Jake Goedde- Journal Three

I feel like my active reading has gone pretty well so far. I have noticed that highlighting and marking notes has helped me comprehend the novel a lot more. When I am constantly writing notes about what I just read, it gets me in the habit of connecting with the story making it very interesting to read. My biggest struggle is definitely understanding what is going on in the book, for example, The  House on Mango Street. The story is hard to stay with it because it jumps from story to story almost every page and their is a lot more chapters in it then A Long Way Gone.

The strengths in A Long Way Gone are how Beah uses very graphic text throughout the chapters, and you can really put yourself in the characters shoes, which makes the book way more entertaining. I think the weaknesses tie in with Beah not using as many metaphors as to say Cisneros does. The strengths in The House on Mango Street are definitely how Cisneros uses quality language and very intriguing metaphors that pull in the readers attention. The weaknesses are how it's hard for readers to stay focused when the author goes from story to story losing some of the readers attention. I prefer A Long Way Gone more just because of how detailed and intense the author brings, which makes it more interesting to read.

One theme I noticed in this chapter I just read was motivation, Ishmael tries to tell him self that he can keep moving forward even though the pain he is in. He never gives up and still tries to fight for himself no matter what crosses his path. It is important to understand this theme because it shows how good of a character Ishmael really has and how he looks at life. His father used to say, "If you are alive, there is hope for a better day and something good to happen. If there is nothing good left in the destiny of a person, her or she will die."(Beah, 54) When Ishmael is walking through the woods alone he just thinks about what is dad told him and he never gives up.