Shakespeare

Over break I read acts 2 and 3 of Shakespeare's play Much Ado About Nothing. It is an interesting and fun play that I am beginning to understand now that I know what he is saying by using the side margins. In my opinion, I think that Beatrice and Benedick should fall in love in the end. They seem perfect for each other, neither one really believing in love and that kind of stuff but seem to be changing their minds as the story goes on. The plan put on by the prince and Hero was the perfect way to get them together and so far it seems to be working. I also hope that the wedding with Hero and Claudio happens because they are the couple that does believe in love and happiness. It doesnt seem fair for Don John to be able to change their minds with a prank almost. There are two couples and two pranks but one is pulling apart while the other is coming together. Im excited to see what happens next with the wedding and the pranks.

The Glass Castle... My opinion

The ending to The Glass Castle was good in my opinion but it could have been a little better. After Jeanette and the whole Walls family moved to New York, the family kind of split apart and almost had problems of their own. Her mom became homeless, Maureen went to jail and then moved to California, and their dad died. Jeanette herself had a sort of happy ending getting married and finishing college but after the climax of the story thing were getting better again and it could have ended with that but then there was a little added part that, in my opinion, could have been left out. Overall I think I would recommend it to other people because it is a story that you read thinking its fiction because of the drama and dramatic aspects. She makes her life seem like it is an adventure and it could all be made up but isnt. It is a great story of ocerall success starting with a rough childhood and ending in peace finally. I think Jeanette Walls did a great job writing a fun and exciting memoir.

Racial issues for the Walls

In the past few chapters of The Glass Castle, Jeanette has to deal with racial issues in West Virginia. A black girl in Jeanettes class took a special disliking to Jeanette on the first day for acting better than everyone else with her reading skills. Because of it, a group of friends and the girl, Dinitia, decided to beat Jeanette up after school and during recess. It continued on for a couple weekd until a little boy from the black neighborhood got lost one day and Jeanette gave him a piggy back ride all the way home. Dinitia saw Jeanette as she dropped the little boy off at his house and never beat her up again after the incident. In fact they became such good friends that Jeanette's family was starting to get worried. They told her people might call her names for hanging out with those kind of people. Despite everyone else and what they had told her, Jeanette remained friends with her and went swimming with the blacks during one morning at the public swimming pool that is reserved for whites during the afternoon. It was one of the best days of her life but since the school year was about to start up again, Jeanette was never able to hang out with Dinitia again. The racial issues of the time led to the fact that all throughout high school, Jeanette never made any more friends and forced herself into isolation, eating in the bathroom and working in the library after school. Life was tough for her all around. At home, and because of the Dinitia incident, at school too.

outside reading

When the Walls family decides to move to West Virginia, Jeanette and her brother and sisters are forced to adjust to a whole new lifestyle. They had never experienced snow before and had to deal with that among other things like meeting new friends and trying to fit in at school. When the foundation outside their house for the new glass castle turns into a garbage dump, kids and neighbors from all over started calling them the dirty family and it made life at school pretty difficult. Jeanette eventually was able to fight back against some of the problems when she started working for the newspaper at school. She was the editor who also wrote most of the articles and took pictures during school events like prom and sports games. Because of that, kids at school wanted any chance they could get to be in the paper were and treating her nicer. After a while though, Jeanette and her sister, Lori, decided that life in West Virginia wasnt exactly all they had wanted it to be. They started saving up money and eventually, one year after Lori graduated from high school, moved to New York to start a new life without parents to hold them back. Once Jeanette recieved all the letters about how great Lori was doing, she finished out her last days and moved up as well. A year or so later, they had pulled Brian away too. When the last of the Walls children, Maureen, moved in with Lori in New York, their parents had had enough of life without their children and ended up moving north too. The kids had finally gotten away from what had been holding them back until it came back with even more problems than before.

Winter Time

Throughout my book, The Glass Castle, the Walls family continues to live in all these places in the west like California and Nevada and Utah. For me, life has been the opposite. I grew up In Georgia and Minnesota and so the east coast is more familiar to me. The thing that I think about sometimes when reading is that they love living in the desert and in the hottest places in the country. They love the sand and hot climate so have never experienced the snow and cold of Minnesota this time of year. I think of back when I lived in Georgia without the cold winters and kind of always hoped I would be able to experience it one day but the Walls havent and dont seem like they want to either. The kids have fun exploring the desert and finding scorpions and snakes. In Minnesota the snow right now kids live a completely different way and decide to explore the snow piles and make forts out of the white fluffy powder. I think if I were one of the kids in Jeanette's family, I would be begging them to move to the cold weather. I would hate moving to desert after desert but they seem to like it just as much as I like the snow. I find it funny how kids with very similar back rounds can find adventure, happiness, and joy in the most different things.

Outside Reading 4

As soon as Mr. Walls loses his job, or rather quits his job to look for gold and more money, the whole family starts to return to their old lifestyle of hunger and madness. There is no food in the house for weeks at a time and so Jeanette and Brian have found ways to get food that many would consider as wrong. They go to play at friends houses and steal food while there or get food from other kids' lunches at school during recess. Brian got caught stealing a jar of pickles from the neighbors and had to eat it as punishment since it was spoiled. The family is starting to fall apart again and no one will do anything to change that or help out. The family also gets into a big fight when Jeanette tells her mom she is hungry cause she broke one of the unwritten rules of their family. It is to never complain and to believe that their family is actually living a big adventure. Thw Walls family tried to keep this long optimistin life and finally it is starting to break down and become more realistic. After Jeanette says that, her mom and dad get into a big fight and try to fight over who is to blame. When a family just breaks under pressure, you never know what is to come of it. If they will break up or if they will be able to pull through and find a way around their problems. I am curious to see what happens next with the Walls family in The Glass Castle.

Christmas is coming!

In December many people all around the world celebrate some of the most important holidays for their religion. For the Walls, they know that Christmas is a time of present giving and celebrating too. It is different for them though because they dont always have enough money to get their kids the things they want. Jeanne, Lori, and Brian had been to school long enough to know about Santa and presents so theire parents had to explain the situation to them. The Walls know it is silly to believe in Santa and flying reindeer. They also understand that life in the desert means that their is not enough money for the family to pay for food, let alone luxury presents. For Christmas, their dad decided he needed to do something special so he took each of his daughters and son out into the desert at night and asked them each which star looked the best to them. Lori and Brian both got a star for Christmas and Jeanne decided that the planet Venus was the best, so her present was the brightest star of them all. I sit and think sometimes if I would have accpeted a star as a Christmas present when I was younger. The answer is probably not because I had already been accustomed to the spoiled lifestyle of barbies and puppy dogs. The Walls can see more importance in the little things that everyone else takes for granted.