'Animal Farm' book review

‘Animal Farm’ book review
Animal farm is a fiction book by George Orwell, about a farm which is ruled by a cruel Farmer Mr. Jones, which is eventually taken over by the animals, and this causes many problems. Major, the ‘head pig’ senses that he does not have much longer of his life to live, and therefore thinks that he should pass on his wisdom and knowledge to the other animals on the farm. He tells them about the cruelties the animals have to face, and that actually their lives are not too good, compared to the luxuries that Jones has. Rebellion takes place shortly after Major dies and the animals learn to read and write, and run the farm as their very own. But which events will set them back and which will push them forward?
I didn’t really enjoy this book very much, because I found it quite predictable, and not very interesting. For me it was just the same old thing over and over again. I enjoyed the ending, where the animals find out a shocking fact, but other than this it was not very exciting or enjoyable, but this may be because I am quite a picky reader.
The parts I found interesting were the start of the book, Major’s speech, and when they sang a song to celebrate their forthcoming rebellion. This was good because the writing was crafted to make you want to read on further, so once you have got to this further point, there is no point in turning back.
I think it was very clever of Orwell, to create a book about animals, structured about historical events. The likeness, I think, is more than I expected and I found it fascinating, learning history, outside a history classroom, so I think it is very well written in this way, and his technique is very unusual and unique. The Russian revolution seems interesting, now I have read this book.
I would recommend this book to younger readers aged about 9, because I think it would be a good way to get them involved and engaged in history and well crafted reading at an early age, so that when they are older they will benefit from such things, especially at secondary school, also I think they will be intrigued by the use of animals in the history.
I would give this book a 2 out five stars because after the first two chapters the writing was not so interesting and I felt that I was being forced to read it, rather than reading it out of my own will.

My Christmas Holiday

During my holiday I stayed home with my family, we had a quiet Christmas, which was more fun than the previous year because my cousins had come from Dorset and they are only 3,4 and 8 years old. This year it was just my mum, dad two sisters and my Grandparents.
    I went to see Charlotte and Tashie in the holiday, I stayed overnight and we got up at 6 the next morning! Way too early for me! I got some good bargains! We had a brilliant day!
    When we went back, we put the chickens away to bed, but that didn't prove good for me as I am scared of my own chickens, so when Charlotte's chyicken started pecking at her feet I got too scared to go in, so I hovered in the doorway with Tashie!
    I enjoyed having no prep to do, because it really annoys me when we get over loaded with prep during holidays, because the word holiday does not mean homework! Most of all I liked having lay ins! I overslept big time! apart from on Christmas day, when my little sisters woke me up wanting to open their stockings. I stayed were I was and tryed to get back to sleep. They then decided to drag me out of bed, whilst I was still clutching the pillow. Sometimes I could do without them! But we had a good day in the end.
    I had painted and dawn some scenes, for my parents and Grandparents, which I gave to them on Christmas day. They took me ages so I am glad they liked them!
   

My Half Term Holiday

Throughout the half term holiday I enjoyed two days more than the rest. On the first Thursday, I went round Charlotte and Natasha's new house, and together we painted a container, which is to be used for storage. On it, we painted hills and a sky, it will be developed into a farm type scene. We ate chips for lunch, and then took our risks with climbing the apple tree! I dodged one which fell when Charlotte shook the branch accidentally! Then I had to go home to my delightful sisters. (Their completley the opposite of delightful!)
    The second day I enjoyed was when Natasha and Charlotte came round, along with Mhairi, and we went swimming. There were extremely large, brightly coloured floats out in the pool. On these, we had a war! Tashie and I vs Charlotte and Mhairi! Charlotte and Mhairi won, but we said we'd get then back! We thought we were going to spend only and hour in the pool, but it ended up being nearly two hours! Once they had gone home, I again returned to my own home.
    My bedroom needed redecorated, so I changed it from its original colour(a bright red and white) to a lime green and white! It looks fantastic! I helped my mum paint it, we also put up new curtains and a brand new wardrobe, as my last bed was an all in one. The wardrobe quickly annoyed us as we had hoped to build it in one night. After two hours we were bored and tired, but refused to stop working. Mum had blisters on her hands from the screwdriver and I had massive bags under my eyes. After nearly five hours we were nearly done but left the last bits for Dad to finish up!
    All  through the holiday I counted and ticked off the days until I was back at school practically sweating with excitement, until I remembered what school was, its not just a fun day with your friends.
    I prepared for Halloween which happens to be Grandad's birthday. I made him shortbread with multicoloured icing on top. Each one was a different shape. We decorated the stand with Halloween confetti and chocolates as well. There is nothing Grandad loves more than Caburys milk chocolate.
    With Gran we went shopping, I bought some canvases on which I have used watercolour pencils and paints to create various designs to hang up on my wall.
    The sad side to my holiday was that my dog died. He was only six years old or 42 in dog years, he swallowed a toy straight down and it mucked up his insides and peritonitis. I don't really want to go into detail as I will probably start to cry.
    On the plus side to do with dogs, I helped out a lot a mum's dog training class, Paws4Clix, where dogs are taught obedience and agility through a method of a clicker. They learn to respond to the click as a reward, but in the first two classes should learn to know a treat(meats or something) is coming their way.    Overall I enjoyed my holiday.

