Posts Tagged ‘reading’
March 10th, 2010
Creating a fictional character can be a very simplistic task. However, creating a realistic fictional character requires a little more effort on your, the writer’s, part. It is more than just a matter of giving a character a name and description of his or her looks. It is a matter of giving a character personality, and working to make that personality come through the paper, so your readers can easily visualize the fictional person you have created. A well-developed character can either be liked or hated by your readers, depending on the characteristics and attributes given. If you can evoke strong emotions from your readers about your character, you have done a good job.
#1 Create a History
Every person has a past, so it is important to create a past for your character – even if you do not share the entire contents of that past. People evolve over the years because of their experiences and surroundings throughout their lives, and your fictional character is no different, so you need to develop a fictional past for him or her. When you are initially developing a new character, you are getting to know that character, just as your readers will get to know that character when they read your story. It is important to understand why your character will react or make decisions the way that he or she does, so it is important to have a back story that goes along with the personality that has been created for that character over the years.
#2 Show (don’t tell) His or Her Emotions
If you have not heard the phrase now, you will a lot throughout most of your English related courses: show, don’t tell. Simply saying that your character is feeling sad is not a proper description of a realistic character. People don’t feel the same emotions in the same way. Some people cry when they are sad, while others scream or go completely silent. You need to show how your characters are feeling, rather than just say how they are feeling.
Bad Example: Nora became angry after reading the letter. She just couldn’t stand it anymore.
Good Example: Nora’s face became hot after reading the letter. She viciously began to tear apart the envelope when she couldn’t look at its content any more.
Showing a character’s emotions through actions lets your readers get a better idea of what kind of personality someone like Nora has.
#3 Give Your Character Habits or Quirks
People are remembered for the little things they do that are different from anyone else, and everyone has something peculiar them that seems unique. Giving an interesting habit or strange quirk lends personality to your character. It can be as small as eating M&Ms all the time, but refusing to eat any other kind of chocolate. Or as big as having your character insist on eating at the exact same restaurant every day, and is thrown off if something disturbs this regimen. Whatever habit or quirk you give your character will allow your readers to get to know him or her better. Sometimes you can give an explanation for the behavior, but you don’t always have to. Either way, your readers will have another reason to think, “Hey, this character is interesting.”
#4 Show Relationships
We can learn a lot about individuals by the way they interact with others. If your character is very sociable, then you should show the character interacting with a lot of random people at work, talking on the phone, and even chatting with strangers on the street. But, if the character is more of a recluse and only has one or two friends, show the bond between those few characters, and maybe even show the uncomfortable feeling that character gets when dealing with new individuals.
#5 Reveal Character’s Hopes, Dreams, Aspirations
People live their lives with a particular purpose. They don’t just go through the motions of school or work without having some reason to do so. If you are going to show that your character is unhappy with his or her job, then be sure to explain why that character continues to keep that job – what is his or her motivation? Is she saving up for a car? Is he trying to pay off a loan? These are the kinds of questions that readers ask about characters who are interesting. And, if you are answering those questions, then your readers are going to enjoy your character and your style of writing that much more.
March 3rd, 2010
It’s cold and wet outside, so there aren’t many options for entertaining activities. Oh sure, you could turn on your television and sit on your butt for the next several hours, but there is only so much time you can spend watching daytime soap operas or court TV. Instead of just staring at a screen, letting your mind go sedentary, there are some exciting books to read that are just perfect for those stuck-in-the-house rainy days. One or two suggestions may be educational, but they are too fun to read to even notice that you’re brain is keeping active.
Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher
Do not let the name fool, there isn’t anything about marine life in the book. The main character, T.J. Jones, is an adopted teenager who is smart, funny, and an all-around cool guy, who is incredibly humorous to read about. The story deals with a team of underdog swimmers, and T.J. just happens to be the only popular guy on the team. Acting as the wise-butt hero at times, this book had me stifling my own laughter because I was afraid someone would hear me guffaw too loudly.
