Julius Caesar

William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar taught me about the history of Julius Caesar. This book is a play of the tragic death of Caesar and other events surrounding his death.

Since the style of this book is a play, it is unique from most books that I've read. There is no narrarator so all the information from the book comes from the characters lines or voices. The whole time of reading the book, I had many different types of voices running through my head which helped me keep the characters kept apart and kept the lines from all running together. The writing style also uses vanacular from the times of Caesar. This made the book harder to read, but also helped the reader remember what times the book was set in and what the language the characters were actually speaking in.

The setting is very different from the world today. Obviously since it was written a very long time ago about an event that happened even longer ago.

In this play, Caesar is about to be crowned king of Rome. Caesar is a very respected man, so no one dares to oppose. Brutus loves Rome and would do anything to prevent the fall of this city. When Cassius agrees with him that the only way to prevent that fall is to murder Caesar, Brutus feels like he has no other choice. Brutus and Cassius convince several others to agree with their idea and soon create a plan.

I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Shakespeare's plays or anyone who is interested in history, Rome, or Julius Caesar.

Perfect

Natasha Friend's Perfect taught me that no one is perfect. In Perfect, a young girl Isabelle has always wanted to be part of the "in" crowd. This would include being best friends with Ashley Barnum, the prettiest girl in school. Isabelle's looks and family just does work good enough to get her in. When Belle's mom catches her making herself throw up, she sends her to Group. Isabelle didn't know what to expect from group, but the last thing she expected was for Ashley Barnum to walk in.

The main characters in this book, like in most, are very important. These characters display average teenage students perfectly. They worry about the same things, and fear the same things as every day people. Isabelle is a young girl trying to be perfect at everything and getting jealous of everyone she sees. She feels like she would almost do anything to just fit in Ashley's group. Ashley is the perfect girl. She has the perfect hair, body, smile, face, clothes, anything anyone would ever want. But Isabelle will soon realize you can't judge a book by it's cover.

Isabelle is in high school. She is trying to figure out how to deal with her father's death. Her mother pretends like nothing is wrong and will never speak about Isabelle and her sister's father. Little does her mother know, Isabelle hears her crying and saying her father's name every night while they're suppose to be sleeping. Isabelle's sister who she refers to as Ape Face told on her when she found her sister pucking in the bathroom, Isabelle had forgotten to lock the door. When Isabelle is sent to Group she soon find out her and Ms. Perfect, Ashley, are not very different after all.

I strongly recommend this book for girls who struggle with self-confidence or struggle with being a perfectionist.

Same Kind of Different As Me

Hall and Moore's Same Kind of Different As Me touched me with it's real life story of two very different men cecoming best friends.

This book demonstrates how real people overcome struggles thorugh putting their trust in God and accepting others who are different from themselves. One wealthy man and one very poor slave come together ny God displaying his love through a very special woman, Miss Debbie. This book is based on a true story, so it is easy to feel the characters coming to life throughout the book. By falling in love with the characerts, I could not stop reading. The way each character overcame the struggles they faced was very encouraging. In each chapter, one character would be speaking in a first person tone. This contributed to the book because it makes the reader read the book on a more personal level. Almost as if each character is talking to only them, not everyone else reading the book too.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is searching for an over all good, encouraging book. Also, for people who have a hard time with pride and reaching out to others, and ones who are struggling understanding the power of God.

Say My Name

Have you ever thought about themeaning behind your name? Many people don't realized how important a name to someone is. After all, it is what everyone calls you and what everyone will call you the rest of your life.

My name, Andrea, means "manly." Not as in manlike, but as in strong and courageous. In my opinion, my parents chose the completely wrong name. However, research shows that more people with the name of Andrea end up pursuing a career in the medical field. I have always wanted to be a surgeon. My first name was chosen by my dad because he wanted to be named after himself, Andy. They chose Andrea between Andrea and Andi.

My middle name, on the other hand, came from my grandmas on both sides of my family. One grandma's middle name is Jean, and the other's is Marie. Hence, Jean-Marie.

My last name, Davidson, along with very many others, was my fathers last name and my mother's also.

Thanksgiving

I believe anyone living in the United States has many things to be thankful for. Ten things I am most thankful for are:



1. Jesus- Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. He has saved me from my sins and loves me more than anyone ever could.



2. My family- Without my family I wouldn't be here today. My parents are always there to encourage me in whatever I aim to do. My brother and sister have both set wonderful examples for me to follow, and are always there when i might need someone to talk to or a shoulder to cry on.



