Qualities

One good quality I notice in Four is that he is a good leader. He always take charge of things and knows how to solve problems. An example of this is when he starts to come up with a plan for how to find Five. "It's like something in me clicks, and after days of overthinking our position, a plan just comes spilling out of me." (Lore 67) This shows two things about him. It shows that he cares about the group, because he has been trying to think of a plan. It also shows that he can come up to solutions for problems at the right times. He leads the rest of the group well because he can think of plans, and because he cares about everyone.
One bad quality I notice about Four is that he doesn't let things go. He thinks about the bad things for too long and doesn't think about the good things. An example of this is when they all go back to Chicago. "A little rest and recuperation was definitely in order; I just hope they haven't forgotten how close to ultimate defeat we came back in New Mexico, because it's all I can think about." (Lore 35) This shows how he can't stop thinking about the battle in New Mexico, even though they all survived. He only thinks about the bad part of it, not the good part. This could cause problems because they have to stay positive, but if Four is only thinking of the bad things, he won't be motivated. And since he is the leader, he has to be motivated.

Four in the movie I Am Number Four

Trust

One of the characters that I don't trust in The Fall of Five is Five. Five seemed clueless at the beginning, and he didn't know how to fight. Also, he said that Sam and his dad wouldn't know anything about the Loric because they were humans. I think that was judgemental of him. By him saying this, I think that he won't trust Sam and his dad. Sam and his dad know a lot about the Loric and have helped them a lot. They saved Four, Five, Six, and Sarah's lives. If Five doesn't trust them after they saved his life, I don't think he will want to go along with what the rest of the group does, which could be problematic.

One of the characters that I do trust is Sam. Sam has stayed friends with Four, even after finding out that he was an alien. Sam knows that he put his life in danger by staying friends with Four, but he did it anyway. I think this shows that Sam is willing to help the Loric however he can and will stay with them until the end. He was taken hostage by the Mogodorians, so after he went through that and escaped, I think he wants to help the Loric defeat the Mogodorians. He has never hesitated to help the group, and does everything he can. I think because Four was friends with him since the beginning, even though Sam was unpopular, Sam will trust Four because he is a good friend.

Symbols

I think a symbol for Four could be his pet, who is an animal from their planet that they borught to Earth. These animals can shape shift. Four's pet most commonly is a beagle, and he named it Bernie Kosar after a football player, but they call him BK. I think this could be a symbol for Four because it represents his home planet and where he came from. BK is always helping the group and looking our for them, and Four does this too. Four is always making sure everyone else is okay before he tries to help himself. I think BK shows Four's traits, so BK could be a symbol for him.

I think that a symbol for Ella is her letter from Crayton. Crayton was her guardian, but he died in the last book. Ella was never originally supposed to be one of the aliens that came to Earth, and the letter for Crayton explains that. It shows who Ella really is and what her purpose is. It represents her as a person. Also, the letter is the last thing Ella has from Crayton. Crayton was like her dad, so he is a significant part of who she is. I think the last thing she has from him is important and it represents her, since Crayton was such a big part of her life. It can also show two things about their relationship. It can show that Ella is not ready to give Crayton up and accept the fact that he is gone. It also shows that part of Crayton will always be with Ella. I think the letter from Crayton can explain a lot and shows a lot of Ella's traits, so it is a symbol for her.

Chapter 12

Chapter 12 of The Fall of Five was an interesting chapter. I can tell that it is going to lead up to a lot of important events. In this chapter, Four, Six, and Sarah go to Arkansas to find Five. They meet five at a souvenier store called Monster Mart. They knew to find Five there because of a comment he left on a website. He left the comment on a news website with an article about crop circles being found. He commented on this article because he was the one who made the crop circle.

