Krista Ramsey Introduction Activity

    I chose to blog about a column on teachers being trained to use guns in the case of an emergency. The article can be found here: http://www.cincinnati.com/story/opinion/columnists/krista-ramsey/2014/02/22/krista-the-very-poor-case-for-arming-teachers/5744065/.
This column complains about a new local effort being put into place that requires teachers to not only be trained on how to use a firearm, but to have one ready during the school day in the rare chance a hostile intruder were to threaten the school.

    A line that I think is well written is where she says, "Then comes the issue of responding to an actual threat. The logistics will be confusing and the complications enormous." I like how she takes the scenario and finds its weaknesses so they can either rethink the training or improve the plan. She also makes good use of denotation and connotation by using the word enormous. This really emphasizes how problematic this situation could potentially be. Her writing style is both straight forward and in a way sarcastic. She seems to be critical and informative. An example of her being critical is when she says, "This is to let you know that there are many of us who do not consider the plan reasonable at all." This gives her opinion on the new rule being put into place.

    My three questions for Krista are:
        1. Where did you go to college and what was your major?
        2. How to you brainstorm ideas to write about?
        3. What are good ways to implement writing craft into a column or story?

Early Conflicts

    So far a lot of different conflicts of all different kinds have come up. Veronica roth uses both self vs self and self vs others to move the plot forward. The main conflict is Tris, Four, and the Allegiant against Evelynn Johnson and her faction-less army. The Allegiant are a rebel group who want to keep the faction system and disagree with evelynn's reforms. They have a few small skirmishes but for the most part the factionless try to set examples in order to cause fear among the Allegiant instead of confronting them straight up. Tris and Four have some small conflict about keeping secrets and not valuing ones life over another. Four also has a problem with his dad who is set to be on trial and most likely will die. He has always hated his dad and wanted him to die but now that the dream may become reality, he isn't sure if he's ready to face it. He still has mixed feelings about his dad and thinks that his dad may still be on his side. I feel like the impact of the mystery is one of the things that keeps me reading. I love suspense and surprising results in stories and it really makes it more exciting and enjoyable to read.

First Prediction

     After reading the first few chapters, a lot of rivalries and feelings between characters have materialized. Tris and Tobias were both questioned and were set free. Evelynn Johnson, Tobias' mother, wants him to be her right hand man, but does not seem to entirely trust him. Tris and Tobias finally reunited and made up after being angry at each other for lying. I think that Tobias will be more loyal to Tris than to his mother, and that will cause some sort of conflict. I also think that they will eventually leave the city to find out what waits for them outside. Tobias and Tris have begun to get more intimate so I think their relationship could lead to an issue if emotions overcome logical thinking. But I guess I will just have to keep reading and find out how much of this is right.

My Book Choice (Tri 3)

     I chose to read Allegiant by Veronica Roth for this trimester. I chose this book because it is the third book in the Divergent Trilogy. I really enjoy reading action packed, Dystopian themed books and the Divergent trilogy fell right into that category. This book starts out in a futuristic version of Chicago. The citizens have found out that there is a world and people living outside of their fenced in city. However there are other, more troublesome problems at hand. The faction-less have taken over and eradicated the faction system. As always, not everybody agrees with this decision and violence is the outcome. To make things more complicated for Tris, the protagonist in the story, the leader of the faction-less happens to be her boyfriends mom. I'm excited to see how all of these conflicts can come into play and see how Tris reacts to situations that may come up.

Review on Legend - Marie Lu

      Overall I thought Legend was a very good book. I enjoyed reading it and it kept me on edge throughout. Marie Lu did a great job of getting you attached to the characters and really putting their lives in your point of view. It was very detailed with plenty of action and suspense as well as a bit of hidden humor. The story and plot line was very engaging and kept you locked into it. At some points I really just couldn't stop reading because I needed to know what would happen next. I would
give this book a 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Summary of the end of Legend

      A summary of this portion of the book is June hires a group of Patriots to cause chaos in the city on Day’s Execution day so she can help him escape. The patriots set off a bomb that causes all guns to be rendered useless. They also rained down money onto the streets to cause chaos. June then confronts Thomas and escapes him before grabbing Day and running to a Patriot truck to escape. John, Day’s brother, stays behind to distract the Republic soldiers in order to let June and Day escape. 

Character Changes

      I've noticed a lot of changes in Day and June since the beginning of Legend. June has gone from a young prodigy of the Republic to a rebel. After finding out the truth about her parents death and her brothers death, she realizes that the country she has always trusted was really lying to her the entire time. Although she still has some connections, she leaves her old life of luxary and joins Day on his trip to Vegas. Day has matured a lot over the story. He was always more of a sneaky troublemaker for the Republic but he is becoming the figure of a revolt against the Republic. He has gained a lot of responsibility and attention. They will both need to learn to work together and strategize if they want to stay alive