Darwin Awards Books
For those who are not familiar with the Darwin Awards, they are a comical competition that relay the odd, stupid, and funny things people do in life, as well as the interesting outcomes of these actions. There are at least seven of these books by now, so the options are wide and the hilarity of man’s stupidity just continues to entertain readers. If for some reason you cannot finish one of the books, there is no harm in putting it aside to come back to it on another rainy day. The chapters do not have a sequence of events, so there is no plot to keep up with. You can read one funny story after another. Or, if you somehow finish one book in a day, there are more to read out of the series.
A Bad Beginning, A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snickett
Yes, it is part of a series, but what better day is there to try out a new series of books than on a rainy day? And, there is never a dull moment in A Bad Beginning, not to mention it is a relatively shorter book, which also makes it a quick read. Funny, exciting, and sometimes creepy, the Series of Unfortunate Events relays the story of the cruel Count Olaf, who is trying to take the inheritance of three incredibly talented orphaned children. Don’t knock it just because it’s in the young adult section; this book even has adults enthralled to read the whole series.
Short Stories by Nikolay Gogol
For those who want a fun, yet slightly more sophisticated read, the short stories by Nikolay Gogol never seem to disappoint. Although most short stories are a good pick for rainy days, Gogol’s are both deep and amusing at the same time. Stories like “The Nose” is so incredulous to have a nose as the supporting role, while “The Diary of a Madman” is so funny, I almost felt guilty as I laughed at the poor narrator. Gogol’s short stories are a bit longer than others, but you can still several with a day’s time. And, with a collection of shorts, it is easy to just put the rest of the book aside once you have finished a particular story. There is no commitment to reading all of the short stories if you do not have time.
Psych – A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Read by William Rabkin
If you are a fan of the show, you are going to love the books, particularly this one. Although many popular shows are providing a series of books alongside their show, Psych is one of those shows that is both smart and funny at the same time, which is exactly what the books are like, too. A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Read happens to be only 273 pages, which makes for a quick read with all of the dialogue and humorous activities.
March 2nd, 2010
Feed your brain! That’s right, brain food really does exist. Just like Popeye ate spinach to make himself strong, the rest of us can eat other foods to make our brains strong… sort of. The truth is that the foods we eat affect our bodies in certain ways, including helping us think clearer and focus better. When we don’t eat right, we become sluggish and unable to concentrate. The wrong kinds of sugars and fats can severely weigh us down, while the right kinds of sugar and acids can give our brains a boost of energy. Here are the five of most popular and easily accessible forms of brain food, though there are many more, they couldn’t all fit on this list.
Salmon
People used to think that tuna fish was the ultimate brain food, but some experts have found that the high content of Omega-3 fatty acids in salmon are what really juice up your brain by helping your brain matter, helping your arteries, and even improving your mood. Other fish contain great nutritional value for your brain, too, but salmon (particularly wild salmon) was the top pick for experts because there are less contaminants than farm bread fish (http://www.brainready.com/blog/thetop5brainhealthfoods.html).
Eggs
These are just another reason to eat a good breakfast in the morning. Eggs not only contain protein, but they are an amazingly common food that is great at providing your memory. Choline, which is found in egg yolks, is what help your brain cells continue building upon themselves (http://www.webmd.com/balance/brain-food-quiz-results?redirectUrl=brain-food-quiz-results&x=35&y=3).
Walnuts
You don’t have to be a squirrel to enjoy this healthy snack; it turns out that walnuts also contain a high amount of those Omega-3 fatty acids that improve your brain‘s strength. And, if you ever have a hard time remembering what they are good for, take a close look at the weird lines and shape of the walnut, and see if it doesn’t remind a little bit of the pictures you’ve seen of your brain in biology class.
Berries
The growing popularity of the acai berry is not without its merit, but we should not forget the blueberry, blackberry, or cranberry. It is interesting how much nutrition these little guys can hold. Full of antioxidants that help preserve brain cells over the years. But, these berries also contain the Omega-3 fatty acids, as well as the protein we have already mentioned the benefits of. These berries not only make a sweet treat, they may actually help your brain cells through your whole life.