3. My friends- It's hard for many people to get up and go to school everyday. If I did not have my friends I might not survive everyday at school. They're always there to cheer me up if I'm feeling down about going to school that day or even if I'm having a bad day.



4. Freedom



5. My education- I am very privileged to have the oppourtunity to go to school everyday and recieve an education that will help me be successful as I grow up.



6. Food- There are many people around the world who do not have more than 1 meal a day. I can be certain to have as much food as I need in one day.



7. Enough money- I never have to worry about my family running out of money or going in debt. I have always had confidence that we will have more than enough money to make it through.



8. My house.



9. My health- I have never had any major health problems or any problems that could cause me to die at a very young age.



10. My cell phone.

"We Are What We Repeatedly Do" -Aristotle

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey helped me realize some of my worst habits and some of my best habits.

My favorite habit was Habit 1: Be proactive. It was a really good way to begin the book and helped me get excited about reading the rest of the book. This habit talks about taking responsibility for your life and the decisions you make. A wonderful quote related to this habit was by Abraham Lincoln, "People are just about as happy as they make their mind to be." Some days whenever I first get up, I tell myself I'm just having a bad day. As that day comes to an end, I soon realize that if I would have changed my attitude that morning, I could have had a much more enjoyable day.

Habit 4: Win-win, needs some work in my life. Most of the time if things don't go my way I get very irritated. Especially when things don't go the way I want and the other person involved get exactly what they were wanting, maybe a little extra. I also get worked up when I have to "split" getting the way with another person. This habit showed me that having a win-win attitude can get you so much farther than a Win-Lose attitude.

One of my favorite quotes from this book was, "Differences create the challenges in life that open the door to discovery." Many times I find myself staying away from any type of change, but this quote kind of inspired me to go towards differences and discoveries.

This book helped me a lot in finding out what areas of life I need to improve on, and showing ways to make those improvements. It is very highly recommended for any type of student.

Reading: Love it or Hate it?

For many students, and adults, reading is something you either love or hate. The difference between loving and hating for some is knowing how to pick out a book to read that you can enjoy. The majority of people you ask say they don't like reading because they just can't get into or interested in the book. Here are a few steps that may help with picking out your next book to read:

1. Find your level of difficulty for your reading. Many people read try reading books that are too advanced for them and cannot understand, or reading books that are too easy and do not challenge them at all by reading.

2. Pick a genre you enjoy reading. For example, if you've never been interested in reading mysteries it wouldn't be a good idea to pick up a mystery book and expect to enjoy it very much. This isn't to say you should stick to only one genre.

3. Choose an author. When choosing an author, find one who writes about stories you're interested in. If the genre you choose is mystery, but you don't enjoy scary mysteries, don't pick an author who only writes mysteries that are scary.

4. Select the book! Find a book by the author you chose, the genre you chose, the difficulty you chose, and about a topic you're interested in.

Thirteen Reasons Why

Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why affected me greatly with its tragedy of a teenage girl.

This book reminds people to think before they speak and to think carefully about what they're going to say to someone and how much it will affect them. Throughout this book one girl, Hannah, is affected more than expected from small comments and incidents that happen to her within a few years. Some of the people involved would never believe that little remark they said would lead her to commit suicide.

Asher does a wonderful job relating this fictional high school student, Hannah, to many student in today's high school world. Also, many of the other characters, one being Clay, are very similar. Clay is an average high school student who still has a crush on the new girl, Hannah. He doesn't realize that their talk at one party, a party neither of them planned on being at, could save her life.

Although this book does not relate to me on a personal level, it could relate to some teenagers who have considered suicide or "bully" others at school often. It only took thirteen incidents to cause one teenage girl to commit suicide, and these events are revealed to the thirteen people through tapes she left on one person's doorstep the night before.

This book is strongly recommended for junior high and high school students and even teachers. It reminds you how to treat others in your everyday life.

288 pages

The Invisible Man

Have you ever wished you could just turn invisible for one day? What about for the rest of your life? In this book, one doctor wishes to be invisible. One thing he does not think of it how others will treat him, or if they'll treat him anyway at all. He comes up with a disguise where no part of his skin, his invisible skin, shows. He wraps himself up front head to toe.

He begins considering all the things he could do unseen. One night, he takes off all of his clothes so no one can see him. The Invisible Man begins getting angry with the world because no one will help him, and no one will believe there could really be an invisible man. This anger builds up in the Invisible Man, and he begins venting out his anger by harming others. Now, the Invisible Man must find someone to help him get the cure, and the town must find a way to catch the Invisible Man before more murders are committed.

