Last Blog Of The Semester...

Firstly, Mrs. Stephanie Scott, it was my pleasure meeting someone as amazing as you. You made me feel so welcome into your class. You have a great personality, very helpful when requested and a positive attitude towards all your students. I have definitely enjoyed being in your class. I was always looking forward to coming to your class everyday because I knew you always had something new and fun to teach us. Your learning techniques are great. There was never a boring moment. Who knew that by the time the semester was ending I would enjoy reading novels. This I will continue to do even after the semester is over.

Overall I loved the class, the group discussions, blogs, projects even the quizzes. Weird, but you changed me in a very positive. I have learnt so much about myself that I did not know. I did not even know I had a creative side somewhere within myself until I did the Liar movie poster. You are an inspiration to me. You define what it means to be the perfect teacher. If I am here next semester, I have requested to be in your English class because you made my learning experience a very memorable one. I’m glad to say my anti-social self made new friends.

Lastly, I WILL MISS BLOGGING :-(

Review On Thirteen Reasons Why

I have finally finished reading this novel. Another amazing book I must say. I never knew that I could read a book and totally see myself in the story. Reading thirteen reasons why has made me discover something about me I never knew until today. At some point in my life I was actually a depressed teen “go figure.” I did go through a lot as a teenager but I just thought of it as a phase in life that I had to go through. After reading Hannah Baker’s story I realized how it feels to be depressed and feel alone. Unlike her, I did not know what I was going through then and it did not reach a point were I thought of committing suicide or even talking about. Also, I had amazing friends who were ready to listen to me complain about my life and encourage me to be stronger than my problems. I think if she had someone who could listen to her, she would have not died. She had mentioned at some point in her story that, if only she had some sort of encouragement, she would have thought of giving life another chance. She really wanted someone to listen to her but she just couldn’t tell her story.

The novel is a real life summary of what happens in many high schools of this century. When I think about it, things like sexual harassment, bullying and depression happened in my high school too, but they just seemed normal to most people, more like a part of life. A phase everyone just had to go through at some point of their lives. It made it so easy for me to read the novel because I could visualize the story. It brought back a lot of high school memories. I finally realized that the things that happened during my high school year were not normal because a lot people got hurt in the process somehow. Even just spreading rumors about people hurts them emotionally and can end up with them committing suicide. There is a very thin line between depression and suicide.

Was Hannah Baker Worth a Praise or Criticism For Her Actions???

Hannah was known as the girl who committed suicide for no reason. Her death left everyone who knew her puzzled because they all wondered why she killed herself. For a few lucky ones, they had a chance to listen to her thirteen (13) cassette tapes and discover the reasons to her suicide. They also had a chance to explore her favorite and memorable places that either brought a negative or positive effect to her life. Some places brought with them clues to this unsolved mystery.

My conclusion is that, what Hannah did is not worth a praise or criticism. Life throws a lot of experiences that are most of the time hard to handle. There is a period in life when things just don’t go your way and feel harder than ever. For some it starts when you are in high school, but for others it only hits them when they are in college. This period is rough, but it’s at this same point when you decide whether to go harder than the pressure or give up. Though, this doesn’t give anyone the reason to commit suicide. Through the scriptures, suicide is sin no matter the reason behind it.

Hannah was going through so much both at school and at home. They had family problems of down sizing because her parent’s business wasn’t doing as good as before. At school, she was constantly bullied, used and invisible to others. The pile up of all these things caused her to break down. I won’t call it a praise because it’s not but I like the fact that she left a memory behind before her death. Everyone says when some one dies they die with their secrets but she decided to share hers with those who were once close to her. She got to say goodbye before her last breath was taken away.

Thirteen Reasons Why

This is such an amazing book. Thirteen reasons why was written by Jay Asher. It’s a about a girl called Hannah who committed suicide. Before she died she left thirteen cassette tapes of recordings to clues of what caused her death and who contributed to her decision. In addition, she also made a list of people that needed to listen to the tapes because not everyone would have understood what was going on. In order to clarify her recordings, Hannah made a map to all important places that could be visited by the people on list so they could understand the connection of that place to Hannah.

Previously I was reading Liar by Justine Larbalestier which seems so similar to thirteen reasons why. This is because in both novels; someone dies, there are hidden secrets to the death, suspense of how and when the death occurred and it is based on student life. Some of the things that happen in these novels can be seen in real life situations. Apart from that, I am learning how to read novels in a different way. For example in liar we had the before, after, history of me, family history and school history. In thirteen reasons why, we have the real life conversations that are happening between people, for instance, Clay and his mum and the recordings of Hannah. I never knew reading would be such a challenge because I am used to simplified and straight forward reading but I am adapting, enjoying and making good use of this new experience. At least now I know they are different ways to read a novel.