I think the most important line from this chapter is "Wow. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cause trouble. I just- I didn't know what else to do."(Lore 122) This was said by Five, after Six tells him that making the crop circles was a bad idea. This shows how clueless Five is, especially the last part. He didn't even think of using his powers to try and find the other Loric, like the rest of them did. Obviously, making these crop circles was a bad idea because it could show the Mogodorians where he is. I think this quote shows that Five is clueless and doesn't know as much about the Mogodorians and why the Loric were sent to Earth. I think that Five is going to be like dead weight for the rest of the group, because he is so clueless. I think that the rest of the Loric will have to try and find a way for Five to be useful.

Currently Reading

Right now, I am currently reading The Fall of Five by Pittacus Lore. I am around 1/4 of the way through the book, and I really like it so far. It is a continuation in the Lorien Legacies series. It is the fourth book in the series. The series is science fiction, about aliens. The book is told from multiple points of view, it changes every few chapters. The story starts out in New Mexico with Sam telling the story. He is at a Mogodorian base in New Mexico. The Mogodorians are the Loric's enemies, and even though Sam is a human, he is an ally of the Loric, so the Mogodorians are keeping him hostage. He has to try and escape and find the Loric. Later on, the story moves on to Chicago, where the Loric are. The Loric's names are numbers, because they could only be killed by the Mogodorians is a certain order. The Loric in Chicago have to find the only Loric member that they haven't found before the Mogodorians. It is already an exciting book with lots of action.

The problem in this book is that the Loric and the Mogodorians are trying to find the last Loric, Five. Five was posting comments on articles, which is how the Mogodorians know where he is. The Loric know where he is because they have a tablet that shows where all the Loric are. The two groups are both trying to find them. I think the main characters, the Loric, are attcking the problem well. Three of them are trying to find Five, while the other four of them stay in Chicago. Four is the leader of the Loric, and I think he is handling the problem well because he is so stressed out, but he is managing the problem and how to solve it. I think that the Loric and the Mogodorians will get to Five at the same time, and there will be another battle. I think the Loric will win.

Cover of The Fall of Five

Reflection

I think my best post was this one. I think this was my best post because I analyzed the main character, Alex, and how the story being told from his perspective changed the story. I also talked about the meaning behind the book and how it really makes the reader think. I also thoroughly explain the theme in this post. I really explained how the theme of A Clockwork Orange is morality and how it makes the reader question what they previously never did. Here, I examined Alex again and saw how Alex related to the world and people today. I really understood Alex because I was able to look at the similarites and differences between him and people today. Also, I analyzed a quote from the book here. I tried to interpret the quote so I could better understand the characters, the situation, and the book overall.

One of my goals for next trimester is to read more. I only finished one book this trimester, but it was a harder, more difficult book so I guess it could even out a little. I still would like to read more because I have a long list of books I would like to read. I want to read more books like A Clockwork Orange, as it was a very peculiar book and I have read nothing like it before. I would also like to write more. I really enjoy writing and I hope I get to write more next trimester. I would like to become a better reader and continue to read more advanced books. I would like to improve on understanding books more and finding the meaning behind the text, not just seeing the text. I want to become a better fictional writer, because for school we always write narratives. I think I am a good writer and I want to become better at writing fiction.

The Fall of Five so far

So far, I really enjoy The Fall of Five. It starts out with a lot of action already and it's not boring at the beginning. The book doesn't start out slow and boring. I think this is probably because it's in a series and the reader most likely already knows all the characters so they don't have to go through all the introductions of characters. It also picks up right where the last book left off. I think if you have read the past three books, you would like this one because it is very similar so far and it is full of action. I recommend the series for teenagers or adults who like science fiction books, more specifically books about aliens. The book is already getting very exciting and I can't wait to read it more.

Predictions

I have some predictions for The Fall of Five. I think that Sam and his dad, Malcolm, will find their friend, Adam. Adam is a Mogodorian but for some reason he is helping the Garde and wants to save them. I haven't seen a lot of Adam yet and I don't know if I trust him. I also think that after they find Adam, they will somehow reunite with the Garde and they will have to battle the Mogodorians again. I also think that the rest of Garde will find Number Five. I think they will all battle the Mogodorians at the end but they won't beat them and they will have to run away again.

