Category: Independent Reading

IRJE #1- Coco Chanel

“Coco Chanel, An Essence of Mystery” written by Isabelle Fiemeyer. Coco Chanel is the founder and namesake of the luxurious brand Chanel. She had a brief career as a signer before her first clothing shop opened in 1910. She grew up in a time when women were expected to wear confining pieces, but her goal was to design classy articles of clothing that were fashionable but also comfortable. Instead of offering corsets and lace frills, she designed wide-leg pants and sailor shirts.

“It’s not the appearance, It’s the essence.

It’s not the money, It’s the education.

It’s not the clothes; It’s the class”

This quote is special because Coco Chanel would say it all the time. She has made a fashion staple and inspired many women to do the same. Her clothes have revolutionized the fashion industry. She may not be alive anymore, but her legacy still stands strong and holds value throughout people’s lives.

IRJE#1 Diego

Cant Hurt me

The Author of this book is  David Goggin’s the book is a Memoir about a young black boy  who grew up in new York he was a only child and had a abusive father. Through out the book it shows how he is effected by his father and how hard it is to grow up in a household with that kind of environment. He would have to watch his mother get abused and he couldn’t not do anything about it because he was too small and young. After all of his trauma growing up he made a promises to himself to one day be bigger and stronger then his father. However when he started to grow up he forgot about his goal and lost control of his life he was depressed over weight lazy and not happy until he realized what he had said to himself as a child. The book showcases his life and journey on how he succeeded with his goals and went on to become a ultra athlete Navy Seal who became a huge inspiration to thousands of people around the world. He is now know as one of the hardest and toughest humans on the planet. I really enjoyed this book because it is a big motivate for me and it gave me lots of inspiration as an athlete. I also felt that the book has a perfect mix about his life trauma and his successes. One quote i enjoyed in the book was on page 6

” Even the best pep talk or self-help hack is nothing but a temporary fix. It     won’t rewire your brain. It won’t amplify your voice or uplift your life. Motivation changes exactly nobody. The bad hand that was my life was mine, and mine        alone to fix.”

This quote has lots of meaning to it and it really says how David Gogings personality is and how he was as a person.

 

IRJE #1 – The Feeling of Greatness

In The Feeling of Greatness – A Moe Norman Story by Tim O’Connor, the idea of  determination and grind are explored quite clearly. Moe, a Canadian golfer, was arguably the best ball striker of all time. He never missed a shot. The consistency in him game was incomparable to any other player. He could sit on the range for hours on end in a day and never stop hitting golf balls. Whether it was the middle of winter or a scorching hot day in the summer, you could still find him there.

On some days, Moe would hit upward of fifteen hundred balls—to the point that he couldn’t hold a club any longer. Moe would retreat to the clubhouse and soothe his bloody hands in cold towels. sometimes, he threw the towels i n the garbage, which made tucker furious. The next day, with his hands covered in Band-Aids, he might hit inly his daily minimum of six hundred (p.51).

In the world of golf, Moe is an icon. The chances that we will never see a phenomenon like him again are slim to none. When I hear all the stories about Moe I begin to think to myself “wow, how are these real”. But that is what makes him so great. All his stories and unforgettable and thats how its the greatest of all time.

IRJE #1- Good Girls Guide to Murder

Good Girls Guide too Murder by Holly Jackson is a story based on a girl (Pippa (Pip) Fitz-Amobi) who lives in Fairview Connecticut where Andie Bell was murdered and was allegedly killed by her boyfriend (Sal Singh) who later killed himself in the fairview woods. He was declared a monster by the towns people, an example of this is when Pip was in an interview with Stanley  who mainly reported the case in the Fairview Newspaper the conversation went like this

Pip: okay in a lot your articles about the case you refer to Sal as a “killer”, a “murder” and even a monster you are aware without a conviction you are supposed to use the word allegedly when reporting crime stories.

Stanley: not sure I need a child to tell me how to do my job anyway it’s obvious that he did it and everyone knows it he killed her and the guilt drove him to suicide.

Pip: and why are you so convinced Sal guilty.

Stanley: too many things to list evidence aside he was the boyfriend right and it’s always the boyfriend or the ex-boyfriend not only that Sal was Indian.

 The conversation went on but because of this interview Pip had decided she is going to dig deeper into the case to find out what actually happened as she is still strong and believes Sal didn’t do it. She goes through phone interviews with some of Sals best friends and his family as well as Andies friends and family as well as teachers and people involved in the case and managing to get her hands one crucial bits of evidence and becoming friends with Sals brother Ravi Singh who starts to help in the case.

