good read. The vocabulary has been middle to high-level difficulty in my opinion. It has been enjoyable to read up to this point and has an interesting and relatable plot which makes a great book.

An example of high-level vocab in this book is, "He tugged one of the flapping sheets of notebook paper hanging haphazardly from Coop's binder" (Giles 26). The vocabulary word in this sentence is haphazardly. Upon looking this word up, I now know that it means marked by a lack of plan, order, or direction. This is a helpful word and I will now start to use it in many situations. For example, I could use haphazardly to describe something that is unorganized.