New Book

The new book I am reading is The Fall of Five by Pittacus Lore. It is part of the Lorien Legacies series. It's the fourth book in the series. The series is about 10 aliens who have special powers who came to Earth and have to fight their enemies, called Mogodorians. The aliens can only be killed in a certain order, and the first three have died. All of the aliens who are alive are known, except the fifth one. I think that the characters will meet him/her in this book since they have not met him/her yet. I also think that the aliens will think that they have beaten the Mogodorians, when really they haven't. This is one of my favorite series and I am excited to see how the series continues.

Finished A Clockwork Orange

I finally finished A Clockwork Orange! I won't tell the whole ending, but Alex finished his "treatment" and is set off and is a free man, but the "treatment" corrupted him so much that it has to be reversed. I really enjoyed this book and it is now one of my favorites. I think there are a lot of lessons to be learned from this book, and as I said in an earlier post, morality is one of them. I think it puts things in perspective and makes you think "how far is too far?" Alex is one of the most developed characters I have seen in any book I have read and I think the book being told from his point of view changes the whole entire book and it would be a completely different story if it was told from someone else's point of view or if it was told in first person. Alex telling it gives the story a bias, and you start to sympathize with him more and more as the book goes on, but if the reader would sympathize with him if it was told in third person is what makes the book interesting. This is one of my new favorite books and I recommend it to you if you like more mature and difficult books.

Theme

I am getting closer to the end of the book, and I think one of the main themes of this book is morality. How far is it okay to go to stop someone from doing something bad? The "treatment" that they use on Alex is barbaric, and I think the reader has to decide whether they think it's okay to do this to someone just so they stop committing crimes. You really have to weigh things out in your head because Alex did commit serious crimes, like murder and rape, but does anyone deserve the things that they do to him? I honestly don't know. In other words, what is the moral thing to do? I think the book is a little biased, of course, because the book is told from Alex's perspective so you really only see his suffering and not the minds behind the "treatment." I do think the treatment definitely works, but just because something works doesn't make it okay. Morality is a big theme of this book because the reader has to decide for themselves how far we should be going to stop people from committing serious crimes.

Update

Alex was taken to the worst prison because of what he did. The priest at the church there lets him play his music over the church stereo when the prisoners are coming and leaving. He always talks to the priest,so they start to develop a good relationship and the priest tells Alex about this new "treatment" for criminals that will never make them do anything bad or violent ever again. Alex wants to undergo this "treatment," because they let you go right after it's over. Eventually, someone in Alex's cell dies from a heart attack and everyone blames Alex, and they decide that he should be the first to try this "treatment." I won't tell you what they do in case you read the book, but I think the treatment works. All I will say is that it definitely raises some morality issues.

Predictions

My prior prediction that Alex's droogs would once again try to "overthrow" Alex and actually succeed, has come true. They were going to break into a house, and Alex got inside, but everyone else stayed behind. The lady that lived in the house called the police, while her cats attacked Alex and she then threw things at him. Alex told his droogs to help him get away, but Dim said that they had had enough of him and they were leaving him there. The police come and arrest Alex, even though he tries to say that his droogs made him do it. They then tell Alex that they have good news for him, that he's going to be part of an experiment at the city hospital. They don't say what it is but Alex says "And before he told me, I knew what it was... That was everything. I'd done the lot, now. And me still only fifteen." This shows that he know what they are going to do and I think since he says he's only fifteen, it is going to be something really bad. It's porbably something that they only do to the worst criminals, since he's saying he has committed a lot of different crimes when he says "I'd done the lot, now." It's like saying he's committed every crime possible.