 

“Master and Man” Viv

After reading Master and Man I was glad it was over but did enjoy the little details such as the hanging clothing, the backstory to Nikita and his development through the story and the dreams Vasili Andreevich and Nikita where having when they died or was close too death. The book was well written it just didn’t have very much going on through the beginning and the middle of it but towards the end is where it felt like it began to pick up with Vasili Andreevich trying to save himself but then getting brought right back to the sledge and seeing Nikita in the sledge decided to save him instead of himself. I think the development of Vasili Andreevich’s  character through the story is subtle but noticeable like how he had felt he was not the same person he was before he fell asleep in the sledge, while again deciding to give up his life for Nikita’s. the story was good but I probably wouldn’t read it again.

Master and Man Diego

After reading the book i found it a little boring because i found that in the plot it was very simple that he goes gets lost in a snow storm trying to make a trade there was noting that really stood out to me. All the way up to near the end, However at the end of the book i found that it taught good lessons. Such as to not be greedy and the importance of family and life. So even though i found the plot boring. In the end i kind of enjoyed it. I think this book has great meaning to it. My rating would be a 5 out of 10.

 

Sample IRJE #3: block quotation without dialogue

Gordon Bowker’s James Joyce: A Biography describes a man who, though he may have been a great writer, was a terrible husband and father. In 1907 Joyce is 25 years old. He is living in Rome on a negligible salary as a bank clerk, supplemented by funds borrowed from his brother. He has a young son, and his wife is pregnant. He is constantly eluding creditors, falling behind in his rent, and moving his family from one shabby apartment to another. He decides to leave Rome, and gives notice to his employer. On his last day of work,

he drew a month’s salary (250 lire) at the bank and went on a farewell spree—a drunken adieu to the Eternal City, which he had come to consider ‘vulgar’ and ‘whorish.’ When [he was] suitably drunk, two congenial bar-flies took him to a backstreet and relieved him of his bulging wallet. He returned home penniless and completely soaked from an evening downpour. (p. 165)

Many have questioned the ethics of enjoying art created by people who have been misogynists, rapists, racists, or fascists, for example. It seems difficult to reconcile beautiful art with such ugly behaviour. In Joyce’s case, such questions have been asked, but in this instance the behaviour is not only bad, but stupid—and this raises a slightly different question. How is it possible for someone like Joyce—who read, wrote, and spoke several languages fluently, and whose work, whatever you think of it, is undeniably brilliant—how is it possible for such an obviously intelligent man to make such stupid choices? If intelligence did not save Joyce from making stupid choices, what about us? What can save us from making stupid choices?

Sample IRJE #2: “We was attacked!”

In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, a group of English school boys are evacuated by plane from a war zone, but the plane crashes on a remote tropical island, and the only adult with them—the pilot—is killed. Soon after they meet, Ralph and Piggy argue about what happened to the pilot of their airplane, and we see right away that Piggy is more of a thinker than Ralph:

“He must have flown off after he dropped us. He couldn’t land here. Not in a place with wheels.” 

“We was attacked!” 

“He’ll be back all right.”

The fat boy shook his head.

“When we was coming down I looked through one of them windows. I saw the other part of the plane. There were flames coming out of it.” (p. 8)

Whereas Ralph unthinkingly believes that everything will work out for the best (“’He’ll be back all right’”), Piggy has kept his eyes open during the crash and is brave enough to speak the frightening truth: there are no adults left to take care of them.

Sample IRJE #1: “You reason like a block of cheese.”

In The Viscount of Bragelonne, by Alexander Dumas, the old soldier, d’Artagnan, proposes a business opportunity to Planchet, who was his squire in their younger days but who now owns a prosperous candy shop in Paris. D’Artagnan’s idea is to raise a small army and restore Charles II, rightful King of England, to his throne. Planchet is reluctant to invest without understanding more about d’Artagnan’s plans.

“Since you are proposing a business deal, I have the right to discuss it,” says Planchet.

“Discuss, Planchet; from discussion comes light.”

“Well then, since I have your permission, I would like to point out that in England they have, first of all, a Parliament.”

“Yes. And then?”

“And then, an Army.”

“Good. Anything else?”

“And then, the people themselves.”

“Is that all?”

“The people of England, who consented to the overthrow and execution of the late King, father of Charles II, will never agree to put the son back on the throne.”

“Planchet, my friend” said d’Artagnan, “you reason like a block of cheese.” (p. 417)

In French, the line is more beautiful: “Planchet, mon ami, tu raisonnes comme un fromage.” It made me laugh out loud the first time I read it, and it reminded me of something my French friend Christian said to me years ago when he noticed that I was wearing a new shirt: “Tu es beau comme un camion.” “You are as handsome as a truck.”