Journal Three: Colton Long

Reading Response

My active reading is not the best that it could be. It could be better, but half of the time I am unsure of whether it is necessary or not. It works out about half of the time it is useless information and the other half is actual good note taking. The longer that I get in the book there is a higher difficulty for me to know what to take notes on and what not to take notes on because I no longer have basic information that I can comment on and things of that nature. There are things that stand out to me that keep me hanging in there.

In A House on Mango Street there are nice easy pages to read and understand where as in Beah's book there is a more complex structure. Although Cisneros has an easier structure, it can hinder the overall effectiveness in the book. In Beah's book you have the extreme detail of what is going on whether there is death happening or they are getting attacked. It almost seems as if what one book lacks in the other makes up for.

There is one theme that I have noticed through it all, and that would be that the kids don't always know what to do next. If they do know what to do they usually get hindered in the process. It seems as if they are more thinking in a kid mentality in some situation where they should be thinking smarter as an adult would. "my children, this country has lost its good heart. People don't trust each other anymore. Years ago, you would have been heartily welcomed in this village...". It has come to a point of everyone thinking like a kid or not at all, or at least acting like one.