1st semester review

Catcher In the Rye: I do believe that this was my favorite novel out of all the novels we had read first semester. I enjoyed the idea behind the book, adult vs. childhood. I also enjoyed picking out symbolism and talking about it. How in class discussions people had different takes on what different symbols could represent or how they could be interpreted. I liked it because I'm a very analytical person and I think a lot about deeper meanings to things and this novel let me use that skill a lot.

First They Killed My Father: I enjoyed this book a lot also. However, this one I enjoyed differently, obviously because it's non fiction. I enjoyed learning about something historical that I didn't really know about before. This book is very stimulating to the mind and made me thing about a lot of things I take for granted or don't appreciate. Also, when people talk about genocide, they think of the one, Holocaust. But I enjoy learning about the histories of countries many don't know about. Just because we don't know about their history doesn't mean they didn't have any or that it's less important. And I like a lot how there was a book bringing justice to history by going into the depths of the Cambodian genocide.

Inherit The Wind: I didn't particularly enjoy this book. I guess it was alright. Thinking about it now... I don't remember very much. Which is sad. Because that's how I usually tell how good a book was. I guess, It was good to learn about life before what I know, living in today's world. That there was a time when our education was mixed with religion and that there were debates about if it was right or wrong. And to learn about the right to think. That before this was much more constricted than what it is today. And again, this novel teaches us to not take for granted the rights we have: to think, to believe what we want, and to not be given trouble over it.

A Midsummer Night's Dream: I totally expected to like this book, because I liked Romeo and Juliet. And I did! It was enjoyed it and it wasn't exactly... how I expected but it was good none the less. I liked the mystery and the magic in this book. More mystical then the other books we read. Can I just say that looking back now I realized what a good variety of books we read first semester? I like that. Anyway, I also enjoyed the romance portion of this book. Other than that, I just want to add that this encourages me to read more Shakespeare, which I am very excited to do.

My Antonia: Oh my gosh. This book would never end! It was soooo long and sooooo... meh. It was good at some parts but I just can't remember reading that book and smiling... Like being happy to be reading that. It seems to bland looking back at it now. Again, as with Inherit the Wind, I could just not remember as much about it. But I honestly do not want to read any more books like it. It had three sections basically and it didn't truly have any definite plot. The book's plot was life. Which, while it sounds neat, means you're just reading a book about an ordinary person's life. There aren't many good ups and downs in that, and neither in My Antonia.

---- Anna Purnyn