Rules of Attraction

The book I chose for my independent reading assignment is called “Rules of Attraction” by Simone Elkeles.  This book is the sequel to “Perfect Chemistry”. “Rules of Attraction” is about Carlos, who moves back to the United States from Mexico and falls in love with Kiara. In this book, the author is trying to tell us to let go of your ego and if you have something to say, say it. Carlos likes Kiara, but he doesn’t want to tell her because of his ego. He feels he would never fall in love with a girl like Kiara. Meanwhile, Kiara is head over heels for Carlos. Though the book, we found out how Carlos accepts he really likes Kiara, and marries her at the end of the book. I think the author wrote this book, because in “Perfect Chemistry” she left us with a cliffhanger. With “Rules of Attraction”, we are able to conclude what happen in “Perfect Chemistry” and we are also getting new characters and a new story.

 This story takes place in Colorado. Carlos moves from Mexico to live with his brother in his dorm. Since Alex isn’t allowed to have people live with him, he rearranges a place for Carlos to stay. Carlos moves in with Alex’s college professor. I have never been to Colorado but I would like to because Kiara always talks about hiking and I want to go hiking one day. The part where Kiara talks about hiking best describes the setting because that’s the first place Kiara and Carlos get close and realize that there is something there. The author creates this atmosphere because Kiara gets upset and leave to go hike. Carlos follows because he feels that he can’t leave her alone. Kiara doesn’t say a word which bothers Carlos. He leaves but then feels bad so he comes back.  Finally, he gets her to talk and she opens up. This is where Kiara feels that she likes him. Carlos also feels that he likes her but denies it because of his ego.

I think there should be illustrations in the book. I was able to make a picture in my mind about what the author is talking about, but with illustrations I would be able to get a better picture of what the author really means. 

The main characters of this book are Carlos and Kiara. Carlos is this tough Mexican guy who wants to make trouble all the time. He thinks he is full of himself; he is cocky, and arrogant. Kiara is a shy girl who stutters when she is nervous. She loves her family and will not put up with Carlos’ attitude.  She’s dresses in baggy t-shirts, hiker boots, and always has her hair up. Carlos changes the most in this story because he starts as a cocky guy with his attitude above the roof, and then turns into a sweet Mexican boy who would do anything to save Kiara from danger. Kiara’s father plays an important person in this story. Kiara’s father, Westford, does everything he can to save Carlos from danger. He lets Carlos move in with his family, and he even pays $50,000 to buy Carlos out of a gang. Westford influences Carlos as much as Kiara does.

This book made me feel emotional. There were parts of the story that made me laugh, and even had me in awe. I felt this way because Elkelse’s style of writing is perfect to get me to my emotional and sentimental side. This book is a love story that gets to my mood. The most exciting part of the story would definitely be the end where Carlos and Kiara get together. I think the saddest part was where Carlos gets beat up for refusing to be in a gang.

When the author describes the characters, she describes them perfectly. She describes them in a way that you can picture the people in your minds. For example, she described Kiara as a girl who wears long baggy shirts with leggings and hiker boots and her hair tied up. I can picture what she looks like in my mind. The author kept me reading the book because she ended every chapter at a cliff hanger. I couldn’t stop reading because I needed to know what happened next. I like the Elkeles writes each chapter from her main character’s point of view. You get a taste of each person’s life and feelings. That also kept me reading the book. 

I love this book, and I would recommend this book to all the teenage girls (or boys) who want to read a cute love story! 

The Exorcist

The Exorcist definitely still holds the power to scare its audience. That movie had me hide behind my backpack the whole time watching it. This movie was named the scariest movie by Entertainment Weekly and it was on the top 100 Scariest Movie Moments. Many parts of this movie were scary. The scariest parts of the movie were the scenes with the possessed child. She was a great actor who portrayed her character very well. She was able to put her feet in Regan’s shoes and show her audience that she was really possessed. The movie earned ten academy nominations and won for the best sound and best adapted screen play. This movie was a big hit in the 1970s.

The director had some really creepy costume design which made Regan look sinister.  In this picture seen here, you can see how she looks evil and creepy. The irises of her eyes are gone making it seem like she is a demon. She also has so many cuts on her face to show that the demons are getting to her and attacking her spirit from inside her body. This picture is perfect to scare children on Halloween! It has everything you need to scare a little soul.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qG5V2iBvFs

This video shows Regan’s disturbing head spin.  Regan just attacked her mother and the demons are now talking to her. This is freakishly scary because it is impossible to do that. The directors made that scene look so real, that it scared the living daylights out of me. The demon voices in this scene are really gruesome.  It so ghoulish, that it gives me the Goosebumps when I hear Regan talking like that.

