Monthly Review

5. Find out about the author. How did they end up writing this particular book? Is the author's true life reflected in the book in any way(s)?

The author that wrote Hole In My Life is Jack Gantos who was born in Mount Pleasant which is located in Pennsylvania. He started writing when he was very young and was inspired to write when his sister told him she could write better than he could. He started off writing about simple stuff that happened in his daily life. After going through elementary school and middle school, Jack completed high school and wanted to enroll in a school in Boston for his writing career. The only problem is that he didn't have enough money for college. He needed about 10000 dollars fast and an opportunity arose. He was to navigate a boat that was smuggling hashish or hash. He was caught and eventually sent to jail, but only had to serve 6 months to 6 years due to him being charged as a minor.

In jail, Jack vowed to turn his life around upon being released. This book is the story of his life in high school and up to him getting released from jail. It starts off a little backwards as it starts off with his life in jail. It then jumps to him talking with his dad about the people in the town and how he was surprised that his dad knew so much about everybody in the town but didn't know that Jack was going to be one of those troubled people he knew so much about. The story then jumps back to junior/senior year in high school for Jack and talks about how he never finished his junior year in high school so he is worried he might have to repeat it. When he and his family move to Puerto Rico, Jack can not enroll in a public school because he doesn't know how to speak Spanish. He can't enroll in private schools there because his family does not have enough money. He is forced to move to Florida and live on his own while he completes his senior year in high school. He moves in with a family friend of his dad. After treating the family and the house like crap, he gets kicked out that house and lives in his car for a few days before finding an ad for a motel room in the local paper. He goes to check it out and ends up renting the room as the rates weren't too bad for what he got in return. He received a moderately sized room and even had a maid come in and clean up for him. The owner of the motel and Jack actually developed a friendship after Jack lived there for many years which would actually come into play later in the story after Jack is caught smuggling.

I think Jack Gantos ended up writing this book because of his experience in jail and realized that he shouldn't have wasted his youth years like he had and he was trying to get his message out to this generation's youth. I am sure that jail is a life changing experience to even the toughest people that live in those cells, but only some have the ability to actually do something about their life. So when Jack got out of jail, I imagine he wanted to turn his life around immediately and did so.

He started writing children's books after his release. He also became a professor at the college he attended, Emerson college.

1. What was the author's purpose(s) in writing this book, and how can you tell? How well was this purpose achieved?

Like I said before, I think he wrote this book to educate people about his life and the trouble you can get into when you get desperate. He also wanted to educate the youth to not get involved in these kinds of things and be careful with who you get involved with.

I can tell this was his goal because of the amount of detail he goes into about what he actually did and the details of what happened to him. After reading some of those things, I don't ever want to do anything illegal and I don't know how anybody could, unless they were more desperate than he was. And after reading all the stuff he did, I don't know if you can even get as close as he did to pulling it off. The book took place in the 70's and let's face it, the security isn't what it is now, back then. So if he couldn't pull it off with the worse security back then, how could anyone expect to pull it off now a days? Yes, technology now work better at hiding things, but that technology works for both sides. So security is probably getting 2 times as strong while you think you are getting the upper hand.

Yes I think the purpose was achieved. Just read that last paragraph. Does it sound like I will be doing anything like what he was talking about anytime soon? So with me, yes he was very successful in his goal if that was, in fact, his goal for writing this book. If it isn't I don't know what he was trying to convey. So if his goal for writing this book was anything other than what I have said, it wasn't very successful. Maybe he should just say that that was his goal, and play if off if it wasn't.

All in all, I enjoyed this book, but not nearly as much as the last book my group and I read. That book was called Down These Mean Streets and I feel had more action front to back. So it made me want to just keep reading more and more. But that's not to say that I didn't enjoy this book at all. I did enjoy it as both are great books. This book is good if you feel like you need inspiration to live your life to the fullest and need that extra little nudge to convince you. So if you fall into that category, I strongly suggest you read this book.

