Write it right
Unit 6 Reading & Writing Portfolio
12 June 2023
Author Bio
My name is Molly Agabiti, i'm 14 years old and I live in New Jersey. My favorite singers are Harry Styles and Taylor Swift, and my favorite show is Gilmore Girls.
What good writing means to me + the best thing I ever read?
"For Belly, Conrad is the sun, and when the sun comes out, all the stars disappear." (Han 178)
Good writing to me is something you can either relate to or something that makes you happy. This is a loud line to me because it really shows how much Conrad means to Belly. I think it's a really important line in 'The Summer I Turned Pretty' by Jenny Han because Belly doesn't say this but rather Susannah (her moms friend). This shows that Conrad is really special if even Susannah can recognize this. I also really like how this is worded, because the sun and stars represent Conrad and all the people. This is why I really like this line.
What good writing means to me + the best thing I ever read?
The best thing I read this year was definetly the book 'Better Than The Movies" by Liz Painter. I really enjoyed the book because it had a lot of refrences to things I like such as Gilmore Girls and Taylor Swift and the characters were really easy to like. The book starts with Liz and her neighbor Wes who are 'enemies' and don't like eachother very much but by the end of the book they are inseperable. I really liked this concept because it was funny to see them go from hating eachother to being the best of friends. This was the best book I read this year.
Description using any of the five senses (smell, taste, sight, sound, or touch)
Example: "The smell of melted chocolate and roasted marshmallows filled the air, and I could feel the warmth of fire."
Imagery
(Han 1)
"I tried to picture them in cranberry-colored scarves and turtleneck sweaters, rosy-cheeked and standing beside a Christmas tree, but the image always seemed false."
In this scene, Belly is on her way to Cousins Beach, when she tells us that she has never seen Conrad or Jeremaih during winter because she only sees them during the summer time.
We can see imagery in the way of sight. Belly helps us to try and picture Conrad and Jeremaih. We can imagine them both standing next to a Christmas tree, in winter clothes, and cold from outside. This is a clear picture and easy to see. This is how we can see imagery in the book The Summer I Turned Pretty.
Sight
The grammatiral structure of a sentence and use of punctuation.
Example: "I adjusted my shirt and took a deep breath. Standing steadily in front of me was a huge roller coaster."
Syntax
(Han 18)
"The next morning, I put on the Poppy-colored lipstick Stormy likes me in, gather up my Easter eggs in a white wicker basket and drive over to Belleview.
In this scene, Lara Jean is getting ready to head over to Belleview, where she volunteers to help the elderly, and she is bringing eggs she dyed.
This is syntax because this sentence gives us good detail and shows whats going on without having to give away to much backround information, and it is a very long sentence. We see this because Jenny Han makes sure to tell us everything that is going in within one second. The sentence seems so long because in the story Lara Jean was rushed. She had to drive over to Belleview quickly because she was running late. We can see that in the way she tries to fit all the details into one sentence instead of multiple sentences. We can se that Lara Jean is getting ready, she dyed eggs and is now bringing them over to Belleview, This is how we can see syntax in Forever and Always, Lara Jean.
Details
A literary device or event in which things seen are different from how they actually are.
Example: "November is cold.
November is old.
November is in the worst season of all.
If only you could sell a birthday month for another.
Because then November would be sold."
Irony
(Cisneros 91)
"Yup, she says disgusted, stirring again, I was a smart cookie then."
In this scene, Esperanza's mom is telling Esperanza about how she dropped out of school because she didn't have nice enough clothes.
This is Irony because Esperanza's mom is saying that she was a 'smart cookie' then, when she was in school. But if she was a smart cookie she wouldn't have dropped out of school. The irony shows a contrast to what she's saying versus what she really means. She truly means that she knows it was wrong because herself now wouldn't have dropped out. This is how there is Irony in the book, The House on Mango Street.
Situational Irony
The placement of two or more things show sides, oftten in order to bring out their differences.
Example: "Quietly reading on the deck while my dog runs wildly outside."
Juxtaposition
(Han 11)
"I can't wait until we're at college."
In this scene, Lara Jean and Peter are talking about how they can't wait until they get into the college UVA.
This is a 'wish vs reality' juxtaposition because Lara Jean literally cannot wait until she is in college. Same with Peter. The only problem is that Peter has gotten into UVA and Lara Jean hasn't yet. This can be a problem because she is getting her hopes up when there is a huge chance that she may not get in. She is getting excited over something that may not happen. This is how there is juxtaposition in Always and Forever, Lara Jean.
