Maze Runner: 1/29/15

Title: The Maze Runner
Author: James Dashner
Pages Read: 40- 90
Prompt: What are the major conflicts the main character runs into?

     The main character Thomas, has had a rough start in his barely 2 day span that he has been in the Glade. The Glade is the area in which the guys live, and it is surrounded by the maze. Clearly at the beginning and even right now Thomas knows very little of the Glade and how everything functions. He is very curious but he seems like a very special character by the way the book has gone about. Basically he got dumped in this place, full of terror, and he has no idea about anything. He is expected not to ask questions, but how can he do that when this place is so odd and he knows nothing of it. His first big conflict with another character is with this jerk named Gally. He claims to have seen Thomas in some sort of dream after getting stung by a griever (a big nasty half animal, half mechanical kind of killing machine.) Thomas has his one friend right now, Chuck who gets on his nerves at times. Chuck really doesn't know much or say much and this drives Thomas crazy.

     Thomas's next problem is that he seems to have been sent there for a bigger reason than just being another Glader. He feels as if he has been here before but doesn't tell anyone besides Chuck. Then a new problem arises. A day later after Thomas arrives, suddenly alarms begin to go off. This indicates the arrival of a new person, but there is something very strange about this. They are suppose to receive new people once a month, on the same day and now they get two in a just 2 days. So of course everyone is sort of in a panic and wondering why this is happening now. Then it takes an even bigger twist, its a girl. There are no girls on the Glade not even one and then everyone thinks she has a connection to Thomas. Thomas at first has no idea what they are talking about but then begins to realize she does recognize her a bit. But he decides not to tell anyone because he's afraid of what would happen. Well now everything has changed for Thomas, he understands more but still has so many questions.

     Newt takes Thomas on a small tour and starts with the basically slaughter house. Thomas is completely disgusted and gets to take a break. This is when he sees something scurry across the grass and it is a robotic beetle that the creators use to watch them. One of Thomas's major flaws in this place is that he is very curious and this gets him in trouble. So he follows this bug thing into the woods where it gets very dark. As you can see his curiosity has gotten him into trouble because he lost the beetle and all of a sudden he hears twigs breaking. He stumbles upon the graveyard but then as he is checking it out he hears the snapping again. Then someone runs out tackles him, and bites him. It turns out to be the kid who had been basically hospitalized after getting stung. Well then Alby comes and threatens to shoot him with his bow. The kid talks about that Thomas is bad and that he does not belong. Alby ends up having to shoot and kill him but now Thomas has a new conflict. He throws up from what had happened and now he is scared that he has done something wrong. Finally right now at the part I'm reading he has run into a mazerunner. Which he has been wanting to do and this guy tells him and Alby that he found a dead griever. I guess its a big deal because he has never found a dead griever.

I Commented On: Citlalli, Stanley, and Marissa

The Maze Runner: Week of 1-21-14

Title: The Maze Runner
Author: James Dashner
Pages Read: 0-40
Prompt: Describe the characters and setting

There has been a lot of hype about this series, especially after the movie came out and I had my interests in this book. I could never find it though, because everyone else wanted to read the book too. Well now I have it and I saw the movie already and although that tends to be a bad thing, it allows me to understand the beginning a little better. So Thomas is the main character and the beginning of the book is him traveling up this cage mechanism and all of a sudden he appears in this place. He knows nothing of the past except his name. This place that he arrives in is filled with teenage guys and the ones who he first meets are Alby and Newt who seem to be the leaders of the camp. Alby is mean but not where he is bullying him. It just seems like he has a lot going on and doesn't have time for him. Thomas is so confused and scared because he is in the place they call the Glade and is confused by what they are talking about.

Thomas gets assigned to Chuck, who is this smaller, younger, chubbier kid. He has this innocence to him because he says he has only been here for a month and doesn't really seem tough like the rest of the guys. He hides facts from Thomas not only because its too confusing but I think also to protect him from freaking out. The problem is Thomas is extremely curious and wants to know everything that is going on. He bumps into this jerk whose name is Gally. From his description he isn't too big like the others but he thinks he is all that. He even tells him he is the real leader of the place, not Alby which from what I've read is simply not true. Well anyway Thomas goes looking for answers and this guy just starts picking on him. Thomas is trying to see Newt who is with Alby. He had heard horrible screams from the building he is currently in. Apparently someone had been stung, which has no meaning to Thomas.

Gally lets Thomas go upstairs because he knows he is going to get in trouble and get embarrassed. Thomas goes up and he sees a terrible site, the boy who had been stung. Gally says he remembers Thomas from like these visions or things he had. He said he had gotten stung by the greivers and that it brings like memories or something. Later on Thomas has his own memory and tells Chuck he thinks he has been here before and he begins to not feel as panicked for some reason. Then he gets yelled at and leaves. Chuck at this point is his only friend and now they are going to sleep. The setting of this place is very weird. There are huge walls that close at night and beyond those walls there is a maze. The maze moves on the inside so from what I've gotten they are trapped in this large area of space where they have build like little shelters and a way of life on the inside.

