Eleanor and Park- Review

         After my acknowledged experience with delirium, my friend suggested Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell as my read. I have to admit that this book is sensational!

          Although I do not really admire the cheesy conversations between the tenth graders, Rainbow's writing style deserves my admiration. I'm not done reading it yet, but I've got a few more pages till the end; however, the novel is great so far.

           I absolutely suggest this novel as a quick read! The pace of events is simple and smooth; as for the plot, completely adorable!

MUN- The Three Days of Debate

   
           As you my updated readers know, I took part in my school's first annual MUN as the delegation of France. I'm now here to inform you that, after the workshop, I did not bail on the three days of debate. The delegate of France is here to fill you in with a recap of all three days of the MUN.

            Day1:
          I will jump right to the part where we the delegates were accompanied by our amazing chair Jumana to our committee. (just for the simple fact that the opening ceremony was astonishing!) As the routine of our committee allows, the first day was the day we know who our allies are and form groups for writing resolutions we'll later debate in the two upcoming days. The delegate of France was involved in three resolutions and was the main submitter of two of them. (God bless the pressure I put on myself.)

            Day2:
           "The delegate of France is privileged for being a part of the Third General Assembly." Giving my opening speech triggered a rush of adrenaline through my veins. Suddenly, I've got my mind and soul in the debate; it's only a heated debate if we set it on fire! This day was dedicated to debating the resolutions concerning the first two topics, "Child Labor" and "The Prevention of Genocide". As I was the co-submitter of a resolution and the main submitter of another, this day could not simply end without the delegate of France fighting with another delegate (let that be four delegates please.)

            Day3;
            The last day of the MUN experience! This day was dedicated to debating the last topic and announcing the names of the 'Best Delegates' and 'honorable mentions'. Now despite the sudden crisis that we were supposed to write resolutions for for debate, let's say our committee was a little too indulged in debating the last resolution that we all voted against the crisis and continued our debate. The debate carried on that we were late for the closing ceremony. Our secretary had to attend and limit our time of speaking. (With all the heat flowing, the committee's clock fell off the wall.) And finally, the closing ceremony that left us all speechless.

         I still can not believe that the MUN is over; this whole experience was unforgettable! And now, I can proudly say that I successfully survived the MUN. (And won Best Delegate, if I may add!)

Delirium- Review

     I took a small break from Pride and Prejudice, and I started reading a fictional book Delirium by the talented author Lauren Oliver. Delirium talks about a city where love is considered a disease!

      Citizens of Portland are expected to have procedures by the age of eighteen to cure them from the disease. The procedure prevents the disease from reaching your soul, but with the disease goes your empathy. Nevertheless of the consequences the city's government put for those who 'catch' the disease, a girl called Lena, who previously counts the days till her procedure, falls in love with Alex and decides to runaway with him to the 'Wilds'.

     The pace of events in Delirium is a smooth one with little action; it's just the ending of the book that contains enough dosage of events to keep you interested in reading the second book of the trilogy.

        I, personally, could hardly relate to Lena, and have failed to sense any kind of emotional connection between me and any of the characters in the book. I did not envision the characters in the book as more than puppets; each character seemed emotionally detached from Lena, and even though the story is told from Lena's point of view, it seemed that she was creating emotion rather than telling the reader about her actual mundane thoughts.

     Lauren Oliver does have a unique writing style, but that was not good enough to keep me interested in reading the remaining two books.

MUN: workshop experience

      As a delegate in the first, hopefully annual, DJISMUN, I was required to attend a workshop session two days ago. The workshop session is a session that introduces us to the MUN and to our chairs. It's such a relief to know that I'm not the only one knew to this; this was a first time for every delegate participating. Because I absolutely have no experience in debating, I was ironically confident that I'm ready for any debate that may come my way, and eager because I knew that the workshop will show me what should I expect.

      "The delegate of France has nothing to say!" I fear the second I would have to utter this sentence. As our wonderful Chair Jumana explained the basics of being a delegate in The Third General Assembly, every vain within me throbbed with anxiety instead of the confidence that once embraced me. But I have every right to be afraid! What if I had nothing to say? What if I understood all of this wrong? How can I ever be a part of something that gets me out of my comfort zone? I don't want to let anyone down, let alone be the quitter who couldn't survive a debate.

       Jumana is a very lighthearted person; she tried her very best to make us feel as welcomed in the committee as possible. She perfectly explained our duty as delegates; in addition to that, she successfully released the tension I felt; all of a sudden, I was not afraid to speak up. She will be there and everything will be alright. Matter of fact, I'm extremely excited to start debating resolutions I believe are necessary. Oh! I apologize. The delegation of France believes they are.



     

Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice

   We can all certainly agree that Jane Austen is one of the best authors when it comes to classics, but we can also agree that not everybody favors classics! Pride and Prejudice is a wonderfully written novel with a smooth pace of events. I noticed as I read the novel that Jane has a remarkable writing style; both sophisticated and suffocating.

     I usually turn to books for comfort and satisfaction, it's just the way authors portray their thoughts on smooth paper that bends so easily with every turning page; however, the compatibility of the thoughts of two people varies drastically sometimes. I could not but think of the Bennets as utterly mundane, and as I flipped through the pages, I was introduced to characters I failed to care about. The essential emotional bond between the reader and the characters was completely missing.

      I do suggest this novel to whoever enjoys general classics, but if you find emotional bonding between the reader and the characters essential, I suggest you avoid Pride and Prejudice in addition to every other classic that may be thrown your way.

The Raven (video)

     The Raven is a wonderful poem written by the very talented Edgar Allan Poe. As we are currently analyzing this poem as a part of our school's curriculum, this poem is one of Edgar's works I will never forget. I found this animation of the poem's face value very interesting so I thought it would only be pleasant to share it! 

 

Pre-Writing Assignment: Snippet

               As a part of our English class writing group work assignments, my class has been asked to write a narrative essay according to a snippet that was displayed in our classroom. In collaboration with my classmate and friend Rania, here's our essay of the snippet from 'Carrie'. 

Carrie: The Prank 

        "... and the prom queen of this year is Carrie!" announced the principle faintly. Oh! The element of astonishment on her peers' faces while Carrie herself walked up to the stage, ever so confidently, with evident ecstasy at the mention of her name.

         Her peers with their rounded eyes cheered and clapped so loudly you'd mistake them for Carrie's friends. It wasn't too soon when the crowd's cheers fainted as the principle settled her crown on top of her well curled locks of gold. A huge bucket drowned in pig's blood was soon hugging Carrie and soaking her prestigious dress, and those who once cheered now laugh for their glorious success in humiliating the girl. 

          Instead of humiliation, rage has embraced her eyes and caressed her provokingly, as if luring her to follow an infernal plan of revenge. It is no surprise that she listened to her diabolic conscience. She then poured her rage out into a disgraceful fire; burning her entire school along with those who were present to witness her humiliation.