This picture here shows Regan walking down the stairs like a demon would walk. I don’t think this would work anymore because that part wasn’t scary. Many of the kids in my class laughed at how she came downstairs. I laughed as well. This wouldn’t work because, that scene looked so unrealistic. The scene seemed something you would find on America’s Funniest Home Videos.  Surprisingly enough I found out that this scene was cut from the movie that you would see in the theaters but it was kept in the unseen version of the DVD.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUT_935gMM0

Finally, the scene where Regan is getting an exorcism was another creepy one. I liked how everything got so cold all of a sudden. That reminded me of a different horror movie I saw where when something creepy would happen, it would get cold. This scene was really scary because we saw everything from the priest’s mother being one of the demons, to the other priest dying, and the demons leaving Regan’s body. This scene had a lot going in it that made me hide behind my backpack again.

I thought this movie was so terrifying. It gave me Goosebumps though out and I could feel the little hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I would never watch this movie again because it was that scary. 

Supernatural

According to supernaturalism, a supernatural order is the original source of all that exists. It’s the  supernatural order which defines the limits of what may be known. Something that is supernatural is above, beyond, or transcendent to the natural world — it is not a part of or dependent upon nature or any natural laws. The supernatural is also commonly conceived of as being better, higher, or more pure than the ordinary, natural world around us. Many movies use the supernatural concept to scare their audience. In my opinion, I believe there is no supernatural yet. I say yet, because I have never encountered a situation which would make me believe in the supernatural. Many of my friends believe that the supernatural is real, but when I hear their stories, I find it hard to believe. I wasn’t in their shoes at the moment, so I don’t know if they are lying to me or telling the truth. The movie “The Exorcist” was based all on supernatural. The main character, Reagan, was possessed by demons or the devil and the movie showed how she was part demon, and part human. I don’t believe that will ever be true because there is no way someone’s spirit can be possessed. Many people believe that the supernatural can be explained by science. One factor of the supernatural is that there is no general agreement to what natural world really is. The supernatural is highly related to spiritually and religion. According to Wikipedia.com, by definition anything that exists naturally is not supernatural. However, the movie Paranormal Activity, which is a documentary, many of the situations they are in seems real. This is where the “yet” part comes in. While watching “Paranormal Activity”, I couldn’t figure out a way those characters would be able to edit the movie to make it seem all supernatural. The plot of the movie seems so fake to me. Katie is being followed by a demon, Micah taunts it. They get an Ouija board. All of these things were seen in “The Exorcist” as well. Because the movie is a documentary, I want to try to believe it. But because the movie has almost the same plot as numerous movies out there, it becomes hard to believe in the supernatural. By nature everything is explained and measured entirely. The supernatural would not fit into that explanation and measurement. We ask if there is evidence for the supernatural, but then the question of what is natural could also be asked. The show called “Supernatural” seems real, but all of it is unreal. The show uses many effects to achieve the suspense effect. Sound effects from the show also make the supernatural real.  Because I haven’t seen anything supernatural, I don’t think the supernatural exists. 

Falling in Love with Horror Movies

I first fell in love with horror fiction and horror movies in my English 4 class when we were watching scary movies. At first, I would always get nightmare and I would always stay away from scary movies. In my opinion, Psycho and the Silence of the Lambs are not very scary, I’m gonna take baby steps and start easy. Alfred Hitchcock directed Psycho in a way that the movie was less scary and more dramatic. I liked the way Hitchcock directed the whole movie in black and white because that added to the suspense. I also liked the way that Hitchcock didn’t use much gore. I hate gory movies. I can not stand watching them; I get nightmares when I do. Hitchcock stayed away from that and made the movie interesting. Also, I like the way that Hitchcock used his camera techniques to make the movie better. Those techniques helped me understand the movie better. For example, the shower scene wouldn’t be the same with all those quick cuts and those close up shots. Another thing I liked about Psycho, was the plot itself. The plot was very clever. I also like how Hitchcock used his characters. My favorite character was the mother and Norman Bates.
I also like the movie The Silence of the Lambs. That was a great movie. Although it had a bit more gore in it, the movie was still a good one. My favorite part of the movie was when Officer Starling found Buffalo Bill. It was cool how she knew she was at Buffalo Bill’s house when she saw that bug they found in the other girl’s throat. I also liked the way Demme used a lot of point of view shots. By adding those point of view shots, I was able to see what the actor was looking it. I was able to put myself in that character’s shoes for a moment. Along with Psycho, I liked how the director used his characters in this movie too. My favorite character was Officer Starling. She was a great actress and she knew what she was doing. I liked the character of Lector too. I liked him because he was a nightmarish type of character.  The anticipation of trying to find out what happen to the senator’s daughter made the movie very interesting. I love watching the thrills and chills of every horror film.
I enjoy watching scary movies because I want to know what is going to happen next. I also like watching horror movies because it is interesting to watch the journey the characters are going though. I like to watch how they overcome the situation they are in. Special effects make scary movies great! They add so much to the movie to make it fun to watch. If the effects are done right and the scene is flawless, I would watch the movies multiple times. Horror movies set itself apart from other movies because they are all unique. Not many horror movies are like the other. For example, Texas Chainsaw Massacre series is not like the Saw series.  Watching horror movies gives me Goosebumps and nightmares but I still enjoy watching them.