My Assessment, 'Edward Scissorhands'

3^rd October 2011

Edward Scissorhands   

‘Edward Scissorhands’ is a quirky themed film made by Tim Burton, A famous Hollywood director. He has made many films including, ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’, ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and ‘Planet of the Apes.’ The list goes on to include many more films. Burton is known for directing dark and quirky themed films, but they are not made as a scary type film, but as films which are for families to enjoy, which also include a moral.

Born on the 25^th August 1958, Tim Burton spent his early life in California. His mother owned a Cat themed gift shop. He spent a lot of time drawing cartoons and making short films using stop motion animation techniques without sound.

After their first film together, Burton became very fond of Johnny Depp, who has appeared in many of his films. He also was fond of Danny Elfman, who composed music for all but five of his films. Along with these two people, Tim’s second wife was also an actress, so she was seen in some of their films during their relationship, between 1992 and 2001.

‘Edward Scissorhands’ was produced by 20^th Century Fox productions, in 1990. Being a very unusual film, ‘Edward Scissorhands’ is hard to put into a particular genre. It is probably the following: Romance and action/adventure. The age certificate is 12.

The storyline consists, of a quirky young boy named Edward, who lives alone in a dark and majestic castle/mansion. And also in a content village, called Suburbia in America.  A family, who live in this village, consist of many different characters, who have extremely unrealistic personalities. Peg Bogg the mother of the family, finds Edward in his house, and takes him in to her own home. She doesn’t realise the consequences this could have on both Edward and her own family. Edward starts off with a new happy life, with lots of attraction drawn to his unusual Scissorhands. His life soon changes again, once his hands give him trouble. They start getting in the way of his everyday life, such as eating, he can’t pick up his food, and goodness knows how he drinks. When he tries to help people in distress he ends up hurting them with his metal hands. He cannot fit in. But what happens when he falls in love with Kim, a teenage girl in the family he is staying with? But his self- conscious ways get the better of him; he can hardly look at Kim without feeling shy. How will he keep going in this way? Suburbia is a village where everything is so simple, and perfect, so when Edward comes along they find it hard to adjust to their differences.

The film has a very strange setting it has a very dark, shadowed theme, when things are not looking good, and when everything is as perfect as normal in a Suburban life, the setting changes to a brilliant bright and cheerful set. The houses are all the same, in colour, shape, and how the places are run.  The time setting plays a big role in the film, the story is told through Kim as an old woman. She tells the story to her grandchild. So firstly there is a scene where the child is in bed, and Kim tells the story. Then the story goes back to the past, where the story begins. But, (just to confuse us more,) during that story there are flash backs, so you see the past, from the past! Very confusing to describe. The variation of sets is extremely limited, there are only two sets. The village of Suburbia and Edward’s mansion. Although saying this is bad, the variation in other misc-en-scene is good.