TKAM: What is the purpose in having different versions of a story? (Book vs. Movie)

TKAM Blog

Prompt: What is the purpose in having different versions of a story? (Book vs. Movie)


 In a movie you can see the characters and this allows you to have stronger feelings than just reading a description. For example in the book Bob Ewell is this mean man but you don't see him and his facial expressions and ugliness. In the movie you have more anger toward Bob Ewell and his character because you see him as this nasty man with ugly facial expressions. You also see how innocent and sad Tom Robinson is compared to in the book. You see him cry and plead, which makes you feel more sympathetic and want the Ewells to be punished. It is also important to know the character in the book so that you can create your own image of what he looks like and how he treats people. The book also allows better backstories and myths like the myth of Boo Radley. Into the book they go more into how they think its some scary man who has gone crazy and locked up in his house. It makes you more and more curious. In the movie it provides you with an idea of how anxious the kids are to get their eyer on him.

In both versions you see Scouts thoughts whether it be through facial expressions of reading her thoughts. In the book its from Scouts point of view and goes more into detail on how she feels and her immediate reaction. While in the movie you see her facial expressions which adds and extra attitude and gives you more into her personality. At the beginning of the movie Scout is wearing a dress and she is clearly in disgust because of her facial expressions. In the book however she describes when she wears her dress as a way to please her Aunt and the other woman and you wouldn't know this without her narration throughout the book. Both versions provide you a large impression of how Scout is as a character and her attitude. 

Finally having two versions allows you to have more story and also to show you how others would imagine it. Everyone knows that movies don't always follow the same story of the book but in the movie it did a good job. By just reading the book you would miss out on an extra scene where Bob Ewell is snooping around and scaring people around the Robinson's house. But more importantly by just watching the movie you would miss several other scenes. Like when the kids go to Calpurnia's church, Jem having to go read to Mrs. Dubose, or Bob Ewell following Tom Robinson home. Having two versions provides you with more scenes that you can put altogether into one story. By watching the movie you see how the director pictured the characters and story going along. Then you can compare it to your own thoughts and the book. For example what he had as Tom Robinson did not watch the description I had thought of and yet I liked what the movie had come up with better than my own. Having two versions allows the book to expand and to stretch and think more about the book than you normally would. To me having the book and the movie allows me to create a larger picture of story in my mind and it allows me to expand on the real story.

Comments: Gustavo, Nadrian, and Amelia

1-8-15: When was the last time you did something for the first time?

Prompt: When was the last time you did something for the first time?

The last big thing I did for the first time was probably watch a scary movie. When I was in 6th grade I went to Gabe's house for halloween. At that point I had always been scared and never wanted to watch scary movies. On that day when we were done we came back from trick or treating we were going to watch a basketball game or something. Instead Gabe's dad ended up wanting us to watch a scary movie. It was me and my group of friends and all of us were scared. The movie we decided to end up watching was the Nightmare on Elm Street. Now me personally would rather watch the movies where people are haunted by ghosts or like "demonic things" but we watched that movie. It was so fake looking because it was from like 1980 or 90 something. Still it was pretty scary since there was a bunch of blood and weird things happening.

The whole movie we had a competition for who wouldn't look away from the TV so it made it a little more fun. The thing was that most of my friends had pillows ready to cover their eyes so it was kind of funny. The movie was just a slasher one and it didn't make much sense. After that everyone had to go home and everybody was all paranoid since they had just watched a scary movie. No one really wanted to go home or in that case go to sleep at all because in the movie Freddy Krueger attacked them when they were asleep. So that just added to the fact that everyone was already scared and paranoid. There were some rumors that some kids slept with their parents but I was actually fine when I went home and went to bed. I think it mostly had to do with the fact that I was tired. But I do think I was probably a little scared for some reason.

That wasn't really the movie that got me to be like oh man I love scary movies or make me want to watch them in general. Then a little while later at my gramma's house we watched Insidious and I couldn't remember it too well because I must not have been paying too much attention. So even after that I still resented watching scary movies. Then one day my uncle came over and he really wanted to watch The Conjuring. At the time I was really scared and didn't want to watch it because everyone who had seen it said it was really scary and that got me really scared. But when ended watching it and it turned out I really liked it. It was very creepy and had a lot of action and scary scenes but I actually liked it. So after that I was more open to scary movies. Since I was more open I watched the Blaire Witch Project, which was creepy, and I think I tried watching The Possession but didn't finish it. After those two I actually wanted to watch scary movies. Finally I watched Insidious 2 and Paranormal Activity 4 this last year. I find being frightened and anticipation, exciting so now I like those kinds of movies.