The Split History of World War 1: 3/4/14

Pages: 1 - end
Prompt: Summarize what you just read.

     The book I read is about World War 1. It tells the two points of view to help people better understand the war. The two sides have very different opinions about the war and a book telling each side separately is very informative. It allows for many new ideas to be explained. The first main event in WW1 is the murder of Franz Ferdinand. He was the next in line to lead Austria-Hungary. Serbia was blamed for the murder and Austria-Hungary wanted to punish them. The only thing stopping them was that Serbia was allied with the powerful Russia who had treaties with France and Britain. Austria-Hungary was not powerful enough to fight all of these countries so they asked their ally, Germany, to support them. Germany, who had a powerful military, agreed and sent Austria-Hungary a "blank check" saying that they would protect them from attack.

    Germany declared war on Russia and France and attacked France through the neutral Belgium. Britain had an alliance with Belgium and declared war on Germany. Germany had made a secret alliance with the Ottoman empire to help fight Russia. Soon most of Europe was at war. Germany attacked France to attempt to knock them out of the war quickly so they could focus on fighting Russia. They had taken most of Eastern France and had fought of Russian attacks. But there was a problem. The German army in France was advancing so quickly that supplies could not keep up with them. Britain and France's armies had built up defenses at the Marne River. When they got to this river the Allies attacked and pushed them back about 65 miles. Retreating the Germans were ordered to dig trenches along the Aisne River and defend the land they had already taken. When the French couldn't push them out they built trenches along the Germans lines to protect themselves from German attacks. This lead to trench warfare.

     The British blockaded Germany's ports keeping food and supplies from being given to them. This resulted in Germany using submarines, or U-boats, to sink ships going to the Allies. This was one of the causes for America entering the war. In 1915 a German submarine sank the Lusitania. Nearly 1,200 passengers died including 128 Americans. Another reason for the Americans entering WWI was the Zimmerman telegram which was sent from the German Foreign Minister to the German ambassador to Mexico. It was suggesting making a treaty with Mexico to help them fight America if they entered the war. Also some historians argue the America entered the war because investments in the Allied countries. When America entered the war their troops were fresh and ready to fight unlike the European armies giving them a large advantage. The Germans surrendered while they still had troops in France. The Ally leaders met and made a peace treaty for Germany to sign called the Treaty of Versailles. There were no German representatives at this meeting and Germany thought it was very unfair. They were forced to sign it by the Allies. It would eventually lead to the beginning of WWII.

"The Gulump and The Ragnag" - Nonsense Poem

How the Beatles Changed the World 2/25/14

Pages: 1 - 103
Prompt: Which character do you like best? Why?

     This book tells about how the Beatles affected modern society. There are chapters focused on changes that involved the Beatles. Some chapters are about things that changed the Beatles, for example, "How Hamburg Changed the Beatles". There are also chapters about how the Beatles changed things, for example, "How the Beatles Changed the Movies." They support this by saying all the Beatles firsts. some big ones were the first group to use a sitar, harmonica and electric keyboards and synthesizers in songs, they were the first to sell more then a million copies of a record before its release, first band to play in a stadium, first band to have its drummer sit highest, first band to use sound effects in a song, and the first band to designate a lead guitarist.

     There are four main characters in this book. They are the members of the Beatles for most of their career. Ringo Starr, the drummer for the band, is one of these characters. He was in a different band that often performed at the same club as the Beatles. When the previous drummer was fired he was asked to join the band. He had heard how they played and liked their style so he quickly accepted. George Harrison is the lead guitarist for the band. He joined the band when it was just starting and he was 14. When they were starting their career by performing in nightclubs they he was deported back to England because he was only 17. A year later they went back and kept performing.

     John Lennon, one of the two main singers and song writers. He started the band and recruited the others. He was serious and often worked on songs with Paul McCartney. Paul McCartney is the other main singer and song writer. He was cheerful and optimistic and made up for what Lennon lacked. He would often write half a song and Lennon would finish it. They would also get in competitions to do better then the other resulting in better music. My favorite character is John Lennon because he started the band and he had an amazing music career even after the Beatles split up. All of the Beatles did this, but he did it the best.

