A Sample Post for the Second Third of a Novel

This is an example of a second blog post based on a student's reading of The Secret Life of Bees:

Throughout the entire story, Lily feels guilty about her mother's untimely death, and longs to know more about her. So naturally, when she and Rosaleen flee, she runs to a place that she believes meant something to her mother. That is how they end up in the small town of Tiburon, South Carolina, where the majority of the novel takes place. 

When they arrive, Lily hunts down that place where her mother's "black Mary" picture came from, the home of three African American sisters raise bees and make honey. When Lily first knocks on their door, she tells August, June, and May an elaborate lie about her going to visit her aunt, and needing a place to stay until she can get there. 

She is afraid to tell the sisters her true intentions of discovering more about her mother, for fear that they will send her away. I found this fact somewhat ironic. The book takes place in the '60s, the time of the Civil Rights movement. I thought this was strange that she thought the sisters would not accept her for who she was, when their entire lives they had been striving to be accepted and treated equally. I assumed that, in a way, they would understand just what she was afraid of.

As Lily spends more time with the "calendar" sisters as she calls them, she begins to care for them and receives the love and care that she has never experienced in her childhood. The sisters are so giving and kind, she begins to feel guilty about lying to them all this time. This leads to the second time that Lily shows maturity by deciding to tell the truth and accept the consequences (good or bad) that may come with it.

A Sample Post for the Final Third of a Novel

This is an example of a third blog entry describing a student's reading of A Thousand Splendid Suns:

After reading Mariam's and Laila's stories and how they both come together, I finally think I understand the book as a whole. Hosseni never meant it to depress the reader. He did not want the story to confuse the reader. He wanted the reader to learn and develop like the characters do. 

I certainly feel more insight, and like the characters, I see a thousand splendid suns in a broken life. Laila and Mariam face countless hardships at the end of the story: death, lies, war, beatings, and true cruelty from human beings. I personally thought that the hardships would never end. However, the tone changed. Mariam and Laila gained insight in their struggles and made numerous sacrafices for each other. Mariam even gave her life so Laila could live in peace. It may seem sad like the rest of the book, but I felt compassion and love. 

I thought Mariam matured in the beginning of the book, but she showed more integrity than I thought. She showed the ultimate act of love. Also, I never thought Laila would see peace. 

Hosseni proved me wrong and shocked me yet again. Not only did I learn about the hard life in war, but I learned how one can show love in any situation. Overall, this book gave me chills because of its raw reality and down to earth story that most can relate to in some way, shape, or form. 

A Sample Post for the First Third of a Novel

This is an example of a first blog post based on a student's reading of Purple Hibiscus:

After reading nearly 30 pages of Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, I decided I should be reading to 1) understand the novel and 2) later write this post. In attempt to read with a purpose, I went back to the book list/assignment to get a better grip on what I should be planning to write. The word Bildungsroman really caught my attention; all of the novels on the list were written about coming-of-age youth. I figured that to be important. 

As I continued my journey to understanding the (very foreign) novel, I was struck by a short passage in which the narrator, Kambili, observes an interaction between her rigid, traditional father and her contemporary aunt: 

"I watched their lips move as they spoke; Mama's bare lips were pale compared to Aunty Ifeoma's, covered in a shiny bronze lipstick...Every time Aunty Ifeoma spoke to Papa, my heart stopped, then started again in a hurry. It was the flippant tone; she did not seem to recognize that it was Papa, that he was different, special. I wanted to reach out and press her lips shut and get some of that shiny bronze lipstick on my fingers."

Aunty Ifeoma's reoccurring lipstick made this passage stand out. Kambili's family is homely in appearance, noting her mother's plain lips; this seems to be a physical manifestation of their traditional and Christian lifestyle. Aunty Ifeoma is a college educated single mother who refuses to shun those in the community for their refusal to assimilate to Western religion; she is bold in wearing the shiny lipstick. The obvious divide between Kambili's mother and aunt lend to what may be Kambili's moral struggle. She desperately needs her aunt to respect her father (the figurehead of Kambili's rigid lifestyle), but she desires to have a touch of unorthodox lipwear in her life. I predict Kambili will struggle to either continue with her father's strict religious life, where she finds comfort and privilege, or grow into a more independent, free-thinking young woman.