Blog Review: Fuzzy Thoughts

http://vickym4201.blogspot.com/

The blog Fuzzy Thoughts run by fellow student Vicky Mai, she writes a response about Allegiant by Veronica Roth. I had already read Allegiant, and Vicky had similar thoughts as I did when I read the book. Throughout the response Vicky uses vivid evidence to support her claim. However, her claim, or point of view could be expressed a bit more. She already does, but not until the conclusion.

Vicky explains how Tris, Tobias; her boyfriend, and her brother flee Chicago to find out what is going on. She also mentions how Tris, in the end, sacrifices herself for her brother. She further more elaborates on this by introducing the moral of this novel. Life in a bumpy road, and sometimes you have to make sacrifices. I thought the same thing as I was reading this book; this represents my life. But Vicky reminded me of this claim, and it made me think a bit more.

The Divergent series is similar to The Hunger Game. Katniss has to lead a revolution, and make sacrifices to live a happy life. In both trilogies, Tris and Katniss are leaders of the fight, they are, what The Hunger Games calls Katniss, the Mockingjay. They will lead the revolution and make sacrifices, as well as make hard decisions.

Overall, Vicky writes a well supported post that reminds me of my life and another book.

Non-Fiction Analysis: Monkey Mind

Monkey Mind, by Daniel Smith is a memoir about his anxiety. Daniel Smith suffered from acute anxiety, he was often worried about the smallest things; he thought about death a lot. Through the text, the author demonstrates his anxiety with short sentences, and many reason why he believed triggered his worst mental state.

The beginning of the book starts off with Mr. Smith walking to his weekly therapy session, along the Freedom Trail; a two-and-a-half-mile-long path. Mr. Smith, at the time, was living the life anyone would want to live; he had a prestigious job, loyal friends and a great girlfriend whom he lived with in a nice apartment. But he was still anxious. On his walks to Brian’s, his therapist’s office he would often think, “a typical line of thought went something like this: I am anxious. The anxiety makes it impossible to concentrate. Because  it is impossible to concentrate, I will make an unforgivable mistake at work. Because I will make a n unforgivable mistake at work, I will be fired. BEcause I will be fired, I will not be able to pay my rent. Because I will not be able to pay my rent, I will be forced to have sex for money in an alley behind Fenway Park. Because I will be forced to have sex for money in an alley behind Fenway Park, I will contract HIV. Because I will contract HIV, I will develop full-blown AIDS. Because I will develop full-blown AIDS, I will die disgraced and alone.” This is an example of the author’s must anxious thoughts, that is built up in short choppy sentences, and ends with death.

Daniel Smith believes that the cause of his anxiety was by an older friend of his, Esther. He experienced many first-times with her, including sex. Esther, as he describes her, is crazy; she is wild, she does ridiculous things, she married a man even though she’s gay because she wants a child. And Esther took Daniel’s virginity in the most terrifying way, after he got drunk at a party. So you can understand why he believes she is the cause. But Daniel Smith’s mother, who is also a psychologist believes otherwise. Although he was raped, and right after began to worry much more than he had, Mrs. Smith believes it was a more than one incident that triggered his anxiety. When Daniel was four, he almost drowned in a pond. Also, his mother had anxiety as well, and anxiety is genetic. There are many other reasons, but Esther is not one of them

Overall, Monkey Mind closely deals with anxiety, social problems and te life a a sixteen-year-old in suburban Staten Island.