Jessi's Blog Post #4 Page 292

"We still would have come for you. If the pendant had been damaged, it would have sent a signal automatically."

The words sunk in slowly: If the pendant had been damaged . . . Tally gripped the edge of the table, trying not to show any emotion.
_________________________

I can't even imagine myself in a moment like this. The excerpt is small but it holds strong emotions. (Before I talk about these lines though, I think it would be a good idea to review what happened before this: Tally is on the fence about her feelings about the Smokies. She wants very badly to become pretty, but she's beginning to get accustomed to life in the Smoke. Then when Shay gets upset about the attention David is giving Tally, Tally goes to make things ok with him. This however turns out with a completely different outcome than intended because Tally finds she loves him. He takes her to meet his parents where she learns about what the operation does to your brain, and decides to give up turning in the Smokies, and on her way home she throws the tracking necklace in the fire. The Specials arrive the next morning.) Dr. Cable has won it seems, by hiding software in the tracker so it would alert them if it were damaged, because she knew activating the necklace manually may never happen. And, because of this, Tally has turned the Smoke over trying to do the exact opposite. You can tell from " Tally gripped the edge of the table" how guilty she feels and how its crushing her, the fact that she ruined all these peoples lives. Yet, Tally must look as if she's emotionless. As if these words mean nothing to her. As if she hadn't caused the very thing she was trying to prevent.

Rachel P's Blog Post #4 Page 254

                    "Tally remembered crossing the river to New Pretty Town, watching them have their endless fun. She and Peris used to boast they'd never wind up so idiotic, so shallow. But when she'd seen him....... "Becoming pretty doesn't change the way you look," she said.

                     "No," David said. It changes the way you think."

                   This passage (actually this whole chapter really) is a really big turning point in the story. This part helps Tally figure out why Peris was acting shallow and weird. Now, Tally learns something very crucial. It turns out that the operation gives people lesions on their brain and even though they are "harmless" this causes them to think differently than an ugly would. This is really when the truth comes out.

Jessi's Blog Post #3 Page 140

"Thanks for the great clue, Shay," Tally said aloud. Talking to herself didn't seem like such a bad idea there in the outer ruins, where the relics of the Rusties struggled against the grip of creeping plants. Anything was better than ghostly silence. She passed concrete plains, vast expanses cracked by thrusting grasses. The windows of fallen walls stared up at her, sprouting weeds as if the earth had grown eyes.

It seems to be a rare occurrence to see much figurative language in this novel. However, I really like this example. The author really gives the reader the feeling of how abandoned Tally is through the use of personification (creeping plants, fallen walls stared). There is also use of a metaphor in the last sentence, "sprouting weeds as if the earth had grown eyes". Earlier in the book you could tell how Tally felt about the ruins, but this really gives the reader the chance to be in the ruins themselves. I think that's very important in this book since they are in the future, and in a sense we are living the ruins today, so its harder for us to imagine our way of life gone. The ruins seem to scare Tally, and we can see why because the figurative language in this selection portrays an eerie silence. I think this feeling fits the story because Tally is being watched, but by the city. They found out about Shay by keeping an eye on Tally's friendship, so this figurative language fits because Tally knows she is being watched.

Madison R- Blog Post #2 Pg 15

"She threw herself backward against the elevator's side wall, standing on tiptoe and trying to flatten herself so they couldn't see her. More came up, huffing and puffing like typical out-of-shape pretties. Tally could watch them in the mirror at the back of the elevator." The author uses very descriptive language and show writing to show exactly what's happening.

Rachel P.'s Blog Post #3 Page 150

                    " She was flying, skimming the ground with no track under her, not even a hoverboard, keeping herself aloft by sheer willpower and the wind in her outspread jacket. She skirted the edge of a massive cliff that overlooked a huge, black ocean. A flock of seabirds pursued her, their wild screams beating at her ears like Dr. Cable's razor edged voice."

                       The author actually doesn't use alot of figurative language in his writing. However this example is very effective because in the story, Doctor Cable is a very cruel looking person so when they described her voice it was described as sharp.  This is a good simile comparing the seabirds and Dr. Cable's creepy voice. This really helps describe both things that are being compared. This actually can make the reader feel uncomfortable or creeped out by Doctor Cable. I feel like the way this simile was put in and the 2 things that were being compared fit perfectly in the story because through out there is an idea of these mean looking people and how they seem pretty but mean in EVERY aspect.

Blog Post #4 (THIRD QUARTER OF NOVEL)

1.  Always title your blog post with the PAGE # (this will help others avoid reading spoilers).

2.  You will have 4 blogs- each blog will be about a quarter of the book- this second blog should be from the THIRD QUARTER of the book.

3.  Blogs will have 2 parts- Part 1:  passage from the book  Part 2:  analysis of the passage.

4.  Don't forget to comment/interact with your peer's posts!

5.  You CANNOT choose the same passage as someone else- the first one to post claims it!

For your third blog, I'm giving you FREE REIGN.  You may post about ANYTHING.  Just make sure you pull a passage and then comment/analyze/question that passage.  Happy Spring Break!

--
Ms. Melin

https://sites.google.com/site/mselmer114/

Rachel P's Blog Post #2 Page 59

              "The two friends slid between the ruined buildings, riding high and silent as if not to disturb the ghosts of the dead city. Below them the streets were full of burned-out cars squeezed together between looming walls. Whatever had destroyed this city, the people had tried to escape it. Tally remembered from her last school trip to the ruins that their cars couldn't hover. They just rolled along on rubber wheels. The Rusties had been stuck down in these streets like a horde of rats trapped in a burning maze."

              The author's style of writing is best described as beautifully descriptive with a touch of futuristic language. The author uses great vocabulary and figurative language. The author uses similes, such as "The Rusties  had been stuck down in these streets like a horde of rats trapped in a burning maze." The author also blends together Tally's futuristic world in which she uses hover boards and interface rings, with language that describes details perfectly. I chose this paragraph because there is descriptive language and words that describe Tally's world in the future. This is what I believe best describes the author's style.