Edward is the main character in the film; he is played by Johnny Depp. His personality is realistic, however his features aren’t.  He is a shy, timid, boy, who comes across a murderous stranger, to those within the village. Because of his scissors for hands, he cannot lead a normal teenage life. He is made fun of, and is scared of, as a result of this. His inner personality never has its moment to shine, as the monster on the outside will not fade. Will he come across to anyone with a glimmering light? Edward’s character is definitely not realistic, as where will you find a person with scissors for hands? But there is some appreciation here for the person who came up with such an idea.

Kim Bogg, daughter of Peg Bogg, is a young teenage girl. She is pretty, with strawberry blonde hair, and a pale, yet stunning, face. She has a boyfriend who misleads her, into doing what she knows to be wrong. Being such an easily lead person, she cannot always have a mind of her own. The saying never judge a book by its cover, comes in handy when explaining this situation. Kim has quite obviously judges Jim’s looks. A young reasonably tall teenage boy, who charms with his looks. But she should have judged his personality which soon comes out. Kim finds herself in love with Edward. I don’t think Kim’s character could be real, as normally you are either lead easily or you’re not, but Kim is somewhere in between.

Her inner personality is a shy person, who knows her rights from her wrongs. As soon as she lets this out, her life changes. Despising Edward at the start, she ends up being his lover, which is where everything starts to go downhill. She must hide Edward away in his castle never to be seen again.

Peg Bogg is the Avon sales lady who lives within the town of Suburbia. When her sales are not working out, she tries her luck with the castle. The mansion is where Edward lives. Once within the mansion, Peg finds Edward, alone, afraid, and scared. She takes him in to her own home, without realising the terrible consequences this could have on her family, and Edward himself. Once again, Peg is very unusual; you wouldn’t just take a potentially dangerous person into your house with no consideration.

Jim is Kim’s boyfriend. He looks tall, and he is blonde, with a short, smart haircut. He is the villain within the film. He tries to get Kim to share his beliefs about Edward, which fortunately fails. He has a monstrous personality, which includes a cold heart.

The inventor is an understanding old man, who has tried his best when inventing Edward. He soon realises that Edward wants to fit in, so makes him a pair of normal hands. He tragically dies before poor Edward can receive them.

The misc-en-scene is very strange. Although there is not much variation within the sets, the lighting, costume, music, and props are very interesting.

The lighting is made good use of, when there is a dull moment, or when something has gone wrong, there is either a dark light, or a shadowed effect to the scenes. E.g. When Edward is running away. If there is a particularly good situation, the sun is out everyone is happy, the sky is clear and everything is perfect. For example, when everyone is having a barbecue in celebration of Edward.  You can interpret the emotion, by the weather or time of day. This is brilliantly done.

Costume is very interesting. Edward wears a black leather jacket, with black trousers, and jet black hair. His hair is styled in a wild way, to show that he has no one there for him. Once Edward arrives at his new home, he wears white, it conveys his feelings as a sign of joy. Kim is out in the night, before Edward runs away. She wears a white dress, which shows her personality, she dances in the snow, when she becomes happy, and is seen smiling showing off her facial features.

Music is very vague in this film. The only time there is music is when there is either a happy moment or an angry scene. This was very disappointing, considering that the musician was meant to be extremely good. At the start the music is good, as it is there for effect, but once you get further into the film, you get quite bored of the same old thing.

Camera shots are very plain, but there are a few very good ones, which add a lot of effect to the film. The best one of these is when Peg’s husband is on the roof, and there is a shot taken from the roof of Edward running away. You see him from behind. This is interesting because it is an unusual idea, and you can see where Edward is heading. Another is when Peg has put some make up on Edward, and there is a close up of his face, he is looking shocked and scared, but you can also see the make up on him.

The audience ‘Edward Scissorhands’ is made for, is teenagers. This is because, at times you can think that the film is scary (which it isn’t) and that something might happen which could scare you. Another reason is that it has a very gothic theme. People who might enjoy this gothic idea, are young adults/teenagers. It also conveys a moral, ‘don’t judge a book by its cover.’ And this age group are always being told morals, and things like this.