Curry
It’s not just for spicy food, it may be the spice of life that keeps your brain in good health. Helping to clean away the plaque that tends to slow down our brains and cause the Alzheimer’s, curcumin is the chemical that acts as that cleaning agent for our brain. Just like drains need be clear of build up to run smoothly, our brains need to be clean to continue thinking clearly.
January 13th, 2010
By Amelia Anderson
New backpacks, clothes, folders, pencils, classes, and of course new books are typically bought at the beginning of classes. Although the expenses can add up, some of the most trying things to buy have got to be the books. Maybe you can reuse an old backpack, maybe you don’t necessarily need a new wardrobe for school, and you may very likely have spare pens, pencils, and binders for the new school year. But, new books are something that has to be bought. Depending on the types of classes you are taking, books can be very expensive for students and can easily put a hole in a person’s budget. However, there are ways to make buying new books for the semester a lot more economical.
Order Textbooks Online
It is usually more convenient to buy textbooks through the school you are attending, however that is typically the most expensive way to buy books for school. There are many websites online that sell textbooks for a much cheaper price. Just make sure that you buy your books a week or two in advance, so you have your books in time for school. Popular websites like cheapesttextbooks.com, half.ebay.com/ , textbooks.com/, and even http://www.barnesandnoble.com/textbooks/index.asp are great resources for inexpensive text books. If you can’t find what you want at these sites, research more to find others and compare prices – there are plenty to choose from.
Read Online
There are many novels that are available to read online, without having to spend a dime. Textbooks are probably not accessible, but classic novels are often found. As long as you do not have sensitive eyes to reading for an extensive period on a computer screen, then reading online is a great way to save a little money. I read the entire text of Uncle Tom’s Cabin online, which was required for one of my literature classes. Since the book didn’t need to be brought into class, there was no problem just reading the book online.
Buy Used Books
Both textbooks and novels can be a lot cheaper when they are bought used. And, since most students do not keep their school books after they have finished their class, there is no point in buying a book in pristine condition that you have no intention of holding onto anyway. Novels can be found for half price at used book stores, and used textbooks that are available at the local bookstores can be ¼ the price of a brand new textbook.
Rent Textbooks
It may be the newest form of getting textbooks for school – Renting! Yes, there is actually a website that offers students to rent texts. You can rent and even sell textbooks to make money at http://www.chegg.com/. Renting books is even cheaper than buying used books, and with the speed this new option is taking in popularity, I am certain that there will be more online sites available for renting books in the near future.
Borrow Textbooks from the Library
It is one of the oldest tricks, but it really does work. Borrow books from the library. School libraries are supposed to carry the textbooks that are required for your school’s classes, so just borrowing those books instead buying them is way cheaper. I recommend double checking to be certain that the library does carry the textbook you need and to check the policies for borrowing a textbook (some libraries are stricter with the length of time you can keep a textbook out of the library). If everything seems to work in your favor, borrowing textbooks from the library is a free option instead of having to buy a book that may cost anywhere from $50 to $100.
December 16th, 2009
By Adam Krause
Now that we’re in the thick of the holiday season, many of us are going the distance to see family, whether on a plane, Amtrak or Greyhound. Long, boring trips are the ideal time to make a dent in your reading list. Here are ten books, each under 250 pages, perfect for one day of travel in each direction. Just don’t read them while driving on the interstate.
1) Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell 
Orwell is best known for his allegories of political paranoia, 1984 and Animal Farm. This is his first published book. Though he called it fiction, it is an account of his experiences working as a low-wage dishwasher in Paris and being homeless in England. It is written with wit and keenly observational prose that keeps it fresh today, and provides such advice as how to keep customers from detecting rats in a poorly run restaurant and how to use a taut rope as a pillow while sleeping on the street.