A Clockwork Orange Movie

I have just found out that there is a movie version of A Clockwork Orange. It came out in 1971. I would like to watch it when I finish the book. I always read the book before I watch the movie version of it. I think it will be interesting to see how my vision of the setting and characters compare to the ones in the movie. They don't describe the characters a lot in the book, so what I think they look like could be completely wrong. The author does a good job describing the setting, though, so I think I have a good mental image of that. But, sometimes in movies they don't make the settings exactly how they are described in the book. So, I could see the setting the way the author wants to reader to see it, but it could be completely different in the movie. I have also found the IMDb page for A Clockwork Orange and a link to it is on the side of my blog. I also found this movie poster that I think is really cool, which I also put a link to.

How This Relates To The Real World

I think Alex is very similar to a lot of people in the world today. Alex is 'power hungry' and just cares about being in charge. He wants people to listen to them and feels ignored if people follow someone else's ideas and not his. I think a lot of people are like this. They have to have people listening to them and people have to follow their ideas, and if they don't then they feel ignored and get angry. People don't want everyone to have an equal say, they want everyone to listen to them and do what they say. Also, when Alex's power is threatened, he gets very enraged and uncomfortable. I think a lot of people can relate to this and feel like this when their power is threatened. Although, Alex gets in a big fight and beats people up, and I don't think most people get that intense of feelings when their power is threatened. But, I do think people can hurt someone else's feelings when they get angry about their power getting threatened. One difference I do note is that Alex keeps continuing on with his droogs and keeps 'working' with them. I feel like most people start to refuse to work with people who threaten their power and don't cooperate them, whether it's on a small level, like a group during class, or a large level, like a conflict between two countries. I think A Clockwork Orange relates to our world in many ways, and this is just one of them.

Update On A Clockwork Orange

A Clockwork Orange is getting very interesting. My previous prediction that Alex's group of droogs would threaten his power was correct. Georgie, Pete, and Dim didn't like how Alex was always in charge and how they never had a say in things. I think this is shown when the author writes:

"'No offence, Alex,' said Pete, 'but we wanted to have things more democratic like. Not like you like saying what to do and what not all the time. But no offence.' Georgie said: 'Offence is neither here nor elsewhere. It's a matter of who has ideas. What ideas had he had?' And he kept his very bold glazzies turned full on me. 'It's all the small stuff, malenky vesches like last night. We're growing up, brothers.'" -Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange pg. 56

In this quote, I think that Georgie is calling Alex childish for always wanting the power and not letting anyone be in charge. This is shown when he says, "We're growing up, brothers." He is saying that they have to be more mature about the division of power. Also, Pete is saying that they should all have a say in their group when he says, "We wanted to have things more democratic like." They don't want Alex to be in charge because he is not a good leader, and they want some of the power too. After this, they all got in a fight and Alex ended up winning, so he is still the leader. I now predict that they will threaten his power again, but they will actually succeed in 'overthrowing' Alex.

Teenagers in A Clockwork Orange

So far, I have noticed that teenagers in A Clockwork Orange are very different from the teenagers of our generation. It is normal for the teenagers in A Clockwork Orange to dress up fancy and look really nice, which is almost the opposite of how the average teenager dresses today. Teenagers now usually dress comfortably, not normally wearing dress pants and a dress shirt every day. Also, the 'popular' music in A Clockwork Orange is classical music. I think this is very interesting because pop music now is very upbeat and has electric instruments, but classical is the opposite. Lastly, the teenagers in A Clockwork Orange act very sophisticated like it is a normal thing. Most teenagers now try to act 'cool' and are immature. I think it is very interesting how the author made the teenagers in his book so different. I wonder why he did this.

A Clockwork Orange- Book Recommendation

So far, I really like like A Clockwork Orange. It is about a group of crime-committing teenagers(droogs) in the future, led by a fifteen year old named Alex. The criminals take over the town at night. A Clockwork Orange is science fiction because it takes place in the future. If you want to be more specific, you could call it dystopian because it is in a corrupted, futuristic society. It is very exciting, right from the beginning. Alex and his droogs are always doing something, so there is a lot of action and suspense. I enjoy reading books with a lot of action because it makes it more exciting when there is so much going on at once. So far, I give this book four out of five stars. I think the author's writing is very good, besides the fact that he uses a lot of the same words. I think the characterization is good too, because the characters are very developed. I think this book is targeted towards young adults/adults because it has a lot of advanced writing and the plot is kind of mature. So far, I really enjoy the book and I think it will only get better!