Personally, I think that this film is completely pointless, despite the moral. Any decent person would know that no one should judge anyone by their appearance. So, unfortunately no I don’t think Tim Burton has done a good job, because I think that everything was the same, music, camera shots and sets. The best part was costume. I think the situation Kim found herself in, was very realistic and a good idea to include, as many people may find this as they get older. Again, there was nothing that affected me in any way about the film, as it is not something I would normally watch or take note of.

I would give this film...

Karnika Sanders

My Favourite Song

'Swagger Jagger'
My Favourite song is 'Swagger Jagger' by Cher Lloyd. My first reason is that, I really wanted Cher to win the X Factor last year! But also because of the way the song is split up into sections. It starts off with Just singing at the start, with a small twinkling type sound which can hardly be heard. Then the music starts, which brings a loud rush to the song. It is quite a wrap type music. Then she sings along with it. Yes there's more! After this she starts wrapping! and then sings again, in this type of pattern, until end. The reason I like this type of rhythm is that it is different, in most songs there is a consistant beat.

The words mean nothing to me, but I enjoy the music. If I had to say something about the words, I would say that I like the way that they all last for different lenghts of time. They also vary in pitch and how they are meant to sound. The start is very quiet, then the wrap kicks in and it creates the image of a tough type of person!

There are two versions to the song. The first one is slower than the second,which is good, as it varies for the type of music you like. I personally prefer the slower one, but I suppose there isn't much difference anyway.

My Book review- "Mini Shopaholic"

29 year old Becky Brandon is a shopaholic, she can't live without her beloved shops. She lives at home with her parents,also with her husband Luke, and her 2 year old daughter Minnie. Minnie's behaviour soon comes out of control, and it deeply effects the family, and their lives.

Minnie is going to be christened, but when the day arrives, everyone dresses up in a japenese theme, (Who came up with that idea?) Janice- the next door neighboor, also a close freind. And Jess, Becky's sister. They both want to help and be involved in as much as they can. Which dosn't always go down well with Becky. The christening starts, and Luke isn't there! He's been caught up at work. The christening must go on, with or without him.

Halfway through the service disaster strikes! The latest news is... the bank of england has gone bankrupt! All of a sudden, all the people at the service-including the vicar- run out to claim their money quickly.
Plans will have to made, cut backs, no shopping,only essentials!

As Minnie's behaviour grows worse, Luke and Becky call in "Nanny Sue," a childrens expert, who will hopefully help Minnie.

Meanwhile, Becky tries to organise a suprise party for Luke, who is very observant, and the plans keep going wrong! Will becky mangage to keep the party a secret, or will curious Luke disrupt her plans?Will Minnie's behaviour improve? Will Becky survive without the new designer handbags?


 

My Fate in Yr8

I'm really enjoying being in year eight, although I have chosen to stay in Peel, it's nice to finally get rid of the nick name "Peeling." I am also enjoying being in Peel, dispite the many ups mess ups. Such as, there are not enough lockers for the year eights, because there are too many year sevens. And there are still not enough chairs( Which is really annoying!)

 I was suprised with the new teachers I have, because, to be honest, they are not who I expected to have for most of my lessons! Which is not a bad thing. I'm very happy with my lessons. All throught the summer I was worrying about that, but it turned out nothing to worry about. I think I will have a good year, and will enjoy the coming events.

I have definatley got off to a good start this year, which is alot more than I can say about last year! I think my favourite lessons haven't changed from last year and probably won't. They are as follows: English (Best lesson ever!) and History- which I find very interesting and I always look forward to it.

I love having new books-I havn't worked out why yet! I just do. The only slight confusion is that my German, French, Science and R.E books are all green, so I will have to be very careful!

I hope I will get used to the timing because it seems as if we only have 30 seconds of break, and 1 minute of lunch! It seems such a tight squeeze to get to lessons on time. I keep worrying and I csn't help it! Oh well, I'll have to get used to it!

I have recently been too tired to go to my trampolining club, because i've been exhausted from school. I'm starting on back flips. I think they are meant to be easier than front sommis, but I find fronts easier! My favourite moves are swivel hips, and back-landing half twist to feet. It's really fun, but also a little scary when your learning a new move. I'll have to find the energy to keep going with that as well! It's shocking how much energy a school day takes up!



The most fun thing for me at school is seeing my friends, and I really enjoy spending time with them.