2) St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves by Karen Russell
This short story collection, published when its author was only 25, is absolutely crazy. Russell’s subjects range from the title story, about a school run by kindly nuns whose mission is converting the children of werewolves into real human girls, to a story about a family of minotaurs heading west on a covered wagon. No matter how bizarre the situations, Russell never loses sight of her characters’ human side.
3) The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
This first novel by Indian journalist Aravind Adiga is narrated by a chauffeur in New Delhi who murders his rich employer. The chauffeur, who comes from a remote village that he refers to only as “the Darkness,” ruled by greedy landlords that resemble storks and wild boars, makes clear that India’s recent economic rise is only for a few, and that most Indians still have to seize whatever they can get. The novel has been criticized by Indian intellectuals who doubt Adiga’s authority to write in the voice of India’s poorest citizens, but the wicked intelligence of the narrator as he maneuvers through one tricky situation after another makes the novel a fast, gripping read, whatever you think of its message.
4) Sula by Toni Morrison
Though the epic Beloved is better-known, many critics consider this slim novel Morrison’s best book. It chronicles the lives of two girls who grew up in the Bottoms, a rural black community: one who stayed behind to raise a family and the other, Sula, who left for the cities and returns to wreak havoc among the menfolk. The novel reminded me of a compressed One Hundred Years of Solitude; Morrison’s story moves so swiftly across three generations that it seems almost magical.
5) Pnin by Vladimir Nabokov
Funnier than Pale Fire and less scandalous than Lolita, Nabokov again satirizes America and academia in this comic novel about a bumbling Russian professor in New England. Pnin’s adventures are small-scale (getting on the wrong train while trying to be clever with the timetables, and thinking a prized punch bowl has been smashed during a faculty dinner party) but his awkward charm eventually wins over even the narrator, who has spent most of the novel mocking him. He may even make you reconsider that nerdy professor who you gave a 0 to on RateMyProfessors.com.
6) An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination by Elizabeth McCracken
Elizabeth McCracken’s memoir of having gone to France to have her child, then losing the pregnancy, deals with harrowing and personal subject matter in a way that is never sentimental or simplified. There is room for witty observations about the French (who, at the public pool, “could gossip while doing the backstroke”) and yet the reader can’t help but feel the magnitude of the author’s grief through McCracken’s clear-eyed essayistic detail.
7) The Quiet American by Graham Greene 
This is the story of the friendship between a jaded British war correspondent and a young, idealistic American who thinks his country should come to the aid of the French in Vietnam. The Brit, however, thinks that the American’s high hopes will only lead to bloodshed, and his private prayer is, “God save us always from the innocent and the good.” The book was written in 1955 but perfectly predicted the Vietnam War, and may come back into relevance with President Obama’s recent troop increase in Afghanistan.
The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
If you have seen the movie starring Kirsten Dunst and Josh Hartnett, don’t think you know the story of The Virgin Suicides. The novel is notable for having been written in the first person plural, in which a Greek chorus of suburban boys tells the story of their longstanding obsession with the five enigmatic sisters who killed themselves. The boys hardly appear in the movie, but the beauty and originality with which Eugenides depicts their intense speculation about the doomed Lisbon family makes the novel a completely different experience.
9) The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Japanese-British writer Kazuo Ishiguro has movingly captured the voice of an aging English butler who has given every part of his soul to a level of service that has come, in the modern world, to seem increasingly meaningless. The best demonstration of this comes during a scene in which the butler does his best to cater to a chaotic dinner party while his father dies in the upstairs bedroom; Ishiguro makes this unbelievable character choice seem absolutely plausible and sad. If you think you would never be interested in reading about a repressed butler, this novel might prove you wrong.
10) Embers by Sandor Marai 
Finally, this novel by Hungarian anti-fascist, anti-communist (so not very popular in Hungary until recently) author Sandor Marai is a brilliant, sustained duel between a retired general and the childhood friend who betrayed him on a hunting expedition long ago. The dramatic confrontation takes place at the general’s castle, in the waning days of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, just before, for many Hungarians, the era when their whole world turned upside down.
