Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Reading Log Week 16

Book: Iron River by T. Jefferson Parker

Thursday 2/23
Pages Read: 1-28
Minutes Read: 35

Icon: Unanswered Questions

Hood works for an organization that monitors the illegal guns purchases. However at the beginning of the story, a man was run over by another vehicle and was left alone to die in the desert when help came for him at the last minute.

Was Hood the man that was run over? How long ago did the incident occur? Where in Mexico does Hood work? Is the man still alive that was run over? What happened to the couple that ran him over? Did they end up calling an ambulance to rescue the man?

Friday 2/24
Pages Read: 29- 62
Minutes Read: 50

Saturday 2/25
Pages Read: 63- 86
Minutes Read: 30

Icon: Patterns

Hood meets with Erin and Bradley because Bradley was able to get a job at LASD. The pattern that I notice is that Hood has all of these connections with mysterious people that haven't been explained in this book. An example of this is Bradley, who the reader does not know what the connection between the two are. Another example is when Hood investigates Victor Davis's house. Up until then, there was hardly any information given about who Victor Davis was, and how he was related to the Iron River until after they broke in. Even then, it seemed like Hood didn't really know who Victor really was. I predict that these relationships will not only be explained, but it will pertain to the story to make it more comprehensive.

Sunday 2/26
Pages Read: 87-102
Minutes Read: 20

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Reading Log Week 15

Book: Battle Royale by Koushun Takami

Sunday 2/12
Pages Read: 464- 483
Minutes Read: 20

Monday 2/13
Pages Read: 484- 522
Minutes Read: 35

Icon: Unanswered Questions
Shogo, Shuya, and Noriko believe that Hiroki is sending them the signal to show that he's alive, when he's really dead. They are leading Kazuo to find them by repeating the signal. Also, Shogo is revealing the escape plan to Shuya and Noriko.

Does Shogo, Shuya, and Noriko realize that Hiroki's dead? How long will it take for them to figure out that the person that is tricking them is really Kazuo? How did Kazuo find out the plan between the four of them in the first place? Doesn't Shogo realize that the collars are equipped with mics if he's done this before? Does Shogo know about the mics, or is he really trying to trick Shuya and Noriko?

Tuesday 2/14
Pages Read: 523- 561
Minutes Read: 40

Wednesday 2/15
Pages Read: 562- 576
Minutes Read: 15

Icon: Patterns
Shuya and Noriko end up escaping the island together, but without Shogo. But they are in a constant struggle to stay alive and out of the public eye.

The pattern that I notice is that Shuya and Noriko are always on the run from someone. This happened throughout the story where they were constantly trying to escape from their fellow classmates. Now, they are struggling to keep away from the police workers that are searching for them daily. I predict that in the future, they will never be able to be kept alone by the media and the government, unless they are killed. But, they will always be on the run.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Reading Log Week 14

Book: Battle Royale by Koushun Takami

Monday 2/6
Pages Read: 345- 376
Minutes Read: 30
Patterns

Shinji and Yutaka are killed by Kazuo after they encounter him near the school headquarters. The pattern that I notice is that whenever the students let down their guard for a second, they get killed or betrayed by their fellow classmates.

For example, when Kazuo came to spy on Shinji's plan, he saw Shinji talking to Keita and knew that it would be a perfect time to attack. Shinji was so preoccupied in getting rid of Keita, that he didn't notice that Kazuo had within a perfect shooting range.

Previously, when Yumiko and Yukiko believed that they could trust the classmates to come together to do something about the game, they ended up dead. Kazuo came to kill them because they made themselves clearly visible from the top of the mountain.

This pattern happened in some way in all of the deaths of the students so far. I predict that this is how it will continue on, until the victor is left standing.

Tuesday 2/7
Pages Read: 377- 408
Minutes Read: 30

Wednesday 2/8
Pages Read: 409- 424
Minutes Read: 20

Thursday 2/9
Pages Read: 425- 463
Minutes Read: 30

Ethics
Yuko highly suspects Shuya of killing Tatsumichi. As a result, she ends up poisoning the dish that is supposed to be served to Shuya. But another friend of Yuko's eats it without knowing. Yuko clearly made the wrong decision here. She ended up hurting her friends because she couldn't trust Shuya. As a result, her friends got into an argument as to who poisoned the dish, and all of them, except for Yuko end up dead. Her friends had no idea that Yuko could be this mean to kill someone by poison. Yuko has to pay for her sins and as a result ends up in the lighthouse with Shuya, where they battle each other to stay alive.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Reading Log Week 13

Book: Battle Royale by Koushun Takami

Friday 1/27
Pages Read: 237- 257
Minutes Read: 20

Changes Over Time
Students are now killing each other and are showing signs of paranoia. This happened when Kazushi attacked Takako.

"Suddenly, Kazushi made a move. He came forward, swinging the nunchucks down!" (Takami 248).
"Undoubtedly this guy was mentally disturbed. He had no qualms about beating a girl to death. In fact, he was enjoying it," (Takami 249).

In the past, all of the students were absolutely revolted at the thought of having to compete against each other in a killing game. To them, it was a sick government game that their class was forced to go into. They were scared and did not want to harm anyone. Now, the students are doing whatever it takes to stay alive, even if it means killing the opponents in the game. Kazushi had no second thoughts about trying to kill Takako, even though at the beginning of the game, he was one of the shocked ones to hear about the game. I predict that most of the students will start to become mentally disturbed and start killing whoever they come in contact with. I also think that they won't have any emotions of regret after killing their classmates.

Saturday 1/28
Pages Read: 258- 284
Minutes Read: 30

Sunday 1/29
Pages Read: 285- 305
Minutes Read: 25

Patterns

Kazuo tricks Sho by making him stay in the forbidden zone by making him think that he's there.

"As Kazuo disappeared beyond the shrubs, Sho heard a thud," (Takami 305).

Kazuo tricked Sho into thinking that he was still in the outhouse, but instead he sneaked out, making Sho believe that he could kill Kazuo by surprise. The pattern that I noticed throughout this story so far is that the students are very good at manipulating one another. The students throw each other off guard verbally or with their actions. Then, they attack them and make sure that they are killed off. What happened between Kazuo and Sho is an example of this pattern. I think that the relationship between Shuya, Shogo, and Noriko will end up harming them in the end. Someone is manipulating the rest of the group and they only care about winning the game

Monday 1/30
Pages Read: 306- 344
Minutes Read: 40