Wish v Reality
The use of language in either written or spoken form in which authors or speakers carefully manipulate word choice in order to achieve effect.
Example: "My Christmas trees light's shine all through the night, and in darkness and light."
Diction
(Lowry 153)
"Fiona is already being trained in the fine art of release," The Giver told him.
In this scene, the Giver, is telling Jonas that his friend Fiona, is being trained to learn how to do release.
Lois Lowry uses release in this sentence to make it seem like it is honored and a good thing. But in reality release is bad because it kills people. She also shows this because the Giver is talking about Fiona, who throughout the whole book is described as 'gentle' by Jonas. This contrasts the way we think of her because we used to think she was gentle, but how could a gentle person kill someone else? This is how there is diction in The Giver.
Word Choice
A comparison using 'like' or 'as'.
Example: "The water at the beach twinkled at sunset, almost like a star in the sky."
Spotlight on Figurative Language: Similie
(Painter 138)
"And it couldn't have been a tiny bloody nose. The moment the ball hit, it was like a faucet had been turned on."
In this scene, Liz gets hit by a basketball while she is talking to her friend.
This is a simile because Liz is comparing her nose to a running faucet after being hit in the nose because her nose is bleeding. We can imagine that her nose is bleeding heavily based off the comparison. We can also imagine it must hurt if blood is coming out like water from a faucet. This is how there is a similie in the book Better Than The Movies.
Comparing
Repeating initial consonant sounds for emphasis.
Example: "He sang his songs strongly, leaving nobody in the stadium silent, but rather scream - singing his songs."
Spotlight on Sound Devices: Alliteration.
(Han 241)
"Im sitting on the couch, chomping on chps, when Margot suddenly stands up and declares that shes going through the shoe closet and get rid of all her old shoes."
In this scene, Lara Jean is relazing while Margot has just got home from college.
In this scene, there is Alliteration. There is 2 different kinds of alliteration. The sounds repeating are 'S' and 'C' sound. We see the 'S' in the words sitting, suddenly, stand, she's, and shoes. We can see the 'C' in couch, chomping, chips and closet. There is a strong emphasis on this because 'C' and 'S' almost seems rushed in this context. This is how there is alliteration in Always and Forever, Lara Jean.
Repeating
The enduring theme...
A possible theme in all three of the books could be that 'things don't always go as planned'. We see this in 'the outsiders' by dally robbing the store, johnny dying, and the fire breaking out were all unexpected, in 'house on mango street', the house they moved into as well as some of esperanza's expectations versus reality were unexpected, and finally in 'the giver', the concept of release as well as jonas escaping were unexpected. This is how a 'things don't always go as planned' could be a theme statement for these three books.
The Outsiders
House on mango street
The giver
Key Takeaways
A concept that was covered this year was 'empathy' especially in books like 'The House on Mango Street' because we have to understand that she may not have a lot of money and doesn't live in a very nice house. This is important because it may be hard to understand what the characters are going through, such as Esperanza living in a run down neighborhood, and not exactly being comfortable with the house she lives in, but we can empathize with them.
My Bookshelf
Free slide - Harry Styles Song Meaning
Song: 'Little Freak' from Harry's album, Harry's House.
"Red wine and a ginger ale,
But you would make fun of me for sure." (1:34)
Harry is known for having a strong feminine side to him, so hear he compares 'red wine and giner ale', a stereotypical feminine and masculine drink. This in a way shows Harrys two sides, and he knows that.
He then follows up with saying that 'you would make fun of me for sure'. This line represents the unwanted hate that Harry gets for doing things such as painting his nails.
Free slide - Harry Styles Song Meaning
Song: 'Little Freak' from Harry's album, Harry's House.
"Red wine and a ginger ale,
But you would make fun of me for sure." (1:34)
Another important line in the song is 'you never saw my birthmark'. This line basically means that people don't recognize him for him, if that makes sense. People don't get close enough to him to see his true personality which he represents here meaning that you never saw the 'real' me, not the one always on stage.
Overall this song has parts about him but overall it shows the fall of a relationship in lines such as 'jumped in feet first, and I landed too hard, a broken ankle, karma rules. This line is also very important showing that he has messed up and done things too far. I think overall this song is a self reflecting song about things he's done as well as happy times. I love that a lot of might not make sense but thats okay, because like he represents himself in the song, we don't all make sense, and that's okay.