Journal Three- Britt

Active reading is new for me I would always just read the book and get it over with. Marking things that were interesting or a sentence that would help put the theme together didn't matter too me. There were times when i was finished with the book and didn't even remember what I read. Now that I have been pointing out the important things in the books it all comes together. I understand what I have read a lot better. There are points of the books I can just point out because I've highlighted them for importance or just because I liked it. So active reading is definitely worth doing.

In my point of view The House On Mango Street is easier to read and that's only because the shorter sections it's broken into. The chapter names are helpful because it gives you a sense of what you are about to read. The sections being shorter in the end it is harder to tell where they all connect. Its difficult sometimes to see where shes going with the topic. A Long Way Gone is easier to understand because the way the story is being told makes you feel their pain. When you are reading this book you know what’s happening and what leads to what. The bad thing about A Long Way Gone is that there are no chapter titles, that being said before you read the chapter you have no clue what it could be about. Another thing is that when reading there can be so many names that are hard to remember and places so you for sure have to mark them in some way. Out of the both of these books A Long Way Gone has to be the one I prefer thus far. The reason I prefer A Long Way Gone is because all of the emotions and places it pulls you into the story.

A theme that I noticed in chapter seven was wonder. In this chapter Ishmael starts thinking to himself about if it’s ever going to get better.“Was there an end to this madness, and was there any furture for me beyond the bushes?” (Pg.45). Wonder being the theme means he started to ask his self if it will ever change back to normal. Not just for him but for his family and the people around them. It’s important because it’s like Ishmael is almost having doubt with anything getting better and starting to worry.