Lit Circle Letter 3

In part 3 of Hole In My Life, the story starts off with Jack going to court for his involvement in the smuggling of hashish or hash on a boat. The only reason he even thought about accepting an offer like this was because he wanted to go to school for his writing career and this was a quick way to make that money. He is sentenced to a 5010B which is in his words "a youth sentencing". With that ruling, he can be sentenced to anything from 60 days to 6 years.

After finishing the book, I realized I did not like this book as much as I did the last one. This book kind of faded off and didn't have as much action as the last one my group read. The last story Down These Mean Streets had a lot of action throughout the story and never really stopped. This book started off with a bit of action when he is in jail and really didn't have anything until he gets busted on the boat smuggling hash.

As Jon said, this book is pretty easy to understand what he is talking about in context. I never really began annotating this book like I did Down These Mean Streets and I am sure that will make the monthly review more of a challenge when I have to type it. It is even making the lit circle letters harder to type as I have to go back to the book to find specific things I wanted to talk about. When I looked at the questions for the monthly review, a couple jumped out at me. "Find out about the author. How did they end up writing this particular book? Is the author's true life reflected in the book in any way(s)?" is really the one that stuck out for me and look forward to answering this one as I think it will be kind of easy to answer.

Sports

So I'm starting this post off very different from my usual posts. I am starting off talking about hockey. Yes, you heard me, hockey. Tonight (the main reason I am doing this post so late) was the 2nd game of the Shark's playoff series against the Avalanche. It got almost as suspenseful it can get. It went into overtime with the Sharks winning in thrilling fashion. Now I know a lot of you out there really don't like boring, low scoring sports such as soccer and baseball, but believe me, this sport is nothing like those. Its the suspense of soccer with the low scoring and amazing goals, combined with the hard hitting of football all adding to the perfect combination that is known as hockey. Now add in the suspense of sudden death overtime much like in football where the first team to score is the winner. And let me tell you, I was sitting at the edge of my seat for the entire overtime period. Cringing every time the other team shot. Hoping every time the Sharks shot. I can tell you playoffs always make a sport more interesting.

Here is where the post goes back to the usual stuff. The NFL draft is next Thursday and of course the speculations leading up to who's drafting who will by far bypass any real suspense during the actual show. Yes it is a show ever since it began getting broadcasted in prime time during the week. Hint hint this is the first year it is getting broadcasted in prime time and the first round is on Thursday night, with the 2nd to something rounds on Friday, then everybody stops watching. So this is really a team's chance to build itself up for the future and possibly fill that last hole that is keeping them out of the playoffs.

With the 49ers trading to get Ted Ginn Jr. Friday, it only adds to the playoff caliber team that they have. It adds a fast slot receiver and a lightning fast return man. The return man is a very important player on the team as he sets up your team with either great or horrible field position. He also adds a threat that can score against you during any kickoff. So with a 2 in 1 player locked up, this kind of clears the picture for who the 49ers really need to draft on Thursday. And with 2 picks in the first round and a weakened Cardinals team, the NFC West is almost theirs already. All they have to do is go out week after week and play consistently like they were at the end of last year.

And did I mention that the two bay area baseball teams are leading their respective divisions? And very surprisingly, baseball seems to actually be pretty entertaining. Whether it is the fact that the local teams are doing good, or the fact that baseball actually seems to be speeding up which was one of my main knocks on the game. Either way, if baseball keeps up like this, it will be a very entertaining year.

Lit Circle Letter 1 & 2

My book for the second lit circle is called A Hole In My Life. It is an autobiography written by Jack Gantos. In the first two parts of the book, Jack starts off in jail talking about the different people in there and also his dad who taught him a lot about the town they lived in and the people that lived in it. In his time in jail, Jack fears most about being attacked. But not only that, he fears being attacked by someone who he would never expect to attack him. The story jumps ahead to when he is 19. He and his family move to Puerto Rico where Jack hopes to get back into school after never finishing his 11th grade year. He doesn't want to repeat that year so he never brings it up and hopes it slips through when talking to schools about enrolling. The only problem is Jack doesn't speak Spanish so he can't go to the public schools. His family is too poor to afford private schools where English is spoken so Jack moves back to Florida alone where he hopes to get a high school diploma so he can get a job to help support his family. He is responsible for himself now. He moves in with a family who put a roof over his head and a place to sleep. In return, he treats the house horribly and the family too. He always gets drunk and throws up everywhere. As a result, he gets kicked out and is forced to live on his own. He finds an ad in the paper for a motel room that is being rented out for cheap.