Reflection on Blogging

     I have improved a lot since I started blogging. My word choice has improved a lot by blogging. For example in my first blog on 10/1/14 I wrote, "A character that I would like to meet is Carver Young. He is the main character." I used dull word choice and was not very descriptive. In a more recent blog, on 2/5/14, I wrote, "In the Candy Bomber Gail Halvorsen brings candy to starving children in West Berlin." I have used better word choice when describing things now then when I started blogging. This has made me a better writer because I can describe things better.

     Another thing I have done is become able to do is write more about a subject. In a blog on 10/24/13 I wrote 219 words. I was not very descriptive in this blog. In a later blog on 2/5/14 with the same prompt I wrote 623 words. This blog was very descriptive. This has made me a better writer because It has made me more descriptive which makes it easier to understand.

     My favorite blog is "Candy Bomber: 2/5/14". I like this blog because it is very descriptive and I liked the book. I think I was descriptive because I wrote things like, "The only way to get to Berlin was to fly food in. They had to feed over 2 million people this way." This was improved by practice. My word choice and practice writing more about a subject helped me do this. I also wrote "900 pounds of twine and 1,100 yards of linen were donated and school children made them into parachutes and stamped 'This candy is sent to you from the school children of America.'" Both of these things were very descriptive because of all the practice I have writing blogs. I can definitely say blogs have made me a better writer.

Shooting The Moon 2/19/14

Prompt: Describe the main characters.

Pages: 101 - end

     The main character is Jamie. Her brother TJ volunteered for the army and is in Vietnam. She receives pictures in the mail from him and learns to develop them. She enjoys playing rummy with Pvt. Hollister a soldier posted at the rec. center. When she hears that he may be sent to Vietnam she asks her dad to not send him because his brother already died there. Her dad is a colonel in the army and she loves to pretend she is a soldier. She would always play army games with TJ. That is why she was so upset when TJ goes missing in action.

     Another major character is the Colonel. He is Jamie and TJ's dad. He is very serious and raised his children to respect service to their country. Even though he did this he does not want TJ to volunteer in the army. He thinks that TJ should go to collage instead of volunteer in the army. He tries to convince him to change his mind. When he cannot he talks to a higher ranking officer to try to keep him out of Vietnam. The officer got upset with him out for being selfish. He also helped Jamie's friend Pvt. Hollister keep out of Vietnam because his brother had already died there. He is very upset when TJ goes missing in Vietnam.

     A final main character is Pvt. Hollister. He is a soldier posted at the rec. center who always plays rummy with Jamie. His brother died in Vietnam and there is a possibility be will be sent to Vietnam too. He and Jamie play a rummy tournament over the entire summer. When he hears that he could be sent to Vietnam he tells Jamie. She says she will try to help keep him out of Vietnam by talking to her dad. His commanding officer tells him that the colonel signed all the papers to send off the men but his. He is very glad and personally thanks the colonel.

"Voices" Found Poetry

     At the beginning it says, "huddled in sleep" which shows that this poem is about a person having a bad dream. It starts with animals barking at the main character "The animals growled fiercely" Then smoke and lights attract his attention "lights and smoke attract the attention of the man." Finally spirits catch up to him. The tone of this poem is menacing. It includes words like, "growled fiercely" and "smoke" when put together in this order give it a menacing tone. I chose to write this poem because I read the first paragraph and noticed a lot of words that seemed similar. I then found more similar words in the rest of the page.

"Island Sunrise" Spine Poetry

     This poem is about a sunrise on an island. It describes what the sunrise looks like saying, "First Light, Between Shades of Gray It then tells three islands that the sun is rising on. The tone is joyful because sunrises and islands have positive connotations. I was inspired to write this poem because I was skiing it was cold and snowy. Didn't exactly love this weather so I was thinking that warm places were like paradise. When I noticed a lot of books about islands I decided to write this poem.