Setting

The setting of A Clockwork Orange is around New York City, but it is not modern New York City, it is in the future. I like how the setting is an actual, real city, but it is different because it's in the future. I also like how the author uses current things in New York City, like they will stay there for many years. For example, the subways in New York City are the major form of transportation in the book. I think this is cool because this city is famous for its subways, and the author kept them there. I wonder if there will be more things like this. Also, the author uses different names for things. In the book, they call Times Square the "Center" because it's the main part of the city. I think this is really interesting and I want to see what other current parts of New York City are used in this book.

A Clockwork Orange- Characters

The characters in this book are very interesting. I am not very far into the book, but I already feel like some of the characters are dectenly developed and you already know their personalities. Alex, the main character, is very smart and he seems like the smarted one of his group, which is probably why he is the leader. His droogs just seem to follow him and do what he tells them to do without question, but I feel like this will change later in the book. Alex likes being in charge and I can tell that if someone threatens his leadership, he will not olike it and will cause a big conflict. But, he doesn't interact with the other droogs like he is better than them, even though it seems like he would. He acts like he is better than the victims of their crimes, though. Another one of the droogs is named Dim. As you can tell by his name, he is not the brightest droog of the four. It seems like the only reason he is in the group is because he can fight well. Alex, Georgie, and Pete seem to leave him out a lot of the time, though. So far, I think the characters personalities fit with the story and I am excited to see if any of them change!

Likes and Dislikes so far

So far, overall, I like A Clockwork Orange. It is told in first person and I like reading books told in first person because you get to see things from a characters perspective and you know what the character is thinking. Also, I like how the author uses slang in the book, because normally authors stay away from that. I like trying to figure out what these words mean, since it's an old book and I have never heard a lot of these words before. One thing I don't like about the author's vocabulary so far is that it is very repetetive. He uses the same words a lot, when there are lots of other words and adjectives he could be using. I also think the setting isn't very clear sometimes, but maybe that's because I can't understand some of the words he uses. Other than those two things, I am really enjoying the book and it is very engaging and hard to put down. The author describes the characters well and their personalities are interesting. It's an intriguing book because it's a futuristic society and I like reading books about what could happen in the future. I like how even though this book was written in 1963, it can still apply to us today.

A Clockwork Orange- Reading Skills

The first book I am reading this year is A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. So far, I am only 24 pages into the book. The book is about a boy named Alex and his group of droogs, or criminals. The droogs 'take over' the town at night. This book takes place in a futuristic world, and is supposedly Anthony Burgess' vision of the future. Do you think Anthony Burgess actually thought society would be like this in the future? It's weird to think that people have so many different visions of the future. It seems like Alex's group has a 'rival' group of droogs, led by another boy who they call 'Billyboy.' I predict Alex's group will get in some sort of conflict with this group, like maybe one group turns in the other group to the police. Even if Billyboy's droogs don't turn them in, I think the police will somehow get involved with Alex and his group. I also predict a conflict will arise within Alex's group of droogs, like maybe them wanting to kick him out, even though he's the leader of the group. The language and slang used in this book was a little hard to understand at first, but I am starting to get used to it. I wonder where this slang comes from, if these words were actually used when the book was written or if the author made them up. I like reading it because it makes it seem like you actually are in a different world or time period since it's not common language that we use today. Alex's group and Billygoat's group got into a fight, and it reminded me of the rumble in The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton, because they were all beating each other up and fighting. Alex is very smart and can think of all these plans for what they are going to do at night and what crimes they will commit, and it reminds me of things you see in the news about how criminals have these huge crimes that they spend months planning. So far, this book seems good. I had it recommended it to me by a friend, so I have high expectations for it and I am excited to read it!