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Some examples the author did to foreshadow an event that later occurred was when she started to talk about her biggest success in the Olympics for being the first woman to land a 1080. She later tells the story in future chapters. I did realize that the author was going to discuss it later in the book because she was making it lead that way and also discussed that she would discuss it in later chapters. She also had the book's chapters in chronological order, so it would come up eventually in the book down the road. That was one of the biggest events in women's snowboarding history, as well as other events that she had in her life. I am on page 110.
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The author's writing style that I have noticed was a narrative. She consistently tells stories from her life and her learning experiences with them. For example, she would discuss how her parents did not have a lot of hope for her to become a professional Olympic snowboarder. But through hard work, she made it happen and her parents finally accepted the idea, instead of having her go to community college and do something she didn't love.
These elements help me impact my enjoyment and understanding of the book because through sharing stories, it gives you a great understanding of what she went through and how she overcame her obstacles. I can relate to the types of actions she overcame through hard work, but they were with different events. I am on page 87. The general themes that are being developed in my book choices have been reality. I usually do not like reading autobiographies and instead read non-fiction that is not real, but could easily be real, but this year I have been reading true stories on popular figures. The elements of the story that support the theme are inspiring true stories from the historical figures. I think the text is trying to tell me about the theme with everything that is mentioned. For example, "In 2010, I was the first woman to land a 1080 in a halfpipe competition......Men had been doing it for years, but women had not progressed to that level yet.It took me years of trial and error and keeping the belief in front of me that it was physically possible for women. When I landed it in the X Games final, it was one of the top moments of my career because when I got to the bottom of the run, my peers, who were also the competition, came over and dog-piled me." I am on page 50.
I finished the John Glenn memoir on Tuesday or Wednesday. It had a great ending with his second journey in space with a follow-up to his life a few years before he passed away. I cried a few times throughout reading the book when reading the poems and letters he wrote to his wife. Also, to just read about their relationship made me smile and cry as well. It was very well written and I recommend this book to anyone interested in reading about space or astronauts.
I am currently reading a book about Kelly Clark and her life who is a professional snowboarder who I have been a fan of for multiple years. She has gone to the Olympics for so many years in a row and had struggles throughout her time. From what I've read in the foreword, it seems like it is going to be a great book. I am on page 1. The events in this book are realistic because it is based on a true story and is written by John Glenn about his biggest achievements in life. For example, John talks about his mission with Friendship 7 and after that he discusses his time in the senate for 4 terms to then train to go back up into space, which is not common for elders and he did that to learn more about the aging process in space with older people.
The character in the story I like the least would probably have to be some of the other NASA astronauts who were cocky on going into space and were very annoying with complaining about all the testing they had to do. I understand complaints with having a thermometer going up the buttox, but it's still very annoying when that is all people ever talk about. I find it so annoying when someone complains and never lets it go and rambles on forever. This book has 405 page and I am nearing the end on page 380. John Glenn has changed from talking about his time in NASA with Project Mercury to his time being retired from NASA and the Marines. He discusses the changes with his life the older he gets, his wife's life, his parent's life, and his children in college. The main cause of the change is age and the environment. His children go to Harvard and Stanford and have changed the way they think about certain things like religion, which bugs John and his wife.
The setting has changed from John in his early 40's to mid and late 40's. The age has effected John with his physical state like having a hard time walking and his dad having cancer. His wife went to the hospital for a treatable surgery and his children no longer believe in God. I am on page 318. I am currently reading about John Glenn's travel in space around the Earth. It developed from his time preparing for this mission to now he is actually in Friendship 7 and now worried that the bag for reentry has already deployed after seeing white objects floating around in space. If his reentry bag has already deployed, then when he reenters the Earth, he will burn to death.
This chapter is very intense. Luckily, we know he lives because he wrote the book, so we know everything went well, but it is still scary reading about what he feared would happen that we did not know could have happened. I am on page 270. The plot has changed from his experiences in the war to working with NASA and other astronauts on Project Mercury. My favorite character is John Glenn of course, but also his wife with how loving she is towards him and the family and always supports him in every way that she can. It is super cute to read about. The characters have changed from the military lifestyle to working with NASA.
The theme that is being developed would be the workplace for John. They went from living and working in Ohio to moving to multiple places and having the media all over them. The author uses poems that John wrote while during the different scenes that help you understand what he was going through at this time. I am currently on page 234 of the book. The plot from my book has moved from John Glenn's time at war to becoming an instructor for test pilots who are planning on going farther into the military as pilots. The only main character in the book is John Glenn, but his family and friends are mentioned. The book has changed from talking about his life as a kid to how his life is going as a test pilot instructor.
I got emotional reading about his friends passing away and because he was of such high rank, he was blamed for their deaths. That scene in the book is described by Glenn talking about what one of his Generals stated. Which was, "If another man dies, it is going to be Major Glenn's fault." So of course when his friends died, it was his fault because he didn't provide them with enough safety lessons or did a bad job at it. I am on page 172. The book I am currently reading is John Glenn: A Memoir. It is about the NASA astronaut John Glenn with his life as a kid through his life at NASA. I am currently reading the chapter of his time in war. It is very interesting reading about his experience flying different planes in the war and how they reacted differently from one another. This book has made me cry with reading the poems he wrote to his wife and children while thousands of miles away from them, as well as reading descriptive scenes of his friends in the Marines passing away.
What attracted me to this book was the topic of aviation, astronomy, and astronauts. As a kid, I have always wanted to be an astronaut because of how cool the idea would be of seeing life at a different angle. That is also why I love aviation. My book is a little slow right now because the chapter on war is almost a third of the book, but I know it can explain a lot of questions the reader would have if it was not in there. This book is living up to my expectations. The plot is going to develop into his Mercury Project, so I cannot wait to read that chapter and his time back in space. |
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April 2019
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