While reading the book, I didn't take as many notes as I did while reading the last book and that made typing this a little more difficult because I had to go into the book and look for individual paragraphs looking for details that I wanted to talk about. I did a lot of the reading at home especially when I didn't have any homework because of the Holocaust week being this week. So that really helped with being able to catch up because I didn't do any reading over Spring break. I find it difficult to read during class because of how many distractions are in there and I just find it difficult to completely ignore everything that is going on. Plus when I read it at home it is usually right before I go to bed. I don't know why, but I feel I retain information way more when I am sleepy than when I am sitting in a class distracted. But I will still try to read during class because that way I can still talk to people in my group when we are in class.

I am liking this book more and more as I read more of it and I think I will actually like it more than the last book my group read. Both books are talking about troubled childhoods and the results of not having a strong relationship with any parents or an authoritative figure. I think both authors wrote their books to educate the youth of today and talk about what happens when you get into trouble early in your life. Their lives are fine now, sure, but that is because they turned their lives around quick after realizing that you only get one life and that you shouldn't waste it. I am definitely looking forward to reading more of this book and hope that when I finish, I will have a new outlook on things in my life.

My Writing Goals For The Fourth Quarter

Some of my writing goals for the final quarter are to just make it to the end of the year. While the blog posts are getting easier, it is still sometimes difficult to come up with 500 words each week about a new topic. The 500 words don't seem as difficult as they did when we first raised the limit up to 500 words, but they are definitely not as difficult as the old 300 word posts. For example, the 300 words required for the lit circle letters seem so easy now that we are typing 500 words weekly.

I plan to still write about sports each week, because like many things in life, sports are constantly changing. You can't just type one post about a story because that story is bound to change eventually. It's like starting a task, assuming it's done, and not checking in on it ever again. There will always be more to talk about on a specific topic.

I don't want my posts to be repetitive, but it is always important to sometimes re iterate what I am trying to say or prove in each of my posts. This is why a lot of my posts are similar, but never identical. For example, look at my two posts about the 49ers. Sure they are about the same team, but the things I am talking about are of course different. From an earlier post:

"Hearing Alex Smith to Michael Crabtree for a Touchdown is something I can get used to over the next few years. Last weekend Alex Smith came in for "relief" of Shaun Hill who quite frankly wasn't getting it done. In one half he threw for 206 yards and 3 touchdown passes. Last week also marked the first game for long time holdout Michael Crabtree who caught 5 passes in his opening game. Many consider those 2 plus other offensive threats the future of the 49ers and let me just say that the future is looking bright."

Now compare that to a later post about the same team:


"Back to football talk now. The Forty Niners laid the wood against the Cardinals and one of the ESPN writers is quoted to saying that the owner of the Cardinals only owns the team 363 days a year, the Niners own them the other two. That basically sums up the season for the Forty Niners as they either do great against a team or completely suck and can't do anything football related to save their lives. When the Niners beat the Cardinals 24-9 on Monday on National Television cemented their place in the eyes of all football watchers across the US. They are for real and here to stay with a bright future of young players coming up as the next generation of 49er's football. A good sign."

I feel that I have mastered the art of repeating but not being overly repetitive. There is a fine line and I think I am walking it pretty well right now. But that is only my opinion, no matter how biased it may sound. So it is really up to you to decide whether I am walking it well or not. I also think I realized who I am really writing to and that has of course helped my typing. It has made it easier to come up with a topic and to type about that topic.