Breaking Dawn

Would you risk your life for the one you loved? What about a stranger? Stephenie Meyer's Breaking Dawn captivated me with its romance and action scenes.
Breaking Dawn includes two themes. One could be to never give up on something you love. Although Edward is a vampire, Bella loved him and became a vampire so she could be with him. Another one might be to fight for anything that is important to you. The Cullens knew they were going to all die, but they kept fighting because Renesmee was so important to them.
Even though there is nothing that really stands out about Stephenie Meyers writing style, I enjoy the way she writes very much. She is very descriptive in her writing, and almost makes you feel like you're going through the exact same things as the characters. Meyer can make you hurt for the characters when they're hurting, and makes you feel joy for them when they feel joy.
The characters in this book are very similar to the romance novels I have read before. There is obviously the boy and girl who fall in love, but unlike in other books, this love was never meant to be. Bella and Edward, the main Characters, seem to come to life. Although Edward is not the ideal boyfriends, seeing as how he is a vampire, any girl fallins in love with him. In the beginning, I did not like Bella. I thought she was too plain and wasnt the type of characer the author should have put in her position. As i kept reading, I began to love this character and could not think of anyone better. In my opinion, the characers more than anything make the book as great as it is.
Breaking Dawn has more htan one setting. Wherever the setting is, Meyer makes you feel like you're there. In one part of the book, Bella and Edward are running through the woods, and the author is so descriptive I could have closed my eyes and seen everything they were seeing in the woods. Some of the book's settings are very easy to picture while some are made up, and are harder to picture in your head at first.
Throughout the book, and the books before in the series, everything is going perfect for the characters and one small detail will change the story so much you don't want to put the book down until you finish. In this sotry, Bella and Edward get married. Bella realizes she has to make a huge decision in the next few weeks. Will she become a vampire and live forever or not? WHile on her and Edward's honeymoon, something starts growing inside of her. Bella is pregnant. When the Cullens realize the thing inside Bella is slowly killing her, they all know it can't be a human baby. Will this creature be so dangerous that the Volturi, the law of the camprites, will be invloved? When the story writes over to the point of Jacob, he also has very important decisions to make. He must decide whether to keep fighting for the girl he's always loved, Bella, even if she is about to become a werewolf's worst enemy. He also must decide whether that love is enough to betray his own kind for.
Even though I have not fallen in love with a vampire, I was able to connect with all the characters in many ways.
This book is hihghly recommended for readers who have finished the books Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse. Stephenie Meyer finishes this series in a way that will keep you satisfied, not leaving you with unanswerred questions.


754 pages

Teachers

Many students look forward to certain classes more than others. One reason for this is the teachers. The teaching style of teachers has a major effect on how much the students will learn. Some teachers, for example, decorate their room and make their room more appealing and comfortable for their students. This would definitely be a better learning environment. Also, the background the teachers know on the subject they are teaching is a major effect.

A teacher making his or her room relevant to the subject they're teaching helps students get more "in the mood" for the class and become more excited about the class. If a teacher's room is dull with no posters or posters not relating to the class, the students will have a harder time focusing on the correct subject. For example, in my current English room there are books everywhere and comfortable chairs to sit in. This makes the class more welcoming. If there were blank walls and all the chairs were the same in all the same order, it would be harder for students to focus and easier for them to get bored with the class.

Every student learns better if the teacher not only knows what they're teaching out of the book, but also more background information on the subject. This makes answering questions from the students easier for the teacher to answer and for the student to understand the answer. Teachers who know no background information on the subject make it harder for the students to understand some explanations, which can lead to the students making lower grades.

Cell phones

Many people disagree about whether cell phones have a positive or negative influence on people. I think they have had both. Cell phones can get in the way of some things, but they have also helped in certain areas.

They have helped families by making it easier for parents to talk to their children when they're not in the same area as them, and it's easier for children to talk to their parents. The use of cell phones have also helped younger people be more social because it is easier to talk to others more often.

Cell phones have negative influences, too. Although they have helped teens socially, they have also hurt them. The use of text messaging has caused some teens to not be capable of carrying on a normal converstaion with others since they only know how to say something to someone by typing it out. It also causes teens to say things they might not ever say to someone if they were standing right next to them. With school work, cell phones have oftened interfered. Many students are so addicted to texting they have to do it during school hours. This could cause them to learn less since they can't pay as much attention in class.