Why I Chose my Book (English class)

If you know me, I love airplanes.  Last trimester, I read books somehow related to airplanes.  The first book I will read this trimester is an informational non-fiction book.  I am reading Yellowstone Treasures by Janet Chapple.  You are probably wondering why I would read a book that doesn't sound interesting.  I chose this book because I am going to Yellowstone National Park the summer of 2014.  I am reading a book I usually would not read.  I am excited to go there (airplane rides) and to see the park itself.  I have  never been there so I am doing my homework now so I can possibly tell my parens where to go and what to do.  I have heard from friends that Yellowstone is a great place to enjoy nature and escape from the city life.  I am looking forward to reading this book so my family isn't doing last minute planning. 

Yellowstone National Park Website

Are you or your family going on a vacation on summer break? If so, where?

Delta Airlines Airbus A320 taxiing out to the active, RWY 18L

Delta Airlines Airbus A320 getting ready to push back

Final Blog Assignment

My first blog post not including the summer reading post was a bare minimum.  The post was 8 sentences long and I did not put much thought as I did with end of the trimester posts.  “I can easily relate to this quote because I say this type of information all the time. I am obsessed about airplanes and research and read the fun facts about airplanes” (Misawayee, 2-4).  These quotes state that I like airplanes but never really ‘prove’ that I like airplanes.  This is a direct characterization but readers want to visualize a person who writes an indirect characterization.  That is exactly what I have done in my latest blog posts.  “The crash occurred during a low visibility, 2.5 miles out from the threshold of the runway. They crashed in Camp Greenough, a Boy Scouts claimed area. Since it is the Boy Scouts area, it is heavily wooded because of their activities and the nearest road from the crash site is over a mile away. That is the first obstacle the survivors must overcome” (Misawayee, 4-8).  I added more details of what I know about what happened in the book onto the blog post. 

            I struggled trying to write out a very good lengthy post that I really put my thoughts into.  I think I have done that one or two times over the course of the trimester depending on how you see my posts.  I feel like I can always improve on this area because I am sure people want a post that isn’t boring instead of a boring post. I overcame this struggle by trying to elaborate my thoughts and explaining them.  “It is suspenseful because you do not know what is going to happen. The plane could break up in midair, crash upon landing, land perfectly or what” (Misawayee, 18-20).  When I do these kinds of stuff, I really mean it so the readers can get a sense of what I am thinking.  A strength I have as a reader/ blogger is that I can easily relate to my books or my blog posts so I enjoy reading them.  Some people may not appreciate reading/ blogging because it is not in their field of interests.  That is one part I excel at, finding good books I want to read and having a good blog about that book.

Enjoy the photos from my Winter Break 2013-2014

 

The Best and the Worst of Down Around Midnight.

I love that the book is about airplanes and survival.  The story is a true which I like.  The story is like a potboiler style of writing.  The book I last read, Airport, was also a potboiler and I liked it so I am looking forward to reading Down Around Midnight.  There are no big points or events that stand out to me as a great scene or a terrible scene.  There isn't much action as I thought there would be.  You do have to consider that this book is a memoir written by Robert Sabbag.  I would rate this a C+ and not recommend this book to most people.  I will keep reading this book because I need to finish it for Best Sellers.

Was there a book that wasn't as good as you thought it would be?

Describing the Setting

On  June 17th, 1979, there was a scheduled flight from LaGuardia Airport in New York bound for Barnstable Airport on the cape in Massachusetts.  The flight was to depart near midnight.  There were 8 passengers and 2 pilots on board the DHC-6 Twin Otter.  The crash occurred during a low visibility, 2.5 miles out from the threshold of the runway.  They crashed in Camp Greenough, a Boy Scouts claimed area.  Since it is the Boy Scouts area, it is heavily wooded because of their activities and the nearest road from the crash site is over a mile away.  That is the first obstacle the survivors must overcome.  So far in the crash, the co-pilot was killed upon impact and everyone else manages to get out by themselves or with the assistance of brave souls.  One woman, about mid-20's, goes out into the 'wild' to go and rescue the survivors.  The woman is very brave to just go into the unknown right after an airplane crash.  That is how far I have gotten into the book.

Analyzing the Impact of Setting

The book, Airport, the airport that the most of the action takes place is Lincoln International Airport.  It is a fictional airport in Chicago, Illinois that is supposed to mimick Chicago O'Hare International Airport.  The weather conditions are terrible.  The winds are gusting over 50 mph crosswind and the snow makes the visiblity less than a mile.  The wind is highlighted with the closure of Runway 30.  Runway 30 is the longest runway at the airport and the only runway that goes into the wind on this particular night.  The airport must use an interescting runway, 25.  There is also a Boeing 707 stuck in the mud right off of Runway 30.  All I have just said was written by the author very descriptively.  I could picture the airport and the surrounding area. 

There is a Trans America flight 2 to Rome that was delayed by weather.  On board was an important stowaway, Ada Quonsett, who would prove critical in the moments before the bombing.  The suicide bomber, D.O. Guerro was sitting next to her.  As most people expect, the bomb did go off in the lavartory, not killing anyone but D.O.  It critically injures a flight attendant that was trying to confiscate the bomb.  At the airport, the airport crew got the stuck B707 out of the mud that was adjacent to Runway 30.  The weather conditions are the worst for an emergeny landing with a broken fuselage.  It is suspensful because you do not know what is going to happen.  The plane could break up in mid air, crash upon landing, land perfectly or what.  Your heart will race and your muscles will get tense when you get to here.

How did your book's setting affect the plot?

An explosive decompression similar to the book.

What I Plan to Read Next

I plan to read whatever unit we will be on in the Mason High School class, Best Sellers or read another aviation related book.  Aviation really interests me more than anything else.  I can easily connect to the book and the characters.  That is what I love about the books I have been choosing this year.  On another note, I have heard about this movie that came out.  Lone Survivor just came out yesterday, 1/10/14, and I looked it up and it was a book.  There was so much hype about it on Facebook and by Mr. Whitney.  He was talking about how good the book was and how he wanted to be in the military.  He said he was emotional and how teamwork was a huge thing in the military.  That made me look into the book on Amazon and read the reviews.  I looked at one review today, 1/11/14, about how the good the book was.  They said the first 60-70 pages or so was uninteresting and boring and got into the good, hard training of the Navy SEALS and was interesting by then.  The book Lone Survivor is the book I will probably read next.  If you have read this book, what do you have to say about it?

Letter to the Author

I finished the book I was reading, Airport, over the winter break.  I liked the book a lot.  The events in the book were really interesting to read.  I wish the bomb was set off over the Atlantic Ocean because the stowaway, Ada Quonsett, deserved to die in my opinion.  She did 'take' over tens of thousands of dollars from multiple airlines.  I did not like her at all.  If she had been taken off the plane before the departure or been sent back to Los Angeles (her origin), I don't think the bomb had been disturbed.  I am happy the plane came back safely.  The scenario was very close to Chicago O'Hare Airport today (1/5/14).  It was very snowy and with that, a huge backlog of flights waiting to get their destination.  This type of situation could possibly happen but with the beefed up security, I don't think it will happen.  Overall, I rate this book 9.5/10.  I could picture everything happening on the tarmac, terminal and in the air.  How was your last book?

Boeing 707-320B in the film